The New York Rockmarket

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I got to the Bell House too late last night to see the Fresh & Onlys, which I was pretty disappointed about.  The other two bands, however, certainly made up for it.  I was surprised when Golden Triangle took to the stage.  A guitarist to the left, and bass player and another guitarist to the right, framing what appeared to be two back-up dancers.  Dressed in sexy, fringy dresses and armed with tambourines, I wasn’t sure what to expect from these women.  When rock bands use this gimmick it normally makes me pretty uncomfortable.  Gender dynamics in rock and roll are already weird enough without two women in the band who’s soul purpose is to shake tambourines and asses.  This dynamic totally worked for Golden Triangle, though, and didn’t even seem gimmicky.  The show started with the guitar player strumming some loud chords in a seemingly haphazard way.  Everyone else was tuning and getting ready, apparently not paying too much attention.  Suddenly, without any communication, the band launched into their first song, gushing out monstrous stage presence.  Tambourines and hips were shaking, and the two front-women weren’t backup dancers at all, but skilled performers and vocalists.  The female bass player and other two guitar players were androgynous enough that the dynamic worked really well.  I think the strong opening lost a little luster throughout the set, but this is a band with “it,” and certainly an act you want to keep an eye on.  Think Raveonettes, but with a 2009 garage rock twist.  The set ended with pretty much everyone writhing around on-stage to a barrage of organized feedback.

I was feeling exhausted by the time Thee Oh Sees came on, and regretfully only stuck around for a few songs.  They seemed like an incredibly fun, energetic 60s garage rock revival band, and I understand why they’re beginning to grow such a large following.  One thing about this grouping of bands that played last night, is that I seem to hear them being classified into the whole “lo-fi” thing.  Not so, I’d like to argue.  It seems like there’s something really cool going on in the Bay Area right now with garage rock revival.  This is something completely different than what’s going on in Brooklyn (Golden Triangle actually seemed more like a UK band rather than a Brooklyn band) and all the lo-fi stuff, though easily confused, I think.  After this show, I’m pretty convinced that we can all look to California for the next big thing.  I predict that in the next year, a singular young band from the San Francisco area is going to come along and shake everything up.  Anyways, Thee Oh Sees were very good.  Sorry these pictures are so awful, but I didn’t have my flash with me.  I did my best.

Golden Triange:

Thee Oh Sees:

MP3: “Prizefighter” – Golden Triangle