Arctic Monkeys.

I saw the Arctic Monkeys last night in DC. They are surprisingly good. I enjoy all of their albums, but wasn't really sure what to expect from them as a live act. Their first album is a fantastic example of the horrors of the loudness war in cd mastering. It is maxed out to the point of almost distorting it. But the music is still good. It would be better if probably mastered, but isn't much I can do about that. Before the show, I bummed around DC for a few hours. My boss recommended the Saloon on U Street, for their selection of draft beers. And he was right, they were very good. The bar maid/waitress was cute, and told me she liked my "sweater" (sweatshirt). Its hard to take a compliment when you are slightly embarrassed for wearing something based on an H.P. Lovecraft story and when you have the sneaking suspicion she is just fishing for a higher tip. Still, the beer was good, as was the burger. I would have liked to have gone to Ben's Chili Bowl, two shops down, but they don't serve beer. Maybe I'll head down there some Saturday just to try it. After dinner and a few beers, I headed out in the cold to the 9:30 Club. It was just before doors opened, so I had to wait in line, with all of the teenagers. That is one way to feel old, quickly; go to a rock show. In line, I chatted a bit with the other 20/30 somethings standing around me. The woman in front of me was pretty attractive. She commented that she was old enough to be some of these kids' mother. I find that a bit hard to believe, but as I assumed the guys she was with was her boyfriend, I let it slide without any flirting. Not that I would have done much of that, but I did have a few beers in me at that point, so anything was possible. I checked my coat upstairs, and as I was coming down the steps, I lost my footing, as fell down the stairs. Now my left wrist is bothering me. Stupid falling. Anyway, the opener was a trio called the Screaming Females. A bit of a misnomer, as there is only one screaming female in the group. But, I can live with misnomers. But I can't live with several things about this band. First, they are from New Brunswick, New Jersey. I fucking hate New Jersey, and just about everything from or in that state. That is strike one. Second, they couldn't decide what genre to be. They were all over the place. It wasn't classic rock, hard rock, punk, metal, prog, country, rap, screamo. It was all over the place. And not just a bunch of different sounding songs, but songs that weren't even internally consistent. Some songs would start as a straightforward power chord rocker, have a screamo chorus, then melt into an 80s guitar shredfest. It was annoying to listen to. Third, the guitarist, who is the lone girl, also sings. This isn't normally a problem. But I chose my words carefully just now. She is not a singer. She sings, but she is not a singer. And someone should stop her. Don't get me wrong, she can play a mean guitar. Some of what she did there was excellent. It just needs to be within a coherent genre or blend of them and without her singing, which vacillated between the sound of strangling cats and monotone boredom. This band would actually have potential without such a shitty singer. Fourth, the songs were boring. Hire a lyricist or something. Get a song written that doesn't suck, written within a standard genre, sung by someone who can. Fourth, the guitarist needs a damn haircut. Listen up, girly. Just because you are "punk" doesn't mean having hair covering your eyes is cool. Get over yourself and get a damn haircut. You look as retarded as your band sounds. I'm all for the Do It Yourself ethic they apparently have. They book most of their own shows and crap like that. Fine, cool, good for you. But that is no excuse for sucking. The Arctic Monkeys were, on the other hand, awesome.

Reservoir Dogs.

I watched this movie last night for the first time in a very long time. I'm talking years. In the intervening years, I've come to appreciate the Tarantino style, at least partially. Some of his movies are pretty decent. Usually the plot is a bit complicating, but they are worth a viewing, despite the language and violence (or because of them). But his debut is kind of pointless. The acting is good, don't get me wrong. He knows who to cast. The performances are all good. But much of the movie has the feeling of an indie film, with a very modest budget. I get that, he wasn't a director until that point, so it probably was. But the plot is unreasonable. I understand, its about a diamond heist gone wrong because one of them is a rat. However, what is the point of showing everything but the robbery? I seems to take half of what makes a great caper movie away. Well, I might take that back. It removes nearly three-quarters. We don't see the planning, we don't see the robbery, and we don't (or barely) see the get away. We only see the aftermath. Which may be the point. But those are always the most fun part of a caper movie. We like to see the planning so we know what should happen. We like to see the actual execution, and everything that goes wrong. And we like to see the get away, possibly for the shootouts and car chases. But this movie has none of that. It just left me thinking, "what's the point of this movie?" I wasn't entertained by the heist or car chases or shooting. If its an examination of the psychology of criminals, maybe it does a good job, but that doesn't make it entertaining.