Throughout the years some immense musical talent has come from the city of Dallas, Texas; you've got indie rock hero Elliot Smith, blues guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, and soul pioneer Sly Stone and his funky family. On the other side of the coin Dallas has also spit out garbage like Usher, Jessica Simpson, and Disney Channel cash-outs Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Nick Jonas (and on an unrelated note, Dr. Phil). Now where you come from doesn't necessarily apprehend how far you will go in life, but it's interesting to note the wild spectrum of quality this city has raised. This brings us to a little band called The Abstract, who are a blossoming young collective from their native Dallas, Texas.
The band consists of four barley out of high-school teenagers with an encouraging amount of musical talent. They've been jamming out their spin of neo-psychedelic British invasion in garages around town for a little under a year now, and with it are getting a healthy dose of their musical surroundings. Recently the band has reached more expansive territory, and in one of their earliest gigs, Live At The Prophet Bar, the band is captured in peak form; through a studio refined sound on their spontaneous live personality. Live At The Prophet Bar documents the band belting out two original bangers and a cover of local heroes The Orange.
Throughout this set bass player Edward Renton carries a relatively straight forward rhythmic structure, guiding the rest of the band, as drummer Shane Gordon maintains a consistently tight percussive flow, most evident on the opener "Catch Me". That particular song grooves a tight rock ability as William Carlson's quivering vocals echo The Clash. Right away we are introduced to the kaleidoscopic dripping curiosity of guitarists Andres Nunez and William Carlson that really takes the song to the clouds, as the band cleverly breaks down into a colossal noise outro. The last track of the set "What You Could've Had" stretches things out a bit as Nunez and Carlson pluck a bugged out riff that gives the relatively straight-faced arrangement some wacky personality.
It's only on the second track "Nip/Tuck", a cover of Dallas locals The Orange, where The Abstract sounds out of place in this set. The song runs in a more structured and commercial slickness that the band's originals don't, and when run together it ends up sounding like a flight of stairs with a missing panel. Although, their version is better than the original; which is a painfully average pop-rock tune that's sorely overproduced, and ends up sounding like an interchangeable single between a thousand other bands. Cheers to them for topping it, but still it lacks in the raw groove the other two tracks boast.
Ultimately The Abstract are better left to their own devices; a band that works better as their own force, rather than being tied down to someone else's material. They're a band that shows great potential to be on the high end of that Dallas spectrum; with their influences on their sleeves and personality in check. It'll be interesting to hear what they'll sound like in the studio, and I hope when they do so, they manage to stay fresh, psychedelic, and most importantly raw. Crack open a keg and play it wild, because when it comes down to it you're not called The Abstract for nothin'.
[The Abstract Facebook]
[Download Live at the Prophet Bar from Bandcamp]
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