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Paul Benjaman Band, Poot-Poot, Monte Montgomery and more local bands sound off.
4/2
Paul Benjaman Band
The Paul Benjaman Band is unapologetically ripping off from the Tulsa Sound.
And they are doing it quite well.
The Tulsa Sound was a mosaic of various influences, such as western swing, rock, gospel and blues. But the Paul Benjaman Band — on the Organum label — adds a bit of soul, funk and a dash of reggae as well.
The result is a sound that you recognize but that is completely its own: a modern take on a local institution.
This band will be in high demand come summertime, with music that sounds like a warm Oklahoma night. So beat the rush and catch the band now.
The Colony, 2809 S. Harvard Ave. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/paulbenjamanband.
4/5
Poot-Poot
There is something about hearing brutal things presented delicately. Loveliness can make the worst news sound OK.
Julianna Beckert and Lindsay Saunders make up a two-piece group called Poot-Poot. Poot-Poot might be one of the most profane acts you ever catch, but you just can’t help but go along with it. It’s so cute, it hurts, no matter what you just heard them sing.
Their music is simple and catchy. Their voices sound like the Snuggles the Fabric Softener Bear Duo. But then you catch lyrics that tell an unnamed suitor to desist from “looking at my behind,” or how they’d rather be buried 6 feet under than fork up their telephone number, and that is the printable stuff.
It’s not all NC-17. Songs such as “Love You” and “Robot and Pigeon” are sweet, endearing morsels that contain a depth that I wish more songs on the radio had.
Soundpony, 409 N. Main St.
4/9
Monte Montgomery
Guitar Player Magazine called Monte Montgomery one of the Top 50 guitar players of all time, a guitar god and the “Evil Knievel of guitar” (until I see him jump a canyon playing his six-string, I’m not buying it).
He has released several albums since his scintillating national debut on Austin City Limits, but he is known far and wide for his live performances.
This will be a solo, acoustic show.
Those who appreciate incredible music just smiled.
All Soul Acoustic Coffeehouse, All Souls Unitarian Church, 2952 S. Peoria Ave. More information is available at www.allsoulcoffeehouse.com.
4/21
Rogue Wave
What do movies, books and toilet paper have in common?
When you find one you like, you don’t want the sequel to start taking “artistic liberties.”
Awful joke, but the point is that sequels should at least closely resemble the one before. You don’t want “Avatar II” as an homage to Fellini, for Harry Potter to finally hear about Lasik and scar-removing cosmetic surgery or burlap added to anything used in the bathroom.
But music is somehow different. You don’t want to hear the same songs as last time and pay for them.
Rogue Wave released “Asleep at Heaven’s Gate” in 2007. It was a dense, harmonious effort that rightfully garnered the band attention from the Death Cab for Cutie crowd. The group’s upcoming release, “Permalight,” is more synth-laden (at least the first single “Good Morning (The Future)” is) and sounds a bit more like the Postal Service.
The band’s fans from “Asleep” are in a tizzy of an uproar.
We all yearn for something new and intelligent from the music that we love, and when we actually get it, we say, “Ewww, what happened to their old stuff?”
If you want old stuff, listen to your parents’ radio station.
If you want artists to continue to push the boundaries of their craft, shut your talk hole and listen.
Or pick up an instrument and do it yourself.
Until you start making your own music, give this band your undivided attention.
Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St.
