A couple quickies to pass on over lunchtime:

I caught Landing on the Moon Friday night and never had a chance to type up my thoughts over the weekend. To put it simply, I dug them. LOTM is a five-piece anchored by drummer Oliver Morgan (Little Brazil, The Quiet Type) with two guitars, bass and his wife Megan on keyboards (who also was in The Quiet Type). Stylistically, there's nothing like these guys 'round town. First, no one is kicking out original ballads, not like this. LOTM closed their set with one after having played a cover of The Zombies' "Tell Her No" that was as good as it gets. Their sound is all over the board. The opener had a Bowie vibe going on, while the second or third song reminded me of an old Reset tune, which makes sense since two of the band's members were in Reset. There's even a TV on the Radio thing that happened a couple of times. The two guitars play opposing picked counters anchored by a solid bass and Morgan's usual perfection on the sticks -- though he's more reserved and precise here than in his other bands. He seemed a bit surprised when I told him after the set that LOTM reminded me nothing of The Quiet Type. It's more reserved in a good way, more musically formal. "More grown up?" Oliver added. Yeah, that. In a world where indie seems to be the rule of the day, there's nothing indie about Landing on the Moon, and that's the whole point.

Also playing that night at O'Leaver's was Kite Pilot and Mariannes, which explained why it was so damned crowded. I left right after LOTM though, not because I don't dig those bands, but because I had to be at work early the next morning, thanks to Hurricane Rita.

Overheard that night: O'Leaver's is apparently doing 30 shows in 30 days in October, throwing caution to the wind, taking the plunge, putting the hammer down, doing whatever it takes, blah blah blah. Now if they'd only start updating their online calendar...

Tonight, it's Matador band Pretty Girls Make Graves at Sokol Underground with Ladyfinger and Latitude, Longitude, all for a mere $8. Expect a crowd.

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