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Like all the bands on tonight's bill, Pickax is a three-piece. The singing is a little rough and screamy when I walk in, and the guitar is way too quiet, but the drummer is excellent and the (loud) bass is the driving force of the song, with an intricate, melodic line. Then the bassist and guitarist/singer switch roles. This singer has a smoother, more melodic voice, but he's a bit wobbly. Most interesting to me, he also plays a fairly simple rhythm guitar part while the bass continues to be the great melodic element, a pattern that holds up throughout the set, even as they switch back again. I quite like it. Their last song takes four tries to actually start, but once they do it goes smoothly.
The next band is called This Band Is Called The You. They are from Pittsburgh. They are a loud, sunny pop band. (I originally mis-typed "pup band," which may have been a tad Freudian, as they look very young.) As such, they're an odd fit for tonight's bill, but they make a nice change. Also, the guitarist uses a lot of really dirty, screamy distortion for some of his chords, which balances the pretty, catchy vocal melodies well. And they seem really touchingly happy to have our attention.
Paper Thin Stages have put this bill together. They are new to trio-hood, having recently lost their second guitarist. The bad news about this is that he was also their main backup singer; the lead singer is perhaps trying to be a bit more melodic to compensate, but his primary mode is a mixture of shout-singing and spoken word, so that side of their sound has gotten a bit thin. The good news is that their bassist is so creative and interesting that one guitarist and the drummer provide more than enough instrumental excitement to set off his intricate lines and fat, crunchy chords. The other good news is that the new songs (presumably written for this configuration, rather than adapted to it) are better, and one ("Lucius Boone," I think?) is outstanding.
Last up are Tristan Da Cunha, for whom I am running out of superlatives. I love this band so wholeheartedly that, with the finest of teeth on my comb, I can pick no nits. They start with the explosively weird and wonderful "World of Rubber," there's a wacky cover called something like "Wonder Dog," (I don't recognize it, but it has to be a cover, because the rhythm and song structure are all too simple and straightforward to be a Tristan song.) and, just for me, they drag out an old song that I've never heard them do, and it's mind-blowingly good, shake-your-head-and-laugh grade stuff. This they follow up with a fierce cover of "Sonic Reducer"! Then it's the old switcheroo, with Ernie on drums and Steve on guitar, because it's not enough that they each be superhumanly awesome on ONE instrument. The show ends with Steve on his back on the floor playing a ridiculous guitar solo, and me screaming my fool head off.
