Congress and Green Lights - split 7" (Feb 1)

This is my 1,400 post on this blog...
...and it's about Congress and Green Lights! 

Congress' approval rating is no doubt higher than the flakes we unwittingly elected by-way-of reprehensibly gerrymandered district-lines.... ....not least of all because they continue to deliver new and intriguing songs of a weirdo-rock-variety -

When they started out a few years ago, this Ypsi-quartet threw teased and tazered vocals yowled enthusiastically over a a stormy groove of post-punk rhythms and collar-throttling guitars. Live, it was like being in the room with an eyes-shut-n'-spinning Tasmanian Devil or near a washing machine with a ruinously unbalanced load of floor mats...it was something to watch, to watch-out-for, to listen closely and then jump back, to react-to... It still is...

But "Dead Parrot" is something else...

The drums sk1itter with a slinky hook as an expressive bass gives a nice groove to go along with the guitars - switching from to a frostily focused post-rock riff and into a sunnier, shambling spill for these initial half-chorus-like statements. It's all building though... as our vocalist sing-speaks a sonnet of GBV-ishly cryptic poetry, winding to an ever creakier crash of our true chorus ("get ready for it..." he even whispers amid a clatter of hand-claps) and then it all crests into a forceful wave.



Yep...
You can hear it! "Did you hear it? .... Is your parrot dead?"

Man... that mangier, monster-ier sound I'd described above?
The one to duck-for, to bump-back against? That's resonating beautifully in the riled-up stomper showcased by Green Lights, another Ypsi-area band that's been at this a bit loner than Congress, still showing their teeth, here. Green Lights are rock, you might say, but rawer, kinetic...more gnarled with their riffs and throwing some shoulders into their hooks.  ...Follow over here...to hear their post-punk jam "Live Parent..."

...Or, just consider that both bands will perform these songs and more on February 1st -at Woodruff's. Ghostlady and Double Weirdo will open things up, after the doors open at 9pm-- More info.