So last Saturday I went to the Meadowlark to catch Danielle Ate the Sandwich (whom I profiled here and here). Her set was great, as expected. Go see her. Buy her records–“or die!” (as she comically warned the audience).
But that’s not what I want to talk about. I pretty much knew Danielle would be entertaining. The surprise of the night was these guys shown in the video below–an indie band from Wisconsin called The Daredevil Christopher Wright, who breezed in for the night and opened the bill.
Several things impressed me about this band. First, they pretty much defied labeling–you just haven’t heard anyone quite like them, and none of their songs seems to sound quite the same. There is a retro vibe pervading their stuff, but also a great deal of innovation and integration of styles. It was sort of like Buddy Holley meets Death Cab for Cutie, and together they sort of crash into an unknown rockabilly band. In the jungle. And this is what comes out. I dig that.
Second–they were tight and accurate. Despite the hodgepodge of styles and experimentation, they were on beat together, and were playing together, not separately. The mark of great musicianship.
Third–I love it when bands focus on their vocals. Too many upstarts just want to jam on their guitars and think that if they play loud enough, no one will notice their vocals suck. These guys not only sing well, but they all sing well together. Three strong vocals, on pitch and on cue. You just don’t see that very often.
I’m not saying everyone will like them. But they are interesting. Don’t you think?
The only downside: none of them is named Christopher Wright. Kind of confusing.
Not really. 
OOMPH Scale: 6.8