Spooky music with your parents, perhaps?
First tonight at 10pm it’s The Keep Calm (preparing you for a scarry weekend with your family by reminding you of their name….) and A Streetcar Named Funk at Sigma Chi, 33 Lynwood Place. Sig Chi just became my favourite frat. Thanks, bros for supporting our music scene, bra.
The Keep Calm goes on at 10pm. The band features Alexander Bae BR ’14 (vocals, guitar, piano), John Cocco JE ’14 (drums), Kenneth Crouch ’14 (bass), and Ishan Sinha BR ’14 (guitar).
Their chill sound, fun riffs and collegiate lyrics are bound to leave calming melodies ringing in your heads for the duration of the weekend. Fweewwh.
Songs are always scarier when they’re funky.
A Streetcar Named Funk will bust out four fresh, original songs within a 12-song set as it takes the stage at 10:45. The band features some talented solo musicians; we’ll see how they all come together.
Michael Blume ’12 (vocals), Nathan Prillaman JE ’13 (bass), Andi Zhou JE ’13 (keys), Zach Simao JE ’13 (drums), Will Moritz TC ’12, tenor saxophonist extraordinaire Alyssa Hasbrouck MC ’14 (alto sax...lol), Tim Gladding SY ’13 (euphonium), Grant Phelps JE ’14 (tenor sax), Nathaniel Meyer SY ’13 (trumpet) will take the stage.
Then tomorrow at 378 Crown, 9:30 pm, things are going to get really spooky.
Think a Halloween party + parents hosted by Ghost Town the Deadest Town in America.
More on this tomorrow.
Are you scared yet?
Z
If you’re reading this, then you clearly value music on campus (or maybe you just think I’m cute and funny…or maybe I forced you to), so going to this show should be a matter of principle — of respect for the three individuals who have given you something to do with your Saturday night that enriches your musical side.
Principles aside you are clearly going to this show for its content as well.
You already know that Plume Giant is amazing. So I don’t need to tell you how their well-crafted three-part vocal harmonies sustain and release tension so that you can almost taste the dissonances, how the high energy fiddle solos and well-grounded guitar parts move the songs effortlessly along, or how this campus loves Eliza, Nolan and Oliver as musicians, as patrons of the arts, and as people.
So I’m going to talk about Carline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps now.
This group is a lot of fun to listen to and a tasteful example of genre mixing. I’m not certain how their electronic and new wave aspects will translate to Underbrook’s setting, but the show should bring out their folkier elements. It’s clean, fun music that will keep you interested.
Bands go on at 8 in Saybrook entryway H. Don’t miss a second.
See you soon,
Z
Some of the tracks, such as Teahouse Treehouse, are really fun and creative. The joyful, childlike lyrics describing the treehouse "though it's really not that high, it's somewhere to go," with upbeat rhythms will put a smile on your face.
But this childlike cheer sometimes feels as if it goes too far. In "Oh Willow! (Why Wallow!)" the lyrics tell a story of a dream, an interesting principle. But during the dream, the cheery piano riff and exciting lyrics become cliché and tounge-in-cheek almost to the point where the listener feels like s/he is at the circus (not that there's anything wrong with circuses...). When the dream ends, the sadness that insues is also cliché (but at the other end of the spectrum.) Overall, it's a fun song with some creative and humorous images but a bit over the top. I'd like some unconventional chords thrown into the mix.
The most memorable song on the album for me is one I remember liking at lot in concert last year—"Heartache."
The sixtenth notes in the keyboard, dramatic chords, and emotional vocals bring power to the music that surpasses that of other tracks. Lyrics such as "heartache, don't come near me...longing, your days are numbered," present a vivid and very real emotional process: coping. The song also has a nice, punchy ending after some longer, sustained lines.
