Monkey House Mashups

(Editor's Note: The following comes in from factory fresh Solid State blogger Marc Scarano. This is only his second post. So I promise I'll stop introducing him soon. Anyway, the floor's all yours, Marc -DB)

Here are a few impressions from Friday night at the Monkey House. In order of appearance (as well as the number of band members):

1. Ryan Power- If I had to come up with a mashup to describe Ryan Power's sound, it would be Flaming Lips vs. Frank Zappa. On whippets. He's like a slacker rapper, taking the stage by himself and singing along to pre-recorded music. Despite the karaoke format, I enjoyed his set.

2. The Vacant Lots- Lou Reed vs. Moe Tucker, in a death cage match. But they're on the same team, fighting against a giant sitar. That's what they sounded like. They kind of reminded me of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, but with good songs. Ouch!

3. The Cush- Neil Young vs. My Bloody Valentine, with a touch of The Breeders. The spacey modern Breeders, not the punky old Breeders. They take it slow, using the space between the notes as much as the notes themselves. Male and female voices blend nicely in the mix. Guitarist Burette Douglas has a secret weapon: a big black magic box on a stool in front of him that he was plugged into. I'm not even sure what that thing does. But his guitar sounded really cool, at times all trippy and echoed, and other times just thick and nasty. It's hard for a band to live up to the hype surrounding them. But for me The Cush did.

Comments

[gd]

that big black box isnt so magic.
its called a tape echo. it does sound great.
gaby had a big black box too called a roland space echo.
keys to the cush sound.

i was really impressed by cody's drumming too.
he had a great energy that is oftentimes lacking in drummers.