Feburary 5, 2011 - This Is Where We Are
Seryn. They've fast become one of the most talked about and praised bands not only in the Denton music scene, but the DFW scene as well. I'd listened to them back in July, and what I heard didn't, to put it nicely, fit my musical tastes. The word "crap" did came to mind when sampling their stuff. But everything is deserving of a second chance. And what better time to give Seryn their's then last week, which saw the release of their long awaited full-length debut, "This Is Where We Are". I sampled the album on iTunes and decided to chance buying it. So on the previous weeks trip down to Deep Ellum, I made a pit stop by Good Records to purchase Seryn's CD. The first few listens I liked it okay. The fifth through ninth I thought, "This thing is pretty great." And by the tenth trip, I'd kind of fallen in love. The harmonies. The staggering array and unique blending of instruments. It all sounded beautiful. Which leads me to tonight, when they performed their Dallas CD release show at Club Dada.
I'd never been to Dada before, but it's a nice little club. I was expecting something bigger, in between the size of the Curtain Club and Trees, but it was fairly small. With the stage set up in corner. It has a nice vibe to it though, and it's always great when a new club opens, especially when it's an old, historic, club under new management.
The husband (Burette Douglas) and wife (Gabrielle Douglas) group, The Cush, got things going at 10:01. He played a guitar and she the bass, and they had another guitarist and a drummer in the mix as well. And making them more unique was both Burette and Gabrielle sang. Sang, as in co-sang, most of the songs. I didn't care for it much at first, because it wasn't really harmonizing so much both singing together. And to me it was too much going on. At least for the majority of their first song, and a tad of their second tune. But by song number three they had me pretty enthralled. Most of their material was co-sang like that, but the ones I liked the best, and felt they really shined through, were the few they did where one of them took more of a lead. Even it was just for a few moments, it really let either Burette's or Gabrielle's voice come out. I'm sure that's an insult to their music, saying they sounded better with one of them singing, and if so I'm sorry, because it's not meant that way. Just how I felt about it. They'll be playing up in Frisco in a few weeks on Thursday the 24th, and now after seeing them, I'm even more excited about the show.
The Monahans, from Austin, who'd been supporting Seryn for three nights now, were next. I didn't give them my full attention from the get go, simply because I (along with some others) was watching a Steelers fan, in town for the big game, who'd fallen down. And no matter how hard his friends kept trying, they couldn't get him up. They finally managed to pull him up and were having to fully support the guy. It was quite funny. And after the show outside was over, I started watching the one right in front of me. These guys were great. Based on them doing these shows with Seryn, I was expecting them to sound along the lines of Seryn, like a little folk rock. And while they maybe somewhat did, they were more of a rock band with some Indie sounds tossed in. They played an all too short 35 minute set, but in my opinion they were the best act of the night. And I'm now eagerly awaiting their return to Dallas sometime next month.
Alright. It was now time to see what all the fuss over Seryn is about. And after a grueling sound check, that seemed to last forever, they were ready to go. The quintet began their 50 minute set with "Beach Song". In listening to the CD this struck me as being a killer way to end the shows, not really start with. But as it ended, you couldn’t' help but think they were making a statement with it. As lead singer and ukulele player (as well as a few other instruments), Trenton, violinist, Chelsea, guitarist, Nathan, and bassist, Aaron, all harmonized and belted out "...Here we are." And here they were indeed. They played some of their slower (and longer) songs next, "Towering" and "On My Knees", then picked things up with "So Within", and took it back down with "Our Love". During all of these songs the instruments were all exchanged numerous times. For some Trenton and Chelsea each played a drum. While others drummer, Chris, gave his kit a break and instead played either the banjo or a guitar. While Nathan would swap out from an acoustic ax to an electric one, and then back again. It was really something to see, only five members playing the parts of a few people more than what are in this band. They took what seemed to be a small break, but ended up it was a technical issue. Chris's kick pedal had broken. But they were able to borrow one from the Monahans, which managed to get the show quickly back on track. But as the kick pedal was being gotten, Trenton, who at this time had the accordion, asked if they should play some polka to pass the time. But the idea was shot down by his fellow band mates. Then, for the first time during their show, I saw them exude some energy as they started "We Will All Be Changed". Probably because it's one of only a couple of their songs that has just a remote hint of rock in it. And it was probably their best song of the night. The finished with two other good ones, "Of Ded Moroz" and "River Song".
So what is all the fuss over Seryn about? Frankly, I'm not sure. After everything I've heard I was expecting something breath taking, and to be left in total awe. But I didn't experience anything even close to those feelings. It goes without saying that they are each incredible talented musicians, and they've created a very unique sound for themselves. But you need even more than that to set yourself away from the pack. Namely a fantastic live show. Other than during "We Will All Be Changed", I never felt them emitting an ounce of stage presence. They were there and they were playing, but they weren't performing. And I'm not saying they aren't good, the harmonies live sound so much better than on the CD. But I also like the refined recorded versions of the tunes better than than the live product. I'll undoubtedly see them again, sometime, and maybe they will be better. But as far as the the talk I've heard making it sound like they are on the verge of breaking onto the national stage. Well... They don't, at least at this point in time, have any quality worthy of national attention. Yes, I said it. I've seen probably 500 or so different local bands over the years. And whether I've liked them or not, I look at them unbiasedly. And out of all of those acts, I've only seen two that had what it takes to be a national act. But both of them are no more. And out of all the bands I'm currently aware of, only one is showing some slight signs of MAYBE having the future every musician dreams of. That's my defense for my remarks, and I'll leave it at that. That said, I would recommend their (Seryn's) album, and even say it is potentially life changing. And they are going on a little Mid-West tour for most of this month, so check their website for dates and locations.
