Indie-List_V2_N18
THE INDIE-LIST DIGEST!
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FIRST ANNIVERSARY 1993
Volume 2 Number 18
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: Mark and Lena
Subj: Indie-List goes semiweekly!
We've threatened it for weeks! It was inevitable! And now it's happening!
Indie-List is now a semiweekly (i.e. twice a week) publication. You readers
are just writing TOO MUCH for a weekly! (Don't stop... in fact, write more!)
Look for your next issue on Friday...
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: Mark <cornick@delphi.com>
Subj: First Anniversary Festivities!
We're starting a one-month celebration of our first anniversary with this
issue. Articles for Fshee! are still rolling in, and I expect to have it
ready by Halloween.
For people in the Richmond vicinity or within driving distance, we are
planning a show at the Metro on the 28th. Friendly will play. Mollyhouse (from
Charlottesville) are also interested. We are still deciding on a third band.
This will probably be a cheap show, so mark yr calendars!
For the next four weeks, we will be giving away free records/CDs. I will be
doing this week's giveaway and the next; Robert Lim will probably be doing the
last two. (That is, if he still wants to. Whaddaya say, Rob?) As usual, we're
doing a trivia question. Previous winners, staff members, and founders of
Matador are ineligible to win. Tax, title and fees are extra. Void where
prohibited.
This week's prize: An Unrest "Cath Carroll" 45, with picture sleeve on lilac
vinyl. B-sides are "So So Sick" and "Capezio Bowler." (on Teenbeat)
This week's question: Name the very first Teenbeat release (TB#1.)
Reply to: Mark <cornick@delphi.com>
The winner will be announced in Friday's issue. Good luck!
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: Mark <cornick@delphi.com>
Subj: Cool records in cooler packages
I should've known when I set onto Interstate 95 at 4.30 Friday that my trip
to Harrisonburg would be hellish. Immediately I was in a traffic jam. I
managed to get stuck in two more jams on the way, before my car threw a
timing belt about 25 miles south of Harrisonburg. Ugh... Well, I still
managed to catch three of the five bands at WXJM's indie-fest. I missed Joe
the Fireman, whose 45 has been reviewed in these pages. I purposefully
skipped the Earthworms, who were described to me as "Mighty Mighty Bosstones
move to Athens" (er, no, not my cup of meat.) So the first band I saw was
Bicycle Face. Just three guys, a guitar, a bass, a couple of drums and a
Washington Redskins trash can. They played a set of no-fi, demented surf-
noise-punk rock that had people jumping off the stage (and me not catching
them... c'mon folks, that shit was fun when I was a kid, but I'm an adult now,
with no health insurance. :-) Nice guys, too; I talked to them afterwards and
they're a band without a label now that Moist has more or less gone under.
Check out their recent 45 on Squealer. Moving Targets were supposed to be the
fourth band, but they cancelled at the last minute, so local legends Blast Off
Country Style were called in to replace them. Good thing, since I undoubtedly
would have enjoyed the Targets less than I did Blast Off -- they seem to be
a "serious" band now (in the sense that they can tune and play their guitars,
not in the sense of a serious outlook.) As usual, they were nattily dressed
(but no Texas-shaped sunglasses) and feeling REALLY COOL! They played most
of the songs from their two 45s as well as some which will be on a third 45
due out in around a month (according to Phil.) Evelyn (V) and Mary (G) traded
places for the last song, with Mary doing her best Yoko impersonation. Ouch...
Last up was Unrest. They seemed to be in a bad mood; Mark was pulling the Ian
Mackaye admonishing-the-mosh-pit spiel, and Bridget was drunk off her ass.
About halfway through the set, Mark's amp blew, and half the people left while
they hunted down a replacement. Anyway, they played about half of the new
album, some songs from Imperial, the new versions of "Isabel" and "Teenage
Suicide", and "Bavarian Mods" and still sounded okay; however, I can't help
but feel a little disappointed by their lack of enthusiasm. Ah well. There
was a Tsunami show the same night in DC; maybe I should've gone there (no,
then my car would've broken down off 95 someplace... :-)
Although I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, I gotta give a big thumbs
up to the Kicking Giant CD, Halo (Spartadisc.) This proves that you don't
need a bass guitar, a bass drum, or even a bass fish to sound like a million
(although a Bass Ale does come in handy now and then... ah, forget it. :-)
This CD has most of the better songs from their tapes, plus a few I didn't
recognize which might be new. It comes in a wonderful 7"-size package, with
fold-out poster sleeve. As you might know, Kicking Giant recently moved from
New York to Washington state, and broke up promptly thereafter. They will be
missed. :-(
Some recent records (all 45s except as indicated) of note:
- SENTRIDOH, "The Mysterious Sentridoh" (Little Brother, PO Box 3224, Eugene
OR 97403): "Six Sick Sounding Songs" is the subtitle, and I pretty much have
to agree. As Sebadoh gets slicker and more polished, Lou Barlow (as Sentridoh)
gets noisier and more fucked-up. Ultra-lo-fi recording here (the first song
"Good In Others" makes parts of "Weed Forestin" sound like 24-track!) with Lou
in a typical I-hate-people-and-especially-J-Mascis mood. This is the type of
record that takes dedication to enjoy; die-hard Barlow fans will want it, but
everyone else is probably better off with "Losercore" or one of the earlier
Sebadoh tapes. *
- CIRCLE, "Crawatt" (VHF, PO Box 7365, Fairfax Station VA 22039): AmRep/
Godflesh type heaviness from this Finnish outfit; jumpy rhythm with deep,
sunken vocals (can't understand if they're in Finnish or English) nicely
effected for a top-of-a-distant-mountain sort of sound. Gives you visions of
Thor and/or Odin coming down from the mountaintop and getting pretty pissed
off. (My knowledge of Scandinavian mythology is lacking.) Nice package - the
clear 45 is in a see-thru rice-paper sleeve, with drawings on the sleeve
positioned so that it looks like they're on the label. (Confused? Sorry. It
looks cool; just remember that.) Recommended in a big way (those VHF guys
sure know how to pick 'em!) **1/2
- FRANCES GUMM, "Vertical Bob" (Trixie, PO Box 389373, Chicago IL 60637):
Second 45 from this Boston combo, showing an embarassingly obvious Dinosaur
influence (the vocals and guitar are especially Mascish) on the a-side; the
b-side "Damages Attributed" is equally heavy on the guitar but reminds more
of the Touch'n'Go side of the boat. Not sure if Frances Gumm has an awful lot
of originality going for them, but I enjoyed this nonetheless. They have a
new LP out now on VHF which might be worthwhile too. *1/2
- SCRAWL, "Your Mother Wants To Know" (Simple Machines, PO Box 10290,
Arlington VA 22210-1290): New 45 from the foremothers of lala (pretty ironic
that they'd end up on Simple Machines... Tsunami would be nothing were it
not for Scrawl!), a teaser for their long-awaited new LP _Velvet Hammer._
Pretty straightforward, nothing too complicated. Marcy Mays has one of those
voices that makes an impression; you get the feeling that she could make Top
40 sound good (come to think of it, they did do a Paula Abdul cover on their
last EP, didn't they?) Scrawl were pretty low-profile during that whole
"foxcore" thing; it's a shame that more people haven't heard them. This would
make a good place for those people to start. (Yet another nifty package - this
one is folded up sort of like origami, and closes to show a sun design on the
front. Leave it to Simple Machines to come up with unique covers for their
records.) **
- VARIOUS ARTISTS, _The Machines: Simple Machines 7"s 1990-1993_ (Simple
Machines): There's been some sniping about the release of this CD, mainly from
people who bought the whole series of six Machine 45s. I personally think it's
a dandy idea, but then again, I never got Wedge or Wheel. Nevertheless,
no matter what you think of the CD release, the Machine 45s were all pretty
damn good. There was never really a theme to any one 45, so there's not really
a theme to a collection of all six. As a record of a period in indie music
history, it works fairly well; you get early stuff from some now-famous
groups (Jawbox, Velocity Girl, the Holy Rollers, Nation of Ulysses) along with
some groups that never quite made it (the Mommyheads, Autoclave, Geek) and
some groups from which much is yet to come (Rodan, Severin, Tsunami.) For my
money, though, nothing beats the "special Simple Machines remix" of Circus
Lupus' "Pacifier", with its abundant Looney Tunes samples (by George, Wile E.,
you've done it this time!) File it under _International Hip Swing_ and _Kill
Rock Stars_, as yet another handy document of our musical times. **
Finally, a blatant plug: Come see TAR and FRIENDLY on October 3 at the Metro
in Richmond, if you can. Thank you.
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: brian <Brian.May@mel.dit.csiro.au>
Subj: That review I promised.
Peter Jefferies & Alistair Galbraith
Portastatic (indie super group?)
Franklin Bruno (+ other Nothing Painted Blue-ers)
Six Finger Sattelite
24th August at the local 506, Chapel Hill NC.
(searches through shabby memory cells for recollection)
first of all a big indie-l thanks must go to Bill Borrie for driving a few
people all the way from Blacksburg VA (and back the same night) for this gig
(usually we just don't need to do this kind of thing in Australia y'know!)
I caught 2 songs from Six Finger Satellite and remember thinking "god, what a
racket!" for the first 30 seconds and then things started to get interesting.
I got the feeling that SFS's singer identifies with Henry Rollins more than
anyone else. After a brief introduction of 2 songs, I want to hear more (just
found out our local record shop has one of their CDs) of their noisy and
multi-dimensional sound.
Franklin bruno didn't interest me that much i'm afraid, and i can't remember
any of that part of the gig (apologies).
By now, about 150 people had prised themselves inside. They must have been
there for the next group - Portastatic. An indie supergroup? you decide with
Mac and Jim from superchunk, Jenny from Erectus Monotone and Ashe from polvo
as members. Mac started off solo, singing his own songs and whacking his
acoustic into the mic stand every fourth beat. This is what most people came
for (and Portastatic). when Portastatic were on, they weren't content with
just playing their own instruments. Everyone (except Jen on bass) had a go at
guitar, drums and organ! there had to be an anchor - and it had to be the
bassplayer! For sheer novelty value alone this was worth about a half the door
charge. Ican't comment on who's songs they played, but for a band's first gig,
they all sounded damn fine. Not a bad achievement considering that this was
Portastatic's first gig. They have a single out on the 18 Wheeler label.
[ Portastatic on record is just Mac, as far as I know. A new Portastatic
single is due sometime in the future on Tenderette. - Mark ]
Peter Jeffries played his electric piano late into the night. Alistair
Galbraith occasionally added dirty guitar and dirstoted violin to his
percussive piano playing. They played for a good hour and a half, even fitting
in some requests (under duress from one member of the audience)
An excellent night, well worth the 5 bucks entry and the weird bar management
(you want a beer? name your price - we haven't got change!).
brian may
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: K. Lena Bennett, Slacker Goddess
Subj: Message from the Moderator.
Not much to say this time. I just got back from San Francisco, where I
got more sun in four days than in this whole godforsaken Seattle summer
not even worthy of the name. I even got hit on the head by an avocado
while totally nude. I don't have much to say except in my role as
"postmodernism consultant," to pass along a line from a review in the
S.F. Weekly that said that Stereolab sounded like "My Bloody Valentine
with Julia Kristeva on lead vocals."
There will be a special mid-week issue of Indie List this week due to a
high volume of postings. Stay tuned!
Lena
"When the honey hits, hits the heart of everything, I take what's coming...."
--Dog Faced Hermans
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: EARN@PORTIA.CALTECH.EDU
Subj: Sonic Boom; Tsetse Fly
Hey kids -
Saw a show on Friday; Sonic Boom and Tsetse Fly at the Auditorium
in Hollywood and it went like this -
Tsetse Fly - these folks were great, transported me to another
plane and I wasn't even wasted. They have long complex songs with cool
dynamics and texture changes, but it all really hangs together and flows.
They manage to build a truly trippy vibe without the standard
"psychedelic" moves. For comparisons I would say mix some Pale Saints,
Polvo, and Swervedriver in unequal parts. The only thing I didn't
especially appreciate was the vocals - the female vocalist was quite
passible, and when she sang the lyrics even seemed abstract and
interesting, but the male vocalist who sang most of the songs had a really
thin whiny reedy voice that annoyed. Luckily he sang so weakly I couldn't
hear him most of the time. I was so taken that I bought their 10" EP, but
when I got it home it turned out to suck; a second-rate Swirlies sort of
thing. It was recorded in summer '92, so apparently they've done a lot of
work in the meantime.
Sonic Boom (ex- of Spacemen 3 for you neophytes) - Sonic started
off solo accompanying himself on guitar for Transparent Radiation and
organ for a Daniel Johnston cover (True Love Will Find You) and Walking
With Jesus. We were all waiting for the band to come out and join him,
since there was a band's worth of equipment on stage, but instead Mr. Boom
says "I'd like to do something experimental now" and proceeds to play
everything himself. What he did was turn the organ, two guitars, and a
bass up just to the point where they started feeding back and then crawled
between them all fiddling with effects boxes and volume knobs to create
this huge, ringing soundscape with enourmous crescendos and recoveries. I
was entranced, but after a glorious half-hour of this my friends with less
patience tore me away. You don't see someone take those kind of chances
every day. (well, I don't see it)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
one sorry lobe of
the Primordial Undermind
"Early in the morning, just before the dawn
EARN@portia.caltech.edu I turn my TV on, and watch the fuzz... "
- Flaming Lips
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: burck@nyplgate.nypl.org, burck@carson.u.washington.edu
Subj: Clusterfuck
Well, just found out from Indie-List (of all places) that D. Wolk's Fall
tribute has been approved. Thanks for letting me know Douglas. :-) When
it comes out y'all should buy it 'coz my band is on it (F.E.R.R.E.T.) and
our cut is super extra swell - and I've heard some of the other things on
it and they're dandy too (shameless self-promotion never hurt anyone,
right?)
[ Local legends/Mark's housemates Eeyore ... ... are on it as well. - Mark ]
Anyway - Douglas says he spent last Saturday seeing Naked City. Well I
say he was at the wrong show (especially because N.C. played three nights
in a row or something). He should have been at C.B.G.B. to see Ampetamine
Reptile's newest bands on the Clusterfuck tour. All were great. Besides,
I've seen Naked City and after a while it wears thin.
Johnboy, from Austin and not part of the tour, opened and failed to
excite. They had this huge sound (generated by lots of expensive
equipment) which they proceeded to do nothing with. The drummer also
seemed to know only one beat. Still, they did have that huge sound, which
was interesting enough, and they didn't play for too long.
Guzzard was next. They were truly fine. Loud, fast, energetic, big
sound. (note: I just got their new record in the mail and found my review
of their Glued 7", from Animal Review #3, in the promo kit - I was amused
- the record is pretty good too, but not as good as they were live.) All
of the promo material I've seen regarding them talked up their live
playing. It's all true.
Today is the Day followed. Wow. I cannot describe the level of intesity
exhibited by the guitar guy/vocalist except to say that he makes Eye seem
comatose. I'd been looking forward to seeing this band for quite a while
and was not disappointed. The ultimate power trio. I'm not kidding.
Chokebore rounded things out with a punchy but short set. It was about 2
in the morning when they started and the generally small crowd haad
thinned even more. They seemed a little sad that their big NYC show was
really their small NYC show. Still, they pack a bigger wallop live than
on record and the singer guy's goofiness didn't even bug me a little. I
wished they played a little longer, which is something coming from me 'coz
I think most bands play way too long.
When Chokebore was done we left because it was nearing 3 A.M. and we had a
hike/train ride to take. We missed Zeni Geva who seemed extra-sad that so
few people were there and it was so late. NYC is not the 24 hr. city it
claims to be.
Ben (burck@nyplegate.nypl.org)
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: CLARK2@UWPG02.UWINNIPEG.CA
Subject: Show Review: Sloan & others (for IL)
For Lena, for the wonderful indie-list digest:
I've been a reader since "way back" (volume 2 no.12). Indie-List has filled
great voids of indie-knowledge that I had. Here is a token of my
appreciation, a review of a show I saw last night (you may edit as you see
fit):
Bulletproof Nothing/Zen Bungalow/Sloan Sept 20/1993 @ Spectrum Cabaret
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bulletproof Nothing: A local Winnipeg band, a review of which will mean
nothing to you, but that's okay since I don't recognize some of the things
other contributors write concerning their local scenes. This band (two
guitar, bass, drums) have really improved since the last time I saw them a
year ago. They introduced themselves as "Soundcheck", and I'm pretty sure
the singer was pretty inebriated. They play a pretty mean heavy
power-pop. The first few songs were pretty non-descript noise, but then
they moved into some moody material. If only the singer would try not to
scream the lyrics on some songs! One song sounded rather Superchunky,
while part of another actually reminded me of the Lilys. Meanwhile, the
crowd (packed to capacity of 300 or more or less or exactly) were doing a
mass performance art piece called "Still Life".
Zen Bungalow: Another local band, who are going to do some more shows with
sloan, and will open a show for Iggy "Scrawny-as-Art" Pop. I've seen them
4 times now, and I think they are getting worse every time. Either that,
or I'm sick of them. I mean their show was good, but they seem to have
taken on a harder edge and dropped any interesting textures. They got the
crowd pretty riled up, mind you. Sigh, I just liked them better when they
weren't beating the audience over the head with riffs. They were on for
about an hour. One thing I did like was the guitarist, who walked around
in a circle most of the time (I was dizzy and I didn't even have to buy
drinks!)
Sloan: Yes, those scenesters from Halifax. Yes, the ones AP egged. Yes,
the ones on DGC (but they have their own label murderecords on which they
have released an EP of their own, and an Eric's Trip EP as well). Am I a
big sloan fan? Well, maybe not, but they're one of few bigger bands to
roll through here recently. Unlike you spoiled US folk, who I read about
every week saying "Yawn, yip, saw Unrest again for the twentieth time this
week" (I'm a bitter and jealous man ;) ) there aren't that many reaaally
big shhooeees in these parts (lately: Eric's Trip, King Cobb Steelie,
Shadowy Men, Pond, Six Finger Satellite) Anyway, the show cost $10 so I
was hoping for at least $7 worth from sloan, in order to feel like I'd
gotten money's worth. I got it.
They went on stage at 11:50 and left after an encore at 1:10. It was kind
of funny, but just before the show I was talking to a Sloan Fan
Extrordinaire who works for those scammers HMV, and I was telling him that
I thought Sloan were wanting to be Eric's Trip. They constantly promote
them, and have already said that their next album will involve less
overdubs and will be a bunch of 2.5 minute songs (talk about following the
market, eh?). Anyway, this HMV guy said, naw, he didn't think so. So
Sloan come on stage and say "This is an Eric's Trip song" and ripped into
"Smother" (from Never Mind the Molluscs, which you might as well never
mind, although it's okay). The crowd forms a mosh pit and begin body
surfing. This was not a good thing. After the song, which wasn't as good
as Eric's Version they said they had one rule,"No Body Surfing". And the
crowd had a counter-rule, "No listening". And so it was. Sloan were much
much punchier and raw live than on their records. They played new stuff,
Pillow Fight from that Mollusc thing, hits and misses from Smeared..and
they played them fast, heavy, and quite nicely. Even that Cheeze Song
"Underwhelmed", their last song pre-encore, sounded good.
Other high-lights:
One of the guitarists smAsHeD his gittar all to hell (yeah! what fun!),
body surfers were pulled on stage by Mr. Bald Ogre From the Bad Side of
the Bridge and pummeled to death behind the stage, sloan urged the crowd
to jump up and down rather than body surfing so that no-one gets hurt, Mr
Ogre kicks some more indie-butt, sloan tell Mr Ogre to take it easy, sloan
makes crowd sing Happy Birthday to the guitar-wrecker, sloan guy brings
cam-corder on stage and films crowd and band, a local TV camera guy pushes
me out of the way to film Sloan, sloan do a punk rock song as an in-joke
that I didn't get, guitar strings break, amps and speakers topple over
(well, almost), and I go home near-deaf with tinnitis. In short, it was
everything you'd ever want in a high-energy show. Those who like this
band enjoyed them, those who don't might like them now. Watch out for
their new record, it might be reaaalllyy pretty okay. Go see them if you
get the chance, but just don't body surf!
I realize this review was TOO long and TOO convoluted, but that kind of
reminds me of the show, but in a good way ;). My name is Glen and I enjoy
e-mail. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Yes, that DOES explain a
whole lot, doesn't it? Take care, and please, no hate mail!
P.S. I noticed that AP have moved from Cleveland to Hollywood. They
rejected my cheque for a subscription too, since it wasn't from a US bank.
Sigh. What is an indie-boy to think about such things? Is indie-list
enough? Maybe...
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: Scott Faulkner <scottfau@microsoft.com>
Subject: "Like a Velvet Glove..."
In this post I review;
"Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron" soundtrack performed by Victor Banana
(10" vinyl from Jenkins-Peabody, PO Box 56574, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413 )
Here it is, the soundtrack to the ever popular "Like a Velvet Glove..."
story serialized in Daniel Clowes' comic book Eightball. Astute readers
will note the reference to Russ Meyer's _Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!_,
although this record and the comic that is its namesake share little in
common with the film besides a certain camp sensibility. Like the story,
the "Like a Velvet Glove" soundtrack is both funny and unsettling, as it
harkens back to the sounds of an earlier era. All songs on the album were
written and sung by Tim Hensley, with the exception of "The House of
Forever" which was co-written with Dan Clowes, and are as Clowes puts it
"Like I would write if I could write music, only a million times better".
Clowes also writes on the back cover sleeve, "as you know, writing about
music is stupid...", but I will try nonetheless to give a reasonable
description of the album's contents - mainly because this "soundtrack" was
released in a limited edition of 500, so it is doubtful that many of you
will ever hear it.
If you like to buy your records in thrift stores, or you are familiar with
the type of albums featured in RE:Search's "Incredibly Strange Music",
then "Like a Velvet Glove" will not come as much of a surprise to you.
Tim Hensley sings in an alto-nasal voice, backed by an old-style pop
group, heavy on the vibraphone. The songs are short and cover a wide
range of musical styles - from the opening "theme", with its treated
vocals and film noir atmosphere, to "Ol' Chief Wampum's Tradin' Post" and
its evocation of old cowboy shows (complete with tom-toms and whistled
accompaniment.). In fact, "Ol' Chief Wampum" and the song "Value Ape"
(already taken as a moniker for at least one Seattle band) are perhaps the
most representative of Clowes' story, as they focus greatly on the
"gee-gaws and knick-knacks" and other kitschy elements of Americana that
play such a mysteriously important part in "Velvet Glove", the comic.
"Value Ape" is a store which has as its logo and mascot, an omnipresent
figure known to initiates as Mister Jones, and Mister Jones figurines are
found for sale by the story's protagonist at Ol' Chief Wampum's Tradin'
Post. This mysterious figure turns out to be both an object of kitsch - a
"doo-dad" - and a force of menace.
Then there are the songs "Laura", an ode to a dog with no head or bodily
orifices, which can survive on a hypodermic needle's worth of water a day,
and "Stall Genie"; a tune about a swami-like figure who spends his time in
the men's room of an adult movie theatre, answering the questions of its
patrons. Many of the songs on the album are upbeat, yet in knowing the
story behind them, the listener may find something disturbing in them,
like the leering grin of some pop artifact.
Of course, this effect has been calculated by those who produced this
record - any real chilling effect is muted by the catchiness of the songs,
but their intentions in duplicating the feel of the comic succeed for the
most part, and the story contains its humorous elements as well, and these
are reflected very well in the songs. The album has one plaintive love
ballad, the aforementioned "House of Forever", which represents the broken
love affair the main character is still saddened with. He searches for
his old flame after seeing her in a movie titled, "Like a Velvet Glove
Cast in Iron" (hence the name), and his quest to find the makers of the
film takes him to "Gooseneck Hollow" which is sort of like an urban Twin
Peaks, where everyone takes turpentine with their coffee.
This album strays close to the "willful quirkiness" syndrome, but due to
the relatively obscure talents of Victor Banana, there is enough sincerity
in this recording to do justice to the fevered imaginings of Mr. Clowes,
as well as duplicate the sounds of something you might find in your
grandparent's attic.
Scott Faulkner
"They call me Mr. Know-it-all, I am so eloquent;
Perfection is my middle name - and whatever rhymes with 'eloquent'"
-Primus
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: Steven Silverstein <cs141091@cs.brown.edu>
Subject: hia;ijdsfkla`
OK. This week's stuff. First, obviously:
Fugazi, Shudder to Think, Scarce at Lupo's, 9/19
Whoa! Nice triple bill. Scarce on first. Chick Graning's new band
rocked quite hard. They started before 8:15 when I got there, so I missed
a few songs. Damn early start times! Anyhow, I'd heard great stuff about
'em but never heard them. They're just a solid rock band with strong,
slightly neo-psychedelic (whatever that means--there's a sort of Syd
Barrett tinge or something to the songs) tunes. Well worth seeing. I've
been told that the bassist is the sister of someone in Edsel. They're
getting a lot of attention, probably in part because Chick is like engaged
to Tanya from Belly and in part because they're a great band. Anyhow,
next was Shudder to Think. Great set as usual--they just keep improving.
They did nothing from before the Funeral EP, and mostly the standard stuff
they've been doing of late--no "Animal Wild" or "No Room 9, Kentucky", but
they did do "Chocolate" and "Red House" and "Shake Your Halo Down" and
lots of other neat stuff. Three new songs, "Track Star", "Kissi Penny",
and a third which I recognized but forgot the title of. Finally Fugazi,
who were in quite a good mood. Like the other 2 bands, they only used the
front half of the stage, and like Shudder only used 3 white floodlights.
The set reflected their mood: "Suggestion", "Waiting Room",
"Merchandise", "Blueprint", "Repeater"... lots of old crowd faves. Given
all of the above, they should have been far better. They were quite
solid, but only "Suggestion" was unusually memorable (and I'd just seen
that with Cynthia C. singing a month before in DC). A great show overall,
and 3 bands well worth the $5.
Other than that, not a lot of news on this front.
-Steve
<----------------------------------------------------->
From: LePageL/MF <lepagel/mf@hermes.bc.edu>
Subject: Indie List-Barlow and Free Kitten
Free Kitten, Lou Barlow, Peter Jefferies at Middle East
As it turned out, this show was more of a be-in than an entertainment
event, with an enormously high turnout probably related to the Free
Kitten/SY connection.
Peter Jefferies is an unknown quantity to me other than what the newspaper
ad told me ("from New Zealand!"). . His music consisted of
half-spoken/half-sung pseudo-poetic lyrics over a folky, noisy, guitar and
keyboard accompaniment. He went on for a long time, inviting a number of
frivolous comparisons including Dennis DeYoung and John Cale. I thought
he sucked but there were people in the crowd who came specifically to see
him play so he can't be all bad. Then again, a number of people cheered
wildly when he announced his last song. Make of it what you will.
Listening to Lou Barlow's solo accoustic set felt just like hanging out in
his bedroom while he played a few songs. This was good and bad. On the
positive side, the complete absense instrumental distraction (Lou's guitar
was barely audible), allowed me to concentrate on the songs themselves at
their most elemental. And for the most part, the songs (mostly all
Sebadoh stuff) were very good. Nevertheless, over the course of an hour
set, without the energy of a band behind him, his performance was too
flat-he played everthing in the same slow, sad, quiet way. So okay, I'll
admit, I got bored. But it was nice to see him anyway.
Then Free Kitten came along to wake everybody up (there were actually
people lying on the floor in the back of the club, sleeping! during Lou's
set). It was like, Lou put us out, and Kitten drove us out. No, it was
fun, really, if you're into real ragged primal scream therapy. The Free
ones caterwauled, started and stopped songs in the middle, screamed
periodically (NPI) at high pitch/volume/intensity, and occasionally
Thurston Moore wandered around behind them (but he didn't play anything).
Actually, the best part about their show was the t-shirt which comes in
lurid pink, with a controversial picture of a large-breasted woman holding
a kitten on her lap. Politically ambiguous or thoroughly tasteless, you
make the call.
Flaming Lips: _Transmissions from the Sattelite Heart_
This record is on Warners, so it ain't indie, but it still has, IMO, loads
of indie charm, as they say. From the (college) radio hit "She Don't Use
Jelly" to the weird but catchy "Pilot Can in the Queer of God" and the
solemn drone of "When Yer 22," this record is an offbeat pop pleasure. In
other words, great tunes with quirky lyrics, embellished with lots of
ear-catching sounds to break the monotony of all those grungy guitars. A
groove.
Gigolo Aunts: _Full-On Bloom_
[Alias Records, 2815 West Olive Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505]
The Gigolo Aunts have a big old pop sound, built around a clean lead
vocals and a mildly grungy guitar sound with lots of lush harmony vocals.
What they do, they do real well- "Serious Drugs" stands out with a pretty
melody and unaffected vocals. In fact, all the songs are well put
together and performed. It's just that they sound like too many other
bands, including Teenage Fanclub and Lemonheads, to name the most blatant.
Not a write-off, by any means, but they could stand a shot of originality.
>From Lise LePage [lepagel/mf@hermes.bc.edu]
<----------------------------------------------------->
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<----------------------------------------------------->
please send your articles for the next issue to LENA!
<----------------------------------------------------->
[Submitted by: Sean Keric Murphy (skmurphy@phoenix.princeton.edu)
Wed, 6 Oct 1993 00:11:02 -0400]