Tancred at Rock N Roll Hotel
Jess Abbott of Tancred has undergone prehaps the most complete metamorphosis from bedroom folkie to grunge goddess that I have ever seen. This simply is not what she sounded like a few years ago. Plus there's, well, a band with her on stage now. But her musical themes still tend towards the personal, sometimes confessional, sometimes slice-of-life storytelling. Lots of "I" and lots of "You" in Tancred's music. It's just that now You and I are backed by catchy guitar hooks and the occasional straight up rocking out.
Posted: 8/13/2017 at 5:00pm Tags: Rock N Roll Hotel Tancred
Sunflower Bean at Rock N Roll Hotel
With a little help from their friends in The Lemon Twigs at the end there.
Sunflower Bean's Website, Music.
Posted: 11/16/2016 at 9:45pm Tags: Rock N Roll Hotel Sunflower Bean
Potty Mouth at Rock N Roll Hotel
The problem with writing a review of a band like Potty Mouth is that I can't remember the exact band from my college days (the mid-90s if you must know) that they remind me of. I guess they remind me of a 90s band I wish I remembered. Their sound is definitely of that era: guitar-led music with pop-like catchniness but too many tempo and volume changes to really be pop. That and meaningful lyrics. Pop, at least the most common sort, is about bland consistency. Potty Mouth's music is neither of those things.
I definitely know who Potty Mouth's lead singer reminds me of: the lead singer of Ume. Their set did not feature quite that same level of hair (or guitar) flailing, but enough that something like half of these photos feature hair catching air. Unfortunately this might also be due to the Rock N Roll Hotel's lighting. As usual it seems to be focused entirely on the front center of the stage. You know, most bands do have more than one member...
Posted: 8/31/2014 at 6:00pm Tags: Potty Mouth Rock N Roll Hotel
Wanted Man at Rock N Roll Hotel
I don't know whether Wanted Man were named after the Johnny Cash song (or even the Frankie Laine song) but it seems like there might be an outside chance. Wanted Man have a real old-school rock sound which draws heavily on blues and country music. More than anything else, though, they play take-no-shit outlaw music. Real mean, real aggressive... hell even their ballads are pretty aggressive. They remind me of the Chrome Cranks, though Wanted Man stay quite a bit closer to their musical roots.
They have some old recordings floating around but I definitely recommend checking out their recent live recording from DC9. That recording captures their impressive live energy. It's fairly obvious why someone decided to pair them with Reignwolf.
Posted: 7/27/2014 at 4:00pm Tags: Rock N Roll Hotel Wanted Man
