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Review:
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In EvilSponge land, I’m the go-to person when
it comes to Athens bands. I’m not exactly sure how this happened,
but these days when we hear about an Athens band, the rest of
The Minions tend to turn to me and ask, “Have you heard of them?
What do you think?” Therefore, shortly before this show, PostLibyan
sent me an email about The Fairburn Royals and asked that very
same question.
Unfortunately I didn’t have an answer for him. Yeah I’d heard
of The Fairburn Royals, and they were high on my master list
of bands to see. But I’d never seen them live. However, I had
seen The Eskimos and liked them very much (which is what I pointed
out to PostLibyan). So based on my limited knowledge, and my
general liking for bands from Athens, we wandered off to The
Star Bar on a Thursday night.
When we got there, The Fairburn Royals were already on the
stage. Although written reviews compare their recording to bands
ranging from Sonic Youth to Wilco to Pavement to Nerf Herder,
my first impression was that they reminded me most of a band
like Poster Children. I think this is because of the very punk-esque
drumming combined with lead singer Matt Lisle’s somewhat high-pitched,
yet forceful vocals. Furthermore, the guitarwork had that crunchy
slightly New Wave feel that Poster Children used to great effect
on albums like Junior Citizen. Yet this comparison
isn’t appropriate for some of their other songs, most particularly
the ironically twee Be my Punk Rock Friend, which began
with the line “I like punk rock/ I hate punk rockers” and had
the jangly feel of another Midwest band, Wolfie. The only complaint
I had about their set was that The Fairburn Royals didn’t have
much stage presence; however this is likely a reflection of
the fact that they are a relatively young band who are still
working out the kinks of their live show. Nevertheless, I really
liked their music, and I’m looking forwards to seeing The Fairburn
Royals again.
Afterwards, The Eskimos came out to play. When I’d seen them
before in concert, they were a four piece (guitar/guitar/bass
drums); however, on this evening they added a keyboardist and
the bassist was a different person. Still, this hasn’t changed
the underlying basis of their sound, which combines the bounce
of Small Faces with the guitarwork of a band like T.Rex. Perhaps
the most compelling part of their music is the insane catchiness
of their melodies and lyrics, which get stuck in your brain
to the exclusion of all else. This catchiness is particular
evident during the songs of Drew Sinclair, which strongly demonstrate
the 60s psychedelic pop edge. Conversely, during the songs of
other songwriter Dave Weiglein, the 70s prog influences dominate.
The major problem (such as it was) with their set on the evening
was the sound mix, which had the vocals way up front and the
guitars positively quiet. I’m not sure how this happened (or
if it was deliberate), but obviously that’s not an issue the
band has control over. As a live act, The Eskimos continue to
impress me. I think each time I’ve seen them, they’ve continued
to get better, filling out their sound without become overly
busy or pretentious.
Finally, after a small break, Atlantic took the stage. I was
not familiar with this band at all; in fact, I hadn’t even heard
of them prior to this evening. However, based on my reading,
it seems that they are considered a solid punk act from Atlanta.
After a couple of songs, it became apparent that they were a
marginally interesting emo-esque type act fronted by a man with
an uncanny vocal resemblance to White Trash Heroes-era
Eric Bachmann. This isn’t an unappealing mix; nevertheless after
the excitement and novelty of the first two bands, they were
somewhat anti-climatic. And with the late hour (and a slight
cold to boot), I only lasted a few more songs before deciding
to call it a night.
Overall it was a quite fun evening. The Fairburn Royals were
a very pleasant surprise, while I was quite pleased to show
off The Eskimos to other members of the EvilSponge crew (who
found them equally enjoyable). And although Atlantic didn’t
strike me as different or unique, their version of punk rock
can be very appealing at times.
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