If he can't catch it, nobody can

So the good old boys at Underwater Peoples' records, they of all of your favorite vaguely folksy indie rock acts -- Real Estate, Woods, Islands, etc. etc. are planning some epic hootenanny up in the mountains this July 24 featuring all those bands and more, but they need your pledge or it won't happen. I'm broke so I can't help, obviously, but maybe you can make this happen. This event is all but guaranteed to feature flannel shirts and beards galore-- how could you say no?



Also, I don't have a car and have no idea where Saratoga Springs is, but if I'm really lucky, maybe I'll be able to hitchhike up there in the Woods Family Van. I'm stoked.

Beach Fossils and Fluffy Lumbers, Underwater Peoples showcase, Market Hotel, 8/22/09

No personal slight to the performances of the bands not pictured above; everyone who played last night contributed to the all around awesomeness of this show (and there were 12 of you, after all, and though I didn't catch everyone, I did witness Liam the Younger, Frat Dad and Andrew Cedermark, whose hard rock rasp of a voice I found particularly stunning). I just decided to shoot Beach Fossils and Fluffy Lumbers because I've previously covered them here (although Mp3 review for Fluffy Lumbers is still forthcoming).

Beach Fossils' Dustin Payseur is even littler in person than I might have expected, but like any celebrity (and he probably will be one someday) he looks bigger onstage. (As a side note, the Underwater Peoples lineup has to be the youngest I've seen for a local label, and if I didn't know they were bands, If I'd seen them all lined up probably would have mistaken them for most of the male members of the Hampshire College freshman class). He played with a bigger band than his records would indicate, farming out a lot of the heavy lifting; however the acoustics in Market Hotel served the bright, enormous guitar sound on "Vacation" well, it was quite thrilling.

Fluffy Lumbers, meanwhile, did NOT sound like Grandpa's ham radio (not that I ever said they did, but rather were several steps removed from it), and not only showcased Sam Franklin's classic songwriting skill, but provided the highlight of the night by playing "Dreams" by The Cranberries, as one of those blow-you-away choices for cover songs where everyone starts looking at each other, silently thinking "are they really playing this?" Then it starts to dawn on everybody that "Yeah, they're totally playing this." And then everyone goes nuts and is happy.