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Archive for the ‘Sloppy Jane’ Category

Deap Vally (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 16, 2024)

Posted in Deap Vally, Philadelphia, PA, Sloppy Jane, Underground Arts on February 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 16, 2024] Deap Vally

My wife and I saw Deap Vally open for Garbage and Blondie back in 2017.  Here’s how I summed them up seven years ago

So Deap Vally is a duo: Lindsey Troy (guitar, vocals) and Julie Edwards (drums and vocals).  And as with many duos these days, they are able to get a huge sound out of just a guitar and drums (even during the guitar solo which can often leave a big sound feeling a bit empty).

We enjoyed their brief but loud set.  And I kind of forgot about them.  They did a project with The Flaming Lips (Deap Lips) which I knew of but have never heard.

And then a few months ago, they announced that their project as Deap Vally was coming to an end and they were going to go on their final tour.  I had enjoyed their set and thought it would be fun to see them one more time.

They were playing their album Sistrionix in full.  It also turns out that they re-recorded the album recently because their record label had the rights to it and they wanted a new version (hence 2.0).

The premise of the band is pretty simple–simple bluesy heavy rock–a few chords and occasional riff and lots of fuzz and drum.  It works pretty well, although to be honest a headlining show is a little samey.

I wonder if they weren’t playing the album straight through if there would be a bit more variety in the set.

Which is not to say that the show was bad.  None of their songs are very long and so none overstay their welcome.  Lindsey clearly has a lot of fun up there, but I feel like she might enjoy a little more freedom to walk around or, as she does from time to time, jam over by the drum kit.  But most of the songs are pretty short and there’s not a lot of jamming time.

I enjoyed the set quite a lot especially with the addition of Smashley Williams on backing vocals.  She stood in the back and kind of danced and sang from time to time and she was a fun addition. (more…)

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Sloppy Jane (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 16, 2024) [DEAP VALLY]

Posted in Deap Vally, Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Bridgers, Sloppy Jane, Underground Arts on February 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 16, 2024] Sloppy Jane

I was vaguely aware of Sloppy Jane before this show was announced. I didn’t realize that Phoebe Bridgers was in the band a long time ago.  I certainly didn’t know that they were a theatrical practically avant-garde sorta punk band with a front woman who was amazing.

Haley Dahl leads this band of fascinating musicians which includes a cello (Daniel Hass) two viola (one may be a violin) Ruby Wang and Isabella Bustanoby who also plays bass.

There’s also Lily Reszi Rothman on keys and flute.  Mostly hidden from my view was a drummer whose name is Kim (I couldn’t hear the last name) and a guitarist whose name is, I believe Ryan Howe.

The show began with an instrumental Overture–Haley conducted the strings and keys with some crazily wild moves, including jumping in the air.

The strings segued after some five minutes (and since I didn’t know what to expect, I thought maybe it was all like this) into “Party Anthem,” a quiet song that builds into a catchy song with lots of great backing vocals that turns into a really fun song with a lengthy “la la la” melody that everyone sang.

The song segued into the piano ballad which features the line “I pledge allegiance to Jesus and Your Living Room Floor.”  This mellow song segued into another mellow song, although this one was far from chill.  A classic murder ballad, “Judy’s Bedroom”

You cleaned the dirt from your shoes
Out of Judy Bruce’s bedroom
The gesture did not get you very far
Because when they found her dead
In the foldings of her dress there was
Fibers from the lining of your car

All with a very upbeat “la la la” section. (more…)

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Amanda Petrusich–“California Ghosts: Phoebe Bridgers’s humor and dread”(New Yorker, May 25, 2020)

Posted in Amanda Petrusich, Better Oblivion Community Center, Biography, Boygenius, Conor Oberst, Coronavirus, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Haley Dahl, Harry Potter, Marriage Trouble, Parenting, Phoebe Bridgers, Quarantine, Ryan Adams, Sexism, Sexual Assault, Slayer, Sloppy Jane, The National on May 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHOEBE BRIDGERS WORLD TOUR (May 26-June 4, 2010).

Phoebe Bridgers is a fascinating person.  She sings the most delicate songs.  Her voice is soft and almost inaudible. Her music is simple but pretty.  And her lyrics are (often) devastatingly powerful.

And yet she is really quite funny.  Both in interviews and in her visual representation of herself.

Her logo when I saw her was a fascinating faux death metal style of her name.  And now with this world tour, you can see in the poster all of the metal bands referenced in the logos. (There’s Slayer in the kitchen for instance).

And then there’s the basic joke of this world tour.  No one can go anywhere, so she is travelling her world: kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom (second concert by popular demand??)

The first show last night raised money for Downtown Women’s Center.

After some introductory talking and even a magic show (!) from Ethan, her producer, she played five songs.  Midway through she agrees that the set was a bit of a downer, especially opening with these two sad songs.

“Scott Street”
“Funeral”

Then it was time for two new songs (and an electric guitar).

“Moon Song”
“I See You”

Before coming to the end, she delayed, because she was having so much fun (and raising so much money).  So she showed us around her kitchen and pitched the kind of guitar she was playing, the kind of capo (quite expensive!), and her Target-purchased kitchen ware.  

She ended the set with a boygenius song, “Me and My Dog ” dedicated to her dog Max who died at the age of 17 last year.

The first night of her tour was a success. Tonight is night two, from the bathroom.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.  You can watch it here.

[READ: May 27, 2020] “California Ghosts”

I don’t usually read profiles of artists I like.  But every once in a while, one strikes me as interesting.

Phoebe Bridgers is a pretty fascinating character (see the above part for some details).  So I though this might be an interesting profile.  And it was.

Bridgers was brought up in Laurel Canyon and came of age listening to emo.  I love that the writer has to define emo for the New Yorker crowd, “a sub-genre of punk focused on disclosure and catharsis.”  That’s probably the most concise definition of emo I have read.

She writes that Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) is one of emo’s most beloved practitioners.  Phoebe grew up listening to him and then met him in 2016.  He says when he first heard her he felt like he was reuniting with an old friend.  In 2018 they made Better Oblivion Community Center together.

At Carnegie Hall (where she wore a tea-length black dress and high to Doc Martens), she sang a song with Matt Berninger of The National. (more…)

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