Rusty Belle, Sweet Ass Pussy, Pooloop At The Monkey House Friday July 17, 2009

Words by Tim Lewis.

The show was set for 9 and I had to work but fortunately I was out early enough to make it. I have a feeling that will be my theme for a while, until I start working later and later, and we will see what changes that brings.

It was not raining when I got out of work so I walked to the train tracks and over the bridge and followed them into Winooski. I arrived at the Monkey around 9, got in and settled, and soon it was time for Rusty Belle to take the stage. They are a four-piece band from Amherst Mass, though a couple of them were transplants from Burlington. They have a drummer, a guitar player, and a keyboard player who plays one mini keyboard hooked to a mouthpiece and another that is built into a suitcase. I think the bass sound came from the suitcase. They are rounded out with Kate on vocals and percussion. She only gets a special mention because she likes guys with long hair.

Their off kilter indie rock seemed to be applied to different styles of music in each song. There was one with a blues base with an indie jingle. Another one had a reggae base with an indie jingle and, well you get the point.

The playing was solid and the songs well crafted. The lyrics seemed a bit silly but in a fun way. There was one song about having or not having a moustache. In some ways that song really defined how the show was. It started with a nice riff, a cool chorus, and fun silly lyrics but evolved into something else when they brought it down into a vocal harmony, and let each person slip out into a round, with each person singing a different part. They kept that going for a long while then slipped back into the same vocal part and then brought it back into the song and let loose the guitar. You could hear a pin drop in the fairly crowded Monkey House during the round part and a yelp of joy was released from the audience when they brought it back into the song.

That was the highlight of the show but all of the other songs were good as well. The audience was quite engaged. Everything about the show was fun with just enough oddness to keep it interesting. The drummer had a tiny bass drum, it looked like a floor tom lying down, and instead of a snare he used a metal bucket. Kate played a variety of percussion instruments including the missing snare drum. They played their album song for song in order and in fact used the cd as their setlist. There were tons of fun and attention should be paid to this band.

During the break I chatted with Todd from Lendway. He came to see Pooloop and I came for Sweet Ass Pussy but we both agreed that Rusty Belle were excellent. After a bit Nathan and Nicole arrived and I chatted with them until the next band was set to go.

Sweet Ass Pussy came to the stage with a roar and unleashed a killer heavy punk rock set. The not quite Swale trio played fast and furious and had the crowd in frenzy. Rock anthems at punk speed with killer changes framed the rude and crude lyrics to musical magnificence. Their set was short and sweet and I still have images of Amanda on the left standing on a chair churning out wicked guitar riffs while the rhythm section surged along below. This is a great band and they were wonderful that night!

The next set break was long but finally Pooloop took the stage. Their guitarist was the same as the bass player for Pussy, and much like the former band, they took to the stage with a roar. The first song was pretty cool but then they slowed things down a bit from there. As the set progressed I found myself drifting a bit, and when they played a medley that had some Michael Jackson and the Magnum PI theme, I was a bit amused but not really that into them. They were cool enough but would have benefited from being the first band on and a slightly shorter set.

After that we tried to hold on for the Golden Dogs who were to come on next, but faded before they did. I caught a ride home with Nathan and Nicole which was nice, as by this time it was pouring rain outside that did not stop for hours. It was a really good night of music and another delightful time at the Monkey House.

#RustyBelle

#TheMonkeyHouse

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.