Seattle Subsonic - May, 2010
Don’t Fuck With The Horse
Haven’t heard me yappin’ about PartMan PartHorse for awhile? Well, lucky for you, the band—er, frontdude Gary Smith rather, is doin’ aaaaaaaalllll the yappin’ necessary in this new “incendiary” video for “Emerald City Dollar Bin”. It’s a new song from their upcoming third record Emerald City Dummies, which will be released June 11 via GGNZLA Records. The song is—how should we say—an “indictment”, albeit a cheeky one, against a slew of local bands that may or may not be friends with PMPH. I’m guessing the former, BUT YA NEVA KNOW.
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So let’s see, who all does Mr. Smith incriminate in this homemade slideshow of hilarious still photos? Well, there’s: the Saturday Knights, HLAK, Idle Times, Red Sea Sharks, Fleet Foxes, Mad Rad (“just a stupid fad”), the Moondoggies, TacocaT, the Dead Science, the Dutchess and the Duke (“make me wanna puke”), Kinski, Past Lives, Broken Knives, Police Teeth, Man Plus, Chk Minus, Helms Alee, AFCGT, Team Gina, Akimbo, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band (who are “bland”, apparently), Blue Scholars, Skullbot, Minus the Bear, and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. So, in theory, if your band made this list, the beef has officially been broughten.
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Musically, PMPH has about 20 songs that are better than this one, but the comedic finger-pointing is pure gold. Would we expect anything less from these party-punk brats? The release show for Emerald City Dummies is June 11 at the Funhouse.
The Ponys Played The Tractor (Last Week)
Been meaning to report back to the SS Faithful on the Ponys show from last week at the Tractor. I’ve really got nothing bad to say about this band, as I’ve been on their wagon for awhile now, and their performance that night was spot on. They played mostly new stuff, much of which I hadn’t heard before (they have a new EP out called Deathbed Plus 4—listen to slow-burnin’ “Check The Door” here), plus “Double Vision”, their single from Turn The Lights Out. They also culled their stellar debut Laced With Romance for quite a few tunes, including “Let’s Kill Ourselves” and “Sad Eyes”. Much to my dismay (harrumph) the Chicago quartet ignored Celebration Castle; I feel it’s their best record.
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Unfortunately, the crowd was sparse and its energy low, but there were some local musicians in attendance. Like the Dutchess and the Duke and Unnatural Helpers, whose new guitarist Andrew Gregor plays in the first band that night, Scraps. They were cool: sort of a ramshackle outfit of guys and gals with an affection for the Pixies and off-kilter harmonies. Disappears, the newish band of Ponys guitarist Brian Case played second, and I really dug their hazy, Fall-inspired guitar whirlwinds (here’s an .mp3 for “Gone Completely” from their website and another from Sound on the Sound, “Magics”). I could tell from this band just how much Case influences the Ponys’ moody and rhythmic garage-pop, even if the songs kind of melted together into one long (entertaining) exercise in hypnotic reverb-rock.
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Jered Gummere wasn’t on his knees much like the last time I saw them but his caustic swells of guitar chicanery still interloped beautifully with his band’s pop (if gloomy and enigmatic) foundation. His wife Melissa played bass with her usual disaffected deftness and Case still can’t quite stand on his own two legs. A cartoon drunk, he is. Glad to see these guys still havin’ a go of it.
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The Universe Loves Us: New Wolf Parade Tracks
I try my darnedest to avoid parroting the news that various music websites endlessly churn out, but this is just too much. Wolf Parade is easily one of my top 2 or 3 bands making music today, and today, via Pitchfork, we’ve been treated to two new songs from the upcoming Expo ’86 album. It’ll be available June 29 on Sub Pop. Check the awesome cover art there to the left (relatives of guitarist Dante DeCaro, btw).
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Not only that, but there’s a brief interview with the Parade’s pianist Spencer Krug. Two items of particular (to me) note: a) he mentions that “we’re embracing our strengths (volume, disorganization), not trying to be fancy, not overthinking anything”, which is good; and b) he references Archie comics and how he thinks Expo ’86 sounds like those cartoon music notes the long running supermarket mainstay often utilizes. I read more Archie comics as a kid than I’d care to admit, soooo…quite the boon. And in case you missed it, here’s another recent interview with co-leader Dan Boeckner.
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Judging from first listen, these first two tracks remind more of the glorious prog-prop of At Mount Zoomer, which I loved (obv), than the ghostly goth-pop of Apologies to the Queen Mary. But I don’t really feel like dissecting them further than that, so I’m just gonna bathe in their awesomeness for awhile. You understand.
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Listen!
Wolf Parade – What Did My Lover Say_ (It Always Had To Go This Way)
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Now to go get me those tickets for July 26th at the Showbox…
The Lights – New “New New” Video. New.
“Shoot the moon, but don’t kill it dead!” New (new) animated video for the rowdy little sing along “New New” from the Lights’ Failed Graves. It’s new. My record review here.
The Lights – “New New” from Jason Sievers on Vimeo.
Liars Can Dance! @ Neumos Saturday Night
Dear Angus Andrew: I cannot get the sound of your voice out of my head… there is something majestic and almost addicting about how Andrew sings. It was in my head all Saturday night; my dreams were invaded by his long drawn out twang. I really dig it.
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Saturday night I roll into Neumos to trumpets blazing, no really, Fol Chen was mid-song and I was pretty impressed by their ability to incorporate a trumpet. I rolled early in order to figure out the secrecy behind Fol Chen; however I left with more questions about this band than I came in with. Questions such as: Who made the matching outfits they wore? Was Melissa, the keyboardist, of Asian descent? (I really was baffled by this one, but then again, I have pretty bad eyesight). What was the hottie blonde one’s name, and was he wearing the same size shirt as the one who looked a lot like Jason Schwartzman? Actually that part was just adorable, every time he raised the trumpet to his mouth his shirt became an automatic belly shirt. Did they mean for some parallels to the Von Trap children to be drawn? The matching outfits and the way they used their voices instrumentally really gave me flashbacks of Julie Andrews conducting rounds of “Do Re Me…” to curtain clad children. And lastly, but most importantly, how long did it take them to get so good at backing up the 2/3 of the Liars?
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Really though, I liked Fol Chen, they get a solid bueno in my book. What they lacked in stage presence they made up for in talent and style. They incorporated a lot of different sounds in their music and I was completely unable to generalize their music with just one genre. I like that. There were a few awkward acapella moments that made me a little uneasy, but other than that I really enjoyed this band. I enjoyed them even more when I saw how they made up for the lack of Aaron Hemphill.
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That’s right, Andrew came out on stage to inform the crowd that at that moment Hemphill was getting surgery on his hand. This initially hit me as a major bummer, Andrew then went on to say that normally they would obviously cancel the show; however, this was Seattle, and you don’t cancel a show in Seattle. I completely agree. Thus two members of Fol Chen (front man Samuel Bing- the Schwartzman look-a-like, and hottie blonde guy), with a brief appearance by Melissa behind the keyboard, were there to help out Andrew and drummer Julian Gross. This mixed up the roles a bit, Angus was jumping behind the keyboard, blonde guy was on the synth and guitar, and Bing was behind the speakers (I was on the mezzanine) so it was hard for me to see exactly what he was doing, but my money is on guitar. And it was good, no great. I had mentioned before about Andrew’s ability to draw in the crowd, you can’t take your eyes off this guy, and when he sings, it is intoxicating. Highlights of this show include: the dance moves, some people might call it flailing but I can see Andrew’s rhythm in his dancing, he has moves. Drummer Gross also had a moment to break it down when coming back on stage for the encore, the man has skills, do not challenge him to a dance off, because he will win. Sound quality was great, there were a few off moments, but Neumos is a dream when it comes to sound, I have no complaints about their ability to do work.
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Lastly, I had mentioned previously that I had seen the Liars perform in my hometown, this was like in 2007, they were opening for Interpol and man they were nutty. It was right around the time their album Liars came out and I think their stage performance was really reacting from the sound of that album; it was fast, a little rough, a little gritty, and mix in Andrew, it was crazy. This time around they were calmer, a little softer, cleaner even, but still retained that stage presence and style, just not the crazy. This is pretty much the vibe I got from their new album, Sisterworld. I really like this about the Liars. It seems the progression of their style is completely unchartable but it flows into every aspect of their music. And that is something I can appreciate.
New Interpol Track – “Lights”
Maybe you guys think Interpol sucks now, but not me, man. Contrary to popular opinion, I find all three of their albums highly satisfactory. I’ll even go so far as to place Antics ahead of Turn On The Bright Lights in terms of personal Interpol ranking lists. Blasphemous in some circles. Sure, Our Love To Admire wasn’t quite what we expected (and yes, even Sam Fogarino said the album was not their “most cohesive moment”), but I found amongst its gloomy cinematic atmo-rock some highly enjoyable moments. To wit, I think “Pioneer To The Falls” is one of the stronger tracks they’ve ever written.
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Anyhoo, they’ve released the first new song off their upcoming as-yet-untitled fourth album: “Lights”. True to Fogarino’s indications, Daniel Kessler seems to have recaptured that celebrated tone from Bright Lights. No word yet on whether Carlos Dengler is still sportin’ combat boots with his knickers. Is it explosively divergent from the NYC quartet’s familiar design? Those crisp and propulsive guitar compositions narrated by Paul Banks’ cryptic neo-goth love sonnets? No. But is it an excellent new track that crescendos into the warm glow of a streetlight-induced Aurora Borealis downtown sky? Oh yes.
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Get it below.
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Audioasis Show Tonight @ Sunset Tavern (May 1)
Short and sweet; I expect this show will be intensely fun, from start to finish. Plus, it benefits the Seattle Tilth.
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The local bands have all had a lot of buzz recently (and thru Subsonic):
9:45pm – 10:15pm Butts (read the Subsonic post here)
10:30pm – 11:15pm Thunder Buffalo (recently signed with our friends @ Sarathan Records. Heard they play a fast furious set.)
11:30pm – 12:15am The Lights (Subsonic post applauding their latest album)
Hosted by Hannah Levin.
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Sunset Tavern in Ballard
Doors: 8:30pm Show: 9:45pm Age: 21+
Tickets @ the door $8 day of show
Liars @ Neumos
| Saturday, May 1, 2010 | ||
| 8:00 pm |
A few reasons why you cant miss this show… 1) I saw the Liars live once, which where I come from is amazing because bands on this level would rarely tour there, and they were quite a show. I don’t remember thinking their sound was amazing, but I blame the venue’s rotten acoustics for that situation, but I remember they put on a hell of a show. You could hardly tear your eyes from Angus Andrew because he was just enthralling to watch. 2) The secrecy of Fol Chen is intriguing, so why not check them out… 3) Sisterworld is good. I really dig the album, and what do you do when you want to support an artist’s newest album? You see them live, obvio. 4) This is normally the point where I would say: “what else have you got to do on a Saturday?” howevs, this is Seattle and there are probably about 16 other live shows going on, so instead I will ask: “are any other of these shows going to be as good as Liars?” mull over that one… 5) I will be there (this doesn’t mean shit, however ending at the number 4 is just awkward.)
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Where: Neumos
Doors at 8pm
13$ Advance
21+
Unnatural Helpers Record Release! @ Funhouse
| Friday, May 7, 2010 | ||
| 9:30 pm |
Unnatural Helpers have been slaying stages all over Seattle in the past couple months. Tonight they get center stage for their album release show backed by some awesome – anatomy-inspired – bands. TacocaT, Spurm and Butts. All packed into the tiny little Funhouse so you’re promised a front row seat.
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Unnatural Helpers
TacocaT
Spurm
Butts
Fri 5/7 – @ the Funhouse
9:30pm, $7
