Health - Yip Yip - True Womanhood -- Rock'n'Roll Hotel - July 24 2010

True Womanhood - I was not going to go out into the scorching heat today, but I found a ticket for this show tonight. So, into a moderately cool club to check out this local three-piece. Classic power trio instruments, although the drummer had electronic drums and also had a drum machine and sequencer going along with them all. The only woman in the band played bass and she did some reasonably steady inventive lines. The guitarist sang well and focused more on creating a shimmering sound than moving around the fretboard. They kind of reminded me of a simpler more electronic Muse, as their was a heaviness in their sound. They have some sort of post-Radiohead sound. The playing was spirited and the vocal melodies were enough to keep my interest. A nice set by this local band.

Yip Yip - From Orlando Florida comes this duo dressed in black and white Devo-like jumpers. They stand behind black boxes full of various electronic devices. One guy plays sax and does some back up vocals. The other sings lead and bashes some cymbals. The vocals are all treated and don't really move me a whole lot. I am not a huge fan of electronic dance music and there just was not enough there. A couple of songs had some snap to them between the vocals and a bit of pop working. But most just pulsated a lot with a sizable crowd politely watching (while dances were upstairs at the free more obvious electronic dance music).

Health - From the opening notes, I immediately understood how I could like electronic dance music. This LA band had a hard hitting drummer and three guys that played guitars, bass, electronic devices out of my sight line, more drums and vocals. The sound was pummeling with percussive strength and great swirling sounds. The vocals were soft and dreamy with some intense back-up noise as well. It was a nice contrast of sounds that the band had under control the whole time. They are certainly in the Animal Collective camp of using lots of electronics with real instruments and vocals staying in the forefront. And they have catchy songs. But their energy and non-stop playing really got the crowd into it and by the end of the set, there was a lot more dancing evident than most DC shows. Now if electronic dance bands play like this, I may be in attendance much more frequently than I have been thus far.

Blog Update - If you look over to the right column, I am now listing ten upcoming events around the DC area. I may not attend all of them, but I will be at a majority of them. I will add some films, plays and other events that I think are worthy of your time and money. I will update this on Saturday or Sunday. If you have a show or an event to publicize, let me know. Please support your local scene. It happens because people like us head out of our homes and take in the world, or at least a local part of it.