Live: The State Lottery, Used Kids, Little Lungs, Thousandaires, The New Dress @ Lost & Found 2.19.9

First and foremost, let's all look to the left at the very comely flier created by the folks putting on this event. You'll notice the purported 8pm start time and the order of the bands. I can see thinking the 8 o'clock start time is a load of hooey, but I can personally attest that if I went to the to the totally wrong part of Brooklyn and arrived at, say 11:30. I might be taken aback, pissed even, to see the third band setting up, especially after all the signage outside said Lost and Found was called some sort of Alligator name.

So, sweaty and cranky, I locked up the bike and walked in to find Little Lungs setting up. I hadn't been all that impressed with them in the past and didn't figure I'd be having an epiphany at midnight on a school night, but I will definitely admit that the three-piece kinda brought it. They had been out on tour for a couple weeks recently (maybe with The Measure? If not, there sure were a lot of civilian Measure personnel out) and evidently brought a lot of Husker Du records with them in the van cause the ladies and gent channelled 80's Minneapolis admirably. The trio were tighter than I had ever seen them previously, and if Angie has always been fingertapping up a storm on that Les Paul of hers, I've really been giving Little Lungs a short shrift. I'm definitely going to scare up their records. Look out for a review soon.

Next up was, of course, the Used Kids. Cue cranky old man 'what the fuck?!?. Who cares if they were billed as the first band and that Thousandaires don't play all that often, change up that bill! To be fair, I thought Modern Machines were ok, and was happy to see that Nate had a new band after they went belly up. That fact that Mikey Erg and Kate Cheeky were involved in the garage-punk franchise only sweetened the pot, but I wanted to see some fucking Thousandaires and The Damn State Lottery. Unexpected or not, Used Kids were good. It's obvious that Nate and Danny are from the Figg-obsessed land of Wisconsin and the 1-2-3-4 parts were endearing, but I still wasn't pleased that another player in the game was being introduced, at midnight on a Thursday no less. I bet I'd like them more in different circumstances, but if you're intrigued you can keep tabs on Used Kids here.

At this point it was still up in the air as to whether The State Lottery were still playing. It soon became evident that they were, albeit at 1am. They set up in short order to a decent crowd, but one definitely down in numbers from the early part of the evening. I wondered if it was going to be one of my favorite eventualities: the rare performance from a once-great band that mars what passes for their legacy by playing a short, under-rehearsed set. Despite the admission that their first rehearsal had been earlier that day, it was great to see the Detroit/NYC five-piece making a racket again. They sound a lot like the best parts of Mid 90's DIY like Braid, embellished with keys and the odd sax part. While it was a great set, I don't believe this is going to mark a return for The State Lottery. You can, however, get a free copy of their record(ings) here from the fine folk of If You Make It. I strongly suggest that you do so.

R