Music
Press
"I went to the Spoils of NW show at the Black Cat this past Sunday, and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. I've been a big fan of just about all of Peter Hayes' bands, and this one was no exception. I highly recommend that you check them out the next chance you get, and pick up their eponymous 6-song e.p. while you're at it.
"...The Spoils started right in on a set of shamelessly sixties-fueled Yardbirds-y pop stomp. Their set seemed to be falling right in line with that idea, a popped up mess of updated heavy blues that verged on Merseybeat, when out of nowhere came a song that recalled nothing so much as an unholy mating of John Sebastian's "Welcome Back" and Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town." Even in spite of that, and I realize that judging by description alone it would seem to be a horrendously fey/macho combination, actually much like Phil Lynott himself, this song proved that the ability (or perhaps just *my* ability) to describe music always seems to fall a ways short of the actual experience, even as much as those words only add to its appreciation. Anyway, the shit was good, all of it, and the Spoils' set left me smiling broadly and damned glad that I was in that room. If you get the chance, and I'm quite sure you will, make an effort to see them.
Of course, as luck would have it, you prolly won't have to make much of an effort. In addition to the usual suspects lurking around in the backstage that night, a camera crew as on site at this show, filming the proceedings for a cable-access show, "Backstage at the Black Cat," which will very soon make its debut on District Cablevision and possibly other cable systems in the area as well. Running the show were Annie Lou Bayly and Rachel Coursey, who let me know that the first episode would appear in just a few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for this madness; I'm certain I'll be setting the TiVo and also giving you more updates as it gets closer."
-Greg Ceton
- The Washington City Paper
Spoils of NW,"Seeing Things"
and around town. This local quartet plays brash neo-garage rock, sweetened with pop harmonies and deepened with a sense of loss that would make no sense to a '60s garage band.
-Mark Jenkins
- The Washington Post
Discography
The Spoils of NW - Seeing Things (Night World LP #NW02)
Photos
Bio
They accept the idea that every heart is haunted, and there's nothing any one of us can do about it. They know that hope, happiness, melancholy and despair are equally poisonous when undiluted by truth. They see the stage as a secular altar to which they and an audience attempt to resurrect the dead (Charlie Patton, Hank Williams, Eric Dolphy, Pop Staples, The Carter Family, Memphis Minnie).
It's inevitable that their ears are tuned to these electrical ghosts. Their hometown was the home base for Link Wray and Marvin Gaye; their streets the birthplace of Go-Go. As a live band, they'll make anyone who hears ghosts feel better about another night alone--or together--with them.
Peter was in The High-Back Chairs (Dischord), The Peter Hayes Condition and Pussy Galore. Bill was in Pteradactyl, and is the guitar player in his sons' band, Eyeball Skeleton (My Pal God). Joel was in the Revelers (SpinArt). Phil was in Tuscadero (Elektra).
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