Everyone in the DC area, T.T. Reynold’s, one of the most popular Rock bars in Northern Virginia will be closing. The last day that people can catch a show there is July 31st. Its been fighting to stay open since around last september, but it has finally lost to developers. A developer has bought their building and there will be a new building where T.T.’s is now. Make sure you catch a show there before they close.
[Image]I will freely admit that I get most of my new music by watching those teen shows on the CW network. I’ll even own up to the fact that I have at least three volumes of soundtracks from The O.C., One Tree Hill and yes, The Hills on MTV.
Cut me some slack! I’m 35. It’s not like any teenagers are beaming me the latest hot tunes from their iPods to my Blackberry.
This is all a very long lead-up to telling you about Modern Skirts, a little band from Athens, Georgia, with a polished sound. In my opinion, Modern Skirts tunes should be picked up by a network as background for angst-ridden teen drama. They’ve nailed the sound, and they don’t fall into the common “emo” trap of most newer bands.
On the first song of their set at Iota June 22, the lead singer sounded a little like Bob Dylan – if he had enunciated and never smoked. The band’s harmonies are fantastic and unpredictable. The set led off with the song Motorcade, that had a “rallying cry” hook with a strong beat. The second song, Soft Pedals, was more melodic and slower. Sometimes a song is so good you can’t hum along to it. You just have to kind of ride the wave of the chord changes – that’s what Soft Pedals was like.
Sorano, their third song, recalls Elvis Costello and Ben Folds. The Ben Folds comparison is one the Modern Skirts probably can’t escape, particularly when they put their talented pianist to good use on tunes like Sorano and NY Song. Radio Breaks was more plodding, but just as I started to get a little bored, the beat picked up and I found myself tapping my feet again.
Pasadena is possibly my favorite song. Modern Skirts played it toward the end of their set, and I listened to it several more times in the car on my way home. Excellent piece with sharp, professional harmonies. These guys are ready to be discovered. Lucky for me, I don’t have to wade through dreadful teen soaps to hear Modern Skirts – I’ve got them on heavy rotation on my iPod already.
"Modern Skirts at Iota"
1 Comment -
Everyone in the DC area, T.T. Reynold’s, one of the most popular Rock bars in Northern Virginia will be closing. The last day that people can catch a show there is July 31st. Its been fighting to stay open since around last september, but it has finally lost to developers. A developer has bought their building and there will be a new building where T.T.’s is now. Make sure you catch a show there before they close.
http://blog.musicdetour.com/2008-06-19/tt-reynolds-alert/
http://blog.musicdetour.com/2008-06-16/festivals-throwdown-local-music-festival/
6/20/2008 7:21 AM