The Rosen Association

Friday 20 August I saw The Rosen Association for about the third time. When I saw weeks ago that they were playing Darkroom I was so glad. The first time still is fresh in my mind. I know I've been using the shoegaze crayon a lot. Still, they wear it very well. I can really see Ms Erin this time. At the Mutiny you just could not see her or the rest of the band, the stage was so dark. I wondered if that was a deliberate display of mystery. That was a year ago. Their music was not yet available, but memorable. The week before that night I saw at Empty Bottle, School Of Seven Bells, WarPaint, and Panda Riot. Alright I was mostly on time for SVIIB but my point is that I place The Rosen Association firmly in their company, and yet as distinct as a fingerprint. The fans that go to see WarPaint and SVIIB I believe can be just as ravenous about Rosen Association. I feel it's just a matter of putting them in front of them. There is substance to listen, and substance to dance. I'm happy to see Panda Riot always playing Empty Bottle so many times after that one time Scary Lady Sarah introduced them to me. I believe firmly that Rosen Association deserve that same attention, that same chance to grow a local fan base that is not exclusive to the local goth culture. And as far as I can tell in all three times that I saw them, the audience was mostly goth, but as I said they deserve a wider subcultural audience just like Panda Riot. Well for this live performance at Darkroom that Friday I don't recall as many dancing, but they were not being ignored. They were indeed the headliner. The other bands were great as well but alas I only had enough to get the CD and shirt of Rosen'. The songs on the ep that has like 8 songs.

Erin's voice has a womanly depth, eerily older than she appears. In all the songs she sounds relaxed and innocently mysterious. Her voice does not go too high or too low. It does not take too much focus to tell what she is saying, at least in the context of the recorded work. Fragments of "Emergency Broadcast" and "Disco Lullaby of Titan" made me wish I had lyrics to read still. I don't tire of hearing these songs. Both are spacey but it's "Titan" that explicitly mentions riding the solar wind and Hyperion. They are what imprinted first live, and they are not slow. The real work of moving the songs is done by the guitars and drums, and they do so in a way that does not feel common, or pandering to....something. They don't squander your attention by taking you off to some tangent. The songs are not self indulgently long. For the goth that goes to Nocturna or Shimmer this will put you on the floor. You are going to need space for those that trained their movements to mid-tempo 90's goth. It's always in the back of my mind how delicate an existence it is to be in a band. That's why these live shows mean so much. The Rosens' where set to play Michigan, Kalamazoo I believe the very next day and had all their equipment stolen before the even left. I winced when I heard about that. I felt that hurt with them. They are our local answer to Brooklyn's School Of Seven Bells. It's my great hope that they survive this terrible blow.

Zig