Blucifer’s First Rodeo: Blankslate
I was so stoked for Blankslate’s late-night Friday set at Bar 404, and they delivered. Both musicians are really technically and instinctual talented, and their songs are perfect for people like me that grew up listening to “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” on a home-burned CD that my brother gave to me. The kind of indie rock that’s so authentic you can hear the band’s soul in each song. Blankslate’s sound is not necessarily happy (and to me, militates in favor of melancholic) but you can’t help but find it exciting, addicting, and dance-y.
Both members know how to write good, rhythmically-interesting melodies, and each song has a natural progression with pockets of minimal instrumentation where you hear a highlighted drum beat or vocal line, complemented against pockets where they loudly rock the-fuck-out. Blankslate also NAILED the cover of “Take a Walk” by Passion Pit. Both musicians flexed their capacity to create so much with just two people, and their onstage energy is infectious because you can tell they love playing these songs with each other.
Song Review: ODE TO THE ROCKIES
I love this song from the first five seconds and vocal line, which I would randomly sing to my dog for over a week:
Wish we could cut our losses.
Everyone got stuck.
The opening line feels great to sing because it’s like guitar voice leading but in lyrics and sounds. (1) “Wish” and “we”, and (2) “could” and “cut” feel like the sounds are close together but still their own word, and the connect (I.e., like guitar voice leading) effortless lead you through the lyrics — and I can’t help notice both in this song and more generally, that Blankslate has great intuition for lyrical phonetics.
Also, if you didn’t know, the Rockies (Denver’s professional baseball team) have been terrible for a long time. I personally love it because it means low ticket prices and elbow room in the seats, and the cheapest nosebleed seats give a beautiful perspective of the Denver skyline and the outline of the front range.
“ODE TO THE ROCKIES” appears to endorse a positive lamenting of our “flaws,” and each vocal melody floats in a space of subtle light harmonies and bounce-y drum beats. The musical tones and narrator’s perspective radiates a happy attitude – even through the familiar realization that somethings not going their way (e.g., the Rockies are bad (again)). To be fair, I’m not sure if that’s the song’s intended meaning, but I don’t care. I can’t get enough of the contrast between the line “cut off at the knees” and the preceding music break’s upbeat vocal melodies (“ooo oooooooo”), which fit my mood during any proverbial rainstorm or shit day. Also, the vocalist’s natural vocal tone feels perfectly suited for their songwriting. It’s real, musical, and laced with strong vibratos.
Blankslate’s raw but stylistic tone works, and I can’t help think it’s because of how talented both musicians are. They both have the “it” factor, and I’d bet money that we’ll see them headline Red Rocks one day. Each seemingly played a perfect show with ease with material that I could listen to all day. The palpable excitement from the Bluciferfest crowd demonstrates there’s a lot of folks who agree with me.
Follow and find their music here: blankslateband.com