AH, MARION BARRY. IS IT TIME FOR ANOTHER SHIPMENT ALREADY?

Last night I saw the local band Cartel play their CD release party at the Velvet Lounge along U Street. Having never been to the Velvet Lounge before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. As you climb the pitch black stairwell from the bar to the second-floor concert hall, the first thing you see are the exposed beams, and you immediately think: This is like an attic. Then when you get up to the quite small venue, you realize: This is an attic. Albeit, one with a better sound system than usual. Talk immediately turned to the Great White disaster in Rhode Island early last year, so I made a promise to myself that if the place I would leap down the stairs and risk a broken leg or two rather than burn alive on the second story of a rickety downtown firetrap.

Needless to say, it was a promise I didn't need to keep. I like those promises.

Having heard Cartel play DC 9 around the corner a few months before, I knew what to expect. Even then, having known one of the guitarists for the better part of a decade, I would have a pretty good guess sight unseen ... er, sound unheard. I don't have an adequate vocabulary to describe their sound (lest I would have answered this call) except to weakly observe that it's on the emo side of indie, or if you prefer, college music. It's not everybody's cup of tea, but that's one genre known to cycle forward on my iPod playlists fairly often. You can stream the first two songs from their first EP, "Safety in Numbers," from the band's official website. Better yet, you can actually download them to your iPod at this supersecret Washington Post-affiliated website -- shhhh! -- as I have done.

It was a good show, if a little brief. I do recommend buying the EP itself, as I will do when they start selling them online (soon, I understand). They're playing in New York City next weekend and again at DC 9 in the middle of October. Maybe I'll see you there.

P.S. Somehow this eluded mention the first time around: The Velvet Lounge had a special that night: One can of Schlitz and a shot of Wild Turkey for $6. It was my first Schlitz ever -- I had no idea it was still being made! It was exactly how you might expect it would be -- pretty Schlitzy. And needless to say, it was not my first Wild Turkey.

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posted by WWB at 8:49 PM |