Show Review: Gore Gore Girls, 5/2

This is a week overdue, but it's been a rough week. The good news is that I wrapped up the semester yesterday. The bad news (for you) is that posts will still be sporadic, as I'm heading to the Steel City for a few weeks. (But that's good news for me, so it all works out.) I'll try to get a few posts while I'm there, but I make no promises.

The Gore Gore Girls are one of my very favorite neo-garage bands. As an acquaintance of mine put it so perfectly: "a near-perfect melding of girl group sound and Detroit muscle." I saw them a couple years ago, and was ecstatic to hear that they were gracing Iowa City with their presence once again. However, I got much more than I bargained for this time out, and got to see three other bands that I was very impressed with. So let's start from the beginning of the evening. And by "beginning of the evening," I mean 10pm.


Thee Almighty Handclaps!

I admit not knowing much of the local Iowa City music scene. The bulk of bands I come across are cover bands, because this is a college town with typical college students whose idea of going to a local show is paying $7 to hear upper classmen play Dave Matthews covers. I was refreshed to see Thee Almighty Handclaps open Wednesday's show.

The three piece consists of drums, a seriously fuzzy bass, an electric organ, and dueling vocals. They've got a great garage-y sound, and I was impressed enough to buy their 7". Check out their myspace page. Both of the tracks there are great, although my favorite on the disc may be "Sugar Bowl," which is not on their page. I spent some time chatting with their bassist and organist, and I'm told they're going back into the studio this week. I'll definitely be checking these guys over the summer.

Thee Almighty Handclaps! Myspace Page




Next up were The Rusty Buckets, another local band. Unfortunately I didn't grab any of their music, but these guys are TIGHT. And they have some great lyrics. I don't really have too much else to say about these guys. I will comment that the recordings on their MySpace page don't do their performance justice at all.

Rusty Buckets' MySpace Page



Then came The Dollyrots, a band whose name I've been hearing tossed around here and their, yet whose music I hadn't experienced. I loved it! They're musically tight, and have a great amount of energy. I could see some criticizing them for being too poppy, but I really don't care. They pull off the power pop punk thing very well. I picked up their newest cd while I was there, and it's been in heavy rotation. Great to have in the discman while on a run. I also have a crush on the bassist/lead vocalist. And yes, her voice really sounds like that, even when she's speaking. Also, they did a great rendition of Melanie's hit "Brand New Key," which I was pleased to find also made the cut on the album. Here's a live version of it:



The Dollyrots official website
The Dollyrots MySpace Page




And finally, it was time for the main attraction, The Gore Gore Girls! They're better than ever, still kicking ass, still taking names. They played a lot of material from their two most recent albums, Up All Night (2002, Get Hip Records) and Get the Gore (2007, Bloodshot Records). I was also pleased that they pulled out their awesome cover of The Golliwogs' "Fight Fire," which the also played the last time they were in town. Also similar to their last Iowa City performance, I was pissed that the crowd was so sparse. Seriously, what the fuck, Iowa City? At any rate, it was a great show. I of course grabbed their new disc Get the Gore and love it. All of three of their albums are great, but each release continues to improve and mold the band's sound. Definitely check them out if they hit your town.

Gore Gore Girls official website
Gore Gore Girls MySpace Page

I got on the guest list for the show, saw four awesome bands, and came home with two cds and one 7". A good night all around. And I also got to play some Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga at The Picador. Score!