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This is The Tint's record release party, and they are playing as I walk in. For my very first impression of them, the drummer mungs up the beat pretty badly. These proves to be simple bad luck, as he's actually really good: fast, solid, intricate, and creative. There are some deeply cool rhythms in these songs. I like the singer's voice, which nags at me by sounding a lot like someone, but I have no idea who. The music itself is kind of weird; I can't get the guitar to make sense to me, somehow, and the keyboardist is doing freaky things that don't really fit with the rest of the music. But in a good way.
The Charms, of course, kick all manner of ass. Ellie's voice sounds kind of rough tonight, like maybe she has a cold along with everyone else in Boston. It's really impressive how well the roughness works with her sound. Kat's vocals and keyboard are mixed too low, or maybe it's just that the bass is mixed too high. At least all that bass makes for a fat, propulsive sound. I think Joe's guitar leads, always brilliant, have gotten even better with Meeker giving him better drums to play off; he does a few subtle, simple things with rhythm tonight that just floor me. I can't wait for the new record.
Coming right after The Charms, Fooled By April initially sound really wussy to me, but this band has a way of winning me over. Their songs are just so damned beautiful, and written around such fabulous hooks, that I can't seem to not enjoy them. The lead guitar is mixed really high tonight, which gives them a more rockin' edge than I've seen them have before. There is a Cheap Trick cover, which sounds really great in their hands. (Unfamiliar with the Cheap Trick ouevre, I initially suspect that the total cheeseball key-change in the middle is a little musical joke, but Tom assures me it's absolutely faithful to the original.) The place kind of clears out as people try to catch the last train, and in fact we had planned to leave a little early, but we stay until the end.
