Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
College, as I've learned so far, is one helluva trip. I've met so many new friends as well as interesting characters, taken (and cried over) so many new classes, felt extremely excluded on campus for not knowing how to skateboard, and found so, so, so much more music. One think I love about the quaint and cultured little town of New Paltz is the band scene, and the cool people involved that I've made bonds with already. I've heard praise about it even before I moved up here, and was looking forward to delve deeper. It barely took a week, because as soon as I came across the "Music Collective Club," a group with the objective of booking and hosting bands on campus, it was a crazy explosion of discovery from there. During this club's first meeting, through some essential conversations with some upperclassmen, I acquired a flyer for the first local show of the year, at a gig known as the "Skater House." It seemed to be a very underground deal, because I had to DM the booking organization's Instagram page to get the address. The four bands that were booked to play were Kablamo!, a baby band birthed right here in New Paltz, Tula Vera, a garage-rock group from North Jersey, a set by a DJ called Young Link, and On Pink, a pretty popular name that I keep on hearing in whispers around campus ever since I got here. I listened to some albums, grabbed a few friends, and after a wholesome meal at B-Side Grill (our favorite spot) on Friday night, we headed to the hidden house (that was conveniently not too far from the college itself), and went inside to check out the madness. The first floor looked like the usual parties that happen around town - music playing from a distant aux, friends chatting, and the humid haze of body heat lurking in the air. All of the action that we wanted was happening in the basement, as the prominent sound of reverb was telling us. The show was appropriately a Friday the 13th theme, so hand-drawn posters of spooky skeletons and pretty string lights set the scene. We wandered down the creaky stairs right in the middle of the first set- Kablamo! The audience was pretty lax, at first. My friends and I were able to get right to the front, to the point where I was staring down the bass player directly in the face. Since this was the first house show I've ever been to, let alone a show that tiny, I developed a new fear: accidentally stepping on the guitar pedals and the other equipment. Since I did arrive slightly late, I didn't get to see Kablamo's! full set, but I was pretty impressed with what I managed to hear. They laced modern day psychedelic elements (lots and lots of reverb, cutting-edge guitars, and space-y sounding drums) with the length and prosperity of a classic jam band, and I very much enjoyed that. I haven't really heard of many bands that combine those two genres, so it was eye-opening to witness. It definitely made the ten minute long mosh-y crazy jam session at the end of the set a fun one! All of the members of this band are in other New Paltz-based bands (such as bby carrots, another popular name around campus), so I look forward to checking out their other projects. After a mini break, a photoshoot, and popping by a merch table that was selling pickles claiming to "cure hangovers!", it was back to the front for Tula Vera. I played them in my dorm room a couple of hours before the show, and I was immediately a fan. I would describe their music as a mixture between the airy, psychedelic surf-rock indie sub-genre that bands such as Hot Flash Heat Wave have pioneered, and the relaxed, folk-like lyrical content and gentle guitars that Slow Hollows is currently demonstrating on the scene. The introductory guitar on the set's opening song, "Sunspot," is a technique I've never heard before, and something that really made this band stand out right away. Listen for yourself, and pay attention to the wicked sound of that riff in the beginning. As I was listening to their debut album Tula Vera in the comfort of my own dorm room, I wasn't really picturing all of the songs to be 100% moshing content. But I learned when I saw Mac Demarco last month (which I will talk about in an article that is later to come), that a song doesn't have to go hard itself for a crowd to go hard to it. As my friend Anika said as soon as we left the house later that night, "People be moshing to anything." The pit was insane. On a scale from Kacey Musgraves to Denzel Curry, I would say this crowd ranked right in the middle. I've nearly perfected the skill of staying afloat during a mosh, but the concerns about this specific venue reached further than that. I'll remind you now that it was in a basement. The walls of a basement are not that tall, and I am not that short. I will also remind you about the lack of barriers. At one point I became a human shield between the crazy, sweaty, possibly-under-the-influence college kids pushing each other around and the innocent, unsuspecting musicians just trying to make it through the song. The rest of the set was a blur; My brain was struggling between appreciating and noticeably vibing to the music and just trying to survive. They ended up playing a new song that, according to their Instagram, they've "tried a few times now." I got a short video of it (to document the rabidness of the crowd) and posted it on my account, and they ended up re-posting it with that tidbit of information. Thanks again, Tula Vera! By the time their set ended, it was already 11pm, and we wanted to get to town early the next day to get some errands done. Unfortunately, this meant that I didn't get the chance to see the other two acts, but I'm sure this tight-knit music community will eventually bring them back to me in another show. Even though I didn't catch them live, I still will praise On Pink's newest EP, We Where Wednesdays? as an amazing, unique, and just plain fun experimental project that's very hard to forget about and easy to play on loop in your dorm room. If you like Camp Howard, a band I've mentioned plenty of times before on this blog, you'll love these guys. I'll leave you with my favorite song from this EP. My first house show as a college student, and just as a human being, was definitely one I'll remember forever and one I will use to set the bar for the rest of the shows I'll attend in my career. This school has such a diverse and interesting music scene, and I'm just at the starting line of a crazy-fun four years. I'm excited to continue documenting this journey through the blog, and I hope all of you are as well.
Support the bands I've mentioned! Kablamo's Instagram Tula Vera's Bandcamp On Pink's Bandcamp
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