Castanets are the type of band that you hope to see when going in blind to a concert. While that wasn’t the case for me, it was the first time I’d seen them live. I had listened to their music in advance, already liked them, and had high expectations for the show. Not only were my expectations met, they were also surpassed. The band was originally formed by Raymond Raposa, the guitar playing  front man. The members of the band are apparently always changing, however there were 3 additional fellows on stage with Raposa at the Casbah, another guitarist, who also played the slide guitar, clarinet and harmonica, a bass player, and a drummer (who was MA Turner).

The first song blew the roof off the Casbah. It was impossibly slow, but builds and builds until the musicians crescendo in such a way that hats fly off and things get knocked over. Raposa comes across as a class act. Despite the small crowd, and the one incredibly drunk guy who seemed to have never stopped dancing since the last Dead show, he led his band in a professional and enthusiastic manner.

The group signed with Asthmatic Kitty in 2004, and has released 7 albums since then. Raposa is originally from San Diego, but has lived and played in Brooklyn and now Portland. They also toured via sailboat with Peter and the Wolf along the east coast’s Intracoastal Waterway. The sound is that of dirty folk rock, mixed with jazz, and blues.  Raposa, who was barefoot in cut off shorts, cutoff hoodie, and straw cowboy hat with a big bushy red beard, resembled a modern day Huck Finn, and has an amazing voice that is comprable to Matt Berninger from The National. The instrumentals were awesome, and the overall effect was heart-felt, strange and entrancing. They played such songs as “Prettiest Chain.” With lyrics like “state line, reset the time,” and “I listened to my friends on this one, and they were wrong,” “You are electricity, you are light.” It’s profound, deep, moving, and ear splitting.