Seal Party + Greg Hoy + Henry Hall

860 San Pablo Av.,Albany CA 94706

12 August, 2021

Description

Seal Party + Greg Hoy + Henry Hall 21+ Seal Party Greg Hoy, Henry Hall Ivy Room Presents Seal PartyFacebook / Instagram / YouTube / Twitter Seal Party is half of the longtime Bay Area band Griddle -- singer/keyboardist Kevin Seal and drummer/producer Chris McGrew. Seal & McGrew have been busy playing on other peoples' records. Namely, those by John Vanderslice, 20 Minute Loop, Michael Zapruder, Pamela Parker, Scott Pinkmountain, Felsen, the Real Numbers, Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends, Specimen Box (Larry Boothroyd from Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine), and more. Now, the gents have written their own soul-stirring, rhythmically rich "avant power pop" album, and this show is their live debut. Joining them at the Ivy Room is Jonnie Axtell, guitarist from such bands as Notorious, Psychefunkapus, Extra-Ordinary Astronauts, and Phantom Power. Greg HoyWebsite / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / Twitter Plug-in-and-play rock artist Greg Hoy is kicking off a 20 date late summer US tour at Ivy Room supporting the band's 2020 pandemically recorded Cacophony gold vinyl LP. The rock trio will also be performing songs from their 2019 EP Enjoy the View recorded by Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies) and mixed by Sylvia Massy (Johnny Cash, Tom Petty). Jack Rabid of Big Takeover says 'Hoy's boys kick out plenty of 70's punk, rnb, blues inspired jams' and Red Red Wine on a Sunday says 'Hoy's records are deep - like peeling layers off an onion - each song is a revelation!' Henry HallListen to Henry Hall’s debut album and three things are made immediately clear: He’s funny, he’s talented, and he knows it. Like Father John Misty or Harry Nilsson before him, Hall is an ironist and a natural showman, the kind of guy who seems to take special delight in layering his beautiful melodies and Technicolor, Vampire Weekend-like arrangements with the kind of self-aware thinking that would drive you crazy to experience and make you laugh to bear witness to…. That he leans into his neuroses instead of away from them is, of course, part of the appeal: ‘Not in My House’ and ‘Guy’ are Curb Your Enthusiasm-level send- ups of controlling beta men. ‘John the Dog’ speculates that Hall's current artistic practice is probably linked to the trauma that inspired his childhood self to write songs about the dog his parents wouldn’t let him get—a rambling self-analysis heightened by the comic anxiety that the person on the receiving end might care. But if Curb captures the solipsism of frumpy middle-aged men, Neato is a comedy about the special boy who got every gift in the world and still doesn’t know what to do with them. He says he hasn’t gotten a tattoo because he can’t decide on the design (‘Tattoo’), but you know the truth: He’s probably just afraid of the needle. To paraphrase the old shampoo commercial, don’t hate him because he’s beautiful. Seal Party Greg Hoy, Henry Hall Live Music. East Bay.