Change the Station at Bar Matchless-October 18, 2007

Click image for Change the Station Gallery or here for some better shots (well, better lit, anyway) of them at Trash Bar.

I've always wondered how bands find me on MySpace...seems there are many ways...some bands seem to add anybody who is in a 500 mile radius of them, some bands take the time to look at your profile and interests, some bands add you as a friend on the basis of the other bands in your friend list. I think Change the Station found me because they are friends with one of my favorite unsung Brooklyn bands, The Party Faithful (ex Lolita Bras).

I'm glad they found me, because I love their music. I hesitate to call it pop music, but what the hell, its catchy as hell, which qualifies it as pop to me! They write great intense songs that incorporate lots of different influences, but they make all their own. Singer/Guitarist Ian Jacobs a bit of a young Pete Townshend, crossed with Laurence Olivier in Richard III (and that's a good thing in my book), and throws out all these great melodic riffs all over the place. On keyboards and bass, Michelle Feliciano looks all quiet and shy, but her keyboard playing makes me wonder if she might not be the offspring of Martin Rev of Suicide and Yvonne Pawlett of "Live at the Witch Trials" era Fall. Drummer Lisa Poole might look like the girl next door, but I never lived next door to a girl (or a guy for that matter) who played this well.

I went up to see them a few weeks back at Trash Bar with my friend Maryanne, but I had been having such a crappy day I really couldn't enjoy myself, but I knew I'd have to give them another listen. I'm glad I checked them out again. They were playing over at Bar Matchless with my friends The Party Faithful. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and will be going to see them again soon.

As far as Bar Matchless goes...it seemed like a really nice place, but the lighting in there was almost impossible! It was so dark...and the red and green lights they use make it almost impossible to post process. I'm a photographer...I can complain about the lighting, but as a music fan I had absolutely nothing to complain about. So unfortunately the photos I took aren't my best work, but it looks like Change the Station is going to be playing a lot, so I'll have another chance. You can check out their songs on their MySpace page.