The Lashes before any of the craziness was Columbia-signed, Seattle-native The Lashes. i hadn't really had that much exposure to these guys before; i'd seen their album in Borders, i think, and they friended us on the 'space (note: you should too). but otherwise, with a few listens, i was aware that their stuff wasn't really my style. good, sturdy "shrug" rating. their live performance was similar. they had the energy - there are enough of them (six) for leadman Ben's vocal act (note: no instrument, admittedly weird) to bounce off the rest of the crew, incite keyboardist Jacob into backup and a highlighted solo by guitarist Eric (the "cute one"). they went for the classic emo-punk-poprock look, complete with black hair, black nailpolish, striped shirts, and their signature multiple-belt look (see picture, see record cover). as this was not an 18+ show (groan) there was a large majority of non-wristbanded kids, looking similarly to the members onstage and getting down (that awkward jump, swish-hips, arms-dangle-uselessly thing) to vocals that were drowning in guitars. for the kids, they were great. they got the club hoppin' and and praised the acts to come. they talked a lot - some east coast/west coast banter that seemed useless coming from a Seattle band - but. you know. they rocked their style, and no doubt they'll continue to rise.  shan  3:53 PM  |  view comments (0)