Ash rocked Vienna's Jammin Java tonight. The venue is a cool space even if some of the practices seem odd -- herding people out from the back area and into the small front bar while the staff set up for the gig even though the only bathroom in the place is back behind the stage. But I digress.
The Irish trio played songs from their new one Kablammo! and a few other older cuts. Highlights of the set for me were "Girl From Mars" and "A Life Less Ordinary" along with stuff like "Cocoon" from the new record. Despite multiple broken strings on Tim's guitar, the band made an impressive amount of rawk noise tonight and put on a pretty darn good show, despite some issues with sound in the venue.
Dot Dash played a bunch of new songs tonight with "The Infinite" -- complete with Terry's high notes -- being a particular highlight. Before the band goes back into the studio again -- presumably with Mitch Easter -- now might be a good time to see them as they are playing with a particular amount of fury these days. For example, despite cranking it out at an impressive volume, the band's rendition of "Hands of Time" tonight sounded more nuanced than the version on record, straddling the worlds of both punk and classic alternative with ease. The Dot Dash sound is a sort of muscular power-pop -- a whole lotta hooks with a hardcore punch behind the melodies. See Dot Dash next week at Comet Ping Pong for a Salad Days (2014) DVD release party. Details are here.
Follow Dot Dash on their official Facebook page.
Earthquakes and Tidal Waves is out now via TheBeautifulMusic.com.