jamescuarterodotcom

after an awesome and cheap dinner at wong wong, anthony & i checked out the velvet teen / minus the bear at the troc last friday. when’s the last time i was at the troc?!? the velvet teen blew me away, minus the bear was kind of boring. the velvet teen’s new album, cum laude! is good but suffers from a similar sound production-wise from song to song: distorted vocals, hyperkinetic drums and the odd bit of electronica. however, in person the songs were so much more dynamic. casey deitz is the most engaging drummer i’ve seen since joe wong at the mary timony show last year and judah nagler’s vocal range and strength is amazing. whatever instant catchiness they’ve lost on the new record has been exchanged for a sparse yet varied and far more interesting sound. i’ve definitely gone back to cum laude! and appreciate it more after this show.

in contrast, i really like minus the bear’s records but in person it all sounded like the same song with the same kind of beats, riffs and fingertapped guitar. the reverb effect on said guitar that night made me feel like i was at a phish concert.