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Bottom of the Hill July 22, 2003 Review by Jake Thomas I've seen the video for Earlimart's 'We Drink on the Job' a couple times now, and enjoyed both the song and the video (it's nice seeing a decent band getting a little airplay; I used to love M2 before they changed their format, but now it mostly sucks, but that's a rant for another day). I made sure I got to this show a little early, because I wanted to see if they sounded as good live as they did on that one song that I had heard; and the answer is yes. They sounded like a rockin' Grandaddy with elements of Sparklehorse thrown in , two bands that I absolutely love (well, who doesn't). I only saw part of their set, but I liked everything I heard and made a mental note to not only pick up some of their music soon, but to make sure and get to the venue in time to see more of their show next time they are in town. The reason I was here was for Carissa's Weird. I am in love with this band; and not only with the immensely attractive singer Jenn Ghetto (quite possibly the cutest girl I have ever seen in my entire life), but with the band as a whole. Somehow they play some of the saddest music I have ever heard, and it makes me happier and happier each time I listen to it. The combination of Jenn and Matthew Brooke's voices is heavenly, and their blend of acoustic and electric guitars make for beautiful accompaniment. On top of that there are four other fantastic folks playing drums, keys, slide guitar, bass, and violin, all blended together into a wonderful, intoxicating mess. Top this all off with the fact that they seem like a super nice bunch of people, as opposed to asshole rock stars like a lot of young up-and-coming bands seem to feel they have to act like. They were continually thanking the crowd and very gracious, despite the overwhelming amount of chatter going on (in fact, it took quite a bit of restraint on both my part and the others with me there to see Carissa's Weird not to go on a murdering spree in the back of the room; SF could use a few less hipsters anyways, so no harm no foul right?). they had for sale after the show a cd entitled 'Scrapbook', which was a collection of odds and sods and some cover songs (which btw is amazing). The bassist/slide guitar guy was doing the selling, and I informed him as to how awesome his band was and all that; he couldn't have been any nicer, quite possibly the nicest band person I've ever spoke to (and it's not an anomaly, as I spoke to this same chap a while back the first time I saw them and bought a cd, and he was just as nice then). If you're yet to hear them, do yourself a favor and run down to the record store and purchase one of their discs. Not only do they deserve the support for being nice folks and great musicians, but it's almost impossible to not like them if you have any love for sad bastard music. --- Read our previous Earlimart review: June 15, 2001 @ Dirty Duck, Modesto ©2003 playinginfog.com |