Noise Pop: John Vanderslice, Nurses and Honeycomb at Swedish American Hall 2/26/10

“FUCK! This is a song about cannibalism and organ donors on the moon, you gotta get the words right.” – John Vanderslice, on screwing up his own lyrics.

The John Vanderslice Noise Pop show at Swedish American Hall was not only headlined by ‘the Slice’ but curated as well. The handpicked lineup of label mates Nurses, fellow SF band Honeycomb and all-girl choir Conspiracy of Venus netted an arousing evening of creative musical ability, screw ups (mostly by John), odd makeup and fashion faux-pas.

Conspiracy of Venus

Conspiracy of Venus kicked off the evening with their 40+ piece womens choir. Not a small feat to be held by a group consisting of 20-40 somethings (don’t you people have jobs?) but yet, one hell of a job well done. Covering Joni Mitchells ‘Big Yellow Taxi was definitely the highlight, and if they’re ever around your hood, and you’re not a music asshole, give these girls a chance. They’ve got enough voice and ‘we’re strong, proud independent women’ to actually make you believe that the ERA wasn’t a complete waste.

Honeycomb

Holy Hell Honeycomb. I’m either late to the party or really early on this one, but the 8 piece band built on classical instruments (is a ukulele classical?), 5 female vocalists and face paint is a must see. They recently did a session with One Night Music – head on over and watch the video and grab some Honeycomb Free Mp3′s.

Nurses

My mother always said if you don’t have anything nice to say, then shut the hell up, and so I’m not really going to give Nurses any praise, or any disrespect either. They’re not a bad band, they just didn’t have such a great performance at the Swedish last night. That’s okay, I still dig their music, you should give it a shot. And starting in April the guys head out for an extensive east coast tour.

John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice

And what can you say about John Vanderslice that hasn’t already been said? The committed indie producer continues not only to work with cool projects inside his San Francisco Tiny Telephone studios (where you too can record with JV himself). But for years he has put on great shows in the bay area that sell out. It’s easy to see why he’s so popular and succesful when he surrounds himself with such great talent.