If you've known me for some time, chances are I've forced this band down your throat at one point or another. I discovered Pash in college. At the time, the members were students at Mary Washington College, where I went to school. I saw them play at the school's smaller venue, The Underground, and was instantly hooked. With speedy geometric guitar riffs and poppy hooks, it was hard not to catch everyone in the crowd personally rocking out at one point or another. I've followed them relatively closely since I graduated, spreading the word as best I could, taking friends to shows when they would relent. I've watched them grow and mature and develop a sound that I find comparable to DC legends, The Dismemberment Plan, or garage bands gone dancy like Gossip, or The Kills.
I've never been really talented, musically speaking. It's been frustrating for someone like me to love it so much, and not be able to create anything significant. I've often compared myself to Salieri; but even that is generous. At least, Salieri had a modicum of musical talent to compose. The height of my compositional career has been whistling aimless tunes on my way to work or writing parodies of pop music to cater to servers. I've been a nerd my entire life desperately wanting to be cool, but never really doing anything about it. By knowing members of Pash on a peripheral basis (friends of friends, etc.), I had come to live vicariously through them, an outsider looking in. So tonight, at their last show, I found myself feeling a loss akin to having your team miss the playoffs. Having missed final shows before (Dismemberment Plan and the Low Life) I was glad that I would be able to attend their last show.
I, as was I'm sure at least some of the band, was hoping for a fun show to send off lead singer, Merideth Munoz, to Austin, TX. Maybe there would be some funny stories, some unreleased songs, and even some kind of final goodbye to fans. What we all got, was something else entirely. While the show did provide the fast, noisy pop that I had come to love, the interludes were much like watching a dysfunctional family at dinner. I cannot speak to the inner workings of the band itself as I've never really been close with anyone in the band. I may have had a few conversations with members before or after shows, but nothing too deep. I can only speak from an outsider's perspective and only guess at the motivations behind some of the behaviors of the band members.
I was able to speak very briefly with lead guitarist, Erik Bruner-Yang, before the show. He could only comment on how tired he was as evidenced by the McCafe coffee in his hand. I don't know if it was this information that influenced my perception, but I could sense a certain weariness in his performance. Erik plays with a frenetic energy that I often describe to people as the way I wish I could play guitar. You just don't see people play guitar with this kind of energy anymore (save for a few exceptions). Pogoing, kicking, throwing the guitar about, Erik moves across the stage like some kind of graceful musical twister. Tonight was different. It seemed more subdued; he spent a lot of time with his back to the audience. There were bursts of the kind of energy I had come to expect, and a genuine smile even crossed his face a few times throughout the show despite several drunken interruptions from bass player, Ryan McLaughlin.
In keeping with the metaphor used earlier, Erik was the dad who has already checked out of the family but is occasionally reminded of why he loves it, dysfunctional as it is.
Merideth would have to be the mother of the family who just tries to get through dinner with as much grace as possible despite the flaming wreckage it has become. She has a voice that has the sweetness of cotton candy with the edge of whiskey reminiscent of Beth Ditto of Gossip; or Alison Mosshart of The Kills. While playing a shredding guitar of her own and dancing in a way that can only be described as spritely she manages to belt out songs that range from poppy ditties like Down, to ones with a more mature, serious tone like The Best Gun or Enough Said. Several times she had to power through McLaughlin's drunken interjections thanking fans and bantering with Erik and the crowd. Again, you could see something on her face that indicated this show as a relief. Even though it seemed as though she was glad to be moving on, there were still signs of fond memories coming to mind as she spoke of personal anecdotes about the band.
Replacing original bassist, Ryan Little, is Ryan McLaughlin long-time friend of Bruner-Yang. Ryan's band, Typefighter, played earlier in the night. He told the crowd that "I have a pass to get drunk tonight". And he did. Very. By the time he took the stage with Pash, he was dropping his bass, interrupting what looked to be meaningful moments for Erik and Merideth, and even having his mic muted at times. He tried several times to derail genuine moments for the band offering quick quips and sarcastic remarks, even calling other members of the band assholes in a way that says, "I'm just joking...but not really". If Ryan played a role tonight in the family, it would be the petulant child making a scene at the table because dinner isn't what he wants. It was kind of sad. Not in a pathetic way; but in a genuinely sad way. I felt as if Ryan was a child acting up at a divorce.
I'll admit I've never really known anything about the drummer that replaced John Bibb; but apparently his name is Joe "Or-something" (as McLaughlin put it). I felt bad for the guy. He just wanted to get through the gig, and Ryan was attempting to draw it out for as long as he could and make it as awkward as he could. At one point Joe even got up and unplugged Ryan's mic telling him to "just play the song". I remember walking by the Black Cat bathrooms on the way out with him sipping a dark beer with his arms crossed. "What's next for this one", I wondered.
I don't know if they'll ever read this; but if they do, I hope anything I've written hasn't offended, and if they want to put the record straight, they're welcome to contact me. Pash is defined as a passing infatuation as reference to how lead singer met lead guitarist. And while it may have been several years, perhaps this passing fancy has run its course for those involved. I think it's ironic that an obsolete definition of the word is to be broken to bits, as I feel Ryan feels the same way now. Erik plans to open a restaurant later this year on H St. NE here in DC. Ryan will continue to play with his other band, Typefighter. Merideth is moving to Austin, TX and I'm sure great things await her there. I'll probably try to follow each member's new efforts as long as I can stay abreast of them; but rest assured, Pash, that this is no passing fancy for me, and that you'll always have a special place in my playlists.
Merideth would have to be the mother of the family who just tries to get through dinner with as much grace as possible despite the flaming wreckage it has become. She has a voice that has the sweetness of cotton candy with the edge of whiskey reminiscent of Beth Ditto of Gossip; or Alison Mosshart of The Kills. While playing a shredding guitar of her own and dancing in a way that can only be described as spritely she manages to belt out songs that range from poppy ditties like Down, to ones with a more mature, serious tone like The Best Gun or Enough Said. Several times she had to power through McLaughlin's drunken interjections thanking fans and bantering with Erik and the crowd. Again, you could see something on her face that indicated this show as a relief. Even though it seemed as though she was glad to be moving on, there were still signs of fond memories coming to mind as she spoke of personal anecdotes about the band.
Replacing original bassist, Ryan Little, is Ryan McLaughlin long-time friend of Bruner-Yang. Ryan's band, Typefighter, played earlier in the night. He told the crowd that "I have a pass to get drunk tonight". And he did. Very. By the time he took the stage with Pash, he was dropping his bass, interrupting what looked to be meaningful moments for Erik and Merideth, and even having his mic muted at times. He tried several times to derail genuine moments for the band offering quick quips and sarcastic remarks, even calling other members of the band assholes in a way that says, "I'm just joking...but not really". If Ryan played a role tonight in the family, it would be the petulant child making a scene at the table because dinner isn't what he wants. It was kind of sad. Not in a pathetic way; but in a genuinely sad way. I felt as if Ryan was a child acting up at a divorce.
I'll admit I've never really known anything about the drummer that replaced John Bibb; but apparently his name is Joe "Or-something" (as McLaughlin put it). I felt bad for the guy. He just wanted to get through the gig, and Ryan was attempting to draw it out for as long as he could and make it as awkward as he could. At one point Joe even got up and unplugged Ryan's mic telling him to "just play the song". I remember walking by the Black Cat bathrooms on the way out with him sipping a dark beer with his arms crossed. "What's next for this one", I wondered.
I don't know if they'll ever read this; but if they do, I hope anything I've written hasn't offended, and if they want to put the record straight, they're welcome to contact me. Pash is defined as a passing infatuation as reference to how lead singer met lead guitarist. And while it may have been several years, perhaps this passing fancy has run its course for those involved. I think it's ironic that an obsolete definition of the word is to be broken to bits, as I feel Ryan feels the same way now. Erik plans to open a restaurant later this year on H St. NE here in DC. Ryan will continue to play with his other band, Typefighter. Merideth is moving to Austin, TX and I'm sure great things await her there. I'll probably try to follow each member's new efforts as long as I can stay abreast of them; but rest assured, Pash, that this is no passing fancy for me, and that you'll always have a special place in my playlists.
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