Good morning! Last night brought the devil and his mistress of evil and terror to the 200 bar somewhere slightly East of downtown Minneapolis. We showed up early anticipating a local favorite, Machine 22 and three other bands that we’d never seen before. Sounds awesome, yeah?
It was pretty awesome, actually. The night started out with a bunch of arrogant pricks and cheap-ass whiners at a well-known Japanese restaurant, the whole lot of them never knowing how close they came to getting thrown on that searing-hot Hibachi grill we were all sitting around. We left full, and the food was good, that probably being the only thing that saved their worthless lives…
So things were looking up when we got to the venue as there was a fine young gentleman outside scalping tickets at a reduced price. Instead of paying $16 to see four bands, we only paid $10 to enjoy two! The sugar and spice started when Seventh Ascent hit the stage…
Can you see that girl up there? THAT GIRL CAN SING!!! Holy shit. The easy comparison right out of the gate is Gingerjake, the now defunct rock and roll band from Minneapolis fronted by another wailing siren, Amanda Harris. Lucky for you, we’re not into ‘easy’ here at the Basement…taking a closer look reveals a bit less “No Doubt” in the music, though it still has that pop sound to it that the kiddies just love.
Being a kid at heart and mind, I happened to like the set enough to pick up a copy of their debut EP, ‘Secrets.’ Currently listening to track 5, which to some is also known as ‘Enemy.’ Thus far it is surely the standout track on the disc. The production on the CD is glossy for sure, though after hearing lead singer Ryanne’s perfectly flawless delivery last night I can’t really imagine putting her into any other mix.
Speaking of the ‘mix,’ let’s bitch about the rude little snot of a bartender that declined a free CD from the bands little merch helper because, as he states, his new motto is “Save a dolphin, use iTunes.” Let me translate that for you into a few different dialects of the English language:
Hipster (lower east-side Uptown dialect): “Free CD? I’d rather steal it online, thanks.”
Scenester (Southwest corner of Lyn-Lake Uptown dialect): “I only listen to bands that play at the Turf Club or in basements.”
Fixie (Northern Uptown dialect): “Do you have anything on reel-to-reel, or perhaps 8-track?”
Asshole (bartender that doesn’t have the balls to say he didn’t like your band dialect): “Manufacturing CDs is bad for the Earth. You should manufacture plastic cards with secret passwords on them so people can download your music on iTunes and then the planet will be saved and I will ride my bike everywhere.”
Because manufacturing plastic cards that people are GUARANTEED to throw away after they use them are somehow better than a CD that people most likely WON’T throw away after listening. I’m fucking glad I picked it up. Thanks, Seventh Ascent, see you next time. :)
…but before we go…
Recognize any of those guys? You might. That’s right, another now-defunct Minneapolis band gets mention in this review! Shit…maybe this is some sort of evil power I never knew about…I write review, band breaks up…trust me, these aren’t the only two…
Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out: Keep writing about bands and see if they can stand up to my evil powers.
I hope, for the sake of this great band that it’s just some strange coincidence. Machine 22 is their name, and I’m not going to make some stupid reference to their game because they just fuckin’ ROCK. Call it punk, call it rock, call it what you want, but do yourself a favor and go see this band live!
Word on the streets is that the band (together since June of 2009) has been working diligently in the studio on a full-length album on Missouri based label DC Jams. Can’t wait for that one…and that said, I won’t, but that’s a story for a whole other blog…
Well, as you (hopefully) remember, the night kind of started out on the wrong side of the cucumber patch, but here at the end, it’s alllllll goooooood…
Make sure you swing through and show some love, check out some tunes, and if you dig, you know your support is what these bands really need, so do the right thing and kill a dolphin by picking up a physical copy of one of their CDs:
Seventh Ascent on Myspace
Machine 22 on Myspace
Have a damn nice day, y’all.
-the devil.
The Devil's Basement 