How my heart has grown for the Canadian/British electro-pop group
Dragonette. They're the little pop band that could, can and will go
all the way. It's Sunday night at the super-chic Brooklyn Bowl, and
I'm lucky to meet up with singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara, bassist
and producer Dan Kurtz (also Martina's husband) and drummer Joel
Stouffer to chat about their latest single, "Easy," musical
collaborations, and connecting with the gay community.
I arrived at Brooklyn Bowl around 4:30 p.m. and the place is packed
with families and children bowling and gorging on food around communal
tables. Baseball games are playing on giant screens all over the
place, and classic rock is blasting through the sound system. In the
middle of it all the chaos, Dragonette is trying to sound check. I
got to see them rehearse "Okay Dolores" and "Liar" while no one
seemingly cared or paid attention, except for four little girls
dancing in front of the stage. It was so surreal. Shortly, I made my
way up to the dressing room above the stage for a 15-minute
interview. We talked about the green glitter underneath
"Tina's" (what the guys call her) eyes in the "Easy" video (see
below), the fact that this was NOT the first time they've played a
bowling ally, a one-song gig in Rome next week when Martina will
perform "Boys and Girls" with Martin Solveig, and the angst of their
songwriting process. By the end of the interview, I'm enamored with
each of them. Insightful, reflective, playful and smart. All of them.
After the interview, my friends Ted, Michael and I stuffed ourselves
with Blue Ribbon "rock 'n roll" fries and fried chicken, followed by
several Brooklyn Lagers (of course). We played two sets of bowling (I
won both sets btw), and slowly greeted the many friends I have invited
to come and fall in love with Dragonette for themselves.
Local electro-pop duo Class Actress opened with a short, 30-minute
set. I saw them open for Little Boots last month, and I was not
impressed. But this time it was different. They sounded poppyer,
catchier, '80s synthier. But the show really got started when
Dragonette took the stage. They opened with "I Get Around," from
their debut album, Galore. I was thrilled they played a number of
their early songs, including "Black Limousine," "Competition" and my
favorite, "Take It Like A Man." "You want out. I can't help. I've
got to make you understand, you've got to take it like a man." Such
an awesome song.
Then they unleashed most of the songs off their current album, Fixin
to Thrill, including the banjo-tinged "Gone Too Far," "Pick Up The
Phone," "Liar" and "Stupid Grin." My favorite moments were "Easy,"
written by Joel Stouffer. It's a beautiful song about relationships
and unconditional love, he told me, and Martina sings its
beautifully. I'm also a fan of "Okay Dolores." It's the kookiest
song on the album, but so much fun to sing along to. "Big Sunglasses"
was also a big crowd pleaser. This song wants to be the official song
of Memorial Day: "Run and get me some of them big sunglasses!" I love
it.
They closed with "Fixin to Thrill" and returned with one encore,
"We Rule The World." I have one question: Why doesn't Dragonette rule
the world? They should. They are so talented, so brilliant and
infectious on stage, and probably the nicest folks in rock 'n roll.
Hard as it looks. Thanks, Dan, Joel and Martina for an unforgettable
show.
