Monday 24 January 2011

The Raw Men Empire in Poznań

That was another snap concert I decided to go to on the spur of the moment. I read about the Raw Men Empire in the local paper, checked out their mySpace and let me girlfriend and her friend know. They said OK and we went to Poznań's Meskalina after my work. I admit I was looking for some relief the middle of a busy month, shuttling between different jobs and home.

The paper preview compared them to Joanna Newsom (which is odd, considering it's a four-piece male band) and highlighted their self-proclaimed "pop Dylan" style, a freaky blend of folk and tens of other inspirations. It wasn't enough to have me at hello, but after paying mySpace a visit I was in. Not totally, though, and we quipped before the gig that it was merely OK - nothing to write home about really.

The show was great, though. Very lively throughtout - with a couple of instant hits, like Between you and me (with sweeetly poetic lytics that, as one band member admitted, were about friendship) or the thunderous song about the Isreali girls, the best-looking girls in the world (with a tongue-in-cheek political edge).

They reminded me of a lot of other bands, from Fleet Foxes (when they fell into vocal harmonies) to Lambchop (similarly, a bunch of guys doing music together for fun) to Sparklehorse (in darker moments). The fact that I forked out 40PLN for their two EPs (5 songs each) speaks volumes of their ability to impress the audience.

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