Film School, Sound Team and Citizens Here and Abroad (Bottom of the Hill, 26 January 2006)

A sold out crowd gathered at the Bottom of the Hill to see three under rated bands play. All three bands are quite good, but get little attention. Until now apparently. It was unclear which of these bands the audience primarily came to see. Regardless, it seemed like the crowd appreciated each and every band equally.















Citizens Here and Abroad is a local Bay Area band who has a solid following in these parts. The band played a set mixed with songs from their debut LP, The Ghost of Tables and Chairs, and what seemed like a whole slew of new material. Blending dreamy, shoegaze like guitars, Citizens were in top form with Adrienne Robillard’s, the band’s lead singer, angelic voice triumphing over the sometimes devilish Bottom of the Hill sound system. Highlights of their set include, “You Drive and We’ll Listen to Music” and “In Flight Movie.” While most of their songs were soft can really cannot turn up the volume – especially when they played “Enter the Elevator.”




Sound Team is a band from Austin, Texas. Lately, they are getting a lot of favorable blog mentions – which these days is much more effective than going through traditional media channels. They play melodic, indie rock with some light keyboards to spice things up. I’m not that familiar with Sound Team, but their sound, albeit good, isn’t exactly something that caught my ear. Their sound lacked originality, but that’s just my opinion. Although they played a solid set, they failed to catch my full attention.



Film School is another one of those bands who are, technically, from San Francisco but still tries to associate itself with New York. Tonight’s show was their record release party. Film School’s self-titled debut is a very good one, but for some reason, the songs did not translate live. Was it my lack fo sleep? Maybe. But, regardless, this band is a good one and I wished that they performed better, or at least played in a venue that has better sound. A lot of people in the audience compared their sound to, and this is a bit sacreligious, My Bloody Valenitne. The definite highlight of their set was “He’s a Deep Deep Lake” because this song tested the lead singer’s vocals amidst the drowning noises of the guitars and drums. It was a great rendition of the song. However, that was the only interesting thing from their set worth mentioning.


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