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Ashley Park / Four Corners / I Am The World Trade Center Call and Response / Dressy Bessy / Japancakes I Am Spoonbender (not a Kindcore band) Emo's Jr., Austin, Texas March 14, 2001 Review by Squid Our first night in Austin was spent at the infamous Emo's and it's smaller counterpart, Emo's Jr. It's not hard to figure out why Austin is called the live music capital of the world in a club like this. Emo's itself is a covered outdoor venue with a floor size a little smaller than that of the Great American, all told. The back of this area empties out into a courtyard which is in turn connected to a smaller indoor club, Emo's Jr. Imagine if BOTH was larger and had an outdoor stage, it's that kinda vibe. Coolest of all, admission to one was admission to both, at least on the days we were there, so we were able to scurry back and forth to catch parts of many band's sets. Seeing a different band each hour from 8-1am gave whole new meaning to sensory overload. In a good way. We mostly stuck to the indoor stage since we were there to see the Kindercore showcase. Did I mention beers are larger and cheaper there, too? 'Nuff said. Ashley Park was by far, at least in Squid’s mind, the most archetypical Kindercore band in the line-up. Their lead singer had David Cassidy down-pat: the shag hair-do, the coy sideways glance, the shoulder shrug, it was all happening. Happily, he had a self-deprecating sense of humour that let you know there was a hint of irony in his delivery. Their songs were the stuff of quietly strummed guitars and sweet barely there keyboards. The highlight of their set was when the drummer came to the front to perform his duties on...an old manual typewriter. At one point, they also brought out a hand lettered sign on a stand with the lyrics from one of their songs that said, "Your Feet Will Rise Above The Ground", which was Marc’s favorite of the entire set. Kids of the Twee Nation, Unite! Daz found them to be really charming and would go see them again. Four Corners were more garagey blues ala the Come-Ons. They were pretty good technically but suffered from some serious monitor and microphone malfunctions toward the beginning of their set, consequently we could barely hear the lead singer and when we did, she was singing flat, most likely because she couldn’t hear herself. Such is the trouble of having 7+ bands on one stage within quick succession of another. Squid thought they’d be fine as a party band, Daz wasn’t impressed at all. I Am The World Trade Center was Squid’s favorite band of the evening. This trio were sort of a cross between Human League and St. Etienne with thick layers of DAT loops and laconic female vocals. This sort of line-up can be a recipe for half-assed disaster, but I.A.T.W.T.C. maintain their credibility with clever additions of noise wherever possible. While these guys wear their influences on their sleeve, (there was one song with an early 90’s percussion track that sounded like it had been pulled directly of a My Bloody Valentine album), they still sounded like...themselves. Squid and Marc were really into it and will definitely see them again, but Daz was no where to be found because she had snuck off to the other stage in search of... I Am Spoonbender! They of the Devo fan club outfits! They of the telephone receiver microphone! The outdoor stage at Emo’s was seemingly perfect for our yellow zip-up jacket wearing heroes as they conjured up streamlined Numan-esque glories. Daz thought they rocked and was especially impressed with the multitasking percussionist. She is convinced that anyone who hears them do what she describes as "The Telephone Song" will be instantly converted. Daz would like to recommend them to anyone who digs loud, layered, synthesized electronica with a healthy dose of variation. Call and Response are a local San Francisco band who we’ve seen at the Bottom of the Hill before. There’s bouncy keyboards, and sunny vocals. What Daz loves about these guys is that, "They just seem like they’re good friends having a good time", which is of course what we love about The Aisler Set. C.A.R. refer to themselves as country, but if they sound like anyone to us, it’s definitely the first Le Mans album, which in turn points to Orange Juice. "It aaaaaaaaaall comes back to Orange Juice", Daz mumbled gravely, hoisting her bottle of Lone Star Beer. Hmmmm... Dressy Bessy were a lot more rockin’ then their name implies. At their best moments, their lead singer had this yearning yet shouting vocal that sounded like the Pixies covering the Shirelles. They were definitely more spunk than punk, but Squid sort of liked them. They also reminded her a little of Superchunk. We were so exhausted from the number of bands that we actually had to sit out Essex Green and sit down outside for an hour. By the time Japancakes came on at 1am, Daz was fairly frothing at the mouth for her dose of slideguitar from this Athens, GA quintet. Japancakes are a sort of anomaly: the aforementioned slideguitar could cause them to be classed as country, but their approach is more indie in it’s construction. Even though their (all instrumental) songs are lo-fi, there were definite peaks and valleys to the songs they performed. Their use of cello to perform loops and repetitions where other bands would normally employ keyboards keeps their sound current but subtle. Find out more about Kindercore bands at www.kindercore.com |