the Curtains w/ Sic Alps and Okay: Live @ the Knockout

The subtitle of this post is: How I spent $60 to prove that the internet can save you 1 cab ride, 1 train ride, 1 long bus ride, 2 miles on foot and the aforementioned $60.

Note: I had not heard any of the bands prior to last night. I went in cold.

Beginning with the end, the Curtains (Chris Cohen ex. Deerhoof) play soft 60's-influenced pop songs with sparse instrumentation and 3-part harmonies. The band/songs seemed disorganized and the Knockout's sound guy seemed unprepared to fill the none-too-big space with the sound he was given. After a few myspace listens I can see the merit of the Curtains but they just didn't do it for me. Maybe they'll grow on me.

The second band, Sic Alps, lost me from the first strum. The distant vocals sounded just like the guitar that was apparently played through a distortion pedal with a head cold. It almost seemed like these dudes get high together and hear some pretty awesome stuff that just isn't there. I would love to see the point, or be missing something but my current opinion is: uhn-uh. no way. Point me in the right direction if you know something I don't.

Okay (aka Marty Anderson), opened the show with an acoustic and a 1-woman backing band. They played intimate emotional, songs that were focused on structure and melody without sacrificing emotion. Live, Marty Anderson's voice sounded like a +2 Gravel Michael Nau and his guitar playing swung effortlessly from intricate finger-picking to one-chord crescendo's. This all done over an appropriately-volumed harmonium and an occasional saw (yep, she played the saw).

So...the night wasn't a total loss. Go checkout Okay , buy some of their stuff over at Absolutely Kosher Records and let me know about those other 2. I mean, the sound was pretty bad.

"Compass" from Okay's latest record High Road