Releasing their first CD in five years, Sarah Rabdau and Self-Employed Assassins successfully closed one chapter of their career and ushered in a new generation of fans—fans delighted by Sarah’s silky voice, her pounding electric keyboard and Matt Graber’s mesmeric drums. It’s an impressive transformation and the Self-Employed Assassins should be delighted with their self-created magnum opus.
Sarah Rabdau caught our attention in early 2008 when she opened for Nicole Atkins and the Sea at TT the Bear’s place. After sitting down with her for an interview, we became intrigued by the news of her new album and then happily recommended that you buy the new Sarah Rabdau CD only a few weeks ago.
With all the love, it may seem weird that I showed up at the CD release party with very little familiarity myself to her music. Sometimes we like to mix it up around here to see if we’re just buying into our own hype and there’s no better way to do that then to send in a rookie to write a review.
Like some other favorite artists of mine, Sarah Rabdau’s unassuming stage presence gives no hints as to the talents locked within. After the band had shuffled themselves into place, the first notes began to play and an entire room transfixed itself on Sarah Rabdau’s voice. I’m a sucker for voice, so this is often a make or break aspect for me and Sarah’s voice live—amazingly not that much different from studio—is something worth seeing (or hearing, as the case may be). I certainly loved it. Matt Graber’s drums also left little to be desired. He’s easily one of the best I’ve seen in over a year of covering Boston concerts and I’d instantly be interested in any project he was involved in.
But of course a voice (and great drums) does not necessarily make an entire concert. You also need solid songwriting and Sarah Rabdau has you covered on that end as well. My only quibble came when I left the concert and told friends that I had a difficult time understanding her lyrics during the live set. That’s not uncommon when you’re rocking out, but when you’re new to the music it’s enough to make you pause. Thankfully, these concerns were quickly put to rest as I listened to the new CD. And with that, we pretty much come full circle since it was a CD release party.
Opener Goli consisted of Vessela Stoyanova and Valerie Thompson. Self-described as “chamber music for the modern era,” I found the concept brilliant and I’m a big fan of including strings in rock music. However, the songs appeared to contain a level of emotional scarring I found overwhelming and thus off-putting. As with any live show, you can never be sure if you’re hearing the lyrics just right. I understand they have an EP and I’d be interested in giving it a listen to see if my initial impressions were correct.
Finally, our beloved Mike Grubbs from Wakey!Wakey! took the Fung Wah Bullet Express from New York to play his biggest audience to date in Boston. Performing through a nasty foosball accident and with a nagging cough, we hope that he found some new fans among the Sarah Rabdau faithful. In the end, it seemed like a pretty auspicious musical pairing and we think fans of Sarah Rabdau might easily be fans of Mike Grubbs. Highlights of the Wakey!Wakey! show included a rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and a performance of “Away” that can be found on the Live At Bowery Ballroom CD. Mike also debuted a new song but we couldn’t find him after the show to get its name. Damn. It’s encouraging to see him writing new material though and we’re hearing rumors that an EP is on the way!
Sarah Rabdau’s next show is scheduled for February 13th at Ralph’s Diner in Worcester. Check out the Sarah Rabdau and the Self-Employed Assassins Myspace page for more information.
Goli will be playing at the YMCA Theatre in Cambridge on February 7th.
Wakey!Wakey! will be back in Boston on March 4th at TT the Bear’s.
he is amazing bro his style can not be touched....some people dont know what he is talking about caz u dont do what he does he is sickkk bra
by dylyn on Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 11.59 am from the entry: Wiz Khalifa: Burn After Rolling (Mixtape)
Wow,Great post.Thanks for sharing with us. land wi
by wisconsin land on Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 09.53 am from the entry: of Montreal + Gang Gang Dance - Orpheum Theatre (Boston, MA; Oct. 30, 2008)
Ugh. Paste’s profile of Free Energy made me kind of hate them. So does your review. It’s this unctuous defense of good-time rock-and-roll ("we’re just here to party, and we’re awesome!") that seems more self-serving than fun-loving.
by beth on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.41 pm from the entry: Foreign Born + Free Energy - The Knitting Factory (Brooklyn, NY; Mar. 12, 2010)
that inescapable feeling you are referring to, is that like when you hear something and you could have sworn you heard it before because of the nostalgic catchy quality? or is is like when you’ve heard a band exactly like said band?
great post by the way!
by paul on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 03.15 pm from the entry: The Novel Ideas - "The Sky Is A Field" - Borrow It
Whoa! I had no idea she was enegaged. You would never know with the way she behaves! Wow!
by art on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.48 am from the entry: Nikki Darlin and John McCauley: 1+1=1
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
Photo #10 is incredibly awesome - what a great capture!
I like 10 too. and 15.
15 is the jam. Fung all yall.
Joshua: You say Goli’s songs “appeared to contain a level of emotional scarring I found overwhelming and thus off-putting.”
Really? You need to sit down with the Goli CD and listen to the lyrics. They’re actually rather tongue-in-cheek and witty.
Bob: I’d love to sit down with the CD and listen to the lyrics. Any songs in particular you recommend?
Joshua: “Fight” is a particularly good song. So is “The Wind Blows”. “Imaginary Friends” is intentionally cartoony and over-the-top. (It’s not an autobiographical song about mental illness! At least I hope not . . . )
“The list, a wish and a regret” is probably the song you were referring to as lyrically “off-putting”. It’s sort of a collection of biographical sketches set to music. (Valerie can explain it much better than I can.)
Thanks for the suggestions. If we get a promo copy of the CD, we’d be happy to review it and I’d really like to give it a second look. I’m normally a sucker for strings.