Before Admiral Radley on Thursday July 8th, the Happy Hollows opened the show at the Hammer Museum on Thursday night. The post-punk energy power trio seems to rely mostly on Sarah Negahdari on guitar and vocals. She is all smile, large bright eyes, happy to perform (she said it many times as a matter of fact) and although I had the impression the vocals at the Hammer were turned too low compared to the instruments, you could tell she was putting all her energy on stage.
Sarah, whose mother (a Californian ex-hippie married to an Iranian immigrant) gave her the desire to pursue into music, has an impressive vocal range as she can adjust to any sonic level from high-pitch screaming to a more reserved sounding effect.
It’s probably a common place to compare their sound to that of Sonic Youth, but this is the first reference that came to me when I saw them on stage. I suppose the Pixies could come in mind too occasionally. The problem I have with their kind of music, is the lack of any memorable melody and if I know that music is not always about hook, the complete lack of it can sometimes end up in boredom.
I was not bored however, thanks to the level of energy they display on stage but I wonder how it would turn out while listening to their CD. But if I had to describe some of their music I would say that it could give you the impression they begin a new song in the middle of one that has already started, something that is not necessary bad, but certainly unconventional. I know it’s all about decomposition, deconstruction of any genre, but it can be hard to follow, melody wise.
They drew a large crowd on Thursday night, and it was interesting to see the performance of a band whose music does not rely on the melody but more on a sonic mood just before a band (Admiral Radley) whose music depends so much on the melody.