Dec Interview & Other Noize....

Hey everybody! Dave here...haven't posted in a while and before this blog descends into some sort of outlet for Sam's pathos I thought I would chime in and let everybody know about the recently printed interview with the Posters written by Gary Canino for the [edit: I think Dave means "a" - st] UVA newspaper, The Declaration.

Anyway, there is a brief mention of the band Bikeride in the interview. They are probably my favorite unsung band of the last decade and one that will most likely never get the credit they deserve since lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Tony Carbone died a few years ago. Every time I write a song for the Posters I'm thinking of Bikeride so I thought I would post the following video for everyone to check out. Their last two albums, Morning Macumba and The Kiss, are both worth seeking out.



See everybody April 9th at the Garage! It's going to be a good one....I promise!

- Dave

March Mildness

Can March really have been so slow a month for the Posters? I guess we've been practicing only once a week lately, so less has been going on. We broke ground for two new songs on Thrusday, though neither, it's likely, will be ready for our outdoor debut on the 9th (at the Garage).

I recently saw Godard's Soigne ta Droite, which I'd not seen before, and I was pretty impressed with the Rita Mitsouko stuff I heard in that, so I've been checking them out. Also, Judy and Mary.

Something I forgot to say last time I posted was that, before our set at that Random Row show, the girl from Stereo Telescope asked me what we sounded like. I said something about Apples in Stereo because that's the least embarrassing comparison that's been made by somebody outside of the band. After we played she said that my description was accurate, although she would have added that we have touches of "really happy '90s pop" along the lines of "Weezer or The Gin Blossoms."

Besides the fact that the Apples retain their title as least embarrassing comparison, the only result of this comment is that I was sad to see yet another opportunity for somebody to name-check Hypnolovewheel wasted. I realize this makes me old, but Hypnolovewheel is great -- probably the only one of those full-on alt rock bands I'm not now embarrassed to have listened to. There isn't even much to recommend them on youtube, given that the videos they made are for songs that, while good, are not exactly in their top five gems.




If you feel like spending a few dollars on mp3 downloads, check out Kiss Big and/or Turn You Off. They're good.

If some day somebody, unprompted, says my songs sound like a cross between Nothing Painted Blue and The Voidoids, I'll die happy.

April will probably bring more news, because we're supposed to start recording again.

Quiet Loudly and ex-Most Ghosts

I've got a lot going on this week, what with settling in to my new place and grading papers and whatnot, but I was excited to post these pictures of the bands we played with the other day (even though they kind of didn't come out). So this is going to be a kinda short overview, but definitely check these bands out if you can.


The first bit of news was that Most Ghosts no longer have their drummer or bass player, so rather than do some kind of Most Ghosts unplugged thing the two guitar players did two mini sets. Here's Daniel Harris, who did some effects-heavy guitar and vocals stuff. Lots of loops and layers and textural things, starting out quiet and pretty and then becoming loud and chaotic.


The other Most Ghost actually had a partner, forming an awesome electronic duo called Stereo Telescope. They had awesome danceable groves with minimalist guitar work -- kind of like a slightly updated New Order but with boy/girl vocals. Since boy/girl vocals is my favorite thing in the world I was extra excited.


Then we played, and finally the headliners -- Quiet Loudly. Really funny banter, great songs with lots of surprises. Lots of dynamic and tempo changes but with at the same time some pleasantly simple riffs. My only complaint was that there should be more singing and fewer long instrumental stretches (but you know me, I pretty much feel like all songs should have singing all the time).

Random Row 03/13/10

We're going to rock Random Row Books again this Saturday, so turn off, tune out, and drop in.

We'll be playing with Boston's Most Ghosts and Brooklyn's Quiet Loudly. Judging from the stuff on Most Ghosts' myspace they have some pretty intense two-guitar interplay that I'm really looking forward to seeing live so I can geek out over it.


Barring any major disasters at practice this week we're going to debut two new jams at this show, so if your reason for not coming was going to be that you've already heard all our songs, think again, spaz!

Post-partum Update

Ah, in the wake of our EP-release euphoria it's back to the grindstone for the Posters!

We've been working on two new pop-rocks this past week. One is "I Want a Bee or Dog." It's the first chapter of the "Noah's Ark" trilogy, which concludes with the currently-hibernating 50-second new wave jam "Come On Down." The middle part of the trilogy, "Das Ark," is still being written.

Anyway, IWABOD is a song that rips off The Smiths, and then was in turn ripped off by me myself for the Posters' shortest song to date: Ferris Bueller. My limited vocal range is proving a problem in the singing of this one, because in the low octave the low notes are too low, and in the high octave the high notes are too high. I'm seriously considering changing the key (or becoming a eunuch, whichever proves less of a hassle).

You can get a taste from this instrumental demo recorded by my project with Ariel, The Trojan Whores.

I Want a Bee or Dog (demo)

We have also been working on a rock-opera-tastic piece which does not yet have a name, though its vibe is not unlike the one in this video of renowned early-Who tribute band, The middle-period-Who.


In other news, I'm getting thrown out of my apartment next week, so if you've ever had fantasies of living with a local rock star and two cats now is the time to act.

Sam

Absence live

Gary Canino (once again -- thanks, Gary!) took some fabulous high-quality video of our show the other night. Here's the closer of the set.





Check out the rest of Gary's youtube channel, too; it's got a lot of good stuff, including a great Caninos performance from their set at the same show.

I'd like to point out that my singing in this video is not "bad," but was strategically and deliberately deploying a performance style meant to preempt any rumors that I use autotune on my vocals when we play. There should now be no doubt that I keep it real.

PS: It's fucking snowing again!

Last Night's Gala

Thanks to everybody who showed up to our EP release last night! Special thanks to those who stuck it out and stayed through our set. Things were running a little behind schedule, and we really appreciate it.


We had a lot of fun. The Caninos were incredible. When I saw them last fall at The Garage I could tell they were a good band, but something about the low-key vibe of The Garage -- or maybe just the occasional SUV that drives between the audience and the band -- prevented me from realizing just how good they are. Last night I was lucky enough to hear them do "Naufragous" twice, once at sound check, and once as the second song in their set.

There something that The Caninos really get right, which a lot of bands don't, in my opinion, and that's that they let their recorded stuff be laid back and understated -- like, they let the strength of their songwriting create the momentum -- but then when it's time to play live they really rock hard, and bring as much charisma and raw power as possible. It's something I remember really liking about Dressy Bessy circa 2000 -- that their live sets sounded nothing like their records, but each offered what its medium was, respectively, best at offering. Craft on the records, and intensity live.

At the end of their set they got a bunch of people on stage to do a We Are the World style sing along.


If The Caninos played first, acting as the show's Genesis, DBB Plays Cups were surely its Exodus. Here they are playing either something from Cups or one of DBB's newer songs.


We played third (and last) much like a Leviticus whose only prohibition is against not rocking, though we did encourage several people to consume pork last night, which was not very levitical of us.

Pictures of our set, and perhaps even video, will likely emerge in the coming days.

Oh, and happy Valentines Day to all our fans. (Remember, ladies, I may not be the sexiest Poster, but I'm the only one who's still single!)

Sam