AS A PEOPLE
330 Rich
Jan. 31, 2007

As a People sound good online. They sound good on their three-song EP. But their January 31st show at 330 Rich needed a bit of work.

It’s hard being the opening live band. The sound in small venues like 330 Rich can sometimes make or break a performance, and the sound on Wednesday was no exception. The bass pinged when it should have thudded; the backing vocals were barely audible; and the performance lacked the intricate energy that comes through on their EP.

To call their sound indie seems a bit too generic, and makes use of a term that’s thrown around too often these days. So I’ll date myself, go out on a limb and say that As a People create music that sounds like what us old fogies used to call modern rock.

Adam Yas's vocals are reminiscent of Les Claypool?lead singer of Primus, another band of San Francisco’s past. And the theatrics (including a faux black eye) of, I hate to say it, Ed Kowalczyk of Live.

The band ended their set to a crowd of about 50 with the song they should have opened with?Barch P. Killface. The vocal delivery combined with Tim Way’s rapidly booming drums encompasses a sporadic energy that builds, drops, and crescendos again, all the while steadied by Nigel Sussman’s bass and accented with Nathan Link’s distorted guitar. This song alone is a prime example of why As a People are still fun to listen to, despite the sound problems. They may just be on the first wave of what could possibly be called a modern rock revival.

[Nicole Leigh]

 
[STREAM] As A People: Various Tracks