Silo Halo - The Water - Heavy Sons - Priests -- Sova - Mar 4 2012

Priests - This local trio has drums/vocals, guitar and vocals with a touch of guitar. Note to self... bring earplugs to smaller shows with simple PAs as stage volume is still very loud. Sova is a cozy little place and there was a nice audience for the show tonight. The guitar sound was kind of Crampsian with plenty of reverb, but little of the psychobilly. The primitive drumming set the tone for the Coathangers like vocal work. Edgy and fun at times, but punishing loud for all the wrong reasons. Work in progress, I would have to say.

Heavy Sons - This four-piece from Philadelphia features one guitar and a female vocalist in addition to the rhythm section. They are plenty loud themselves, but stop short of ear piercing. It also helps that they play a great brand of sludgy psychadelia. It's not too far off from fellow Philadelphians, Bardo Pond, but it is a bit more raw than that. They vary speeds from drones to snappy rock out moments, but manage to keep a great vibe going throughout their set. It appears this band raised a few eyebrows in this sharp crowd of heavy psyche music lovers (some Velvet Lounge regulars are here). They nailed it tonight and I hope to see them again some day.


The Water - This Baltimore duo plays as a five or six piece thanks to their quality loop work. The drummer lays down a raw rhythm guitar (or two) before moving to his kit. The second guy plays shimmering guitar parts and keyboards also employing loops. Their post rock sound as big as the ocean with an overall bright result (and a cool colorful lighting rig they employ). They contrast the bright dominating sounds on top with a murkier underbelly which is just the sort of musical stew that pulls people in. The songs were rather short considering their epic quality, but that was fine. Although it did lead me to wonder if they should not vary things a bit more. But they closed with a song that really shifted things around sonically, so they have that capability. I would think this band can really grab a lot of attention as they keep gigging.

Silo Halo - Three people with axes is search of a drummer. OK, now that I have gotten my usual complaint about drum machines out of the way, we can get to the quality music these three put out. I saw them open for Screen Vinyl Image recently (reviewed here) and enjoyed their set. And the Screen Vinyl Image duo was here tonight. It was more of the same tonight and I really enjoyed the different sensations they evoke by each taking lead vocal duties at different times. They harmonize well and one guy also changes the sound obviously enough by switching from guitar to keyboards. It's ultimately good psychedelic music that veers to post rock, edgy post punk, and dreamy rock. And I will give them extra credit tonight for booking such a nice show in this cozy space next to the Rock'n'Roll Hotel. But even without the behind the scenes effort, the musical performance was success enough.

Quote of the Night: Overheard from a couple of people wandering by me on the street who left the show 5-10 minutes before me... "Well this sucks, we should have hired a taxi... we're trying to find a car..."