A social acquaintance turned me on to (The) Tony Castles (photos above), so I decided to check them out live at The Mercury Lounge this week.
Three-piece Brooklyn-band Monogold opened. The lyrical falsetto of guitarist and vocalist Keith Kelly gives their sound a feathery, angelic quality, which was unfortunately not presented to best advantage at the Merc. However, bassist Mike Falotico distracted me from their technical issues by being an "8" on the Magically Babalicious, Long-Haired Emaciated Rock Dude scale.
When Caveman approached the stage, I honestly thought they looked like a bunch of douches. But as soon as they started to play, they completely endeared me. Thoughtful, layered, slightly haunting music sets a dreamy mood. Lead vocalist Matty Pickles blends charisma, amazing voice and percussion skills to land at an "8" on the Vince Vaughan-With-A-Guitar Doppleganger Rock Dude scale. You just want to cuddle him.
The comparatively large scale of Caveman made the three-piece Tony Castles seem spare as they took the stage, but their performance was anything but. In fact, I enjoyed their live performance more than the tracks I've been listening to for weeks. Psyched that they have a 5 song debut EP entitled "NO SERVICE" that will be officially released by Famous Class Records in both vinyl and digital formats on September 21, 2010.
No hot rock dude scale here. Just good music. : )
Photos of (The) Tony Castles by Shanda Boyett. Copyright 2010.
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