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Written by: ThirdBaseCoach
April 15th 2010

I feel like every time I go to see a show lately, it’s at DC9, and DC9, I really want to like you.  I really do.  Your bar food is not so bad, your prices reasonable, and your stage is so close to the crowd.  Even that needless blurry projector you have off to the side is kitschy in a kind of great way.  But please do something about the mix. When I went to see Aloha play last Thursday, I couldn’t understand a word.  Tony Cavallario works really hard on his lyrics, and people should get to enjoy that.  I’ve written in the past that I really like this place and it really is such a great club to boast that you “saw _____ at DC9 before they got really huge and played out,” (as any music snob will admit at least once) but with Rock N Roll Hotel and the Red and Black, not to mention U Street Music Hall which recently opened up down the street, there are new small clubs in DC where folks are paying attention to good sound.  I’m not saying I’m not coming back.  Just fix the damn sound.

After an impassioned, if not short set by DC’s own Carol Bui, Cincinnati’s Pomegrantes took the stage, opening this leg of the tour for Aloha.  I hate to harp on it, but because the mix was awful, the three-part harmonies that I usually live for sounded garbled and unintelligible.  Lucky for them, they sing rather sparsely and their brand of saccharine pop replete with long, ethereal instrumental breaks worked really well in this space.  As expected, they played a bunch off their latest effort, Everybody Come Outside, and it was one of those performances that got me excited to go back and re-listen to the record.  They also succeeded in getting the usually stuffy DC crowds to loosen up a bit and enjoy themselves, which is a feat in and of itself.

Aloha took the stage and, I mean really TOOK the stage.  From the first beat, their intense, exacting blend of deceptively catchy, “prog-ish” rock commanded attention.  They started off with “Moonless Walk” off the new record (Home Acres) and segued seamlessly into other new tracks like “Microviolence” (in 5!), which was awesome live.  My jaw dropped when I figured out that multi-instrumentalist TJ Lipple was actually playing marimba pushed through effects during a number of songs, most noteably, “Waterwheel.”  That solo he takes between verses (if you’re listening along to the record, it’s at around the 0:52 mark.) is so cool to watch live.  I can honestly say, I have never seen that before in my life.  I feel like people always cop-out and use a synth for those sounds.  Having never previously seen Aloha, and being relatively new to their catalog (Yes, I feel shame.), I would assume that the first thing people notice is their rhythm section.  Bassist Matthew Gengler and drummer Cale Parks are so powerful and tight-knit that it frees up Lipple and Cavallario to play anything they want.  This is one of those shows that blows the album out of the water because of how much larger the sound is, which is probably mostly attributed to this rhythm section.  Let me take a second to jump on the Cale Parks bandwagon, and add to the already clamorous praise surrounding just how good he is.  I have not seen that much intensity and speed, without sacrificing technicality, maybe ever.  There were times where it felt like there was even too much music for the small space we were in.

Aloha kind of reminds me of Cursive, I guess.  Especially recent Cursive with their addition of Cornbread Compton, another lightening-quick, technical drummer.  And when Cursive came through town, they played the Black Cat which is much bigger than DC9, and it was sold out.  There is really no reason why Aloha isn’t playing there.  They certainly have enough sound to fill that room.  Damn, Cale Parks alone has enough sound to fill that room.  But maybe they do it to themselves.  Because even though DC9 was full, it was still comfortable.  They weren’t sold out, and they definitely should have been.

Which begs the question, “Why is Aloha not already bigger than they are?”  I mean, they’ve already been playing for 10+ years (since 1997!).  I suppose it could have something to do with how they release records, tour extensively, and then go into hibernation for like 2 years until the next record. Maybe it’s because they still do everything themselves.  I don’t know, but whatever it is, I’m just glad I got to see them at DC9 before they got really huge and played out.

Read our three album reviews for Home Acres
Visit Aloha
Visit Pomegranates
Visit Carol Bui

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Texture is a vital part to any medium. It can create depth as well as evoke emptiness. Everything has texture, it’s how one weaves and builds it that separates great art from noisy babble. Texture should be taken seriously if one makes art.

Shark Speed – Killing Kind

(click to listen, right click to download)

Introduction by B.E. engineer Noel Paris:
Jared’s drumming is as angular as it is organic. It reminds me of Mission of Burma at times. With a myriad of electronic claps and booms running through the landscape, his rhythm and creative fills create a raw and very appropriate contrast in the piece

The bass’ raspy, over-driven voice spews beautiful sounds that rumble underneath the song. It’s a binder. It glues everything together by tastefully drawing wonderful lines in and out of the other instruments. David brought a great vibe to the studio and you can obviously hear it in this song. Not to mention how great his simple yet totally convicted back up vocals are.

When I look at paintings I always find myself asking the question, “did they leave space for everything to breathe?” This song has a visual quality about it and the guitars truly are the paintbrushes here. As Joe sweeps and strikes at his side of the canvas, Thayne quietly taps and blends the colors that he has chosen. Each guitar sings it’s own song, yet somehow finds a way to appropriately compliment the other. The melodies have a handcrafted feel about them. At times they drift like birds, while underneath rabbits scamper through the fields running from something ominous. Is that visual enough? Basically, Joe and Thayne play beautiful guitar parts on this song, which in turn also set the stage for the vocals.

There are few things worse in art than bland lyrics. Afterthoughts, that were just scribbled on a notebook page thirty minutes before the song was recorded. Words as dull and plain as dry toast. I always feel cheated. That being said, we can all thank Thayne for not taking that road. He uses interesting words that tell a thoughtful story. He asks us questions that I’m sure we’ve asked ourselves. At times the story is glorious and heroic and at other times fragile and guarded. The performance is full of confidence from a person that knows exactly who he is as a singer.  The melodies never stay lazily on a straight line. Instead, they growl, they proclaim, and at times, gently float along over a sea of music.

Nothing was settled for on this day. It truly was what a “bionic ear” session is supposed to be, artists striving to create a unique version of their music. Taking advantage of the environment, the vibe, and enjoying the road.

Credits
Recorded by: Noel Paris
Mixed by: Mark Arnold
Photos: Chris Gonzales

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