Shot in The Dark: Red Knife Lottery

Ashley Chapman and Dan Yingling of Red Knife Lottery

When I first listened to Red Knife Lottery, they actually were a random album download from a friend. I didn’t really know what it was, and probably left it there for about a year before it came time to start throwing away shitty albums. Going through my music, I usually give albums a few seconds listen before the recycle bin needs to be fed.

The album, So Much Drama (2005), was on the chopping block of the soon-to-be-disappeared albums from my squeezed hard drive. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks!

Bam! ( Writer falls to the ground. He is shaken, but not stirred)

“What was the thing that hit you, writer of this blog?” says the Rhetorical Question! He just doesn’t get his existence in the world, does he?

“Why, a fucking ton of bricks! Weren’t you reading the former part?”

RQ – ” But, I don’t see any bricks. I am confused; I am looking around and all I s…”

It’s a joke RQ. Actually, it really was the first goddamn song on the album! Now Rhetoric, go sit down over there while I talk. I might need you in the future. Does this count as Gonzo literature?

The band is fronted ( guessing from the MySpace page) by the very beautiful Ashley Chapman ( hey, look who updates his blog!). Listening to it at first, you think it is good but have that feeling that its going to soon bore you with the same Noise and Alt. Hardcore ( think: At The Drive In ) that it pushed on you in the beginning of the album.

But somehow her vocals, along with the clash of the high-toned guitars ( sometimes a little to high on the hertz, but I can take some earbleeding), pushes you into listening to each siong over and over again.

Nicole’s voice reminds me of the Yea Yea Yeahs, but if only the reminder could be embellished with Karen O and the gang doing a shitload of coke, playing a gig pretending to make a genre called neo-Emo, but actually doing a hell of a job at it. Their time-signatures change around a lot, but they have that decent pop-punk speed and 2 minute song structure that keeps you head-banging from one track to the next.

Their MySpace page has some newer stuff. Starting this blog made me think of them. After all this time, I am still surprised this band is still off the radar ( Their main site, http://www.RedKnifeLottery.com, doesn’t work; they have 2 youtube vids). But as my first post of a Shot in the Dark, I am happy to give this band the inaugural award.

You can check out their Myspace page here. I think So Much Drama might be their best song from what I’ve heard. This is one of those bands that are probably really good live. If anyone has been to any of their live shows, pass it by me.