16 June 2005 @ Mr. Smalls (Pittsburgh, PA)
There seems to be a lack of press about Streetlight Manifesto which is a shame. On the net all I read is the same two paragraphs that the record label wrote to describe their sound and the story behind them, an oh-so-clever bit you can read here. Because of this lack of info, I decided to post my impressions of them as well as a review of their recent show at Mr. Small’s Funhouse in my wonderful hometown of Pittsburgh.
Kids in the know recognize the name Tomas Kalnoky as the nasal-voiced genius behind Catch 22’s Keasbey Nights, a ska-punk masterpiece that I still consider the pinnacle of the form and has the distinction of being on my all-time Top 10 Albums list. After Keasbey‘s success made Catch 22 way too big to fit into the Garden State’s infamous ska scene, the stresses of touring became too much for Kalnoky, who wanted a real life, to do human stuff, and to go to art and design school like a regular kid. So he passed the mic to a replacement, and Catch 22 toured off the success of his songs for the next few years, releasing a dismal follow-up to Keasbey that I won’t even endorse by naming and maybe a third album but it doesn’t matter. They only are still around because of the Keasbey songs. I saw the post-Kalnoky band twice, both with different lineups. Basically they are a cover band. Their new songs are only average, but competent mediocrity goes a long way in the punk scene so they are probably recording another album as I type. Whatever.
Band site: http://www.streetlightmanifesto.com/