Just saw this post on Denton Rock City and thought I'd share it with you. Don't have time to analyze it at the moment, so for now I'll just repost it and tell you that we'll be sad to see the current incarnation of SHQ go (and remind you that DL has posted a new Violent Squid record review below)

We’ll start with a hearty THANK YOU. To you. To your friends. To your bands. To your blogs. To your dogs. To the locals that have helped us survive and promoted our dump. The list is long and you know who you are. Thank you all.(deep breath)

When we started this… thing… on June 1, 2006, well… We just had no clue what the hell we were doing. And frankly, some things never change. The SHQ experiment has been one of stress, insecurity, blind devotion, financial crisis, roller coaster morale, copious quantities of warm beer, getting stomped at HALO 2, and many other things. There are a lot more gray hairs these days. I mean, an ever-changing group of people who can’t even get a library book turned in on time trying to keep a place of “business” open?

Jeez… How the hell did we last this long? We have lost a shit ton of money. Hell, a lot of YOU have thrown WAY more money into this than what was probably reasonable. It’s been worth every penny to us. It has been worth the stress.Totally.Hopefully to you as well.It really has been the hardest thing we’ve ever been involved with in some ways. Trying to keep everybody happy and casual was the easy part. You folks turned the spot into something fun… We just unlocked the door.It has been a blast. We’ve made so many friends, seen the true spirit of community, hosted some damn fine musicians from all over the world, and got our stupid faces in the newspaper, which my mom thought was pretty cool.It is always a surprise when someone expresses their love and support to us. We never spent too much time trying to figure out what everything “meant”, we just tried to get there on time on a Friday night after working the 9 to 5.For a fake club run by drunks and known criminals, we did pretty solid. Solidish.

And now… everything is about to change for the better. Be advised… You have until December 31, 2007 to enjoy Secret Headquarters as she stands now. That’s three months of quality weekend shows… Plus a few extra here and there… That’s plenty of time to have a blast, plenty of time to use your new SHQ Buy 2 Get 2 Free Cards that a lot of you bought… We’re going to fill the calendar up and make sure that YOU realize just how much we love you and desire to properly thank you. And you KNOW we’re gonna throw a huge party at the last minute. A party of epic scope to go out in style.But, again, as of January 1, everything is going to be different… Except, that everything is sort of going to be the same. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but neither does SHQ.

Things to take into account as we let you know the “SHQ Era of Chaotic Late Loud Drunken Punk Shows” has to end:
1. Our landlords are WAY sick of us not paying rent on time. They have been so great with us, really, and fair is fair. They are not in the Hipster/Scenester/Beardo Charity business.
2. Construction has already started on the fancy expensive town-homes that will rise to block out the sun literally 10 feet from our noisy backdoor… In that field where you puke and piss? Yeah, right there.
3. Since we opened, several members of the, ahem, staff have had children and gotten day job promotions, and some of our bands are getting busy, and it’s true what they say about there not being enough hours in the day.We are now faced with the inevitable need and desire to either improve the spot or shut it down… And maaaaaaan were we close to just shutting it down. It felt like there was no choice.

Enter The Clandestine Project. Google it. Chris Lewellyn… The man with the plan. We went in with a loose vision. Chris is coming in with passion, a great heart, a dream, an actual plan, business sense, and ambition. Plus, he’s just a sweetheart. He’s been in the rock business for a long time, and has always been DIY/punk about it, and you probably have one of the shirts he’s made in your closet right now. Dude’s been around. Plus, he’s an animal lover, which is the most important shit in the world. He owns goats for fucks sake. Including a couple of those crazy Fainting Goats! We’ll tell you more about him later. For now, I’ll tell you what has been set in motion with us, the landlord, the city, and you. The strangest part about all of this is: It’s actually going to happen, and we’re already in motion. I’ll give you a couple of short versions for now, and flesh it out in the weeks ahead.

SHORTEST VERSION: Counter-culture mini-mall

SHORT VERSION: First of all, we’re gonna get a sign. I know. Crazy. We’re gutting the building. Walk in the Front Door that faces the street. On one side, a cool coffee bar. On the other side, an artisan shop with Texas goods. Past that, local vendors… Hair dressers, craft folks, tattoo artists… All local indie folks pursuing their vision. And it could be YOU. More than ever, with a little structure in place finally, we will be able to offer you a path to your “thing”. Holler at us, ya know? We’ll work it out. Past that, sound-proof rehearsal spots for your band. Contact us if you are interested. There are not too many of them, but they will be solid, cheap, and yours. The venue? Smaller in some ways. But more available to you. We’re gonna spiff it up a bit, and dampen the sound a bit, and you can do your art show, your play, your screening, your show… A real community space for the people of Denton to see the people of Denton. The shows will be fewer but the quality will rise. We’re fixing up the bathroom and moving the door. Hell, we may even throw a lock on that badboy! Good news for the pee-shy, right?A lot of the stuff in the front of the building will be good to go way before the end of the year. Some of the improvements will take some time. Some will wait until 2008. We’ll keep you posted.

So as we turn the corner/turn the page/float the keg, please know that SHQ isn’t going anywhere. A lot of the same people will be there to hold your hand through the transition. We are arriving at Phase II. Phase II is going to rule. There will be more for you. The spirit of Secret Headquarters will grow even stronger. It just won’t bleed money anymore. It will still be the perfect place to sample what Denton is about, and a compliment to our neighborhood, the East Denton Entertainment District… Dan’s Silverleaf, the new Rubber Gloves location, Eisley’s Hookah Lounge, Fuzzy Taco, Hailey’s and the Square just steps away. We are proud of what we have done. We are excited about the promise of the future. And we can’t wait to share it all with you.Thank you.

Violent Squid have made this the most taxing review I have ever attempted by far, and I've spent the entire Summer season (maybe even the end of Spring) torturing myself over finishing it. It seemed like a simple enough task at the outset, but the fact that they've released four albums since I started this review created a challenge that I just wasn't used to. If a band releases five cd's in about four months, which one do you review? By the time the third or fourth is out, does the first one become stale? The fact that Violent Squid is almost more of a loose collective (lead by Ty Stamp) than a band contributes to its ability to maximize output, but it also creates a certain amount of confusion in the scrawled artwork and credits for anyone attempting to decipher who has done what on each record. To make this easier on everyone, I chose a couple of my favorites to review (although I basically liked them all). Let's start off chronologically with their eponymous album:

Part I

Violent Squid (Self Titled)
3 1/2 Stars

For all I've been told about the VS project including just about every Denton resident on its roster at one time or another, for the most part the group's self titled CD is a surprisingly cohesive statement. This is due in part to the fact that at least four musicians make multiple appearances (on both discs), including Oswaldo Sinevil, David Young, Mike Forbes and of course, Ty Stamp (in addition to other collaborators both named and unnamed). When compared to a Violent Squid performance, which I've witnessed turn into a "fourth wall" demolition where the whole room seems to be crawling over one another out of time to the band, Violent Squid is a fairly calm and melodic collection of music.

The album begins with one of its strongest tracks, "Santa Claus, The Man On The Moon, Kraft Cheese, and Jesus." The track blends violin, viola, guitars and other instruments with an added layer of foggy fidelity that creates an unexpected depth to the music that can be found throughout the album. The electronic sounds and beats that fade in and out of the recording are expertly blended without disrupting the subdued mood set by the stringed instruments, and are followed by a handful of textured and hazy instrumentals that rely on layered overdub recording techniques and the sonic pushing and pulling of the mixing process. "Filtering the Night" is a track that is mostly Sinevil stabbing in staccato at a piano soundboard, accompanied by Ty on an unnamed instrument, and Forbes on sax.

Around the halfway mark there is a noticeable dip, with some dangerously jam band bass tones and drum beats followed by a tacked on rap track by a rapper named Montana, which actually isn't that bad. Wet with reverb on the vocals and live drums, the approach reminded me of Bill Lasswell prodigy and experimental rapper Sensational, a guy who gained notoriety for flowing to Stockhausen. I also mention Laswell since these back-to-back tracks are the only time the album seems to void its own charm and patchwork methodology by veering and stretching a little too hard for the eclecticism, which is something Laswell's been guilty of for decades. Of course this is more than made up for by the album's wonderfully catchy anomaly "Sassy Mink", an irresistible piece of psyche pop with an equally irresistible video to match. The track is pretty much all Ty on a computer program with added bass and guitar accompaniment, and the "Robots in the summertime" refrain is impossible to forget.

From there the album returns to its droning and melodic instrumental beginnings (with one track even breaking the eleven minute mark), and eventually disperses into snippets of throat clearing, single string plucks, sound effects and a fractured conversation featuring Sinevil responding to a friend's claim of being a writer with the proclamation, "There aren't any professionals, man." Whether it's true or not, there is something vaguely comforting in that statement, just as in Violent Squid's self titled album.

PART II

Violent Squid and Mike Forbes/Andrew Young/Stefan Gonzalez Trio Split LP: 5 Stars

This split ep features the work of at least six musicians, and though they all make excellent contributions, Mike Forbes tends to really dominate the cd. And this is a good thing. Even though he is obviously a great listener, and therefore a great player, he could easily overpower most acts he has ever collaborated with, lead, or sat in on, and his true talent ultimately might be that he chooses to be mericful.

The buildup on this cd is great and you could imagine how impressive this would be on vinyl with the shorter Violent Squid tracks on one side and the one long Forbes/Young/Gonzalez piece on side two, an arrangement similar to so many classic records. The playing on this album will make you long for an 180 gram version on Impulse or ESP to be sure, but the two dollar CDR is an improbable bargain (word around town is that Ed Priesner of The Fra House is working on a cassette only release of the trio's music). The first few tracks feature Forbes accompanied by prepared guitar, "singing bowl", upright bass, and even a washing machine. That should go over well with people who refer to experimental music as "toaster banging music," and unfortunately for said critics, this man playing his saxophone into a washing machine is better than most of the unsolicited MP3's collecting digital dust in the We Shot JR inbox after a generous attempted listen. Anyway, the rest of the VS portion consists of improvised instrumentals that lack the structure and melody found on the self-titled release but are full of equally enjoyable sounds and ideas just the same.

The Forbes/Young/Gonzalez piece "Event I" is everything I hoped for when I first heard that these three were starting as a trio, as I am a fan of their separate endeavors-- Young as a founder of 715 Panhandle's foray into Denton DIY as well as a participant in some impressive online recordings, Forbes as a collaborator with seemingly everybody, and Stefan Gonzalez, experimental prog rock (Unconscious Collective), brutal grindcore/ thrash (Akkolyte, Rat Salad) and jazz (Yells At Eels) drummer.

Since the recording is a snapshot of three musicians feeling out each other's technique and ability, the track starts off as a fairly calm affair, and the playing gives the impression of three cobras cautiously circling each other before deciding when to strike. At exactly the 7:22 mark, Mike Forbes charges in with notes so white hot and nuclear blast powerful that they practically blot out most other highlights in an entire year of DFW music. They are so fucking enraged and chaotic that they simply dwarf any kind of guitar noise from a pillar of amplifiers and all of the expensive distortion effects money can buy. I found it hard to believe this music was coming off a CDR. The following seconds in which the trio sort of just plinks, plunks, and taps together in an improvised meltdown is the work of three silent giants of local music. Why the fuck isn't this trio on the cover of Texas Monthly? Oh, well.

The Stefan Gonzalez solo where Forbes respectfully takes a step back before stuttering little shrieks off of the ends of every other roll is the kind of playing that makes you uncomfortable. The tension almost chokes the listener, and speaking of a different kind of choking, I actually almost welled up and lost a tear when I saw Forbes and Young play in the fucking basement of J & J's. Not exactly a place I expect to hear playing so beautiful that it's an almost emotional experience. Young's playing is not to be overlooked either-- he is as uniquely experimental as he is classically talented, and the ease with which he switches from bow to fingers is completely fluid and effortless.

It is a shame and a great loss to local music that Forbes and Young have since moved to Chicago in the time between the recording and this review. Chicago has a historically sympathetic music scene to Free Jazz players of this sort, and the one advantage of Forbes and Young's departure is saved for the musicians (rock and jazz alike) that are spared the chore of having to follow them.

Sally Glass has a bunch of new picture sets up, including some from the excellent !!! show on Monday. I was really impressed with their live performance, and The Field was great too.

Click here to see the rest.

Kind of thin tonight. We should have more for you to read this evening, so check back.

Taxi Fare With DJ Nature (Zubar)
Hopefully they'll reschedule for Queen Majesty's unfortunate cancellation last week. Apparently, it was still a great set. And I can't stress this enough. Please check out one of the only blogs in our huge metropolitan area that actually knows something about the music it features. What a fucking concept.

Short Attention Span Theater presented by Strawberry Fields (Rubber Gloves) Free event.

The latest update on the KITES show is that it's Thursday night at Tinnitus. More on tomorrow's It List.

Jenny Hoyston's Paradise Island | The Hot As Shits | Adrienne Anemone (Rubber Gloves)
Jenny Hoyston's ability as a performer will probably make up for the fact that her work in the heavily No Wave influenced Erase Errata is generally more interesting, especially rhythmically. Her solo project, Paradise Island, is definitely worth checking out, and her injection of more pop grounded structure doesn't completely eliminate the traces of skronk and squawk in her flagship band. The Hot As Shits however, are a hard rock band from Austin that has more in common with The Runaways than The Static. Adrienne Anemone is from The Tuna Helpers but her solo project is a little too Ren Faire for me.

Fishboy | Calhoun | J. Roddy Walston And The Business
(Double Wide)
I added this since I know there are many Fishboy fans out there. I'll leave it at that.

NOTE: I want to add that the KITES and Russian Tsarlag show at House Of Tinnitus that was rescheduled for tonight, might be tomorrow night or even Thursday. We will let you know as soon as there is a definitive answer. What I saw of the opener acts on Sunday (including the excellent Aunt's Analog) have convinced me to make it to this no matter what.

!!! | The Field | The Party (Palladium Loft)
Looking forward to what will probably be one hell of a live show at Palladium tonight. For those who haven't experienced it yet, The Field's From Here We Go Sublime, released earlier this year on Kompakt, is easily one of the most enjoyable electro/dance records to be released by anyone this year. It features enough four on the floor house influenced party vibe to keep people moving, but what makes the album really good is the Field's ability to keep the party going while infusing it with interesting textures and an un-Kompaktlike focus on emotions and melodies, making it a grim but hopeful sounding record that seems to serve as a memorable soundtrack to just about anything. It is one of the more noteworthy achievements in European techno this year to be sure, and it's a rare treat to have someone like The Field's Axel Willner in Dallas for a performance. I'm also looking forward to seeing !!! live for the first time. I've been a fan since the release of their debut single on Touch and Go (2003's "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard"), and although I'm not sure that they've ever surpassed the greatness of that song, I've heard that their live show is can't miss, and I believe it.

Bad Religion | The Briggs | Gallows (House of Blues)
Ah, Bad Religion. There was a time many moons ago when I thought they were one of the best bands on the face of the planet. Turns out, they aren't. And although I can't tell you one thing about what Bad Religion has been doing for the past 12 years, I can tell you that I've seen them live twice (both well past their "prime") and they were exceptional both times. You'd probably have to be a hardcore old school fan of the band's to care at this point, and Bad Religion probably can be blamed (indirectly) for the mall punk phenomenon, but in my mind, they've done enough to warrant a mention and some credit, because I'm guessing that for a few of you (like me), Bad Religion was one of the first bands that helped you be pissed off in a more intelligent fashion, and when you're a teenager, that's pretty important. And oh yeah, Suffer is still one of the five best American hardcore albums of the 1980s, and Bad Religion's early stuff really rules. Against the Grain is up there for me too.

Cool Out (Cavern)

Bad Azz Jazz (Amsterdam)

Homeboys at the Granada have hooked us up with a pair of tickets to Devendra Banhart's show this Saturday with Jana Hunter. If you want them, email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and 5pm Wednesday with "Devendra Banhart" as the subject line. A winner will be picked at random and notified by email.

Good luck.









photo by Chris Buck

Hang on to your hats people, because the Shock of Pleasure revolution will NOT be televised:

LOCAL TOP 5

1. Shock of Pleasure - This is a Test
2. Shock of Pleasure - It's About Time
3. Mom - Little Brite
4. The Polyphonic Spree - Live from Austin, TX
5. Red Monroe - ¡Policia! ¡Policia!

OVERALL TOP 20

1. Shock of Pleasure - This is a Test
2. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
3. Soundtrack - The Darjeeling Limited
4. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature
5. Shock of Pleasure - It's About Time
6. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
7. Mom - Little Brite
8. Tunng - Good Arrows
9. Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War
10. Matt Pond PA - Last Light
11. The Polyphonic Spree - Live From Austin, TX
12. Red Monroe - ¡Policia! ¡Policia!
13. Akron/Family - Love is Simple (+DVD)
14. Angels of Light - We Are Him
15. Liars - Liars
16. Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
17. Film School - Hideout
18. Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments
19. Mono - Gone
20. Go! Team - Proof of Youth