This article was written by Hannah Steinkopf-Frank.
If she hadn’t told you, it might have been hard to know that Tacocat lead singer Emily Nokes was on antibiotics combatting a sinus infection. During the Seattle group’s show last night at the Borreal, Nokes and the rest of the band (guitarist Eric Randall, bassist Bree McKenna and drummer Lelah Maupin) brought Tacocat’s usual sugary energy, albeit one mixed with a pinch of social commentary and rage. The band’s 2016 album “Lost Time” mixed songs about Dana Skully from “The X-Files” and horse girls with others about calling out sexual assault and internet trolls.
Eugene mainstays Girls Bunch Bears and VCR opened with Nashville group Daddy Issues. After playing for less than 40 minutes, Nokes said she couldn’t perform any more songs as her voice started “squeaking,” her words, during the last track “I Hate the Weekend.” Although the song is about the struggles of people who work weekend jobs and the show was a Tuesday evening, Tacocat had the audience gleefully singing about, well, hating the weekend. Even though the line “let loose like your life depends on it” is making fun of “business elites,” it was clear that that’s exactly what Tacocat, and its fans, were doing.
Eugene mainstay Girls Bunch Bears opened the show with their song “Pale Rider.” Lead singer told the audience that they had actually found Pale Rider condoms and were giving them away at the merchant table because “Please for the love of God wear a condom.” (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
Garage rock trio VCR played tracks largely off its debut album “Season One,” which explores the group’s love of summertime. Like many of the bands, VCR hinted to the current political situation. Before ending the set with “Tired of the Assholes,” drummer Tyler Howard said, “Sometimes there’s a song that makes us rise above all the bullshit that’s happening and makes us think. This is one of those songs.” (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank)
Daddy Issues, a band from Nashvillle, has a grungy, ‘90s inspired sound, pulling influences ranging from Mazzy Star to Nirvana. Lead singer and guitarist Jenna Moynihan writes lyrics that are biting (“I’m not sticking with you cause I don’t wanna feel gross feelings and melancholia to reproduce”) but live, she delivered them with a surprisingly cool, relaxed vibe. (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
Tacocat opened with “Cat Fancy,” a song that perfectly captures the band’s surf rock sound as well as its penchant for clever, sometimes absurdist lyrics. “It comes once a month with a different cat. Can’t think of a magazine that is better than that All cats all the time that’s what you’re gonna get.” (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
“Cat Fancy” was followed by “Dana Katherine Scully,” a track about the often misunderstood “X-Files” character. Clear lovers of ‘90s/’00s nostalgia, Tacocat yearns “To see the world through Dana Katherine Scully’s eyes.”
Many of Tacocat’s songs have a feminist tinge, including “Men Explain Things to Me,” which despite its serious topic — men taking up space in public and believing they are smarter than women — had the audience dancing, many of whom wearing glittery, colorful makeup. (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
Before launching into the punkish track “Horse Grrls,” Nokes proclaimed, “This song is for everyone who was a horse girl or boy or nonbinary youth who liked
horses more than people.” (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
Nokes duets with guitarist Eric Randall on “Alien Girl” off the 2014 album “NVM.” The short, vocally layered track is about loving a girl who is “not from this world.” (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
During the anti-street harassment track “Hey Girl,” Nookes didn’t even have to tell the audience to sing along to the ironic chorus: “Oh it helps my self esteem (hey girl), ‘cause you finally noticed me (hey girl).” (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
Tacocat ended its set with“I Hate the Weekend,” an anti-capitalist anthem of sorts that calls out the “business elites” who party on weekends while service workers have to clean up their messes. (Hannah Steinkopf-Frank/Emerald)
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