Clues!

Bear with me folks; this show is not related to the San Francisco area, but as I have recently trucked it over to Vermont (planed would be more appropriate) so it has become difficult to keep writing about shows in the SF area (obviously). Hence, I am taking this oppurtunity to just start writing about bands in general, to get them out there I suppose.

Last night the band Clues played Bennington College, where I am currently going to school. If you have not heard of Clues yet, you may want to know that it is the new project of ex Unicorns member Alden Penner and ex Arcade Fire member Brendan Reed. Get yer ass on this man, it's hot. Unicorns and Acrade Fire? Damn. In any case, it would seem they contacted my school and asked if they could play a show on their way through. The show was small, subdued; barely anyone showed despite strong buzz around the campus and whispers of the words "The Unicorns!" and "extra indie cred points, alright!".

And yet even with the small crowd and rare turnout, the show was amazing. Those of us who did come smushed up against the stage into a pile of dancing, richocheting, jirating joy. We cheered and yelled and even got them to come out for encore (an encore for 15 people! Wow).

Clues put an extremely good show. They are energetic, different, and into what they are doing. The whole band functions perfectly together like gears turning in motion. The show was danceable, full of frenzy and fun and there was an all around feeling of bonding between the band, crowd, music, school...everyone present felt it. For the encore, one of the Clues members passed me a tambourine and I played it for the whole song.

Clues currently has no album out, but two songs have been leaked. They played both of those as well as about 7 or 8 other songs. All sound different and epic, and I cannot wait for the album.

Rumors say the album should be appearing in winter '09 and that is to be called "Rad Boo Horror & The Glory". Any other info on the band is extremely sparse right now; the only website for them is their record company page, there is no wikipedia article, and even Pitchfork Media only seems to have two pieces of news on them (Oh God!). Just bear with Clues. They are going to do great things.

Leaked for your love:
Clues - Perfect Fit
Clues - Rad Boo Horror & The Glory

More info:
http://www.last.fm/music/Clues
Pitchfork article on tour
Record label: Villa Villa Nola

The Dodos at Amoeba

That's right. It's The Dodos at Amoeba...FO FREE.
With waffle fries.
And it's Wednesday. So after work, school, illicit drug deals, whatever it is you do day to day, head on over.

Not only do these guys put on a great live show, their music is wonderful and they are, drumroll, San Francisco natives! Bonus! This is a great oppurtunity to check them out if you haven't yet (in which case you are insane). The show may get crowded fast though, so show up a bit before, do some shopping or browsing, then sit back and enjoy the smooth yet rough sounds of The Dodos.

You may see below a review of their show when they performed here at GAMH with Les Savy Fav, a superb show if I may say so.

Wednesday, May 14th
Show starts at 6PM
Should be about forty five minutes or less
At Amoeba in the Haight

Once again, The Dodos are a very good band.
Believe me.

Freebie:
The Dodos - Paint The Rust