The Five Spot

This past Wednesday, Gondwanaland played a free show at The Five Spot with Mice in Cars. Here’s the write-up I did about the last Gondwanaland show I went to:

“Singer, songerwriter, basist, and guitarist [of Gondwanaland] Angelica is one of my friends from high school. She was actually one of the people who introduced me to the stranger side of music and has been writing twisted ballads for years. I finally got to see her play with Matt and Ryan in her latest band, Gondwanaland. Matt leads vocals and Ryan is behind them, beating wildly on drums. Their sound is hard to label. It’s definitely rock. They’re self identified a ‘music that Neanderthals would listen to’, but that doesn’t quite cover their peculiar subject matter. With titles like ‘Schroedinger’s Cat’ and ‘Aphids’, Gondwanaland seems to be one of those bands that could write a song about anything. Especially because that’s what the songs are actually about, although ‘Satanic Giraffe’ is really about a drink that Java Lords makes. They may even go from thrashing and screaming to an occasional beautiful acoustic melody. Overall, Gondwanaland isn’t even on the radar of what most current bands are doing. They’re refreshing in a post-modern, but not pretentious way.”

That was from last August in the lobby of Seven Stages. This show was in a much less intimate venue which allowed them to kick up the sound. Maybe it was intoxication or maybe it was energy, but they were loud and wild. Even though it wasn’t perfect, it just made them sound like punk rockers and there’s nothing wrong with that. The look on singer/guitarist Matt Greenia’s face was so intense that he may as well had been having a staring contest with the audience. You’re not quite sure if he’s lost in the song or about to jump on you.

I missed out on some of Mice In Cars, but they’ve got a cool sound. It’s contrasting to Gondwanaland with airy, guitar-driven pieces. It was funny running into guitarist Mark because he competed in the Atlanta Roller Girls Man Derby with my boyfriend. Mice in Cars are big roller derby supporters.

Also, tonight is the Jonathan Coulton show.