I’m an anthropologist who happens to blog about music, and often that translates over into my writing.  The occasional scientific word slips in here and there, and if ever I stage an argument (which is, admittedly, scarcely seen) it’s usually tackled with objective posturing.

Beer drinkers have beer goggles.  I have culture goggles.  Sometimes I’m drunk.

Last Friday evening I went to a great local concert, and I couldn’t remove the culture goggles.  Three bands played to a single audience as singular as the music and artists they were there to see.  There were hipsters present, jocks, folks from the lesbian community, young people, older people, and a twerp in a jean jacket (that was me).  I go to a lot of live shows, but rarely do I see such a mix of people.  The root, naturally, was in the music, and had this show not been 21+, I suspect an even more diverse spread would have occurred.

Lynhurst creates music that can charge youthful memories into the most staunchly mature listener.   Compare it to what you like: the Jonas Brothers, early Hanson, etc. but there is something very different occurring whether realized or not.  Over the last few decades we’ve come to associate very youthful music with corporate entities like Disney.  Have we so tragically forgotten that this music shares more likeness in feeling with songs such as “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” than with, say, “Hangin’ Tough”?  In many ways corporate entities have skewed our outlook on youthful music – image is > music, $ is > enrichment.  That’s what they tell us, but what is music meant for in our society if not for enrichment?

“Exactly” by: Lynhurst

Lynhurst needs no corporate entities.   They reminded me of my younger days in fond ways, and had they not been outstanding artists this would have never happened (I would’ve simply been turned off).   The sibling trio of Mari, Matt, and Jake Abdo is solid; producing intricately arranged pop song after pop song.  Live they switch out instruments regularly, but the standard line-up is Mari pounding on the drums, Jake dropping the bass beats, and Matt cutting leads on guitar and keys.  This is one of the young bands to watch in the cities, and though they quote “are trying not to grow up too fast,” they invariably will.  The anticipation ought to build with those familiar with Lynhurst, because if what they’re doing now is this good (and it is), we can’t fathom what might become of them in five years.   If nostalgia isn’t enough to entice a purchase of their new album Field Day out of you, then eventually you’ll succumb to a more mature sophomore or 3rd release.

Sick of Sarah is one of the hardest working bands in Minnesota, and you need only take a quick glance at their tour schedule for reassurance.  The last couple years the band has played PRIDE festivals throughout the country and gained a dedicated lesbian following, but their music isn’t reserved for any particular kind of person.  The charismatic female five-piece of Abisha Uhl, Katie Murphy, Jessie Farmer, Brooke Svanes, and Jamie Holm naturally attract women and girls of all ages with their lyrics of heartbreak and empowerment, but they rock hard enough to attract anyone, even if they can’t identify with their words.  Case in point, I’m one of them, though I can identify with things bittersweet.

“Not Listening” by: Sick of Sarah

Sick of Sarah

Life on the road will make any band better if not great, and Sick of Sarah perform like seasoned roadrunners.  Abisha Uhl could be one of the best vocalists fronting a band in the cities.   She has a contagious vocal style and engages her audience (and bandmates) every step of the way. The other members of Sick of Sarah aren’t slouches either.  Even on the relatively small Entry stage they found room to breathe, moving about and individually putting on their own shows that bled into the larger scene.  This is a great rock band and one that you should see live.  Buying an album and slipping it into your car’s CD player is also advised.  Start with their latest self-titled album Sick of Sarah.

Prior to last Friday night I’d never seen The Melismatics live.  Friends have made me feel guilty for months about this.  The band has been a mainstay in the cities for some years, but they surpassed their fresh buzz stage long ago.  Screw fresh buzz journalism – let’s talk about our fresh scene.  There are a dozen or more bands that could be considered synonymous with “what’s going on” in the Twin Cities right now, but near the top of this list are The Melismatics; straight-up, kick-to-the-gourd, curled-lip rock ‘n roll.

“Soul Sucker” by: The Melismatics

The Melismatics

Their latest album The Acid Test is one of the best albums to come out of Minnesota in the last decade.  Jams like “Soul Sucker” and ballads like “Digging Deep” remind me of the first times I heard “I Will Dare” and “Left of the Dial.”  They make you want to turn the volume to eleven and cruise. The swell of emotion that accompanies such songs is only magnified live.  With Sick of Sarah fronting the crowd, everyone at the Entry was singing along, raising beers, and in some cases, pushing and shoving (though less so than during Sick of Sarah).  The Smith and Pony show (that is, Ryan Smith and his wife Kathie Hixon-Smith – aka Pony) never fails to dislodge the eyes from their sockets.  They’ll play their guitars standing up, on the floor, bent over backwards, strapped, unstrapped, and sometimes in ways head-scratchingly indescribable.  It doesn’t matter, really, because it’s all about being entertaining and playing rock guitar as the style was meant to be performed! Mark Wade on bass and Ron Caron on drums are a Wolverine backbone.  They didn’t miss a beat, so that even if the guitars had faltered during the antics (which they didn’t) every song would have stayed cohesive (and they did).

The Melismatics

I throw my fond opinion behind these three bands because they all represent a particular bright spot in our local scene: the young, the hard-working, and the relentless.  These are but a few descriptions of the many. As Borangutan moves forward, I think its bands like these that will shape our presented vision of our local scene.  New buzz bands don’t define it – they join the club, and were this not the case we would be left with little more than something akin to an assembly line.  Persistently out with the old and in with the new as if we never listened close enough to hear the future of a young artist.

In the immortal words of Henry David Thoreau – “Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.”

The chauvinist 19th century use of “man” cast aside, I want to hear it.   I want to hear it all.

Lynhurst

Lynhurst

Lynhurst

Sick of Sarah

Sick of Sarah

Sick of Sarah

The Melismatics

Links

Lynhurst – Facebook / Myspace

Sick of Sarah – Website / Myspace / Borangutan Download

The Melismatics – Website / Myspace / Borangutan Download

posted July 22nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm MN Rock, Reviews Lynhurst, Sick of Sarah, The Melismatics