*** MF it's hot. This concrete is killing me. Right about now I wish I could just pack a bag, jump a train, and say:
But alas, here we are. While most of the Beijing music scene is taking the rest of the month off, there are a few unheard of groups doing things, hungry up-and-comers not content to rest on their laurels, taking advantage of the end-of-summer doldrums to make their mark. Or just fuck around. Here are some new bands:
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are all over the place recently. I'm including them here because I keep having to look them up. They're somewhat of a Mao Live house band — I think one of the guitarists works there. In any case, he's always riding around Gulou East St. with his Harley-shaped bicycle and permed hair. You've seen him around.
The Era Rebels style is classic hard rock, with the original blues influence intact and distorted by a solid appreciation for punk and local influences. These guys dress the part too (see aforementioned perm). While Beijing has no shortage of corny hair rock tribute bands (R.I.P. Rustic), these dudes take the "Delta blues via China" thing pretty seriously, and have clearly thought a lot about it. Here they are on The Sound Stage:
These guys are everywhere. You can catch them pretty regularly at School, Temple, Blue Stream, Hot Cat... pretty much any club with a PA. Their next one is this Thursday at Mao:
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has been around for about a year, an equally hardworking and ubiquitous band. Their main haunts are School, Blue Stream, and XP. Music is lush, instrumental rock, but with enough finesse and compositional aptitude to avoid the "abused guitar" trope that characterizes so much experimental and post-rock in Beijing. So far they only have a few rough demos and live recordings on their douban, but it's really thoughtful and interesting work. One to look out for. Here's some more:
Their next one is on Saturday at School:
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And: Obladi Oblada is a new duo featuring Skip Skip frontwoman Ben Ben on drums and Dice's Xiao Dou on guitar. They both sing. This is undoubtedly a just for kicks side project, as both members have other bands and they're named after a Beatles song for Christ's sake. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the fruits of these in-between moments. Nice to hear Ben Ben laying down some minimal Bo Diddley beats again. Not sure what the future plan is for this band, but they have some cute retro classics up on their douban right now. Here's the obligatory adorable Velvets cover:
And here they are covering a quaint little oldie that David Lynch had to go and make creepy by putting in Mulholland Drive:
Catch them on Saturday at XP:
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There you go! Now you can honestly say you were into these bands before they were cool without necessarily falling into a hipster trap!
