saturday night i hit the bottom of the hill in sf, to see identical homes for the release of their first record, a hydrophelia. but headlining that night was a band called sea lioness, who were also celebrating a digital release of a new ep. sea lioness was a five piece rock outfit, featuring members of cannons & clouds, with an easy listening vibe & spectacular vocal harmonies. they also had two percussionists, one on a full drum set, the other with a set of varying sized toms & a ride cymbal, which really helped propel the music into a heavier rock territory. as their set progressed, the music got more & more progressive as well, but they still hovered in a range of light rock & dance themes. they had a wonderful groove to all their songs, & the vocal harmonies were the icing on the cake. good fun & high energy gave their otherwise easy listening sound a memorable performance.
on stage before them was the brand new identical homes. a three/four piece group, with former members of the rum diary & shuteye unison, their music was a slight departure from their previous bands. mostly driven by keyboards & synths, this gave them a highly electronica sound, accentuated by live drums, & complimented by familiar guitar riffs & the delicate, yet haunting, vocals of songwriter daniel mckenzie. actually some of their new music seems to be more related to trent reznor’s more recent work (i. e. year zero, hesitation marks, & how to destroy angels) than any of their own past work, with the exception of the track miles & miles, which could easily fit on one of the shuteye unison records. most of the set was performed by three guys; dan on keys, synth, guitar & vocals, another keyboardist, & a drummer (sorry, i dont know who was who), but they were later joined by another guitarist. their set was also accompanied by projected slides, mostly environmental stuff (i. e. landscapes & wildlife). they played a soothing, yet powerful set, comprised of many of the songs on their new record, which dan was kind enough to send me a copy of & i will soon review in full. it was a great set, its always fun to hear new music from members of old favorites, especially when they are moving in exciting new directions.
before identical homes, was a progressive rock group from san diego, named ilya. they had a very powerful stage & audio presence, with a sound that blended many different styles, or at least hinted at many different styles, from post-rock, to electronica, to goth & black metal. the vocals also had a hint of norwegian or icelandic accents, kinda like bjork. they were a six piece, a female front/vocalist, a guitarist & a keyboardist & another member who both/either/or, a bassist/acoustic guitarist & a drummer. their stage set up also had several lamps which pulsed through varying colors, which added strongly to the overall moodiness of their music. their set was very rhythmic & groovy, a little funky, totally rockin’ & somewhat psychedelic. the vocals, with several backup singers, created lush soundscapes with great depth, as well as charm & beauty. a strong set, full of movement & great complexity.
the opener this evening was a wonderful singer/songwriter, calling himself sunny jim brown. he was a mighty treat, playing several songs on banjo, including a cover of a smiths song. but the real treat was when he put on his handmade guitar. thats right, i said HANDMADE, truly taking the term diy to a whole ‘nother level. one of the most memorable songs was about werewolves, which was full of time changes & some great creepy lyrics about howls in the night & chill winds blowing through the woods. really a fantastic opening set, & particularly unique to the evening.
well, i know ive been promising it for months now, but i will really try to get all the many record reviews i have due out in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned (ill try to get at least one each monday & tuesday, being those are my days off).
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last Monday night I had the pleasure of seeing one of the best bands ive recently discovered in some time, deafheaven. & at one of my favorite venues, the bottom of the hill.
deafheaven was the headliner this night, so I was really excited to see what they would pull out. I was wise this time & brought earplugs, as I had learned the first time I saw them, they certainly live up to their name. they definitely delivered a spectacular headlining performance. the crowd was in rare form, breaking into a chaotic mosh pit within seconds of the first notes. kinda crazy, & very unexpected, I haven’t seen a mosh pit in a small club, ever, I think. in my younger days I probably would have jumped right in, but I decided to stick to the edge. the band, a five piece from right here in San Francisco, really put on a stellar show, crisp clean performance with a nice mix of new & old songs. the benefit of seeing them headline was; first, the longer set time, giving them ample time to play a well rounded set, & second, the performance itself is a little enhanced, considering the crowd is mostly there to see them. & their stage presence was certainly enhanced, most notably in the lead singer, who had a number of stage quirks I missed the first time I saw them. such as; sticking his fingers down his throat, & licking his hands/fingers then rubbing himself, & grasping his crotch. a little unnerving at first, but hey it creates fun stage dynamics. he also got a lot of crowd surfing in, along with many members of the audience, including several stage dives, another thing which was a bit unexpected. still, even with all these crazy antics going on about me, the music was still center stage, showcasing their remarkable ability to blend the dreamy melodic tones of post-rock, with the brutal onslaught of black metal. the dynamics of their music continues to impress and astound me. a fantastic performance, definitely the highlight of the evening.
just before deafheaven, the stage was occupied by a great trio, named marriages, featuring two members of red sparrows (another spectacular post-rock group). they had a bit more tonal, & slightly muted sound, with very atmospheric, almost ethereal, vocals. a good balance I suppose to the much more abrasive style of the headliners. their song writing was wonderful, & performance flawless, but I honestly felt they were maybe a bit too subdued for this particular show. but again, it did provide a wonderful balance to the other groups that evening. really quite a mature, & highly developed musical experience, they could very easily create a beautiful, & inspiring soundscape, full of hills & valleys, & several layers of texture. ultimately they could easily have held their own as headliners, & probably do/will.
the opening band this evening was another post-metal sounding group, monuments collapse, which even featured the bassist of deafheaven as vocalist. much like deafheaven, they blended the ambient melodies of post-rock, with abrasive, screaming vocals, & more hardcore overtones. not just a carbon copy of the headliners, they had a slightly more groove, even a little “chucka chucka” style, similar to some of the heavier post-rock groups out there, but then included hoarse & guttural growls. perhaps a bit more “rough-around-the-edges” than the more crisp & polished sounds of deafheaven, I actually really enjoyed this group, & hope to hear more from them in the future.
altogether, this was a fantastic night. im not sure when ill be going to another show, but I will be trying to keep up this consistency of posts. perhaps next will be a record review of sorts, either the new trust’s “keep dreaming” or the wild ones’ cd. so stay tune for more music & keep it diy.
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