April 1, 2004
Musing on the music—human and otherwise—at 2004’s SXSW

"And the nomination for best L.A. bands playing SXSW were: The 88—oh, the eighty-fucking-eight, the best band in the world—played four shows at SXSW, and won over their criminally sparse crowds with their suits and Kinksian songs. Will God never deliver the 88 from the foothills to the mountaintop? Never has such a thorough album as Kind of Light remained so untalked about. Genius, as always, is misunderstood, I guess. But the 88 unveiled a few of their newer, bluesier tunes that’re as infectious as the previous pop-heavy goldens." - by Chuck Mindenhall

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July 22, 2002

Continuing the evening's theme of familiar yet original music was The 88. As soon as I saw their singer pick up his hollow-body electric guitar, it became evident that they knew what they were doing. Their blend of power pop, alt-country, Britpop and blues worked wonderfully. I'll let you pick: think Oasis meets Mudhoney, The Verve meets Screaming Trees, or Pleasure Forever meets Wilco. I recognized one of the members of The 88 as a "percussionist" from Midget Handjob. It was hard to believe this fellow was the same man I saw a few weeks ago banging tribally on a wok and pickle bucket. Only this time, he was wearing a crisp suit and playing guitar (acoustic and electric), maracas and tambourine. Their keyboard player also handled occasional accordian duties. There's no weak link in this band's chain, and their performance proved this. -Adam Reese