Rock Shows of Note IV
Went to the Abbey Lounge on Saturday night with my friend Neil from 71 Sunbeam. Cancer to the Stars was a young-ish three piece featuring a lanky singer in a Santa Cruz T-shirt who reminded the folks I was with of Nick Drake. He also had a gothy Danzig quality to his singing. The singing kinda bugged me, and I wasn't too into their music, so I hung out on the bar said with members of Hip Tanaka and the Jack McCoys.

Next up, Hip Tanaka, an energetic four piece sporting two singers and a laid-back bassist who -- I think -- works at the Middle East. The main singer, who reminds me of the dude who manages Charlie's Kitchen, had an intriguing Jello Biafra thing going on, which added some interesting elements to the band's otherwise Weezer-like power pop sound. The other singer's vocals were mixed up too high by comparison, but the interplay between the two was a lot of fun. A solid band -- and a band that'll play with the Anchormen soon.

Lastly, the Jack McCoys. Made up of former members of Godboy -- and one of their biggest fans -- the McCoys impressed me with their enthusiastic pop. While I didn't ever quite get into Godboy despite knowing and liking the main man, Dan, I really enjoyed the McCoys. Matt, the singer, had a weird palsied Popeye-meets-Joe Cocker singing style that was a lot of fun to watch. Oh, the faces he pulled! I snagged a CD, so I'll have to review a new batch of local music soon.