PureHoney Sixth-Issue Anniversary
Propaganda
Saturday, February 24, 2012
with John Ralston, the Passenger, the Dewars, and North Atlantic Space Company and the "Little Pieces of Hope Art Show"
Venturing to Propaganda on Saturday night for the PureHoney Sixth-Issue Anniversary party was something strep throat and exhaustion couldn't hinder.
Plenty of others came out to catch some of Lake Worth's finest musical acts. To be honest, this was our first time visiting the area and also the first time seeing these particular bands live. Hopefully, it won't be the last.
The crowd who danced around, nodded their heads, and drank was not just a blanketed, plaid-shirt-wearing, thick-rimmed-glasses group. There were folks of varying styles of attire and drink preference. The guys from the Jameses were running around helping with sound, unfortunately not performing.
The night kicked off with twin brothers the Dewars. The duo are visiting their hometown from St. Augustine, where they now reside. One Dewar had a map of the U.S. taped to his guitar, which added a little pizzazz, as did the letters on the keyboard that read simply "THE DEWARS." The two together make beautiful music. It's like folk but not uncool folk. It's emotional but not overly so. They sing about things like World War II, which is charming, and ultimately, who doesn't love a little keyboard with their guitar?
The Passenger brought the volume up with some pop-punk action. This Weezer-influenced group was the first of the night to bring the "woo-woos." This show was actually the first they've performed together, though members were formerly of XOXO. The guitarist had cleverly taped the word "CLAP" to the back of his guitar, which he flipped over to the glee of those paying attention.
The highlight of the night was North Atlantic Space Company. When we interviewed singer Chris Horgan, we were promised power pop, which made us nervous. Those words often create displeasurable auditory memories. However, these guys were great.
Supertight, this was clearly a band who'd practiced what they were playing. Sure, it was "power pop," but it had a nice '90s shoegaze sound, not radio unfriendly but not made with radio play in mind. Then there was Horgan's new wave-y voice, which gave it a different edge.
Everyone gravitated to the stage during their set. Finally, they won our hearts with a cover song. You know you've got it when you're covering America's "Sister Golden Hair," a personal favorite. This was their second and a half show, and we'd love to see them again when they perform on March 10 at Speakeasy.
Finally, Legends of Rodeo and Lake Worth legend John Ralston closed out the night with some seriously indie rock. Everyone was commenting on Ralston's new clean-shaven look. The songs were sweet and classic and brought the girls to the dance floor.
'Twas a night of rock 'n' roll that Propaganda and yours truly will not soon forget. And it's likely that NASC and the Dewars just gained one more indie nerd groupie.
