There are lots of words and pictures to share from Kindiefest 2013, and I'll be doing that shortly. But I didn't want too much time to pass by before sharing the music from Bears and Lions, a new band from Hollywood, South Carolina.
I think there were other sets that were more popular and frankly better at the industry showcase on Saturday night. But I'm pretty sure if I polled those of us huddled stage right, the set that had us laughing the most and saying something like, "I have no idea what that was, but it might have been brilliant" was from this duo of two guys dressed up as a bear and a lion wearing basketball uniforms and strumming guitars, telling the story in song of a bear and a lion who... oh, what does it matter? They played a song called "Mediocre Kid" which might just be an anthem -- yes, it's about an average -- maybe even mediocre -- kid, but the song somehow manages to be inspirational. For the song "Good Boy," they managed to get Recess Monkey's Drew Holloway to act like a dog. It was just a loopy, occasionally surreal performance that resulted in people loudly shouting "Pancake Sweepstakes!" in unison.
A lot of people were reminded of The Telephone Company, and I totally get that (duo? check; surreal? check), but the first band that came to my mind was The Thinkers (duo? check; surreal? check). There's even a touch of the late, lamented Quiet Two in there, at least if they had been influenced by Southern rock rather than the British Invasion. [Edit: Not to mention, of course, fellow showcaser Ratboy Jr., though their songs are more whimsical than Bears and Lions'.]
So I haven't quite made up my mind yet about them, but I can't wait until they're ready to unleash an entire album onto the world. Listen to 5 songs below plus watch a couple live videos (not from Kindiefest), and pick up a free track here.
