Results tagged “smallsins”

Saturday evening's show downstairs at the World Cafe Live was, bar none, one of the best top-to-bottom shows I've seen in a long time, and would have been one of the best ever but for a few minor breaches of decorum, which I'll discuss in a moment. I'd never heard of Small Sins before, but they were so talented, and so engaging, onstage, that it was instantly apparent that this band will go far and be headlining their own shows in no time. They might want to consider working a little more on their rapport with the audience—at one point, they made a not-nice comment about our fair city (but to be fair, they do have a history of having their things stolen when they play in Philly)—but when they were interacting, rather than antagonizing, they were completely on. Look for them in the future: their indie-pop sound is going to take them places, for sure.

When we were in high school, there was some pretty bad music being produced: Britney Spears and boy bands and Creed (shudder). We'd decided that mainstream American music was pretty much the root of all evil. (True: our CD collection boasts a mix we burned that's actually called "Mainstream American Music is the Root of All Evil.") That's when we first started listening to indie rock. Bands on small labels or releasing their own music. Innovative recording techniques, usually the result of albums being made in someone's tile bathroom or padded-walled basement. Harmonies that evoked the 1960s. That's when we discovered Sloan. As soon as we heard the opening of their song "The Other Man," off of their 2002 record , we were more or less hooked on this Torontonian indie-pop quartet. (Admittedly, we're late adopters: Sloan has been performing together since the early 90s.)