On Thursday I went to the Talking Head to see a Baltimore band called Karmella's Game. I first saw them about 6 months ago, opening for Travis Morrison (who, as it happens, is playing there on Friday). I was pretty impressed with them at that show, but it wasn't until about a week later that I realized that the lead singer of the band was a friend of a friend that I'd met once or twice about 3 years ago. So when I went to see them again the other night, I said hi to her after the show and told her that her band kicks ass. Because they do. Karmella's Game play synth rock but not at all the kind that's in vogue right now. In fact they're pretty dorky. They even wear matching outfits that kind of look like a private school uniform with ties and sweaters and everything. Their songs are catchy as hell and full of climaxes and breakdowns, but seem to have linear structures full of non-repeating sections, it's actually kind of proggy. And all their synth lines sound like the epic melodies in the background music of, like, old Mega Man games. And there's more than a little emo in their throaty harmonies. But it's all done with so much ridiculous energy and power, constant punching the air and clapping in the air and pointing in the air during the cool parts, and there are a lot of cool parts. Their one EP is out of print right now, but they were giving away burned copies at the show, which I got one of, and I think they've got a full-length on the way. Two of the other three bands were also local, and the other one was The Reputation from Chicago. Apparently they're on Lookout! Records, and they were pretty good too. In the context of the bill, they were kind of a palate cleanser simply by being clearly a few years older than anyone in the other bands. So unlike the other bands, their garden variety indie didn't have any traces of emo in it, which was kind of refreshing. Overall, it was a pretty good show, though, and it was kind of nice to see a bill where 3 of the 4 bands are female-fronted.

Labels: Baltimore music, concerts, Travis Morrison

This entry was posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 at 2:50 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.