DC ROCK CLUB
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Friday, May 30, 2008

Look at Dat: Wine And Revolution


I'm still working on a name for my series featuring Austin bands. For now I'm going with "Look At Dat" since I found Arnold's commentary on the Conan DVD so inspiring. So who are we looking dat this week? Wine and Revolution.

Wine and Revolution plays retro flavored garage rock a la The Black Lips (minus the spitting, gold teeth, and mustache). They only have a couple songs posted online but so far they're two for two. That means they can fuck up their next three songs and still be batting .400. Not bad. This weekend they play with Poor People and Selenese at Lamberts. I haven't heard of either of those bands and didn't even realize Lamberts existed until I saw it on W&R's site. I'm heading to the show with an open mind and actually have high hopes. Then again, after 10 sleep deprived days with a newborn baby I'm happy to be leaving the house at all.

Check our Wine and Revolution's video for "Trees" and let me know what you think:



While the video production isn't groundbreaking (still better than our Pitchfork videos last year), the song is top notch. I especially like the whistling solo, one my favorite musical gimmicks. Assuming Wine and Revolution plans to record in the near future, I implore them to use each of these gimmicks on their first record:

The Whistle - Not whistling, but a whistle. Like NBA refs use. W&R needs to go G&R, like Axl did on "Paradise City". One loud whistle is all you need. Or they could just stick to plain old whistling like Peter Bjorn and John on "Young Folks" [Malapropism Alert: I once referred to them as Peter, Bjorn and Borg]

Talking in the Middle of a Song - David Lee Roth (gay or not gay?) was the king of this: "I heard you missed us, we're back!" or "you reach down, between my legs, ease the seat back..."

The Hand Clap - Many examples of this but I always liked the hand claps on "Naturally" by DC's own Middle Distance Runner:


Air Raid Siren - Public Enemy used this to great effect on "Countdown To Armageddon". Also used to great effect by dozens of minor league hockey sound technicians.


Accompanying Hand Gestures - add a line to a song that gets people involved during a live show. The Dismemberment Plan mastered this on "Back and Forth" which made the people at their shows raise their hands in the air like they just didn't care.

Name Check - It cracks me up when indie bands name refer to themselves in the third person like they're gangsta rappers or something. Fujiya & Miyagi repeat their name over at the beginning of their Transparent Things album. The Dismemberment Plan describe their rise as mega moguls on "The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich". BTW, it's no secret I'm a big D-Plan fan and this gimmicks list is starting to make me realize why.

The Cowbell - it's cliche at this point but some songs do need more cowbell. However, that does not give you the right to yell "More Cowbell!!!" at a show. That's about to take over "Freebird!!" on the List of Things Douchebags Yell at Concerts. Don't be that guy.

So there you have it. Another stellar Austin band and I've even given them the keys to a monster first album.

3 comments:

Jumbo Slice said...

I think "raise their hands in the air like they just didn't care" is the whitest thing I've ever written.

Well, at least it's spelled correctly...

KCG said...

I think that the sound of dial up internet logging on should be on your list.

KCG said...
This comment has been removed by the author.