You Deserve More
Saturday night at Remnant SatelliteOtis Shanty tristams the shandy at Remnant Satellite on Saturday, 10 February 2024.
Hereboy girls there in the opening slot.
“I’ve never been thanked before.”
“You deserve more.”
It was a throwaway exchange between two of the half dozen bodies percolating on and around the stage trying to figure out sound issues at Remnant Satellite, the Cambridge offshoot of the original Somerville brewpub location.
Someone thanked the sound guy for his work, and he was grateful, and the two fell into a mock 6-second emotional drama about self worth, positive reinforcement, and empowerment as naturally as a penny falls into a well. It was a good crowd for that sort of humor, and for trading the latest lacrosse gossip.
Maybe the sound guy really had never been thanked for his work? It can be a thankless task, especially at smaller venues, milking the dials for a riot parade of underground acts, newly-formed or just about to break up. When something goes wrong, everyone always looks at you.
A good sound technician needs to be something like a horse whisperer, or a cult leader, or therapist in order to wrangle the personal aesthetics of the bands into a presentable package. It’s hard work, and doesn’t always come off. To paraphrase Dune’s Reverend Mother Mohiam, they don’t just try & fail, they try & die.
So pour one out for the fallen sound techs, and be grateful for those that take their place.
The three-piece Hereboy arrived on stage with the classic triad of guitar, bass, and drums. You might call it the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost of indie rock, except Girls’ LP Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost of indie rock.
Hereboy
Whatever happened to Girls? After a jaw-dropping debut album (titled Album, I guess), and a stunning followup EP Broken Dreams Club, the San Francisco band released an epic sophomore LP that should have cemented the status of Girls in the upper echelon of indie rock for at least a solid decade or more.
But the band kind of just petered out. The songwriting duo of Christopher Owens and Chet White went their separate ways and did their different things. Fans of their music were left with a sense of “what might have been.” Not that each of the founding members of Girls stopped making art, just that they stopped making art together, and there was a special magic to the partnership in the moment.
Speaking of the Girls album released on Jagjaguwar, the guitarist for Hereboy was rocking a Fender Jaguar. Maybe the coolest profile of any modern guitar? Right up there with the Fender Jazzmaster. Which looks awfully similar. Come to think of it, has anyone ever seen a Jaguar and Jazzmaster in the same room at the same time?
Two 30-minute sets for Hereboy, two 30-minute sets for Otis Shanty?
Otis Shanty
Someone at Remnant Satellite is trying to boost Q1 earnings by stringing out the performance over a longer stretch of drinking seconds, minutes, and hours. No genuine complaints from this quarter – just happy to see the old Atwood’s Tavern reborn as a spot that still hosts live music.
The wallet can take a hit, though, with these microbrews. We’re not slinging Gansetts here.
The Otis Shanty crew gathered outdoors before their set to hash out the setlist. It might strike you as remarkable that a band would wait until so close to showtime to figure these things out. But it’s generally a positive sign that each member knows their shit well enough to play their shit well enough at the drop of a hat. The band might also not have that much material to pick from.
Chief among the picks were songs off their recent EP Early Birds, a medium tempo dream pop sampler. The music is texture- and melody-forward, propelled by keys and guitar, with just enough from the rhythm section to keep the idyll idling.
Kind of interesting to hear the rhythmic and percussive leaned on more in the live version, but some of the nuances still get lost at a joint like Remnant Satellite, filled to the brim with the Canadian goose version of human beings on a Saturday night.
Catch the band at a venue (with a soundboard) like Crystal Ballroom for the full experience.
To complete the bit, a Shandy is a drink made from beer and lemonade, which can be refreshing but is usually a waste of beer, and Tristam Shandy is a novel by Laurence Sterne, which is a dull read that life is too short for.
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