Go here to listen & download: http://www.noisetrade.com/filligar
Ok, here is yet another band from the fabled South by South West's Outlaw
Roadshow: Filligar. I really like this band. Not only because I have become
quasi Twitter friends with them (more on that later,) but because they are really good. They kind of
remind me a teeny bit of early Pink Floyd, in their music, melodies and
rhythms, and like mid 1960s British rock, i.e. the Stones or the Kinks, or
maybe even Paul Revere & The Raiders (though they are American;) driving
guitars, great vocal dynamics, fantastic bass lines and keyboards, and the
drumming is superb as well.
Originally from Chicago
the band is comprised of brothers Johnny (guitars/vocals), Pete (drums) and Teddy (bass) Mathias and friend
Casey Gibson (vocals/keyboards). Their most recent album is titled The Nerve, and was released July 2010. It is this record that
bears the first song of theirs I heard: Robbery
(Shocking Love) which was available on the Outlaw Roadshow website for
download. Honestly in the first couple weeks after I downloaded it, I didn’t
listen to it much, as there were other bands that were occupying my time. But
one day at work, Robbery got stuck in
my head, but of course just one line, so when I was able (I think on my lunch
break) I listened to it, a couple times even, and I was like “hmm… I like this…
find more of it” and that’s just what I did.
I posted on twitter that afternoon that I had
the song stuck in my head, and the band sent me a link to download The Nerve for free (which is awesome,
coz I love free music.) After listening to it many, many times, I love this
record. It has become one that is in constant rotation on the Ipod (and with
me, that’s not an easy feat to accomplish.
Like I said in this post, I like the music I like, and it’s not easy
for a new band to squeeze their way into the rotation. Some of my friends are
slightly shocked that I’m getting into new bands in the first place, so when one gets my seal of approval, its a good thing. If it
weren’t for the Outlaw Roadshow, well, really its co-organizer, Adam Duritz (of
Counting Crows) I would be avoiding new music like I usually do. But that’s a
whole other post all together)
When I first heard about Twitter, I laughed it off, and thought, "I'll never get sucked into that" but then I did (though in the early days of my twitter-ing it was used for school, for reals! I was taking a geology class where we used it to keep the class updated on current natural hazards/disasters). Twitter has become a great place for me to to interact with some of these awesome new bands I've come across. Filligar is one of those bands. Even as I am typing this (from the sweltering hot laundromat) I posted a "tweet" about how I was listening to/blogging about Filligar, and they replied back. Over the last couple weeks we have exchanged many "tweets" and through a (possibly rigged) contest to guess which band member won the last inter-band home run derby, I "won" a post card from the boys on the road (they were in Pennsylvania.) So, this is why I call them quasi twitter friends. Maybe someday we'll be real-life friends too.
Those lucky enough to live on the east coast have the opportunity to see these guys on tour with Counting Crows on the traveling Outlaw Roadshow's first leg (go here for the list of dates/venues.) Sadly, I do not live on the east coast, I live on the west coast, so I will not be able to see them. If anyone reading this is in range of any of the venues on the tour, do yourself a favor and GO. Not only do you get Counting Crows (who are AMAZING live) and Filligar, but also Foreign Fields (another band I love, I'll get to them later) and Good Old War (I'm not familiar with them, but I'm sure they are great too) Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll swing a west coast tour after they are done with the Roadshow. But until then, I'll just keep listening to The Nerve (you can also listen to their earlier records on Spotify, which I am also doing as I write)
My favorite/most played tacks on The Nerve: Robbery (Shocking Love), Slow Night at the Red Sea, Resurrection Song and Mumbling Girl.
Go listen to this record, to this band. They will rock your socks off. I promise. (Unless you aren't wearing socks... put some on, so they can rock them off)
No comments:
Post a Comment