You go, Jim

Big props go out to Jim's band "All the Saints," who got a positive write-up in an Atlanta webzine called KissAtlanta last week. If you can survive the critics, you can survive the world.

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This article was submitted by a new addition to the kissatlanta.com staff, Ben Underwood. I'll be giving Ben his own formal login once I get caught up... but for now this post is being posted by me for him.

I promise I'm not one of those observers of the music scene who will waste your time claiming that every band that pops up is going to be the next big thing; however, I do think that one of the bands to watch in Atlanta right now is All the Saints. I saw them at a party over the weekend. They didn't play until 3am, and there were a ton of people there, many of them to see AtS specifically. While I don't think these guys have (nor do they seem to want) much top-40/MTV potential, they have the kind of potential that counts, the kind that leads to intense and interesting performances and very (hopefully, eventually) listenable records.

Admittedly, I may have been lost in a haze of happy pop music for the last few years, but I was under the impression that the days of the 3-piece rock outfit ended in the 90s with the N-word. All the Saints and a few other acts in town, Kill Gordon among them, are changing my mind.

Hard rock, or whatever you want to call it this week, isn't typically my bag. (My bag contains Of Montreal, The Flaming Lips, They Might Be Giants, Apollo Sunshine, and many others.) But I watched All the Saints' set, and I felt like I was mesmerized. What makes this even more amazing is that the songs were almost vocal-free. I got the impression that they often do more singing, but there was something funny with the PA that night. Even without the standard crutch of rock music (lyrics), the band was great.

Okay, so if these're the guys to watch, where are you going to watch them? They're playing The Drunken Unicorn on Thursday Sept 1 with Kill Gordon and a new band call HalfMOON. Also check them out with Tuju Belle (no www presence) and, once again, Kill Gordon on Friday Sept 2 at the Ten High. That's two chances, folks. Don't blow them both. Hope to see you there.

- Ben