New Review Up: The Dutchess & the Duke (@ The Mink Tonight)

Continuing the week’s theme of “continual freakin’ updates out the ass,” today we’ve got yet another brand-brand-new review up just in time for a dang show. This time it’s The Dutchess & the Duke, a Seattle duo who make some awesomely, awesomely dark, retro-’60s pop that sounds like it was smuggled forwards in time from when my parents were kids and the optimism of the era hid a grim, bleak-as-hell underbelly. Their disc, She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke, is astounding, seriously, like a distillation of everything cool you ever heard from the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Mamas & the Papas all rolled into one inescapable set of songs. Oh, and it’s fueled by a crushingly heavy sense of disillusionment, suspicion, and bitterness. Whoa. Full-length, rambling review up here, for those who care.

And yes, the band also happens to be playing this very evening (Wed., August 20th, for the calendar-less), starting around 8PM over in Midtown at The Mink. Baytown troubadour Benjamin Wesley is on the show, too, I think in the opening slot (but don’t quote me), and James Jackson Toth (aka Wooden Wand) headlines, so it should be a good night overall.

Of course, you’ll want to hit the Ditchwater zine release party at SoundEx, too, but it starts at 7PM, so you may be able to swing it so you’ve got plenty of time to run on over to the Mink after. ‘Cause that’s what you’ll wanna do, right? Obviously.