Well, SR is really busy Christmas shopping or just having drinks at Swan Court, who knows? So, it's all me, DL, today. Consider it an early present, along with the masterpiece above.
-Defensive Listening
FRIDAY
ADD: Vega | Females (Centre) This is an in-store at Centre, located in Mockingbird Station. Runs from 7-10 PM.
Lil Wayne | Keyshia Cole | T-Pain | Gym Class Heroes | Keri Hilson (American Airlines Center) Besides the unsurprising and irrelevant Grammy nods, now Lil Wayne is on every critic's top ten list in the country (more on that topic later), and I was thinking about how justifiable that is today. Certainly, Lil Wayne's hilariously sleazy sound has matured over the years and yet how could it not? His work in the Hot Boys may or may not still stand up, but it was obviously not a bad start and he has maintained his career very shrewdly, working nonstop, and avoiding a lot of typical celebrity pitfalls. Besides, what were you doing at fifteen? Well, I guess the Fungi Girls don't have to answer that.
So, it's somewhat expected with an album this huge, that Lil' Wayne will also face an inevitable backlash. "Mrs. Officer" is already getting votes for most "Annoying Song In The World," and the news this week is controversy over whether or not he properly credited South Africa's Karma-Ann Swanepoel for the sped-up sample used on mixtape track, "I Feel Like Dying," which also happens to be one of his best songs. So, I'm trying to weigh pros and cons about Lil Wayne, and what I have is: He wrote one of the worst songs ever and doesn't credit the samples on his best work. I'm going to go ahead and just conclude that he deserves to be praised as an artist. What would rap and hip-hop be without uncredited samples? Pretty boring. Plus, I'd rather listen to this than Fleet fucking Foxes.
High Life | Trifle Tower | Dark Forces | Power Trip (Exploding House, 711 Page St., Ft. Worth) High Life will have copies of their new seven-inch at this show, and the first twenty to pay the six bucks to get in will receive a record according to the flier. This is a dark, scream-y bunch of hardcore acts, and I should say that Exploding House is just about the most enjoyable setting to catch a show like this, if I haven't before.
Mistress | Lychgate | Wu Fru De Lu & Dragon Killah (Knight House, 1433 Knight St., Denton): Lychgate is a very intimidating synth-noise group but there's a certain beauty in the din after it peaks and saturates the entire room. Mistress is uglier with crushing, toxic blasts of harsh noise. Wu Fru is more guitar oriented, but that's all I know.
Michael McDonald (Winstar) I have hated this man's music my entire life. I've never bought into blue-eyed soul, not with The Boxtops or even The Righteous Brothers really. I mean, look at what Alex Chilton eventually did. It's great, but it does make him kind of a music industry tool to some extent. So why, oh why, do I find it impossible to change the station when "What A Fool Believes" or "I Keep Forgetting" is "accidentally" played on Youtube every other day. Look, I'm trying my best to not get soft as I get older, but this is making me have some serious doubts. Watch out haters, you may just end up cranking the shit you laugh at someday.
Record Hop | Matthew And The Arrogant Sea | Florene | Kody Jackson (Dan's Silverleaf) RISE featuring David Lewis/Mike Constantino | Brett Johnson (Absolute Studios located at 2607 Walnut Hill Lane) This is a new venue for dance music and it looks like it's going to start hosting regular events under the name Masdelux. Event is BYOB and admission is ten dollars. Runs in the after-party hours of 12 midnight to 6 AM. Damn.
Pretty slow night tonight, party people, but I guess it makes sense considering how near we are to Christmas. We're going to start our year end coverage either tomorrow or Monday, depending on whether or not we can finish everything up, but you can totally look forward to that. Shows:
Ian Bangs | Yeah Def | Swedish Teens (Rubber Gloves) Apparently you can get into this thing for free if you're wearing a bathing suit, but all the proceeds from the door go to Ian Bangs in order to replace his stolen computer, so I suppose the best thing to do would be to wear your suit and donate a little money anyway. After all, during the holidays in a shitty economic climate like this, what better charity could you possibly give your money to?
Tendril | Our Tragic Hero (Doublewide) Isn't Tendril that shitty local punk group from the 90's that I was smart enough to dislike even back when NOFX was my favorite band? I don't know. Maybe since I hated them then I would like them now, but for some reason... I doubt it.
Tame...Tame And Quiet | Sweet Boys | Seth Sherman (The Lounge) Though tonight's show will definitely include music performances, it is also a photo exhibition for local artist and musician, Gavan Nelson, late of local group Heaven Is A Hotel and Las Vegas hardcore act, Curl Up And Die. Nelson's work is largely comprised of street imagery and stands out in the often-crowded realm of Dallas photography. He is no slouch as a bass player either and his music has been missed. Tame...Tame And Quiet and Seth Sherman round out this bill with tricky full-band indie prog and tricky solo folk prog, respectively. I don't who the Sweet Boys are, but I do know that this show will be sweet. And that a lot of boys will be there. (I hope.)
Detour featuring Blixaboy | Brent Bradford/Clinton Lynch (The Cavern)
Short Attention Span Theater (Rubber Gloves) Here's a good description of this event from SAST's Chad:
"I will be playing gross, inappropriate, mature, sexy, vile, drug fueled, violence ridden animation this week for Short Attention Span Theatre at Rubber Gloves. If you have never been to SAST before you have missed out! You watch shorts that I have collected over my years of geekdom, listen to music from same origin and DRINK A LOT! This time next week you are going to be stuck watching television yule logs burning while your mom hounds you about why you aren't married yet. So make the most of your holiday season and escape its noxious vice like grip around your soul and share some time with the ones who really love you.
Also if you had consignment CDs at Strawberry Fields I will have it up there that night and you can come get it! Its like an early Christmas!
There will also be a drawing for a free copy of denton Deluxe v. 4, makes a great stocking stuffer!"
(I know this is a little late today, but it's totally worth the wait, promise. Another edition of Not New Music Tuesdays from TC. Enjoy!--SR)
Pink Fairies - Kings of Oblivion (1973, Polydor)
Pink Fairies grew out of late '60s British weirdos The Deviants when their singer, Mick Farris, left the band and was replaced by ex-Pretty Things drummer Twink. After two records and an obscene amount of alcohol and drugs, Twink was out, replaced by guitarist Larry Wallis, who had just been kicked out of UFO for drinking too much. This was Wallis' only studio lp with the Pink Fairies, but his influence was overwhelming. In 1975 he befriended some guy named Lemmy and they started a band........
Paleo | The Heartstring Stranglers | Emily Stoker (1919 Hemphill) Paleo is a project from Brooklyn artist David Strackany, who made headlines in publications such as Paste, Magnet and USA Today back in 2006 when he began a year long project in which he recorded and released (for free) a new song each day for 365 days straight. Although this might come off as something of a cheap gimmick at first, those who actually listen to some of these songs will immediately recognize the guy's talents, particularly if said people are into songwriters like Destroyer, Devendra Banhart and Wooden Wand. Actually, Paleo's stuff is better that the first two artists I mentioned-- no overrated po-mo lyrics and a complete lack of cooky cutesy crap. Recommended.
Wheels on Fire | Silver Shampoo | Hoop Dreamz (818 Hickory St., Denton): Wheels on Fire are a solid power pop/punk band from Ohio that takes cues from the Kinks, 60's soul and various vintage garage groups, and they do it pretty well. I'd get there early though, as locals Silver Shampoo sound like they'll be the highlight with a minimal, lo-fi take on classic English punk and glam. Very good stuff.
Febrifuge (Lakewood Bar and Grill) Great band playing a show at a total bummer venue. Febrifuge is certainly worth checking out, though, so have some neighborhood pride, East Dallas, and head over to Lakewood Bar and Grill on one of the few nights that you'll actually have a reason to.
Out of all the new local bands I've heard this year, very few have struck a chord quicker than Fungi Girls, a Cleburne noise pop group that possesses musical taste and talent far beyond what is typical of their ages-- 14 and 15. Yes, you read that correctly. 14 and 15.
Of course, I realized that these guys were pretty young the first time I encountered their Myspace page, but I had no idea they were THIS young until I asked them a few questions for the first installment of a new feature, Local Q and A (something you'll be seeing here on a regular basis). If you head over to Fungi Girls' Myspace page and check out "Into the Cosmos" and "Crystal Roads," you'll realize just how surprising their ages really are-- the group's music calls to mind the Siltbreeze sound of bands like Psychedelic Horseshit, Times New Viking and U.S. Girls, as well as a bit of the shoegaze pop recently popularized (again) by Deerhunter, but they also pack their brief songs with a few charming touches of 90's slacker a la Dinosaur Jr., Yo La Tengo and Westing era Pavement (meaning Swell Maps by proxy), resulting in a batch of songs that are sloppy, noisy and chaotic while retaining a pleasant, poppy warmth that truly sets Fungi Girls apart from similar groups. We wanted to learn a bit more about how these dudes got to be so cool, and here is what they told us:
Could you give us some background info on the band? Names, ages, where you're from, etc.
I'm Skyler Salinas. 14. From Cleburne, Texas, although I grew up in California and Nevada half of my short life. My bandmate is Jacob Bruce. 15. Grew up in Cleburne, Texas all his life. Somehow, we've mastered the "art" of being able to play scene metal and terrible radio country songs, jokingly of course. This goes on a lot during practice. It'll even go on for hours if we feel like it.
Fungi Girls is a duo, right? I just wondered because I saw three people playing at the Muscle Beach show. If you guys are in fact a duo, what made you want to do it that way? Was it just necessity, as in you couldn't find anyone else you wanted to play with in your town, or was it a purposeful decision that less is more?
Yes, we're a duo. That third person was our ex-bassist, Barrett Green. We kicked him out due to some personal conflict between him and I, in addition to him starting to lack in dedication. After we kicked him out, we ended up being good friends again, but Jacob and I decided to stay a duo. Jacob and I are more so on the same page of what we want in our sound, and we both have nearly identical taste in music. Besides that, us two just work together much better as a two-piece.
How long have you guys been playing music? Did you play in any bands before Fungi Girls? If so, what were they like?
I've been playing music since I was 10 or 11, starting in school band. About a year after that, I started playing the drums in addition to that and it took off from there. Jacob has been playing music since he was 12 or 13, starting on guitar. I played in two bands before Fungi Girls, a punky math rock band called Lego Theory with my buddy Deryck, and then Jacob, Deryck, and I were in a improvisational noise rock band called Zooz. Neither bands played any shows nor were there any releases or anything.
Could you tell us a little bit about your songwriting process?
It usually starts with me coming up with a drum rhythm, then Jacob adds a guitar part to go along with it, we decide on the song structure, then afterwards add vocals. Very simple. Our songwriting process ends up being very slow, though, because we usually end up fucking around a lot.
Your recordings are very noisy and lo-fi and raw. Is this a stylistic or aesthetic choice, or is it just the result of recording a quick demo? Or to put it another way, are you recording the way you would if you had an actual "budget" to spend money at a studio?
It's both stylistic and aesthetic. We both love lo-fi recordings, whether they be from newer bands or older bands. We don't ever plan on changing that characteristic. But in addition to that, we are in fact on a budget. Neither of us are old enough to get jobs yet, so we have to bum money off of our parents. That's kind of out of the question if you're wanting studio time.
I enjoy pretty much every single band that you list on your influences section on your myspace page. Can you discuss some of your favorite bands and the ways that they might have inspired you to start a band and play the kind of music that you do?
Psychocandy-era Jesus And Mary Chain, Henry's Dress, Times New Viking, You're Living All Over Me-era Dinosaur Jr., and Psychedelic Horseshit are our probably our main influences. We both LOVE anything that could be considered noise pop. Whether it be melodic/harmonic noise or atonal noise and feedback, there's just something about blending noise with pop music that really gets us off.
I think its interesting that you list John Coltrane as an influence. Obviously you aren't playing jazz, but I wonder what kind of influence he has on you guys musically?
I was the one that listed him and Art Blakey as our influences, as they're more so mine. Jazz drumming really influences me and makes me strive to be the best drummer I can be. But yeah, obviously we're not doing anything complex or jazzy, but I try my hardest to incorporate small amounts of jazz drumming into our songs. Usually it's just little drum rolls that are barely noticeable. Besides that, though, Jacob and I just really appreciate the brilliant musicianship of jazz and hope to show good musicianship in our songs. Although we do love the newer, noisy pop bands like Psychedelic Horseshit and Times New Viking, sometimes we get agitated with their lack of good musicianship, especially the former.
It seems like you have a knack for writing pop songs and burying them underneath everything else you do musically. Do you aim to write catchy pop tunes, or does it just come out that way?
We definitely aim to write catchy pop tunes. As stated before, we're huge on noise pop, as well as just pure pop music like The Beach Boys or The Mamas and Papas.
Who are some of your favorite local groups? What do you think of the local scene in general?
Orange Coax, Silver Shampoo, Wax Museums, Scoff, and Landon's (from Muscle Beach) drone project Glazed Glitter. I personally don't think the local scene is all that great, but it is very homey and tight knit. More particularly the Denton scene that is associated with Muscle Beach, 715 Panhandle, Bunker Hill and the like. As for Dallas and Fort Worth bands, I really don't think there's much hope for either city at the current time. I haven't heard (of) any decent bands coming out of either city in a while.
Do you feel like there are really very many limitations to starting a band in a small town like Cleburne these days? It's not as if you have to travel far to find good music anymore, so other than obvious logistical concerns with playing shows, etc., is anything else holding you back there, culturally or otherwise?
No, not really. We get uhhh...persecuted occasionally, I guess, for being quite different than the mass amounts of rednecks, Abercrombie guys and girls, and scenesters around here. But, it doesn't bother us all that much. The only big downfall of living here is we don't really have any supporting people if we want to set up a show here. We have a small group of ten friends or so that supports us, but that's about it. The rest of the kids here are into shit like Lil' Wayne, Toby Keith, and Bring Me The Horizon.
Paleo | New Science Projects | Heartstring Stranglers (Fra House) Though the volume level will be much lower than the average Fra House show, the in-your-face antics of locals, The Heartstring Stranglers, and especially New Science Projects, will see to it that this event will still be intense. Depending on your view of artist and audience interaction, this style of folk will either be your performance art cup of tea, or the musical equivalent of a very intrusive waiter. Enjoy.
