Sarasota twin-fronted band Good Graeff just celebrated the fresh drop of their new EP Good Job Go with a typically lively performance of their fresh-faced, folk-edged indie pop at their Orlando release event (July 16, Will’s Pub). Despite their ready combination of talent, marketability and tireless road-dogging, they haven’t exactly broken out yet. But hopefully this sparkling record will hasten that.
Local support was Someday River, the band formerly known as Bellows. The long journey from Bellows to Someday River has been a tale of honing what began as a stylistically indiscriminate sprawl. Over time, they’ve pared things down considerably to arrive at their current sound of airy pop rock. With one foot in the indie world with touches like deep, swimming reverb and the other in soft-core, hippie-lite grooves, contradiction still persists in their recipe. But some pleasant melodies are squeezed between those strange bedfellows.
Straight up mugging the night, however, was Savannah band Coeds. While typical first acts warm things up, these guys and girl made their Orlando debut by lighting the wick and shooting off like a Roman candle. Braiding the wild, early roots of rock & roll with doo-wop traces and a hearty garage scuff, they have a turbocharged vintage aesthetic like the Detroit Cobras, only with more kick.
They’re a rubber-burning unit to be sure, but the hard, raw voice of frontwoman Anna Chandler is an absolute weapon. Although she’s already good on the male-female trades with co-front Phillip Reynolds Price (ex-An Albatross), her feral soul claws like a tiger when given full rein. That doesn’t happen nearly enough, but when it does, it’ll knock you down.
Most fresh, unfamiliar openers get little attention unless it’s something especially pulse-perking. During the course of Coeds’ blazing set, however, the room went from a sprinkle of bodies to a full, demonstrative crowd. Yes, Coeds, look ‘em up already.
Another band to keep an eagle eye on is Miami’s Plastic Pinks, who ripped some super hot late-night action right up the street (St. Matthew’s Tavern). An onslaught by committee, this full-gang motion machine is a juggernaut of garage-punk uproar and pure physical joy. The band rages with both attack and celebration while singer June Summer unleashes the kind of physical charisma usually reserved for party metal. And it torched the spot.
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This Little Underground is Orlando Weekly’s music column providing perspective, live reviews and news on the city’s music scene.
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Email Bao: baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com
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This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2015.
