The title says it all, really. I should probably just leave it at that, but I feel compelled to explain myself when I make big declarations like this, so here it goes... I finally got a chance to check out Austin/expat Houston band The Eastern Sea this past Saturday night -- although it turned out I had heard lead singer Matt Hines before, back when he was a wee young'un in the gone-too-soon Alaska Is For Players -- and, damn, it was phenomenal.

(And before I go further: no, I took no pictures. My crap-ass digital camera currently sucks to the point where I get a good low-light picture one out of every 6-7 tries, so there barely seems to be a point to even attempting it. Sorry for the mostly-words nature of this post, folks.)

I'd better note, btw, that the ES crew wasn't the reason I escaped the house for the evening -- I truly, truly dig the Riff Tiffs (although side project Caddywhompus is steadily working on stealing away my allegiance), loved The McKenzies when I caught 'em at the last Free Press Houston Block Party, enjoyed Earnie Banks when I heard their stuff online, and had been looking forward to checking out Piano Vines for more than a year now. Seriously, Saturday night's bill at Walter's was like my dream lineup, and in the face of all that, The unknown-to-me Eastern Sea was just kinda the icing on the cake.

And what icing it was. I wasn't sure what to make of the band when they set up and started in, all gentle and too-soft and seemingly uncertain; I definitely got all those initial impressions wrong. Hines at first reminded me of one of the IT guys at my office, kinda resembling the nebbishy cousin to The Hold Steady's Craig Finn. The resemblance, though, is actually pretty apt, considering that The H.S. were one of the handful of bands I've seen these past few years that blew me away like Hines & co. did.

Things revved up pretty quick from there. The Eastern Sea's deceptively delicate, Decemberists-tinged indie-pop morphed before my eyes/ears into fervent, impassioned, slightly countrified rave-ups that brought to mind The Arcade Fire, Okkervil River, and, hell, Bright Eyes, with Hines howling and bellowing like I had no clue he could while pixieish keyboardist/vocalist Jess Graves served as his anchor with her sweet, beautifully understated counterpoint. The new guys (apparently) on the horns, Daniel Lopez & Dan Wells, rocked out ferociously in the background, throwing smart little asides at their mic that made the crowd crack up. And through it all, Hines was in total control, running the show like a supremely talented engineer steering a speeding locomotive through a mountain pass. (Oh, and the cover of The Mountain Goats' "Going to Marrakech" was spot-on. Nice one, y'all.)

It was awesome. I picked up the band's EP afterwards, and while it's great in its own right (expect a review one of these days, I swear), it totally can't compare with the live spectacle. Talking with my friend Jowell once the ringing in my head had died down, I absolutely couldn't find the words -- all I could think to say was, "that was fucking perfect." And it was. I've only seen a handful of shows over the years that have really hit the mark, and this was one of 'em. If there was a wrong note, a wrong moment, anywhere in there, I couldn't find it.

I don't mean to denigrate anybody else playing, by the by -- in spite of my hyper-praise of The Eastern Sea, I dug all of the bands Saturday night a heck of a lot. Like I said, the The McKenzies impressed me the last time I saw them, and they hammered the point home on this more recent occasion, as well, cementing their status in my personal List of Really Cool Bands I Need to Watch. The music verged on Weezer at points (which was weird, since they apparently followed a Weezer cover band I'd missed), albeit more in feel than in actual sound (I think I caught some Rentals in there, too, which is always cool by me), and that band was tight as hell, managing to suck the crowd along with them as they played both stuff off their current EP -- which I've finally now heard -- and stuff that's due to be on the next, out in January.

After that, Earnie Banks. I was a little unsure about these guys, mostly because there seemed to be a Serious Art vibe to their set from the start, and that tends to put me on the defensive. I enjoyed the music, though -- kind of a combination of MAE-esque post-emo and Elliott-style atmospherics, to my ears -- and fuck, one of my main complaints about bands in Houston is that they don't take themselves seriously enough, so I apparently need to listen to my own rants occasionally and follow through. I just wish these guys had had music for sale at the merch table...

Piano Vines came next, the band I'd most wanted to see when I strolled through the door and into the teeming mass of people waaaaaay younger than me. (Memo to self: never wear old Rice sweatshirt to a show again, no matter how warm & comfy it is, because you'll again find yourself feeling all self-conscious as the Creepy Old Dude Trying to Look Like a College Kid. Even when you're really, truly not trying to do that thing, just wearing a warm, comfy sweatshirt. I forgot I even had it on 'til a guy in a car yelled "Go Coogs!" as I walked past on my way in to Walter's.)

Happily, the newly-expanded Piano Vines -- they've grown from the original duo of Pam Cantu & David Howard to a fuller lineup (including one of the guys from Lisa's Sons, I think?) -- didn't disappoint. I don't think I'd be exaggerating to say that Ms. Cantu made every freakin' guy in the room fall in love with her, at least a little bit (yeah, including me). I dunno what it is about that voice, but it just melts me (er, you) the same way that, say, Jenny Lewis's voice does. There's a vulnerability to it that makes me think of ex-Sarge/The Reputation singer Elizabeth Elmore, too, and that's never a bad thing. Cantu's singing is sweet and honest and beautiful in a way that, honestly, few female voices ever reach for me.

The music was excellent, obviously, although some of the newer songs the band debuted were a teeny bit shaky-sounding. Personally, I was over the moon to finally get to hear the "original" Piano Vines tracks, stuff like "Sun King" and the beautifully-dissonant "Berlin," as well as more recent stuff like "The Life of Walter Price" -- hearing those songs, to me, was worth the price of admission on its own. Stupid as it sounds, I enjoyed it so much I got all shy & embarrassed about actually talking to the band afterwards, so I only ended up mumbling something praise-like to Howard as he hauled the band's gear out to his car.

I won't rehash the epiphanic mess above about The Eastern Sea, just to spare you more over-the-top hype on my part; skip past, instead, to show enders the Riff Tiffs, who've consistently blown me away every time I've experienced 'em, whether live or on disc. (Okay, their first EP's not my favorite, I'll admit, but still...) I'm always amazed that this band of kids can do what they do so ridiculously well and make it feel, well, easy. They just step on the stage, no matter the situation, and blow the fucking doors off. And in spite of a few sound issues (I couldn't hear Chris Rehm's guitar, at first), they did it again this time out.

I was somewhat bummed to hear, however, that Saturday was bassist Althea's last show with the band. Damn...anybody know what's up with that?

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, Random Rambling

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