The good folks at Daytrotter left the safe confines of the Midwest to bring Barnstormer 5 to the East Coast. melophobe caught the first stop in Kittery, Maine, and despite power problems and the venue shutting down before White Rabbits could play, we had a fantastic time. Check out our coverage of Doug Paisley here, and stay tuned for Deer Tick and We Are Augustines. Pardon our poor attempt at lightly parodying the Daytrotter writing style (lots of similes, conceits, and no paragraph breaks).
* * *Perhaps one day you'll find yourself outside of Buckingham Palace, and you'll take a picture, gesturing silly faces with your friends next to a member of The Queen's Guard. As you are holding up a peace sign, sticking out your tongue, and potentially saying something sexual to break the man's focus, he remains stoic and unmoving. Now, imagine the opposite. The band, Guards, stand in front of you, playing free-moving, swaying pop-tunes with subtle hints of Motown, inciting a reaction among the people around them, and hoping they won't stand stoic. Brother of Madeline Follin of Cults, Richie Follin's outfit Guards is not very unlike his sister's. Slightly less fuzzy, male vocals take the lead with female vocals behind, yet in some moments, Richie sounds just as high pitched. In fact, Richie's long mane would probably be enough on his resume to join Cults. An eerie undertone lays the foundation of the snazzy pop tunes, the message behind the high pitches coming from somewhere much farther below.
Check out Guards' bandcamp here, with tons of free downloads.
And catch the rest of Barnstormer 5:
08/28 - Old Lantern Barn (Charlotte, VT)
08/29 - The Living Room (New York, NY)
08/30 - Chaseland Barn (New Wilmington, PA)
08/31 - Conrad Botzum Farmstead Barn (Akron, OH)
09/01 - Lakeview Farms Barn (Dexter, MI)
09/02 - Kalyx Center Barn (Monticello, IL)
09/03 - Codfish Hollow Barn (Maquoketa, IA)
