Hyperpotamus 08.04.09

On Tuesday, I felt I should be wearing one of those T-shirts that says, “I listen to bands that don’t even exist yet.” After a little pa-rum-pum-pum-pum at the beach with a local drum circle under the full moon, I headed over to the Soda Bar where two indie acts helped me shake the sand off my feet.

Trashcan Fires opened the night with a quirky set. They’re a local band with a pixielike lead named Genevieve on vocals, drums, synth, and my new favorite: an Omnichord, which is an electronic autoharp. (Side note: I used to play one of these as a little girl in the 80s and always wondered, “What the heck is anyone going to ever do with THIS???” Genevieve answered my decades-long question as she rocked their set. Clearly, I had underestimated the power of the Omnichord. But I digress.) The band was playful, with a melancholy undertone. My friend described them by saying, “This band is like if The Cure discovered electronica and Robert Smith had a vagina.” For me, it was more like a combination of “Bjork and Jewel go to the circus.”


Six instruments. Three players. I’m no math major, but the band seemed to equally divide playing the trumpet, omnichord, bass, beat machine, drum kit, and floor tom. Accompanying Genevieve were two guys, one of whom I assume is James, per the band’s myspace, who is also responsible for the band’s lyrics. While I enjoyed their original songs, the highlight for me was when Genevieve sang a stripped-down cover of Riskay’s “Smell Yo Dick.” Sorry, Mom, but the juxtaposition of the explicit lyrics sung oh-so-sweetly is just . . . well . . . hilarious. It reminded me of when Tristan Prettyman did an acoustic cover of “Toxic” by Britney Spears.

Sadly, Trashcan Fires does not currently have any upcoming gigs listed or demos for sale.

Hyperpotamus, all the way from Spain, headlined the night. This was one of the most intriguing performers I’ve seen in a while. His a cappella set involves four microphones, a loop station, and no other sounds but his voice. He uses vocal patterns, rhythms, beatbox, lyrics, and downright strange utterances all blended together to sound like a symphony.

Sometimes he would feel a groove and bust out in interpretive dance. And at one point, between songs, a cricket outside distracted him so much he had to start a song three times— one of the times closely mimicking the cricket sounds.

He’s currently on what looks like a West Coast tour, from Mexico up to San Francisco. You can catch him in L.A. on August 8th. And if you're not able to catch him live, his album Largo Bailón (2009) is on sale now.

Habitat House/Zombie Lounge, 4.6.08

My weekend was great and relaxing, though I was a bit of a homebody until Sunday night when I went to Habitat House to see Trash Can Fires and David Williams. David was amazing. He played solo and I guess he's out of Utah. His voice was beautiful. A couple songs reminded me of the sadder Jay Farrar songs, not only vocally, but in the way they were written- the kind of music you take on a road trip when you're passing through Joshua Tree and there's nothing but you, the car, the road, and the music, and perhaps a tall coffee and a carton of cigarettes. Music for a "therapy cruise" as Douglas Coupland calls those. His final song reminded me of John Vanderslice, which he was flattered by when I told him so. I didn't want to take pictures, though I'm sure David wouldn't have minded, it was just too awesome in that living room, fireplace crackling, snuggling on the couch, 20 people sipping their wine or beer or whatever they brought for themselves. In buying his CD, he also gave me a burned disc of some of his MP3s and a sampler from other artists from his area, so it was definitely a smart purchase. You can check out his music and MySpace page here.

Trashcan Fires were also great. A local three piece, they mixed up instruments quite frequently as well as vocals, though they seemed a little shy, kinda backed up from the crowd and turned away for much of their set. The main vocals are handled by this beautiful blonde named Genevieve, with a sweet voice and who mostly plays the autoharp. While I look forward to seeing them again, my hope is that its back at the Habitat House because if they were to play most any other venue, they'd be drowned out by any kind of ambient sound.

In writing this now, I wish I had taken at least a couple pictures...perhaps next time.

After all of that, we went to The Zombie Lounge to check out Writer. We missed the rest of the bill save one band, I think they were The Fling, and other than commenting that one of the guys was a hottie and I enjoyed them, I don't really remember much more about their set other than the harmonies which I always love.

Then Writer, whose words and vocals make me swoon like a tween girl watching The Jonas Brothers. I've written plenty about them lately and for good reason- I truly think they're a great band and I love how it took one listen to their CD for me to be able to sing along. They're the kind of band that, each time I see them or listen to their CD, I have a new favorite song every time.

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