Dinosaurs Jr.

When you begin your day at 5:00 am unloading a semi-truck filled with boxes of furniture, well, there’s really nowhere to go but up. After work I decided that it wouldn’t hurt a soul if I stayed up the whole rest of the day and night drinking beer and watching bands at The Phoenix Theater in Petaluma.

I had been invited to the show by Numbers Like Dinosaurs, a three piece indie/emo group that we stumbled across online. I had heard one of their songs online and it sounded promising, so I dragged a couple friends out with me so I didn’t look like the crazy girl scribbling notes in the corner. NLD played three short, very strange sets. They were the lowest band on the totem pole and therefore were forced to play in the lobby, not on stage. For some reason though they played in between each of the main stage bands sets, like a talk show “bumper” band.

The first of these was a bit chaotic. It seemed as if each band member wanted to be the front man; and so they all decided to play solos at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, they are fine musicians technically speaking. However they had trouble stepping on each others feet.

Some of their chaotic nature can thankfully be explained. The band started over a year ago with guitarist/vocalist Dillon Rego and bassist Ryan Searby. Drummer, what drummer! Toss in a drum machine and you have their first EP Scheme/Disguise. Drummer Ethan Jayne just recently joined the band this summer causing the band to re-examine their musical energy and style. They are now in the process of recording a new CD and playing several shows in and around the bay area.

After The Mercy House Youth set an example of a band that could play together as just that, a band, Numbers Like Dinosaurs gave it another stab. This time they decided to get in some practice time, so they played a 15 minute long instrumental jam session while we all watched. It was kind of cool. They got to experiment with the different sounds an effects pedal can make and Rego and Searby got to riff off one another. Though it did show the experimental side of NLD it seemed like some of this should have taken place before the show, like during band practice.

I may have been too quick to judge though. By the time they played their third set most of the aforementioned foibles disappeared. Each sound seemed to have its place, rather that colliding together into a feedback riddled heap. Guitar and Bass mini solos either flowed in tandem or were allowed their own space to form and breathe. I’m sorry that I only saw two or three songs from this set, but alas, it was an all ages show and I am not and all ages girl.

Later that night, as I guzzled my fifth beer (or sixth, whatever), a question gnawed at my brain. What do I think of Numbers Like Dinosaurs? After listening to their songs online again and recounting that night I have come to a conclusion. I believe that Numbers Like Dinosaurs have potential. They are talented musically, they have the edge and experimental drive to come up with some really interesting sounds, and they have the guts to try those new sounds out on an audience. I mean, what other unknown group of kids in this popularity contest we call rock ‘n’ roll do you know who’ll spend an entire set stomping up and down on an effects pedal and venturing far up the neck of a bass guitar just to see what noise it makes.