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ingly effortless melodies and wonderful sounds, along with the audi
ence's frenzied jubilation, were simply amazing. There were a few
breaks for skits set to the dialogue tracks on the newest album, the
members sporting props and costumes, giddily playful The band's
power never abated. By the tri
umphant rescue of "Nickee
Coco," with a stage full of
people singing along with Kevin
Barnes, the performance had set
a peak that would be hard to
beat.
Friday August 11
The Mystery Band, com
posed of several local players,
began the evening with a brief
set of dreamy folk pop before
the Four Comers took the stage.
Kinaercore's Tracy Hatch,
looking very mod in a short go-
go dress, sang and threw the by
now frequently borrowed Farfisa
organ into action. Ryan Lewis
got to play Mick Jones, or even
Fete Townsend, coming to the
front as guitar player for a
change. He climbed onto the
monitors and mugged for the
audience while displaying some
fine chops, The set was nothing
too fancy, but with plenty of
style and perfectly suited to
their garage sound.
Most of the Of Montreal gang
returned for Great Lakes next They're a sprawling band, a sort of
ramshackle orchestra in the best sense, sometimes squeezing over
10 people on the stage, and they give off a great sound, even if
some of the myriad instruments get lost in the din. Tonight, how
ever, they simply lacked too much in dynamics, sticking too much to
a bouncy, piano-driven beat. They could probably make their own
"Odessey And Oracle" (sic), but they seemed unable to get past
"Care of Cell 44."
With Australia's Richard Davies canceling after a plane delay,
Louisville's VHS Or Beta came on. The long, continuous set was
plagued by an exploding bass amp head, but the band simply car
ried on where it left off, and the audience didn't seem to mind.
Wearing baggy blue polyurethane jumpsuits, it explored its extrater
restrial punk disco, the drummer doing a wicked job on his tiny kit
and vintage electronic pads. The band smoothly blended each seg
ment, never losing track or energy, and dancing erupted around the
front of the stage.
A Battle of the Boy Bands then ensued, after a short film
detailing the creation of the pre-fab From U2S and the reject rivals
N2HER. Various band members and friends of Kindercore then took
to the stage to lip-synch to perfectly bizarre MIDI-ized versions of
Unrest's "Make-Out Club" and Pavement's "Summer Babe" and
attempt to pummel each other without missing a ny steps. Think
MTVs "2ge+her" for the indie set. Pants were dropped and panties
were thrown as the rowdy, randy boys led the crowd down to the
late night dance party in a nearby warehouse.
the audience for turning up so early and then piled on layers of
sound for the conclusion, puffing on his neck-mounted harmonica as
his effected guitar rose into a Velvet Underground-style wall of
noise. This project has revealed many new dimensions of his talent,
and they are definitely a band to
catch live whenever you can.
California's C.A.R. kept
things moving with its breezy
pop sounds. The band blended
elements of Serge Gainsbourg,
Ste.^olab, Bacharach and 70s
soul into a new whole, difficult
to categorize.
The Marshmallow Coast,
basically a reworking of Of
Montreal's members led by Andy
Gonzales, came next. Gonzales'
songwriting is on par with his
partner, Barnes, and they sang
lovely, quirky harmonies. He has
a great sense for the sound of
vocals as much as what they're
saying, incorporating a Chinese
melody at one point
With all this dreamy beauty,
one still needs a good kick now
and then, and Texas-based
Junior Varsity provided it
Dressed in matching private
school blazers and ties, the trio
shouted out high school cheers
and provided a rocking update
on classic Fiankie and Annette
styles. After teasing Tullycraft
members into buying them
shots, the band members' mascot bear appeared on-stage and boo
gied to "Surfin' Bird" as the female guitarist and bassist leapt off the
drum riser. Colorado's Dressy Bessy followed with some brilliant
songs of its own. The band didn't follow any certain style, but was
simply a great modem pop band, another
example of the label's great taste in
picking its artists. Tammy Ealom may be
modest about her inexperience, but she
has an undeniable knack for hooks.
As the show neared its close,
London's Birdie gave the audience a
r[assy set of soulful music powered by a
Wurlitzer organ and Debsie Wykes'
smooth voice. This band's sound was a
bit retro without sounding dated and -
showed lots of experience. The album.
Some Dusty, scheduled to appear in the
States soon, should be one to snatch up
if this performance was any indication.
Bill Doss' new project. The Sunshine
Fix, wrapped it up a little before 2 a.m.,
starting with a Johnny Cash and the
Tennessee Two-style number. The sound
of the few songs played was reminiscent
of his work in Olivia Tremor Control while
throwing down more of a groove into the
psychedelic stew. Heads kept turning to
the back trying to locate the sounds
iumping at them. Doss created a unique
surround sound effect mounting two PA
systems on the back bench for various swirling noises and bursts of
feedback. The band brought its new EP to life very well, and while it
was rather short, the performance was both familiar and original
Saturday August 12
Athens' Summer Hymn c kicked off the final night at 8 p.m. with
a brilliant set of spacy folk rock, full of echoing vocals and the occa
sional saxophone. Guitarist-singer Zachary Gresham shyly thanked
enough to show he's off to ? good start with this group and moti
vate listeners to come back when they do.
Jay Nagy
Dream Catcim
HAIR SALON
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