Sean Flinn – The Pageantry from Live From Your City on Vimeo.
You may think you don’t know Sean Flinn & The Royal We, but trust me, you know more about this band than you think. If you are a fan of the local indie darlings, Y La Bamba, I guarantee you are a fan of Sean Flinn, for they are one in the same…almost.
Sean Flinn & The Royal We comprises all of the Y La Bamba members, excluding percussionist Mike Kitson, and adds three other members on pedal steel, organ, percussion and drums. The beautiful Y La Bamba front lady, Luzelena Mendoza, takes a step down in this project, with the roll of backup vocals and percussionist, allowing Flinn, lead guitarist in Y La Bamba, to flex his vocal muscles.
Flinn and Mendoza’s vocal harmonies are ethereal in “Patient Heart,” the title track of the band’s first release, a digital E.P. Morose minor chords and waves of percussion fill all of the empty space, giving the song a full yet fragile sound. The rest of the songs on the Portlanders’ Myspace are in the same vein. The band does a good job of incorporating every instrument to create solid, emotive music.
The octet expects to release its debut LP, Write Me a Novel, this June and is playing shows around town in the meantime, including Mississippi Studio’s one-year anniversary in March. You can check out Sean Flinn & The Royal We tonight at Doug Fir, and if you like what you hear, make sure to give them your vote on our Band of the Month poll. Show starts at 9 p.m. $10.
-Katrina Nattress