Gliss w/ Crash The Satellites and City Lights Bloom

by Jack Diablo
If you’re looking to expand your awareness of new local and touring bands, there is no better place in Jacksonville than Eclipse to get your fix. Lisa Thomas, the venue’s promoter, consistently recruits talented national acts and pairs them with some of the best local talent Jacksonville has to offer to create shows that are both affordable and memorable.
Recently, Gliss stopped by and played a show with Jacksonville’s City Lights Bloom and Crash The Satellites.
If post-rock is your thing, City Lights Bloom is right up your alley. Sometimes bands that fall into the genre get lost in the mix but CLB’s roster includes an auxiliary percussion/glockenspiel section as well as a recently added violinist to make them stand out. The band is relatively new on the scene but have already played Harvest of Hope and opened for The Appleseed Cast at Jack Rabbits.
One of the challenges of playing instrumental music is making the performance engaging enough to make up for the absence of a vocalist. But City Lights Bloom have no problem overcoming this obstacle. As if the sound wasn’t already intoxicating enough, Brandon Highfill’s lightning-fast guitar strumming is absolutely dizzying to watch and with as many participants as the band boasts, there is always something new to pick up on.
Currently, you can pick up the band’s EPs at one of their shows. Each one features unique album artwork. Soon, though, the band plans to release their full length album, alone we thought we stood. Until then, check out their MySpace page for show dates and ear candy.
Suffice it to say it wouldn’t be a night at Eclipse without a healthy dose of classic indie rock. Enter Crash The Satellites. These guys masterfully turn up the volume without sacrificing the melody or the beauty of the song. And the best part is they don’t need any gimmicks to keep your attention. Just good music that you didn’t know you were missing.
Gliss, out of L.A., are touring in support of their latest album, Devotion Implosion. Their self-described “hazy experimental fucked up pop” is as accurate description as one could hope to put in words. My first impression upon hearing the album-opening track ‘Morning Light’ was to associate the fuzzy distortion and surf-rock drum beat with The Raveonettes’ Whip It On album. Soon though I found their sound to oscillate somewhere between the more rock ‘n roll stylings of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the psychedelic dream pop of The Warlocks. All very favorable comparisons in my book.
Live, the band takes the music to another level. Every member is a multi-instrumentalist and takes his or her turn at each station on the stage during the performance. The music is equally appropriate for dancing as mellowing out and the band is extremely down to earth and approachable. All around good people.
Something about the humid Florida air presented some tuning complications throughout the evening but it didn’t hinder the mood or stop the show from carrying on.
Befriend Eclipse on MySpace or Facebook to get the latest info on new music coming through town and be sure to be in attendance at the next show on May 3rd featuring the band Sybris with locals, Wudun and Buff Clout.