Hometown Sounds

DC’s music “scene” has always been, and will always be, fragmented and disjointed, but we are lucky to have a few “elder statesmen” to class the place up. The usual suspects cast a long and highly visible shadow over DC, but Beauty Pill‘s Chad Clark has faded from attention somewhat during his well-documented illness and recovery. Clark’s legacy goes back to the late 90s with the locally influential Dischord band Smart Went Crazy, and his production roles for such bands as The Dismemberment Plan, Fugazi, Georgie James and Mary Timony (heard of a new band called EX HEX?) went a long way to shape what the whole country thought of DC music. Beauty Pill’s last DC show was in July of 2007 at Fort Reno, and any longtime resident can tell you how much has changed around here since then, especially musically. That’s why last week’s release of Beauty Pill’s long-gestating album Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are, and its well-deserved avalanche of hype, is such a triumph for DC as well as Clark and his bandmates. Beauty Pill’s ethereal and sometimes experimental new tunes might sound oceans away from DC’s well known punk history, but Clark’s ethos, determination, creativity and empathy represent the best of what DC should be known for. Watch Beauty Pill’s new music video for “Dog With Rabbit in Mouth Unharmed”, featuring singer Jean Cook’s swirly and distorted face, directed by Jeff Sheven.