Bambara brings the sound, Reptar brings the dance!

Say hello to my awesome friend Elizabeth, Echoreyn of Athens' very first guest blogger! Here's her take on Saturday's spectacular Bambara CD Release/ Reptar show. :)

If I truly believe one thing, it’s that each and every one of us participates in the Athens music community for the same reason- we love live music! Meeting the band, sharing the energy with the crowd- there is an experience to be had in a live show unmatched by anything else. But what to do on those days when the world’s just got you down? Do you skip out on the show? My experience at the Caledonia on Saturday proved the answer to be a resounding NO. Like it or not, everyone has those days… you’re tired, you’re cranky, you may not even want to leave the house. But, people, skipping the show is not the answer.

Saturday began with Shithead, a local supergroup comprised of members of too many bands to be counted. Some may call them irreverent, some may call them plain silly, but Shithead’s grungy and often introspective grooves sure put a smile on my weary face. There was no question that those four musicians were doing what they love, and loving it!

Up next were Carnivores, a somewhat indefinable group out of Atlanta. It may not have been clear what exactly they were singing about, or just how far into the crowd the female lead was going to carry that microphone, but it was an energetic experience for sure.

But now we’re halfway through the set, and you’re still feeling blue. Maybe the crowd is getting to you? Not really feeling all the excitement? Well, just you wait for Bambara. Somehow the perfect blend of dark, heavy rock and driving, dare I say danceable intensity, these guys found a way to take the crazy crowd and work them into the set. Guitarist Reid Bateh may have claimed that screechy pedal was a malfunction, but did anyone else notice how perfectly it harmonized with the screechy female fans up front? That was no coincidence, if I say so myself.

Ok, we’ve got one more band, one last chance at making your night. Lucky you, that band is Reptar. They may still be in the ‘up and coming’ category, but these guys definitely know how to please a crowd. Dance-pop beats, electronica intensity, three-person drum solos, and more stage presence than you could shake any of those many drumsticks at- Reptar keeps you up and excited from start to finish. We will definitely be keeping an eye out for more shows, and (reported) LP release coming soon!

So, what did I learn from Saturday? There’s no glass case of complicated emotions that can’t be shattered to pieces by the right combination of bands. And where better to find these crazy line-ups than our dear old Athens? Keep listening, kids.

-Elizabeth.

Echoreview: Bambara's Dog Ear Days EP

Cover art for Dog Ear Days by Bambara

You've heard the buzz. As a live band, Bambara's nothing short of breathtaking. You haven't lived until you've seen this band conquer the stage. Now, a year after the release of their self-titled full length debut album, Bambara's ready to share a few more eardrum-pounding tunes with their EP, Dog Ear Days. So, how does it stack up?

The first track, Repeat After Me, starts things off with a bang, or rather, an explosion. It makes great use of the noise technique to create a unique, screeching rhythm that completely surrounds you and makes you feel as if the band is playing it live right of front of you. Then Drag Hesitation blasts onto the scene with an Indiana Jones-style intro and some soft, beautiful singing. The building feedback noise that finishes the tune manages to somehow resemble the machinery wail of the monster on LOST which creates an incredible anticipation of doom. All in all, it's quite a dark song; put very simply, though, I love it!

Stay Gray arrives next, bringing with it a return to the louder tracks. It's certainly got great rhythm. Following this noise intensive ride, Feed the Pigs marches in with a beat almost like that of an approaching train. Ghostlike singing floats through the air ever softly. How very eerie! To be honest, this song actually managed to frighten me a quite a bit. Its creeping, gloomy sound would be completely at home in a horror film, and its layered vocals are stunningly dark. In keeping with the rest of this journey into the unknown, the second half of the song seems to segue into another different but related tune: a rather ominous piano solo enhanced by ethereal, otherworldly noises. Essentially, Feed the Pigs is quite possibly the most deliciously terrifying song I've ever heard.

Swim with the Trees and Chiromancy hold the conclusion of the story within their tunes. Swim with Trees, to me, felt like drowning. This sensation was heightened by the incomprehensible lyrics that peppered the song, sounding almost as if they were being whispered through a deep blanket of water. Chiromancy rounds out the EP with another eerie, suspense-filled tune. Where will it lead? The tension in this song is tangible as it builds towards a veritable explosion in the very middle of the song. It's a massive chase scene that splashes unclear visions of dark stairwalls and shadow-covered figures across the mind. And then... it ends. Completely and suddenly, the music ceases to be.

All of these songs create such incredibly vivid imagery in my mind that I feel like I've actually just finished watching a horror film. In fact, this entire album would be the perfect soundtrack for such a film. Although it admittedly lacks the sheer sexiness of sound that their last album displayed, it's certainly quite the track lineup! To hear Dog Ear Days for yourself, be sure to check out the download of the EP right here, and don't miss the official release of the record in January!