Charity and I saw the Konks, the 45s and the D4 at TT the Bear's last
Thursday.  Konks: a couple of cool Beefhearty-bluesy numbers, including a
killer version of Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Gotta Move," but the
other songs left me cold. The 45s: This was our second time seeing them,
and I think they've quickly become my very favorite band of this whole
neo-garage scene, not least because you get the idea that they would be
doing this kind of music even if if wasn't hip.  Check out their album
FIGHT DIRTY, too.

The D4: I like their album a lot, because like a lot of New Zealand and
Australian bands, the D4 recognize that it's only a very thin line between
the Stooges and Motorhead, or the Ramones and AC/DC.  Live, though, they
have ZERO stage presence, their live sound lacks the balls of the album,
and they can't quite pull off the arrogance that their music requires.  You
know how some bands can get away with acting like dickheads because they
have enough charisma or humor or sheer talent to back it up?  Well, the D4
basically just come off like a bunch of dickheads.  It's the little things,
really.  You don't see a lot of the shirtless drummer anymore, and it's
always nice to see someone try to resurrect that trope, but here's the
thing: the drummer doesn't *start* the show shirtless!  He's supposed to
peel down about halfway through the set, to show how thoroughly he's,
y'know, rockin', maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.  Starting the show shirtless, he just
looked like a guy who could use a sandwich and a couple weeks on the beach.
We stayed for about a half-dozen songs, decided that they weren't getting
any better and bagged it.

The D4 are not the Vines: they didn't suck.  (The Vines, you may recall,
don't just suck live, they SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
But live, there's just nothing interesting happening.

Tip for all club sound guys: We all like it loud.  We all agree that if
it's too loud, you're too old.  But when the opening bands are playing and
there's like maybe 30 people in the club?  You don't have the speakers at
the same volume you will later in the evening when the club is full and
there's more bodies to muffle the sound!  Simple physics!  I literally saw
people running out of the club with their hands over their ears, and when
we weren't actually shooting pictures of the bands, we were escaping over
into the quieter half of the club to actually listen out of eyesight range.

S