Joe from Radio Free Silverlake has things fairly figured out. Or so it seemed last night at his packed monthly Let’s Independent night at Boardner’s in Hollywood, when the cute pixiesh lead singer of The Happy Hollows broke mid-set to regale a story about a blog-obsessed friend of hers, who begged her to meet the man behind the blog, because she LOVES Radio Free Silverlake and reads it every single day. Which of course is awesome in and of itself because who knew blog groupies (bloupies?) even existed. Certainly not me. Whenever I meet someone who reads my blog, the conversation generally goes something like this:
Person (with sneering tone) : Oh, so you’re the guy who writes that Passion of the Weiss blog.
Me: Yeah, I swear, I’m not as much of a jerk as I seem.
Person: Right.
Me: Really, it’s all in good fun.
Person: Yeah, I gotta’ go now.
The Deadly Syndrome: A Ghost Is Born
Which brings me back to point one, Joe clearly has things figured out, judging from last night’s outstanding show led by a captivating, performance from the Deadly Syndrome. I know I wrote about them last month, so I won’t go on and on describing who these kids are. But last night, they delivered one of the most brilliant shows I’ve ever seen from a local band. It was one of those moments where you were struck by the thought that in five years, The Deadly Syndrome will probably be huge and headlining the Wiltern. They’ve been compared to Modest Mouse and Wolf Parade and I’d agree that that particular brand of twitchy electrifying indie rock is probably the most apt way to label them.
Propelled by drummer Jesse Hoy delivering bruising speed-freak drum hits, The Syndrome’s songs contain atomic levels of energy that make it damn near impossible to do anything but tap your foot and nod your head. Songs that start slow and meandering gain steam with each measure, twisting and stomping their way along powerful electric guitar riffs, impassioned haunting vocals and skittering keyboards.
Signed to Dim Mak and with a debut, “The Ortolan” set to drop sometime this summer, these guys are one national tour away from reaching next big-thing-status. And while it’s always a dicey proposition to wager that a band will fulfill their promise on their debut full-length, I’m willing to bet on The Deadly Syndrome. If you live in LA and have yet to see this band live, they are a must-see. And with their next show, an April 14th double-bill at Spaceland with my other favorite local band, The Parson Redheads, the only excuse not to be there is if you’ve got some sort of contagious deadly syndrome.
See Also Brunette Like Me’s Much Better Written Syndrome Review
Download:
MP3: The Deadly Syndrome-“I Hope I Become a Ghost”
The Happy Hollows: Like Sleepy Hollow But On Prozac
It’s hard not to like things with Happy in the name. See the Happy Mondays. Happy Gilmore. And Happy Endings (in the movies, get your minds out of the gutter people). Now, you can add The Happy Hollows to that list. Fronted by mini-skirt wearing, ADD-hyper front-woman Sarah Negahdari, The Hollows delivered a fun, energetic 45 performance opening up for the Syndrome.
Reminiscent of a less-annoying Yeah Yeah Yeahs or even a cross between Autolux and Blondie, the Happy Hollows’ brand of new wave-inspired Garage Rock got the crowd moving, as they displayed a surprising level of polish for a band that’s only been around six months. With a recently released EP to complement their already impressive live show don’t be surprised if the Happy Hollows turn out to be one of LA’s next big exports.
See JAX’s post about The Happy Hollows, with MP3
