Date: 7/15/07
Location: Private Residence Birthday Party
Bands: EyesEarsNose, John Bellows, Head Kick, and more
Cost: FREE
Drinks: BYO
Things I missed to be there: Pitchfork Fest with De La Soul the Klaxons and more
Things I didn't have to miss but didn't go to because I'm lame: Dan Deacon, Pony Tail, Death Jet, Cars Will Burn, Mincemeat Or Tenspeed, Yellow Crystal Star, The Ear Is The Brain, Deerhunter, Sewn Leather, SPUPS and DJ Cooper Crain at the Boris Kar-Loft; Mahjongg and Yo!Majesty at the Empty Bottle
Reason for going: Willfully avoiding Pitchfork, needed to get out of the house
Phelan sways back and forth like some sort of hillbilly belly dancer in bare feet and a blue one piece. There's even a bit of hippie to her, more than a bit as she lies on her back for a song saluting the sun, like some sort of downed cockroach seeking redemption through yoga.
It's good to have crushes, and right now Phelan is mine, more than any other underground rockstar in the city today. She sings with the band EyesEarsNose, where she occasionally plays drums, synth, a slide whistle, and a bracelet shaker made of goats' toes as well. EyesEarsNose is one of those bands where everybody trades off instruments every other song, because maybe one person knows how to play the synth (some kind of off-brand Moog from the looks of it), but everyone else in the bsnd can make it sound good for a song or two, perhaps by virtue of not knowing exactly what they're doing. The band plays music the way Southern kids do, the types that grew up on classic rock and country and graduated from traveller punk to melodic sounds, all jug-band fun and folk-beautiful. The band 2% Majesty comes to mind, and maybe The Moldy Peaches.
They've been playing a lot of noise shows lately, but this was a venue where they could really shine, an outdoor barbecue in a backyard that was really just a gated lot in the space between two other buildings. There was a real familial vibe, which was kind of awkward for me, since I only knew three people, tops, and none of them real well. Phelan's Dad was there, and people reacted to him the way people react to Dads, trying to find that space where they weren't so respectful that he would feel out of place, but not so disrespectful that he got offended. I kept to myself, feeding corn on the cob to my pet rat, introducing myself to a couple of people I'd met before. John Bellows played Flaming Lips-style childrens music in a half falsetto that burrowed into my skin and really affected me. David Diarreah and Phelan played a few jams as a Beat Happening cover band.
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