Forward, Russia!, The Lashes, and Battle Live at Spaceland March 20
June Caldwell
April 25, 2006
Not able to resist a free concert, it?s off to East LA to Spaceland on Monday to see Forward Russia, The Lashes and Battle.
The Lashes
Since we were kicked out of a party at SXSW where The Lashes were playing (?this is a private party, no badges!? You?re kidding! They sure put us in our place, didn?t they?) we decided to catch them next time around in LA. Compared to Weezer, but who is it they remind me of more? It is torturing me, distracting me through their set!!! They are, cheerful, inoffensive, upbeat. OK, borrring! They know what they are doing, and are on key. They are fun to listen to, and seem to be having fun. There just is not anything new here. Harmonious, every once in a while you start moving to the music, but that does not explain even why they got any sort of record contract, let alone why we are standing here watching them. Their semi hit ?Please, Please, Please? got some recognition from the crowd. What a cute perky empty little ditty. Imagine Maximo Park devoid of any semblance or pretense of passion with a tired guitar solo from the 70s thrown in, and you have to wonder ?why, why, why??. THAT?S IT! OK, now they are laying ?Sometimes the Sun? another recognizable release for them. Eureka! OK, immediately YOU HAVE GOT TO DO THIS: play ?The Coast is Always Changing? by Maximo Park, then ?Sometimes the Sun? by The Lashes. It could be the next verse of the same song.
Battle
Way too much of The Smiths in Battle. Good to know really! In LA, The Smith?s tribute band, Sweet and Tender Hooligans gets bigger crowds, and more heart wrenching adoration than Morrissey himself! Now from the UK is Battle, only they don?t have the grace to call themselves a tribute band. What a flashback of my first Smiths concert! What is the point of rehashing this sound? OK, now they are playing ?Demons? which sounds a little like early U2 meets the Cure meets The Smiths. God, it?s like all of the eighties rolled into one, very economic really! Are tribute bands as big in the UK as they are in the US? Is it mostly in LA? Why are they called tribute band instead of cover band?oh, the set?s over? ? hardly noticed.
Forward, Russia!
Refreshingly disheveled raw bitter, slightly insane comes Forward Russia. Compared to Gang of Four, but much more edgy. The singer?s voice like a cross between fingernails on a chalkboard and someone strangling a cat. They seemed not to be having fun at all and at that moment that seems to be the heart of rock and roll! They are martyred miserable psychopaths sacrificed so we can have fun dancing and bumping into each other! Who says rock and roll is nothing like religion? Their hit song, ?Twelve? has screaming guitars that compete with the screaming voice and jagged harmonies. The rhythm seem to mess with you so people dancing feel like graceless fools bumping into each other, not realizing that as soon as one rhythm starts the tempo is changed asymmetrically. Watching the feverishly serious faces as the audience tries to keep up was worth the price of admission?er, well it was free, wasn?t it?
The Lashes
Since we were kicked out of a party at SXSW where The Lashes were playing (?this is a private party, no badges!? You?re kidding! They sure put us in our place, didn?t they?) we decided to catch them next time around in LA. Compared to Weezer, but who is it they remind me of more? It is torturing me, distracting me through their set!!! They are, cheerful, inoffensive, upbeat. OK, borrring! They know what they are doing, and are on key. They are fun to listen to, and seem to be having fun. There just is not anything new here. Harmonious, every once in a while you start moving to the music, but that does not explain even why they got any sort of record contract, let alone why we are standing here watching them. Their semi hit ?Please, Please, Please? got some recognition from the crowd. What a cute perky empty little ditty. Imagine Maximo Park devoid of any semblance or pretense of passion with a tired guitar solo from the 70s thrown in, and you have to wonder ?why, why, why??. THAT?S IT! OK, now they are laying ?Sometimes the Sun? another recognizable release for them. Eureka! OK, immediately YOU HAVE GOT TO DO THIS: play ?The Coast is Always Changing? by Maximo Park, then ?Sometimes the Sun? by The Lashes. It could be the next verse of the same song.
Battle
Way too much of The Smiths in Battle. Good to know really! In LA, The Smith?s tribute band, Sweet and Tender Hooligans gets bigger crowds, and more heart wrenching adoration than Morrissey himself! Now from the UK is Battle, only they don?t have the grace to call themselves a tribute band. What a flashback of my first Smiths concert! What is the point of rehashing this sound? OK, now they are playing ?Demons? which sounds a little like early U2 meets the Cure meets The Smiths. God, it?s like all of the eighties rolled into one, very economic really! Are tribute bands as big in the UK as they are in the US? Is it mostly in LA? Why are they called tribute band instead of cover band?oh, the set?s over? ? hardly noticed.
Forward, Russia!
Refreshingly disheveled raw bitter, slightly insane comes Forward Russia. Compared to Gang of Four, but much more edgy. The singer?s voice like a cross between fingernails on a chalkboard and someone strangling a cat. They seemed not to be having fun at all and at that moment that seems to be the heart of rock and roll! They are martyred miserable psychopaths sacrificed so we can have fun dancing and bumping into each other! Who says rock and roll is nothing like religion? Their hit song, ?Twelve? has screaming guitars that compete with the screaming voice and jagged harmonies. The rhythm seem to mess with you so people dancing feel like graceless fools bumping into each other, not realizing that as soon as one rhythm starts the tempo is changed asymmetrically. Watching the feverishly serious faces as the audience tries to keep up was worth the price of admission?er, well it was free, wasn?t it?
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