Saturday.9.September.2006

Lenny's now in Cabbagetown, Atlanta, GA

Elevado, Dave Doobinin, Ferocious Bubbles, The Blue Hour, Slushco

Review

Lenny's has existed as a cheesy dive in an old double-wide with a view of Grant Park Cemetery for years. (It was once called Dottie's, way back when.) However, the old trailer had been dieing for years, and it was time to move. To that end, Lenny's has purchased a nice, spiffy new space in a strip mall off of Dekalb Avenue. The new club is awesome -- shiny, clean, un-graffitied (so far), with a nice stage, tons of air conditioning (the old trailer got awfully stuffy), and functioning restrooms.

If you would like to see some photos of the new Lenny's, look here.

The weirdest thing about this evening was that, in addition to this being the final night off The Other Sound 2006, this was the second night of the new Lenny's. Employees' parents showed up, and i think Lenny himself was there. There was barbeque, ice cold PBR, bowls of pretzels... It was a nice, festive atmosphere, and everyone seemed to be having a good time as they wandered around and looked at the place

The first act, Elevado, went on just before 8:45, so things got a late start. (There were reasons for this, to be mentioned later.) This was the second time we had seen Elevado, the first being at Corndog this year, shortly after they added a percussionist/trumpeter. At that performance the band didn't gel, and it seemed as if the new member had not yet worked out his place in the band. Well, this time they all fit in.

Elevado: not your normal rock act.

Elevado make music that is a fascinating mix of pop, rock, dub, electronica, and jazz. The beats come out of the mysterious gear at the back of the stage, and they are thick, bass heavy, and echoing. The guitarist plays trebly and fast, as if his big influence on that instrument is Jon King. Overall, i think it's an interesting sound, and i look forward to the record that they plan on having out at the end of the year.

Elevado are a band that's hard for me to characterize; they play some strange instrumentation with some off-kilter, sort of jazzy riffs. Yet I like them, especially now that their latest member seems to have figured out is role in the band. the only complaint I had about their set was that it was a little too loud, which made it hard for me to appreciate any intricacies in their music. Still, it was only the second night on Lenny's new sound system, so any difficulties in the mix were likely more due to the newness of the equipment as opposed to any issues with the band themselves.

Elvado: jazziness and a TV sculpture.

One of the reasons the show was delayed was that the second act was a solo singer/songwriter who was driving down from New York and had been incommunicado on the highway, so no one was really sure if he would make it. He did. His name is Dave Doobinin, and he played a nice, short set despite a cold and having driven all day. He has a rich voice, kind of like Mark Kozelek. But not in tone, in some sort of depth ... i am not a singer so i am not sure what i am referring to. There is a deepness to the voice, but i am not saying that Doobinin is a bass. Anyway, it was rather pleasant. Plus, he is a pretty good guitarist, doing more than just strumming in 4/4 time as he sings. I thought he put on a decent set.

Dave Doobinin's gear: notice the What Made Milwaukee Famous sticker!

Acoustic singer-songwriter music is not really my thing, even if inevitably the songwriter mentions a cat. Yet, Dave Doobinin was quite cool and interesting. When PostLibyan talks about a resemblance to Mark Kozelek, I think he's talking about the phrasing of the songs and they way the music and songs are so organic in their interplay. Likewise, Doobinin's voice is very evocative so that, even when he's singing about simple events and straight-forward things, he grabs the listener's attention and forces your focus. That's a great talent, and one a solo performer needs to keep people's interest. I enjoyed his set, and thought that because of his energy and intensity, it wasn't out of place at all between the two full bands which surrounded him.

Dave Doobinin at work.

So Mr. Doobinin's long drive was one of the reasons that things were running late. The other is that Askeleton had to cancel, as they were unable to make it down from the Midwest. Birmingham, AL's Ferocious Bubbles were willing to fill in, but it took them a while to get here. And it took them forever to set up, but in their defense they do have a lot of complex instruments, including 2 keyboards, a mess of pedals, and a strange box that had keys on one end and was full of metal pipes.

What the heck is this thing called?

For the second time in the weekend, I saw something I want (the other being Carrie's dress!). I don't know what that strange box with the pipes and keys was, but I do know I want one. It reminded me a bit of the whirlygig that Athenians Empire State used to play during their live set. Unlike Empire State, the guy from Ferocious Bubbles (truly a great band name) played his strange instrument more than once during the set, and that made me truly truly happy.

The box thing in action.

This is the second time i have seen this band, and both times i have been terribly impressed. They make complex and really beautiful music. The instrumentation is weird, and more often than not somewhat sparse (especially seeing as they had so much gear that they looked crowded on stage). The great thing is that everyone else in the crowd seemed to be enjoying their set. That's good. The band is doing something fresh, and i want them to continue.

Nick Punch of Ferocious Bubbles multi-tasking.

I do like Ferocious Bubbles. The heart of their band is Pete Szelenbaum, the primary singer-songwriter. His vocal style is so very tenuous that it plays into the sparseness of the music and gives it an extra resonance and meaning, if that makes sense. In some ways, the band reminds me a little of Neutral Milk Hotel, but not in their sound but rather in their spirit and introversion. It's like the band is trying to show you something quiet and personal rather than tossing their music at you. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but there's a fragility to the band's sound that is appealing to me, at least.

Pete Szelenbaum on vocals.

Up next were The Blue Hour, playing as a 2 piece tonight. Well, a 1 and a half piece. There was Ms. Tracy Clark on xylophone and bass, and a very very drunk Keith Vogelsong on guitar and Ipod beats, barely. They played a very sloppy set. Mr. Vogelsong had just a bit too much to drink. Ms. Clark took it all in stride though, and the people in the crowd, most of whom knew the drunkard, taunted him lovingly. Not a set to recommend, but normally the Blue Hour are better than that.

Tracy Clark smiling about being, by far,
the sober bandmate this evening.

O.k., so The Blue Hour were sloppy, but you could still hear the frenetic catchiness of their music through the various mishaps. I still enjoyed it. But then again, I am also the veteran of too many sloppier, drunker performances by any number of Athens and / or Atlanta band over the years. I mean, neither guitars nor silly string went flying this evening, so it wasn't that bad.

The Blue Hour did, in fact, manage to finish a few songs.

They tore down, and at just about 12:30, Slushco took the stage. I don't think i have ever seen this band before, which is a shame because they make very fun synthpop. The band has a really great sense of melody, so much so that there is a certain Weezer-ishness to them. They are a four-piece, adding a stout bearded keyboardist to the standard power pop trio lineup. The keyboardist was very entertaining. He danced, clapped his hands, did jumping jacks, played with a flourish, and sand along happily. His energy was contagious, and i think that it really helped to make this an enjoyable set.

Slushco in action.

Slushco finished at about 1:30. There was one more band, some act called SIDS that i know nothing about, but we were beat. Three days, 16 bands. Wow, what a long weekend. Still, there was a lot of strength here. There are good bands in Atlanta, you just have to look for them. And we learned new bands (Venice Is Sinking, Slushco, Gentlemen Caller) that are worthwhile and that EvilSponge will be on the lookout for in the future.

I hope that they do The Other Sound festival next year. This year was a lot of fun.

Read the entire 2006 Other Sound review:
    Day 1: Parade, Venice Is Sinking, Hot Young Priest, No River City, Spectralux
    Day 2: Five Foot Flame, Engineering, The Preakness, Faith Kleppinger, Gentleman Caller, Ultrababyfat
    Day 3: Elevado, Dave Doobinin, Ferocious Bubbles, The Blue Hour, and Slushco

Added bonus material:
    Photo gallery: nice guitars at 2006 Other Sound
    Photo gallery: Pedal fetishism at 2006 Other Sound
    Photo gallery: The new Lenny's Bar

In addition, some of these acts have been reviewed before. Links within the review point you to the appropriate places.

Band information:
   Elevado: http://www.elevado.com/
               http://myspace.com/elevado
   Dave Doobinin: http://www.davedoobinin.com/
                        http://www.myspace.com/davedoobinin
   Ferocious Bubbles: http://www.ferociousbubbles.com/
                              http://www.myspace.com/ferociousbubbles
                              (Free downloads located here!)
   The Blue Hour: http://thebluehour.com/
   Slushco: http://www.slushcomusic.com/
                http://www.myspace.com/slushco