Magnetic Fields (Majestic Theater) First things first-- if you're heading to the Majestic Theater tonight, you should know that the WSJR fact check department has confirmed that there is no opening band, and that the show is supposed to start at 8pm on the dot. So be aware. Stephin Merritt and Magnetic Fields are touring in support of Distortion, their latest record, and in some ways, their new material sounds sort of like a return to what I believe is their greatest record: Holiday. The total number of people who have ever agreed with me on this is zero, but hey, most geniuses go unrecognized during their time anyway, right? I could chalk it up to nothing more than being a big fan of lo-fi bedroom synth pop a la OMD, but really-- the next time you sit down and listen to Holiday, think about the fact that it came out in 1994, and then think about how many bands the record surely had an influence on after its release. You'll realize, I think, that it is a lot more important than most people claim. The official backstory behind the latest MF release is that Merritt was influenced by shoegaze and Jesus and Mary Chain specifically (check their My Bloody Valentine inspired promo photos for further evidence), and while that is certainly true in most surface level respects, the songwriting and the shimmering fuzz found on most of the album's tracks really reminds me of some of the electro noise found on that aforementioned favorite record of mine. Of course, all of this is analysis has very little to do with what you'll hear tonight-- based on an assortment of online reviews I've read concerning the latest tour, we'll get a stripped down Magnetic Fields this evening. This is probably how most people prefer it, and although I'm looking forward to it, a part of me is just a tad disappointed.
A Place to Bury Strangers | Sian Alice Group | Red Monroe (The Loft) Shit. Thanks for scheduling this show for tonight. The one night that something even arguably better is going on. Brooklyn's A Place to Bury Strangers have been building a reputation for themselves as one of the loudest bands in existence these days, and their live shows have become fairly legendary in blogland over the past year or so. And speaking of Jesus and Mary Chain-- these guys are up to their ears in Psychocandy, but thankfully, that isn't all their up to. You'll hear quite a bit of late 80's Wax Trax in their sound, as well as some later period Primal Scream, which sort of sounds like krautrock gone metal if you haven't heard it. For those not attending Magnetic Fields, this is a highly recommended alternative. Oh, and I was able to catch Sian Alice Group twice during SXSW, and they were fantastic both times.
MON: Magnetic Fields (Majestic Theater) MON: A Place to Bury Strangers/Sian Alice Group/Red Monroe (The Loft) TUE: Kayo Dot/The Great Tyrant/Vorvadoss/Trifle Tower (Rubber Gloves) WED: Boston Spaceships feat. Robert Pollard/High Strung (the Loft) WED: Opeth/High on Fire/Baroness (House of Blues) THU: Devin the Dude/Coughee Brothaz/Bavu Blakes (Granada Theater) THU: Designer Drugs and the Party (the Loft) THU: Neil Diamond (American Airlines Center) FRI: WSJR Party (details to come) FRI: Dirty Diamond/Ribelle Scaltro/Mistress (Time Bandits) FRI: Apollo Sunshine/Colour Music (the Cavern) SAT: Wolves in the Throne Room/Nachtmystium/Lychgate (Rubber Gloves)
The frat boys are coming! The frat boys are coming! God, I hate this weekend so much that I don't even know what to say other than fuck OU AND UT. My fellow East Dallas residents, prepare for the worst (and ps, our big show announcement will come on MONDAY, mkay?)
FRIDAY
Akimbo | Resigned to Fate | First Curse (the Lounge) Akimbo are one of those bands that are decent enough when you catch them opening for a really great band (I can't remember if I saw them with Melt Banana or Lightning Bolt), but their classic rock/punk sludge isn't the best in its class, and therefore not something I would completely go out of my way for. It's not bad however, and definitely worth seeing if you live and die for this genre. I've heard local hardcore act Resigned To Fate now has an expiration date, so if you haven't seen them, drink up.
Uptown Fridays with Select (Zubar): You DO remember that this is Texas OU weekend, right? Females, if you're planning on going to Greenville tonight, please bring a weapon in your purse to protect you from date rapists. Males-- you better really be ready to bro out tonight if you think you want to get laid. Have so much fun you guys!
The Theater Fire (Lee Harvey's) Please tell me that college football fans haven't figure out where Lee Harvey's is quite yet, because I'd really like to enjoy myself outside this evening. The Theater Fire has a new album ready that we haven't exactly heard yet, but I'm pretty sure you'll get a chance to hear a lot of their new material tonight at a venue that seems to fit this band better than just about any other Dallas venue fits any other Dallas band.
Gordon and the Whale Anniversary Party (Rubber Gloves) Huge (I originally wrote "big ol'" but changed it when I realized that I sounded like Cindy Chaffin) Denton party tonight to celebrate the one year anniversary of Gordon and the Whale, featuring DJ sets from Yeah Def, It's What We Get and Empty Pockets. Circa 77 is doing some decorating, and most importantly to Denton hipsters, Austin party queen Annie Ray is doing a photo booth or whatever the fuck these people call it. Surely the place to be tonight if you want to be scene.
Deep Snapper (Cool Beans) Deep Snapper ends a three month hiatus on the roof of Cool Bean's tonight, and promises upwards of 25 songs in their set-list, a daunting number for any band. Most local bands lack the work ethic of Deep Snapper, a group who seems to release an album each fiscal quarter, and will follow the task of tonight's ridiculously long set by playing in Shreveport...tomorrow.
The Walkmen (House Of Blues) The Walkmen pulled something of a major comeback this year with the release of their latest album, thanks to a train of critical acclaim that pretty much originated with Chris over at Gorilla vs Bear. It's difficult to say exactly why this album is any better or different than previous Walkmen efforts, but hey, if you liked the Walkmen five years ago, you'll probably like them now too.
Lords | Children of the Grave | Four Days To Burn (the Lounge) Certainly the show of the weekend in my mind, but since its the last one I got around to writing about and I actually have to try and not get fired from my job, you guys can have fun picking these bands apart yourselves! I'll see you there if you're cool enough to know me! PS-- a Sabbath cover band? Do we have to?
The Roots | Gym Class Heroes | Estelle (Palladium) Gym Class Heroes, guys? Really? That's who the fuck you play with now? I'll take your 94 tour with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and the Beastie Boys instead, please. And yeah, I know that makes me old, but you're coming of age in an era where Gym Class Heroes are popular, which makes you dumb. The worst part is that I think I know a girl who's had sex with this band. :-(
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals (Nokia) I can't tell you how little I care about this dude. Oh, and fuck Whiskeytown too, ok? I'm not impressed that you have one of their albums, ok Parker Posey? I'd rather listen to that punk band Jeff Tweedy was in during the early 80's.
Cat Power | Appaloosa (Palladium) Honestly, I'm probably the worst possible person on the WSJR staff to write about this show, because frankly, I really don't spend a lot of time thinking about or listening to Chan Marshall's music. It never really appealed to me, much like the music of her ex Bill Callahan, and the critical praise she has received has always puzzled me a bit. Other people around WSJR HQ seem to have cute little indie nerd crushes on her, and I certainly can't blame them for that, but after seeing her perform at the Granada last year, I realized that my initial suspicions about this music were pretty much true-- it strikes me as mostly safe "lifestyle" music fronted by a pretty voice. This is fine in a sense, but certainly not worth putting up with Palladium's parking fees in order to experience. I usually get verbally assaulted by people when I share this opinion, and perhaps my view is a bit off the mark since I've only seen one Cat Power show and listened to the equivalent of maybe one Cat Power album, but shit, I don't know. The stage fright. The indie celebrity boyfriends. The drinking. The erratic behavior. Dare I say that its all a bit, um, boring?
Mr. Gnome | Menkena | Mostly Bears | Les Americains (The Cavern) Mr. Gnome are apparently from Cleveland, and apparently exist in 2008, but boy oh boy, do they sound like Canadian indie rockers from 2006. This might be a little unfair since they really aren't half bad, but whatever. I guess I'm just "in a mood" today. :(
Yeah, they pretty much DID put on the best rock show I've seen in quite some time. Probably the best show Deep Ellum has seen in years. If you weren't there, well, you really missed out.
Pattern Is Movement | Mothfight | Florene (Swiss House) Pattern Is Movement are apparently not fans of critic-speak that mentions the alleged polyrhythms utilized in their complex prog-pop, though I imagine they hate the word "prog" being applied as well. Anyways, it's probably next to impossible to pull off polyrhythms when you're operating as a duo, however they still manage to make it sound as if there still an entire extended group of participants, thus adding to the music writer's confusion. The critics probably meant to say "time-signature changes," which are undoubtedly involved. There is a certain broadway quality to some of the song-writing, which is a hindrance if you hate that sort of thing, but these factors combined definitely set Pattern Is Movement apart from your average indie pop group. Monotonix | Best Fwends | Rival Gang | El Paso Hot Button (The Lounge on Elm) It will be interesting to see what Israeli rock band, The Monotonix will do in the traditional club setup tonight. I have only seen them play at the late Eighth Continent, or in somebody's living room. Their well-documented ability to transcend their surroundings, as well as their fairly straight-forward but entertaining classic rock sound, is really something you don't want to miss. To put it bluntly, they really know how to fuck shit up, and I would expect the stairs and couches of The Lounge to be fair game. I have seen every band playing tonight on numerous occasions, and if there is a single theme for this fairly diverse group of artists, it would be that the "crazy live act" description could be applied to every band here. Fortunately for you, the music tonight largely stands on its own, even minus the novelty factor.
Straight edge hardcore seems like it might be a lonely musical existence in Amsterdam, but Vitamin X play just that. There is a rich history of punk and hardcore in The Netherlands (groups like Rat Patrol or The EX), but Vitamin X sound like your standard American straight edge group. No Man's Slave has one of the funniest, and longest Myspace URL's I've seen in a few months.
It's Unamerican To Be Sad | Terry Sims/Mr. Dale and JTMudd (The Cavern) It's Unamerican To Be Sad evolved out of another DFW area group called The Black Lights, and though they sound similar, IUTBS are even more melodramatic, which I didn't think was possible.
Hey, guess what? WSJR has made some new friends. Over the past couple of weeks, we've been talking with some great people from two other Texas music blogs that are making some noise in their respective cities. The first is Austin Sound, a website that covers a wide variety of independent music in Austin and Texas at large, and the second is Skyline, a Houston based blog that covers just about everything you could imagine going on down in Houston.
Anyway, the three of us got to talking, and we decided that it might be interesting to do a monthly article exchange. Each month, we'll be taking turns posting an article from one another's sites, just to give our readers an idea of what is going on in various Texas locales. This month, we're featuring a Skyline review of an album by Houston's excellent Balaclavas, while Austin Sound will post a few of our "We Hate Your New Band Too" features, and Skyline will post an article from Austin Sound. Take a look below, and be sure to check out the other sites. -- SR
REVIEW: BALACLAVAS : INFERNO The second circle of hell is reserved for the souls of those who, when in the flesh, could not tamp down their desire for the flesh of others. The lusty. Those who hid away the love all hearts are meant to experience for the quick kill; the fleeting romance; the adultery; the cheat. In this place, and in all the circles of hell, the condemned are punished not by having their acts held before their faces to eternally bemoan or suffer endless Groundhog Days where they are the victims of the same heart-crimes they committed. Rather, they are exposed to metaphoric punishments, exacting their toll in much the same way the consequences of their own actions haunted them while they were still living. In the kingdom of men, the lusty drift aimlessly, guided without sea chart and only the dumb zeal of their organs as helmsman. They can never find the arms of another to call home forever, and so come and go with the wind and the tides looking eagerly for land through their telescope. But for whatever cruel and secret missive written by a Commodore they do not understand and cannot mutiny away, they never drop anchor. So too, in the second circle, do they find their souls angrily blown about by a violent storm. Never finding stability or foundation or peace anymore than they could find a spouse with which to carry out Genesis 1:28. We think alot about the second circle when we listen to Inferno.
It's a seductive record, one that catches you looking from across the gallery and is warmed by the attention. It doesn't run or shout so much as it slinks and coos its way not into your heart, but into your sweating back with its seething scarlet nails. There's nothing wholesome about it. Though you enjoy it instinctively, you can't help but feel like it's a little dirty. It has the sound of the darkness in a strange room where a familiar activity is about to take place - noises echoing and disturbing without a visual reference, like unfamiliar beltbuckles falling unseen onto unfamiliar floors.
The songwriting template that Balaclavas established in their first release has been honed, sharpened and intensified. Though they were already crafting some of the most unclassifiable and incomparable music in town, in this release we find them to be submariners at even greater depths. The bass is massive and formless, pendulating back and forth with such heavy subsonics that it sounds as if it should be bumping out of the trunk of a chopped 300M instead of cornering you in a dark parking garage of indie disquiet. It's the amorphous wrapper around what is still the most distinctive rock sound in the 713, 281 or 832 for that matter. The drums keep a sort of a time but are far more accentual than backbeat. The guitar is often punctuation to the vocals, a cranky and craggy friend that alone carries the sins of the melodies along in a cave lit by only a single candle. The vocals are the ghost of a fallen man, but one who knows it could have been much worse.
Even when these four relatively simple instruments momentarily lock into a groove together, such as in the refrain for "Ashes," the effect is a complex bouquet and more generally a reminder that, for most of the time, you simply can't believe these individual elements are happening in the same song at the same time and working so brilliantly together. Balaclavas, we would imagine, are easy for some to dismiss as just too weird for their taste. We can't really begrudge anyone who doesn't connect with what they're doing, because, frankly, we've never heard anything like it either. But it has most certainly sauntered up to the right sucker at the bar, because we're taking it home with us tonight, even though we shouldn't. We hope when we die, it'll be playing in the second circle. Highly Recommended.
