The Most Serene Republic @ Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY | pics

Yeah I saw them open up for Stars at Maxwell's and they were great. Actually came in halfway through their set and was really mad that I didn't show up earlier.

Of the three times I've seen them, the Southpaw show was my least favorite. Still a good show, but I thought the sound was off and it didn't have the energy of the previous two (Mercury and Hiro). Or maybe I was off...who knows?

I agree and disagree, Glenn. I thought the energy was low, too -- at least the bassist wasn't shimmying all over da place in his socks -- but thought that 'Paw's (um) low-key approach to air conditioning might be responsible. The band was dripping, up there, from the first song on.

Soundwise, though, I heard everyone fine -- probably because EVERYTHING WAS SO LOUD -- and heard the interplay between the vocalists a lot clearer than I had at the Merc.

My friend Chris loves these guys

I was at the Southpaw show and I thought they were very not-so-good. The singer seemed to be trying way too hard. It seemed almost as if he was a caberet performer trying to look, sound and act "indie".

the singer looked familiar to me. and then i realized who he reminded me of - the elf in Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer who wants to shelve the toy thing and become a dentist.

I think the album is very short on tunes and long on gimmicks. from these comments it sounds like live is the way to experience them.

The Dentist elf was blonde, and he didn't have a beard. Aside from a contrived reference, what point were you trying to make?

Gimmicks like what? It's one thing to throw out cliches, it's something different to form a cogent argument using facts and accurate references.

Do you know what time signatures are? Can you recognize that a song is not in 4/4 time? Does the idea of satire fill you with warm, appreciative, joy; or leave you with a feeling of being alone and out in the cold when everyone else, who has the sense to understand socio-political issues, snicker to eachother knowingly. (Are they laughing at you? A little bit.)

Dude, he wasn't a dentist; he WANTED to be a dentist.

harsh

but yeah, the album is def Top 10 of 2005 for me and their live performance Top 5.

"at least the bassist wasn't shimmying all over da place in his socks":

No socks? I would have demanded my money back. :P

drowned_in_milk - are you my friend???? ; )

Although Herbie never officially gets his dentist license, he does perform a rather stressful but hugely succesful oral surgery on the Abominable Snow Monster. For all practical purposes, I think we can call him a dentist. By the end of the movie he's living in the North Pole again and it seems like he's opened up a practice there.

"Do you know what time signatures are"? Who gives a fudge if the song sucks anyway?? And note please: Being sarcastic about somone being sarcastic is a double negative.

It seems like you either hate these guys or love them. Personally i dont like them. They are just a crappy rip off of the postal service. I dont know why arts & crafts signed them.
The lead signers voice is annoying. I really hope they dont start getting alot of radio play which they prtobably won.
There songs dont go anywhere. They leave me unsatisfied.