The Guest Bedroom

Fri, Apr 6

THE PATIENTS, THE GUEST BEDROOM AND HOT MONOGAMY at the Silver Dollar

Despite Dan Burke's tendency to conflate the two opening acts at Friday's Patients CD release shindig into a T.O. party rock supergroup he referred to as, er, "the Guest Monosexuals- or "the Hot Bedroom,- it's hard to see how you could confuse Hot Monogamy and the Guest Bedroom . Both bands acquitted themselves well as crazed, high-energy openers for the Patients ' horn-assisted Silver Dollar celebration.

Propelled by Jasmyn Burke 's throaty, broad-with-a-beer vocals, Hot Monogamy slammed and crashed through messily engaging dance rock tunes based on simple repetition. Their songwriting could be stronger; if not for Burke's formidable stage presence, lazy grin and powerful voice, the formulaic dissonant/not dissonant pop set could've grown tiresome.

The Guest Bedroom, on the other hand, surpassed expectations with an exhilarating set that veered between shouty, aggressive post-punk, brightly melodic rock anthems and a broody cabaret-styled downtempo number frontwoman Sandi Falconer dubbed a "lullaby," dedicated to fellow Chatham kids. On the latter, Falconer whipped out a sax to provide some surprisingly adept high-pitched skronking. Hilariously awesome. While beating the sax seemed an impossible feat, the Patients just barely succeeded, inviting Burke up to back Stu Bishop on Mary Claire La Flare (she obliged, adding her own beer-spitting climax) and capping the night off with a staggering 13-member band onstage.

by Sarah Liss - Now Magazine

As much as I like You Say Party! We Say Die! (see here and here), after listening to The Guest Bedroom's newest EP, Movement, I have to say that The Guest Bedroom are like YSP!WSD! without the Lose All Time makeover. In other words, they're a lot better.

Don't get me wrong: I stand by what I said about You Say Party! We Say Die!'s latest album. It's just that Movement is so much better in every way. TGB frontwoman Sandi Falconer has a better panicked howl, and the music backing her up puts equal emphasis on both halves of their "dance-punk" descriptor. Songs like "Fake Flowers" and "God Bless The Heartless" are fun, but they also have a snarling, cynical side that makes them even more fun. I don't know if it all means that The Guest Bedroom will find themselves on as rapid an upwards trajectory a year from now, but I can state with certainty that, right now, Movement is the album to which I'd much rather be listening. - iheartmusic.net

The Guest Bedroom
May 10th, Sneaky Dee's.

Need a change from your post-punk diet? Teh Guest Bedroom's latest EP, Movement, is just what the new wave nutritionist ordered. But mind your proximity to the stage - the decibel level of frontwoman Sandi Falconer's voice is enough to blow you back a good few feet, Marty Mcfly-style. - Eye Weekly