Poignant indie-rock will comprise the Roustabout! at Bar Bleu, 114 S. Garner St., tonight when bands Good Night, States and The Surgical Staff take the stage.
This will be the third Roustabout! for the Pittsburgh-based Good Night, States. The band uses a variety of instruments and vocalists to develop a full, layered rock sound with folk and country elements.
"We make a lot of use of synthesizers and various electronics and the coming together of those sounds is what really defines what we do," said Steve Gretz, the lead vocalist and guitar player. "I think we draw pretty heavily from what I would consider a traditionally American rock sound."
Although the band avoids any type of musical comparisons, Gretz said Wilco showed the band that it could achieve conceptual yet accessible music.
"Some of Wilco's albums have done a lot to show us what's possible as far as abstract arrangements and just really breaking outside of genres but still being something that you can hum at the end of the day," he said.
With four out of the five members of the band singing on many of the songs, the music is different than the typical indie-rock setups. Gretz said having so many vocalists can add strange musical elements that are easily relatable to anyone, especially since all of the vocals give a more humanistic quality to the band's sound.
Good Night, States has one album that officially comes out next week, entitled Short Films on Self-Control, though they already have copies that are available to sell. The accompanying band, The Surgical Staff, has recorded demos and is working on arrangements for a full album.
Though The Surgical Staff is not quite "as rockin' " as Good Night, States' sound, the band's down-tempo indie-rock-and-folk vibe still provides fun and poignant songwriting, said Jesse Ruegg, a promoter for Roustabout!
The Surgical Staff comprises six Penn State psychology doctoral students and is fronted by Joe Beeney.
"We've been developing a sort of harder, rawer sound," said Michael Stevenson, the band's drummer. "Initially, a lot of it had indie-folk and indie-country contents. Now we're working in a little more straight-up rock within those themes."
The Bar Bleu venue itself will make for an intimate but fun setting, Ruegg said.
"[The audience] can be passively involved and chill out at the bar or the lounge, or can be active and be right up by the stage," he said.
The college bar scene is one of the more active listening scenes, Gretz said.
"[The last time we played at Bar Bleu] we really enjoyed the venue -- it actually seemed that everyone was really listening. I guess that's something you get at the college scene more often than other clubs," Gretz said.
"It's still a really rare thing, and it's something we really appreciate, so we're excited to come back."
