How Was The Show 9/15/05

Tuesday’s Robot (www.tuesdaysrobot.com) played second and man, these guys are solid. The duo is Rick Robot and Andrew Bartelson, also members of rock band Great Big Dreams (www.greatbigdreams.net) and the old-timey group, The Como Ave Jug Band (www.juglife.com). The two have a Violent Femmes approach to their between-song banter, and a sound that crosses The Band with Bob Dylan. Robot’s folk song-writing is infused with his pop and grunge-rock youth, so his tunes have catchier hooks and harder melodies than I’ve heard with many folk performers. TR was on that night, filling the silences with zingers and anecdotes (Robot: “This guitar is tuned down, so it’s like a reverse capo without the actual capo.” Andrew: “And this is my reverse capo bass drum.”). They ended the evening with a nasty song (in the good rock way) on an electric guitar plugged into the tiniest amp I’ve ever seen. They have a few demos available, both recorded on a 4-track in Robot’s basement. The two prefer this underground approach to their music, though there were hints they might be going into the studio in the near future.