I spent last weekend in Baltimore, and at the Floristree warehouse performance space I had the good fortune to be introduced to two amazing bands. The show was a release party for More, the new album by Double Daggers, and the trio blew the doors off my reality with a fist-pumping, crowd-surfing set. They are singer Nolen Strals, drummer Denny Bowen, and bassist Bruce Willen, whose amazingly propulsive riffs are the real star of the show (no disrespect to Nolen of course; dude’s got a real Ian MacKaye thing going on). To hear all the shouting and see all the moshing, you’d think you were witnessing a hardcore revival at first, and yet it only takes a few seconds of intent listening before the more melodic, accessible elements begin to emerge. It was the first time I’d been to a show where banging your head or just nodding it politely were both valid displays of appreciation. Opening the night were Videohippos, an act comprising guitarist Jim Triplett, drummer Kevin O’Meara, and a big white sheet used to project found footage and acid-nightmare animation. The vocals are muffled and muddy, the guitar is dense and droning, and the videos look like what Sid and Marty Krofft see in their heads as they’re falling asleep—yet it all stops short of weird for weirdness’s sake, and makes for an absorbing spectacle that even the most straitlaced, buttoned-down indie popster can enjoy.
Double Dagger, “The Lie / The Truth” (More, 2009)
Videohippos, “Lazer Jet” (Unbeast the Leash, 2007)
