Drink Up Buttercup - Skelliton -- DC9 - June 1 2010

Skelliton - There is an early clue that the DC9 has been redesigned since last I was here. They have a new staircase where you enter closer to the bar and land upstairs in the backside by the dressing room. This redirects a bit of space toward the front which is good and in the event of a mosh pit (rare but mosh pits have happened here), people won't get shoved down the stairs. There were a few less stools unfortunately, but the crowd was small, so I found my space as the three piece rock band hit the stage. The rhythm instantly reminds me of a raw punk section such as the Adverts with a guitarist who actively works with it in a power-pop punk punkesque kind of mode. The vocals from the guitarist reminds me of Ant Trip Ceremony (I must be the only blogger mentioning them) in a garage-folk style. They also have a Dangerhouse label-LA feel. I liked the set well enough but it is too early to call them an unpolished gem, more of an uncut gemstone. And with gigging and practicing, we'll take those hacks at the rock and see where we are in a few months.

Drink Up Buttercup - Speaking of months, it has been over 7 months since I last saw these guys. At least I remembered that I had seen them about half way through the first cut. I get embarrassed when I do that, but it could be worse in that I could forget about the previous show entirely. So in looking at the old write-ups and my notes, here is what we have in common. Akron/Family. Yes, they still remind me of one of my favorites and obviously that works for me. I think I found them steadier during this set with the same sort of catchy songs. A good edginess to the material and a nice mix of switching between keyboards, extra guitars, and extra percussion. I wrote down a cross between Sparks and Efterklang? Now that is morning, I am not sure what that would sound like. But listen for yourself some time. These four guys from Philly seem to play out enough and put on a good confident, entertaining show.

Quote of the Night: From behind me from a discussion of bands "I am so behind on some of this shit." This is the lament of all of us that try keeping up with things. At least we are trying.