Releasing their first CD in five years, Sarah Rabdau and Self-Employed Assassins successfully closed one chapter of their career and ushered in a new generation of fans -- fans delighted by Sarah's silky voice, her pounding electric keyboard and Matt Graber's mesmeric drums. It's an impressive transformation and the Self-Employed Assassins should be delighted with their self-created magnum opus.
Sarah Rabdau caught our attention in early 2008 when she opened for Nicole Atkins and the Sea at TT the Bear's place. After sitting down with her for an interview, we became intrigued by the news of her new album and then happily recommended that you buy the new Sarah Rabdau CD only a few weeks ago.
With all the love, it may seem weird that I showed up at the CD release party with very little familiarity myself to her music. Sometimes we like to mix it up around here to see if we're just buying into our own hype and there's no better way to do that then to send in a rookie to write a review.
Like some other favorite artists of mine, Sarah Rabdau's unassuming stage presence gives no hints as to the talents locked within. After the band had shuffled themselves into place, the first notes began to play and an entire room transfixed itself on Sarah Rabdau's voice. I'm a sucker for voice, so this is often a make or break aspect for me and Sarah's voice live -- amazingly not that much different from studio -- is something worth seeing (or hearing, as the case may be). I certainly loved it. Matt Graber's drums also left little to be desired. He's easily one of the best I've seen in over a year of covering Boston concerts and I'd instantly be interested in any project he was involved in.
But of course a voice (and great drums) does not necessarily make an entire concert. You also need solid songwriting and Sarah Rabdau has you covered on that end as well. My only quibble came when I left the concert and told friends that I had a difficult time understanding her lyrics during the live set. That's not uncommon when you're rocking out, but when you're new to the music it's enough to make you pause. Thankfully, these concerns were quickly put to rest as I listened to the new CD. And with that, we pretty much come full circle since it was a CD release party.
Opener Goli consisted of Vessela Stoyanova and Valerie Thompson. Self-described as "chamber music for the modern era," I found the concept brilliant and I'm a big fan of including strings in rock music. However, the songs appeared to contain a level of emotional scarring I found overwhelming and thus off-putting. As with any live show, you can never be sure if you're hearing the lyrics just right. I understand they have an EP and I'd be interested in giving it a listen to see if my initial impressions were correct.
Finally, our beloved Mike Grubbs from Wakey!Wakey! took the Fung Wah Bullet Express from New York to play his biggest audience to date in Boston. Performing through a nasty foosball accident and with a nagging cough, we hope that he found some new fans among the Sarah Rabdau faithful. In the end, it seemed like a pretty auspicious musical pairing and we think fans of Sarah Rabdau might easily be fans of Mike Grubbs. Highlights of the Wakey!Wakey! show included a rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and a performance of "Away" that can be found on the Live At Bowery Ballroom CD. Mike also debuted a new song but we couldn't find him after the show to get its name. Damn. It's encouraging to see him writing new material though and we're hearing rumors that an EP is on the way!
Sarah Rabdau's next show is scheduled for February 13th at Ralph's Diner in Worcester. Check out the Sarah Rabdau and the Self-Employed Assassins Myspace page for more information.
Goli will be playing at the YMCA Theatre in Cambridge on February 7th.
Wakey!Wakey! will be back in Boston on March 4th at TT the Bear's.
