Preview: NFTN – Fox and the Law, Visqueen

Noise for the Needy Presents: Fox and The Law, Visqueen, Ivan & Alyosha @ Hard Rock Seattle | 6/13 | 3pm | $8 advance

For Sunday’s Noise for the Needy, my pick is at the Hard Rock Cafe. All three bands have something different to offer, and they all tug at my heartstrings. Fox and the Law is a relatively new band. This duo has a very raw sound, with distorted guitars. They might remind some people of The White Stripes, beyond the fact that both groups are a duo, they have a very similar feel. Fox and the Law has been touring up a relative storm with the release of their CD, but this is one of their few all-ages shows. As a band that is slowly rising in Seattle, this is a great chance for those under twenty-one to see this band.

Ivan & Alyosha is another duo, this one named after two of the Brothers Karamazov. I love a good literary reference, especially to Russian works about free will. Their song “Easy in Love” attracted some attention, with its pounding drum, gentle guitar strums, and whistling. All the songs from their seven tack EP are a kind of slow guitar-driven indie rock of those Brit Pop bands, like Blur. Ivan & Alyosha have been around for almost three years, but their appearance at this year’s SXSW is what brought them to everyone’s attention.

Photo By Christopher Nelson

Also playing Sunday is Visqueen. They’re pretty good too. Here are a few comments I made about them when I named them one of my top five acts to see live in 2009.

I have a thing for Visqueen. I have seen them several times, at Bumbershoot, some at REVERB and quickly at their CD release, but that night at the Tractor Tavern was amazing. The opening band was the now defunct Connecticut Four, which is actually made up of only three people. The bassist, Cristina Bautista, is also in Visqueen, and she is adorable fronting the band. Visqueen has been getting endless praise from numerous outlets, and they couldn’t be more deserving. Rachel Flotard is one of the nicest people in the world, and is currently returning to Laos to do humanitarian work. Reviewing Shonen Knife the same evening as the show discussed was not just an excuse to see Visqueen, I am a fan of them too, and despite my somewhat negative review, they were a lot of fun to see. It was a sold out show that was packed the entire night. That is not easy for a band that has had relatively little presence in the US for 15+ years. – Nick Larzalere