Kimono Draggin' at Bar

Monday, January 30, 2006


Catching up: Kimono Draggin' at Bar 1/1/06

This show cemented my opinion that Kimono Draggin' is one of the best bands in New Haven right now. Top 5 at least. The song structures are challenging, the guitar playing just kicks ass, the vocal style is interesting; hell, the between song banter is more entertaining than a lot of other bands' whole acts (not everyone can make a bukakke reference fly.) Like a lot of bands, though, they are better live. Their album is much more precise than the live show and that may be a fault. The effects are a little too obvious on the guitars and the lyrics are revealed for the nonsense they are; not on all tracks, but on a few. The intensity of the live performance hides the lyrics, or maybe, renders them irrelevant and the guitars are much more aggressive in concert. It is, by no means, a bad album, though. Unlike a lot of local bands, I find myself putting this album on at home just to have something on. They are a funny band and I can have problems coming to terms with that, but Zappa taught us that humor is a valid tool and I'm just going to have to get over it. Some of the songs come across as gynophobic, but maybe that's just the schtick.
In all, though, it transcends nerd rock with the excellent and original songwriting. They reside in that eclectic, undefined genre that is developing in the wake of the Pixies. I look forward to watching them grow.
Also, about this show. I don't remember who the opening band was, but they were painfully boring.

Photographs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldangelmidnight/sets/1736106/

Renaissance Man

What are doing? What have you become? You were my favorite cynical bastard! Well, it is good to be a man of all seasons. Entertainment is an amalgam of joy and tragedy. There's just not enough tragedy in this blog post to make it one of your better pieces (ie, your Southern News write up on the Warrens). I guess that's just one of life's little follies. There's more pain in this world than pleasure, and it's easier to describe the things we hate than the things we like. We just have more words to describe all the crap in life. Speaking of crap, I think I'll lay off the Dubra for a little while. I have a headache. Keep writing. Good luck in covering this previously unexplored territory that I call "joy." Posted by Renaissance Man on Wednesday, February 01, 2006 at 12:38 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

King David

Misery does not preclude joy and, in this case, I found more joy than misery. If there is tragedy in Kimono Draggin', it is that the populace is probably too dumb to understand them. The hipsters seem to like them well enough, but that's pretty much arbitrary. Isn't headache one of the intended effects of Dubra? That just means you have to drink more to get rid of the pain. Posted by King David on Wednesday, February 01, 2006 at 10:54 AM