Squids Eye Showcase feat. Grizzzzy Bear/The Gluons @ Pearl 7.3.08

...as the city of Dayton's fireworks display filled the sky outside of Pearl (we're not gonna discuss why we had fireworks on July 3), the bustling patio emptied into the club for the Squids Eye Records Showcase and openers The Gluons. From the outset, the duo wrestled interminably with feedback issues that were never truly resolved throughout their set. Although this might inhibit a set by other bands, Andrew Ashbrook seemed to feed off the ghost in the machine, using it as fuel and chiding the audience to dance. At last the music finally began and The Gluons tore through a handful of industrial-grade psyche nuggets. With only Ashbrook and bassist Matt Rose performing, the duo relies a pair of drum machines to round out their sound. While the mix was less than perfect, Ashbrook made up for it with a firey delivery. While The Gluons may look to the past for much of their sonic palette, their reinterpretation is certainly driving straight into the future...




...although the evening was billed as having Brian Baker of Grizzzzy Bear doing a solo set, it turned out that he brought his band with him. We couldn't have been happier. On this particular night we were endlessly amazed at this new lineup's ability to evolve material from the band's debut disc. On tracks like "Lovers" and "Since Day One, You Were My Son", the original arrangements were rather brief and dominated by drum machines and synths. As this lineup continues to solidify, the the windouts from the songs proper turn into endless labyrinths of guitar-driven explorations. The fact that impresses us so much is that these are arrangements, not improvisations. This is a unit so tightly knit at this point that it would appear as if whatever they decide to do, it will be done...




...while there were still three acts left on the bill (Ceschi Ramos, Dead By Wednesday, and The Sailing), we departed. If anyone has any info on how the last three bands were, we'd love to hear about it...

...You can see more pics here.