White Rabbits Return From Their Hole
White Rabbits/Holly Miranda/Ravens & Chimes
Mercury Lounge 2.18.09
On Wednesday night, the White Rabbits played their first of two nights at Mercury Lounge. Opening with a phenomenal cover of Iggy Pop's "Nightclubbing", White Rabbits followed with their best song, the infectious "The Plot." After that great 1-2 punch, they followed with a load of new tunes that confirmed that their next record, "It's Frightening" (out May 19) is gonna be great. Never once did their set lag. Recording with Spoon's Britt Daniels seems to have influenced their sound a bit, as some of the new songs definitely showed hints of Spoon.
Ravens & Chimes took the stage first on Wednesday and immediately proved that they were no ordinary opener. Destined to be the type of well-respected headliner that White Rabbits are becoming, the young band played a tight confident set of soaring indie pop rock that would comparably fall between Bright Eyes and Arcade Fire.
Holly Miranda and her band followed. It was the second time in less than a week that I was lucky enough to catch the adorable siren. Apparently only their third show as a band, they sounded even better than they did at Southpaw a few nights earlier. Miranda's sweetly seductive voice was totally mesmerizing.
All three bands are local, and will surely be playing around town many more times, so be on the lookout because they're all definitely worth catching.
The Forms Cover Billy Joel at Soundfix
The Forms
Soundfix 2.20.09
It's not every night you get to see The Forms cover Billy Joel. In fact, Friday night's performance of "We Didn't Start the Fire" was probably the first and last time the Brooklyn trio will ever perform Billy Joel live. Prior to the song, which ended their special "acoustic" set at Sound Fix, singer Alex Tween joked that he probably should have written the lyrics down, but luckily he was able to withstand the song's overwhelming lyrical challenges for a great performance. Not only did this cover make this a memorable show, but with guitarist James Fowler out of town, drummer Matt Walsh took guitar duties, while Chris Pressler of The Limbs filled in on drums.
The Forms next show is on March 7 at Dead Herring with Dinowalrus, Boogie Boarder, Bachelor of Arts, and Real Estate. Just don't expect to hear "We Didn't Start the Fire."
The cover song can be found on the Guilt By Association vol. 2 compilation.
This concert was also one of the final performances at the Sound Fix Lounge. Marissa Nadler will play the last ever concert at Sound Fix on February 28th.
Farewell Get Him Eat Him
Get Him Eat Him
Union Hall 2.21.09
At Union Hall on Saturday night, five-piece indie rockers Get Him Eat Him played what they announced would be their final show. The band was in good spirits, joking between songs, and energetically playing both their more familiar tracks from the catchy "Arms Down" as well as a new EP, "The Throat is Bent". Singer/guitarist Matt LeMay even mentioned that some of the new songs were being played for the first and last time. Midway through their set, they may have been easily mistaken for the Gin Blossoms, when they pulled of an excellent cover of the band's 90s hit.
The night made for a good farewell to one our better local bands. While your chances to see them live are likely over, I recommend checking out their records and new ep, which play like an extra catchy version of early Wrens.
The Throat is Bent is available at online at AmieStreet.com for just $3.
