It was great to see the Dustbowlers out and about, even better to hear them. The gig took place above Politiki at a place called "Top Of The Hill", no tiki's there. it sounds stuffy, but it was comfortably laid back. I was most struck by the fact it was a Saturday night and there was no yelling, puking or passing out observed. But more about the band.

My oh my, they do know a lot of songs. This Tim Penney fellow is a very, very prolific songwriter and he's go A LOT of guitars. Let's see there was a pretty 12 string that he was playing as I walked in, your friendly neighborhood telecaster, a lap steel, and something my friend Peter refered to a gold top Les Paul with action, which I can't prove or deny, I had never seen the likes of it up so close. Again, pretty. Very, very pretty.

So, what Tim stocks in guitars is karmically accounted for by the sparse drum kit of Mike Magor. I don't know how I didn't notice months ago when I saw them for the first time. Perhaps he's pared it down even more, his kit was almost as small as Shortstack's. A bass, a snare, a highhat, and somekind of reversoid highhat setup I've never noticed before. Additional percussion in the the form of a tamborine thingy on the highhat and a set of double bongos was whipped out and played on the side too, so I suppose while the set up looked small there was more there than met the eye.

The other Mike, Mike O'Malley plays bass and upright and is quite facile at both, which is nice. I wonder how the songs have been arranged for this trio as Tim writes all of them I think? The choice of upright vs. electric bass for each song was really spot on.

And again sooooooooo many songs. For a trio they really weave in some beautiful complexity that is very understated and appropriate to the songs. I hate making comparisons, but there is a Guthrie-ness and a Wilco-ness and a Cal-i-forn-i-a-ness to what they are doing. Not like a "Wilco is cool" or "I want to be Woddie Guthrie" thing, but a laid back, honesty, simplicity and clarity that makes Wilco and Woody so cool. The Dustbowler lyrics are short and often subtle and poetic, but they are about NOW, nothing retro rooty about them, if you really pay attention. Even if you are not going to pay attention, don't worry, they just sound good.