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Last Friday, August 12, I rushed straight home from that week's KEXP Concert at the Mural so that I'd be able to walk over to the White Rabbit in Fremont in time to catch the Fascination Movement. I happened to read about the show the day before, and remembered that I'd liked the Fascination Movement when I saw them last year, so I decided I should catch this show. Also on the bill were Gems and Vox Mod, two bands I knew nothing about.
The Fascination Movement have a classic New Wave / New Romantics sound. Songs like "Radio" and "All in Love" could easily have come straight out of 1981. Although some might say that means their sound is dated, I think it shows how this style of pop rock has staying power and remains fresh. Obviously I enjoyed their set, and I'm happy that KEXP has been playing tracks off their debut, Intent.
Gems featured an unusual lineup of two drummers and two keyboardists, and played a set of space rock and dub—overall more on the dub jam side than space rock, but definitely a blend of the two styles. They announced one song as "Logan's Run", and I thought yeah, that's what I'd imagine as nightclub dance music from Logan's Run. I actually rather liked them, and will be keeping an eye out for more.
Vox Mod is a solo electronic dance musician. He played a blend of techno, house, and dubstep. I felt he didn't always transition smoothly between songs, sometimes simply letting them finish and pausing a moment before starting the next rather than having a continuous musical segue, but it was a minor complaint at best. And for reasons entirely separate from the evening's music so far, I'd started feeling mopey before Vox Mod started his set; getting up and dancing was just what I needed, and he made that happen. So I enjoyed his music quite a bit. His album Hazmat, released earlier this year, is available for free on his Bandcamp site; check it out and see what you think.
I did take a few photos at the show, but they look even worse than usual: not only is the lighting at the White Rabbit unfriendly to my iPhone, but also my iPhone has suddenly developed a problem with the camera such that everything looks hazy as though the lens were fogged. So I haven't uploaded them to Flickr yet and am still thinking about whether to bother; I'll edit this post if I do.
The Fascination Movement have a classic New Wave / New Romantics sound. Songs like "Radio" and "All in Love" could easily have come straight out of 1981. Although some might say that means their sound is dated, I think it shows how this style of pop rock has staying power and remains fresh. Obviously I enjoyed their set, and I'm happy that KEXP has been playing tracks off their debut, Intent.
Gems featured an unusual lineup of two drummers and two keyboardists, and played a set of space rock and dub—overall more on the dub jam side than space rock, but definitely a blend of the two styles. They announced one song as "Logan's Run", and I thought yeah, that's what I'd imagine as nightclub dance music from Logan's Run. I actually rather liked them, and will be keeping an eye out for more.
Vox Mod is a solo electronic dance musician. He played a blend of techno, house, and dubstep. I felt he didn't always transition smoothly between songs, sometimes simply letting them finish and pausing a moment before starting the next rather than having a continuous musical segue, but it was a minor complaint at best. And for reasons entirely separate from the evening's music so far, I'd started feeling mopey before Vox Mod started his set; getting up and dancing was just what I needed, and he made that happen. So I enjoyed his music quite a bit. His album Hazmat, released earlier this year, is available for free on his Bandcamp site; check it out and see what you think.
I did take a few photos at the show, but they look even worse than usual: not only is the lighting at the White Rabbit unfriendly to my iPhone, but also my iPhone has suddenly developed a problem with the camera such that everything looks hazy as though the lens were fogged. So I haven't uploaded them to Flickr yet and am still thinking about whether to bother; I'll edit this post if I do.
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