Live Review: Animal Hospital/Handsy/E at Myrtle
Sonic experiments in a cozy venue for funky people
Last night I made it over to my second show at East Providence’s Myrtle (the first being Jason Loewenstein’s solo set last Friday) and it did not disappoint. I bid you all not fear the bridge. I live in central Rhode Island and when the Washington Bridge debacle began perilously soon after Myrtle first opened, I both felt deeply sad for what looked like an awesome new venue forced to cancel a string of shows (including the first attempt at this one) and close early many nights, and absolutely terrified of getting stuck in traffic for three hours trying to get to the venue myself. Both times I’ve attended now, it’s taken about 25 minutes to get from my house to the venue which is the exact amount of time it takes me to get to regular, non-East Providence. I won’t overthink this because I’m not a geogramapher. Point is, for right now, if it’s not rush hour you’re fine. Multiple friends have told me I should “definitely play Myrtle” and I look forward to making that happen eventually.
The venue is a cozy place for funky people. I think if I were single and didn’t want to be, it would be a top contender for hangout spots for attempts at “meeting humans.” At least a close third to the library and a cat shelter. Speaking of cats, mine has just fallen asleep with her tiny little head on my notes from last night so fuck it, we’ll do it live from here.
The coziness comes in part from the room’s relative spaciousness, ironically. There’s room to fully take in the vibe without tripping over someone else’s feet and the furniture, curtains, and vintage decor make it feel like I’m at a party at someone’s house. Someone cooooool. Also? Apparently they never charge a cover. This was baffling to me at first, but it probably does get more people in the door which must even things out. Hopefully. Consistently friendly bartenders and a decent selection of drinks.
Animal Hospital
Find Animal Hospital’s latest release and more here.
Animal Hospital is usually-or-always (?) a guy named Kevin from Cambridge, Massachusetts with a table of synths and bobs and bits and a couple of guitars. His set was largely loop-based as he created tracks from the bottom up starting either with guitar or what I initially thought was a roll of packing tape with a quarter inch cable somehow attached to it (which did not make electronic sense) but turned out to be a metal can with a contact mic attached (which made sense). I particularly enjoyed the parts of the set that were more rhythmically oriented, starting with the mysterious can and incorporating a lot of synth switch flipping. The second guitar that got involved later on also produced some surprisingly huge and resonant sounds, running through some portion of the effects on the table. I won’t do you the disservice of conjecturing which ones. I deemed the second guitar sound “scrongly” as it passed through the effects, which prompted a debate with my partner about what exactly scrongly meant. He said that he thought wet wah sounds akin to Phish would be scrongly, which prompted me to make a puke face and say no, those are obviously sproingy.
The nerve.
Handsy
Check out Handsy’s music here.
Handsy is a friggin’ great band from Providence. This was my second time seeing them, the first being *Cheap City’s record release at Askew in April. Their songs all have a variety of rhythmic feels and sections with some stops and starts or sudden movements, which I love. I wasn’t sure exactly how to describe them so I checked Bandcamp and saw they had put their genres as “spooky/dancey/apocalypse rock.” Yes, that’s correct.
I love that this band has some nice, thick low end from bassist/synth…ist Bear and uses both guitars together in the way I like most, as jagged throwing stars accenting the rhythms and creating tense harmonies with each other over dynamic melodies. Does that make sense? Too bad if not: cat is on my notes.
Unrelated to their sound, I can’t help myself from noting that this band has the absolute best damn hair. Funky silvery waves, stark highlights, epic beard, and curly chaotic neutral ponytail? Not to be ignored. I was up and bopping for this set though, so no photo for you.
Favorite Track (today): Heck Year
*Speaking of Cheap City, Blue Dancers is one of my favorite releases of 2024 so far. Don’t sleep on that.
E
E’s latest release is right here.
E, often found online as “A band called E” for search engine purposes, is my favorite Thalia Zedek project. I don’t think she’s capable of doing anything not badass, but this group works together so well and I just straight up love every song. If you came to me and said Rainy, there is a band with two guitars and no bass but you’re going to love them, I’d say that not only were you dead wrong but put down that anteater and get out of the car wash before the wizards find you. Don’t ask me about my dreams. Both guitarists in this band, it must be noted, are not normal guitarists. Thalia plays through two amps (or at least she did last night and I presume she always does?); one guitar amp and one bass amp, with a separate chain of pedals feeding into each. Jason Sidney Sanford, also on vocals and guitar like Thalia, plays a guitar that is unlike any guitar I’ve ever seen, as well as a large collection of what is summarized as “electronic devices” on the band’s Bandcamp. The guitar, how to explain… there is no body. There is only the metal outline of a guitar attached to a neck made of metal outlines and including all the necessary electronics. This thing is so far past “transparent guitar body.” And sonically, it’s got oomph. Similar to Handsy’s, I was standing and bopping around for this set so no photo. You’re just going to have to come up with your own police detective sketch from my description or go see them yourself.
Jason’s “electronic devices” include a number of analog effects, some on his two-decker suitcase playground table (what I call it) and some on the floor encased in what just look like vintage wooden boxes containing god knows what wonders. In between songs, flashlight in mouth, you’ll see him referencing a schematic and moving patch cables around. Truly, this band’s sound could not be duplicated because good luck even comprehending all the details of the two-decker suitcase playground table without the schematics which are probably written in some proprietary notation. You know that Tom Waits song What’s He Building? It’s about this guy. In high school I tried to do it for a lip sync performance and they told me it “wasn’t a song.” Wasn’t a song. I think they were just scared I’d inadvertently summon a demon or something.
Favorite song: Any Information
~RMSC