Preview: Good Personalities, Salvage the Tongue, Normal State, rubythroat / October 1 / The Smiling
By Jennifer Castaneda, Contributor
The Smiling Skull / Thursday, October 1, 2015
Having a rough day, week, month or year? Are you asking yourself the infamous, “what is life” question? This show is just what the doctor prescribed to get you out of that rut. Not feeling any of those things and just looking for a good show? Then get ready for the most butt-kicking show in Athens this Thursday night at The Smiling Skull. Doors open at 9 p.m., $5 for five great bands. Don’t miss out on a large set of very talented artists, Good Personalities, Salvage the Tongue, Normal State and rubythroat.
Normal State has a great lo-fi sound remiscent of Cyberbully Mom Club. Hailing from the great city of Baltimore, they describe their music as simplistic lofi suicidal emo.
Good Personalities hails from Toledo and have a style all their own that they call cat core. Emya and Draino are the masterminds behind the two-piece.
“I just want to make stuff that makes people happy,” said Emya, who writes all the songs, describing Good Personalities’ music making process and what they want people to get out of it.
Most of the songs are based on things that are going on in their respective lives, but they try to separate themselves from the subject to make it more relatable to the audience. “We hope that maybe it’s the message that they need to hear at that moment, whatever that message might be.” Good Personalities' music is mainly inspired by ‘60s folk rock, The Beatles and Radiohead. They’re planning to release an EP sometime soon, touring again after the current set of dates ends. They hinted at a possible album as well. Draino described their music as giving people “what they want, when they want.”
Athens local band rubythroat will be playing as well. The band is made up of Eric Bishop, Paul Lampley and Charlie Walden, who are from Cleveland, Toledo and Dayton respectively. “Rubythroat started as a solo outlet for myself and then became more of a full band effort in the past couple months. I’m actually not sure how my set at The Skull will pan out yet. It may be anywhere from just me to all three of us playing,” shared Walden. The oldest songs with rubythroat are between two to three years old. When asked about any potential underlying messages in his songwriting, Walden said, “All the songs have a personal meaning to me in the sense that they represent a short period of my life. Just personal, I guess. There’s no real message.” He relates their music to Kind of Like Spitting and Pedro the Lion.
Straight out of Pittsburgh, Salvage the Tongue is bound to knock your socks off. Most of the songs were originally written and performed as solo projects by Addison Steele. The band hasn’t played in Athens before, but they’ve heard how energetic the town is and they’re looking forward to partying before heading out to their next show. Steele says that their audience is small, but they get really into the music. “Our live show is what really sells us, in my opinion. I try to have as much fun as I can on stage, and since the songs are so personal I can get really in your face,” said Steele.
So don’t miss out! Check out these rad bands at the Smiling Skull. All you need to have an amazing night is yourself and $5 to hang with a large group of talented artists and other cool peeps. Be there, or be square!
