The Distillers

Siren Festival –

In its third year right off of the boardwalk on Coney Island, beachgoers, tourists and thousands of music fans were treated to a day’s worth of incredible tunes courtesy of the Village Voice and some of rock and hip-hop’s finest underground bands. This year, the annual Siren Music Festival kicked off with performances from Lookout! Records’ artist The Pattern and New York’s own The Witnesses, but really got off to a bang when The Kills hit the stage. Featuring VV on vocals and guitar, and Hotel on guitar, vocals and drum machines, The Kills overcame some technical difficulties to rock the main stage with their modest, lo-fi blues, playing songs from the full length Keep On Your Mean Side, including the title track, the retrospective "Kissy Kissy," the sexually tense "Black Rooster," and the current single "Fried My Little Brains."

Almost an hour after The Kills left the stage, one of the highlights of the day came onstage, in the form of !!! (pronounced Pow-Pow-Pow, or Chk-Chk-Chk, or any similarly repeated word). The octet, hailing from Sacramento and New York, used congas, steel drums, saxophone, trumpet, cowbell, tambourine and more to cause a ruckus that resulted in people blocking the sidewalk and forcing the police to halt the performance until it was cleared. Playing a mixture of punk, funk, disco, and a bunch of other styles, !!! made the most of their abbreviated set, ending with their current single "Me & Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard," a 9+ minute dance song with political connotations. They definitely showed that they are one of the best upcoming bands around. Unfortunately, because of the delay, !!!’s set overlapped with godfather of Detroit rock ’n roll Mick Collins’ band The Dirtbombs, who played on the second stage.

The rocking Swedish ladies in Sahara Hotnights were the next act on the main stage, and blew through the late-afternoon set with high-octane tracks from the band’s debut C’mon Let’s Pretend, and its last album, Jennie Bomb. Singer/guitarist Maria Andersson, guitarist Jennie Asplund, bassist Johanna Asplund, and drummer Josephine Forsman scorched the sun-soaked crowd with "Down and Out," "On Top of Your World," "Alright Alright," "Keep Up the Speed," and ended with "Quite a Feeling." Next on the second stage was the only hip-hop act of the day, Northern State, the three ladies from Long Island. People either seem to love or hate these girls, but with a backing band complete with DJ, bass, drums and even a harp, DJ Sprout, Guinea Love and Hesta Prynn ran through the entire Dying In Stereo EP. While the group’s lyrics are often criticized as juvenile, Northern State is all about having fun, while, at the same time, speaking about what’s on their minds. Unlike other female artists who rap, Northern State does not flaunt their sexuality, but instead touch on current politics, sexism and pop culture. The band’s first single "At the Party," followed by "Vicious Cycle," "Trinity," "1000 Words," and finally "Signal Flow," all trailed the title track. Northern State’s next album is being produced by the Roots’ drummer ?uestlove, and should be another step up the ladder for this group. My Siren experience this year ended with performances by Canada’s new pop heroes Hot Hot Heat, and New Zealand hellcats The Datsuns. Hot Hot Heat, who have received some major airplay recently with the single "Bandages," may have drawn the biggest crowd of the day, and had them dancing the entire time with their synth-pop -- new wave and Elvis Costello inspired music from the Makeup the Breakup album. While being perhaps the most popular band on the festival, vocalist Steve Bays and company’s set became a bit tedious after "Get In or Get Out." While still very energetic, as time went on, the songs just became ever more bland, that is, until it was time to play "Bandages," which preceded the last song "This Town." The Datsuns completely tore the proverbial roof off of Coney Island, playing some of the best AC/DC inspired rock you’ve ever heard. Long hair, and loud guitars reigned supreme while the New Zealanders belted out "Sittin’ Pretty," "Harmonic Generator," "Motherfucker From Hell," before ending with their album’s finale "Freeze Sucker." The festival ended with performances from indie rock old schoolers Modest Mouse, and Scottish up and comers Idlewild. Even though the 2003 version of the festival was missing a headliner the caliber of last year’s Sleater-Kinney, Siren has been and remains one of the most anticipated events of the summer, and looks to be a mainstay of the future.