Not having been in a while, I returned a couple days ago to the Gainesville music venue with the mostest, The Jam.
As always, I expected at least a decent act, but what I got was the best local live music I’d seen since my undergraduate years in Murfreesboro, which is, much like its neighbor Nashville, a breeding ground for innovative and successful tune makers.
Awkwardly but awesomely named Squeedlepuss is one of those rare bands I’d consider snagging a merch-stand CD from (though they unfortunately don’t have one yet). The five-piece is actually from Jacksonville, but they do seem to play in Gainesville often enough to not tell a difference. Just keep an eye on their show schedule.
It’s obvious that Squeedlepuss puts an emphasis on group songwriting and choreography. They’re a mostly instrumental group, comprising twin guitars, base, keys and drums. Hold on, I know what you’re thinking—another lyric-less band that goes on resolution-less tangents and that’s unimpressively uniform among songs in riff, pace and overall sound.
But such is not the Squeedlepuss case. The band’s primary songs are their own independent roller coasters, complete with a “chorus” and the bridge solos that have you begging for them, dueling scales between the lead guitar and keyboard, and a synchronized ending that leaves you satisfied and bragging the next day about what you saw.
Bands don’t stand out to me often, but this one certainly did. You can believe in their caliber too by watching the YouTube video above of my personal favorite track, “Jutti in Djibouti”—yes, yes, I know.
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