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The Pisces is a pretty minimal project: two strings, one voice. (Well, six strings, but they're spread out among three different instruments and only two get played at any given time.) The two-string chords prove to be surprisingly interesting, with lots of fine, crunchy distortion layered on top for good tone. Elio has a nice voice, low and warm and smooth, but he sounds very nervous for the first several songs and the guitar completely overpowers his singing. He does relax after a while, but the mix is still off. (Turning the guitar down for part of one song helps a lot, then it's turned back up and resumes drowning out the singing.) We get a lot of covers and a few originals, and the songs themselves sound good, though again, it's hard to hear the vocal melodies.
Carlisle Sound are a strange band. Their configuration is a standard four-piece, and any given part of a song has a mellow, pop-rock sort of sound. Several people mention The Byrds as a reference point. The thing that makes it odd and sets it apart is that these are sort of Frankensongs; each one seems to comprise chunks of several different mellow, pop-rock songs jammed unceremoniously together. The transitions are very abrupt, and not all sound entirely intentional, but the jarring effect keeps them from seeming bland or predictable. I also like the way one guitar tends to shadow the bass line in octaves, while the other wanders around in between.
Up last are Lady of Spain. Ironically, in a place with no sound person, no monitors, and nearly no sound system, they have the best mix I've heard from them. I can hear everything. The virtuoso dual lead vocals, whether sung with delicate vulnerability or screamed with terrifying intensity. The wonderful, dissonant guitar washes and the weird, spikey leads that occasionally cut through them. And the rhythm section, rarely obtrusive but always tight and supple, and often driving and fascinating. There's not a lot of melodic hook to these songs, and often they don't give me a sense of going anywhere. And usually, that aimless feeling bothers me, but with this band, it's more like being in a dark, smoky, comfortable space and being content to lie around there, at least until the drums pick up and get all urgent again.
