TV Ghost - Post punk meets psychedelic rock, to put it simply. But within those genres are many layers of complexity that these five guys from Lafayette, Indiana are fully capable of exploring. They have a full set of keyboards and a vocalist that adds some guitar to the core trio of GBD. The vocalist reminds me a lot of my late dear friend, Gyn Cameron of Dementia Precox and this band shares some of that band's cool sound with a depth of warmth that is revealed in the journey you take while listening to the set. There is a lot of Echo & the Bunnymen here which is never a bad thing and when the band slows things down, I am reminded of Magazine, which does not happen often. The band subtly adjusts tempos and volumes to keep the drama and involvement high and effectively pulled in the moderate sized crowd tonight. This is a very good band that fans of any remotely creative rock music that retains comfortable roots will easily get into. They combine style and substance as well as anybody.
Holograms - If you like Iceage, I urge you to explore Holograms. They are also Scandanavian, this time from Stockholm, and employ that same fierce simultaneous merger of punk and post-punk. They have all the ferocity and hooks of fast punk music, yet explore all kinds of intriguing sonics, some from the guitar, but mostly with a small Korg synthesizer. Three guys sing and they connect with some pop-punk singalong styles in a few of the songs. Yet the music is driving, powerful, loud, and ferocious. A couple of songs started causing my mind to wander, but a majority were highly effective at providing that enjoyable energetic surge while keeping the mind active discerning the twists and turns of the instrumentation. I am happy they are over here in the US and hopefully they will continue to grow into an exciting act. It was quite clear from the crowd's body language, that this band has plenty to offer already.
Quote of the Night: From someone in the crowd to me... "Did I kick you out of your seat?"
And the answer I did not give, was 'no, I actually sat down for a couple songs to avoid where you were standing before you and your boyfriend moved to the booth in front of me to continue your gabfest and makeout session.' Actually, as much of a pet peeve this is of mine, it was actually kind of funny tonight and considerate for her to come up to me (especially as I didn't employ my usual scowl). Thankfully the bands were loud, so I only wanted to avoid the distracting sight lines. Ah, the pleasures of the public.
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