Despite being bossy during their sound check, I was really impressed by this four piece band from Brooklyn, NY. The great thing about New York bands is you get a hodge podge of characters, instead of clones of people trying to fit into one style, and I think the result, if it’s good, is a fuller, more unique, quality sound. The Subjects consist of Matty, Pickles, Cobra, Mr.Splif and Shanky. There was a drummer, who also sang, a guitar player who mostly sang, a bass player, and a guy who switched between the keyboard/synthesizer and guitar (his guitar strap had a sweet Charger lightning bolt on it).

The front man was very New York looking in the Woody Allen sort of way, while also seeming genuine and endearing.  Their overall presence was understated, and their sound awesome. The beginning of the set was really powerful, but I felt that the style of song changed towards the end, and the effect wasn’t as strong. The sound fits under the encapsulating “indie” umbrella genre, but it also reminded me of 50’s & 60’s rock, with some folk elements. However, there was one song that was definitely Ska. The band was all over the stage, switching between instruments, switching front men, tossing tambourines: it was quite the performance.   

It reminded me of The Dodos, as well as several other New York bands I’ve heard lately, such as the French Kicks. I think something all these bands have in common is using different drum techniques. Two people were playing one drum set during different songs, beating it with the tambourine or the maracas, which made a loud and hollow sound.

The crowd was large and everyone was into it, screaming and dancing, which is good for a Wednesday night at the Casbah. The Subjects also seem to be pretty under the radar—there isn’t much written about them, they only have about 100,000 friends on MySpace, and no Wikipedia. So I deduce that most of the crowd was there to see White Rabbits, however everyone was drawn in by the Subjects, and gave them unanimous approval.