Agent Ribbons!!!

Early in 2009 this band played Beat Kitchen and I barely caught the last song and I had nothing left to buy their CDs. Life is rough indeed! Alright so I'm seeing the last song and I can't really enjoy it 'cause....it's the last song, and I just got there. In every respect I could only blame myself for not saving enough and for not being on time. So I knew to watch out for this band again. The name Agent Ribbons needed not to be written down in a note. The sting of missing them was reminder enough. As it hurt less, I researched them more. There's a lot of youtube videos on them that here and there I watched. From youtube's distance I can tell these girls have a playful, sharp wit.

So I finally saw them at Subt's this past Tuesday 7 September. They were here to promote the release of the Chateau Crone. Their second release after On Time Travel And Romances. This band is a chameleon, colorful and elusive to describe. To be familiar with them is to come in direct contact to many styles and cultures that Agent Ribbons owns in the gut. Travel or the idea of it is implied in the guts of Agent Ribbons as evidence this vaudeville/rockabilly streak that surfaces then opens you to unexpected doors like to old Mexican folk songs, as in "Le Noche" on the Travel' CD. The accordion is a recognized passport to the southwest, Tex-Mex, they also go East with it as well like in "I'll Let You Be My Baby" on "Chateau". All this can strike as a gimmick if it were not for the wit and intelligence behind the songwriting. They know how to write some very endearing songs. They avoid all the trip wires that would strike one as common. They don't go for the easy rhyme. If you already discovered Amanda Palmer, refocus your attention. There is weight and resonance to be found for one who listens to all shades of dark. They have a way of disarming you with out tripping the sappy trip wire. Natalie plays guitar mostly, Lauren plays drums, and Naomi plays violin. There are more instruments played than I just mentioned. They are the kind of band that makes you feel good in your own eccentric skin without feeling like they are pandering to it. The band does what it does, is what it is out of impulse. Indeed it's as if I found myself all over again when beholding this band. I wish I could have told them that when I met them.

Zig