Sunday night at the Cha Cha was kind of an odd choice for Seattle
trio Born Anchors‘ record-release party for their new album,
Sprezzatura. Not because the Cha Cha, under the watch of
sound guy/show manager/Aviation Records proprietor Kerry Zettel,
isn’t a fine place to see a show—it is, like a punk-house
basement show with a full-service bar and cantina attached—but
because of the rest of the night’s mismatched bill (apparently Born
Anchors kind of hopped onto an already-booked show, but still).
L.A.’s Go West Young Man and Seattle’s Hallways opened, and both bands plied rootsy, bluesy rock rather at odds with
Born Anchors’ brand of late-’80s-vintage post-punk. Go West Young Man’s
songs were the brighter and more upbeat of the two, marked by muted
trumpet and the occasionally fried guitar solo. Hallways stuck to
slow-moving, country-inflected balladry (for some reason the beginning
of each song sounded like it might turn into a cover version of Stone
Temple Pilots’ “Creep”); keyboardist/singer Stephanie Parrish’s vocals
were often indistinct, while lead singer/guitarist Grant Burton’s were
of the “soulful” yarling variety (ameliorated none by the
lyrics—one chorus rhymed a line about putting love to the test
with the conclusion that said love was not second-best). Backing the
headbanded-and-feathered duo (can we be done with the
hippie/native/freak-folky fashions already?) was a standard rhythm
section and a multi-instrumentalist who played saxophone, banjo, and
pedal steel with a substantial array of effects pedals. Maybe they
would’ve been better in some other context, but they just made the wait
for Born Anchors drag on.
About Born Anchors, a few of the bands brought up by folks at
the show attempting to pin down the trio’s sound: Killing Joke,
Fugazi, U2, the Cult, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Some of these are
probably more apt than others, but all of them help point toward a
certain era of post-punk/hardcore indie rock and power pop from which
Born Anchors do draw heavily. Live, the band demonstrate a knack for
combining disparate momentums—frontman Jason Parker’s rumbling
bass grooves, Gregory Scott’s shimmering, echoing guitar lines, Justin
Martinez’s hard-pounding drumming—into a unified whole. Martinez,
especially, is a pleasure to watch, a perfectly tight and heavy-hitting
drummer with a wicked mustache, but the whole band is energetic and
on-point (on one song, the group dropped everything except a looped
guitar line and all jumped back in with a great, breaking crescendo).
Parker’s vocals were slightly drowned out by the band’s muscular sound,
a problem Born Anchors don’t have on the cleanly produced
Sprezzatura.
At nine songs in 27 minutes, Sprezzatura is a concise blast
of an album, easily played in a single set. “In Disguise” and
“Cascading” are its most immediately catchy songs; the former is tense
and new wavey, the latter buoyant and rocking, both powerfully
propulsive. It’s not a flawless record—Parker’s vocals can veer
into bombast at times, as on “Casualty,” and the lyrics aren’t always
as memorable or as moving as the band’s instrumentals—but after a
few listens, Sprezzatura is starting to seem like a pretty
promising debut. 
I think we all know the cha isn’t the most ideal music venue. You should have seen Hallways last night at Comet. They are inventive, fresh, and talented. Fashion sense included.
I’d have to disagree with the review involving Hallways. They have a fresh taste within a genre that really can’t be classified. And there’s nothing wrong with the sense of style, it fits their music and seems to express themselves.
I was at the show and although the bill was a bit mismatched in style, all the bands were top notch. I don’t really mind an eclectic mix of bands in a night as long as they’re all good. It’s refreshing and it keeps the scene interesting. Hallways had a really big sound and their instrumentation was phenomenal, in my opinion. If you came out to see Born Anchors though and had your heart set on a full night of post punk, I understand how those opening bands might throw some people off. Kudos to the Cha Cha though for pulling it off!
all i know is i was asleep and bored when the band with the feathers in their hair were playing. how many bands in Seattle can basically be doing the same hippie/folk/lovefest vibe at one time. its like every band here that wasnt going anywhere jumped on the same band wagon… oh, fads are so cute.
I’d rather look at feathers than another one of those stupid played out scarves that dude in the picture is wearing. I mean, come on, I saw that in a barney’s catalog 2 years ago and now it’s f’ing punk?
The sound at the ChaCha that night was shit, non of the bands sounded right? The Cha barely qualifies as a venue, Stephanie could not hear herself and repeatedly asked the sound man to help out. The quote on the lyric is wrong and there was no pedal steel in attendance(a lap steel yes)? Its clear to see its mostly a popularity contest, considering Eric is really into the drummers mustache?
That is actually a scarf, not a Kuffiyeh. I’m Iranian and should know.
I got a message from hallways to come to this site disagree with the review from E. Grandy. Hallways should get thicker skin if they are going to basically wear costumes when they play. I like the music but there sour grapes made me like them less.
“doing the same hippie/folk/lovefest vibe”
I find it annoying and typical that because they had feathers in their hair, they have been labeled as “boring”, “hippie/follk” by ‘snoring at the bar’.
When I saw them play Neumos a while back, their outfits and sound were a far cry from the quote above. They happen to change up their fashion seemingly dependent on their mood or maybe venue? which personally keeps me interested in what they may do next…all the reviewer seems to really be clowning on is their accessories. Maybe this guy should hit up the next show.
I got that message too and it actually said nothing about disagreeing. It just said they’d been reviewd by the stranger and wanted feedback on the review. There were no ‘sour grapes’.
I liked all the bands that played, especially the hot feather bitch from hallways and her sexy guitar playing partner
Hallways are certainly up and coming and to see a review like this is not that surprising. but that should not stop people from checking them out. just wait for their full length album “Ghost” i think many more will be pleased
I like to watch all the haze and smoke in the picture….. very cool photo even in still shot.
It’s very well done and should be circulated considering billions and billions of people on the planet couldn’t be at the Cha Cha to hear the release.