After the previous night, it was hard to come down to Earth, but it was a crappy day and Get Bent were playing the lead off slot on a matinee a block away, so I figured I'd make the trip.If I may digress into a bit of a tired old man rant. I don't think that it's too much to ask for the actual venue to know when a show will start or the order of the bands, in at least a relative sense. This is sadly not possible for the collective, but its location allows me to not have to hang around like an idiot because I only showed up 45 minutes after the show was supposed to start. Silly me. Another 45 got me a copy of the new DonDiva and an arrival halfway through a band that was not Get Bent, the purported opener.
The band proved to be Little Lungs. They are pretty decent, but young, so I see leaps and bounds being made in the next year or so. The rocking is in the trio format, with two ladies up front on strings and microphones and a lone gentleman pounding the skins. Think Sleater-Kinney with a dose of The Measure and you've got a good start. The things was, they were not Get Bent, begging the question: where exactly does a project band with only five (non-Pelican length) songs appear in a set in this day and age? No one really seemed to know.
Soon enough One Win Choice set up, although I didn't know at the time. Evidently hail from NJ and have been around for a while. They seem very earnest, so it'd be wrong to clown them too hard, but I am kind of a dick, so: they were kinda silly. Strike Anywhere tattoos, bad logo that one guy (assumably the designer of said logo) had spray painted on his cab and tattooed on his calf and frontman moves cribbed Tim from Rise Against are not a recipe for good times for this guy, so I went home to realign my perspective. A couple of kids really seemed to dig them and their hearts do seem to be on the right place, so make your own call. Maybe you can throw it on when your Mom won't let you go to the Gaslight Anthem show cause it's a school night.
I got back to see a pretty good bit of Antillectual's set. They had been touring with One Win Choice (in the same van, even) for a couple weeks and ABC was the last stop on the tour before they went back to the Netherlands. Good, sort of of a better version of OWC, although the foreign factor does tend to skew bands towards to better end of things. They've been around for eight years and tour hard in their homeland. They definitely seem to have earned their following, although it was a fairly meagre turnout here in NYC. They are no Manifesto Jukebox, but if you'd like a crustier version of Strike Anywhere in a three-piece format, check them out.
Get Bent finally materialized next and judging by how the room filled up, they seem to be getting quite a name for themselves. Dave Bierling had told me about the demo and I enjoyed it a bunch, but always seemed to miss them when they played. I'm glad I finally caught them. Despite nearly inaudible vocals, they got the best response of the day playing the songs off their demo and maybe a new song. Good times from a band that really deserves to go places. Pick up their demo here and see them next week at Death By Audio with Lemuria.
This was Bridge and Tunnel's homecoming show. They had been out on the road for two months previous behind their No Idea debut and really tightened their shit up. I'm a little too negative for their relentless positivity, but they played a great set. Lots of delay and interplay with single note lines and dual vocals that almost approach a Jawbox vibe, or Rainer Maria on a really good night. I liked their record a bunch before and am definitely going to spin it a lot more after this set. They may be fresh off tour, but they aren't letting any rust settle as they too, are playing with Lemuria on 11/14, making this a show you should probably make it out to. The Steinways/Unlovables show is on Sunday, too, so get your rest. See you there.
R
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