Gil Mantera's Party Dream | Grand Buffet | Faux Fox | Dj Gorilla vs Bear (Cavern) Man, these Gil Mantera guys look like jerks. Big jerks. But the good kind, you know? The kind you might want to see live because they're just silly enough to possibly piss everyone off, completely rock the house, or some combination of the two. Their video below is pretty funny, and the cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" on their Myspace page is nothing less than the shit. Throw in Faux Fox and you've got yourself a show. I think I can do without the joke hip hop of Grand Buffet, but their set might be a good time to head upstairs and see what Chris from GVSB has going.
Wax Fang (430 pm)- Free Good Records In store: Like I said the other day, I don't know much about Wax Fang, but I got my hands on some of their stuff the other day and I like it a whole hell of a lot. Their singer sounds like something in between David Bowie and Billy Joel, and thankfully their music falls much closer to Ziggy era Bowie rather than the latter. But I'm just saying its closer to Bowie than Billy Joel, which isn't really saying that it sounds much like Bowie at all. But it does a little. And what the hell do you care? Its free, and theres free beer, and Wax Fang is good... whatever their influences.
Islands | Subtitle | Blueprint (Hailey's) As I'm sure most of you know, Islands are basically a reformed and more pop-minded Unicorns, and like the Unicorns, they can be a lot of fun to listen to or extremely annoying, depending on your mood. For a couple of months earlier this year, I was concvinced that Islands' debut would be one of my favorite records this year. I still really like it a lot, but for some reason it just didn't have the kind of shelf life that you would expect from an album that is so pleasing at first... I saw the Unicorns live once a couple years ago and wasn't very impressed, but I'm willing to bet that these guys have improved a little since then. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I like Islands and I bet this will be a good show. I'm just not that excited about it.
The Good Sons (Wanz and Aaron Gonzalez Birthday Party/Scratch Acid Tribute)/ White Drugs | Liz MacGowan | Stag Film (Amsterdam Bar) Based on what I saw of the Good Sons performance a few weeks ago, I kind of wish that they would just be a Scratch Acid tribute band because they play those songs much better than the Birthday Party selections. Still a good time for the most part, though. White Drugs' live show should be well received by almost everyone who reads this blog, so I'd give it a shot if I were you.
The Angelus | Amanda Leggett | The Dust Congress (Doublewide) Dust Congress is a Denton band that I don't really know too well, but I like what I hear. Maybe someone call fill us in on who the are, but in the meantime you should listen to "inuvikyellowknife" on their myspace page... they play very strong, creeping front porch folk, and they sound well worth showing up early to see.
The Who (American Airlines Center) 52 bucks gets you in the door. $202 gets you one of the good seats. Pete Townshend should start doing Viagra commercials and spare us whatever bullshit has driven these prices so high. Is there a puppet show or something?
SATURDAY ADD: Denton's excellent Zanzibar Snailswill be playing what they term a "multimedia warehouse art happening" from 7-10pm at 1837 Corinth St. near downtown... just south of 30 and west of 45. I heard there are a lot of neighborhood toughs around there. Anyway, the art show, which will be going on all day starting at 10am, will feature the work of the Snails' Nevada Hill along with several other Dallas area "outsider" visual artists. The Snails will be playing the reception from 7-10pm, and will feature a five person line up with more live electronics and homemade microphones than they usually play with. The whole thing is going on at some place called Park in the Cedars... not sure what that is, but I think this will be a good time. I'm assuming its free.
Beach House | Over the Atlantic | The Spores (Amsterdam Bar) I think we've said enough about Beach House this week, so go check out their songs for yourself if you haven't already. And attention Indie Bros: girl show alert. Its a good thing.
The Melvins | Big Business (Gypsy Tea Room) I've been rocking out to the Melvins' 1993 classic Houdini for the past 30 minutes or so as I've been writing this... in fact, I've been listening to it on and off for the past four or five months as part of my great Melvins revivial, and I can't really explain why. Its funny, because describing the album can really be a matter of simply saying "grunge as fuck," but somehow it doesn't sound dated in the least bit. I'm actually pretty torn between this and the Beach House show, but I have a feeling that the Melvins will be playing shows for the next twenty years, and not having to park in Deep Ellum on Saturday night is a bonus. Big Business sounds pretty fucking good too, however, so who knows. I guess its hard to be in the mood for BOTH shows, isn't it?
SUNDAY Les Georges Leningrad | Dutchess Says | Eat Avery's Bones (The Cavern) Yeah, if you've seen LGL live like I have, then you know that this is going to be a great show. They kill it live, and their upbeat, no wave influenced noise/dance punk will translate very well in a small room like the Cavern as long as its loud. And I'm pretty sure it will be. Eat Avery's Bones are the natural local choice to open this show, and you really might want to get there early enough to see their 20 minute opening set.
Lots of stuff going on tonight so we'll get right to it:
Assdroids | Chief Death Rage | Christian! Teenage Runaway (House of Tinnitus-Denton) This would be a good and very cheap chance (donations requested) to see what you think of this week's feature band, C!TR. Its hard to tell what to think from the poorly recorded songs on their Myspace page, but from what I have been able to gather about them, I'm willing to bet that they are far from boring at the very least. And hey, if you don't like noise rock, you should really check out the Assdroids too! I don't exactly know what to make of their loopy free form electro noise, but it sounds like its either going to kick my ass or drive me crazy in a live setting. And thats the kind of bet I'm usually willing to take. There are a lot of goofy moments throughout the songs I've heard, but there are also many moments that seem to hit you across the face in just the right way. We'll see.
Strange Boys | Teenage Symphony | Lindby | Wild In the Streets (Rubber Gloves) Although they sound nothing alike, the Strange Boys and Teenage Symphony seem to be a great pairing for a live show. I guess the fact that both of them are so heavily influenced by the 60's is what does it, but the huge differences in their respective sounds just seem like nice compliments to one another. Add Wild In the Streets into the mix and you've got a great night. Lindby is a teenage indie pop band from Flower Mound that I don't think I've ever heard before... and despite how terrible that sentence makes them sound, they actually sound pretty good to me for what they are. They're obviously pretty decent songwriters, and I doubt from the sound of things that they'll really piss you off, even if you hate indie pop.
My Morning Jacket | Wax Fang (Gypsy Tea Room) The first of what I'm sure will be two really good shows. I've seen My Morning Jacket live before and they're very very good. Wax Fang is a band I don't know much about, but I like the little bit I've heard from them.
The usual stuff: Zoo upstairs at the Cavern, old school hip hop at Slip Inn, and Metro will be starting a new night at Monkey Bar.
And finally, Chelsea's birthday party at Doublewide will feature a couple good bands, and all the proceeds will go to Amnesty International, which is obviously a good thing. We'll let you guess who the good bands are: Record Hop | Lions | Saboteur | 100 Damned Guns
One of the most pleasant experiences I've had listening to rock music this year was discovering how much I liked Beach House'sself titled debut the first time I heard it. What I heard that first time was clearly something special: quiet, dreamy music that doesn't seem to come from any particular time or place but somehow sounds very familiar almost right away. Victoria Legrand's dark organs serve as a simple and powerful atmospheric backdrop to Alex Scally's gorgeous slide guitar parts that always seem to start off hidden beneath a fog of ghostly reverb but somehow manage to slowly find their way into the light, creating many of the album's most striking and memorable moments with restrained, surf influenced shimmers. Victoria's vocals, although not exactly precise or traditional, are extraordinarily effective in lending soul and sorrow to songs that often sound so detached that one might imagine them fading away into the distance at any moment. Basically, the contributions of both members stand out in different spots but come together seamlessly to create a series of very distinct moods that are pretty much perfect for this time of year.
I called Alex and Victoria tonight, on the eve of a show they were playing in Los Angeles with Ariel Pink, to ask them some questions about their band. I first spoke with Victoria when they were on their way to a hotel, but after a few interruptions caused by bad reception and the chaos of arriving in a new town, I picked the conversation back up with Alex once they settled down. Beach House is playing a Gorilla vs. Bearshow at the Amsterdam this Saturday night, and although you might not have heard about it in the local "alternative" paper (at least I didn't see anything about it) , I'm sure you'll want to consider going once you've heard their music... if you haven't already. Here is our conversation:
What are you guys doing out in LA... playing shows I'm assuming? We're playing a show tomorrow at Echo with Ariel Pink.
Oh cool. I've seen him live twice. Once he played a lot of album cuts and put on an amazing performance, and the other time he did improv for 45 minutes.
Yeah, it can kind of go any way with him. He's unpredictable.
So I guess I'll start with the usual stuff... how did you guys meet and how did the band come together?
Alex and I met about three years ago through a mutual friend. I had just moved to Baltimore from Paris where I was studying music and acting, and I picked Baltimore to live in because the rent was cheap and I already had some music connections there. We were in another project together before Beach House, which never really added up to anything, and one day we just started writing and Beach House was born shortly after that. We've been doing it for about a year and a half now.
And had you guys just been playing locally in Baltimore for most of that time?
Yeah, we were playing locally in Baltimore for most of that time. We played in New York and a few other places once and a while, but primarily stayed in Baltimore. We started getting some attention because of our local shows, and we actually recorded our album very quickly, several months into the existence of the band. The album was recorded in February and was mastered and done in March. We were signed a couple of months later.
So everything happened pretty fast?
Beach House moved gradually, but the process of actually getting a record out happened very quickly. We were very lucky.
Would you attribute that (the speed of the records release) to anything in particular? Did someone catch notice of you early?
I would attribute it to a lot of work and a lot of dedication to our stuff, as well as our energy and desire to put our record out as quickly as possible because we were already writing new material and we thought fall would be the best time to release it. I attribute a lot of it to our own ambitions to get our material out. If we hadn't been signed we probably would have released it ourselves, but as it turned out, Carpark records was looking at artists in our area and they just got a hold of us, which is how it all happened.
I've noticed that a lot or reviews of your album make reference to your name and use visual descriptions of beaches and the fall and things like that to describe the sound. Does any of that have anything to do with what you were writing about or thinking about while you were writing these songs?
Well, obviously its all related, but its not like the name Beach House guided what we would sing about. Its just that the name was a way we were trying to describe what we felt like when we were playing the music, like we were in another part of the world, on the beach or something, and the word Beach House just sort of popped out one day. Its all very naturally fallen into place, which I guess is what happens when you're trying something that makes sense to you. You find a sort of language that you can cultivate in a musical sense. I don't really think much about what I'm singing or how its going to end up, it sort of all comes out naturally. All our processes are very organic and we always just let every idea go.
I think you record is one of the few that has gained a lot "indie" buzz this year that really doesn't sound a whole hell of a lot like anything else from the past. Were there any strong, direct musical influences that you guys had in mind when you were writing this record?
I would say no, we don't have any particular or deliberate specific influences that we were trying to imitate when we were writing our songs. Alex and I loved the sounds that we created and found, and we sort of followed our instincts. We do share musical tastes, we both love music from the 60's and Motown and all that stuff obviously, so if there are any kind of influences brought to mind by our music, its just mostly referential without really being super conscious of anything. Its sort of just a big collage of all of our tastes. We weren't trying to sound like any specific artist at any point, and neither of us believe that that is how music should be. It shouldn't begin as an imitation. If it ends up sounding like something else, then thats the way it is, but in order to write songs, you can't think about what it sounds like or who it sounds like while you're writing. It has to remain somewhat innocent and protected. You can keep the things you like, but keep them in the background.
So are you saying that even if you had wanted to approach writing and recording songs with direct influences in mind, maybe you couldn't have even done it to begin with, or at least not as effectively?
No, when we write our material, we don't want to sound like any specific artist, and when we record, we don't look for a sound that sounds like any certain album. We say, when we write and record our music, "this is Alex and Victoria writing songs, we are just doing this and these are the sounds we like." We're not trying to imitate anyone. Inevitably, we're going to be put in some genre, like we're already being put in with shoegaze, and thats totally fine, but we're just trying to not let that affect how we approach our music. We' re trying to guard it a little bit. Labeling and all this stuff is fine if people need to do it, but for the artist, its very destructive and it actually creates too many thoughts in your mind where you become too preoccupied with what you sounds like and who you will appeal to. We try to very much remain in a more innocent place.
(This is the point where Victoria had to hang up because one of the other bands they were touring with needed directions to their hotel. I called back a few minutes later and talked to Alex, who answered the rest of my questions.)
What was the recording process like, and where did you record your album?
We recorded the album in my basement but with two very well trained and experienced recording people setting it up with appropriate microphones and stuff like that. We just kind of set up a studio in my basement and did it at home.
How did you guys get that faint drum sound? I'm curious because it really stands out to me throughout the record.
All different ways really. Some of them were recorded on to tape first and played like that, to get a sound that was very filtered. All of the drum sounds are filtered in one way or another, either by effects or recording process. We played all the songs live, or at least did the recording live. The drums were recorded before, by themselves, and were their own recorded part. Some of them are hand played, some are made using machines, and some were played on organs.
How important was it to you to record the album in the way you did? Was recording technique a big part of your vision for the record itself, or did it fall into place later as you were going about it?
I think production is 90% of making a record. I think tons of bands, in fact, most bands don't get a good recording. So it was really really important to us to get a recording that sounds like us or expresses our character or how we feel as we're writing our songs.
You guys have been getting a lot of press lately, and I wanted to ask you about the big Pitchfork review since people love to debate about how Pitchfork reviews affect a band's career in the short term. I was wondering if that review changed things for you, or sparked a lot of new interest in your band.
I don't know. I have a hard time answering that question. I don't know what attention was there, and I don't really monitor it. I'm on tour, and not around a computer a lot, so I don't keep track of that kind of stuff. Pitchfork seems to help. When bands get good reviews from them they end up getting a lot of attention, so I'm sure it helped us, I just don't know exactly what role it played. It also seems like Pitchfork fans are very fickle, like they like whatever Pitchfork says and then move on to the next band. Its like they like Pitchfork more than the bands almost. Hopefully that won't happen to us because we don't want to be a five minute band. We want people to just like the music and not think of it as some "new" thing.
People seem to put a lot of importance in Pitchfork reviews.
I'm sure we've had a lot better attendance at shows because of Pitchfork and everything, but everyone has been really nice so its hard to tell. I don't like to think about it too much because it kind of freaks me out. I just want to play and make music and let the press do what it does. I just want us to be ourselves.
So obviously we're doing this interview because you're playing Dallas on Friday. Have you been to Texas before? Do you have any impressions of it?
Yeah, I was in Austin recently. I liked it a lot.
Have you been to Dallas?
Just the bus station.
Any funny stories?
No, Texas looks wonderful. Everything looks big. Big cars. Big cities. Big freeways. Big people. I don't know.
Anything else you'd like to talk about?
No, we're trying not to think about things too much. We just want to make music and not plan too extensively, because it seems with all the things that have popped up recently, there are a lot of opportunities to lose your way and get very caught up in the meaningless bullcrap of the music world.
Is that something you feel a lot of pressure or anxiety over?
No, thats my point exactly. We're feeling no pressure, we want to keep doing exactly what we've been doing which is just making music and not trying to make the "right moves" or cater to anyone's opinions to get attention.
So one of the most popular questions I've received via email over the past six months is "when are you idiots going to get a P.O. box?" Well my friends, that day is today. So now you can feel free to snail mail us CDs, press kits, and whatever else you want. Just don't send us any Anthrax. or Anthrax.
Looks like everything that you might want to do tonight is going on up in Denton....
first, as usual, Dj Nature's the Partywill be happening at Rubber Gloves. I don't know what the crowd has been like for Nature up in Denton lately, but last Friday's Party at Zubar was seriously off the fucking hook. Another huge, random crowd with lines forming around midnight, tons of people dancing like you don't normally see outside of one of the big downtown clubs, and Nature, Select and Sober all playing fresh sets that kept everyone guessing until closing. If you like to dance and didn't show up, I feel bad for you. Central Bookingbasically owns the Dallas party scene right now.
Elsewhere in Denton, Mom will be making a rare live appearance at Andy's on the Square in Denton tonight with In Dot Dat. Mom's complex electro soundscapes are at times gorgeous, meditative and swirling, but at any moment can be overtaken by rougher, noisier parts that will throw listeners off almost completely... in a good way. Their songs build up slowly before they blast off, making you wonder how they got from point A to point B. Toe tapping music its not, but anyone who digs thought out, well put together experimental electronic music needs to hear these guys. They're a gem right in our own backyard.
And finally, for those looking for some metal/math rock stuff, Hailey's has a pretty decent show: These Arms are Snakes | Mouth of the Architect | The North Atlantic | Handbrake. We're not big fans of any of these bands, really, but These Arms are Snakes and Handbrake sound decent enough to at least do a little Myspace listening if this is your kind of thing.
So I've heard various talk in recent weeks about the rising profile of Dallas' Hourly Radio, and until this point I've pretty much ignored it. I had heard them before here and there, and I thought their music was decent if somewhat forgettable. "Another post-punk revival band," I thought, "I can probably do without it." For me, the jury is still out on the band because I haven't had a chance to listen to all of their new material, but I have to say: their latest single, "Crime Does Pay," is pretty fucking right on.
I don't remember exactly where I downloaded it from, but I've listened to it several times this week and I'm really digging it. The song draws from a wide range of influences, but it has a predominant disco vibe a la Donna Summer's "I Feel Love," and also seems to take from New Romantics like Gary Numan and Thomas Dolby, as well as some of the less hazy moments of contemporary actually-worthy-of-the-buzz band 120 Days. Sure, its poppy as hell, and there is apparently some video floating around of a five year old girl singing it at a talent show or something, but the stomping disco drum beat and spaced out funk guitar should catch most of you weary local music observers by surprise if you haven't already heard it. Its much more of a dance song than a rock song, and its one of the most immediately catchy local tracks I've heard all year. And I've heard a lot of local tracks this year. I don't even know if Defensive Listening and Howard Bob Johnson are going to agree with me, but you should give it a try:
