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Friday, February 19, 2010
The first thing I noticed when Montana Slim String Band took the stage was the imposing statue of their rhythm guitar player. At well over six feet tall, Jesse is impossible to ignore, until the music starts. The only thing bigger then Jesse is MSSB's sound. Their sound immediately filled the room at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley and put a death grip on your senses. The band began playing with no discussion and Brent quickly focused attention on his nimble fingers tearing up the fretboard on his mandolin while Dave, and his bass called Trumptet, held down the bottom end with spot on timing. Dave breaks out his bow on one occasion to provide an eerie, haunting sound. Most of the band shares vocal duties, blending subtle harmonies into a full-bodied sound that fills out their music and consumes the audience. I was initially skeptical when I first saw Turi setting up the effects peddles for her fiddle, but she, and the rest of the band, use them judiciously to ad a depth to their sound that gives them a refined, modern edge. Their style of music most certainly falls into the Newgrass or Jamgrass territory, but with Brent's smoking mandolin and Sean's unearthly flat-pickin' breaks, they pay due homage to the masters. When I heard Sean's first break I expected to see smoking frets, but his calm stage presence and smooth, relaxed pick hand belies his intricate melodies and break neck speed. His use of the entire fret board makes me think that there's a rocker somewhere inside that wants to get out, but just can't overcome the bluegrass.
The band also managed to provide a musical marathon, blending one song into another, lulling you into a sense of contentment that makes you forget that you've been listening for over ten minutes. They kept the audience connected with their honest lyrics that provide a vehicle for the band to display their emotional connection to the music. Their extended jams were highlighted by Brent and Turi’s instruments occasional back and forth arguments. Though, neither mandolin or fiddle were ever able to claim dominance, they did manage to push each other to greater levels of virtuosity.
The most difficult thing about seeing Montana Slim String Band is catching them in town. In Jesse's words they tour, “pretty much all the time”, but they are more than worth the effort. They put on a show that will be sure to get you toes tappin’ and you neighbors dancin’; even at a seated venue like the Freight. To take some of their music home you can find their LP Slim Pickin's at either iTunes or CDBaby and they will be back in town for a major show at the Independent in San Francisco on March 25th. These guys are sure to deliver.
-Jonathon Miller
Published on February 27, 2010
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Which of these local acts should be our next San Francisco Artist of the Month?
Considering my usual tendencies towards the darker, brooding, far too narcissistic and self-indulgent end of the musical spectrum, The Dont’sThose Delicate Chemicals embraced my ears with a welcome sense of levity. Their third album (and the first one I’ve had the pleasure of delving into), Those Delicate Chemicals really stands out as being able to deliver the practices of a heady and experimental band through the parameters of a delightful pop-like sound. With its layers of charming guitar riffs, delicately placed textural oddities and an overall exuberant atmosphere, Those Delicate Chemicals could very well be the pop anthem for your art school experience… and I mean that in the most sincere way I can muster.
Considering how surprisingly small San Francisco can seem, it comes as no surprise to hear influences from formerly local avant-rock stars 60-Watt Kid throughout this album (no more apparent then in the final two songs “Backtalk” and “The Will of God”). Perhaps they’re friends, perhaps they’ve just seen each others shows on a number of occasions, but the jagged ethereal and heavy tremolo guitar layers that appear throughout the songs of both bands is obviously comparable. Serving as one of the many interesting layers throughout Those Delicate Chemicals, these wonderfully well-placed interruptions serve a vital role to elevate the pop framework to a vast and intricate soundscape.
Opening with their call and response anthem “Which Side You’re On (The Pirate Song)” Those Delicate Chemicals kicks off with a cheeky wink and a smile. You’d love it if its clarion call asking “what side you’re on” is The Dont’s feeling the waters for whose side the listener is on, but lets not mince words; this is a song about pirates, and pirates will “get it done.” Surly as their “piratic oath” would demand, the song leads its crowd in a triumphant bellowing of “ARRRRRRRRR. “ I imagine this is not a moment to miss at their performances.
Leading immediately into one of my favorite songs on the album, “Breakdown,” Those Delicate Chemicals moves on past its initial playfulness to its slightly more serious, but still jubilant, elements. While the songs change somewhat in tonality, listening across Those Delicate Chemicals it’s hard to pigeonhole it with one thematic quality. Not at all to its detriment, Those Delicate Chemicals seems to lack a greater arch to its narrative. There is depth to the individual songs, but short of the fastidiously executed sound, there seems little that ties them together. Favorites certainly pop out (“Regardless, The Goddess,” “Peacetime,” and “Gasoline” come to mind) but there is a certain distance held between the music and any underlying concept for the album.
Perhaps that's just the point. The Dont’s keep the audience at a distance with their Ramones style surname uniformity, and maybe by withholding just enough the mask serves to direct the listeners attention to the complexities of the sound as opposed to the distraction of a message. The mask is their tool of misdirection.
The Dont’s Those Delicate Chemicals is definitely an album to seek out. Elaborate and boisterous, Those Delicate Chemicals is the type of intelligent and experimental pop sound that is very hard to come by. It carries with it a depth that rivals its avant counterparts, but is delivered with the accessibility many similar sounding artists lack. I encourage you to add it to your collection if for no other reason than to scream “ARRRRR” every time that pirate captain demands.
-Ada Lann
The Dont's Those Delicate Chemicals can be purchased here.
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