September 16, 2009 8pm
Skully’s Music Diner
1151 N. High Street
(614) 291-8856
$8 in advance / $10 at door
Ages 18+, Under 21 pay $3 surcharge at the door
Division Day
http://www.myspace.com/divisionday
Eclectic Santa Cruz indie rockers Division Day formed in 2001. Excellently named singer and keyboardist Rohner Segnitz, guitarist Ryan Wilson, bassist Seb Bailey, and drummer Kevin Lenhart recorded their self-titled debut EP that summer before the band ever played a single gig. Mixing the cool electronic vibe of Broadcast or Boards of Canada with the lysergic dream pop of the Grandaddy/Flaming Lips axis and a hint of post-rock aggression in the rhythm section, the band refined its sound on its higher-profile second EP, The Mean Way In, produced by the prolific Scott Solter (also both a solo artist and a latter-day member of the Mountain Goats). Following the release of that EP, the band took an extended break to concentrate on the members’ academic careers, then reconvened in Los Angeles in 2006. Their debut full-length, Beartrap Island, was again produced by Solter and released on the Eenie Meenie label in October 2007. - ©1992-2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Bad Veins
http://www.myspace.com/badveins
If you’ve only read about this Cincinnati duo, you’d imagine their music as a much stranger beast than what you’ll hear on their debut. The pair use a battered old reel-to-reel tape machine to play their backing tracks, telephones instead of microphones and a megaphone, but the results are closer to the Killers’ indie-pop bombast than the experimental garage rock minimalism their gear evokes.
Sure, there’s lots of thick saturated fuzz guitar throughout, but you’re more likely to notice the strings, horns and harpsichords. While the results are more conventional than their methods suggest, they’re skilled enough at straight-up pop that you’re prone to forget about the sonic gimmicks by the time you get to the end of the first track.
There’s not quite enough variety in mood to blow us away, but it’s still a strong debut, and they’ve got lots of potential. - Benjamin Boles, Now Toronto
Afortiori
http://www.myspace.com/afortioritheband