Foreign Born at the Detroit Bar

Foreign Born were one of the first local bands to pop up on my radar back in January 2007 when they played at Little Radio for the Plug LA Awards. It was highly ironic that the night after they played the Detroit Bar, Rolling Stone featured them as a "Breaking" artist.

Other Girls






The deluge of "Girls" bands continues but the Other Girls have been around since 2007 according to their myspace page. Other Girls are supporting their latest release Perfect Cities on Audio Eagle records.

Other Girls love the pop song format and provided a tightly spun sugary set with sonic references to The Shins and The Walkmen. It didn't long for me to enjoy the winding overdriven guitar riffs of "Hey Fella You Fell". It was easily one of the more memorable songs of the set and I can see why they are pushing it as the lead single.

"Sleep In A Year" definitely seems like a lost The Shins B-side which is meant as a compliment. Most of their songs barely clocked in the three minute territory which kept the audience engaged. The more I listen to their stuff on Myspace, the more I regret not picking up their album.

The Veils






The Veils were another strong reason to check out the show. The Veils just released their new album Sun Gangs on the veritable Rough Trade records. The Veils are helmed by Finn Andrews (Vocals, Guitars) along with the alluring Sophia Burn (Bass).

Their six song set went by in mere seconds as I was shocked their set was so brief. I checked my camera files and apparently it was a twenty-six minute set. I correlated their short set to the old adage of leave the audience wanting more. It could have also been the fact that Finn mentioned they were headlining Spaceland for Club NME the next night for a potentially longer set.

"Callilope!" trailed through the air like a trail of wistful smoke from a cigarette with Finn jangling out the chords on his Fender Jaguar. "Sit Down By The Fire" easily approached anthemic territory with its toe tapping bass and uplifting chord progression. "Larkspur" was a fitting closer to their set with Dan Raishbrook using a violin bow on his guitar for some added sustain. Sun Gangs is up on itunes for $7.99 with a bonus video.

Foreign Born





Foreign Born made one heck of a decision by signing to Secretly Canadian. I always thought they were criminally neglected on the Dim Mak records roster along with Deadly Syndrome. I really intrigued back in February 2008 when Foreign Born debuted "Early Warnings" and "Vacationing People" live when they opened for St. Vincent at the Echoplex.

Person To Person is the album that captures the true essence of Foreign Born. In the live format, Foreign Born has added more layers to their sonic palette with an additional keyboardist and percussionist. "Lion's Share" sounded even better live with Matt Popieluch (Vocals,Guitar) stomping his foot in time to the music. Lewis Pescacov (Guitars) really shines during the tropical guitar riff of "Early Warnings," yet Ariel Rechtshaid (Bass) holds it together with his stellar lefty Rickenbacker bass.

"See Us Home" brought things down a notch but still conveyed a strong redeeming message. "Vacationing People" rivals "Early Warnings" as my favorite song from their album and is propelled by the steady drumming of Garrett Ray. I think it is only a matter of opening a bigger tour to help propel Foreign Born to loftier heights. I wonder now that Rolling Stone has "Broke them" if that will made any difference in album sales.