The greatest pop music gimmick in recent years: Buy old slides at estate and garage sales, and write ultra-quirky songs about the stories that you see in the slides. Top it off with your eight-year-old daughter as drummer. http://www.slideshowplayers.com/ So after a couple of months of NYC hype, I saw this act today. My immediate impressions are: -- The father is really ambitious, and I think he's looking at this concept as his opportunity to make some quick cash and get back into his real ambition, which is to be a pop songwriter. -- Before seeing them I thought the mother played a musical instrument. However, her job is just to run the slides, which in retrospect is kinda important. -- The daughter is damned cute, very precocious, and better than several legal-age drummers I've seen. I'd fear for her long-term, though; how good could it be to hang out in bars at night at age eight? I have to say I was extremely entertained. "Mountain Trip To Japan, 1959" is a top-shelf pop song, and I laughed out loud several times. But 12 months from now, if these guys are headlining large clubs and have some major label support behind them, we should all collect some money and set it aside for the daughter's therapy bills. Anyone else seen them and care to comment?
I've been planning for a couple weeks to see them today at Maxwell's (the 3pm start date is perfect for an old guy like me...) but I've had the flu since Wednesday so I didn't go. Saw them last week on Conan doing "Look At Me", and thought it was awesome. Thanks for the review, Obie...I'll have to go next Sunday for sure. Did the Mom make any snacks to hand out, as I've heard she does when they play Fez? Was there a big crowd?
I also saw them on Conan. At first, I thought it was going to be a massive humiliation for them, and the guy looked a little too much like Austin Powers, so I didn't see how they could possibly go over at all well. 20 seconds later I was having trouble breathing from laughing so hard. So, yeah, they were pretty damn good. I thought the mom did a great job on the projector, so props to her as well.
Ah, well, if you see them live, you'll get the extra-long 5 1/2 minute version of "Look At Me" -- complete with slides that they couldn't show on network television! (They're mighty racy, too!) No, no snacks. The place was probably about half full in numbers but felt like more, b/c most people were seated on the floor and took up more space. Almost all 20-something hipsters (which I am not), though a couple of people took advantage of the kids-free promo. Boy, were those parents embarrassed by the extra "Look At Me" slides!
Finally saw the Trachtenburg's last night...they were the first show in a series of concerts being put on at a little movie theatre in Paramus. Jason, the dad, was hilarious as he rambled through all kinds of between-song chatter. The songs & slides were a hoot, and Rachael hung tough for a 9 yr old backing up a wacky dad at a time when most of her pals were probably already in bed for a few hours. She was funny too, as she'd interupt her Dad's mini-monologues with honest questions like, "Hey Dad, do you know what time it is?" or "What was that movie you liked so much that you watched it three times?" that had nothing to do with anything other than a kid's killing some time in her head. What a fun show. The opening act was TFSP labelmates The Mosquitos, who are an interesting NYC band with a Brazilian girl singer, playing an Indie/Samba fusion that kind of sounds like a mix of Bebel G, Stereolab, and The Ocean Blue! They sounded really nice live, so I'm gonna hunt down the CD this week. http://www.mosquitosnyc.com/ By the way, I encourage everyone here from North Jersey to keep an eye out for shows at this place. The theatre and series are run by two brothers who are very passionate about what they are trying to do, and it would be a shame for them not to succeed. http://www.paramuspictureshow.com/
Sounds like a white version of The Jackson's. There has to be a few child labor laws being violated. Was it really good (like you'd see them again or buy a CD) or just an interesting gimmick like you said?
Re: Re: Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players Sounds like you are asking Obie, but here's my 2 cents: I thought it was really good, but I can't imagine it would be as much fun seeing them again unless they had a new set of songs/slides to go with it. I have the CD, and though the songs are pretty good poptunes, the slides really are necessary to make it all work. To their credit, the new Bar None version of the CD comes with a booklet featuring photos of the slides to follow along with the songs.