Your Greatest Moment, Quiet Game Starting Now, June Breaks Bright, and We Will Have Our Night @ Elmira Cabin, 8/8/10

(T-B: Your Greatest Moment, Quiet Game Starting Now, June Breaks Bright) Yes, even snobby little indie hipster pricks like myself can indulge in a bit of guilty-pleasure fist pumpin' once in a while. I recently went out to the tiny, Stephen King-ish town of Elmira (near Fairfield and Vacaville) to see a group of pop punk, emo, and screamo bands with some crazy lesbian friends of mine. While the music wasn't quite as interesting as the scene or the cute boys, it was still a fun night.

Man In Space debut EP review

MAN IN SPACE
Man in Space - EP
* * * *




I’m used to surprises, but when I heard that Dizzy Balloon members Jonny Flannes (guitar), Raphael Peterson (bass), and Louie Diller (drums) were starting a side-project, I wasn’t expecting anything that strayed too far from their main project’s theatrical pop-rock. The single “Home Sweet Home” did little to change this expectation. But after buying their EP and witnessing a set at Bottom of the Hill that made Mr. Bungle look tame, I found out in the most exhilarating way possible that these guys are a different story whatsoever.

It’s clear from the first track on Man In Space’s debut EP that they’re trying to screw with something. All the tracks are, at their roots, fairly conventional funk-influenced power-pop songs (some don’t even try to hide it). On top of it, they add bizarre sequences, particle-collider production spasms, and a bit of Dizzy Balloon’s Broadway-rock drama. The result is a rich soup of progressive lunacy that is never dull, sometimes disturbing, and always hilariously weird.

There are a number of potential flies in the band’s ointment. One is Flannes’ voice--his childlike falsetto almost always sounds goofy, whether it wants to or not. The other is the vestiges of Dizzy Balloon, whose bombastic power-rock often permeates the cosmic excursions on the album. But through a combination of funk swagger and their own weirdness, they surpass all of these and use them to propel their music even further into outer space.

The album starts with “Exposition,” the rare track that feels like an intro but could stand as a great pop song by itself. The tune is a mind-melting blur of squid-rubbery sequencers, menacing Krautrock organs, and drunk-punk-funk THX harmonies. It feels like the soundtrack to a scene in a movie where a drug dealer chases a Teletubby through zero gravity on a giant inflatable dolphin.

“Memoir” is the most unapologetically conventional song on the album. It’s trippy, of course--its sound-collage breakdown and weird lyrics about... I still have no idea..., but it’s essentially a power-pop song, and not a bad one either. “Poison” and “Home Sweet Home” are the singles, and they could not be more different from each other. “Poison” sounds like early Radiohead filtered through a layer of Sopwith Camel and served hot in a saucepan. “Home Sweet Home” is much more Dizzy Balloon-ish, and it works well as a single or an interlude. Its cheery melody is pleasantly kiddie, and I can imagine the band members singing this song to their grandkids forty years from now.

The album’s centerpiece is “Money.” A truly delicious slice of New Wave funk in the Talking Heads/Gang of Four tradition, I truly feel unfulfilled when I am not moving along to this song. I bought this album in the aftermath of a bizarre conflict with a friend of mine over Gorillaz tickets--we wanted to sit together, but the tickets had to be bought together and neither of us had the money for both or to pay each other back in the near future. As a result, I found myself associating well with “Money” and its lyrics about substantiality versus luxury. And let’s not forget the outrageously funky backbeat, with its pounding drums and layers of staccato guitars.

The last song is the six-minute opus “Light in our Eyes,” which starts out as a soaring Americana-folk ballad and somehow manages to segue into an epic outro with a shuffling blues beat, Thin Lizzy guitar harmonies, and cascading church organs. It’s the perfect climax to the album--the synth trips, the insane funkiness, and the gentle lunar-folk harmonies all meet and combine into one in the course of a six minutes that feel like a much shorter period of time. It’s an epic conclusion to an epic album, and despite its sharp contrast to “Money” (or any other song on that album), I can’t imagine the album ending any other way.

With their entirely self-produced, self-managed debut, Man in Space has succeeded in creating a sound with the free-form bizarreness of an indie band and the accessibility of a major-label pop band. Few bands since the Flaming Lips have come this close to creating the perfect balance between accessibility and impenetrability. What’s next for Man In Space is anybody’s guess, but any producers or major-label execs better stay the hell away from them.

Man In Space w/Young the Giant, Finish Ticket, & Fever Charm @ Bottom of the Hill, 8.7.10

MAN IN SPACE @ BOTTOM OF THE HILL, AUGUST 7, 2010



In celebration of the release of their self-titled debut EP, East Bay psych-funk quintet Man In Space threw a massive party at Bottom of the Hill. During their baffling set, the group played their EP in its entirety, interrupted occasionally by bizarre covers of songs like Talking Heads' "Once In A Lifetime" and Jeff Beck's version of the Beatles' "A Day In The Life."



Also appearing was SoCal's Young the Giant (formerly the Jakes), who brought their sunny indie rock to the Bay Area.



Finish Ticket brought the house down with their percussive alt-rock stylings, playing their own EP in its entirety while adorned with war-paint and feathers.



The opening act was East Bay funk-pop quartet Fever Charm (with guest bassist Miles Essert of Rikoche), who also played their EP with classic Rebirth energy.

Finish Ticket "Shake A Symphony" review

FINISH TICKET
Shake a Symphony - EP
* * *

Finish Ticket are a quirky bunch. Their studio sessions are notoriously bizarre (if their Facebook page statuses don’t lie). They paint their faces with tribal patterns at shows and often set up face-painting booths on the venue floors. And they possess a remarkable ability to communicate with their audience--at some of their shows, it almost becomes hard to distinguish band members from spectators. Yet for all of this, they are a fairly conventional pop group, and they rarely stray far from the beaten path. And on Shake a Symphony, the Alameda sextet’s second release, only a very tiny portion of their live energy is captured--although they did succeed in creating a decent alt-pop album.

The first song on the EP, “Her Way Out,” is a good intro. It’s dramatic but low-key at the same time, thanks mainly to the production. It soon segues into “We’ll Be Okay,” the album’s highlight and a great cheer-the-hell-up anthem. The soft keyboards and melancholic-yet-funky bass give the song a strange sense of anthemic beauty as triple-octave singer Brendan Hoye unleashes his soaring holler.

The other songs, however, are a different story. The two remaining rockers--the live behemoth “New York” and the arcade-meets-barroom barnstormer “Hyrule”--sound a bit dulled compared to the crowd-catapulting live versions that won me over. “New York” is a good song that inexplicably does not quite pack the punch it was clearly intended to, and while “Hyrule” actually comes close to capturing Hoye’s true vocal power at several points in the song, but those spidery synths complicate things a bit. “Miss Woe, I’m Glad” is a strangely named power ballad--inspired, perhaps, by Kevin Sullivan’s Miss Blue and Miss Water?--with some tough vocals and soulful keyboards but an otherwise tepid vibe. “Rivers” is the best of the four, a melancholy ballad with fine lyrics, pop potential, and sweet, vulnerable vocals from Mr. Hoye--and while it does not have any distinctive characteristics to make it truly remarkable, it’s still a well-crafted rock n’ soul ballad.

While this album may not live up to my expectations, I am no way dismissing the band. They still put on one of the best live shows of any “Rebirth” group, and they have the remarkable ability to create a miniature utopian environment at just about any show they play. While this is a fine offering, I believe the group is truly in their element when they are trying to amp you up. As Finish Ticket’s members head off to places abroad to finish their educations, I can only wonder how college life will affect them and their music. Will they free up a bit under the knowledge they are liberated from the duties of a hardworking college student and can let their pent-up energy out with the dudes in the band? Will they lose touch with the Rebirth (god forbid?) And now for my favorite review-closing phrase: only time will tell.

Shows We Are Going To

MAN IN SPACE, FEVER CHARM, FINISH TICKET, YOUNG THE GIANT
Bottom of the Hill
August 7
8:00pm - 11:30pm

MAN IN SPACE
Comprised mainly of Dizzy Balloon members, Man In Space is far more subtle in style than DB's bombastic arena-rock, preferring quiet songs with traces of '60s San Francisco bands like the Sopwith Camel. The band will be releasing their debut at this show.

FEVER CHARM
One of the Bay Area's best live acts, these peppy, poppy funk-rockers emerged from the ashes of Nuck Fu to take the East Bay and now the City by storm. Rikoche's Miles Essert will be filling in for usual bassist Yianni AP at this show.

FINISH TICKET
This Alameda sextet has matured finely from the slightly cheesy alt-pop ballads of debut EP "Life Underwater" to gritty, rhythm & blues-influenced alternative/indie rock. The band will be releasing their second mini-album, "Shake a Symphony," at this show.

YOUNG THE GIANT
Formerly the Jakes, Young the Giant offers arena anthemizing designed for gritty clubs. The only band here not from the Bay Area, Young the Giant hail from the city of Newport Beach in Orange County.

Outsider Music Spotlight

JACK GORLIN
"Wrong Way" (Sublime Cover)
* * *

I don't like Sublime and I'm not afraid to say it. They've always struck me as a bit hollow, not genuinely punk or ska or anything like that and with a detestable guns-and-bitches philosophy thrown in for crossover appeal. In fact, I've often found myself the only non-Sublime fan in a group and alienated as a result. The two main things I dislike about Sublime are their hollowness and the fairly annoying white-boy vocals that accompany their form of music all too often. Good thing teenage San Francisco musician Jack Gorlin took care of both these issues in his cover of Sublime's "Wrong Way." The cover is not much different from the original, but Gorlin's gravelly voice seems much more convincing than late Sublime vocalist Bradley Nowell's whine, and the fairly lo-fi recording quality makes the song seem more as if it was truly sung from the perspective of its unlikely-knight protagonist. The distinction between this version and the original is subtle but effective enough to make all the difference.

ZACHARY SHPIZNER
“Tear It Down”
* * *

What would happen if Jason Mraz was sleepwalking, randomly picked up a guitar, and began singing BJ Snowden? As opposed to the catchy space-pop of his Captain Navy project, Zach Shpizner's first single under his own name sounds like he cut it at four in the morning in a linen closet after a few dozen shots of god knows what. Yet this is what makes it strangely beautiful--the lyrics are nothing special, but the rudimentary recording quality and off-key yelping give it a vibe not unlike that of an ancient outsider record unearthed by a musical historian in the basement of some country house. There is a real sense of mystery and loneliness to this song. While this is only a rough demo, we hope Shpizner keeps up the rambling for the final.

DEA
"Shine On"
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Bay Area garage-rockers Seize the Sound have formed a contingent of spinoffs and side-projects to rival the New Pornographers'--a band formed by the rhythm guitarist and the lead guitarist, plus one by the rhythm guitarist and the singer, then solo projects by the lead guitarist and the rhythm guitarist. Now the singer and the lead guitarist have formed an acoustic anti-folk band (DEA, short for Dragon Eats Adam) using one of the most dreaded pop cliches of the 21st century--a tiny little firebomb called the ukulele, favored by whine merchants like Train, Jason Mraz, and Christofer Ingle. But surprise... it's not like that at all. There is literally nothing here except James Uejio's stark plucking and Shane Bannon's whispered lyrics. It sounds like it was cut late at night and quietly enough to avoid waking up the dragon. But the most striking thing about the song is the sense of apocalyptic urgency. Shane sings of looking up at the sky and points out how it will be the only thing remaining when the world ends (and who knows if it'll stay blue). With all the panic concerning global warming and the Gulf oil spill, it's a song for our times--yet it still seems timeless.

Drummer Needed For Space Rock Crew

South Bay space-rock wizard Dakota Lillie is looking for a new backing group. Bassist James Wenzel of Lillie's original trio Cypher Syndicate is on board, but the band is currently looking for a drummer for a July 18 paid gig. If there's anyone who slams the skins out there, contact Dakota or James on Facebook. Both are really awesome people and will be happy to have you on board.