A review of the Animal Law AV-aerie show from Blogstitude
Animal Law was next, a 'Chicago supergroup' of Mark Solotroff (Bloodyminded, Bloodlust! label, et al) on vocals, Jason Soliday (Jason Soliday, et al) on baritone guitar, Dylan Posa (Flying Luttenbachers, Cheer-Accident, et al) on drums, Blake Edwards (Vertonen, C.I.P. label, et al) on percussion, and Geoff Guy (Gary Glitter's Hard Drive, Gays in the Military, et al) on guitar - when I first heard they were playing together I thought "this could be good," then I saw on MySpace that they were playing in the style of "Swans, Khanate, Bauhaus, Harvey Milk, The Goslings, My Bloody Valentine, Flipper..." and I thought "this could be really good." And judging from this show I'd say that it pretty much is, although they definitely played too long for being the second band on a six-band bill, and they are still working some stuff out here and there. First song was a great spaced-out dirge that had Solotroff staring down the crowd with cold melancholy for a good five minutes while Soliday's thunderous ax and Posa's minimalist drums held down the riff, Guy did psychedelic stuff on top, and Edwards placed the judicious scrap yard accents. When Solotroff finally came in it was on the attack, in a screaming Bloodyminded style. A couple other songs had a disarmingly poppier approach, with Solotroff doing a fairly explicit Ian Curtis thing on one, and some quirky changes attempted and not necessarily nailed. The dirges were pretty exquisite, though - looking forward to hearing these songs recorded.
