Live Music Review // Zoo Front, The Steve Hanks Band, The Sawtelles, @ Willimantic Records, Willimantic CT, September 14th 2024
Additional photos can be found in an album on Facebook here :::
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1566283487435200&type=3
Both Zoo Front and The Sawtelles are artists that I've been aware of for some time and even have had plans to go see them live before but this was my first time seeing them both, though it was not for a lack of trying. This show felt like the perfect time to experience all of this music because it was in the afternoon, it was a nice day outside and it was at Willimantic Records, which is quite possibly where I spend time listening to live music more than anywhere else.
When we got down to Willimantic it was right around 1pm and as such The Sawtelles were ready to go. The Sawtelles have this undeniable energy that they bring to the table, which is just right away a good reason to book and/or go see them live. The duo is an electric guitar and drum kit, but both sing- some times one taking the lead for a song, sometimes they sing at the same time. What you would expect from a duo of guitar + drums with vocals is probably not how The Sawtelles actually sound.
The music can be loud, but it can also slow down with calmer, ballad types of songs. At times there was also a bit of melody in the songs which made them feel almost like pop, in that Buddy Holly way, and I think that had an appeal to people just outside of the fence shopping for $5 flannels. One of the difficult parts of describing music using comparisons is that when musicians have their own voices singing it can often times become their own. Both members of The Sawtelles seem to not only bring their own voice to the music but their own style with their instruments, which make what you hear uniquely The Sawtelles.
The Steve Hanks Band was up second and this was a duo who both played acoustic guitar while singing. This was the softest set of the day- because neither were plugged in- but by the end there was the addition of the Zoo Front bassist and then The Sawtelles drummer to give an all around louder sound. I really enjoyed that a few songs had a ukulele and one of them was from Monty Python. It reminded me a lot of that Mark Twain saying: "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself."
Zoo Front is a band that I've really been meaning to see, in the sense that there have been at least four shows where I've said "I'm going to finally go see Zoo Front" but then for some reason I don't. "Re-Entry", which came out last year, is one of my all-time favorite albums and I think that the way Zoo Front combines that 1950's rock n roll sound with grunge just makes them different from other artists out there trying to do similar things. Even though Zoo Front played "Mary's Hat" and "Square Peg", I didn't get to hear "Bracing For Re-Entry", which is one of my favorite songs on the album.
But when you consider how long Zoo Front has been around and how many albums they have out there, how many songs, it really can make each show feel that much more special because they have such an extensive list to choose from when it comes to which ones to play. But for this hour, they played with all of the energy that a headliner on a Saturday afternoon would, told stories between songs as well, and labeled part of their sound as "desert goth" which I feel like is fitting (and who am I to argue?)
If you can ever make it down to Willimantic Records to check out their selection of music and etc items (Jess found a Cheech and Chong record she had to have) or just BLiSS Market Place in general, you can sometimes hear music such as this which just is all the more reason to go. Plus if any of these artists are out there in other places (The Sawtelles play Never Ending Books in November, Zoo Front is there in October) you should definitely go out of your way to see them because they will leave a lasting impression.
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