I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2019] Boy Scouts

I had heard a song by Boy Scouts on NPR and I was pretty happy they were going to open for Jay Som.

Traffic was a little heavy and I feared that since another band [SUM 41!] were playing in the main part of the building, that it would be tough finding parking. But I got a spot and made it up to The Foundry with no problem. I wound up right behind a short person who was against the fence.

Boy Scouts is basically the creation of Oakland-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Vick.  She writes delicate, harmony-laced folk and sings in a gentle tone.

I really enjoyed that the songs were simple but not obvious.  There was usually something unexpected in the song that kept it from being monotonous.  Whether it was an unexpected pause before a beat or just the way she stretched out a chord at the end of a line.

She also played some unexpected chords–or at least unexpected high on the neck of the guitar.

The thing that really impressed me with the band though, was the vocal harmonies.  They were really outstanding.  All three members of her band did vocals, but Rose Droll on keys and guitar and Travis Vick on guitar were really key to those often-three-part harmonies.

Travis played an orange guitar that looked very big–I wonder if it was a baritone.

Obviously these pictures are terrible–that magenta light was just terrible for photos.  So I have no good pictures of the orange guitar.

My favorite song that they played was “Expiration Date.”  I loved the slightly dissonant chords and the repetitive guitar lead that Droll plays.

Taylor doesn’t say much between songs–I feel like a little more banter would have been nice.  But she was a confident front woman (even if she sang quietly) and was always engaged with us.  I also had a hard time understanding the lyrics, but that could have been the acoustics of the room or where I was standing rather than her singing.

The drumming from Nikolas Soelter was minimal but I feel added some nice touches to songs that on record are mostly drum machine.

After the show, Rose was selling merch and I asked her what CD most of the songs came from.  She said that the set was a mix of some unreleased songs, a couple from her new album and a cover of a song written by Jay Som’s drummer, Zachary Elsasser.  This song was really catchy, but I don’t know the title.

So I don’t know the set list.  But I’m glad to have seen her.