The Quails rocked the house on Tuesday night at the Launchpad -- in a very formulaic way.
Early 1990s Seattle-area bands such as Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and the Breeders quite obviously heavily influence the trio from San Francisco.
The Quails put a twist on the genre and, get ready for this, there's a man in the band. Typically, such post '90s politically motivated riot grrl bands have been one hundred percent female, but Seth Lorinczi's presence on bass is an interesting and welcoming change, especially when it comes to his backing vocals.
All three members contributed to the vocals, with guitarist Jen Smith taking on the majority, but Julianna Bright, playing drums, had the strongest voice despite a case of mild laryngitis, and the most conviction in her rants.
As is common in the riot grrl genre, the songs were all backed by a simple but ferocious beat on the drums and most of the lyrics concerned politics -- specifically the looming war in Iraq.
Smith's voice was just as familiar during the band's seven-song set as it is when one listens to any band of this nature, a mixture of warbles for singing and flat-out screaming. Somehow, it sounded just as fresh as it always does when listening to any other band of this nature.
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The Quails mentioned that they would be entering the recording studio in April to supplement their one and only CD We Are the Quails, but said that they didn't have a release date for it, nor a distributor as of yet.
Their last album was released on the label of fellow tour mates Erase Errata and the closeness of the bands would suggest that the second LP will appear on Inconvenient Records as well.
In a world of big-time radio play and pop singles that get all the attention for months on end, the Quails are a welcome distraction from the norm. The Quails, though, seem destined to remain small-time without the charisma of a Tobi Vail or Kathleen Hanna or even a Kim Deal-type of figure to lead them into the spotlight of publicity.
This might not upset their main audience or the people who were present at the Launchpad, since they seem to be happy with where the Quails are.
That being said, when the performance was done, I couldn't help but feel as though I'd paid eight dollars for a second-tier band -- not a bad experience overall, but it's been done.
