REPOST FROM 5/7/6: Tim Pyles B-day Party @ SDSC w/ Grand Ole Party

GRAND OLE PARTY
GRANPA DREW
DJ TIM PYLES
@ SDSC in Hillcrest, San Diego
5/6/6

Of course Cat Dirt Records would not miss Tim Pyles (29th?) Birthday Party at the San Diego Sports Club, and ESPECIALLY because soon-to-be all over the radio and newspaper buzz-band Grand Ole Party was headlining.

I like to start my reviews with a brief chat about the venue. Can I just say:I heart the San Diego Sports Club! Aside from the fact that the debut of Fifty on Their Heels took place in its hallowed confines, aside from the creepy/cool gay bathhouse cum dive bar vibe, aside from the stand-up Ms. Pac Man/Galaga Video Game. The San Diego Sports Club is just the shit and last night reminded me that I need to go there more often. Like maybe to Club Suspira or Club Fashion Whore.

Needless to say, the joint was packed. Cat Dirt arrived in time to catch the tail end of the set of Grandpa Drew. Cat Dirt doesn't know alot about Gramps, but he appeared to having backing tracks with extra instrurments recorded, which is either wierd or cool- I haven't made up my mind about that. He was doing the singer/songwriter thing. More power to the singer/songwriters, performing that way takes big balls, in my opinion.

After an inter band set of djing by Tim Pyles(playing local band Fifty on Their Heels and UV Tigers- you the man Tim). It was time for Grand Ole Party. They set up as a three piece- Kristin Gundred drums and sings, and the reports of her powerful voice that have appeared, not once, but twice, but thrice in the last month(!) of the Union Tribune are not, repeat are not, exagerated.

That is some voice. Unusually distinctive, like a blues rock singer from the 20's. You really MUST see Grand Ole Party at one of the 8, count them 8, shows they have scheduled in the next two months(Kensington Club! Gelato Vero! The Echo! Whistlestop! Casbah! Epicentre! SOMA! Casbah(again!).

There is no doubt in my mind that Grand Ole Party will obtain(already has obtained?) an avid local following. That voice deserves one. Doubts do remain in my mind about the over all sound: the music all sounded like a White Stripes track. I would love to see Ms. Gundred get out from behind the kit and bust some front woman moves.

But hey, with only a three song demo recorded, there will be plenty of time to grow the sound. They've already made big fans out of Tim Pyles and AnnaMaria "signonsandiego.com" Stephens.

Check out their myspace to peep their upcoming gigs. I'm pretty sure that the Local 94.9 and the Velvet Rope will be feeding the public updates, so I'm not worried about losing track of Grand Ole Party in the next several months.

Happy birthday Tim!

Show Review: The Sess, Enter Telescope, Vision of a Dying World @ Scolari's Office 5/12/6

THE SESS
ENTER TELESCOPE
VISIONS OF A DYING WORLD


Scolari's Office? Hard to believe this was my first time there after what, almost five years in san diego? Scolari's is a San Diego institution, in the heart of rapidly gentrifying north part. Cat Dirt wife had a work "retreat"(always feel like her firm is having a bad time invading poland when she uses that word) this morning at, um, like 8 AM, so we knew our time would be limited. The first bit of bad news I received was that the Sess were headlining, so I figured we had a less then fifty percent chance of ACTUALLY being there when they took the stage at (my estimate) 1:15 AM.

The funny bit about Scolari's right now is that they're building these ENORMOUS condos directly across the street. North Park is a pretty low rise neighborhood(for the time being), but these condo's are like, five stories tall. And they're called... wait for it.. "la boheme". As Cat Dirt wife quipped to me as we entered Scolaris, "do you get a free copy of "Rent" on DVD when you sign your mortgage?" Rent movie humor? Anyone? No? K. Moving on.

Scolari's is an.. um.. intimate venue. The ceiling is about seven feet tall, place holds about fifty people, no stage. Decent sound though- I actually felt the sound was better at Scolari's then at the Ken Club.

The crowd appeared to be almost entirely composed of high school classmates of the three bands. That came into play at the end of the Enter Telescope set, when the singer got into it with some "drunk assholes" at the bar who accused him (I think) of being of "jock" based on his status as a former high school football player. Hey, Matthew Barney played football in high school, ok? And he's married to Bjork? So lay off the football players.

Even though we got there past 11 PM, we managed to see most of the VISIONS OF A DYING WORLD set. They are a four piece, alt-country band. I don't really have any comparisons for you because I don't listen to Wilco or any of that alt country stuff. They were decent enough in their musicianship, and the songs had recognizable lyrics, but that stuff ain't my cup of tea. They would be good opening for ROOKIE CARD, me thinks.

ENTER TELESCOPE played second. Memo to Enter Telescope: Hurry that shit up. When you are second up at Scolari's, you should require five minutes max to tune your instrurments. They were a four piece that boasted a keyboardist. That's right: A keyboardist. Again, I was running up against the fact that I don't listen to a whole lot of this sort of sound, but Cat Dirt wife does, and she was intermitently impressed with their "Elephant 6" style sound. See I don't even know what that means. I may have her guest blog about these guys if she wants to. I would actually recommend this group to local indie rock kids. I mean, if you dig SQUIDDO, KITE FLYING SOCIETY, et al., you'll probably dig ENTER TELESCOPE. I think they're playing Zombie Lounge in June, so check them out if you dig the indie and the rock. Personally, they reminded me of Steely Dan, but that's a weak comparison, I think, emanating out of the fact that I don't really listen to indie rock.

By now it was 12:30 AM, and Cat Dirt wife had to get up at 6 the next morning, so we just couldn't make it to THE SESS. That doesn't matter- check out the review from last weeks show. I love THE SESS. Maybe I'l review the demo this week with a repost of the show review from the myspace blog. THE SESS rules, even though I didn't see them this week. There's always next week.

San Diego Bands 1: Fifty on Their Heels

        Fifty on Their Heels is a three piece from san diego that has a sound influenced by the punk, post-punk and new wave movement(s) in the UK and America. They formed in 2005, played their first show at the San Diego Sports Club, played the pre-opening of the Beauty Bar, have played the Casbah, The Kensington Club, Vaudeville, The Launch Pad. They have a self titled ep, released in March 2006 by Cat Dirt Records. Cat Dirt Records is owned by the band. They do not use a ukelele, lute, harp, harpsichord or any kind of progressive insturmentation in their music.