SNOWDEN w/ Abby Go-Go and Carnivores

Saturday.29.November.2008

What's a Minion to do on the weekend following Thanksgiving? Why, head to The EARL and see one of Atlanta's best acts try out new songs on their home turf, naturally.

We got there around 10 PM, in time to see first opener, Carnivores hit the stage. This is the second time i have seen this act, and at this point i am no longer being polite. This band is awful, and people need to stop booking them.

Sorry about that. I know that back when they opened for The Octopus Project, I thought that maybe, just maybe, the issues with Carnivores were due to the sound problems of that evening. I was wrong.

This, of course, brings us to bands like 4 Non Blondes, Crash Test Dummies, and, finally, Carnivores. The same dark force of nature that has tricked humans into believing that oysters and other mollusks are suitable to eat is also able to trick humans into believing that Carnivores are suitable to listen to.

They are a four-piece, and they attempt to play reverb-drenched pop a la Saturday Looks Good to Me. However, none of the four band members can harmonize. Actually, none of them can sing -- they tend to shout at the microphone. The female keyboardist in the band, specifically, should be banned by law from coming within 5 feet of any microphone.

What. The. Fuck???

Why do these people keep getting gigs. I want them to go away. Now.

I do have to point out that for some reason, they didn't play the one song I rather liked.

Carnivores, in what passes for "rocking action" with them.

But I'm not sure whether that's an explanation or an excuse. Either way, it's unforgivable.

Their performance was 30 minutes of my life that i will never get back.

After that atrocity was over, we stood around riffing about how bad they were. Ha ha, loads of fun to mock talentless hacks. Ha ha, not even Curt Wells could make them sound decent.

As we did this, The EARL slowly got crowded. In fact, there was a very respectable sized crowd for a holiday weekend.

At 11, the second opener went on. They were called Abby Go-Go, and i have never heard of them before. Their MySpace says that they are local. If so, where have these people been hiding?

Abby GoGo in action.

They were a four-piece act, with what appeared to be two brothers on guitars, and pedals. Lots of pedals. The music that Abby Go-Go cranked out was loud shoegazerish rock that at times referenced Verve (early Verve, not that crap they are doing since the "reunion") and/or Lazer Guided Melodies-era Spiritualized. They ended their set with a lovely 15 minute noise drone freakout worthy of Spaceman3.

Ah the Spaceman3 band! I swear, I couldn't remember the name of this act to safe my life. Still, I do recall that they were rather loud and droney, which I enjoyed. It's not often you find an Atlanta band that manages to have shoegaze elements. Reverb, yes. Shoegaze, no. They were a little out of the local norm, and I enjoyed them.

I have to say that i was favorably impressed. This band was so good that they not only held my interest, but they wiped that bad "Carnivores" taste from my mouth. When are they playing next?

Lead vocalist of Abby GoGo.

It was just after midnight that Snowden took the stage. Right up front, Jordan Jeffares announced that the band was trying out new songs, things that will be on their next record. In fact, just over half of what they played was new. Now, i had heard some of the new material when i saw Snowden at Corndog this year. Then i found that a lot of the new stuff was mellow and kind of depressing. But here it all sounded better. Snowden played the new stuff faster, with more confidence i guess. It sounded great.

I'd agree with this comparison. I know that when Snowden played Corndog, I felt it didn't have the band's usual energy. At the time, I attributed it to the lingering Gringo Starr factor combining with Snowden trying to work out their new arrangements. But the new material didn't grab me then. In contrast, it definitely grabbed me on this evening.

I first saw Snowden in concert at their 2006 album release party for Anti-Anti and, at this point, attending Snowden gigs almost feels like a second job. I’ve made a good effort to as many of the band’s headlining shows around here as I can, because Jordan Jeffares, Corianne Lee, David Payne, and Chandler Rentz always emerge onstage with both barrels loaded and their intense, energetic shows never disappoint.

Jordan Jeffares, in the dark. (Camera shy Payne is barely visible behind him.)

Not to say that anything Snowden is doing now is that different from what they have done in the past. These new songs are not a radical departure from Anti Anti, but instead a logical progression. I was pretty impressed with the new stuff.

As with the past couple of Snowden shows that I’ve attended, this set at The Earl consisted mostly of newer tracks.

With the new material, it seems like Corrine Lee is spending mroe time
playing keys and doing backing vocals.

There’s nothing quite like seeing as-yet-unreleased tracks grow from an infant stage to more developed phases, and it’s been a pleasure to see Snowden’s newer tracks (Lemon Peel, Muse Like You, Candy For Everyone, So Red, and so on) transform from harder-edged roughness to a more refined post-punk urgency.

That said, Snowden did not neglect to play their hits. In particular, i was once again impressed with the new, Chandler Rentz drum heavy version of Like Bullets. This song just rules.

Chandler Rentz drums like bullets...

Of course, the old faithful from Anti-Anti were highlights. My favorite Snowden song, Between The Rent And Me, was as danceable and fun as always. Like Bullets, Filler Is Wasted, Anti-Anti, and Black Eyes always keep the sold-out Snowden crowds jumping, and this night was no exception.

Lee and Rentz are anti-movement, they are anti-anti.

I would have liked to have heard Stop Your Bleeding during this show, but it’s not Burger King and I can’t always have it my way.

I’m going to disagree with InspectorJason on this one. I actually thought the new songs were stronger than the older "hits", so to speak. Admittedly, this may be due to the fact that I've been hearing the older material for nigh-unto-forever. Still, although the newer songs were faster than they had been at Corndog, they still had a slightly different pacing than the stuff on Anti-Anti. The songs seemed more thoughtful and deliberate, if you will, and felt like the band are growing and changing as time progresses.

Jordan Jeffares in the spotlight.

I’m hugely looking forward to a hopeful 2009 album release from Snowden and am hoping that the band overcomes their label issues so that the world will not be robbed of these excellent new tracks.

Yeah, a new record in 2009 would be great! But their set tonight was all good. In fact, barring that unfortunate first act, this was a pretty good night.