But on to the music. First stop was Brooklyn Vegan’s party, held in association with Paste Magazine, The Agency Group and a host of other sponsors, including Atlanta’s own super-compfy Alternative Apparel. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart canceled at the last minute due to a scheduling conflict, but lucky for the audience the brilliant Donkeys (pictured above) were there to take their place. The Radio Room was filled to the brim with the sound of happy-clappy indie pop, oozing laid-back California personality. The addition of the sitar in a few songs made the happy-go-lucky songs even dreamier, with hazy keys adding to the charm.
Right across the road at Flamingo Cantina, Athens’ PR firm Team Clermont’s party was well underway. The difficult-to-pronounce (or spell) Slaraffenland (above) played to a packed crowd, remarking how incredibly warm it was, especially due to the coldness of their home country at the time (Denmark). The band’s set started with the drummer standing on his stool playing the melodica. The mix of instruments and sounds went forth from there, with saxophone, trombone and oboe frequently joining the heavily-layered harmonies, the sound of which were made even heavier with the use of loops and sampling, resulting in a loud and brash chorus of voices echoing a group of coal miners. It’s like a group of indie rockers have been put through a working man’s club in rural Wales; think Fleet Foxes in Tom Jones’ old digs.
The songs progressed, going from dark and stormy to light and gauzy to heavily rhythmic with jungle percussion. The intensity – not the speed, just the intensity – of the beat increased with added percussion and voices. Slaraffenland is an intense band, with all the layering of vocals, the strong, deep voices and powerful melodies. While the band’s sound is heavy at times, it’s far from heavy rock or heavy metal. It’s just rich and flavorful – more like Beirut than Motorhead.
Following Slaraffenland was the more close-to-home Athens band Modern Skirts, who were eager to try out a host of new songs in front of a live audience. The band has been laying down tracks in New Orleans for the past month or so, and hopes to have another record out by the end of the year. It’s definitely a departure from the Skirts’ usual pop melodies – even more so than the less-polished All Of Us In Our Night, with this record showing off the band’s percussive nature with powerfully rhythmic beats and electro sounds.
The set opened with such a new track, which started with a sputtering sample and then launching into halted vocals backed by three out of four members of the band drumming in stark, throbbing fashion. It’s almost avant-garde in nature, in that post punk Television and Talking Heads fashion – a long cry from their shiny pop songs from Catalogue of Generous Men. But it still has that pleasing melody that makes them Modern Skirts.
What followed was a rougher and tumble version of a few of their older songs strung together with some brilliant, less chipper new songs, played with lots of girth and a handful of dirt thrown in. The classic pop panache still came through, but in a looser, more comfortable way. The band wrapped up the set with a mixture of computer-voiced keys and falsetto vocals – plus even a few primal screams thrown in – with thundering drums marching towards a dynamic climax.
I left the Team Clermont party to the sound of one-man-keyboard-and-loops-machine Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, who was sounding tender and somber with his eloquent melodies and kitschy beats juxtaposing with each other for perfect rainy day music. Then it was back over the road to Radio Room for The Avett Brothers, who were already treating the audience to the sweet vocals of “You Send Me” during the sound check. The set itself opened up with “Shame,” which started off with vocals being blasted out by an over-excited Scott Avett. A raucous hoedown ensued. The Avetts followed with “Die, Die Die,” joined by Joe Kwon on cello. Along with the upright bass, the cello makes for a pretty strong backdrop for the upbeat rocking vocals, transporting the song from the backwoods sound of the original recording to something positively indie rock that should be in a small smoky club (though we were really in a baking tent). The cello added an intriguing depth to the Avetts songs, with the instrument moving from sounding like a fiddle on minute to being played to being plucked furiously like a bass guitar.
With their heavy metal energy, mad rocking vigor and crazy enthusiasm, it’s easy to forget The Avett Brothers are basically an acoustic bluegrass band with three guys (maybe four, when there’s Joe Kwon on cello) and no drums for the most part. But it’s not about genres, as Dolphus Ramseur (the band’s manager and “discoverer” of the group) says. It’s about songwriting, and it’s those amazing songs, as well as the powerful sweaty shows, that have connected to people across the musical divide.
The night finished up with Ebony Bones (pictured top and bottom) playing at Aces. Now this is a girl with style. Playing during the same time as Janelle Monáe (whom I missed after hiking all the way over to the Austin Music Hall, only to find that she’d finished), it was a complimentary coincidence that she was sharing a time slot with the ATLien, as they shared the same capacity for putting on a show that will capture an audience completely. But while Janelle is known for her futuristic yet classic stark black and white costume, closely tailored to her petite stature, and sleek pompadour hairstyle, Ebony Bones looks like she came from a different planet completely. Dressed in an outlandishly huge costume that jutted forth from her in vibrantly-colored globes, Ebony Bones showed immediately that she wasn’t one for the subtle. Her hair seemed to reach miles out into space in a huge, teased, bleach-blond afro, while her eyelashes jutting out like stark branches.
Thankfully her music met her fashion in a glorious assembly of style and substance. Preceded onto the stage by what can only be described as a duo of alien African oompa loompa princesses for back up singers, Ebony Bones followed suit, breaking into a nightmarish tribal dance track, like Basement Jaxx on speed. The physical dancing that joined the song matched the vigor, with arms and legs flailing about, exaggerated facial expressions and gyrations equaling the disco punk that followed. She’s a girl who is sure to be one to watch.
