A review of the Small Black show on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

Photo by Ivan Antolic-Soban

Adam Valeiras of WMRE / The Frequency wrote a nice review of the Small Black show that occured at the Drunken Unicorn on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010.

"The Drunken Unicorn – October 26th, 2010

The Drunken Unicorn is literally underground. To find this relatively hidden club, it takes Ivan Antolic-Soban, my photographer, and me nearly twenty minutes of aimless wandering until Ivan finally decides to call his friend from Atlanta to receive directions. We are on the wrong side of the street. After crossing, we hear a thumping bass that could only be the product of a low-fi techno dance beat. We enter through below-ground, sticker-covered double doors, and I immediately understand why The DU is allowed to be elitist enough to not have reliable directions, a phone number, or an entrance sign: this is single-handedly the coolest music venue I’ve been to since my start at Emory. A 250 person capacity, the fact that it’s underground, the cheesy star-studded stage backdrop, the dueling X’s on the back of each of my hands due to my under twenty-one identification. I’m not even sure if I am cool enough to be standing in this music-lover’s rabbit hole of a venue.

The bands tonight are as follows: first up, Class Actress, and then main act, Small Black, who is celebrating the release of the group’s debut album, New Chain. Class Actress kills it. Every song they play is spot on, gathering excitement for the highlight of the evening to come. To introduce Small Black, it must be said that the band is about 95% electronic. Acoustic drums are the only exception, but even then there are still tons of synthesized drum loops throughout each song. This is important because what I believe made this show so amazing was not the order or choice of songs played, but rather the raw energy that surrounded the show. The decently small, but loyal crowd (the show was on a Tuesday night after all) got into every jam as much as the band did. Lead singer Josh Kolenik danced around stage, microphone in hand, with the occasional knob turning on his synth. Bassist Ryan looked like he was on drugs – and he very well might have been – closing his eyes while swinging the long neck of a bass guitar around. Hard to pick highlights, I would say that my favorites of the evening were their two renditions of Despicable Dogs – one being a remix with an old friend who now lives in Atlanta – and their first single off New Chain, “Photojournalist.” Both these songs initiated an immediate dance party, both on stage and off. The band and the crowd seemed so in-sync, with the common ground being the music, and that’s just such a rare thing to find at a live show anymore. Common ground.

-Adam Valeiras"

Click here for the actual post on the WMRE website