So Many Wizards, CMG, Titans of Industry at Alex's Bar Last Night

The Show: Sunday night at Alex's Bar proved to be a nice end-of-the weekend diversion. Best of all, the evening's performances were presented free: the price was right. 

Headlining the show was Long Beach band So Many Wizards. This trio's sound consists of a curious smattering of influences from the indie rock, psychedelic, folk and avant garde genres. 

Singer Nima Kazerouni frequently sang in a high falsetto with the benefit of added reverb while simultaneously strumming away on his acoustic.It was during the moments he sang the highest that the general swirliness of his voice was reminiscent of Ariel Pink albeit without the abject eccentricity. He also sang in a lower register. The bellicose tones he emitted during the rock-oriented jams were curiously reminiscent of 90s English alternative band James. 

Kazerouni's vocals were buttressed by the rallying simmering beats of drummer Erik Felix whose energy and competence injected levity into the moody material. Set highlight included the song “Nico” who's general dreaminess sounded a bit like Danish band Mew. The relatively sparse audience seemed to be fond of the upbeat dance punk number “Night Terrors.” A few girls in the audience could be scene twisting and shimmying along. It would be interesting to see this band develop a more unified sound and perhaps add more instruments to the mix. 

So Many Wizards was preceded by folk rock act CMG as well as a band out of Seattle called TItans of Industry. I'm usually a fan of novelty but I'm not sure how to react to this latter band. For some reason the harmonies they produced sounded  off kilter. I initially thought this may have been intentional, but listening to their recorded material, the harmonies sound spot on. 

That said, their unique brand of piano-fronted rock punctuated by angular punchy power chords made for an intriguing listen. Here's hoping they sell enough T-Shirts to make it to Phoenix.