Who, When, Where

The lineup for this year’s MidPoint Music Festival is pretty awesome. Festival organizers have done a great job generating interest and attendance with widely known and national acts like the Dodos, Cut Copy, Washed Out, Deerhoof, Gang Gang Dance, and many others. But the festival has always been about giving local and regional acts a stage as well. And this year, they’ve done a great job picking some interesting and deserving bands. Here are just a few from in and around the Tri-state area that I’m looking forward to seeing this year.

Who: Total Babes / Cleveland, OH

When: Friday – 12:15am

Well, we’re starting off with a stretch since Cleveland is on the other end of the state, but I’m willing to compromise because I just love this band so much. They’re all about lo-fi punky pop goodness: jangly guitar, raw vocals, excitable drums, etc. Their songs focus on young love and good times, and while they usually focus on simple four-chord song structures, they’re not afraid to throw some ambitious song structures into their spazz-pop blender. Plus, their album cover features a Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus? Not sure . . .) licking an ice cream cone. I mean, c’mon, how could you not love these guys?

Who: Slothpop / Indianapolis, Indiana

When: Thursday – 9:00pm

Slothpop has a sound that makes me feel like they’re about three weeks away from having a song featured in an iPad or Honda CRV commercial. But the bewitching mix of lead singer Kristin Newborn’s vocal stylings and the band’s dense melodic instrumentation creates a deep sound that’s worth sticking around for. Their tunes don’t rush to hooks or crescendos, but that’s what makes them more intriguing. We’re probably hear more from Slothpop in the near future, so it would definitely help your indie cred to see them at MidPoint and tell your friends you saw them before they were huge.

Who: Mack West / Florence, Kentucky

When: Saturday – 8:45pm

Too idiosyncratic for the strict country set, too razor-sharp for the alt-country crowd, Mack West has been one of the most criminally overlooked bands in the Cinci scene for years now. With songwriter storytelling to rival the best in country folk history, a thumping rhythm section that continually pushes the precise guitar work forward, and a deep baritone on the lead singer (combined with the whole band’s dark vibe) that gives so much of “country Peter Murphy” vibe that it begs for a honky-tonk version of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” Mack West doesn’t really sound like any country/rock band you’ve heard. Luckily, recent features on shows like “American Pickers” have given national audiences the chance to at least take a listen. Come see them at MidPoint, and be shocked at how a band can tell a great story and thoroughly kick your ass all at the same time.

Who: Me and Mountains / Dayton, Ohio

When: Friday – 9:30pm

Nothing beats a great indie rock song. And making great indie rock songs is Me and Mountains’ first order of business. They have enough amber-tinged classic rock riff stylings and yearning vocals to earn a Silkworm comparison, as well as enough hopeful piano work to make me think of Jukebox the Ghost. But the analog filter sweeps and personal lyrics are enough to completely set them apart. All in all, if they’re writing songs solely to make people feel happy, bouncy, and warm inside they’re succeeding.

Who: The Harlequins / Cincinnati, Ohio

When: Saturday – 9:30pm

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Who: The Lions Rampant / Northern Kentucky

When: Thursday – 9:30pm

I’m not grouping the Harlequins and the Lions Rampant together because they sound similar, although I suppose you could draw some commonalities between the former’s reverb-soaked garage rock and the latter’s, um, reverb-splashed garage rock? [Note: although they’d fill a bill together nicely, the two groups do, in fact, sound very different from each other.] No, the reason I’m grouping them together is because they are the first two bands I would point to if someone outside of the Cincinnati area were to ask me what kind of rock n’ roll we have to offer. These guys are balls-to-the-wall Cincinnati rock at its finest; two great, heavy, solid bands whose every guitar lick is evocative and every song essential. Both groups are an amazing time and not to be missed.

Who: Shiny the Spoon / Cincinnati, Ohio

When: Friday – 9:00pm

Shiny and the Spoon have only been a band for couple years, but in that time they’ve managed to fuse together as musicians in such a way as to rival the cohesiveness of a group that’s been around for twenty. Their music is quiet, pretty, and heartfelt acoustic folk that mixes in just enough melancholy and loneliness to be all the more engaging. If their recently released, beautifully inspired, and excellently recorded debut album, Ferris Wheel, is any indication, their set at Arnold’s will be a real treat.

Who: Eat Sugar / Cincinnati, Ohio

When: Friday – 11:30pm

The first time I ever saw Eat Sugar, at MidPoint Music Festival three years ago, it was in some Over the Rhine bar with a name I can’t remember. I do recall that throughout the first half of their set, blaring top 40 music was drifting from the loudspeakers at the front of the bar with enough volume to be distracting during the songs and quite loud during between-song breaks. Into the microphone, the band kept saying, “Hey, would you guys in the front mind turning the music down? It’s kinda hard to play with that other music going.” Then, “Uh, yeah, staff of the bar, would you please turn it down?” Finally, four songs in and with no volume decrease, they snapped. “TURN THE FUCKING MUSIC OFF! WE’RE TRYING TO PLAY BACK HERE!”

I learned a couple things about Eat Sugar that night. First, although they looked like dark and brooding rockers, the members of Eat Sugar were actually serious, polite, and reasonable guys until you pushed them one step to far by playing Black Eyed Peas when they were trying to rock out. Second, as evidenced by the furious synthesizer-fueled dancey post-punk that existed between these confrontations, they were an awesome band.

Since then, Eat Sugar have only gotten better. If you’re at all interested in the Cincinnati music scene, than you should know them well by now. If you don’t, this year’s MidPoint is the perfect opportunity.

-John Crowell @terriblesounds