Bumbershoot Review: The Whore Moans' Rockabilly Revue Definitely Did Not Rock

Renee McMahon

The Whore Moans played Bumbershoot on Sept. 5.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a band trying out something conceptual. The Decemberists pulled their Hazards of Love pseudo-rock opera off at Sasquatch! this year, and their over-the-top fairy costumes and characters worked. But if you're going base your performance around a concept, you gotta take it all the way--and that's where the Whore Moans went astray.

Billed as "The Whore Moans Present: The Black Adam," the four-piece attempted a Chuck Berry-, rockabilly-inspired revue, adding two female back-up dancers-slash-vocalists, a saxophonist and a keyboard player. Instead of sounding more rock-and-roll--which would have matched the visual aesthetic they created, with slicked-back hair and tailored suits--it just sounded messier. And not in a good, Sex Pistols kind of way, but in an unpolished and unpracticed way. Harmonies were out of key, and the instrumentals were loud but disconnected from each other. The Seattle band is great at what they already do: creating tight punk songs. Adding a concept was just unnecessary.

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