Two Way Monologues 7.0 @ Rancho Relaxo

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have had to miss seeing Amos The Transparent every time they've come to town. This is highly unfortunate since Everything I've Forgotten To Forget is easily one of my most listened to CD's of the year. So imagine my elation as I found out that, not only are they coming back to the T-Dot, but they are performing as part of Dan Wolovick's awesome Two Way Monologues series. This made me as giddy as a schoolgirl.

The first act of the night was The Craft Economy. If Devo and The B-52's joined forces and transported themselves to 2007, they would be The Craft Economy. Catchy, fun and with just a slight hint of the theatrical, it's clear that they are actively campaigning for the title of world's greatest party band. I came in just as they were starting, and for some reason I didn't notice it right away, but they all had little glowing electronic bar graph type things on their chest. Like Twiki from Buck Rogers. That made me laugh. (OK, looking at the Twiki link I just posted, I guess it's not even remotely similar. But that's what it reminded me of anyways.) Their energetic brand of new wave indie pop kept the crowd dancing and, if you get the chance, I highly recommend downloading their tunes. In fact, their entire EP can be downloaded for free on their website. It's quite good, but seeing them perform live is way more fun.

Photos: The Craft Economy at Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
(I think the lighting may actually be getting darker at Rancho. It's getting increasingly more difficult to take a good picture with my Sony point and click at that venue. Please look at my shots, but make sure you look at Frank's awesome shots taken with a good camera on Chromewaves.)
Downloads: The Lives of Captured Scientists mp3 / Drag-On mp3
Myspace: The Crash Economy

I think Oh No Forest Fires is one of those bands you're going to be hearing a lot of over the next year because they seem to be playing their brains out. I saw them only but a month ago, however, their show has improved in leaps and bounds. Not that they weren't good before, far from it, but their ability to keep a crowd interested has been honed and is reaching near perfection. The greatest challenge in reviewing their show is thinking of new ways to describe the spasmodic powerhouse that is Rajiv Thavanathan. Well, this time around I'm going to refrain from such descriptions so as not to overlook the rest of the band and, most importantly, the music itself. This time around I became far more aware of how experimental and varied their musical style actually is. The songs are layered in tons of atmosphere as they rise well above your typical indie rock fare. I love the instrumental powerhouse voyages that some of the songs veer off into, always encouraging the listener to expect the unexpected. Speaking of which, they evening ended with a rollicking cover of "Footloose," that brought the house down, as any good Kenny Loggins cover should.

Photos: Oh No Forest Fires @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr.
Myspace: Oh No Forest Fires

Finally it was the moment I had been waiting for, Ottawa's Amos The Transparent. Obviously the Rancho stage is not conducive to their typical 8 or 9 member lineup, but the stripped down four piece was just as exhilarating to experience. Sadly, much of the audience had cleared out by that time, but hey, it's their loss. I loved the show that I was watching. The band had been dipping into the sauce during the course of the night, which made them positively giddy, but thankfully it didn't have any negative effect on their musical performance. They opened the night with the title track from Everything I've Forgotten To Forget and played most of the tracks from that album throughout the course of the night. The between song banter was hilarious , and oftentimes downright silly, but in the hands of charismatic lead Jonathan Chandler, you couldn't help but have a good time. Some of the funniest moments came when their keyboard player told a really lame joke about Metallica that he had heard on Conan O'Brian. The rest of the band mocked him, and then broke into a 30 second rendition of "Enter Sandman." An audience member asked if they could play any good licks, and they obliged with a little bit of tapping, Eddie Van Halen style. It was this type of laid back demeanor that made the band so endearing, and the fact that the songs themselves still sounded strong made for a very balanced night of pure showmanship. Can't wait to see them again sometime in the upcoming year.

Photos: Amos The Transparent @ Rancho Relaxo on flickr
Download: After All That, It's Come To This mp3
Myspace: Amos The Transparent
Purchase: Everything I've Forgotten To Forget at mymusic.com
Video: Interview with Jonathan and Christopher on Rogers TV on youtube