the Hissyfits, Earlimart & the Americas

When it comes to Chico, Murphy's law seems to be the rule, not the exception. For two weeks now there's been nada as far as excitement to be had, thus I was stoked when I got the assignment to cover the Hissyfits / Earlimart show at the Senator. At least it was something interesting to do. But lo and behold, the one time I actually have an obligation, something else really important ends up happening, at the exact same time, only in a different place. In this case, that something was the final Union of The Dead show at LaSalle's. Th Union boys are off to greener pastures, off to conquer the big fat world with their gnarly tattoos and gnarlier punk rawk. Thus, the first part of my evening was spent paying my respects to The Dead, who I'm sure will do Chico proud, wherever they end up.
I, on the other hand, have no plans to leave this wonderful place any time soon, and therefore want to maintain my present employment status at this fine publication. So I wiped the tears and made my way to the Senator, just in time to miss The Americas. I was told they had a really good drummer.
Next up was Earlimart, the much-lauded Devil in the Woods band and last week's Synthesis cover boys. Unfortunately, due to a combination of factors — drunkenness, a new keyboard player, who seemed somewhat lost, and an indifferent crowd — Earlimart failed to live up to the reputation that had preceded them. Brief moments of sonic beauty did occur, though; I'm sure if I saw these guys on a good night, my opinion would be the opposite, but this was obviously not a good night. This was evident to the band as well. Vocalist Aaron Espinoza apologized somewhat sincerely at the end of the set, and afterwards explained to me that they had "gone looking for Novelty St. for the dollar pints," which I finally figured out meant Normal St. Apology accepted.
The Hissyfits, on the other hand, had no real excuse. They played okay, and didn't seem to be in any sort of altered state, they just weren't very good. Someone said they sounded like Sleater-Kinney but I think Sleater-Kinney might take offense to that. Sure they were girls, and cuties at that, but they seemed to be trying way too hard. Songs sounded rigid and dynamic-less, and stage presence was a non-factor. Granted that the crowd didn't necessarily emit any real energy either, but it's not their job to entertain. The Hissyfits were certainly O.K., but did nothing to merit any sort of accolade. As opposed to Earlimart, who were bad, but sounded like they had the ability to be really good, the Hissyfits seemed to be maxed out at "decent."

– Daniel Taylor

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