Post Honeymoon

So I saw Post Honeymoon when they had their cd release party on a Friday at The Hideout. I arrived too late to see Bengal Lancer.....arrgh!!!! I was fucking pist. I so wanted to see them as well. I've seen Post Honeymoon one time before and I got their three song ep. Now they were having their cd release thing and I bought their full length. They are Rachel Shindelman and Nick Kraska. They are married. I think they were both in Bang Bang, another awesome Chicago band. I know Rachel was for sure. She played keyboard for them and now here she is leading her own excellent creation.

If you like Amanda Palmer/Dresden Dolls, I think I can sell you on this band, and for the same reasons. Amanda Palmer is the only point of reference I can think of at the moment. And if I can hold your attention with that name then you can like Post Honeymoon. Nick plays the drums like a mad man, and with his eyes closed. He's such a live wire, he makes the performance more intense. Their songs are dark, muscular and fast. When they are slow, your attention is still held by the urgency of Rachel's words. Even without learning the words the songs have more darkness than light in the end of the tunnel. Close your eyes and they just sound like it's Projekt Fest. "Dirge" warns you about the storm, you stay to brave it, and are left behind. The song is slow and chilling already and then she says "they know you're here, but they don't care 'bout you". Fuck!! That just sounds so ominous. It's campfire scary. And I don't just get it reading the lyrics. In every performance I can hear Rachel clearly. You know how sometimes Amanda Palmer's words stream out like a bunch of run on sentences racing each other. I'm not saying that like a bad thing, but just to better describe Post Honeymoon. Rachel's words don't come out that fast but they still have that urgency-of-the-moment feel to them. "Dirge", "Lars", and "Night Guard" have imprinted on me, in part because I saw these live. This is goth club worthy local music. Everyone will suddenly want to dance to this the way they dance to Joy Division. The Hideout crowd didn't dance that much, but they all still loved Post Honeymoon.

This was a crowd that knew who they came to see. Still you can't just bounce around by yourself like an asshole. But this can be played at Neo, and have that dark club street cred. I saw musicians from other local bands on this night. It was nice. It was a moment anticipated, finally present.