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Three weeks ago, on Friday April 10, I went with a crew of KEXP staff and interns to the Crocodile to see Partman Parthorse, which includes KEXP DJ Rachel on bass. They were opening for Head Like A Kite, with Wild Orchard Children taking the middle slot in the bill. Despite the heavy KEXP presence, this was not an official KEXP event so I can forego the disclaimer about all views expressed here being solely my own... though that's still the case.
Partman Parthorse are a noisy post-punk art rock quartet, heavy on the punk side of post-punk. Like their namesake the centaur, the band is a somewhat awkward combination of two parts. The musical part was very good, with a lot of interesting things going on, and I believe they'd do well as just an instrumental art-rock band. However, the vocal part mostly involved very punk-style tuneless shouting, which is not my thing at all. At least one song featured more rap-style vocals, which I think worked better, but overall I'd prefer the vocalist turned down the shouting and put a little more singing into his style. Still, again like their namesake, the combination does work in its context, and they can't be faulted for not appealing to my particular taste. I did like the band overall, and perhaps the vocals will grow on me over time.
Although I may not have cared much for the vocal stylings of Partman Parthorse, they were far preferable to Wild Orchid Children. This psychedelic jam band can be easily summed up as sounding like Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine) fronting the band Santana. The lead singer sang a little bit in one song, providing more of a Hendrix feel, but otherwise just shouted unintelligibly in a most grating fashion. I thought the music was fine and band was enjoyable enough when the vocalist wasn't shouting—he also played conga—but the longer their set went on the less I liked them, entirely due to the vocalist. It's rare that I will come out against a band, but while I'd recommend you check out Partman Parthorse for yourself, I cannot recommend Wild Orchid Children.
Fortunately, headliners Head Like A Kite were worth the wait. The duo of Dave Einmo (guitar, synths, sampler, and vocals) and Trent Moorman (drums, keys, sampler, and vocals) played a funky set of electropop to a very excited full crowd. They created a crazy party atmosphere for the show, starting with a fog machine and background video of Barbie-type dolls having sex, and later having dancers in weird bright-colored costumes—I was told the suits were of "Nordy", the old Nordstrom mascot—on stage and in the crowd. Graig Markel jumped in on backing vocals a few times during the set, which seemed appropriate as the band's sound was similar to his current project, The Animals at Night. Later in the set, they were also joined by a pair of female singers and a guitarist or two for a few songs, including "Daydream Vacation". I also recognized "We Were So Entangled" and "A Dime and a Cigarette", and was hoping for "Noisy at the Circus" but unfortunately they didn't play it. Oddly, I found the music was not as engaging as I had expected, but the show was still entertaining and enjoyable, and I'm glad I stayed to see them.
I have a small set of photos mostly featuring Head Like A Kite, starting here in Flickr.
Partman Parthorse are a noisy post-punk art rock quartet, heavy on the punk side of post-punk. Like their namesake the centaur, the band is a somewhat awkward combination of two parts. The musical part was very good, with a lot of interesting things going on, and I believe they'd do well as just an instrumental art-rock band. However, the vocal part mostly involved very punk-style tuneless shouting, which is not my thing at all. At least one song featured more rap-style vocals, which I think worked better, but overall I'd prefer the vocalist turned down the shouting and put a little more singing into his style. Still, again like their namesake, the combination does work in its context, and they can't be faulted for not appealing to my particular taste. I did like the band overall, and perhaps the vocals will grow on me over time.
Although I may not have cared much for the vocal stylings of Partman Parthorse, they were far preferable to Wild Orchid Children. This psychedelic jam band can be easily summed up as sounding like Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine) fronting the band Santana. The lead singer sang a little bit in one song, providing more of a Hendrix feel, but otherwise just shouted unintelligibly in a most grating fashion. I thought the music was fine and band was enjoyable enough when the vocalist wasn't shouting—he also played conga—but the longer their set went on the less I liked them, entirely due to the vocalist. It's rare that I will come out against a band, but while I'd recommend you check out Partman Parthorse for yourself, I cannot recommend Wild Orchid Children.
Fortunately, headliners Head Like A Kite were worth the wait. The duo of Dave Einmo (guitar, synths, sampler, and vocals) and Trent Moorman (drums, keys, sampler, and vocals) played a funky set of electropop to a very excited full crowd. They created a crazy party atmosphere for the show, starting with a fog machine and background video of Barbie-type dolls having sex, and later having dancers in weird bright-colored costumes—I was told the suits were of "Nordy", the old Nordstrom mascot—on stage and in the crowd. Graig Markel jumped in on backing vocals a few times during the set, which seemed appropriate as the band's sound was similar to his current project, The Animals at Night. Later in the set, they were also joined by a pair of female singers and a guitarist or two for a few songs, including "Daydream Vacation". I also recognized "We Were So Entangled" and "A Dime and a Cigarette", and was hoping for "Noisy at the Circus" but unfortunately they didn't play it. Oddly, I found the music was not as engaging as I had expected, but the show was still entertaining and enjoyable, and I'm glad I stayed to see them.
I have a small set of photos mostly featuring Head Like A Kite, starting here in Flickr.
