The Tea Club – Live at the North Star Bar

When thinking of The Tea Club, the first word that comes to mind: haunting.

The Tea Club is a progressive rock band based out of south Jersey, and is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of the brothers McGowan (Dan and Pat). The music they create is both ethereal and earthy. The heavy bass and drumbeats that carry the music from underneath are accented beautifully with eerie vocals, and dissonant chords that eclectically bring together a haunting but beautiful experience of shoegazing nostalgia, and pulse pounding rock.

Vocally this band is beatific. The McGowan brothers often share parts in singing eerie but beautiful melodies and harmonies, steeping from deep bass notes into high falsetto and everywhere in between, while the music seems slightly off, it always sounds so right, and leaves your ears ringing but trust me, it is something you will never want to go away.

In the wake of semi-Genesis style (“Entangled” specifically comes to mind), and King Crimson-like guitars, mixed with haunting vocals, and incredible backing instrumentation filled with beautiful dissonance, The Tea Club provides an excellent performance. Their albums General Winter’s Secret Museum, and Rabbit are available on iTunes and always at their merch tables.

The band, normally a perfectly tuned five piece rock band, recently toned it down from the classic Tea Club experience, and put on a very intimate acoustic show at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia. The show was originally unplanned since the band has delved into the recording process of their third full length album, but when they were asked to open for Jimmy Gnecco of the band Ours (if you haven’t heard, check them out), they leaped at the opportunity.

Without Joe Rizzolo their percussionist, they were left with Chuck Batdorf playing bass, Becky Osenenko on keys, and the McGowan Brothers on guitars. The strident, but melodic guitar riffs were toned down slightly to allow room for the woodiness of the acoustic guitars that were utilized. The keys adding dissonance to the choruses in a much needed way as the bass drove the dark haunting undertones. The show was heartfelt as always, and well received by the crowd who often shriek in approval after each song. While they only played four of their shorter songs (two new ones I had not yet heard) they were, as always, fantastic. While the acoustic sound differs, and I stress, immensely from their full ensemble, it was ear-candy to no end. The two songs I had heard before with the full band were incredibly different, in a very…”same” kind of way. The acoustic sound of these songs showed you a different aura of the band’s talent where you wouldn’t think to look in the first place. And when a band can do what The Tea Club did Friday night, it just proves their worthiness for recognition.

If you have never heard The Tea Club, you’re missing out, and if you have…you are a lucky one. The band has never disappointed me in the eight (or more?) times that I’ve seen them in the past (…yes) six months, and I don’t ever expect them to. I suggest you look them up on the old Facebook, or visit them at www.theteaclub.net, and I suppose any of the other social networking sites.

So this was Kirby writing for you, hope you check out this absolutely lung stealing band, and give them the praise they deserve!

Band name: The Tea Club
Genres: Art Rock, Indie Prog, Prog Folk, Post-Progressive
Location: Barrington, New Jersey
Band members: Patrick McGowan – Vocals, Guitar/ Dan McGowan – Vocals, Guitar/ Becky Osenenko – Bass/ Kyle Minnick – Drums
Website: http://theteaclub.net/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theteaclub
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tea-Club/135024363938

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