Swan Sovereign / The Cabin Project
Went to a show at the Doug Fir last night. The opening band was The Cabin Project. The lead singer's vocal stylings reminded me a bit of Neko Case, and there was a lot of vocal harmony. (All four members sang.) I can't say much about the songwriting, because nobody mixes vocals so you can understand them in this town. But I bought one of their CD's, so I'll find out. Then the band I came to see, which was Swan Sovereign, which used to be Dirty Martini, but they decided that they needed a new name after retooling their sound and adding a bunch of new material. Their old sound was a bit eclectic, as befits a band that started as a Songwriters in the Round show; for a while their shows were mostly just each of them singing their own songs in turn with the others backing them up. This grew more organic over time, but you could still tell a Lara song from a Stephanie song from a McKinley song. I'm not sure I like the more homogeneous sound better. They ended up on the more rocking, take no BS side of their old sound, which I liked, but also liked their other sides. I wish know for sure who wrote the new songs; I'd guess that they are mostly McKinley's, but with her characteristic songwriting quirks filed down considerably. I still enjoyed the show quite a lot, and will continue to follow the band.