I put these pictures of two very different performers in the same post because I saw them together. For me, they are forever linked. I have to say that I arrived at Emporium with the full intention of seeing
The Cell Phones but I did not arrive on time. Sleepy Kitty I had not seen since 2014 I think. This was my first real effort to see them in what feels like a long time. Godard Protagonist Inflection from Projection Room is the track....the fucking coolest. This intensity sneaks into it early and is a constant from then on. In parts of it I feel are perfect for those cool slow motion scenes in movies.
Sleepy Kitty's music just seem to be perfect for a movie soundtrack. Projection Room for me evokes vague periods that...seem not contemporary. A familiar place I am taken to when I hear SK are the 70's like Dazed And Confused. Its not the only foggy place they take me to. The movie Dazed And Confused was in part about the beginning of the summer when school is out. Hell, Kitty's got a song named School's Out. This space of casual summer fun with bright blue warm days is visited again with Batman: The Ride. 
So most definitely a season is effortlessly and repeatedly evoked in their music, and then they hit you with Protagonist, and I feel newly baptized as a fan. Like being slapped with coolness. And I mean that in a positive way. If you are into The Kills, Sons&Daughters, I think I can sell them on Sleepy Kitty. They did not play Protagonist this time at Emporium. I'm sorry. I built this song up. I'm still inclined to hear what they to play. OK, that sounds weak. Hows this....Ms Paige Brubeck plays the guitar in such a way the devil ain't got nothing to teach her on that guitar.
And there is something on every LP that blows me away and keeps me a fan. That is a constant with Sleepy Kitty, the way Ms Paige plays her guitar with casual confidence. She got this. And this time its with a bass player and extra guitarist. I got to talk to Evan Sult (drums) and the bass player briefly before they went on, actually before Fruit&Flowers went on and absolutely killed it out of no where for me. I bought Flux from Sleepy Kitty before Flowers went on. I did no research on them. I was familiar with Kitty, and Cell Phones, that's it. Recall SK playing Mockingbird from Flux and their single Tu Veux Ou Tu Veux Pas? The night was singular in that I got to see and support a band I know well and rabidly into, and the surprise awesome that was Fruit&Flowers. One experience did not diminish from the other. You just can't believe your luck in having them in the same room. 
Fruit&Flowers started with Down Down Down, at least according to the set list. And right from there, I was a rabid fan. I am on that train and I ain't getting off. They just reminded me of all the best of what I like. The bass was raw and bouncy, and engine that compels you to snarl like Billy Idol. A monster Flower engine. Yeah, they left an imprint. And Sleepy Kitty was still around the corner! How awesome is that.
All the binge research I'm doing now, after the show. I know which songs I heard from both bands. Fruit and Flowers caught me unprepared and they had me from that first track. They are from Brooklyn. I think this was not their first Chicago show, but it was my first time seeing them. Hell they came with rabid fans. I began noticing the reacting crowd around me, they seemed to have fans already waiting for them. Hell, they ignited a fucking mosh pit. At some moments the lead singer threw herself into that crowd. 
It was a fucking sight. Its quite something to see fans reacting to them. These did not seem like people reacting to something they barely discovered as way fucking cool. The slam dancing seemed spontaneous but they knew who they were reacting to. I learn as much from seeing a committed crowd react. You don't get an audience so hot and bothered without playing a lot. And I have been tripping over Youtube videos of their live performances. My view of them will evolve over time, but I am a fan for good. I remember later on, talking to the drummer and then also to the lead singer, Caroline. They were both very sweet people. I bought the tape from them. I wanted the fucking shirt, but had enough for the tape. A tangible reference to keep them in mind. The bass and the drums form the gears that roll and twist. And they got the moments when they are sweet and just a shade darker than The Long Blondes, lets say. They were such a different animal than Sleepy Kitty. The differences made each band stick out from one another. Sleepy Kitty was cool, chill and refined as Fruit&Flowers were gritty, aggressive, and sweet. In my possession are the recordings of SK, while Flowers have yet to record a lot of their work. I will not forget one for the other, for seeing them together made them sisters in my eyes. Zig
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