Sunday . . . The Sissies, The Bananas. I came in when the Sissies' set was almost over, but the songs of theirs I heard were good. The Bananas were the reason I came to this show, since I've heard so much about them, they've played with some of my favorite local bands (Milhouse and the Secretions) yet I've never heard them. Anyway, I'm glad I did -- I really liked their music. Something in their performance was a little off that night -- a lot of dead air time happened between songs, and the lead singer's lame patter fell kind of flat. Still, the great music made up for the lackluster between-song crap. Enjoyable, mellow-ish show. Forgive the brevity (and the tardiness) of this week's installment. I'm pretty pressed for time. Just one more thing: I finally have a wee bit of cash, and I wanted to go buy some CDs from some local bands. So I went to Tower. On my list was 100 Acre Wood, The Gears, Draw Pinky, Mama's Gravy, Go National . . .

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I donít usually tend to go for ëpunkí music much anymore, which is where The Bananas would most likely be categorized ñ but regardless, I like them. They have a pretty ëintenseí sound (especially for a three-piece), and theyíre actually a surprisingly unique and entertaining band, in more ways than one.

The Bananas somehow seem to pull off the unlikely combination of distorted, high-energy angst-rock, with really catchy melodies and harmonies that stick in your head all day, whether you want them to or not. The songwriting style ñ though it often includes the standard verse/chorus progression ñ is nonetheless uniquely their own, and is usually pretty far from clichÈ. Many Bananas songs begin with fifteen seconds or so of really dissonant chord progressions, which almost make one want to hit the ëskipí button on the CD-player, but then they suddenly change direction into really catchy, sing-along, melodic pop-punk anthems (ëSugar Bear,í ëHeartbreakerí and ëFunky Bananaí are good examples). For the most part, the playing is pretty spastic and up-tempo, but still manages to be ëtightí most of the time (which is trickier than it seems). Lyrically they seem to oscillate between sincere optimism and frustrated melancholy, which never quite gets resolved ñ which is also a big part of what I like about them.

Live, The Bananas are always a mixed bag. Iíve seen them live tons of times, and their performances can vary from really great, to comically confused. It always depends on the amount of alcohol involved, I suppose. As far as I can tell, theyíre usually pretty drunk by the time they get around to playing, and on the occasions that they get too drunk the playing does suffer a bit (though the stage-banter usually becomes far more entertaining). This isnít to say theyíre not a good live band ñ because they are a good live band. Itís just that sometimes they become a good, amusing, drunk live band. Regardless, their shows are always worth seeing.

Anyway, thatís my two cents: The Bananas ñ good band, good songs, good lyrics, worth checking out their records, worth seeing live. Actually, considering how many completely generic and totally unoriginal, lame, rip-off ëpunkí bands there are running around these days, Iíd have to say that The Bananas are probably one of the most under-rated bands of their kind around. Amen.

ñ Brian Clark