One of the saddest moments this year occurred at Last Band Standing. And no, it wasn’t because I didn’t get drunk (surprisingly). The yearly event is undeniably a celebration of music and drinking to excess, but this year it also marked the Runners-Up last show. They didn’t say never, but with bassist James Leaver expecting a second child, it seemed best to put the band on hold for awhile.
There was one bright spot, drummer Alex Fulton and guitarist/vocalist Erika Zar had already started a new band, the Hemlines, and they had already played a show on New Year’s Eve. This was their second. Many of RU’s Zar-penned songs are now Hemlines songs, as is the classic “James Brown with Two Heads” which predates that band. Despite the fact that Erika is still the same sassy and adorable frontwoman and Alex’s endearing awkward but efficient drumming is still holding the beat, I guess maybe I missed the boys, the ubiquitous Bob Koch and nothing-but-trouble James, because it wasn’t love at first listen for me. I’m going to chalk it up to second show nerves, because I can’t see any way that I won’t eventually love this band as much as I loved the Runners-Up. And I do hope they always wear something with a hemline.
Surprisingly, I had fallen for Dick the Bruiser pretty quickly. This was my third time seeing the drum/bass/Theremin duo and even though they had some pretty substantial sound problems I enjoyed them again tonight. After all, it is pretty hard to resist a band that uses the Theremin as creatively as this. While Tony pummels his gorgeous vintage drum kit, Kevin growls mostly nonsense lyrics as he pounds the bass and uses the Rickenbacker’s neck to coax haunted moans out of the bizarre electronic instrument. While the words are always interesting and sometimes hilarious (“melt your heart like a marshmallow, eat it just for fun”), the lyrics aren’t what’s important here. This is sexy, hip-shaking music, don’t think too hard, just enjoy the ride.
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