Bunbury - Day Three

Sunday's lineup was done brilliantly. We were all exhausted and on a bloodbuzz from the past two days, and Bunbury knew we would be. So they put all the chill musicians on the last day.

We started the day off by seeing Joe Purdy, whose set was like a living room show except with a sky. It was very mellow and chill and honestly felt less like he was playing to a crowd and more like he was playing to friends and family. "Does this start with the chorus? It does today." & "My guitar solo on the record was much better than that," are things he said in the middle of his set, which was sung melodically. Laughter and good music is always a great kickoff to any day, but especially in that heat.

We needed shade after, so we found a tree to chill in and sat in its crook while listening to Gringo Star. We love relaxing and listening to new-to-us music, so it was great.

Then we went to check out Savior Adore, who we just featured the week before. They sounded pretty damn gorgeous live, and they were smarter than every other band at that fest because they wore all white. They were really lively and just enjoyed being on stage, probably because they weren't as hot as the black-cad bands.

Next we caught Bethesda's set on the lawn stage, and even though it was the hottest day of the weekend, we got shivers from the vocals. They're pretty local to us and we were excited to see their festival set - and they had most of the lawn dancing. They have a really great family folksy vibe, but even though they sound decently mellow on their recordings, their live sound is huge.

Then we walked over to A Silent Film, who sounded and performed a lot like Fun. They have that mellow energy that's both calm and electric in a way.

After that, we saw Night Terrors of 1927, who was one of our favorite sets of the weekend. It was more upbeat than most of the other Sunday bands. There's something very...alive about their live sound, and we're now dying to see them at a venue in Cleveland.

Following that, Belle & Sebastian had the whole crowd dancing, from people as young as 3-4 to 50-60. They had about 13 members on stage playing, but the lead singer brought his Scottish curse on the crowd and it started storming after their set. Bunbury did hella good with that rainstorm, though, and they put everything back together fast for The National's set as soon as the sun came out.

The National closed the weekend out, and hearing Bloodbuzz Ohio while sitting on the stairs by the Ohio river, watching people swim (and then get yelled at by the cops) was one of the coolest experiences of the festival. It closed out a perfect weekend and we can't wait to see who is playing next year, because we'll be there.

Wet - U Da Best

Wet has this vintage sound, kind of like Jazz Mills or Zooey Deschanel, but there's that new-aged dubbed feel that makes it grittier. It has a flow of old-school lullaby ambiance, but it's more modernized than that. It's full of something raw, even as it's sung gorgeously. And "I think we better quit while we're ahead," is a perfect, powerful way to end it.

Glitter Pox rating: 89% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Sleepy Sun - Open Eyes

There's some cult shit going on in this song and video, but we can understand why someone would join it because its lies sound damn good. The Sleep Party People echo-vocals in the beginning are paced with percussion that doesn't stop until a minute in, and then the song changes vibes. There's a slowed-down acoustic feel that flows in and out of clarity when that moment hits, and it's something you want to pocket. It's like a morning full of pressed snooze buttons, moments where your brain comes in and out of wakefulness. And the random guitar riffs are electrically awake in the song's sleepiness. It's just a genuinely unique non-genre-based song.

Glitter Pox Rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Gem Club - 252

252 is simple: a piano and some haunting vocals. Though there are multiple voices in this song, they add to make one very powerful sound. Gem Club has this intentionally hollow sense to their music that makes it emotional, but not in the way that turns you off from listening. This song moves in slow motion like some metamorphosis is taking place, and in the end you are left with a feeling utterly different from when the music started.

Glitter Pox rating: 60% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Bunbury - Saturday, Day Two

Day two of Bunbury was beautiful.

Civil Twilight opened for themselves Saturday morning because X Ambassadors had the infamous band van breakdown that all artists dread, and which all fans dread more. Having a double set from CT, though, and hearing new songs started off our morning hella well.

Then we lawn-hopped over to Robert DeLong, who's great live. He loops everything and makes electronic music off of game controllers like he's playing the crowd. And he goes just a little insane on a drum set. His crowds bring in some of the craziest dance moves we've ever seen, and it was a good time even with all the sun sweat on us as we danced.

Then we sat on a hill and watched Chairlift. This girl has the vocals of an opera queen but twists and turns them. It was one of the most unexpected sets of the fest. Not knowing a lot of their music made it especially fun to watch them perform and they had a lot of band chemistry.

Twenty One Pilots played on the main stage and they're kind of just nuts. The lead singer climbs rafters and does back flips off of his piano but somehow isn't out of breath for his singing or rapping. It's like it's effortless for them, but you can tell they have a hell of a good time at every show they play. Their crowd participation is great, too - they always have everyone singing and jumping, and when they tell you to jump there isn't a person out there who doesn't because they're that gripping.

Then we ran (literally, we were the dorks that ran) to see Oberhofer. They took their set out into the lawn at one point, playing guitar in the grass as people rushed over to get pictures. We've seen them a couple times before in our hometown but never at a festival, so we weren't sure how their live set would be, but it was just as good. A lot of people who had never seen them before said that was their favorite set of the weekend. They ust have a way of pulling you into their musical madness.

Then we were hungry after all of our dancing so we went and saw Cake as we ate our pretzel dinner, because it was kind of fitting. They sound exactly like their studio recordings, and it's cool to be able to hear a mix of modern music and bands you've listened to for decades at the same festival.

Divine Fits was up right after Cake. They're very guitar-focused live, so their set sounds a lot different than listening to them on CD, but they have a really good presence. Because they're members of other bands(Spoon and Wolf Parade) they know the ins and out of how to sound good and it really shows.

MGMT headlined on night two and their visual set was fantastic. It was candyland on acid, basically, and since it was nighttime all you could really see was this giant moving block of color behind the band and it was really transfixing, especially with their music in front of it. Bunbury's headlining bands are always good and make you excited for the next morning.

Bunbury - Friday, Day One

We started off our first day of Bunbury listening to Beat Club in the hot hot sun. There's something about the first band to play a festival. It either promises a good weekend or leaves you bitter, but Beat Club played really really well. Their bass lines were kind of ridiculous; it felt like every song was ruled by bass in the best kind of way. They were upbeat so it made us excited for the whole rest of the day.

After Beat Club, we headed across the way to see The Features. It was actually really easy to get around Bunbury. We went to Coachella and Gov Ball this summer, too, but Bunbury was by far the easiest to get around. The walk from one stage to the next at most festivals usually destroys your feet but the walk from the main stage to one of the other biggest stages at Bunbury was literally just across a lawn. So we just walked over the grass and listened to The Features from Nashville. They had this accordion coming from their key player on the opening song which had this sound like a gypsy wedding. The vocals were clear but with this Frank Turner kind of angry energy in the middle of the soft parts. So our afternoon was already sounding beautiful.

Then we went to see American Authors, who were entirely energetic and woke us way up. Rockstar had a tent at Bunbury that was giving away free energy drinks but after a couple of these performances we decided we didn't really need them. American Authors sound and act a lot like Imagine Dragons live, with radio-ready vocals with a lot of lightning behind them. It reminded us of when we were standing at the bud light stage last year dancing and singing to Imagine Dragons and they definitely owned the Bud Light stage with their crowd interaction and their set, captivating the audience with their lyrics and then surprising them with a harmonious slow song in the end that sounded damn near perfect.

Next, we made our way to the main stage to catch Tegan and Sara who were just entirely badass. Even though we were pretty far back, you could still get a really good view and they had screens on both sides of the stage that aided in the close ups so you didn't miss any of the action. And they are a band you kind of want to SEE, because they sound and look hella good. They just know their music and how to please a crowd playing a mix of new and old songs.

Again, we headed across the lawn from the main stage to the rockstar stage to see Youngblood Hawke, who might have been our favorite performance on Friday. They just went halfway to insane on their drums. Almost all the members were playing a drumset like it was the last thing they were gonna do in life. And not only was their life in the music, The lead singer literally didn't stop moving the entire set. He was everywhere and the crowd loved it.

Walk the Moon played in their home town to what they said was one of the biggest crowds they'd played in Cinci. We're never disappointed seeing them live because they always give us an excuse to dance.

Tokyo Police Club was a great band to play as the sun set because they were upbeat enough to keep you going but not too crazy. We sat and whistled on blades of grass, watching the fireflies and just really feeling the whole music fest thing while they were playing.

The headliner Friday night was Fun. and yeah, they were, with confetti and a crazy crowd, they played a pretty good set overall. It was a really really promising first day of Bunbury and we slept like babes after all the dancing we'd done.

Bunbury Week

This past weekend we went to Bunbury Festival in Cincinatti, Ohio- and this week, we're posting all about it. Tons of great bands and great times and interviews and contests to come for the rest of the week. Check back!

The Glitter Pox

NONONO - Like the Wind

The chain-rattlin' music in Like the Wind is kind of dead sexy, especially when you add the badass girl singer into it. Whatever she does with her vocals in the chorus, in the song in general, is a little unreal. She has twenty different flavors to her voice in this one song, and when you listen to their other stuff it's even easier to notice that this girl can do a lot with what she's got.

Glitter Pox rating: 68% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Savoir Adore - Bodies

This song feels like whispers between young tongues. It has an almost tinny underground sound alongside the guitar, and with the constant percussion, it's perfection. The back and forth of female and male vocals is less a duet and more of a musical discussion between lovers.

Glitter Pox rating: 62% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Peace - Bloodshake

The first lyric of this song being "from the belly of the jungle" is perfect because that's what the intro music sounds like. Like you're in a freaking overly happy jungle. But the shakiness in the vocals and the lyrics "spit blood in the sun / spit blood in the ocean" kind of mellow that happiness out. It's a perfect song to be happy during and be angry during and be everything during.

Glitter Pox rating: 73% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Swim Deep - King City

The organ sound in the beginning mixes with the melancholic XX-like vocals in this song, and it all highlights the ooooo's in the background of the chorus. It makes it catchy as all hell, even though it's not an aggressively bright-tuned summer melody. But the fact that this band references a member of Warpaint makes it even more perfect. It's kind of a fuck-it, "sun on my back" go-with-the-day kind of song.

Glitter Pox rating: 67% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox