Band To Band Combat at the Majestic Theatre
Sleeping In The Stereo was victorious.
After three massive rounds of voting for the Isthmus’ annual Band To Band Combat competition (where the bands are narrowed down by readers who listen to sound clips and submit votes for their favorites), the contest reached its big culmination on Thursday with the finals at the Majestic Theatre. The four finalists—Sleeping In The Stereo, The Media, Crane Your Swan Neck, and The Lucas Cates Band—locked horns in hopes of snagging the promised 20 hours of studio time from Blast House Studios. Much like the first three rounds, the winner of the final was determined via fan vote. Undoubtedly, a sizable chunk of the audience consisted of the finalists’ family and friends, but it’s safe to assume that there were plenty of unbiased folks in attendance as well. To compensate for the absence of an actual judge, we’ve decided to slam down our own hammer of judgment—in true Battle Of The Bands fashion.
Sleeping In The Stereo
It seems a bit easy to give Sleeping In The Stereo the “these-dudes-are-pretty-good-for-being-high-school-kids” treatment, but seriously, these dudes are pretty damn good for being high school kids, or adults. With no member over the age of 17, the band of local youngsters cranked out a shockingly focused set of jangling pop tunes. (Think The Strokes sharing a tent with New Radicals.) From slow-burning opener “Fourth Of July” to the bright, choppy chord progressions of “Nicky And The Wolff,” the vocal delivery of Frankie Pobar Lay (perhaps accidentally) brought to mind a cast member of Glee giving a Dion DiMucci impersonation, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing when combined with how the whole set was packed with just enough bouncing, sugary hooks to pull us in. Lay seemed really into closing his eyes, pointing at the ceiling or girls in the audience, and twirling his hands around as the band cranked its way through the infectious 30 minutes that won the evening’s contest.
The Media
According to The Media’s Facebook page, the band is actually a three piece. This would explain why the girl in Traci Lords makeup and the punk-by-the-numbers miniskirt was standing front and center through the band’s entire set, but only contributing backup harmonies and an onslaught of cheesy dance moves. Fortunately, the music itself boasted less unflattering attention-grabbing, as vocalist-bassist Daniel Ross channeled some kind of Warped Tour Rick Springfield throughout the band’s new-wave tinged pop-punk anthems. Guitarist Nick Stein often punched in and out with what would have been huge guitar solos, had he not been using some kind of tiny, starter kit amplifier that coated most of his riffs in a tinny film. Shitty guitar tone or not, The Media seemed to provide a mushroom cloud of fun for those on the floor.
Crane Your Swan Neck
Led by mustachioed frontman Randall Luecke, Crane Your Swan Neck seemed to gather one of the smaller crowds of the night. However, the quartet still laid out a collection of thoughtfully written indie-folk tunes with walls decorated with swelling cello, fuzzy chords, tiny melodies, and crooned harmonies. CYSN’s set was ultimately plagued with technical difficulties, some of which beyond their control. Luecke’s mic was feeding back, then his vocals were too quiet, and finally, during the anthemic punch of “25 Librarians Speak Volumes,” his guitar briefly stopped working altogether. But when Crane was on, it was really on, particularly when three of the four members switched over to percussion for the massive tribal pulse of “Something Awful.”
The Lucas Cates Band
Between being a jam band and playing songs with names like “Cougarville,” The Lucas Cates Band definitely slipped into that ever-dreaded and painfully inoffensive mojito-rock category that becomes an easy target for the hate of any snarky music geek. And while we weren’t particularly moved by the solo-swapping and scatting (yes, scatting) of “Chump,” or the tropical cheese of “Enemy Lines,” or the band’s overall fusion of the conventional jam band with the pop-rock songwriting of Matchbox 20, we have to admit that these dudes can play. In fact, throughout “Cougarville,” violinist-guitarist Kenny Leiser offered a jaw-dropping dose of fiddling, and the rhythmic hammerlock between drummer Jesse Warmka and bassist Mark Noxon was undeniable throughout the band’s set. What the band lacked in overall creativity, it made up for earnest musicianship.
