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Review: The Doubleclicks at Guardian Games

Guardian Games got a liquor license at some point in the past, so they've started to host a "grown-up gaming" night: $10 gets you tickets for pizza and beer. This Thursday, they decided to have live music at the event, and the live music was The Doubleclicks, who are a musical twosome featuring acoustic guitar, cello, and two-part harmony. The pizza and beer stuff I could give less of a crap about, because I went to see the music. Suffice to say that the space is great for casual boardgames, and the beer and pizza selection is nice, but it's about the crappiest place you could set up for a band, especially an acoustic duet.

How to categorize the Doubleclicks? I'm not actually sure it's even necessary, since it's entirely possible to simply say they fall under the umbrella of "nerd music" and leave it at that. But for anyone who hasn't actually heard or doesn't actually follow the Nerd Music movement, I'll give it a shot. Bear in mind, this is me at my fucking-hipsterish worst, so I'm about to mention a bunch of bands that you probably haven't heard of, either, in an attempt to explain things. This will be fun for me, probably less so for you.

At the most basic, the Doubleclicks could be called a younger, female version of Paul and Storm. Or maybe Hard and Phirm. Or possibly a duet-version of Molly Lewis, minus the ukulele. Or a younger, less jokesy version of Garfunkel and Oates, maybe. Essentially, the sister-duo is a team of singer-songwriters who invoke serious musicianship (I mean, cello -- there's nothing more serious than a cello) to evoke good solid melodies underneath some impressively nerdy wordplay lyrics. I mean, there's really only a certain person who can really appreciate the pain expressed in "Apostrophe". And a perfect summation of nerd thinking in "This Fantasy World". Or the Undergrad Angst expressed by "Modern Poetry". Or the brilliant and entirely correct position of "I Hate Beatboxing". Or, for that matter, the soothing balm that is "The Internet Will Always Be Here".

Aside from the slight problem that the microphone wasn't turned up high enough, so it was moderately hard to hear the actual vocals, and the fact that maybe six people were paying attention to the show rather than talking and playing boardgames and whatnot, I really enjoyed the show. These kids are gifted! You want to go see them live. This is made easier, if you're in Portland, because they're local. And now that I know they exist, I'm likely to be going to more of their shows.

Check them out at their website, listen to some of their music on youtube, and give them money. And I hope I'll see you at the shows.

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