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Absynth Quintet New Years Eve 2015

Arcata Theatre Lounge

The Arcata Theatre Lounge and Sidenote Productions invite you to the New Years Eve 2015 Celebration, featuring Absynth Quintet with special guests Soulsapiens. There will be dancing and a free champaign toast at midnight. Come join in the fun this New Years Eve.

Absynth Quintet were a participant in the 2012 band competition. While they didn’t win, their branch of surreal bluegrass won them a lot of fans. Telepathy With Glowbugs is a hybrid release. Much like Razzles were both candy and gum, the Quintet are both a high energy somewhat standard bluegrass band, and something much weirder. The album is divided into thirds. Kicking off with the high energy “Wrecking Ball,” a song that makes you dance even as it sings about a doomed relationship, this release hints at a completely different direction for the band. Highlighted by the nearly 9 minute “Cellar Door,” with the infectious chorus of, “And we traveled on, on and on,” that would make a great driving mix song, while this seemed to be the work of a different band, by no means was it that of a bad one. However, “Pray for Rain” is the next track and with an opening line of, “No fleet of UFOs could wash these bloody sins away/But this bottle of Tequila will do fine,” there’s a sense that things are about to get much weirder.Leaving any normal bluegrass structure, this song has sudden shifts in tone, spoken word parts, lyrics about aliens and satellites colliding in the night sky, and orders to turn your radio to a random station. The surreal section of the album hits its peak with “Vertical Foot.” The vocal sound effects and harmonies go way too far in being weird for weirdness’ sake (which is too bad as the sections between the bizarre vocals are really good), but it serves a useful purpose. “Dragos’s Valse” follows. A song about swimming in a frozen lake sung in a faux-Russian accent would normally be off putting, but the relative accessibility makes it surprisingly refreshing, which is consistent for a song with the chorus of, “Take off your clothes/Cut a hole in the ice/Jump in the water/It’s cold but it’s nice.”The conflict between standard bluegrass and insanity continues with “Amaryllis,” a song that starts out with a haunting hummed section, one that could fit into an incredibly moving song, but it quickly morphs into a ditty about a talking, flying turtle. At first it feels like a bit of a loss to sacrifice that, but by the time the flute solo kicks in, it feels normal. There are plenty of beautiful songs, but only one that worships a magical terrapin.Just when you might adjust to these songs, the album shifts once again. “Low Flying Aeroplane” and “Dizzy Moth” are more standard songs for the genre. They’re even about travel, the most bluegrassy topic ever. What makes these shifts so fascinating is that both approaches work for the Quintet. They’re a great jamming bluegrass band and their weirder material shows that they have a seemingly infinite number of musical ideas. Let others choose one or the other. Absynth Quintet stands out by being willing to carve out their own space. I don’t know if anyone was ever wondering what Ween or Captain Beefheart might sound like as a modern hippie friendly jamgrass outfit, but Absynth Quintet is about as close to an answer as we’re likely to have. – bands.com 

 

DATES/TIMES

WHERE

• Arcata Theatre Lounge

PRICE

• $18
• $15 adv.

• Ages: 21+