End Hits: The Mercury Music Blog

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Tonight! Jared Mees - Tonight

Posted by Ezra Caraeff on Wed, Jan 16 at 2:19 PM

JARED MEES & THE GROWN CHILDREN, CASTLE, MINMAE, FALL OF SNOW
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) Much like Cassadaga, the latest from Conor Oberst and his moniker of Bright Eyes, Jared Mees does a damn fine job of combining his emoting and confessional lyrics with a dignified, back porch-stomping swagger. Mees is a confident frontman who doesn’t bother pandering to the emo set, nor does he sing with that faux-Nashville twang; instead, his voice mumbles with a wonderful stoner drawl, like a slightly more ambitious, less marble-mouthed J Mascis. Meanwhile, the charismatic Fall of Snow—the nom de plume of one Stephanie Casey, who traded the glitz and Botox of Hollywood for Portland, a Telecaster, and an army of delay pedals—opens the show. It doesn’t hurt that she has a disarming voice that is both sweet and a wee bit dangerous, and a bevy of well-penned songs. Odds are, Casey won’t be opening shows for too much longer. EAC

I’ve really warmed up to the songwriting and melodies of Mees, a performer I originally dismissed when I first heard him. The addicting melody of “Suicide Squeeze” has been rattling around my brain for the past week, and there are no sings of it leaving anytime soon.

MP3:
Jared Mees - Suicide Squeeze

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