Pela

First off, congratulations to the DCist crew on another successful "Unbuckled" live music experience. That said, Catherine remarks "some of my respectable roommates loathed Pela, but i liked their sound and thought they put on an excellent show." I liked their sound, too, when it was from a band called every other band to emerge from Brooklyn this century. And I mean it. I did like their sound. Normally, it's a little bit difficult to get into a live show by a band you've never heard before, simply because it's kind of more fun to rock out to familiar tunes. Pela wasn't like that at all, all their songs kind of felt like I'd heard them before. And, indeed, I sort of had. They've accomplished a genuinely impressive feat in terms of accomplishing genericness.

At the end of the day, though, the best song in their set was a cover of the Pixies' "The Holiday Song" and that should tell you something. Their efforts to locate the Platonic Ideal of the indie rock song were worthy, but ultimately they're better off stealing than imitating.