On a cold and frosty night, I headed down to Little Radio for the Plug LA awards show which featured Great Northern, Foreign Born, The Gray Kid, and Crash Plastic. After picking up an ice cream sandwich from the Ice Cream man, I was ready to check out the bands. Crash Plastic hailing from Lompoc, Ca hit the stage and played a decent set. Most appeared in their late teens and reminded me of the Vines. Kyle Reeves was playing a Guild SG shaped guitar which I haven't seen since the days of Soundgarden. Foreign Born was up next and played a dynamic set. They have a good sound that consists of an amalgamation of The Walkmen and Coldplay. I had seen them before open for Sparta at the Troubadour and thought they had a good sound. Ariel Rechtshaid was playing a sweet lefty Rickenbacker bass and providing backup vocals. As a small history lesson, I remember seeing Ariel back in the day while fronting the band The Hippos at the Troubadour. The Gray Kid was up next and was a one man wrecking crew spitting out lyrics with some interesting beats behind him. He even rigged up a telephone as a distortion box for his voice during one song. He didn't have much music gear but was sporting a sweet old school Air Jordan jacket. One song had a loop of some video game sound effects but I couldn't place it for the life of me. He had played earlier in the night at the Echo with Girl Talk, and Matt & Kim. Great Northern was up next and was very impressive. A very orchestral vibe with a dreamy landscape of cascading sounds. They reminded me at times of Nada Surf with female vocals mixed in. Ashley was playing the keys while Rachel was holding down the bass. Their full length album comes out in May 2007 but in the meantime you can check out their EP(Sleepy Epee) on Eenie Meanie Records.
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