And at some point, someone should dance across the stage in a giant papier-mache head”? If the answer to this question is, “yes, of course,” then you need to see The Flying DeSelms. And they should be wearing marching band uniforms. Have you ever been watching a band and said, “this is great, but they really should have a bari sax. The Flying DeSelms/Joe Baughman and the Righteous Few I won’t waste too much time-we’re a four-piece that plays an atmospheric, heavy blend of post rock, shoegaze, and alt rock. ![]() But I wouldn’t be able to paint a very accurate picture of the musical landscape if I were to omit us. SPACESHIPSįull disclosure: this is my own band. They don’t play all that often, but every Lune show I’ve ever been to has been filled with an adoring crowd singing every word. Structure-wise, the songwriting is very similar, but the guitars are turned way up and the drums are played loud. But over time his bluegrass sonic palette proved an insufficient medium for his whiskey soaked, punk tinged angst. His own band, Lune, began life as a folksy solo project, occasionally aided with other players. As an employee of our Hot Topic-one of the few outposts of underground culture in turn-of-the-century Suburbia-he was quick to steer impressionable youths (like myself) away from mallcore acts like Hawthorne Heights and gently nudge them towards bands like Fugazi or Jawbox. As a high schooler with punk rock aspirations, South was a guru. Luneįew people I know love rock and roll more than Nathaniel South. Post rock is one of my favorite genres, and analecta is objectively one of my favorite post-rock bands. They build songs one intricate loop at a time, blossoming into gorgeous soundscapes that erupt in massive climaxes. The duo spends their sets navigating through racks of synthesizers, multiple guitars, stacks of amplifiers, a drum set with loose pieces, and one of the most massive pedalboards you’ve ever seen. To watch analecta is to watch a pair of architects build incredible structures in real time, just to set them on fire and watch them burn. And though there’s only two of them, their stage set up has more hardware than just about any other act in town. Speaking of power duos, we also have the two-piece instrumental post-rock band analecta. They also did a split with Owen (solo project of American Football’s Mike Kinsella), so that’s rad. Their two-piece guitar jams often include extended meditative sections and gleeful singalongs. If the Rutabega was around in the 80s or 90s, they would be called “college rock” and lumped in with bands like Built To Spill, Dinosaur Jr, and Pavement. ![]() Since then, frontman Joshua Wayne Hensley has taken his scrappy, lo-fi solo project into a veritable alt-rock tour-de-force, bringing on local mainstay Garth Mason of South Bend punk legends The Urinal Mints as his partner, playing the floor pedal section of an old organ along with his drum set. I first saw The Rutabega open for Taking Back Sunday in a local coffee shop during the Tell All Your Friends tour in 2002. You literally cannot talk about South Bend bands without bringing up The Indie Rock Elders. ![]() A few of these bands play in South Bend more often than they do in their own hometowns and have become integral to the fabric of our scene. Oh, but one disclaimer before I get on with it: due to our unique geographical location (we’re situated on the Michigan border and within three hours of a number of large metro centers, including Indianapolis, Chicago, and Detroit), we catch a fair bit of overlap between bands in Northwest Indiana, Southern Michigan, and even as far as Fort Wayne. That was twelve years ago, and in that time, our city has become home to a diverse, talented community of musicians that absolutely should not be missed. But after a few fruitless months of open mic nights, phone tag with industry contacts, and attempts to connect with other musicians, I realized that I had left a rare community of artists, poets, and musicians that weren’t going to be replaced anytime soon.Īnd so I moved back, and made an intentional effort to invest more time in the music scene. That dream of leaving town for greener pastures was a driving force in my life-planning, and after graduating college, I struck out for Chicago to pursue a proper music career. After all, the most famous band from South Bend’s history-the Rivieras-scored a major hit with a song about moving to California. The greatest thing any local musician could hope to do was leave. Growing up in the late 90s, my home town of South Bend, Indiana was the type of place meant to be escaped.
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