Pleasure Curses - Nightpanther - Lenorable -- DC9 - Mar19 2013

Lenorable - I have enjoyed this local duo in the past and tonight continues the trend. They have a consistent sound that resonates well with me and most all of the DC9 denizens tonight. It is a pretty simple formula. She sets the beats and occasional programmed bassline before handling the vocals, while he plays all the spacey guitar parts. If you are a fan of Siouxsie, the Cure, Bauhaus, and the many others in this style, you should easily grasp on to Lenorable's songs. I particularly like the icy vocal work that is reminiscent of Destroy All Monster's Niagara. They played some familiar songs and with some brand new material as well in their 38 minute set. Everything flowed nicely and I was transported to a relaxing state with just enough of a real world borderline.

Nightpanther - This Philadelphia area quintet is touring back from their trip to Austin and had this final stop before heading for home. Aside from a fairly short 27 minute set, there was no mailing it in for this band. They had full bass, drums and guitar (with some synthesizer). The two vocalists locked in frequently with one of them adding synth/keyboard parts as well. The sound was thick, yet with plenty of space for the vocals to carry these pop tunes to great altitude. This is not so much mainstream sound, as it is well composed pop music. The guitarist would occasionally cut loose with some hefty sounds to take things deeper. They are so catchy that they remind me of the punk era when I allowed bands like UB40 to invade all the faster and louder bands I was listening to. Charming sounds from this intriguing band that should be able to find a niche somewhere, perhaps a really big niche.

Pleasure Curses - This local duo has a vocalist who plays guitar on one song and a multi instrumentalist who mostly plays bass or synthesizer. I am instantly drawn to Morrisey comparisons partly based on the look of the singer, but mostly with the mannered quality of his vocal delivery. The music is catchy pop music with a bit of thrust in the beat, but the hooks subtly come out of the vocal lines. I am thinking that I would like just one more live instrument to bring a thickening contrast into the mix, but after a few songs, I find I am not missing it as much as I first thought. I think the credit belongs in their songcraft as they have written some lovely songs that they deliver with style and a touch of grace. This capped off a very pleasant evening of sounds and sent me home to some of the best sleep I have had in the last few weeks. Good music works its magic again.

Promo of the Night: Issue 50 of FOLKWORLD is now out with plenty of great articles on folk music in four languages. There are the usual album reviews featuring loads of artists you have never heard of with many you probably should hear of. There are some DC artists in there AND a special article I wrote listing my favorite 50 Psychedelic-Folk Albums of all-time. So indulge and spread your musical interests to all corners of the globe and beyond.