HIPPY GONE WRONG, ELECTRIC SIX, THE FRENCH KICKS, BRAZILIAN GIRLS
Danger! New Columnist In Town (First OCB Column, Not Published)
Naming this column was a bit of a daunting task. The previous title, The Set List, by Bao Le-Huu was kind of perfect and tough to top. I posted a bulletin on Myspace for suggestions. The top contender, LeCour’ed Up was cute, but it has nothing to do with music. Plus, I’m opting not to be the next Tara Reid of Orlando (my breasts are real and I don’t slur in public… often, refer to Kelly Fitzpatrick for that fix). So, I chose A Guide To (Not-Awful) Orlando Music, because here in Orlando we have gotten a pretty awful rap. Politics aside, bands and other so-called musical what-nots have just plain crapped it up. While I will be exposing the dung, I hope to find a small piece of sunshine somewhere beneath a dingy hole in the wall every now and again.
Now let’s get down to why you’re really here
Last Thursday, local sound-collage project Hippy Gone Wrong played at The Peacock Room. The scene was a nice mix of hipsters, moes, and soccer moms. One mom in particular began yelling that she hadn’t gotten laid in over a year. She proceeded to catch herself from falling off a stool, dropped a martini glass in her lap, and a large four head sound could be heard resonating off the bar counter. Her two sweater-wearing friends just sunk their frosted-tipped heads into their cosmos.
We (Bob-the-fiancé, Mike-the-friend) grabbed some beverages and settled in to watch the show. Singer/ guitarist Dan Preston sat on the floor with his Nashville Telecaster, a board with about fifteen petals, and an 80’s Fender amp propped onto a green milk crate. J.C. Chamberlin accompanied with an acoustic guitar.
The performance was extremely personal, like we were in Preston’s room where he felt comfortable enough to dry-hump his guitar and cry into the microphone. Although, Preston is über-talented and sound collage/ experimental music is definitely an art, I just can’t stomach it. For those unfamiliar with the genre, sound collage is another term for experimental noises mixed with musical-rock-type gear and occasionally random objects, which make (sometimes) interesting sounds. Sonic Youth’s album FYR4 or the band Yatsura are some mainstream examples. It is an acquired taste, which I will probably never acquire. The sets are long, there are no melodies, and high frequencies pierce the ear drums and turn the stomach. I tried to keep an open mind, but ended up annoyed. We left for Bar-BQ-Bar.
The rest of the weekend played out at The Social. Electric Six took the stage Friday and having seen the Detroit-based rock group twice, I remembered them being better. Previously, they were not half as cocky and seemed way more happy to be there. This time their demeanor was such that they were gracing Orlando with their presence. The show was packed out, but the crowd was an interesting mix. Frat boys and Stellas were doing shots while stage diving and pumping their fists trying to act like they knew the words to every song. It was quite the Sigma Alpha Hoo-Ha Mixer.
With six members one would think there would be some interesting piece of gear like a mandolin or a cowbell, something. Nope, the show was pretty typical. They could have been any rock band via 1970 with ironic clothing, sunglasses, and cliché guitar riffs like Jet or [insert name of any Strokes-rip-off band here]. Singer Dick Valentine, with his shiny mesh shirt, bared a resemblance to a blonde Jack Black (in look and sound); His voice although deep and raspy, was not as good and was totally serious. Valentine moved like a larger gentleman, huffing for air and sweating profusely. The Six’s sound was full and they did rock a bit, but it ended up being more wanky-schlock-rock.
Saw The French Kicks at The Social on Saturday… Meh. It was a very boring and disappointing show. They’re a Brooklyn based four-piece that’s had some success in the indie front; I’m not sure why. The overall sound was awful. The mids and the highs were turned way up. Singer Nick Stumpf stood still throughout most of the set, while being out of key and his voice was nearly inaudible due to his mic being way too low in the mix. His demeanor was scared and childish. Drummer Aaron Thurston was off beat and lead guitarist Josh Wise stopped and started at random times (not in a good math-rock, Minus the Bear type of way, but in an oops I missed the right time to come in kind of way). The Kicks were going for quirky-indie-pop-rock. They ended up sounding like they needed to practice. Throughout the set people filtered out, I followed.
The week was rounded out by the Brazilian Girls. I’m usually not a big fan of female fronted-bands, let’s blame it on screechy singing and over the top hussies like Courtney Love. What many women singers lack in talent they try to compensate with sluttyness and panty-showin’. Not the case with Sabina Sciubba. She was a delight to listen to and look at; picture a young Audrey Hepburn. Her voice was delicate yet distinct and fluid within a swirling sound of guitars and effects. Without skipping a beat she sang in French, English, Spanish, and French. There was a sweet femininity on the stage while she created a sultry powerful presence. The group resembled a French, beatnik lounge act with a super tight drummer hitting sizzling snare sounds and a keyboardist (Didi Gutman) that created a spacey coherent mood. Despite The Social’s new “no re-entry” policy, the show did not disappoint.
WHY YOU SHOULD GET OFF YOUR MONEY MAKER THIS WEEK
Friday: The Four Shames @ Copper Rockets - Ass-shakin’, knee-slappin’, good-time-havin’ rock band
Saturday: Howard Tate @ Park Ave CDs - Legendary soul, gospel, and blues singer
Sunday: Megadeth @ Hard Rock- Metal, Metal, and More Metal
Monday: Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons @ The Social - Tom Petty-ish Portland band.
Tuesday: DVD by Sexy @ Redlight Redlight - The Screening of the Eagles of Death Metal film
Wednesday: Toby Lightman @ Backbooth - Non-boring-low-key-acoustic
Thursday: The Ettes @ Park Ave - Blues inspired garage rock
Naming this column was a bit of a daunting task. The previous title, The Set List, by Bao Le-Huu was kind of perfect and tough to top. I posted a bulletin on Myspace for suggestions. The top contender, LeCour’ed Up was cute, but it has nothing to do with music. Plus, I’m opting not to be the next Tara Reid of Orlando (my breasts are real and I don’t slur in public… often, refer to Kelly Fitzpatrick for that fix). So, I chose A Guide To (Not-Awful) Orlando Music, because here in Orlando we have gotten a pretty awful rap. Politics aside, bands and other so-called musical what-nots have just plain crapped it up. While I will be exposing the dung, I hope to find a small piece of sunshine somewhere beneath a dingy hole in the wall every now and again.
Now let’s get down to why you’re really here
Last Thursday, local sound-collage project Hippy Gone Wrong played at The Peacock Room. The scene was a nice mix of hipsters, moes, and soccer moms. One mom in particular began yelling that she hadn’t gotten laid in over a year. She proceeded to catch herself from falling off a stool, dropped a martini glass in her lap, and a large four head sound could be heard resonating off the bar counter. Her two sweater-wearing friends just sunk their frosted-tipped heads into their cosmos.
We (Bob-the-fiancé, Mike-the-friend) grabbed some beverages and settled in to watch the show. Singer/ guitarist Dan Preston sat on the floor with his Nashville Telecaster, a board with about fifteen petals, and an 80’s Fender amp propped onto a green milk crate. J.C. Chamberlin accompanied with an acoustic guitar.
The performance was extremely personal, like we were in Preston’s room where he felt comfortable enough to dry-hump his guitar and cry into the microphone. Although, Preston is über-talented and sound collage/ experimental music is definitely an art, I just can’t stomach it. For those unfamiliar with the genre, sound collage is another term for experimental noises mixed with musical-rock-type gear and occasionally random objects, which make (sometimes) interesting sounds. Sonic Youth’s album FYR4 or the band Yatsura are some mainstream examples. It is an acquired taste, which I will probably never acquire. The sets are long, there are no melodies, and high frequencies pierce the ear drums and turn the stomach. I tried to keep an open mind, but ended up annoyed. We left for Bar-BQ-Bar.
The rest of the weekend played out at The Social. Electric Six took the stage Friday and having seen the Detroit-based rock group twice, I remembered them being better. Previously, they were not half as cocky and seemed way more happy to be there. This time their demeanor was such that they were gracing Orlando with their presence. The show was packed out, but the crowd was an interesting mix. Frat boys and Stellas were doing shots while stage diving and pumping their fists trying to act like they knew the words to every song. It was quite the Sigma Alpha Hoo-Ha Mixer.
With six members one would think there would be some interesting piece of gear like a mandolin or a cowbell, something. Nope, the show was pretty typical. They could have been any rock band via 1970 with ironic clothing, sunglasses, and cliché guitar riffs like Jet or [insert name of any Strokes-rip-off band here]. Singer Dick Valentine, with his shiny mesh shirt, bared a resemblance to a blonde Jack Black (in look and sound); His voice although deep and raspy, was not as good and was totally serious. Valentine moved like a larger gentleman, huffing for air and sweating profusely. The Six’s sound was full and they did rock a bit, but it ended up being more wanky-schlock-rock.
Saw The French Kicks at The Social on Saturday… Meh. It was a very boring and disappointing show. They’re a Brooklyn based four-piece that’s had some success in the indie front; I’m not sure why. The overall sound was awful. The mids and the highs were turned way up. Singer Nick Stumpf stood still throughout most of the set, while being out of key and his voice was nearly inaudible due to his mic being way too low in the mix. His demeanor was scared and childish. Drummer Aaron Thurston was off beat and lead guitarist Josh Wise stopped and started at random times (not in a good math-rock, Minus the Bear type of way, but in an oops I missed the right time to come in kind of way). The Kicks were going for quirky-indie-pop-rock. They ended up sounding like they needed to practice. Throughout the set people filtered out, I followed.
The week was rounded out by the Brazilian Girls. I’m usually not a big fan of female fronted-bands, let’s blame it on screechy singing and over the top hussies like Courtney Love. What many women singers lack in talent they try to compensate with sluttyness and panty-showin’. Not the case with Sabina Sciubba. She was a delight to listen to and look at; picture a young Audrey Hepburn. Her voice was delicate yet distinct and fluid within a swirling sound of guitars and effects. Without skipping a beat she sang in French, English, Spanish, and French. There was a sweet femininity on the stage while she created a sultry powerful presence. The group resembled a French, beatnik lounge act with a super tight drummer hitting sizzling snare sounds and a keyboardist (Didi Gutman) that created a spacey coherent mood. Despite The Social’s new “no re-entry” policy, the show did not disappoint.
WHY YOU SHOULD GET OFF YOUR MONEY MAKER THIS WEEK
Friday: The Four Shames @ Copper Rockets - Ass-shakin’, knee-slappin’, good-time-havin’ rock band
Saturday: Howard Tate @ Park Ave CDs - Legendary soul, gospel, and blues singer
Sunday: Megadeth @ Hard Rock- Metal, Metal, and More Metal
Monday: Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons @ The Social - Tom Petty-ish Portland band.
Tuesday: DVD by Sexy @ Redlight Redlight - The Screening of the Eagles of Death Metal film
Wednesday: Toby Lightman @ Backbooth - Non-boring-low-key-acoustic
Thursday: The Ettes @ Park Ave - Blues inspired garage rock
posted by Aimee at
2:45 PM
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