Moderate Rock

So I went to see The Deathset at Social last night. They are an incredibly intense band. The whole idea is a punk band for the club scene, and I think they do a really good job of it. They're a three-piece (guitar, singing, drums) + dj, and they set up right on the dance floor (I don't know if this was out of necessity or choice, but it definitely added to the effect). The singer was constantly in motion, one minute he'll be moshing with the crowd, next he'll be dancing on top of a pile of speakers which are nearly falling over, the next he's climbing a pole and singing upside down.

The result of all of this is the crazy throwbacks (Jackson 5?) and seamless transitions we all love from electronic music, and the raw intensity and anger we love about punk music. The crowd just ate it up, doing an odd combination of dancing and moshing. I think it's a really awesome idea, adds some feeling to an often frivolous club-scene, and is much more fun than modern punk, which is almost always 'political' and way too fucking serious. The highlight of the set for me was their finale, a cover (or 'remix') of Nirvana's "Tourette's", which pretty much sums them up for me. If you like that song, you'll probably enjoy a death set.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1a5irwpURkk - check out the video for "Negative Thinking"

No no, I don't even care

Continuing with the trend of getting into good music a year or two after it comes out, I've recently found a band that I think you should listen to if you're like me and are somewhat obsessed with the folk revival in indie rock lately.

Go here and come back.

Oh No! Oh My! have opened for the likes of The Flaming Lips and Gnarls Barkley, and are exactly the kind of thing I could see you listening to if you are into bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and the like.

Frankly, the only reason why I even discovered these guys is from watching the movie Juno, which has a pretty decent soundtrack too, albiet the majority of it is songs by Kimya Dawson and her bands The Moldy Peaches and Antsy Pants.