The Boston Phoenix
ROCK. They have a groovy three-song demo and some gorgeous three-part harmonies, and that’s damn good way to start. Somerville’s Saturday Saints are a female-fronted synth-pop quintet whose relative newness is nowhere apparent in their songs. With its undulating synthesizer lines, tremolo’d guitar, and sweet Debbie Harry–esque croon, "Walking by the Sea" sounds like Blondie’s early surf homages — it’s a sea-foam-green summer reverie whose shimmering sunniness belies the romantic disappointment evinced in its lyrics. "Penny Luck" is pure power pop, its locked-in siren song echoing the lush harmonies of groups like the Essex Green and the Aislers Set. "Lopsided House" pairs a loping melody with just a little dissonance, à la the Raincoats or the early Go-Betweens. Saturday Saints make their Abbey Lounge debut on a bill with stoogy sleaze merchants TV-Eye, maximum-rock-and-rollers the Drags and grease-monkey motorheads Rock City Crimewave.
The Noise
Issue #251 - May 2005
INTERNATIONAL PENPAL, SATURDAY SAINTS
AS220, Providence, RI
3/25/04
Okay. I think I'm in for a nice mellow night out with my significant other where I'll see a friend's band, be moderately entertained, drink too much, and go home and be tucked into bed.
Not so. I catch a small part of one of the openers (who are very good, but I am still in wind down mode from a rough work day and making rounds with acquaintances), and find myself a corner away from the sound where I can relax with the aforementioned significant other and bask in her eyes and-Great Holy fricking Jesus, I hear the first little taste of Saturday Saints and I am compelled to move back into the heart of the source. Five-piece band: two guitars, bass, drums, and a frontwoman with the voice of a goddamn angel and a two-piece rack of Roland synths. They're like The Cardigans playing incidental music from Twin Peaks on the crack pipe lit by Zeus. I am fucking speechless.
I lean into Heather from International Penpal and say something to the extent of, "If you can top this shit, I'm going to blow up." Well, they don't top it, but they do match it. International Penpal is another five-piece: two guitars, bass, drums, a utility player who doubles on trombone and keyboards. They're like a groovy little contemporary big band. I don't think any description I could muster would be good enough. The audience is supercharged. AS220 is a great little venue for these bands with just the right amount of surrealism courtesy of the Providence artsy townie crowd and a table/ chair setup that could easily have been used in a wedding rehearsal dinner.
So what I end up getting is an intense evening of entertainment with my significant other where I go to see a friend's band, my head explodes, I drink too much, go home and get tucked into bed. (Bobby Dagon)
