There’s a lot going on in Asheville tonight. It’s opening day Thirsty Thursday at McCormick Field for the Asheville Tourists; there’s a hot Asheville Affiliates party to crash at the brand new Pack’s Tavern; and if you’re ever lucky enough to get invited to hang with the NY Mafia, a secretive bunch of NY-to-Asheville transplants who like to drink, you should take one up.
But I might recommend checking out Finn Riggins tonight at the Boiler Room on Grove Street. Finn Riggins is a band made up of three kids with music degrees from the University of Idaho. How to describe their music? I only know what I’ve heard online, and what I’ve heard, I like. Lots of guitar and steel drum. Give it a try if you’re out and about tonight.
Here’s what a reviewer at beatbots.com says about their sound, and their first full-length record from a couple years back:
At first listen, A Soldier, A Saint, An Ocean Explorer is most easily likened to the jangle-ridden pop dissonance of alt-rockers like Pavement, Built to Spill, Low, Bound Stems, Colossal, and Aloha. Guitars range from overdriven fuzz to tone-jacked splang, keys play with straightforward piano chords and nuanced effects, and percussion provides a righteous flurry of slapped skin and crashing brass (and various other alternative surfaces). Call-response vocals employ male and female roles for full effect, swapping leads and back-ups as befits the situation. It’s indie-friendly Midwestern pop-rock, essentially.
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Truth be told, “A President, A Pacifist, An Auto Restorer” is a fitting end for Finn Riggins’s A Soldier, A Saint, An Ocean Explorer, as the album is itself a strange amalgam of oddball rhythms, uncommon chord progressions, head-banging pop-rock grit, and intelligent yet accessible songwriting. It’s a rare combination that combines the best of both worlds: hearty riffs for the rock set and enough compositional clout to keep the structuralists from grumbling o’ermuch.
