The Art of Business

Trances Arcs Atlanta

There is always a gorgeous scene in Georgia.  Whether it’s the open country that speaks to those who come from here, causing at least a little bit of an ache in the heart when you see it, or whether it’s the entertainment and art produced by the people who live here, there is a sense for beauty here.  The same could be said for its opposite, and it would be expected that the same artists that can create sweetness can also invoke the bitter in a second, because the extremes tend to exist simultaneously.  This is particularly true in the music, and here, the indie-alt scene is very strong.  This is one of the birthplaces of this music, after all, with REM reigning in from Athens, and kicking the thing into high gear with Murmur.

Today it’s possible, and even likely, to come into town and stay in a local hotel, and spend your evenings out on the town, and discover some new band that speaks to the bitter and the sweet sides of the human heart simultaneously.  I don’t know why it works like that for me, but live music in a particularly small place can make me think of lost love quicker than bitter almonds.  For my money, one of the coolest new groups out there worth watching is TrancesArc.

They have drive, and they certainly have innovation.  It shows in their music, and it also plays out in their presentation, soliciting funds on their website to release their new EP.   This is real indie, without compromising anything.  TrancesArc is also uncompromising in its music.  This is tight and brilliant stuff, the drummer pulling together the dueling chords from the guitars and the vocals singing from a place that knows what it’s like to know too much and still feel the pain of the ignorant.  This is music sung from the place where love doesn’t understand you any more, but you don’t understand it, and you’re both locked in a sweet agreement to misunderstand.