Exploding Flowers: Local Band We Love

From DJ Marion Hodges:

If I’d been left to my own devices I would have spent a cozy night at home and missed one of the best shows that I’ve seen all year.

Knowing as I do that Exploding Flowers‘ front man Sharif Dumani’s record collection contains as many items from the Stiff, Creation, and Cherry Red labels as it does Black Flag and Brian Jonestown Masacre albums; I should have been counting down the seconds to a live performance from this band.

Still when the night rolled around, I found myself rolling out all of my typical excuses for missing a show. Thankfully, several friends had heard the band’s recordings online and knew better than to let me sit this one out.

Exploding Flowers — The Magnificent Light

What I heard — thanks to them! –was some of the most dynamic, self-assured, jangly pop music that I’ve ever encountered in a while. There were twinges of psychedelia in just the right places, and all sorts of cool effects pedals being put to great use. Exploding Flowers aren’t exactly breaking new ground, but with tunes as good as the ones they are making, who cares?

There are very few things that are more exciting to me than witnessing a band who knows how to manipulate a somewhat familiar sound to the point where you are convinced that they’ve owned that sound all along.

The band’s website claims that they have released a 3″ CD on a German label recently, but I couldn’t track down any information to confirm that on the label’s website. Fortunately, a conversation with band members after the show revealed that there is a record set to be released within the next month or so. I strongly recommend checking out their live show as soon as you can as well. The show I caught last week was in an intimate venue with a relatively sparse crowd. If there is any justice in the world, that won’t be the case for long.