Bottom of the Hill. Wednesday, May 6th 2009

The tiny stage had so many instruments it looked like every band was going to play at the same time. But Hanni el Khatib stepped up first, armed with only a guitar and a drummer, and proceeded to tear it up for half an hour. This guy's music drives. The set moved relentlessly onward, pushing the audience through indie rock, noise, punk, early 60's pop, and almost folk. Plus, Hanni really likes the word fuck, which is a word I am fond of as well.

Boy in Static went up next. Kenji Ross (the man behind the beats) lives in Boston and could not make it out for the show, so Alexander Chen took to the stage with his fiance Brindalyn Webster on flute and glockenspiel. Yeah, glockenspiel. The set was a tour through their new album "Candy Cigarette," and Alex said at least one thing about each song. The music is somehow both playful and melancholy, as if they know something depressing but manage to be optimistic anyway. Alex handled most of the music making, which consisted of programmed beats, vocals, and viola. Despite having played viola since elementary school, Alex uses it primarily to make subtle additions to the texture of the music. The vocals were similarly tasteful, always kindly catching our attention, never demanding it. Except when he does that crazy awesome vibrato. How does he do that?

The second song they played has a super fat beat over which Alex sings "L.A. runaways, call your homes tonight." The album has songs called "Young San Francisco," "L.A Runaways," "Tijuana," "Osaka," and "Starlet" which Alex said is sort of about New Jersey. I guess he likes to sing about locations? It must be working, because I found it really easy to get lost in the music (in a good way).

The highlight of the show came at the end of their set, when on came Levi Parker, Brindalyn's 6-year old nephew and star of Boy in Static's awesome music video for "Young San Francisco." For a moment he looked intimidated. Then all of a sudden he started dancing like there was no tomorrow, much to the crowd's delight.

Matthew Shaw (guitar, bass, vocals) and Nick Andre (keyboards, beats, backing vocals) represented City Light, a band that combines alternative rock with synths and programmed beats. It was an interesting sequel to Boy in Static, with similar dashes of electronica in a totally different context. Most of the songs were about the same tempo and feel, so near the end of their set I was anxious for something new, which I got when Marc Bianchi of Her Space Holiday came on to sing with them.

Headliner Marc was joined by a bassist plus Matt and Nick from City Light to play the Her Space Holiday set. Wearing Buddy Holly glasses and covered in tattoos, Marc came onstage, chugged from a handle of Jameson and announced "I'm a little drunk." I thought, "This is going to be awesome." And it is was. His brand of indie pop translates into a fun, rocking show. Someone could have told me my car had been towed and I wouldn't have minded because those songs just felt good. "Let's hear it for self destruction," said Marc as he took another swig of Jameson.

-Michael Bang

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