vaz + the amber smith

on the same night i saw the unicorns play, i saw vaz for the second time and the amber smith for the first time. i remember being really impressed with vaz the first time i saw them play with knife skills back in the days when luxx was still a cool rock venue. the lead singer, paul, is a sweaty agile performer who spits frequently and attacks the mic viciously. so much fun to watch. i became fascinated with just staring at him and his wild, but strong performance. whoa. his drummer was like a crazy homeless person with severe schizophrenia. his head would swivel wildly like he was having a seizure. i'd be caught staring helplessly at him, too. then suddenly his eyes would rise from the drums and quickly fall back down. it was rather scary. and i liked it.

the amber smith were the exact opposite. not scary. not threatening. their music had a cheerful tone. it reminded me of the strokes meets that thing you do! i swear. one singer sang while chewing gum and playing guitar at the same time. the other singer looked a bit like michael ian black, kind of. some people describe them as a girly version of the strokes. i basically agree except that some of their lyrics were on the sarcastic, snide side (which turned out to be their saving grace) -- i think one of their song lyrics were "i'm having an affair with your girlfriend." if there wasn't that iota that makes them stand out from other poppy rock bands, i would say they were good but nothing special. in this case, they might grow into quite a catchy band if they work on charisma and diversity in tempo and pitch.