Thunderstrucken

As I promised earlier in the week, here's a band plug for the one who struck me with the thunderbolt:

FIRST COMMUNION AFTERPARTY


Before I write anything else I'd like to give a little disclaimer: this band is NOT original in the slightest. They rip off every cool aspect of stoner rock n' roll. But that's not to say that they're a shitty band. One of the main points I try to make in my own art is that rock as an entity is not original. It's all a copy of something that was stolen from something original and beautiful.

Rockers are all actors, playing the Rogers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber roles again and again. Sometimes I grow tired of the same "Phantom" show or "Cats" or "West Side Story". Other times I'm itching to get my cheesy show tune groove on.

Same goes for a night on the town at a rock venue. I was in the mood Saturday, February 21st, at the Kitty Cat Klub. I was with good company, I was slightly buzzed, I was horny. All of a sudden the stage emited this eastern mantra chant reminiscent of Kirtan gatherings. Then the wall of sound noise came through, a mix of Velvet Underground, Dandy Warhols, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Stone Roses. I love these bands, but I grow tired of them fast. The songs are in minor key, they're pretty sexy, they're pretty drugged out, they're dark and moody. But the songs go on forever. It's all a meditation. You have to be in the mood to meditate on the wall of sound. If not, you'll grow bored fast.

I was in the mood that fateful night, it seemed. My cohort Taylor came up and said "Peter, you've got to see these guys! They're totally a band you'd dig, and check out the bassist!!"

He wasn't kidding. Holy god, the music swelled, the room got distorted in waves, and the bassist, Sarah, was the only one in focus. From there, the music did a number on me. They blended all of those aforementioned bands together into something coherent and committed. I got them. I understood.

No one in that band is original, I'm repeating this. Everyone looks like a hippie, a keyboard player from the New Wave era, Mama Cass, grunge, current hipster poster child. They have nothing new to say, except that they love their influences. That's okay with me, because I love their influences, too.

That, and the bassist . . .

Here's their Myspace page, complete with some live show dates:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=24347166

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- "Love Burns"