I’m not usually one to do show previews. I’m more the type to tell you about them after the fact. But I feel it is my civic duty to tell you about the two upcoming So Cow shows here in Seattle, especially since both the Seattle Weekly and the Stranger totally missed the boat, or cow as it were on these gigs. On record So Cow are one guy, Brian Kelly who spent some time in South Korea, but hails from Ireland. Live, he’s got a full band with him to fill out the empty spaces. He’s put out a bunch of singles and CD-r albums and has kind of flown under a lot of people’s radar, but just a about a month ago Tic Tac Totally put out a very nice 33 and a third that compiles some the older CD-r tracks as well as some new ones and seems to have garnered a bit of attention too. My friend Bill over at Sound Bites put it succinctly when he said this about So Co:
…owing more than a little to the Pastels, Flying Nun, Calvin Johnson, Jeffrey Lewis… but he’s clearly got his own point of view. Highly recommended.
This is truly grade-A stuff and not to be missed, and since they’re playing two shows here in the delightfully sunny emerald city you really don’t have an excuse to miss them. Sunday night So Cow are at the Funhouse sandwiched in between the Suspicions and the Electric Kisses. Monday night at the Sunset Tavern over in Ballard looks a little more enticing with the Coconut Coolouts headlining and Oakland’s Dreamdate on the bill as well. I’m so smitten with this Tic Tac Totally album, that I will likely be at both of these gigs.
mp3: So Cow – Casablanca
mp3: So Cow – To Do List
Both songs are from the Tic Tac Totally LP, which you can buy directly from the label. You can also download a covers ep from the So Cow website (for free) that includes the Who‘s Boris the Spider and Kirsty MacColl‘s They Don’t Know and the Television Personalities‘ This Angry Silence.
the finest kiss 
Gosh, they were so good live!! I heard a rumor Brian is moving to Seattle next year. Hopefully that means more So Cow shows for us in the near future!
Ed, I heard the same rumor. Kelly jokingly asked if there were any immigration officers in the audience at the Funhouse show here. Both So Cow shows here were pretty great, they threw in some choice covers of the TV Personalities’ This Angry Silence and No Bunny’s Mess Me Up as well.
My favorite gig in ages. Great music, great mid song banter and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves which is very refreshing. Get them back again soon!