Monday, January 21, 2008

no, she can do it with her eyes

I hope everyone is having a good MLK Day. Here's a treat for y'all: Someone has uploaded a second live video of the Sisters onto YouTube, this time showing them performing at Pianos, which I'm guessing was a few years ago.

The camera moves around a lot and offers a good look at all three, each seeming very serious but rocking out nonetheless. Is Mary amazing on that bass or what? Kristin's got her headphones on and is drumming intently with that right shirtsleeve cuff unbuttoned, and late in the song Cindy starts wailing on the pedal and pounding on her guitar like she's trying to knock some sense into it.

Damn, what an amazing contribution to Western civilization and the Milky Way galaxy they are.

Anyway, here goes:

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

the flood will take us when we're in our sleep

Let's just say, hypothetically, that you drive five hours across the state to see a wonderful band whose debut album has been immeasurably enriching your life during the past couple of months, but then because of some absurdly inaccurate Google Maps driving directions coupled with extreme fatigue and your usual stupidity you arrive just in time to catch the last song and a half of their set, for a total of maybe five minutes. But this is the most glorious five minutes ever. And the band that comes up next also rocks the joint hard, and so it is with less disappointment and chagrin than you probably would have expected that you sleep off your embarrassment in some hotel, wake up early the next day and make the trek back home, trying not to worry too much about that weird bird-chirping noise your front left wheel suddenly seems to be making. And you finally arrive at your house without further adventure, aside from the hour you spent napping in a turnpike rest stop when the exhaustion finally became too much to bear.

You'd be in the mood for some relaxin' at this point, wouldn't you? I certainly am. I mean, yeah, you would be.

And you'd be in luck, because the always-enterprising Ms. Cynthia Wheeler has formed yet another new band, this time called Land of Tomorrow, whose mission statement, she explains, is to service one's psychic needs on those "'jesus, i need to chill the f*ck out' days." (This is the band formerly known as Mostly Water, according to American Laundromat's latest e-mail.)

They've got a couple sound clips up at their MySpace site, and as far as chilling out is concerned, all I can do is echo Mr. Bush: Mission fucking accomplished. Cindy's laughter at the beginning of "I Loved" is pretty damned beguiling too.

Best of all, the band will be rocking out live Thursday night at the Cake Shop in NYC. So go check 'em out. My advice: Bring a goddamn map too.

P.S. Looking for another band to check out? Wye Oak! Wye Oak! Wye Oak! (formerly Monarch)