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Eyes of Autumn / The Building Press 40th St Warehouse (Oakland) June 14, 2003 Review by Jake Thomas & Sharon Senser Congratulations! This write up features not one but two reviewers for your reading pleasure - both myself and my good friend Sharon Senser. We'll be swapping this one off like the Rock and Roll Express (tag team in wrestling back in the early 80's for those not in the know, but you should be!). Sharon kicks it off with the intro, and then I'll write up the first band, then her the second, etc. Sometimes, but very rarely, when I watch a show I stop focusing on the individual instruments. I stop looking at where the bass player puts his fingers and at the drummer's inevitably hot forearms and I close my eyes. It's like each person, each instrument is a distraction from the sound that is totally filling the space around me and seeping in. It'd been such a long time since I've felt that. And then I attended the June 14th show at the 40th Street Warehouse and holyshit! Curled up in a little ball, butt on the floor, eyes closed, each band making more and more noise and each noise making more and more sense. This is just the music that does it for me. Math rock, pretty boy vocals and swelling sounds that wrap all around the room. There was an opening band named Mark Miske I believe, but we didn't get there in time for that. Word was that they were good, but that's all I got on the matter. The Building Press were the first band we actually saw. I dug it - reminded me of June of 44 with it's reliance on the bass, and it was decided by consensus amongst some of my friends there that they also had a Storm and Stress thing going on. It was an interesting combination, but one that sounded good as far as I was concerned. Eyes of Autumn, from Seattle, were the third band on the bill. I don't know why they blew me away, but they totally did. The sound? Indie rock verging on emo with the quiet vocals building to an intensity usually saved for angsty teenagers (which they likely are). I don't think it was a uniqueness or newness of the music that worked for me. I just think it was music that makes me feel. Their set ended and my heart hurt, which is always a good sign. Eyes of Autumn are talented musicians who write beautiful songs. I can't really ask for more than that. I was excited that Kilowatt Hours had been added to this bill last minute. Apparently they were on tour and in desperate need of a bay area show last minute like, and the kind folks at 40th street hooked them up. Which was awesome, cause they were the main reason I came out on this night à the catalyst that actually got my sorry ass across the bridge, a task that is a tough one to pull off for us 'Ess Effers'. Bottom line: despite some minor technical difficulties at the beginning (I think the band would argue that they weren't so minor as I believe the singer broke his guitar amp), they sounded fantastic. They remind me of a mixture involving such ingredients as Radiohead, Tristeza, Appleseed Cast, maybe even a little post-rock-ish stuff like Mogwai. I can't speak for their other releases as I haven't heard them, but 'Strain of Positive Thinking' is a fine album everyone should check out post haste. Last was the Rum Diary, one of my new favorites. By this point it was late and the room was emptying out and I prepared for a mellow set surrounded by other people sitting on the floor. But, Rum Diary is so much louder than you think they are. They have two singers (one on bass, one on guitar), a drummer and an afro-bearing man on another set of drums switching up instruments faster than you can follow, each one better than the last I just love it when they have both drummers drumming at once. I don't know - it's so intense, it makes my heart beat in rhythm to the music. They did the requisite three men on drums thing (although last time I saw them it was all four of them which was even more amazing) and somehow avoided sounding tribal or jam bandy. This is pure rock. Yeah, the Rum Diary are a good recorded band, but live and in person they will blow you away. --- Check out our previous Rum Diary experiences: Review: April 29, 2001 @ Bottom of the Hill Photos: September 27, 2002 @ Hemlock Tavern - PiF Presents Portrait ©2003 playinginfog.com |