30 November 2007

new for the ears and the toes

Been having a hard time with descriptions... trying to pick out words that describe well (but not tritely or predictably) this band I saw Wednesday at TC's for She Bang night... The Shondes The best I can come up with? I felt ridden hard and put away wet.

Sure, the music reviewers have compared them to Sleater-Kinney and Rasputina, and while they've got hints of those, (if Sleater-Kinney had richer instrumentation, if Rasputina didn't have the goth/vintage aesthetics) they're definitely themselves.

Bassist/frontwoman Solomon has a huuuge voice - a big hand that grabbed on and shoved into my head in about 3 seconds. Punchy, full... niiice.

Georgina (who speaks from the experience of having been to lots and lots and lots of shows) commented "she sounds great, but there's no way she can keep that up the entire set." ... which Solomon then went and did, and then some. Sure, it was a school night and not a long set, but .... damn.

I could say more here gushing on and on, but I'll just stop after saying that they're my latest most delicious new ear thing. Check 'em out... they have two songs on their myspace page. "Let's Go" is not exactly they best example - the live show and the CD are better represented by "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow".

Better yet, go see 'em live. In St. Paul, MN this Sunday, Dec. 2 and in Portland, OR Dec. 8 next weekend.

4 comments:

Zoe the Wonder Dog said...

Didn't G say something more like, "I'd be damn impressed if she could keep that up all night?" ...and then refuse to take your offer to bet cash on it, knowing that she probably would sing with that intensity until she collapsed on the floor in some sort of smoke-induced seizure?

Um, anyway, am feeling more than a bit of annoyance that when a person who can sing like that comments into the mic about how hard the cigarette smoke was to sing through, the smokers did NOTHING. Holy fuck, people: put out your smokes or go to the other room of the bar!

Hmmm... I seem to have a fondness for run-on sentences today.

biscodo said...

well, I won't dispute the nature of wagers offered or declined in a bar after sunset... regardless, I have to lean back on my tired arguments about smoke in bars... it's part of the environment. One can opt out by only playing/attending shows at non-smoking establishments, right?

Or... if you have a favorite bar and moving to another venue is out of the question for both smokers and non-smokers (bands and audiences alike), then the management should be pestered incessantly to improve the ventilation. They could easily retrofit the bar with a Smokeeter too (http://www.uasinc.com/Smokeeter.aspx)

Personally, I think TC's should make the investment because they have an above-average problem with it being gag-able smoke in the low-ceiling bar area. But it's not my money to spend.

If the band were vegans and they complained about the animal products, should people in the room have to put their hamburgers down?

... and it seems I have a fondness for intentionally arguing opposing points of view, but that's nothing special for today. ;)

Zoe the Wonder Dog said...

So how is the e-mail to TCs coming along?

You know the problem with your vegan/meat argument... do I REALLY have to point it out?

And what's the deal acting like you are squashing my rant and all and then actually agreeing with me? Yeesh. I'm gonna have to go get my own blog or something and not tell you about it... :)

biscodo said...

Email about stuff like that (even to members of Congress and the like) never works. Better to send actual letters.

I know the problem with the meat/smoke argument. But how do you know I'm not setting up a strawman waiting for someone to come along and give it a push?

Squashing? Agreeing? Acting?

I will squash.

I will agree.

I am large.

I contain multitudes.

(and I steal other people's rightfully stolen poetry shamelessly)