Eye Alaska, Cosmonaut at The Glasshouse
Posted Sep 1, 2007, by JAMES RANSOM.
This is a show review for Eye Alaska and Cosmonaut from a show at the Glasshouse in Pomona, CA on 9/1/07. Show review by James Greenwood.
There were 3 other bands that played that night but I was most interested in Eye Alaska and Cosmonaut. I had heard of Eye Alaska a long time ago from my cousin, so I decided to check them out. Their sound is Classical/New Wave/Alternative. For those of you that didn’t know, their guitarist/pianist/vocalist Chase Kensrue is the little brother of Dustin Kensrue from the well-known band Thrice. The first time I saw Eye Alaska was a few weeks ago when they played with Army Of Me and As Tall As Lions. For those of you who have seen Eye Alaska, they put on an excellent, energy driven show. They are all constantly moving to the music, demanding response from the audience. I was very impressed with that show so I decided to attend the Glasshouse to see them again. Their set was nothing short of amazing. They had about 4 members of the well-known venue Chain Reaction working for them and helping them out, including the owner’s son (which was doing the lighting and the stage sound). Once again, their set was amazing. There was probably about 40 people there to see them other than me, so I was glad that the place wasn’t empty. They had an excellent stage performance, which puts most ordinary bands to shame. They portray themselves as a well-known, signed band. For the most part, they are well-known but they aren’t signed yet which surprised me. I heard that Dustin Kensrue didn’t have a hand in getting them signed because he wanted them to make it on their own. If that is true I respect that to the fullest extent (being a musician myself in a band). To make the show even better, it was their EP release night of their cd “Yellow & Elephant”, which I got a copy of. I definitely recommend this band to anyone who loves electronic drum beats, dreamy vocals/piano/guitar playing and with catchy, radio-friendly choruses. Visit their myspace at www.myspace.com/eyealaska to hear them and see what all the hype is about.
The next band to go on was a new band called Cosmonaut. For those of you that don’t know, it is Nate Barcalow’s (ex singer of Finch) new band. Their sound is alternative/indi/rock. To say the least, I was very impressed by this band. Nate’s vocals, as you all know, are amazing. This band is like an experimental, driving indi rock band but with the vocal intensity of Finch. In the band’s myspace biography, it simply says this, “Cosmonaut is Nate Barcalow, Daniel Wonacott, Jon Fraser and Drew Marcogliese. Nate, Daniel, Jon and Drew practice, write, record and play music in front of other people.” If you want to check out Nate’s new band, their myspace is www.myspace.com/cosmonautmusic
