Saw quite an interesting band
Saturday
night at Lovin’ Cup. Interesting in
its poppy meld of genres, interesting in the strength of its songwriting,
interesting in its rhythm and lead guitar flip-flop, and interesting that all of
that overshadowed the group’s growing pains.
Hailing from Erie ,PA, Falling Hollywood came out with a reserved swing, with
the acoustic guitar initially doing lead duty as the electric guitar provided the
percussive chop. The band was devoid of any country twang, but initially
brought to mind The Old 97’s. The harmonies were right on — and dead on — throughout
a fantastic set of original popified rock ‘n’ roll.
But as the band built up both
in complexity and volume — with both guitars electrified — over the course
of the nearly 90-minute set, it became clear that the bassist was either in the
wrong band, or wasn’t aware he was in a band at all. He clearly knew his way
around his instrument, and as a performer he was engaging. But he overplayed
everything, from scales to octave stunts. It proved very distracting from what
otherwise was a good set, and it hindered what I feel would have been a dancing
crowd (which still dug the band regardless).
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2014.
