On My iPod

Evil Doers by Deathmask

I'm a big fan of this band, and not just because I've been friends with lead singer, Katy Cunningham, for several years now (in addition to being a really good vocalist and terminally cute, she's a kick-ass tech director at HERE Arts Center). I like their sound—it leans a little punk in their live performances (which I like), but this album gives a better picture of the breadth of their musical skills and, structurally, the clear jazz influence in their style. As Catherine well knows, I generally respond more to the music than to the lyrics (I wanted to include "She Talks to Angels" by The Black Crowes on our wedding mix tape... not as the first dance or anything, I'm not stupid), but I think there's a personae that comes through in their songs that Katy embodies beautifully vocally and onstage—she seems like a nice, sweet girl but you'd better not cross her. The band members are all strong musicians—Boris Veysman has a groovy bass playing style (as a former bassist, he's the kind of player I always wanted to be); Mike Biskup on guitar reminds me of the Kinks early raw stuff; and Steve Dans does a super job on the drums. Probably my favorite song on the album is "goodbye", which I think shows all of the members' individual talents well; it's a great song performed live, where the band can play off the energy of the crowd on the sustained notes, that didn't lose anything by being recorded.

I've included a short video here from their upcoming album, "Wonderful." Visually, it's kinda silly, but I like the song!