Jan 6th, 2010
Jan 13th, 2010
Jan 20th, 2010
Jan 27th, 2010
Feb 3rd, 2010
Feb 10th, 2010
Feb 17th, 2010
Feb 24th, 2010
Mar 3rd, 2010
Mar 10th, 2010
4Play
By Don Allred
Deas Vail
Thursday @ The LC Pavilion
Deas Vail, sometimes compared to Ben Gibbard's main band, Death Cab For Cutie, currently open for Owl City, who often get compared to Gibbard's side project, Postal Service. But Deas Vail aren't getting left back - they're journeymen at heart, committed to learning. Spirituality is more evoked than invoked by their sound (especially singer Wes Blaylock's more heavenly high notes) and lyrics, which unpretentiously express hope and frustration. Themes tend to blend, though their recent "Birds and Cages" turns up the guitars. The stage should provide more room to move.
Two Cow Garage
Saturday @ Rumba Cafe
Columbus' Two Cow Garage produce songs like "Girl of My Dreams," reeling visions and/or delusions back into the spin (that's country), while "Come Back To Shelby" mashes startling combinations of familiar elements far into the garage wall (that's rock).
"Shelby" 's radically nostalgic narrator gnarls "Sha la la la la!" like a bursting Van Morrison piñata. Sweet, lost "Sadie Mae" still shatters and hovers. Two Cow Garage keep all spirits, lost and found, kickin' in the stall. Hopefully, this show will fry us some omens of the upcoming album.
Hamilton Loomis
Saturday @ Vonn Jazz Lounge
Hamilton Loomis is blues-centric, although he unselfconsciously includes decades of rock, R&B, jazz and funk shadings in his groove, while avoiding direct comparisons. Still, Loomis does offer a straightforward tribute to his studio colleague Bo Diddley, on the recent "Live In England." Mostly, "Live" sports equally up-tempo Loomis originals. Vintage-times-wireless gear juices his guitar and harmonica, along with Stratton Doyle's sax, which can sound like a horn section. Occasionally, Loomis' youthful voice can get a bit G.Love-slick, but the guitar usually knocks some sense back into him.
The Get-Ups
Saturday @ Victorian's Midnight Café
The Get-Ups began four years ago as a detour for Way Past Gone's vocalist-guitarist Kasey Chambers and drummer Nathan Hackey, who eventually added WPG colleague Tony Castle on bass. Together, they sought punk catharsis. Or, as they put in song, "F*ck it, I'm out." They're out where boredom and youth butt heads, ringing like the horns added as they went ska and stayed punk. Satire and exuberance zing and zip through the reflexes of both approaches, so the Get-Ups and their audiences have reasons to celebrate (when required).
Originally Published: January 27, 2010
