f anyone is still operating under the tired assumption that the DC music scene lacks innovation and fresh voices, they clearly haven't met Edie Sedgwick. And while I've been a rather vocal cheerleader of local music for years, I myself hadn't had the pleasure of Ms. Sedgwick's company until last Thursday evening. So before I made my way down to Fort Reno, I decided to use my finely tuned Googling skills and do a little research. This is what I learned:

1) - Edie Sedgwick was Andy Warhol's premier muse/groupie. She died of an overdose at the age of 28. To many people she represents the epitome of decadence and fan-culture that blanketed New York City in Warhol's heyday.

2) - The DC band of the same name released their debut First Reflections , a postmodern critique of fan-culture, on Mud Memory Records in 2002. The first three tracks on the LP are named Faye Dunaway, Sean Connery, and Winona Ryder, respectively.

3) - The band consists of Ryan Hicks on drums and Justin Moyer on bass and vocals. They've been described as everything from standard drum and bass to experimental jazz, to post(ish)-punk(ish) mayhem. Oh, and Justin Moyer is a maniac.

What was unclear to me was how much of this was a joke. I'm still not sure. On the band's website (or manifesto) they explicitly declare it's no joke. And while he certainly could be called a maniac, Justin Moyer doesn't give much away. Most of us know him from El Guapo and Antelope. Some of you may know him from the Black Cat. But unless you're used to seeing him in three-inch silver heels, you probably didn't recognize him on Thursday night. The shoes were the first clue that led me to believe maybe this whole thing was a joke. I'm only half-kidding here because honestly, if one is going to make a critical statement about fame, fortune and the blind worship of celebrity, using the tarnished namesake of Edie Sedgwick as your conduit, wouldn't you want to dress the part? A glittered stretch-mini dress, silver Payless sandals and matching purse don't exactly scream art-rock superstar to me. But maybe that was the whole point.

 

Another thing that made me question the earnestness of this whole experiment was the absence of Ryan Hicks. Like I said, this was my first encounter with Ms. Sedgwick in person, so perhaps this is the usual setup and I'm just behind the times. At Fort Reno on Thursday it was just Moyer and an iPod. While the beats were there, the songs had a decidedly different sound than the tracks I'd heard online with a full drum kit and live bass. What I found was that these songs performed live come across much darker than I had expected. At times they were downright sinister. And if the look on the faces in the crowd was any indication, I don't think I was the only one ducking for cover.

But don't get me wrong - amongst the confusion and small amount of terror there were many moments of laughter. Moyer calls himself an entertainer and that's no lie. His deadpan delivery and business-like conduct made his shrift between-song banter all the more hilarious. He opened the set with, ?This is a song about redheads. I call it Molly Ringwald,? and the crowd was hooked. Moyer later introduced a song about the film Back To The Future (naturally called Michael J. Fox) with the grave warning, ?Boys, don't sleep with your mother.? If the music itself wasn't so disturbing, I might have laughed through the whole thing, all the way from Sean Connery to Sigourney Weaver. There's not really much more I can say about the music other than it was strangely catchy at times, with danceable beats amidst the noise. But given the choice, I'd much rather sidle right up to the stage and listen close to what Justin Moyer has to say about the poor monkey who ingested poisoned dates and suffered at the expense of Indiana Jones in a song titled Harrison Ford. And that's exactly what I did.

Yes, we have no bananas! Only bad dates! Only bad dates!

 

Brilliant.

Opening for Edie was Sentai, a fresh Dischord-family electro-punk band who released their debut I Am The Neverending Siren on their new upstart Troglodyte Records last year. Despite a few minor snags in the set, Sentai put on an impressive show and had quite a few fans present. The electronic gadgetry tended towards distracting at times but the real magnet of interest, lead vocalist Collin Crowe, managed to overcome that with a remarkable balance of explosive tension and infectious charm. If Crowe can maintain that level of energy, Sentai seem properly positioned to follow in the footsteps of their most notable influence, Black Eyes.

Last on the bill were James Canty and Jerry Busher, also known as French Toast . Every time I see or hear French Toast I get a little more comfortable with their music, but I still can't call myself a dedicated fan yet. It's a bit too downbeat for my taste. Still there's nothing much more satisfying than watching Jerry Busher at the kit, and Thursday night was no exception. There were moments of absolute clarity when he would settle into a groove and Canty would sway back and forth with his distorted chords. They clearly have a rare synergy that one can't help but respect. I'll just have to keep going to their shows and hope that one day it all clicks.

 

In the meantime, keep an eye out for a review and photos of the Ted Leo/Evens performance coming soon.