BigYawn

It isn’t off you see bands singing in foreign languages at the Black Cat. It really isn’t often that you see bands singing in different languages at the Black Cat within three days of each other. And when the languages are Hebrew and Russian? I knew that “2012″ movie had some merits!

No offense to Fools Gold(302), but tonight was all about the Russians. And they were everywhere. I only saw a handful of people speaking English, and the place looked near packed. I guess it makes sense, given that this is DC, and the ex-Cold War spies recognized DC has nicer winters than Moscow. And, the place was chock-full of Russian stereotypes: cash, blonds and bling. It didn’t matter what the dudes were wearing, (t-shirts, sweats, Armani) they had ridiculous shoes. And by ridiculous I don’t necessarily mean nice looking, just very noticeable.

True story, I once worked at a place selling newsletters to various entities, and one was the Russian Defense Attache. On top of always coming to the office and paying in cash (and hitting on my boss) the Russians had the weirdest voice mail greetings. I left a VM about “having the stuff they wanted,” and promptly got called by the FBI to chat about what I was giving the Russians. And this was in 2000! Who said the Cold War was over?

Ru Parasan(304) seemed like straightforward Russian rock. Due to parking issues (do the Russians all drive separately?) I only caught a few songs from them, and can’t say I was either blown away or disappointed.

Mumiy Troll(305) on the other hand, were pretty memorable. Front man Ilia Lagutenko is obviously the driving force and biggest personality behind the band. He moves around the stage almost in a prance, and his lyrics are sung in an almost whimsical style. While I do not understand Russian, it was easy to like the songs as they were very hook heavy, and the crowd was most definitely in love with Ilia and the band.

Besides Gorky Park and T.A.T.U. I was unfamiliar with Russian music in general, so this was an interesting treat. Especially because this qualifies as “indie” music in Russia. At one point Ilia played from what looked to be a full sized melodica, something I had never seen before. The band is also behind a lot of “left” causes in the motherland as well, making them a natural success to American ears. And take it from someone whose attendance at the show likely added another page to his FBI record, definitely a band worth checking out.

Let’s talk about a train wreck. This was one of the shows this year where I knew almost nothing about the bands involved. If I had, I might have thought twice about going.

I walked in while Local Natives(301) were on stage, and I was immediately hit by their resemblance to a full-out offshoot of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir, circa 1975. The mustaches, the cut-off sweatshirts, the hair, all of it spoke to bath houses and Harvey Milk. The music wasn’t half bad , as their three or four part harmonies reminded of of some of Band of Horses more out there material. (Ed. Note: I have no idea what the sexual persuasions are of Local Natives, the views here were simply describing their appearance and are not to be taken as slander in any way shape or form)

Fools Gold(302), on the other hand, did not remind me of anything quite as nice. I haven’t the slightest idea what exactly this band was going for, but the end result was more than just a little strange. Another large group of men — eh? — the band seemed to be influenced by various world music artists, David Byrne among them. Oddly, the lead singer wears a white suit as well, long after Labor day I might add. One major difference from, say, David Byrne, is that all the band’s songs are sung in Hebrew. Something you just don’t see everyday.

Besides that, they more or less sounded like a bad jam band. Obviously, that made me happy.

When I saw that this show sold out, I was a little confused. Mostly because I had no idea who the Hell Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros(303) were. As it turns out, this is all some weird made-up side-project of the lead singer from Ima Robot. This Edward Sharpe character is supposed to be some sort of spiritual leader. Yeah, I hate this stuff. And I hate this put together band of awkward hippes. “Edward” came out on stage, proclaiming to want to make love to everyone in the room. Everyone on stage seemed drunk or high, and they all danced around like the dirty hippies they are.

There must have been at least 10 people on stage, and while I didn’t like the music much, or the stupid shtick, what bothered me most is that even though the band got on stage over 20 minutes late and they still took 10 minutes in between each song to ramble on and decide what song they were going to play next. This act got old very, very fast. The music might have been better than I remembered it, but I was so overcome with the stage antics I couldn’t think straight. Still have absolutely no idea how the show sold out, or why all these people were so excited to see them. Damn cults.

(Ed. Note: While the above review would suggest I dislike the city of San Francisco, gay men and hippies, quite the contrary. I only hate hippies.)

You are forgiven if you aren’t familiar with Slumberland Records, but that doesn’t excuse you from not liking the music put out by the label. Oldies like the Aislers Set and Velocity Girl, and newbies like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart(21) are nearly impossible not to like, at least in parts if not completely. The formerly based in DC now Oakland record label is celebrating 20 years in the business, and doing a couple of shows to really celebrate. Unfortunately, none of the above bands participated, at least not in the DC version. I mean, the bands we got were ok, but, I had hopes for a special guest or two. Does this make me a bad person?

Nord Express(295) were old school Slumberland, and I only caught a little bit of their short set. Seven bands means 20 or 30 minute sets, tops. But Mike Schulman himself sat in on a song. Oh yeah, he kinda runs the label.

Brown Recluse(296) were next, and sort of sounded like the band from that movie, “That Thing You Do.” While not entirely a compliment, they were ok to listen to, and I appreciated their joking nature, and the trumpet. Very underused instrument outside of ska bands.

Frankie Rose and the Outs(297), playing their first show ever, apparently, were next. Frankie is late of Vivan Girls and Crystal Stilts(153). I like this band even less than the other two she was in. Too much chanting and awkward reverb. I appreciate it was their first show, but, ugg.

The somewhat recently back together Lorelei(298) then came on. Aside from the awkward vocals, their short set rocked. Their combination of straight out rock guitars and hooks make them impossible not to like. Lots of energy, which was also a nice boost after Frankie and co.

The also reformed Ropers(299) were next, and I admit, I didn’t know one thing about them. But, after listening to a couple of their songs they might have been my favorite act of the night. Apparently the guys got together just for these reunion shows, which is admirable. Sadly though, I may never get a chance to hear more from these fuzzy power-popsters.

Closing out the night for me was Pants Yell!(300), who play more power pop, though their music was heavier on the bass than anything else. I left before Crystal Stilts(153), cause, well, see my review on them.

No surprise, the night was great, and filled with bands with dorky front men with glasses. When I mentioned this to my GF, she said the only difference between me and them was that I was taller. I hope that means that someday I can record a record for Slumberland. This show was also a large milestone on my way to conquering the world, er, seeing 333 bands this year. Show #100 and band #300. It almost seems real now. Almost.