st. louis: company of thieves and the whigs

wednesday shows are brutal, especially when they're two hours away from school in st. louis! but that's never stopped this traveling one-girl circus. and when company of thieves is in the picture? well, duh. of course i'll be there. work at eight am in columbia? psh.

abby decided last minute to tag along so that was a welcome surprise; i'm quite used to going to shows alone and it rarely bothers me anymore (i want to see the show, not hang out with friends) but it's always nice to have an extra person with you. we grabbed some dinner and left columbia around six, putting us at off broadway at around a quarter of eight. i guess the show got a late start, because while the website said show time was 7:30, opening band ravenhill didn't go on until 8. but it was a welcome wait, because the band was surprisingly good. a mixture of am taxi and ha ha tonka comes to mind, and if you know me at all, you know that's an excellent combination. they were pretty rock'n'roll, but had some great harmonies going with a little gospel on the side. good stuff. and i'm pretty sure i went to high school with the guitarist.... maybe... i think... i was too chicken to say something, but hey. whatever.

up next was company of thieves who always put on a flawless show. marc was looking quite dapper with his little hat, and gen is always adorable. that girl could wear a trash bag and look good. and her hair! ohh, her hair. she probably hates it, but i'd kill for a wild mop of curls like that. anyway, enough about unnecessary aesthetics. THE MUSIC was fantastic. i know their music well enough to keep mental notes of songs, and it was great already having the new album (review up on popwreckoning coming this week, written by yours truly!) they started with a brand new one 'look both ways,' then carried on with 'in passing' and 'old letters,' then played two somewhat familiar new songs ('queen of hearts' and 'nothing's in the flowers'). i remember first hearing 'queen of hearts' at lollapalooza this past summer, and the band has had free download cards floating around for 'nothing's in the flowers' for several months now. next was 'fire song,' 'modern waste' (new), 'death of communication' (new), 'gorgeous/grotesque' (new, which they've played live a couple times before) and finally the crowd favorite 'oscar wilde.' gen gave a great little anecdote about their next single 'death of communication' too, saying "it's about when you're being honest and someone holds it against you; it's about not changing even when you're alone, and sticking with your gut." and she meant every word of it; gen sings and dances on stage with a fiery passion that is unlike anything i've every seen in a front(wo)man. she feels it, and the audience can feel it to. you can't help but stand there with a silly grin on your face and sing along with reckless abandon.

i should probably intoduce myself to them formally at some point. i've seen them quite a few times, and we know so many of the same people. i even got a tweet from them this morning saying that i should have said hello. i get so flustered though! "hi i'm devon and you don't really know me but we know all the same people and i'm in love with your music and you know am taxi and my best friends we the living and all of my chicago people and..." yeah. whoops.

 and finally there was the whigs. i was late to this bandwagon and i'm sincerely regretting it now. they have three albums out to date, the first released in 2005. i first heard their name is association with kings of leon, and then my friend nora of thefivethreesix really turned me on to them. this was my first time seeing them live and it was definitely a great show. i've listened the their newest album a couple times through, but i won't pretend i know it very well. that'll change soon though. i'm sure it will be on heavy rotation in the next couple of weeks along with the other albums i'm missing that will soon be acquired. they're a fierce trio of gritty rock and i highly suggest you check them out. they're a pleasure to watch as well; lead singer/guitarist has some sweet dance moves.

pre-order company of thieves' new album 'running from a gamble' (out may 17th) here! and be sure to give the whigs a listen.

*company of thieves will be back in st. louis june 22 at the firebird. get tickets here!

kanrocksas - brand new festival in kansas city, same weekend as lollapalooza

kansas city’s going big, hosting an inaugural festival the same weekend as lollapalooza in chicago. (closer, cheaper, plus press passes? sign me up.)

line up includes:

eminem
muse

the black keys, a perfect circle, the flaming lips, kid cudi, d12, girl talk, primus, flogging molly, jack’s mannequin, arctic monkeys, fitz and the tantrums, tinie tempah, and more to be announced. 

presale starts tomorrow so get on it.

st. louis: the naked and famous, freelance whales, and foals

i bought my ticket for this show ages ago, which was a smart decision since it sold out. nothing like a packed venue on a saturday night. oh yeah, and with no air-conditioning. rock'n'roll.

abby and i ventured out in dreary weather saturday night and got the full experience of wet hair and clothes mixed with a packed-to-capacity show with no air. yum. let me tell you. we arrived around door time, but the line was so long that by the time we even got in the doors the first band, the naked and famous were on their second to last song. i hadn't heard much about the band before the show but liked what i'd heard online after a quick listen. they sounded pretty good live; enough for me to check em out a little more in depth when i got home. they're from new zealand too, so automatic cool points based solely off accents.

next up was freelance whales. i'm genuinely torn when it comes to this band. there are groups out there who create really fantastic albums but can't put everything together in a live setting. then there are the bands who produce solid albums but absolutely blow you away at shows. freelance whales are the former, while foals are the latter. both have their pros and cons i guess, but in my opinion you should be able to play live what you "played" in your recordings. so while i really enjoy listening to freelance whales on my ipod and laptop, they just miss the mark in love settings. not to mention they caled us kansas city! not cool, not cool. i'd seen them about a year ago in a small columbia club with hardly anyone in attendance and they were just 'eh.' they were a brand new band though, so i wrote it off as lack of experience. then all of the sudden they blew up. they've played every big-name festival in the last year. they were featured in the video introducing new twitter. they're in a starbucks commercial. and purely from a record standpoint they deserve it. but when it comes to raw talent in a live setting, i'm not quite sure they deserve it. all that being said though, i enjoyed their set and had a good time singing and bouncing along. they just need a handful of vocal lessons and maybe some more practice time.

and finally foals. like i mentioned above, foals is one of those bands that sounds great on a record and mind blowing live. i'm new to the foals train, so i had no idea what to expect at the show. but hoooooly shiiiit. to put it, err, eloquently, i believe i tweeted something to the effect of "holy fuck. just got mind fucked by foals." i've never seen so much passion and excitement come from a band on stage. lead singer yannis (besides having a gorgeous beard and curly locks, and besides the fac that the audience endearingly sang him happy birthday) has such a unique voice and he is flawless. he's also a little crazy; he noodles around on his guitar like it's nothing, all while hopping around stage and even getting on monitors and running around the entire venue. at one point he was on the back of seats, on top of tables, was in the back of the room on top of a pinball machine. yeah. bad ass. the crowd was hanging on to every word and dancing up a storm. it felt like they played for hours yet it wasn't near enough. i could have stood there all day and watched them play. i have a feeling they could jam for hours and deviate so far from what they started with and still sound fantastic. this was one of the best shows i've been to this year and it's going to take a lot to top it.

www.thenakedandfamous.com -- female vocals, indie with techno influence, sexy foreign accents!
www.freelancewhales.com -- new york natives, sparkly, tinkly, indie pop music that makes you go "aww"
foals.co.uk -- oxford, england. need i say more?

album review: manchester orchestra - simple math

manchester orchestra holds a spot in the top three list of my favorite bands. so when i was asked to review the album, i almost peed myself. the album has been on non-stop rotation and i just can't. get. enough. check it:

"Andy Hull and the company he keeps are gods. Five stars. Album of the year. The end. (Just kidding, sort of.)Words can't explain how long I'd waited for this album. Manchester Orchestra is one of those bands I can't get enough of. Like a Virgin Losing a Child, their first album, debuted in 2006 and the three year wait for sophomore release Mean Everything to Nothing was brutal. I was more than ready for Simple Math and it's finally here. Read more...

album review: ha ha tonka - death of a decade

popwreckoning knows the way to my heart. review ha ha tonka's new album? sure, yeah, okay!

These four gentlemen from the Missouri Ozarks are no strangers to the indie music world.  Ha Ha Tonka, who take their name from a state park located in Camdenton, Missouri, have been playing music together for ten years and have released three full-length albums on Bloodshot Records (home to brilliant acts including Ryan Adams, Neko Case and Old 97′s). Ha Ha Tonka personifies the essence of their mid-Missouri name: traces of southern rock,  bluegrass, classic country, a dash of honky tonk, and enough three-part vocal harmonies to make your Southern Baptist grandmother jealous. Their new album Death of a Decade packs a solid punch that’s sure to leave a mark. Read more...

great news! new bon iver album release date and track list

"Justin Vernon’s taking his Coachella/Kanye press bump to officially announce the release of his long awaited For Emma followup, slated for June 21st on Jagjaguwar. As we heard via the 50-second sample he released, Bon Iver stays liking harmonies and guitars, though for his ten-song self-titled new album we are promised an expanded palette which includes “silky electric guitars, beautifully intricate keys, and subtle horn and string sections.” The painting featured in that sample-video turns out to be the album art, pictured above, by Minnesota-based artist Gregory Euclide (Bon Iver also stays liking the midwest — see also track titles “Minnesota, WI,” “Michicant,” “Lisbon, OH”). Colin Stetson joins as part of the album’s horn section, among some other guests that fill supplemental roles; the Bon Iver band is the same as that you’ve grown accustomed to at live shows and via your “Bon Iver in concert” YouTube searches. Below is the tracklist." (via stereogum)

TRACKLIST:
01 “Perth”
02 “Minnesota, WI”
03 “Holocene”
04 “Towers”
05 “Michicant”
06 “Hinnom, TX”
07 “Wash.”
08 “Calgary”
09 “Lisbon, OH”
10 “Beth/Rest”

 

(read the article in it's entirety, along with a fantastic new bio of bon iver and the upcoming album here.)

kansas city: middle of the map fest

featuring paper route, work drugs, maps & atlases, and two door cinema club

let me preface this by saying that it truly was a fantastic show; my circumstances surrounding it were less than fortunate so i apologize if i sound bitter.


seeing as this little midwest festival was going on in kansas city, i had a two hour drive from columbia to work into my schedule. i was finished with class by two, and was planning on buying mumford and sons tickets when they went on sale at five. this was supposed to give me plenty of time to get my stuff together and head to kansas city, putting me at the beaumont club right around seven-thirty, right when the show was supposed to start. according to beaumont's website, a band i'd never heard of was opening so cutting it close seemed like an okay option. well five o'clock rolled around and i feverishly tried to get mumford tickets for a solid 28 minutes to no avail. i was crushed. not only had i tried and failed at presale, i tried and failed at general admission as well. i didn't realize it would take a half an hour to get tickets and i was flustered. it was closer to six by the time i got gas and hit the road. i called the venue to double check times but no one answered, though i still wasn't too worried when i arrived at eight. i exchanged my paper print out for a wristband and headed inside to a surprisingly empty club. but that's when i saw paper route loading out.

WHAT.

first of all, i blame the venue for listing the bands in the wrong order. second of all, i've had the WORST luck seeing paper route. this makes three times i've attempted to see them and failed. i was literally fighting back tears of anger and it didn't help that work drugs, the second band who was supposedly playing first was just okay. but whatever. at least i had a solid spot for maps & atlases and two door cinema club. i'll hand it to maps & atlases; they played a fantastic set to a very excited crowd. i'd never seen them live before, but i had seen dave davison, the lead singer's side project cast spells play at play:stl fest in st. louis and it was lovely. next up was two door cinema club, and the crowd was beginning to pack itself tightly together. i had a great spot, no tall people in front of me, when all of the sudden three rather large men shoved their way through and booted me out of my spot. it's a show, things like this happen, i was by myself and i'm pretty small, i get it. not a huge deal. but the events that transpired were a huge deal. i won't hash out details here, but let's just say there was sexual harassment, i got these three gentlemen escorted out of the venue, and declined to press charges, because after all, i'd paid twenty bucks for a ticket, thirty round trip for gas, and just wanted to get back to the two door cinema club performance i was missing. if you're curious, you can read my extremely heated rant about it here, but this is a music review blog, so reviewing the music is what i shall stick to!

so anyway.

two door put on the most fantastic show i've seen in a while and it definitely made up for all of the shenanigans that had happened earlier in the night. i somehow made it to the very front and danced my heart out. i don't know how those irishmen do it, but they expel some serious energy on stage and still sound great up until the last song and throughout the encore. i highly recommend seeing them live if you get the chance, and at the very least buy their album. i promise you won't be disappointed. in fact, i almost guarantee it'll be your album of the summer.

for the love of all things, check out these bands:

paper route - indie rock with a tinge of electronic vibe, from nashville, putting out a new record soon and touring in the summer/fall 2011  paperrouteonline.com

maps & atlases - chicago natives, indie, prog-ish, mathy rock, striking vocals; side project cast spells is worth a listen as well  mapsandatlases.org

two door cinema club - sexy european men hailing from ireland (yeah gingers!), high-energy, electronic pop rock  twodoorcinemaclub.com

spring break edition! || chicago: the fold and the frantic

i finally made it back to my favorite city of all, and what better time than over spring break... ahh, yes. the time when young college students are supposed to flock south to warm climates and run around in skimpy bathing suits in either drunken or hungover stupors... yes. these are the times in which i drive five hours north to visit chicago. and this time abby came with me! good times were had, good times indeed.

day one: we arrived mid-afternoon to abby' friend melanie's apartment. she lives there with her husband and two small children, quite the different set up than i'm used to while in chicago, but that's what i was going for. i'm in the windy city so often for shows, but i had yet to experience the tourist side of things. so abby and i planned out our weekend with lots of museums and trips downtown in our schedule. we ate dinner with melanie and the family and walked around hyde park a bit and saw the university of chicago campus, as well as some cool churches and bookstores. pretty sure i passed out at cold before eleven that night. holy travel exhaustion.

day two: we awoke bright and early and hit up the shedd aquarium first with the four year old and one and a half year old, and boy was that an experience. everyone was on spring break and there were sooo maaany kids! we were pretty overwhelmed, so we saw all there was to see and left around one. abby and i had planned to meet up with sam, but lunch fell through so abby and i ventured out on our own. we are at potbelly's, and then people-watched from a starbucks. (we were going to wander around outside and maybe see millennium park but it was pouring rain. fail.) abby spent the evening at home with the wee babes; i spent it out in the suburbs at model stranger's practice space/recording studio with sam and kristen. there was wine and there was pizza and there was lots of lively conversation. i believe i went to sleep around three am.

day three: the big day. we got up early once again to experience museum number two: the museum of science and industry. it. was. freaking. awesome. we left around two i believe, and then the public transportation adventure began. i've taken the el a couple times in chicago, but the first time was with chicago natives, the second with herds of people all going to the same destination (lollapalooza). but abby and i fared just fine. we took a bus from hyde park to the red line, and the red line to downtown. there we wandered in search of food and settled with mexican, then wandered some more and got lost, then wandered to millennium park where we saw the bean, hung out on michigan for a while, and then took the red line to the blue line to subterranean in wicker park. BAM.

show time!  abby and i were both exhausted at this point, but the night was only just beginning. we got off the train, rounded a corner, and i heard a bunch of friends screaming my name. at least we were in the right place! hugs from steph, claire and sam were exchanged and we eventually went inside. up first was shortstop from tokyo, a delightful little ska band (ska's not dead!) so we all danced around and got our skank on. after them were the downtown struts who put on one hell of a show for being the second band playing early on in the night. (punk's not dead either.) there was lots of moshing and stage-diving and in general a happy buzz of energy. next up was the fold, a pop punk band who's been around for quite some time. i remember discovering their music from an old tooth and nail records sampler cd i got years ago. and it wasn't until maybe two years ago that i made the connection that they were involved with so many chicago friends and bands that i already knew. the music world is so small and tight-knit; one of the many reasons i love it. they played a fantastic set and i was able to sing along to a couple songs without even knowing any of their newer music. that's how catchy they are. you hear em playing in a friend's car once and bam! the ear worm has been planted. the crowd was getting pretty intense at that point and abby and i could hardly stand any longer. we ended up in the back by the merch, where i promptly ran into mike who was in town from LA, who was double-fisting glasses of wine and wearing fake, neon raybans. what a classy motherfucker. we enjoyed the frantic from afar, and man what a show. this was probably my fourth or fifth time seeing the frantic perform, by mere association with all of the other chicago bands i know. i can't say i've kept close tabs on them, but in the two years that i've been seeing them play, they've matured so much and their sound just gets better and better. the crowd was absolutely nuts and the venue was probably close to ninety degrees.

it still floors me to see four local bands pack a venue like that. i'm not sure of subt's capacity, but i'd guess a couple. the show wasn't sold out, but it must have been close because people were paaaaacked in tight. i think back on that weekend in chicago and it's so cool to see music thriving. things like that just don't happen in st. louis. the mere fact htat i hung out with some friends in their practice space and watched them write new music is mind blowing, because while it may be second nature in chicago, that's not an option in st. louis. there aren't bands like that. i can count on ONE hand, the number of st. louis bands who take themselves even close to seriously enough to even have a practice or recording space. and the fact four local chicago bands can pack a venue like that? impossible in st. louis. i can't even name four local bands off the top of my head and i'm FROM st. louis. ask me to name chicago locals though? i could without a doubt give you fifteen. not to mention the plethora of members of other local bands in attendance at the show, giving their support of their fellow musicians. it pains me, but it also makes my heart swell with pride. because while st. louis (and columbia too, i mean, i do live here most of the year for school...) has close to nothing, chicago makes my head spin every time i'm in it. so. much. passion.

please take a minute and check out amazing chicago talent:
thefoldrock.com
thefrantic.com

and while you're at it, check out this guy on twitter. we've only met once or twice in person, and it was quick and in passing (so this probably makes me a bit creepy) but christian picciolini is doing amazing things for the local scene.
twitter.com/cpicciolini

post show we hung around for a bit talking to various people and eventually trekked out to oak park to hang out with meesh. wine was had, apples to apples was played, stories and giggles and all kinds of silly things were shared. abby and i stumbled into our crash space as the sun was coming up. literally. and then we got up three hours later and made the seven hour drive back to mizzou. let's just say there were kesha and backstreet boys sing-alongs in order to keep ourselves awake. quite the successful spring break!

album review: mansions - dig up the dead

article number two for popwreckoning! i'm loving every single thing about writing for them. i'm also madly in love with mansions, so you should definitely check them out. they're be in st. louis tuesday 5/31 at off broadway with ace enders' i can make a mess like nonbody's business. 

Christopher Browder has stolen my heart. I'll be honest: I'm pretty new to the Mansions bandwagon, but I'm glad I hopped on when I did. I bought New Best Friends from iTunes a few short months ago and have kept it in heavy rotation since. ("Talk Talk Talk" is just so catchy, am I right?!) So when I started doing some research and realized there was a new album coming soon, I couldn't have been more excited. Read more...

album review: william fitzsimmons - gold in the shadow

guys guys! check it out. my first run-around with a real music blog. doing a bit of freelance stuff for kansas city-based blog popwreckoning. great things will  come of this, i can feel it. i'm just so grateful for such a rad opportunity. here's my first little write-up for them.  you can also check it out here. 

"Jesse Lacey had it right with the lyrics "I know that you're a sucker for anything acoustic." But we're not talking about Brand New. This is William Fitzsimmons. This is the man famous for delicious, acousticy folk music and one amazing beard. His fifth full-length album Gold in the Shadow will soon be gracing your ears, and believe me. It's great.  Read more... 

album review: ryan silver's 'the dakota sessions'

i posted about this rad little ep a couple weeks back and i sincerely hope you grabbed your FREE copy. you'd be silly not to. more and more excellent musicians seem to be coming out of nashville and here's another one to add to the list. it's catchy and it's acoustic. it's happy and it's fun and it's perfect summertime music. put it on your iPod and just try to not picture being at the beach. it's reminiscent of jason mraz and jack johnson, and let's be honest: who doesn't love those two? so check our ryan's 'dakota sessions' and i promise you won't be disappointed. keep an eye on him. i'm sure we can expect more great things in the future.

take a listen if you haven't yet: www.ryansilver.bandcamp.com (and pssst! don't tell him i told you... but it's still free if you're so inclined. but hey, why not tip him a couple bucks? he's a good looking guy!)

st. louis: the heyday

the wonderful boys of colorado finally came back through the midwest! what a lucky girl i am. i first met these boys through my good friends of cavashawn and state & madison. they toured together on what was fondly referred to as 'the rad bromance tour' and i think some of us are still trying to sort through all of the shenanigans that went down during those couple of weeks.

they played cicero's on a weeknight. not exactly conducive to my school and work schedule, but what the hell. sleep when you're dead, right? abby decided last minute to come with me, so that was a plus. we gathered our stuff, trekked from columbia to st. louis and had ourselves a good time. we had dinner at panera, attempted to get homework done at starbucks, and eventually gave up and headed down to cicero's for the show. there wasn't much of a crowd; it was mainly composed of all the other bands. but all the bands were talented so that was a plus. the heyday played a lovely set as always, we stuck around for a little after and chatted with each of the boys, then made the late-night drive back to school.

check out their tunes and tell me how fucking awesome 'fools go fallin' is: www.theheydaymusic.com

st. louis: the zombie apocalypse! featuring building rome

ahhh, building rome. a refreshing look at a band that has some legitimate credit in the local st. louis music scene. what's come out of st. louis, you ask? besides story of the year and ludo, not much. but building rome's been around and they've been working hard to get exposure and it's paying off. i've seen many a building rome show, and i've probably been seeing them for close to five years now. the boys have slept on the floor of my columbia apartment, and i interned as a publicist for them for a semester of college. there's always a good vibe at their shows and this time was no different. there was a great crowd. (like i said before, i'm terrible at guessing numbers) the firebird's capacity is around 200 and it was pretty full. i'd say a hundred-something or so people came out and had a great time. they played what seemed like a really short set, but i guess i was just having a lot of fun singing along and dancing like a fool. a capo was lost at one point, and to pass the time tom (guitarist) led the crowd in an a capella sing-along of journey's don't stop believin'. tom can definitely command a crowd; he's been in the st. louis scene for as long as i can remember, previously in centerpointe. i was probably in middle school back in those days. crazy.

but it was a solid show. and it was a fun one. it was also good to see jon (lead singer) back in action and looking healthy. he's been on the quite mental health roller coaster over the past couple of months and it was nice to see him back to his old (or new, i guess) self. even though those kinds of shows are few and far between for st. louis, it left me with positive vibes and an uplifting outlook for the future of our somewhat sparse music scene. there really are people out there who care. i just wish they came out to more shows!

www.buildingromerock.com

st. louis: aunt martha and civil twilight

i love civil twilight. to be honest, i have a big fat crush on civil twilight. i gush about them to pretty much anyone who will listen, and my heart flutters when i listen to their music. it's true love, you guys. a romance for the ages. maybe it's because there's a certain air of mystery in them being from south africa. or maybe it's because they've since moved to nashville, and i have a big soft spot for bands from nashville. regardless, it had been close to a year since they'd made it back through st. louis. the last time i saw them was with am taxi and company of thieves at cicero's (i'm so partial to my dear chicago bands), and i was a little leery that anything could ever top that first time i saw them. but hot damn. they truly out did themselves this time around.

i decided to make a weekend of it, so my roommate and i packed up our things for a mini visit back home. i force all of my favorite bands onto my friends and most of the time they're resistant or brush me off. every once in a while though, something sticks. and this time civil twilight stuck to abby, so i was pretty stoked to have a show buddy. neither one of us had heard of the opener, so we weren't too worried about getting there at doors and shot for show time instead. we caught some of aunt martha, and from the three or so songs we heard, they were pretty great. a solid folk trio hailing from new york. they really suckered me in with the violin that came out for a couple songs. i didn't have any cash on me, but made a promise to myself to check out their music once i got home and have since been glad that i did.

off broadway is a decent sized venue. i'm not sure of the capacity and i'm awful with guestimating sizes and numbers. but it's about the size of the firebird and i think their capacity is somewhere around 200. we'll go with the same for off broadway. abby and i were shocked when we got there though. everyone was lining the bar, yes, but that was about it for the crowd. so often i get it in my head that the bands i think are awesome are also awesome in everyone else's eyes. so when i show up to a venue and expect it to be close to sold out, i'm always really surprised (and kind of letdown) when there are only thirty or so people there. (this band fucking rocks! where the fuck is everyone?!) the crowd steadily grew as the night progressed though, and once civil twilight started (and convinced the crowd to actually move closer than twenty feel from the stage) we were all nestled quite nicely into our respective places.

i'm trying my best to put into words how amazing the show was. and i just can't. at the time i tweeted something about it being a simultaneously transcendent and sexual experience. it was some type of enlightenment most definitely. the had cool videos being projected onto their amps. they had cool lights. they dress well. and to be frank, they're all really attractive musicians. which, whether you agree with me or not, that has a lot to do with a live show. of course i'm all about the music, but if i'm going to see a live show it helps if you have a good stage presence, dress to impress, are not bad to look at,  and have at least some sense of 'togetherness' as a band performing as a united entity. and civil twilight had all of the above. i don't remember what they opened with and i don't remember what they closed with. the minute they started playing i was sucked into some sort of vortex where all i could do was stare in awe with open ears, eyes and mouth and just take in the awesomeness that was their show. lead singer steven has absolutely flawless vocals and a falsetto that easily competes with jonsi of sigur ros. guitar player (and brother of steven) andrew has a pedalboard that would make any musician jealous, and man does he know how to work it. pretty sure he turned that guitar sound into an organ sound at one point. overall, they're flawless musicians and put on one hell of a show. they're meant for arenas. and as much as i secretly want to keep them all for myself, in tiny midwest venues with capacities under 200, they are destined for so much more than that. their south african accents don't hurt either! their songs human, letters from the sky, and quiet in my town have been featured on all kinds of shows from one tree hill, to without a trace, house, and in the trailer for the movie i am number four. this band's about to blow up. mark my words.

check them out for goodness sake: www.civiltwilightband.com