Next Great American Band

I was much more pleased with this week’s results.  The Muggs and Rocket were who I expected and wanted to go home, and as Dicko said, it was death by lead singer.  I disagree that the talking back wasn’t a factor, if people reacted like us.  The sad thing is that the Muggs were an early favorite for us.  Their lead looks distractingly like John Sebastian.  I wouldn’t even have minded if Rocket and Light of Doom went home and they got another week.  I kind of liked The Likes of You and would have preferred to see them stay last week over a couple of the other bands.

This is a show I ought to be live blogging or taking notes on, as we have a lot to say to each other even as the people are performing.  If I had written my remarks last week and the week before, it would have involved a surprising number of comparisons, mainly good, to my brother.  A couple of the original songs sounded like he wrote them.  A singer or two sounded like him.  I believe it was the lead of the Muggs, when he was singing badly, who sounded like my brother when he used to try too hard to sound like someone else, rather than himself, in his own range.

Cliff Wagner was hands down the best of the eight this week, but the rest were awfully close.  I wouldn’t go out and look to buy bluegrass, but I’ve always found it fairly compelling when hearing it unplanned. 

We love Tres Bien, very Raspberries (down to the lead resembling Eric Carmen), but they are in danger.  I’d sign them and find a way to market them.  Perhaps it’s time for a comeback of that sound.

The Clark Brothers weren’t so good this week, but may be able to coast a week on how good they have been and their fan base. 

Denver and the Mile High Orchestra were good, but are likely to be in the next pair to go.  He is their weak link for no definable reason except maybe youth and a lack of gravitas one might expect in the type of band.  Overall, I like them a lot.  I’d be happy to go see them in person, and maybe that is a problem; they are an in-person band.

The lead singer of Sixwire has “it” and they are arguably the band to beat.

The kids are kids, but with a future beyond novelty.  Light of Doom (the best name) disturbs me by looking like a bunch of cute little girls.  Right now they’re a novelty, but man can they play, and they have conviction.  They might drift over into harder rock than I might normally like, but they have talent and I would expect to see them on the charts in a few years.  If I were a producer, I might even sign them now before someone else could, put out a “while waiting for them to grow” album, then try to hit big in a few years with them.

Franklin Bridge hadn’t grabbed me the way they’ve grabbed so many to become one of the bands to beat.  Not my taste.  However, I recognize that they are good, and that there is a market for them, so I’d sign them if it were my decision.  This is the first week I’ve seriously liked them, covering Billy Joel, except for the part where the singer screamed.  He has a nice voice.  In some respects they could be a revival band the way Tres Bien would be.

What does it mean that I forgot to mention Dot Dot Dot, who we call the ellipsis, even though they were the best they’ve ever been last night?  I can see a market for them.  In fact, there is no remaining band that I can’t see having a career, even if it’s “corporate,” mainly live, small venue, niche, or whatever.  They’re all good and they all want it.

The member of Tres Bien with the dark hair and sideburns looks like someone, too, the way the lead looks like Eric Carmen.  I know it’s someone in a band, probably from way back, but I can’t place who.  Ditto for one of the other guys in the Muggs, with the long reddish hair.  Maybe one of the members of the Grass Roots?

Current favorites: Cliff Wagner and the Old #7, Sixwire, and Tres Bien.

Posted by on 11/10 at 10:36 AM

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