The D.C. Scene, Part One

As should be surprising to no one who knows me or reads this blog, one of the things I've been doing over the last few weeks is trying to learn more about the D.C. music scene. In addition to testing out a number of venues that I'd never been to before (Rock and Roll Hotel, Iota and the Black Cat), I've been doing my best to find interesting local bands.

Throughout much of the 80's and early 90's, Washington D.C. was known for having a pretty vibrant music scene. Bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Government Issue, Fugazi, Jawbox, Shudder to Think, Velocity Girl, The Dismemberment Plan, Q and Not U and many more have all called the D.C. area home. Over the last few years, however, I haven't been hearing a lot of the music coming out of D.C., aside from one of my guilty pleasures, Washington Social Club.

Thankfully, it hasn't taken me long to start finding some really good new music being made in D.C. While I've found a bunch of interesting new bands so far, I'll focus for now on two bands that are opening tomorrow night (Tuesday) for The Hoodoo Gurus at the Black Cat: The Fake Accents and Julie Ocean. Both bands came highly recommended to me by Eric of The Jet Age (another DC band I'll be talking about soon), and he was right on both counts.

The Fake Accents

While it's typically considered lazy journalism to discuss a band by focusing on what other bands its sounds like, it's even lazier to quote someone else who has already done the comparison for you. So to show you just how lazy I can be, here's how the Washington Post described The Fake Accents' last album: "...the sound of its The Big Disconnect is indeed rather familiar: The Velvet Underground, early Television, the Fall and any late-'80s New Zealand band of your choice pretty much covers it."

I can't do a whole lot better than that comparison other than to say that the four songs that the band has on their MySpace page are fantastic, and I can't wait to catch these guys live. Here's my favorite of their songs that I've heard so far (by a hair over "Xavier"):

The Fake Accents, "Japanese B-Side"

You can buy The Big Disconnect here. I'm gonna pick up a copy for myself at the show tomorrow night.

Julie Ocean

Whereas the Fake Accents seem to be coming from more of a punk (or post-punk) background, Julie Ocean lean pretty strongly towards power pop, and very good power pop at that. The band is made up of several longtime DC-area musicians, including Jim Spellman of Velocity Girl and Hunter Bennett from Weatherhead and Stabb, and it shows - the band knows how to put together some pure pop nuggets.

Julie Ocean, "Number One Song"

I can't tell if the band has any albums available or not, but I'll try to find out tomorrow night. Until then, you can hear a few more songs at their MySpace page.

It's been a long time since I went to a show where I was looking forward to seeing two opening bands (as well as the headliners). If you're headed to the show tomorrow night, I strongly suggest that you join me in arriving early.

Update: Sal C points out in the comments that the Julie Ocean will be releasing their first album on the Transit of Venus label early next year. Excellent.