Monday, July 9, 2007

Learning "The Hard Lessons"

A few Saturdays ago, my friend Laura invited me to this concert for some band I had never heard of from Detroit. It was at The Creek and The Cave, in Queens so I almost didn't go (for those of you who don't know you're NYC geography, getting to Queens from Brooklyn, where I live, without a car is a big pain in the rear.) Anyway, I decided to go, so I hauled my butt out to Queens and (despite almost getting terribly lost) it turned out to be SO worth all the trouble.

The band was called The Hard Lessons. They were great. The Hard Lessons are the perfect blend of rock and pop. The band is composed of two guys, one on drums, one on guitar and vocals, and a girl, who plays keyboards and sings - and let me tell you, I want to be her. That sounds creepy, but she has a really amazing voice. I think it might be one of the most perfect female rock-n-roll voices I've ever heard. Plus she was wearing a super cute black dress with white polka dots. She just made me wish I was super talented and cool like her. They were all pretty cool though. Very high energy performers. It was a lot of fun and since it was a small venue we were all of 4 feet away from them. And they're such nice people. They were hanging out with everyone before and after the show. I got numerous hugs from the guitar player. I bought both the CDs they were selling, and the drummer threw in a button and a photo just for me at no extra cost. And props to The Creek and the Cave because everyone got a free drink on the house after the show (much to the poor bartenders' chagrin). The Creek and the Cave is a pretty cool place. I really like their space a lot and they had a nice patio set up.

Anyway, so now that I've raved about The Hard Lessons, you should listen to their music. Although, they are one of the few bands I seem to like live better than on recordings. I think the recordings don't quite do the girl's voice justice. They're still really good though and you'll get an idea of how cool they are. Unfortunately, some of my favorite songs by them are not released yet, but they are up on their myspace. So, go here and listen to "See and Be Scene" a great song about Scenesters (which they prefaced at the show by talking about the horrible Scenester epidemic spreading through the country, haha). This is definitely my favorite song by them. Plus I think there was the audience participation of clapping, which was fun. My next favorite on their myspace is a calmer (at least at first) song called "Don't Shake My Tree." It starts out pretty and kind of haunting and then it turns into awesome rock, and her voice in this song is particularly perfect. My next favorite on their myspace is "Milk and Sugar" which is nice and simple but it just works so well. The vocal harmonies and the keyboard are great. "Milk and Sugar" actually has been released, but it's on a CD I don't have and is sold out on their website, so I have no way of obtaining it.

Please feel free to investigate them further on your own. This band is the epitome of indie though, and have refused to sign with any label because they are afraid of getting lost in the shuffle, which I can actually respect (normally I'm not an indie snob, but the way they explained why they haven't signed made sense, and I'm sure they've had lots of offers). So please, if you like them, show your support and pay for their music because they actually get that money (instead of like one tenth of a cent for every record, which they would get if they were signed to a label). Ok kids, that's all for today. Tata dahlings.

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