DC ROCK CLUB
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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Fore for Friday


The Beanstalk Library, The Jet Age, Kitty Hawk, and Brian Scary and the Shredding Tears at The Black Cat, 8/22/08

First things first, Potsy needs a new drink, just like Huey Lewis needed a new drug. I prefer gin and scotch. Jumboslice tends to go for beer. Jimbromski usually drinks beer, however he will more or less drink anything you put in front of him (Scotch, tequila, bourbon, Lysol, Aqua Velva..). Potsy, however, tends to drink more estrogen based beverages such as vodka and white wine. Before we went out last night, he was saying that he needs a new, more manly drink. One that would be easily accessible at most of the spots we frequent and relatively inexpensive. He did end up having a few Bourbon and gingers at the Black Cat, which I thought was good suggestion by the bartender. So, in the interest of Potsy, please suggest some more cocktails that you think he might enjoy that won't make him look like a complete puss. Now, onto the music.
I will keep this fairly brief, as it was a quiet Friday night and I really don't have a whole lot to say about this four band bill.
1. They sounded just fine, with kind of a Jayhawks, country thing going on.
2. There were only about 20 people in attendance when they kicked off (a little awkward for the mainstage)
3. Potsy commented that he would be happy if they played at a party he may (or may not) be throwing in the future.
4. Their last song sounded a bit like "Summer of 69'" by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.
Next up, The Jet Age:
1. They definitely brought more of the rock than the previous band.
2. The second to last song they played (sorry, I don't know all the song names) was very, very good, as was the final tune of their set.
3. I thought the bass player looked a bit like J. Mascis circa 2007.
4. Unfortunately, with the 4 bands and a late start, it seemed like their set was pretty short. I wouldn't mind checking them out again.
5. Eric (if you are reading this), I went looking for you after Kittyhawk to say hello, but I think you must have left already. Sorry.
Third band of the evening, Kitty Hawk:
1. Only saw a couple of songs, as we got stuck in a lame conversation at the bar with some young folks. One of the dudes had driven almost 2 hours up from Harrisonburg to see the headlining act Brian Scary and the Shredding Tears. We now even had lower expectations of said headliners.
2. I went out for a smoke, came back, and they were finished. I think they played for like 20 minutes. I was a bit disappointed, as this was a band that I had seen perform before at The Federal Reserve Collective, and thought their musical stylings would be right in Potsy's strike zone. Alas, a very lame conversation about Rosetta Stone (yes, the language helper) caused us to miss most of their set.
1. Fucking terrible.
2. They all wore matching jumpsuits. The lead singer looked a bit like shaggy haired Eric Bogosian with a touch of the douchebag lead singer of The Mooney Suzuki.
3. I can't really describe the music. Melodramatic, nerd-pop? They seemed like the type of band that would appeal to a college age audience that really didn't know a hell of a lot about music.
4. We stayed for 2 songs and then left.
All in all, a good night out. Got to see four bands for only $10 and enjoyed a few drinks at the bar. What more can you ask for on a lazy late summer evening in DC?

24 comments:

JetAgeEric said...

Yo! Sorry I missed you, Sack. We had to load out during Kitty Hawk's set, but I caught the end (and liked it a lot), so I'm not sure why we didn't hook up.

Bass playin' Greg shared your Beanstalk-Jayhawks thoughts. The folks in that band are super pleasant and would be good for a party (Beanstalk; I don't know the Jayhawks).

Glad our set was entertaining. We kinda handicapped our set, as we tried some of our b material, thinking it might go over better with the BL audience. I now feel like a dirty sell out. The last few songs are my favorites, and they close out the new record; they're titled "False Idols" and "Maybe Love's a Transmission." They can be heard here: http://thejetage.net/ecard/. Dick around; you'll figure it out.

A fan of ours shared your thoughts on Bryan Scary. My own thoughts are more charitable, but I have no idea how guys who make such wacky, busy music can attract so many hotties in cocktail dresses. God bless 'em; they were really nice guys.

I like playing longer sets, but we're so frequently the "headliners" at our shows that I'm always thrilled when we can open for someone, the tradeoff being a shorter set. We're playing Dahlak on 9/27, and, while we're doing a 30-minute set at 10:30, we're playing our asses off in a second, midnight set. However, that place is tiny, and I'm not so sure how that's gonna work out since we're so loud. Anyhow, assuming no one pulls the plug on us, we'll be stretching our legs at that show, and it's free. We're also playing a GREAT bill at RNR Hotel on 10/17, but that'll be another short set.

Thanks for coming out; I'm sorry we didn't get to hang. -E

PS I'm totally down with bourbon and ginger (thanks, Dad!). Gin and tonics aren't particularly girly, are they? Me, I like beer.

Jimbromski said...

Potsy's new drink:

1 jigger good times
4 1/2 dashes of fun
1 oz of friendship

shake well with group of good pals
mix with exciting, fun music scene
garnish with romantic adventures
drink
repeat as necessary







oh wait, I forgot one ingredient
puree with sheet of 45 tabs of acid

G. L. Naut said...

bourbon ginger is pretty much the official drink of the rockist society, so, you know, it's totally manly.

Anonymous said...

Start ordering drinks neat, and get belligerent about it. As in, "I'd like a scotch, neat. Yeah, you heard me right. I said neat." That's my advice for Potsy to man up on the drink front.

I've got a Brian Scary story of sorts. I saw them about a year ago at D9. About six months later, they send out an email pleading for money from us to help them get home, because their instruments got stolen in LA, and blah, blah, blah, they couldn't get back to New York. I thought that was pure balls.

Anonymous said...

I suggest he suck on a pair of hairy balls dipped in rubbing alcohol.

Jimbromski said...

then he can pluck a pube from the sack and floss with it

Potsy said...

I dunno know, I'm already thin and "neat," not that there's anything wrong with that...

How did Brian Scary get your email address? Perhaps they need a link to state farm.

Anonymous said...

Clearly if Sack was at all knowledeable about music, he'd be a fan of Bryan Scary. The three encores they received at the end of the night obviously puts him in the minority.

Potsy said...

Sack is actually no dummy when it comes to music. I don't think knowledge = appreciation.

Three encores sounds like three piss breaks to me.

Jumbo Slice said...

Bryan Scary may be the new Telograph. Can we get a Bristol Stool Rating?

I checked out BS on MySpace. They're nothing special.

Anonymous said...

You are finally at the same show as Kitty Hawk and you don't even listen to them? Lame E-Money (i'm letting you borrow the $ from my nickname), lame.

Potsy said...

Yeah, C$. I tried, but Mr. Rosetta Stone was chatty. What I did hear of Kitty Hawk, I liked. I also ventured up to the front to get a good look/listen.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely call Sack, Potsy and Jumbo Slice's musical credibility, knowledge and taste into question when they clearly can't appreciate classic bands like Queen, Beatles, ELO, T Rex, Alice Cooper, Genesis and Frank Zappa. All these groups are consistently used by critics (who actually get paid for their opinions) when referring to Bryan Scary. Seems to me like y'all just like to hate for the fun of it, and it really discredits this site in a big way.

Jumbo Slice said...

Jimbromski will be happy to hear his credibility is intact. Good work, Jimbro.

Jimbromski said...

yeah, why wasn't I included in that?

JetAgeEric said...

Am I E money? If so, I saw three Kitty Hawk songs, loved 'em, would've seen more but THE CLUB, which was paying me, asked me to get my shit out of there so they could use the elevator to schlep gear. Sorry.

If you're the same "anonymous" who claims comparisons to Alice Cooper, Queen, and Frank Zappa somehow make you good, apology retracted. -E

Anonymous said...

Different anonymous...

I guess I need to clarify here. Never said comparisons "make you good," as you wrote. That is a pretty ridiculous causal relationship. I said the band is initially good, and then they receive those comparisons to legendary artists from professional critics as proof that they are good. Can't have B before A.

Also, since you are a musician, I can't help but be shocked that you are anti-Cooper, Queen, and Zappa. It is one thing to have a personal preference and not enjoy their music, but it is another to not recognize Rock and Roll Hall of Fame caliber artists. It makes you come across as foolish. Love it or hate it, Queen Zappa, and Cooper are unequivocally three of the most influential and talented rock musicians ever. That is Rock 'n Roll 101.

JetAgeEric said...

If I don't enjoy it, if it doesn't move me then, in my book, it's not good. And yet you're saying citation of the disputed acts is "proof" of goodness. Just because some critics say Bryan Scary (who I enjoyed) sounds like a bunch of big-time bands doesn't mean other people have to like 'em.

We get compared (favorably) to the Who all the time. The Who are indubitably more important and influential than every band mentioned above save the Beatles; does that mean everyone has to like us? -E

PS I'd argue Queen, Frank Zappa, and certainly Alice Cooper are not that influential. Zappa was too esoteric and difficult to be widely copied (or appreciated); Queen were an obvious outgrowth of Bowie, Tomorrow, and the Move and thus originated little (despite writing some good tunes); and Alice Cooper had, like, two hits of tuneless silliness. Having said that, I still love the Bighlander soundtrack.

Anonymous said...

I think you are missing my point. I never said everyone has to like those bands (or even Bryan Scary). I did imply that people who are trying to professionally critique music should recognize the worth, quality, and importance of those bands, regardless of personal preference.

It is clear to me that the writers of this website can't recognize the merit of these classic groups because if they did, then they would write, "I get what Bryan Scary is going for, but it isn't for me." Instead, they clearly prove that they lack musical intelligence and taste by referencing Mooney Suzuki and confessing that they couldn't even describe the band's style of music. They also admit to only witnessing two songs. It makes them sound like a complete joke and they shouldn't be wasting people's time with their baseless opinions.

Jumbo Slice said...

"They shouldn't be wasting people's time with their baseless opinions" - I think we have our new tagline! Thanks Mr. Scary!

Anonymous said...

Glad to be of service. But honestly, prove me wrong Jumbo.

-Not Mr. Scary...but wish I was!

Potsy said...

I only need one teaspoon of vinegar to know I don't want to drink the whole bottle. Same goes for some music (not all). Two songs may be enough to do the trick.

I like Queen. I like the Beatles. I like ELO, T Rex, and Genesis a little. I don't care for Alice Cooper or Frank Zappa. And I didn't think Bryan Scary was very interesting.

I can recognize the worth, quality, and importance of those bands listed above just fine, but because someone else mentions them in the same sentence as Bryan Scary (citation needed, BTW) it doesn't mean Bryan Scary has anything close to the worth, quality, and importance of those other artists. That seems pretty obvious.

This isn't Music Appreciation 101, professor, it's a blog where we give our opinions, baseless or otherwise. We didn't much care for Bryan Scary, and nothing you say is going to change that very simple fact.

JetAgeEric said...

I'll leave after this (you can reach me at info@thejetage.net), but I think you're missing my point, anonymous: Just because you and some critics enjoy the aforementioned bands (and I've never heard of a critic who actually enjoyed Alice Cooper, but that doesn't mean there isn't one)doesn't mean that others need to recognize those bands as meritorious. There is no group think, no agreement to a baseline. SOME people like those bands, others do not. "Worth, quality, and importance" are not empirical absolutes. For example, I don't "value" most of the bands you cite because they are "worth" nothing to me and thus are not "importan[t]" to me.

Saying DCRC isn't offering much in the way of a critical service is one thing (very little context offered, only heard two songs, have readership that freaks out when the Jet Age is compared to the Thermals), although why you would come to their blog to say you don't like their blog, I dunno. (I would argue that you're getting what you paid for.)However, your original complaint was that the men of DCRC are poor critics because they didn't at least give BS et al. credit for sounding like other bands that you and some critics compare them to, and that's ridiculous. I don't know one person who would be excited to hear that a band was compared to Alice Cooper or Queen. Not one. I'm not saying there aren't people who WOULD be excited, but the point is that not everybody is impressed by such a comparison, and you would do well to make peace with that. Here's the bottom line:

You say DCRC's opinion is baseless; not true: it's BASED on their taste in music. Having heard music before, the DCRC heared BS and decided they did not like what they heard. They formed an opinion. You clearly don't share their taste, but it's okay, because, trust me, BS&TST are NOT worried about this. -E

Anonymous said...

I'll wrap it up as well, since I've so far avoided doing all of my work.

For Potsy's citation request, I lifted a few quotes from the band's facebook page.

“Bryan Scary put on one of the most impressive live shows I’ve seen in quite awhile. Do yourself a favor and give this a listen.”
- FILTER Magazine

"[Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears] revives everything you love about psychedelic pop..."
-NY Post

"Fans of early Genesis, ELO, Yes, Beatles and Frank Zappa will play this over and over. A truly excellent album that is an easy nominee for best of 2008 so far."
-Powerpopaholic

So Potsy & Co, I was never trying to change your opinion on the band. I know you don't like them, and that's not what bothers me. What gets under my skin is that you guys think you are music critics, but missed the mark on this review by a mile! By not being able to atleast identify the genre of music that they were performing or suggest any similar artists, seriously calls into question your right to bash them the way you did. And please don't tell me that you are just a couple of guys having fun on a silly ole website. BS&TST are a pretty easy band to hate, but atleast justify it appropriately for christ sakes.


Thanks for the argument, E. I respect a lot of your points. Good luck with the band, and I hope you found it as fun to argue as I did. Go check out Killer or Billion Dollar Babies man!