review: Earl Greyhound | Stanton Moore

(photos pilfered from aeric meredith-goujon)

The Annex|Knitting Factory, 7 October 2006

Sometimes it has very little to do with the music and everything to do with everything else. Saturday night was a lot about the everything else -- the room, the people, and let's not forget the booze. It started with an afternoon party in Jersey, a LES bar with the Mets and then went proverbially downhill from there. The Annex is a sweet little bar/club with a quintessential Lower East Side address (i.e. Orchard b/w Stanton & Rivington). A DJ was rolling tunes when I walked in, the clock struck 10 and I quickly realized that there was some sort of open bar going on: free PBR until 11. As the crowd filtered in for a $5 cover, I slurped down 4 or 5 of those cold ones and checked the place out: cozy booths on the side, upstairs area, tight stage area with big clouds of "rock and roll brand" smoke rolling from the back of the stage. A sign near the bar said "No dancing by order of..." but that didn't stop the shake or the fist pumps once the music got going. Five bucks, free beer, sweet room, at this point the music was definitely an added bonus.

This is what going to see music in New York City is all about to me -- it's easy to get a ticket to at Webster Hall and sway with the hipsters. The thrill is really in the hunt: the unexpected room, trying to stay one step ahead of the crowd, the 150 people checking out and diggin' hard on something that most everyone else hasn't even heard yet.

I had very little to expect of the band -- Earl Greyhound, great name, by the way, like somehow says "royalty," "seedy dog track," "morning kick-start," (or as someone said: "hobo sleeping at Port Authority at 4am) and more all at once -- other than a few listens to a track or two on their myspace page... which was enough to get me there in the first place. There was a certain timid aspect to the beginning of the set, like they weren't really letting loose. Still, tight, rocking, just-enough-pop-in-em songs came one after another. It was a power trio, with a little more finesse than power at times. Still, female bass players -- I love 'em, and this one, Kamera (pictured above) was alright with a nice strumming quality to her playing. Her vocals were more attitude than talent. The guitar player had a shredder's look to him, but he also seemed to hold back in the 70-85% range. The true power of the three was the drummer who both held it all together and propelled it forward and managed to constantly look cool doing it.


I've been battling this intense congestion the last two or three weeks to the point where my ears are almost completely clogged at times, like I just got off an airplane or spent too much time in the swimming pool and can't quite get the water out of my ear. The effect is that I'm trapped in my own head -- locked behind some phlegmatic wall. So, I don't know if the music really wasn't as in my face as I wanted it to be or if it was just me. Still, as the set went on, the band seemed to rev it up a little bit more and I started to get more of a feel of what I was looking for: that Wolfmother energy without the derivative echoes. Good songs, 60/40 ratio of presence/talent, stripped-down rock and roll, chick bass player with an afro with a feather sticking out of it. Earl Greyhound has definitely got it and when they hit the road and start playing every night, I have a feeling they're going to figure out how to bring it out from the get-go. I give 'em a 6 for Saturday night and a 9 for potential brain melting next time around and recommend you check 'em out.

We took the short walk to Tribeca and the Knitting Factory for Stanton Moore & Co. and now I'm remembering the quick nips of Beam on the way and it all starts to make a little bit more sense. Goodness me, I hate the Shitting Factory, but I feel like I'm one up on them after Saturday having very easily and pretty much unintentially snuck in without paying. I do remember seeing a lot of people through my Romper Room magic mirror that I was happy to see, dance with, blah-blah-blah to, I love you all, and there was probably a Maker's Mark or five in there.

Once again, it was either the music or it was me, but I felt like I was watching and listening to a band from inside a swimming pool. It wasn't jumping out at me, coming right up to the end of my nose, so to speak and forcing me to shake my bootilicious behind. Nah, it was darn good (when I was paying attention at least), and Skerik is pretty darn good and I was shocked, SHOCKED to see Cheme on stage (I *did* see Cheme, didn't I?), but it seemed like the band wasn't as much about funky party music as it was real good musicians playing stuff you need to listen to music... which was definitely best when it was just the core trio of Stanton, RWalter and Will Bernard. Also, being the Zeppelin cover whore that I am, I did enjoy that "When the Levees Break," which I guess is now an appropriately kick-ass NOLA theme song for better or worse.

Here's a short video of another classic rock cover courtesy of Super Dee



Stanton Moore has become quite comfortable as the bandleader/drumming god that he rightfully should be. Definitely going to have to check out his new one and get my hands on the Earl Greyhound CD they were celebrating the release of and not immediately give it away like I did on Saturday!

Oh, sweet brown, why have you forsaken me?

Until next time...