Quarterlifeparty

It was a pretty good night out at LoFi Social Club last night with three bands playing. The night started out with a sharp set from Portland based Minmae and their brand of Psychedelic Indie Pop followed up with the ever so shoegazy Thrushes. But the standout stars of the night were the duo that goes by the name of Monarch. No, not a heavy metal band as I first thought by the name, but rather an indie folk rock band with a tinge of experimentation. But aside from their sound and style of music, this is a band that plays with some passion and makes you feel something.

The band has been around for a few years in different formations, apparently they used to have some more members but have only recently dissolved down to Jenn Wasner (vocals, guitar) and Andy Stack(Vocals, Drums, Keyboard). Yes, the drummer plays the bass lines and other melodies on a keyboard, sings backing vocals and plays drums (and plays them very well, usually with one hand) simultaneously. It was pretty impressive.

Vocalist Wasner, who has a similar voice to Beth Orton or Neko Case, is very unassuming as a lead singer, but when she starts singing and playing guitar everything comes out with an emotional intensity that grabs the entire audience. Then peering over to the drummer, watching him multitask his way with ease through the songs, he is also playing his heart out and providing perfect backup vocals. This was not a large crowd, there wasn’t much crowd energy to feed off of, and the band just played through like it didn’t even matter, creating a build up with each song.

Monarch has the potential to be a great band and it is nice to see something like this coming out of Baltimore. Check them out on their myspace page

Monarch – “Family Glue”

They will be releasing their first Full Length Album If Children within the next month, so stay tuned for their CD release party.

Tags: , Monarch