Concert Review: Rescue CD Release Party

Ahhh, the joys of bar shows on school nights … Due to a combination of my extreme need to do laundry and my inability to pay attention to both a washing machine and a clock at the same time, I showed up at the Magic Stick a bit on the late side for last night’s CD Release Party for Rescue’s Flamingo Minutes EP. The big dork that I am, I managed to miss the opening act, The Pop Project. I did, however, arrive in time to catch the last two or three dissonant pop songs of New Grenada’s set, which ended with the total destruction of a rather large keyboard by a man dressed as Teen Wolf … and yes, that may indeed be the coolest sentence that I’ve ever had the opportunity to type.

Thunderbirds Are Now! contributed a surprisingly tight set as well, coming off much more deliberate and focused than the last few times I’d seen them play out. “Pink Motorcyle Helmet” got most of the crowd dancing (violently, even), though it seemed that the set’s highlights were a few tracks that actually post-date the band’s frenzied album, Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief. As a whole, the band seemed noticeably tamer until its meandering set closer, though keyboard man Scott Allen did still put on his usual concert-long freak-out.

Rescue followed with a solid set of its own that was musically sound, though devoid of any crazy antics. The band confidently tossed off Flamingo Minutes tracks such as the desperately brooding “I Am the Queen of Comparisons” and the simmering “Moments & Morning: 1981-1986,” though the best crowd reactions of the night went to Volume Plus Volume numbers (specifically, an intense version of “Shoes and Chairs” and perennial crowd pleaser “Like Spaceships”). Though drummer Ryan Clancy and bassist Sean Clancy laid down a sturdy rhythm section, on this night Rescue’s real focus was found in the winding, technically cutting rhythm guitars of Alan Scheurman and Michael Majewski, who played with a purpose that made even rests seem as powerful as flurries of sharply-struck notes.

I’d love to throw a few pictures from the event up, but one of us (points to self) has been too busy blowing money on shows, CDs and beer to bother getting himself a digital camera. All in due time, I suppose …