The Happy Hollows

The badasses above are none other than The Happy Hollows, if not apparent enough by the big blue letters underneath them. They are from, well...I haven't quite figured that out yet, Los Angeles, I can easily assume, specifically, I'm not sure, but from a place they like to call Negahdariland, CA. The Happy Hollows is comprised of the beautiful and talented guitarist/vocalist Sarah Negahdari (makes sense now, right?), bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Charlie Mahoney and drummer/backing vocalist Chris Hernandez. Their music is nothing short of raw, awesome (dare I say rawesome? yay for port-manteaux), energetic and just great. I was fortunate enough to catch them live opening for the Silversun Pickups, and their performance speaks for them to an even further extent. Sarah's performing almost made me think of Karen O (of Yeah Yeah Yeahs) if she played guitar on stage. Charlie's performing reminded me somewhat of when I saw Q And Not U perform. Chris is a very talented drummer and his performance makes it seem like his drumming is effortless and he enjoys himself A LOT. In fact, you can tell they all love playing. I can easily say that now, I love listening and watching. So far, The Happy Hollows have released 2 EPs and a Limited Edition 7-inch (or..at least that's what I know). One entitled Bunnies & Bombs, available through iTunes, and various other digital musical outlets (or, um...these: Emusic, Napster and Rhapsody. ), and the other entitled Imaginary, available for FREE! (or pay what you want), but free if you put 5 of your coolest, raddest, most awesomest, closest friends' e-mail addresses (because you're no friend if you don't introduce them to The Happy Hollows) into the little widget thing that can be found below, then you will receive the album via e-mail. Also, if you like vinyl, you can buy the 7-inch! (which I would have done at the show had I money. Damn economic recession, otherwise known as the American Economy's scapegoat.) Before I go off on a tangent, LISTEN TO THE HAPPY HOLLOWS, NOW!

Tell your friends about them. Tell your parents about them. Tell your grandparents about them. Tell your professors, your coworkers, your dog, your cat, your chinchilla, that one relative you haven't really talked to in 12 years but call occasionally to borrow money that you never pay back and tell them about The Happy Hollows!!!

Add them on myspace.com/thehappyhollows.

Here's the Imaginary EP download thingy.

For those in the Los Angeles area, catch them at the Troubadour on May 14th w/ Afternoons and warpaint

4/12/09 Silversun Pickups/The Deadly Syndrome/The Happy Hollows @ Glass House

Hello everyone.

So, last night I went to see Silversun Pickups at the Glass House in Pomona, CA, and the openers were a couple of bands that I heard the names of but had never really listened to: The Deadly Syndrome and The Happy Hollows.

I'll start with...

THE DEADLY SYNDROME

Picture courtesy of (or rather, taken from) http://stereogum.com

The Deadly Syndrome is comprised of four talented guys that make some good music. Personally, they had me dancing, and I rather enjoyed myself. I had never really listened to their music beforehand, but I was pretty pleased with what I heard. They had some very infectiously catchy songs. One that started with keyboard and had and old west saloon "piani" kinda feel, and the one right after was a straight forward disco-rock dance song that had the drummer dancing behind the kit as he was playing. They were really into it, and I enjoyed myself as much as they enjoyed themselves, but, what I couldn't help but do was keep thinking back to what had just happened before they played, and what happened was this.

THE HAPPY HOLLOWS

Picture courtesy of (or rather, taken from) http://stereogum.com

The Happy Hollows are (the beautiful and amazingly talented) Sarah Negahdari, (the also very talented) Charles "Charlie" Mahoney and (very talented as well) Chris Hernandez. To be honest, I had never really listened to their music, although after looking through their myspace pictures and seeing old flyers from the now radio airwave defunct Indie 103.1's Check...One...Two local band showcases, I can remember hearing the name, and perhaps a song on the radio. Sarah (guitars/vocals/awesomeness), Charlie (bassman/keys/cool) and Chris (drums/backing vocals/radguy) took the stage in front of an impatient crowd of people wondering when the show was going to start. Frankly, my peers, I didn't give a damn (you see what I did there?). I could wait, but wait no longer did we, because here they were, The Happy Hollows. Now, I'm not saying this personally, but generally, the way it usually goes, you don't expect much from the opening bands unless it was an established band opening for a world-renowned rock icon at Dodger's Stadium or something. It felt this way when The Happy Hollows came on. The seemingly shy Sarah took the stage, picked up her Gibson SG, as did her fellow bandmates with their respective instruments/sticks, and very timidly greeted the crowd. Her voice seemed nervous, as she asked her bandmates if they were ready. Four clicks of the drum sticks later and they explode into a song, and it's as if the band just broke out of a shell, because any even the slightest hint of any kind of nerves was automatically gone. They knew what they were doing and the knew how to do it. I, myself was dancing uncontrollably and sporadically (which may sound redundant, but that's how it went.) Every song was a hit, and there wasn't even a second of miss. Along with each songs, the talent of each member seemed to grow, until they reached the point before their closing song where the overall raw rock feel of the music took a prog-rock turn with Sarah doing some very impressive tapping riffs and the band doing chromatic passages. A fast-paced song that started at a moderate speed, got faster and later got slower and more melodic until the end, which sporadically gets quick for the last couple of seconds. I later found out this song is called Lieutenant, and it seemed proper. They closed the set with what seems like they're personal "single" Tambourine. Needless to say, I became very disappointed in myself for not having checked them out before the moment they started playing, and EXTREMELY disappointed in myself for the same reason long before they finished, in fact, only moments after they started. I easily fell in love with this band and after the show when I got to talk to them, found out they are not only an awesome band, but awesome people as well. I look forward to seeing them again a.s.a.p.

Well, that leaves me with only one band...

SILVERSUN PICKUPSPicture courtesy of (or rather, taken from) http://stereogum.com

I think this goes without being said, but they put on one hell of a show. This was unfortunately my first time seeing them and I say that because I'd rather it be one of the several times I've seen them. After roadies set up the equipment and us in the crowd waited for probably about 15 minutes, out come the Pickups. The crowd went wild as Brian, Nikki, Joe and Chris got all of their respective instruments ready to go and broke out into There's No Secrets This Year, the opening track off their sophomore effort Swoon, which comes out this tomorrow, April 14th. It was recognized and/or known by some people in the audience, I obviously recognized it. But it was only shortly after that song finished that they immediately broke out into Well Thought Out Twinkles, a particularly well-known (it's a single...), yet amazing song off of their debut Carnavas. From then on, the songs went back and forth from songs we all knew and songs off of Swoon, which I personally thought was really awesome. After a performance of Lazy Eye, their biggest single, yet still a great song (even though some people seem to think that because a certain song is a single, that takes away the song's value as a song), they went into a new song and stepped off stage, the lights still dim and roadies still tuning. The crowd chanting redundant chants for an encore, because 9.8 out of 10 bands encore when they headline (hell, some even encore several times), and the lights would have come back on, but I guess it's the energy of it all that promotes this. So the Pickups come out, play another new one and close with Common Reactor, the closing track of Carnavas. The show was amazing. Silversun Pickups were amazing. I cannot wait to check them out again, although I will most likely not be in the front on the barrier this time around for it will be this weekend at Coachella that I will be seeing them again. They bring raw energy and a more than apparent love of being on stage playing music not only for themselves, but for their fans. Even Nikki, who was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt earlier on when they arrived, dressed very formally, and beautifully, in a long, elegant red dress. Great band. Great performance due to being great performers. I will see them again after Coachella, most definitely.

Tomorrow, I am going to see TV on the Radio at The Glass House and I will have a post about that as well afterwards. Not to mention next week, when I will post three posts detailing my experience at each day of Coachella. A post for each day, because I don't feel like making one super long post, and also I feel it makes more sense that way.

peace&love
.erick.