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There was never a dull moment in the 13-song set, which seemed to fly by. The Unawares make it impossible to get bored with two-minute songs that are blasts of raucous, quirky alt-rock. My immediate comparison was to Pixies (singer John Watkins even looks a bit like Black Francis), but with shorter songs and more accessible lyrics.
"He even created distortion the old fashioned way, cranking the gain to just the point where the tone starts to break up.” |
The sound is built around Watkins’ big guitar tone and the impeccable bass playing of James Wallace. Most bass players are there to keep the rhythm and stay in the background, but Wallace’s lines are constantly moving, building an intricate framework for Watkins to lay his quirky chord voicings over. Wallace alone is a good reason to see these guys live -- hearing him on a recording does not capture the feeling of sitting in front of his cabinet as low notes vibrate the beer bottle in your hand. One thing I gotta ask though -- who wears their own band’s t-shirt on stage? I’ll give Wallace a pass though since it was a CD release party. Maybe the shirts just came out as well.
The band looks great on stage. Before they start playing, they appear to be mild-mannered middle-aged dudes. When they pick up instruments, you can tell they are long-time players that really enjoy what they do. Watkins had a music stand with a light set up in front of him, with a stack of papers that were presumably the lyrics to the songs. However, he kept his eyes squeezed tightly shut the whole time he was singing -- so what’s the music stand for?
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From a guitar standpoint, The Unawares were a big departure from opening act Bambara. John Watkins eschewed all effects pedals and plugged his guitar straight into an old Fender amp. He even created distortion the old fashioned way, cranking the gain to just the point where the tone starts to break up. His playing presents an interesting dichotomy compared to his songwriting: he writes the simplest two-minute songs that he can and matches them with the most complex chord-oriented guitar parts that he can. Wallace does the same thing on bass, using ever-shifting lines that could be songs in themselves.
The band tried to walk off stage after album finale “Is Everybody Goin Crazy?”, but the crowd would have none of it. Chants of “Howie Long! Howie Long!” filled the air as the crowd begged for the quirky tune about a football announcer that is unfamiliar with the concept of subtlety.
So basically, The Unawares make music that is short and catchy enough to hook any listener, but is complexly crafted enough to win over even the most jaded indie rock fan. To put it as Howie Long would: “These guys are good. If they sell at least a million records I predict they will go platinum. They will be the best band in America if they make better music than all the other bands.”
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For more info, visit: myspace.com/theunawares
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Yeah, it's a new shirt. Ya got me. I'm a dork. Thanks for the great review.
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