The Make-Out Room May 16, 2004 Review by Jake Thomas All I have to say is I’m glad I got down to the MOR early to catch the last few songs of Mark Mallman…that guy is a madman. Imagine if you will, a non-sexually fixated Har Mar Superstar crossed with Jonathan Richman playing songs that sound like they’re from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”. It was just that dude playing the keys maniacally, a really fantastic drummer, and they were both playing along with an iBook that sometimes added guitar and/or bass lines to the mix. At some point during the last song, when things were just going nuts, Mallman licked his fingers, stuck his hands in the air and said “this is why I get paid!” and then started banging away on his keyboard. It was very entertaining to say the least. I can’t imagine they’ll live up to the live performance, but I’m going to keep my eyes out for any of his recordings in the future; the songs were pretty enjoyable and catchy after only the first listen. I’ve seen The Red Thread a number of times over the last year, and I continue to like them more and more with each successive listen of their album or live viewing. This was my first time seeing them since I’ve really been able to soak up the goodness from their newer record “Tension Pins”, and it was nice knowing pretty much all of the songs they played. Additionally, it was the guitarist Daryle’s last show with the band as an SF resident as he is moving south to that bad part of the state. Word on the street is they will continue the group, meeting up with Daryle whenever possible to round out the experience. I’m glad to hear this, because it would be a damn shame to lose this band from the local soundscape. I was “pleasantly” surprised at how great Pleasant Grove was (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun, I’m easily amused). I had planned on only checking out a couple of songs, as I was feeling a bit pooped by the time they came on, but they some how snookered me into sticking around for their entire set, sans encore. They were a strange combination of noisy/shoegaze rock and alt-country, which sounds kinda funky to me as I write this but it really worked for them in a live setting. Especially of note was how amazing the drummer was, at times somehow working these intricate breakbeat rhythms into what was otherwise fairly simple music. If I had to draw up band comparisons, this band would prove difficult – the closest I could think of was a combination of the beautiful, rootsy weirdness of Sparklehorse crossed with the swirling sound of Swervedriver. Since I’ve never heard their album, my only experience with the band was from this performance – but it made me eager to hear what they sound like in a studiosetting. Surprisingly, there seemed to be tons of Texas folks there to root on this Dallas-based band, hence the reference to an encore up above, probably the first encore I’ve ever been party to at the Make-Out Room. And they certainly put on a performance worthy of the adulation being thrown their way. --- Check out our previous The Red Thread experiences: Review: February 18, 2004 Review: April 9, 2003 @ Hemlock Tavern Photos: September 7, 2002 @ Hemlock Tavern & July 19, 2002 @ Hemlock Tavern ©2004 playinginfog.com |