Not So Dirty Deeds

Friday night Phillyist witnessed a pretty entertaining quadrilogy of indie bands in the cramped, smokey, bottle-littered confines of the Khyber bar. First up was Remote Islands. Next to their name on the Khyber website, Phillyist had noticed the parenthetical phrase "the Last Show." Remote Islands turned out to be just one guy with an acoustic guitar (and occasionally a kazoo) who apologized for the lack of bandmates (word around the Khyber was that they'd had a fight), and at the end of the set told us he'd be performing with his new band, Food Lion, in a week or so. So I guess it really was the last show! And a pretty sad one at that; "Remote Islands" didn't know his own songs very well, and was having a hard time staying in key and keeping his guitar in tune. He was doing mellow indie pop with some creepy lyrics, and making it sound a bit like Red Krayola, except Red Krayola did that on purpose. Phillyist felt pretty bad for him, but did genuinely enjoy his folksy cover of Guns 'N Roses's "Welcome to the Jungle."

Dirty on Purpose, four guys out of Brooklyn, NY, were up next with a great rocking set. Take a little indie, a little pop, a little emo, a little rock, whisk gently, and you've got Dirty on Purpose. They sound kind of like Stellastarr*, but without the New Wave stylings, and with completely different vocals...so not really much like Stellastarr* at all. The point is, they were very entertaining; a strong, loud, catchy background beat with quiet (though surprisingly high-pitched), melodic vocals layered carefully on top. A simple, highly unobjectionable sound made up of just the basics: guitars and drums and singing. (Also, for the record, they're not very dirty at all; a bit scruffy, perhaps, but very nice people.)

Relay is two women on keyboards, two guys on guitars, and a third guy on drums. With these instruments they create a wall of sound in every song, the keyboards providing the foundation: strong, loud background chords. Actually, it's less a wall and more a whole house of sound; an electronic atmosphere that you can move around in. Their songs are pretty lengthy with powerful repeating patterns and nice rocking beats. The vocals were turned down low, which Phillyist thought was a problem at first, but we quickly realized that Relay is not about the words; they're about the music.

For a headlining band, Audible was a little bland and forgettable. They played indie pop that was nice enough, but not fantastic, and sometimes the vocals weren't quite in the right key (they admitted they were playing some new songs they didn't know all that well yet). Their best song was the one their lead singer (and, apparently, composer) made the most excuses and apologies for, about a forbidden romance that ends in bloodshed and gunfire. There's a nice Valentine's Day song for you, and a not disagreeable end to a pleasant night of indie rock.

Photo credit: giftofnoise.com