my buddy joe and i went to the troubadour last night to see some bands play, mainly minus the bear, whom i love. it was pretty strange though, because the rest of the lineup was all these hardcore rock bands that seemed really into screaming and lunging around the stage. the first two bands were pretty terrible and the second was only better because the lead singer was a very large man that danced around a lot, which was at least funny for the first few songs. and he had a theramin, which is at least interesting.

the rest were pretty good though. i’d never heard of bullet train to vegas before, but they were a good time. not the best singers, but pretty energetic and enjoyable. some cool guitar sounds, and pretty hyperactive, basically. i’d see them again. planes mistaken for stars, who went on last, were about the same. only they were better musicians i think. i really liked what they were playing, i just didn’t get into the vocal stuff, because for some reason i can’t really connect with people that only scream things i can’t understand. i guess i’m crazy.

minus the bear was the highlight by far. they’re certainly my favorite band-that-it-seems-like-no-one-ever-talks-about. i saw them back in march opening for piebald, and i’ve just fallen more in love with their stuff as time passes. last night only supported that, in addition to winning over a lot of the audience i think. i caught a lot of people sort of furrowing their brows after they started, then looking at eachother and nodding with the “hey, this is pretty damn good” look. i really think that if they keep opening for bands with wider fan bases, they’ll easily double or triple their own in the next year. especially with their first full length album coming out next month, which is looking to be fantastic. at the show they were selling new ep’s with two of those songs on it and three extras, which i picked up and listened to five times this morning. oh man, it’s good. check out spritz!!! spritz!!!, one of the tunes from the upcoming LP, and remember it — because i’m willing to be that you’ll be hearing more about them soon enough. it’s not just the song of the week, it’s a strong recommendation.

[now hearing this: centaur – in streams. i have a lot to say about this one too but i’ll hold off for another day. it’s time for mongolian barbeque anyway. mmmmmm.]