The Black Marshmallows, Oceanography, Cronkite November 22, 2011

The Black Marshmallows
Oceanography
Cronkite (Closing Set)
Tue, November 22, 2011
8:00 pm
Hotel Utah
$6.00

THE BLACK MARSHMALLOWS

The Black Marshmallows is an experimental, alt. country, southern rock band made up of vets from the San Francisco and New York music scenes. While living in New York David Knowles (singer, guitar) played trumpet with such groups as Luna, Clem Snide, Champale, and Nina Pearson's A-Camp. A composer for film, Roland Kniese (lead guitar) is also the driving force behind the San Francisco group Black Swans. Roderick Wyllie (drums) also plays clarinet with Black Swans, and has played with Knowles in the punk and alternative groups MJB and Raining House. Elliot Warren (bass) most recently gigged with the group Evening Post. Friends and musical collaborators for years, The Black Marshmallows formed in 2009 in order to scratch the itch that is southern rock.
OCEANOGRAPHY

This is what happens when a metal chick from Oakland and a sad bastard songwriter from Brooklyn get together. Catchy songs inspired by (the boredom and excitement of) everyday American life. Cerebral lyrics pinned to familiar melodies over drumbeats made for arena rock.

Oceanography consists of Brian Kelly (vocals, guitar) and Kathleen Kim The indie-rock duo from Oakland, Calif., just released its debut self-titled five-song EP.

The band plays a sound they’ve dubbed “amplified Americana,” with prose-like lyrics and electric guitar finger-picked through a labyrinth of effects. Without a bassist, Kelly fills space using a variety of custom-designed delay and loop pedals, sending the sound through a unique two-amp setup. Kim pulls from a broad cache of beats to create intricately patterned rhythms and unexpected tempo changes. Coming from a land flooded with slop-rock garage bands, Oceanography stands out as a tightly structured, literate rock band.

Influences include but are not limited to Queens of the Stone Age, Band of Horses, Pixies, Damien Jurado, Television, High on Fire, David Bowie, The Cure, Wilco, Cass McCombs, Pavement, and Neil Young.
CRONKITE

Cronkite is a San Francisco-based indie rock band that started as a trio in 2002. For founding members Jorge Taylor (vocals, guitar), Chris Denend (drums) and Mark Daugherty (bass) the formation of the band marked a welcome return to collaborative music-making. Each had spent a portion of their slacker youth playing in bands from their respective scenes--Chris in North Carolina. Mark and Jorge in San Diego.

Some ten years later, the American underground bands they grew up on (The Replacements, REM, Husker Du, GBV) were still a strong influence and Cronkite gravitated naturally towards the intersection of roots-rock and post-punk to create a tuneful, driving, slightly countrified sound. In late 2008 they released Your Champ – a six song EP that nicely captures this first chapter of the band’s existence.

In 2009, Cronkite added Brenton Huang on lead guitar and their sound evolved, becoming more textured and expansive. With influences like Joey Santiago (Pixies) and Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), Brenton’s guitar work added a compelling layer of atmosphere and melodic surprise. Demo recordings are available on Cronkite’s website and a new album is in the works.

Official Website: http://www.hotelutah.com/event/75045/