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i finally got my hands on a copy of this tape. i guess only 40 were made. yi is a kind of lo-fi surf rock/punk band with really heavy rock n' roll parts. the first song 'singing arc' builds for a minute and a half before the vocals finally kick in and when they do it fucking rocks. musically, it sounds pretty dark, but at the same time has a total surf vibe. 'golden pouch' sounds like lo-fi early 90's indie rock. the vocals sound really cool, but it's definitely the guitar tones that give this band its extra kick. '(when i grow up i'm gonna be a) selfish scientist' is my favorite song on the demo. this tape is totally worth having. i'm not sure how many more are left floating around. i got my copy from brick gun records, whom i believe are putting it out as s 12". you can also download it for free from the band here.
so last may when the carpentry stopped having house shows in berkeley, i was super disapointed. that is, until last night when i went to the yellow room in oakland. it easily has one of the coolest most comfortable vibes out of any house show i've ever been to.
yi played first. they're from oakland, and sounded like really good hard rock 'n' roll. i couldn't hear the vocals very much, but it didn't seem to matter because they jammed so hard. the bass player plays without a pick which was cool. their guitar player is a rock star. he's the kid on the first day of kindergarten when you're looking around trying to decide who your friends are going to be for the next twelve years, and you see him and immediately know he's the coolest kid in class. i really like this band and would definitely see them again.
I have been wanting to see hard girls for about six months now, and was really glad to see that they were playing a house show with big kids. i've been looking forward to this show for a few weeks, and it was the reason i left hardly strictly bluegrass early, and the reason i passed on listening to the arcade fire on the hill at school. lets just say i made the right choice.
before their set the guys in hard girls were all joking around, and having fun. the drummer has a petrie tatoo from the land before time on his arm. it made me laugh really hard. hard girls is putting out a 7" on asian man records soon. i think this band is going to get pretty big. all their songs were awesome. they opened with 'quinceanera' which is my favorite song. both the guitar player and the bass player sing. the dual vocals are great. their set jammed. one of favorite new bands.
i have been listening to the songs on big kids' myspace religiously for the past few weeks. i was super excited to see them play. they definitely delivered, and didn't disappoint at all. they opened with '48th street' and then went into 'parents are still a handful.' all the songs were good. i don't know if you can tell by the picture but the drummer sings too, which was really cool. 'our team' was stuck in my head the rest of the night, and 'get motion!' was perfect. their sound has such a positive feeling to it. i haven't had an immediate love for a band like this in a long time. they are definitely my favorite band in the bay area.
this show reminded me of what it would have been like to see alkaline trio and against me! at an early house show before they both blew up. it was really something special. it made me feel lucky just to be there. the yellow room is perfect. i hope they have more shows here.
