The State Lottery - When The Night Comes

Of all the great records that I got from If You Make It in the last couple years, the debut record from The State Lottery was definitely one of the best. Cities We're Not From was a great slice of post-college indie rock based in rock of the classic variety, but in an entirely genuine fashion. The mixed gender franchise knocked it out of the park. The new record, When The Night Comes (which I'm ashamed to find escaped my radar when it came out last fucking Fall), ups the horn, and by proxy Springsteen, factor in the proceedings. Niki McUmber wields the brass for The State Lottery and kills pretty much every track she blows on. I'm pretty sure she's the female on Future Selves, and if that is the case, she may very well be MVP of the franchise.

And what a franchise it is. The Springsteen seed has grown anew in the gardens of The Hold Steady and Jason Anderson in recent history with good results. There is the companion hackneyed minstrel crap like The Asslight Anthem, but most of those that have drank of the Bruce juice have done so in a pleasing fashion. When TSL aren't making the big rock ala Springsteen and keep the horn at bay, they rock in a pleasant The Riot Before meets Superchunk sort of way that is pretty top-notch. I blew it and missed their set last week, but while you are taking the time to grab When The Night Comes over at If You Make It, check out the live footage from the Ridgewood show. Maybe think about dropping some coin for their good works. You can get vinyl over at Salinas. As the band members are spread to the four corner of the US, I would expect future shows are going to be scarce, but keep an eye here at the TSL web presence and hope they get back on the road or in the studio soon.

R

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

If You Make It demos, part five: The State Lottery

Yowza! Now here's a great fucking record. And let me point out from the onset that it's free. Evidently the parties that comprise The State Lottery are scattered between the outer boroughs of our fair city and the charmingly bucolic town of Detroit, Michigan. If the separation is what's keeping me from seeing The State Lottery live, I may have to personally sponsor a reunion. 

The State Lottery sound like a band that's moving out the back end of their punk phase into a more roots rock direction. Don't get me wrong, it's going to be a long time before anyone confuses The State Lottery with The Jayhawks, but you can hear the band champing at the bit to evolve. That said, there's nothing to complain about on Cities We're Not From. The faster stuff sounds like Potboiler or maybe early Buffalo Tom. It's a little cleaner than Birdbrain or records of that caliber, but whoever's writing the songs in The State Lottery is showing all the signs of being as much of a threat. Really. I'm not saying that The State Lottery are as good as Buffalo Tom were at this stage in the game, but I'm already salivating at the prospect of the next recording.

Get the record for free here. Leave a damn donation already.

You can buy it on vinyl (colored too, nerd) from the good folk of Salinas here

Stay tuned for more The State Lottery info and check out the web presence here.

R