12/13/08 Ali Wagner @ The Coffee Pot San Marcos, TX

The night’s headliner, Ali Wagner was the sole performer listed on the venue’s bill (written in fancy chalk I might add). Her opening song, a cover of Coldplay’s “Green Eyes,” started off slow and ended after an amazing crescendo that really showcased Ms. Wagner’s vocal range and quality. A great mix of perfect timbre and dead on pitch, Wagner’s vocals were easily the best of the night, and probably the best I’ve heard in a while. While she was playing her first song, someone who’d been watching a show at the neighboring bar Lucy’s, walked by and remarked that “there’s better music in here!” During her set, Wagner also mentioned that she’s releasing an EP sometime in January. According to her myspace she has a full band, and I’m unclear as to whether or not the EP is being recording with a full band. After a couple of songs Wagner brought guest vocalist Audrey, of Arrgh!drey, back on stage and the two sang a duet that I can only describe as amazing. The vocal harmonies were so tight that I would have cried (if I were a lil bitch). The duo’s vocal capabilities reminded me of Texas natives Eisley and I was thoroughly sad when the song ended.Wagner’s lyrics, heavily reminiscent of mid-90’s-Lillith Fair-fem-pop(dashes!)/teenage poetry, were the only noticeably weak part of her set, but overall did little to detract from her amazing voice.For her last song, Audrey and Joy Sevilla returned to the stage (with Audrey on vocals, and Sevilla on bass), and the trio played a song with a nice doo-wop feel. The bass was a little loose on the song, and the eighth notes would have sounded less awkward as quarter notes, but this was more or less forgivable due to lack of drums. The song was rounded out by the, again, amazing vocal harmonies of Wagner and Audrey and was a nice ending to the night. Like Arrgh!dry, it’d be nice too see Wagner with a full band and bigger stage.

4/5

http://www.myspace.com/aliwagnermusic

12/13/08 Arrgh!drey @ The Coffee Pot San Marcos, TX

The first thing that struck me about San Marcos local Arrgh!drey, other than that the name was funny, was her baby blue Daphne Loves Derby shirt. That band’s mehhhh. Anyway, that’s not the point. Point is, she was a lot better than I expected. I was initially skeptical that Arrgh!drey (a portmanteau of a pirate noise and her name, Audrey) would impress me with her acoustic guitar and voice alone, but yeah, I was wrong. Her first song started with an upbeat chord progression, and I was instantly struck by how much better her voice was than I expected. The second song was marked by another bro, this time in a white polo, walking by the now crowded coffee shop and remarking “oh, man, I love this chick” *hair flip*. The chord progressions were standard fare; some walking bass notes, the usual four chords and capo use; however, this isn’t much different from even the best acoustic, folk influenced, singer-songwriters, i.e. Sam Beam. In fact, Arrgh!drey seems to be more than slightly influenced by the always amazing Iron & Wine, she and a guest cellist performed a cover of Mr. Beams “Flightless Bird American Mouth”. The cover was marked by slightly sharp vocals, but overall it was well received. By the end of her set Arrgh!dry, the singer-songwriter from McAllen, had really impressed me. Her voice was great, and she performed a feat I never imagined possible: getting a coffee shop crowd involved and attentive. She even managed to get a better portion of the shop to clap along after she dropped a beatbox into one of her songs. Apparently the band has a drummer, her little brother, who was not present. I’d definitely be interested to see what kind of show they could put on together. I’m sure that the girl who walked out of the Coffee Pot saying “Love it, love it” would be interested in it as well.

3.5/5

http://www.myspace.com/arrghdrey

12/13/08 Joy Sevilla Ft. Trey Warren @ The Coffee Pot San Marcos, TX

The best part of this girl’s set was when two bro’s in polos (is there any other kind?), fresh from partying on the San Marcos square, walked by the venue and one of em said to his butt buddy: “Man, I’m horny.” Ms. Sevilla’s vocals had a slight hint of jazzy feeling to them; which was nice, save for the fact that they were also too light and airy and ended up sounding like Feist and Cat Power got together, had an awesome lesbian-relations baby, but then that baby grew up and tried to sing like its mom[s], but lacked any sort of drive or conviction. The song Mr. Warren sang was accentuated by Sevilla playing a Squire P-bass while he strummed some fairly driving acoustic guitar chords. The music on this song wasn’t too bad, but again, the vocals lacked the drive that I felt was needed in an up-tempo, folky song. Overall, the duo combined for a decent enough take on coffee shop music, but there was nothing really memorable or outstanding. Read: background music while you drink an espresso (which, I discovered while listening to said background music, is actually only a really really gross tasting shot of super strong coffee and not, as I’d always thought, a full sized drink)

2.5/5

12/11/08 The Couch @ Triple Crown San Marcos, Texas

CD release party, unfortunately i was unable to get around the hordes of people there to see them to grab one of these bad boys, but i'm hoping to get my hands on one and review it soon. anyways like i said there were a fuckload of people at this show, and this band is a local favorite for good reason. This band brings the "Rock n roll" back to rock n roll. Too much power for such a small venue (thought the walls were gonna fall down) What is there to say about this band other than they are kind of like a classic rock revival, but that wouldn't be fair to them, since they do have plenty of modern rock influence buried within their heavy bluesy riffs. Vocalist Taylor Wilkins is the standout musician for two reasons: He's the vocalist and guitarist (band's a 3 piece) and his voice is fucking incredible. I thought for a while of how to describe his voice, thats all i could come up with, maybe edit later, maybe not. i dont give a fuck. i just want one of those new albums so i can "review" it. so if any of you guys in the couch are reading this, esp you taylor, bring me a cd.
All in all the band attracted enough people to make an anthill jealous and any fan of classic psychidelic blues would feel right at home. Impressive guitar, impressive rhythm section provided by bassist Matt Adams and drummer Jud Johnson, heavenly vocals (as well as harmonies from the rhythm section.) Although nothing completely original, the familiarity is what i feel this band works off of, and it obviously works for them. If you live in central Texas, esp. San Marcos, and you haven't seen this band yet, go to their myspace and make your way to their mecca.

4/5

www.myspace.com/thecouchmusic

12/11/08 CLUBS @ Triple Crown San Marcos, Texas

Great band. Great sound. And dare i say, great beatles cover...??? yah you sluts heard me right this band covered "Come Together" (heard someone say cliche in the audience, obv. hipster) with enough zest to get something zesty or something. The classic beatles sound holding hands with the sounds of Clubs falsetto screams and harmonic dischords (possible?) gives the bands cover enough of the original to attract to die-hard beatles fans (i am one) and has enough originality so you know when you hear it, it's clubs, and not the fab four. The audience seemed to love this band (esp the Come Together cover which everyone began to stupidly dance to (not the bands fault)) They started their set off strong, although the first song was extremely loud musically which seemed to cause vocalist John Nichols' lyrics to seem strained or to simply fade from audibility. However, this apparently seemed to be the fault of the venue sound man because as song two approached, the EQ of the entire band fell perfectly together. Stand out song was song 4 (im told F(natural, not sharp, fran, you fuck) song?) this song had so much power in it that i got goosebumps, musical orgasm if you will. The power of Nichols' vocals backed by the harmonies of Alex Beggins' shrill scream gave this song all the necessary emotion. The band was however coaxed by friends in the audience, as well as members from within, to play a cover of Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy," much to the dismay of Nichols. They did play it though and did a job that i can only describe as "hilarious." I was totally convinced that F song was going to be their standout performance, but then they played their final song (slave?) and blew me, and judging by facial expressions every one else at the venue, out of the water. A strong performance from each member from the power vocals of Nichols to the harmonies of Beggins, to the roaring rhythm section comprised of bassist Foster Farmer and drummer Fran Aguera. Anyone living in central Texas shouldn't miss a chance to see this local gem.

4/5

www.myspace.com/clubsband

12/11/08 Three Leaf @ Triple Crown San Marcos, Texas

Interesting take on a meshing between folk and garage rock. Plenty of other influences apparent though. Impressive flexibility of styles and genre. Personally, the band won me over with their cover of Radiohead's "National Anthem" which sound like what I feel Radiohead would've (should've) sounded like had they not discovered the synth board and the loop pedal. I give muchos props to this band, most bands aren't ballsy enough to attempt a Radiohead cover, and those who do rarely nail it. This band made the song completely their own, and not only do i respect that greatly, but any (true) fan of Radiohead would love the shit out of this cover. Unfortunately for Three Leaf they seemed to exacerbate their energy and although they put out a 12 song set, the only people in the audience who still seemed enthused were close friends of the band. Had the set been cut to about 7-8 songs though, (and the absence of their close, but not quite Ryan Adams cover) this band could have had an extremely solid set. Also may be important to note that their banjo player was missing this show and replaced with a very talented guest harmonica-ist(?) Very impressed with the first few songs, any fans of folk rock (or rev. horton heat) would thoroughly enjoy this band. So anyone with an interest in experimental folk rock in the central Texas area should definetly give this band a listen. Overall musicianship was very impressive and professional, and i feel that the stand out musician was the bassist. groovy.

3.5/5

www.myspace.com/threeleafmusic

www.threeleafmusic.com - go here for a free downloadable copy of their Ghana EP (which i'll try to review later, i'm tired)