May 13-19, 2004
hearhere
Recess! Redux!
At last month's Rock Lotto, which links strangers and makes them play music together, $$$ bip-bopped away with the gold, but the real battle was for second place. The fast and punky Recess! Recess! trio outworked powerhouse rockers 1040 EZ and earned second place. (1040 EZ, it should be noted, started slow but their raucous last song might have been the evening's best moment. I should know, I was a judge.) The Lotto rarely produces a band that sticks together to play actual shows. What makes Recess! Recess! so special?
"Don't tell anyone, but I love playing with those guys and I think they do too," says drummer Ian Meyer.
Does this mean they’re a band forever and ever?
"I Ian Meyer, take you, Recess! Recess!, to be our band. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness." Aw. "Honestly though, we'll see where life takes us." Oh.
Got any cover planned? "Four songs currently and we’re working on a couple more. We’re also going to be reworking the four songs we have now because, well, we wrote them in less than a week so they aren’t as awesome as they could be."
Recess! Recess! Sat., May 15, 9:30 p.m., $7, with Technician, Valkyrie and Kermit Hell Lyman III, Millcreek Tavern, 42nd St. and Chester Ave., 215-222-9194.
Bress in Show
"My mom was once told by a doctor that the contrast of really high "head voice' and low-pitched "chest voice' was the result of having two vocal chords of vastly different lengths," says Janet Bressler. "I use "chest voice' almost exclusively." On Evening Shades Prevail, she croons and shouts out like a classic rocker -- measured and precise, but wild when the moment strikes her.
Which is all the time. And her stage presence is "Dramatic is the word that best describes it. I believe in the rock 'n' roll "show.' I've got my things I do, my signature look, my hat, my feathers. When I walk into a room, people love me or hate me on sight. I seem to have that effect on people."
Well you've got to like the women she's assembled for her Bressfest concert showcase, including freak-bluesy Nicki Jaine, horny brass ensemble Blue Number Nine and pop-rockers Prima Donna. "Something for everyone, the way things used to be," says Bressler. "Ever see an old poster where you had bands like Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin and Earth Wind and Fire all sharing the stage?"
BRESSFEST, Sat., May 15, 8 p.m., $6, Tokio Ballroom, second floor of Le Champignon Restaurant, 122 Lombard St., 215-922-2515.
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