Last night

...was a let-down. I actually didn't get to see Strange Boys because when I left at half past midnight, they hadn't even started playing and I was sick of the smoke and people that crowded White Trash. I did see ZHOD (who could not decide whether to play surf rock or HC - Surf Core = new genre?) and Jimmy Trash doing his usual thing. I had a great time with my date, catching up and joking and things, but brother, why does White Trash let me down every time, huh? Or in the words of my date: "You won't go to anything that's not at least excellent - you are a snob". So I am. And proud of it.

LA Report: Strange Boys + Reigning Sound

This event seems ages ago to me now. So much has happened since, so many adventures. Nevertheless, I think I should tell you about my first evening in LA real quick, when we went to see Strange Boys and Reigning Sound at Alex's Bar in Long Beach.

I have only seen Long Beach by night and off-season. But I have a feeling it's not my kind of place. There is nothing particularly wrong with it, a lot of yachts, youth hanging out bored outside the SevenEleven, girls in short skirts queuing for a restaurant spot. But it's a world I just don't really feel home in, if you know what I mean. 

Anyway, the bar was in the predominantly Latino part of town, definitely more up my street. We had some good Mexican junk food first, then went to the concert. Alex's Bar is actually your average kind of garage rock / rockabilly venue, with kitsch pictures on the walls, a big bar and people dressed accordingly. Let's just say, we felt home immediately albeit slightly out of place since we a) didn't look like garage rock kids and b) were in the minority as we were there to see Strange Boys rather than Reigning Sound or one of the other two garage bands (of which one was British, to our surprise).

Strange Boys started the set playing most of their newly written material that out due later this year. They've toned it down a notch, the songs are less catchy and more melancholic. Not bad, mind you, but less aimed at a live audience I think. With more than half the audience very drunk and expecting some serious garage rock, Strange Boys weren't faced with the most appreciative audience overall. However, those that had tracked out to LB for these cute Texans were making sure to show their support and the gig was actually quite nice, if not at all comparable to their set in Berlin two years ago. By the end of the set, they dug out more of their older upbeat material, making sure not to play Be Brave. We really enjoyed ourselves but were thinking it would have been more fun in a different setting. I did also miss the saxophone a bit, I never thought you'd ever hear those words from me, but it's true.

Reigning Sound are some sort of heroes of garage rock and had the audience rocking the minute they entered the stage. Their very charismatic singer makes for a great show but overall, the rawness is missing. They are tight as f**k and don't really rock out but stick to what they know - playing instruments. It's kind of what you wish a lot of indie bands would do but with garage rock, you sort of want dirt and rock and show. It was good but it wasn't Thee Oh Sees at West Germany, if you know what I mean. The highlight of their set came when they asked a friend onstage to jam with them. She had rhythm flowing through her veins, and for that one song, the band really loosened up and the audience went with it.

A good night out that enhanced my Cali trip. But I cannot wait for Strange Boys to return to Berlin in April.

Review: The Strange Boys

Cute Cute Cute!
I know this is not how you should describe a serious artistic project. And yet, I want to take this group home with me and keep them as pets. They could play for me when I wake up in the mornings and when I go to bed at night.

Seriously though, what a night! The Strange boys didn't actually start playing until quarter to mignight, on a Wednesday. Spirits were a bit low by the time they began their set and there was actually nobody in front of the stage. People had kind of gone half asleep at that point. One song played, everybody was clapping, dancing, shouting, excited. It was that easy for the Texans to kick off a party at White Trash's.

And that party lasted until over an hour later when after the last song people refused to let the band go without an encore even though they had explained beforehand that no encores were to be played since they had already extended the set and "we just turn very bad if we keep playing and we want to look good". And good they looked.

So what was it about The Strange Boys that everybody fell in love with them the instance they hit the stage? How did they seduce us despite having a blue harp and a saxophone as part of their instrumentation? (As an anecdote: Some saxophone player on the radio the other day commented that he himself doesn't actually like the sound of the saxophone. That tells you something). The secret lies in a) their personalities - you just want to be best friends with them, b) in singer Ryan Sambol's voice and technique (how does he do that?) and c) in the saxophone player, yes, the saxophone. Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt, a former member of Mika Miko (yum!) knows to use her instrument to enhance the music, give it a je-ne-sais-quoi without doing that show off solo saxophone business that so many saxophone players tend to do.

The Strange Boys basically play garage rock, strongly influenced by blues and country as well as punk, but add those little above mentioned features to give it a twist. This sounds good on record but really comes into effect live when you feel transported into the 1960s and the energy people used to feel when listing to new exciting young American sounds. Wonderful and all-consuming. I expected a chilled evening, I got a dance party.

Are you still listening to the first Kings Of Leon album? Stuck on The Thrills? Start living, start listening to The Strange Boys!

Let's hang tomorrow

Makes you want to hang out. Let's all hang out with The Strange Boys tomorrow at White Trash Fast Food!