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A little concert review of Cut Off Your Hands at the Rhythm Room June 16, 2009. They smoked!

June 18th, 2009 Posted by: Dust Devil

Wow, wow, wow!

A few months ago my friend Robert Lerma called me up and said, “I burned you a disc that you HAVE to come get now!” Well, very rarely has he made such a comment and been wrong, so when I arrived he handed me a 14 track disc he put together by a band out of New Zealand called Cut Off Your Hands.

The songs came off three releases from the band: the Still Fond single; the Happy as Can Be EP; the Shaky Hands EP. All fourteen tracks are blistering pieces of work. Personally, I hear traces of Tokyo Police Club mixed with the Britpop style of The Smiths. The band has just released their first full-length album You and I, and it has actually been released domestically. Get it now!

Opening the show was a local band by the name of Letdownright. Not having heard these guys before I was not sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in the Rhythm Room and saw Kimber Lanning on the drums! Now, I have spoken about Kimber numerous times on this blog, but for those of you who STILL don’t know …

Kimber is responsible for the coolest record store, Stinkweeds, and one of the best music venues in town, the Modified. She is also a big proponent of Local First Arizona, an organization dedicated to the promotion of local businesses in the Valley. Kimber does more for the city of Phoenix than most of our “esteemed” politicians. That alone was reason enough to like Letdownright.

The music was good to boot! A little mellow, but there was a definite flair of pop sensibility, and maybe a tinge of folk rock as well. All in all a good performance. I will have to make a point of checking these guys out again. I do know they are playing a gig at Hollywood Alley in Tempe tomorrow evening, June 19. Give them a shot!

A quick break in the action, then Cut Off Your Hands stormed the stage. Literally. Holy cow, what a set!

The energy this band possesses live is insane. Their songs are well-crafted pop excursions, but live they rev up the tempo to nearly the level of a hardcore punk band. One of my friends at the show wished they had not done so; personally, I loved it. I did not think the songs were played at such a breakneck pace that the speed detracted from the quality of the music. I can remember late in the career of The Ramones that they did that, and it was horrible to watch. This was different. I immediately thought of the first time I saw Tokyo Police Club live and watched as they delivered a set at an absolute breakneck pace. I was in pure awe. The same thing happened watching Cut Off Your Hands.

EVERY song sounded great! Nick Johnston delivered an intense set on vocals, almost reaching the point of screaming into his mike, but keeping things well in control. Both he and the new guitarist Jonathan (sorry if I butchered the spelling) were wild men on the small Rhythm Room stage, two maniacal musicians throwing their bodies about while performing. The bassist can be a bit reserved in terms of motion, but he plays such a slick, powerful bass, so who cares? The bass was very prominent in the live delivery, which I absolutely loved. The drummer had to be exhausted by the end of the set. What a fabulous job maintaining the frenetic pace throughout the show!

All of the originals from Cut Off Your Hands were very well played, with a healthy sampling from You & I. Their closer, an old track by the name of Still Fond, was truly vicious. This song is one of the Dust Devil’s favorites. The band also unveiled two covers, The Witch from The Sonics and Shark Attack from Split Enz. Another band from New Zealand, Split Enz is well-known for their 1980 hit song I Got You. Shark Attack was on the same album as I Got You, the fifth release from Split Enz entitled True Colors. The rendition Cut Off Your Hands did was truly mind-blowing!

Folks, I am still reeling from this show. What a performance! I have to apologize once again to Vive Voce. A good band, but this is the second time they have followed a band so intense in concert, that trying to digest their much more mellow brand of psychedelic indie-rock was not happening. The first time I had a chance to see them they followed Silversun Pickups at the Modified. Enough said.

Bravo to Cut Off Your Hands! Too bad more people did not come out, you missed out in a huge way.

Until next time my friends …
The Dust Devil

Filed under: Event Reviews