There is nothing better than going to a show and being pleasantly surprised when the opening band turns out to have a bit of actual talent. Very rarely does this happen to me it seems but when I went to see Waxatchee and Girlpool was opening, with no drum set or any sort of percussion whatsoever, I became very intrigued. They had a swagger about them that instantly made me start to pay attention and they played through their set so confidentially, Ruben thought they were easily 25 or 26, not 18 and 19. Their music is very direct and to the point so as a result I was a fan from the first 30 seconds of their first song. And the best thing was, the music was catchy enough when I went and listened to their album the next day, I recognized most of the songs. I think the reason I put Before the World Was Big so high on my list was because I was so impressed two people that young could make such mature music. Its honestly pretty haunting and stays with me for a while after I turn off the record and sometimes I just need to give a nod to people making music years ahead of their time.
