Thanks to Ken and Jon, I was able to squeeze into the sold out show Monday night at Bottom of the Hill to catch one of my favorite bands this year, Women. I hadn’t seen Bottom of the Hill quite that packed before and there were clearly two distinct crowds – those who came to see Women and those who came to see Swedish psyche rockers, Dungen. It was clearly a case of the hipsters vs. the hippies. In in my opinion, hipster band Women clearly won. Their lo-fi sound did not disappoint. My only complaint is that they weren’t opening for label mate, Chad VanGaalen. Now that would have been a stellar line up.
While I’ve never been able to wrap my head around Dungen, I did stick around to see if they could change my mind. They didn’t. Every time I hear their music I think I’m listening to Thai karaoke and immediately want to turn it off. It’s not fair, I know. I’ve just spent too much time in seedy Bangkok bars and San Francisco’s Thai karaoke hot spot, Ozone, I suppose. Musically, Dungen is talented. There’s just something about Swedish in song that doesn’t translate for me. At all.
Listen to Women’s ‘Black Rice‘: