As I’ve mentioned before Graveface Records and Curiosities has really turned into an interesting venue. The space itself has always been entertaining, with slightly off taxidermy, weird art, costumes, video games and, of course, a superbly curated collection of vinyl. In the last year or so, the live act booking has really picked the pace and because it’s the rare (for Savannah) all ages venue that is also not afraid of any genre of music. Some really great, sometimes obscure acts have stopped in the Hostess City.
Almost every time that I have gone to The Starland District venue I have come away impressed by a solid act or three, sometimes confused, but almost always impressed.
That was the case again Wednesday night when I saw Tare, Lions and Big Awesome at the tiny record store. I missed last minute add Au Revoir, but got there in time to catch Tare from the beginning of their set. All three acts that I saw share a common area on the rock Venn Diagram. They all could be described as indie, post punk, mathy, rock bands, but each had their own flavor, too.
Tare, out of New Orleans, leaned a little more toward the mathy, angular, post punk with an occasional foray into some atmospheric passages. Personally, I heard pretty direct lineage toward late era Dischord Records bands like Q and Not U, Faraquet, and maybe even Fugazi, at least instrumentally. The vocals recalled The Promise Ring at times. I really dug Tare, and I totally recommend their free download album if you even sort of understood my description of them. Song titles from the Don Caballero school of titling. Great start to the night.
Lions sound was a little more driving and melodic, but still firmly entrenched in the more complex math rock end of things. Really, really interesting dual guitar interplay, with great hooks and surprisingly good vocals that dip a bit into the best parts of emo. Yet more good rock out of Nashville. Keep them coming. Free stream or download here.
Savannah/Bluffton’s Big Awesome closed out the night. I tried to catch them at FEST, but it didn’t work out, so it was my first time seeing them. They call themselves “power emo” and I guess that kind of makes sense. The best thing to do is check out the trio’s Bandcamp tunes, they sound great, and it looks like there is a new album on the horizon. I’d really like to see them play around Savannah more often, but I’m guessing that having a drummer that lives in Nashville (they share Lion’s drummer) puts a bit of a damper on that. Anyway, great show, great night.
Here’s a few pictures, more after the jump.
Big Awesome
Lions
Tare
Big Awesome
Lions
Tare
