Live: The Submarines @ Troubadour

ARTICLE BY GREG CARUSO
PHOTO BY LESLIE KALOHI

MARCH 24 | LOS ANGELES— Blake Hazzard may just be the cutest and bubbliest thing to hit the Troubadour stage in a long while. Her band, The Submarines, played to a packed crowd Monday night in support of Ireland’s Bell X-1, and at first, it was hard to tell whom the crowd was there to see given the openers’ warm reception. Despite that, the trio on stage had the crowd in the palms of their hands from note one.

Accompanying Blake Hazzard on stage is one Jack “Jack Drag” Dragonetti, her musical counterpart and husband. Together, along with newfound drummer Jason Stare, they dazzled us not only with songs from their debut album Declare a New State, but also impressed us even more with a multitude of songs off of their forthcoming album, Honeysuckle Weeks.

After tonight’s performance, to say that one shouldn’t be excited for the May 13 release of Honeysuckle is laughable. Songs like “Xavia” and “You, Me and the Bourgeoisie” resonated not only with the room’s fantastic sound, but to everyone’s eardrums. Compared to State’s tracks, you can hear that the band is really trying to expand stylistically and lyrically. Not to say that State’s songs don’t match up at all; they do entirely. It just seems like the band has raised the bar higher for themselves, which is something every musician should do … especially in a live setting, and even more so at the Troubadour.

Though The Submarines’ sound isn’t anything new or groundbreaking, Hazzard’s and Dragonetti’s lyrics are quite poignant and fresh. And their chemistry is undeniable. Drummer Stares’ licks matched up quite well with the duo’s already established vibe, and I must say that the animal-style hair was a big plus in the groove factor, as was Hazzard’s glockenspiel and melodyhorn horn solos. As a whole, the evening’s performance was a success, and The Submarines deserve it and more in the coming months.

Comments

[paulag]

sweeetttt!!!!!!!!
welcome.

[paulag]

new found drummer, we will correct the 411. thank you for reading the scenestar.