Cold War/Pela/Dirty On Purpose @ Great Scott

Cold War opened; the sound wasn't great, but from what I could tell their instrumentals were unfocused and their vocals uninteresting.

Pela was the band I'd heard more about, and they did seem better focused; the bassist seemed very good, and the instrumentals over all made a much better impressoin; but there didn't seem to be any reason to be interested, really--they were good, but not interesting. They had no grab: there was an odd contrast in the lead singer that I almost liked, between his jock look and his screamy almost Bright Eyes-ish vocals, but when it comes down to it--I don't like Bright Eyes, and a look/sound contrast in a lead singer does not a band make.

Dirty on Purpose was the first strikingly good band of the night; their instrumental work was tight, although the stage setup was odd, with the guitarist/vocalist over on the left instead of centerstage. Their vocals were an unusual falsetto harmony between the guitarist and the drummer, and I'm a sucker for vocal harmony. Plus, the drummer was wearing a Sea Ray shirt, which gets big points, and they had free stickers, which also gets big points. Got their CD, and I'm glad they did--Dirty on Purpose is good enough, and interesting enough, both live and studio, that I wouldn't be surprised if they were going places. Below find "No Radio," from their 28 June '06 CD Hallelujah Sirens. (I notice that Jaymay did the backing vocals on the studio version. Worth noting, I guess.)

Dirty on Purpose - No Radio from YSI