08 February 2010

Blog-achella X: The Pride of Wasilla

I'm about to start Saturday's lineup by blowing right through a cool half dozen uncool bands. I know it may make me look like I don't, you know, like anything ever... but I look at it this way (and I'm pretty sure I repeat this mantra every year)... would I pay US American dollars to see any of these bands perform on their own? Not in this recession, bitches!

Saturday begins with Frank Turner and the always reliable Irish Music/Punk Rock blend... which is fine when you're drinking Guinness at Molly Malone's...

Next we have Steel Train from New Jersey, a band with a Heavy Metal name that plays some "meh" Pop/Rock whatevs... they're currently touring opening for Tegan & Sara if that gives you the idea.

How about Beach House from Baltimore? It's some decently nice shoegaze-y stuff that gets brought down by some sub-par vocals.

Girls is a rarity... a bad band from San Francisco. Once again, everything is fine until people start singing. Now, both Girls and Beach House are serious blog darlings these days which makes me wonder... don't anyone care about the vocals any more? Or are these blogs so concerned with annointing the next cool thing that they don't worry about little things like the ability to sing? Because guess what... most bands that are really popular, like in the real world, tend to have good singers. Or a least mostly on-key ones. Of course, Taylor Swift single-handedly renders that statement false, so I'll just shut the fuck up now.

Band Of Skulls are a British band that kind of sounds like the White Stripes if you added a girl singer. But then on another song they reminded me of Jet, so...

White Rabbits are a pretty interesting, heavily percussion-based Indie Rock band that almost makes the cut but the songs get a little samey after a while. You guys like your floor toms. We get it, already...

And then comes the pleasant surprise. The one I didn't expect that made me take notice. I love those...

Portugal. The Man



Who they are: A band from, of all places, Wasilla Fucking Alaska. Hard to believe that the same place that spawned Sarah Palin actually produced anything of any worth to humanity, but God works in mysterious ways, doesn't she? Don't get me started on that retard Palin either, because just don't...

What they sound like: I read that they change their style from record to record, and I'm not sure how radically because I'd never listened to them until today... but the one they got going now is just some solid modern Pop...

Portugal. The Man - Work All Day






What I think: I think I can get behind that. Looks okay live, too...



Bonus points for calling their album The Satanic Satanist. I'm sure Sarah Palin would love that...

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