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Indie List Digest!
May 24, 1994
Volume 3 Number 33
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Cuddlecore
Shellac Review
Thicker 'Zine
Tara Key Band
Fast Cars...
Elvis Costello
ANNOUNCE: Telegraph #1
ANNOUNCE: Pumpkinseed
ANNOUNCE: Queer Punk Events
ADV: Milkmine & Morsel new releases
------------------------------
It's another, more lean, issue of the Indie-List. The Summer
Slowdown is upon us. But I-L continues apace. Continue to send yr
submissions in - we've got the seeds of issue 3.34 germinating even
as we speak, and your additions will hasten the harvest!
One thing we're going to be experimenting with is the
digestification of the longer announcements. While a useful and
long standing part of the I-L, they've been a player in the
lengthening of several recent issues. To that end, try and keep
your announcements to the point - like adv's - and longer ones will
be summarized with a contact for more details (perhaps a URL to a
site, or a name, or whatever). Just something to watch for.
Got any suggestions on how to improve the Indie List? Send em along
to Anne or myself - we love to get mail!
-es
------------------------------
From: imagine doing just what the big bang did <ILION@ac.dal.ca>
cuddlecore? who came up with that label?
Last Monday, the 9th of May, I went to see Cub at the Double Deuce in
Halifax, N.S. Opening were Plum Tree and N.F.A.
Plum Tree are a Haligonian band (yes we call people from Halifax
Haligonians) who have been around for a little over a year. It's all
girls, to my knowledge all still in high school. I saw them about a
year ago and failed to be impressed. They didn't sing into the mics
and seemed to be more or less randomly banging on their guitars. In
the meantime they've become a rawkin', wicked band. Their cover of
Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was excellent and actually brought
the (traditionally zombie-like) crowd at the Deuce to their feet,
although they didn't actually dance or anything. The rest of the
songs they did were originals and to my untutored eye seemed fairly
complicated in terms of the guitar stuff. Some neat riffs. Best
lyric probably goes to "When I awoke this morning, I was amazed to
see, my dog about to lunge at me. Wouldn't it be scary to have a dog
gone crazy?" That's probably a misquote but nevermind.
N.F.A. is from some place in Ontario, is very loud and has the most
determinedly stupid lyrics I have heard in a good long time. Most of
the lyrics of the most of the songs were one line (frequently one
phrase), repeated mindlessly over the barrage of badly-imitated
Metallica-like music. One song the only lyric was a phone number.
[was it 867-5309? cmon, you knew somebody had to ask it....-az]
The bassist seemed very interested in making his hair fly about
dramatically. I have to admit, I didn't listen to them too closely.
I guess they were really well received the last place they played, but
the crowd heckled them like mad and I found them boring.
Cub came on finally and were, I thought, pretty excellent. The crowd
liked them and a grand total of seven people danced (I've seen crowds
at the Deuce dance before, but it's somewhat unusual), including a guy
dressed as Jughead Jones. (For those of you who haven't seen Cub's
album's cover, it's done by DeCarlo, the guy who does the Archie
comics. It's called Betti-Cola after a friend of theirs, and it's a
lot of fun. It's on Mint Records.) They were scathingly sarcastic at
these drunk idiots who were yelling mildly sexist things at their new
drummer, including a comment "The next song is about how we like to
follow drunk assholes home from bars and firebomb their houses and
throw the ashes into the Atlantic Ocean." Other than that they were
really friendly with the audience, including having free Cub stickers
and Double Bubble gum. They did most of the songs on Betti-Cola (23
in total), and a cover of "Killed by Death" (there's Metallica again)
that was excellent and is on some compilation album they were selling,
and a few of their older tunes. I also bought the book of short
stories they were selling (3 of the 9 stories are by Lisa Marr, who is
the bassist and lead singer), it's called The Skinnier Leg of the
Journey, and it's pretty good. I talked to Marr after the show and
she was very friendly, really funny, and she mingled with the audience
a lot.
Anyway, Cub are still on tour, until the end of May I think, across
Canada and two or three places in the northern states. So if you get
a chance, check them out. They're just as fun in concert and don't
start to sound obnoxious after ten songs like on the album.
Joanne Merriam (ilion@ac.dal.ca)
------------------------------
From: Chris Khoury <ckhoury@cps201.cps.cmich.edu>
Shellac SHow Review
Hello,
Saw Shellac last saturday at Dagobah Square in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Along with Brick Layer Cake, Scrawl, and Silkworm.
Silkworm
Saw most of their set, which consisted of two guitarists, a bassist
and drums.. Both guitarists and the bassist took turns singing on
their songs.. One of their guitarist's voices grabbed my attention
the most though. They had a lot of good noisy pop songs but were a
little uneventful on stage. From what I understand they'll be
recording some stuff with Albini, so look out for 'em..
Brick Layer Cake
Consisted of Todd Trainer playing guitar, along with some other guy,
and Corey Rusk on 3rd guitar.. Steve Albini played drums on some
songs too.. Someone has to tell Albini to stay away from drums,
because he is terrible. Anyway, these guys really aren't that
great, playing some boring, long, high emotion songs.. Corey Rusk did
some cool guitar work, though..
Scrawl
Having been told that Scrawl sucked in concert, I was pleasantly
surprised that they were good. I enjoyed 'em a lot, and the main
singer has a really nice voice to listen to, with some interesting
songs.. Other people didn't like 'em, maybe it's just me..
Shellac
Shellac RAWKED the house.. They played, from what they said, all
their songs, except 'Doris.'
[too bad. i've always loved doris day.-az]
Todd Trainer is a great drummer and one of the most interesting to
watch from what I've seen. The drums were set up front on stage,
right in front of the crowd, so he was kinda in your face.. At one
point someone threw a firecracker on stage, right behind Trainer, and
he got pretty pissed.. during "Wingwalker," they all stoped playing
their instruments and did their plane ritual, spreading their arms..
Trainer, again, was the funniest to watch just because the guy is
pretty gruesome in the first place. Overall, Shellac put on a great
show and should not be missed if they come near you..
--CHRIS
......................................
: Chris Khoury :
: ckhoury@cps201.cps.cmich.edu :
......................................
------------------------------
From: searles@uvm-gen.EMBA.UVM.EDU
Thicker mag recommended...
A couple issues ago Mr. Eric Bradford from San Fran posted a message
about his brand new mag 'Thicker'...Well, I just picked one up at a
local shop here in Burlington, VT...and this thing is amazing. Really
nicely designed, free Ken Chambers (Bullet Lavolta guy) 7", great
reviews, a bargain. This 'zine deserves massive readership... and
I'm really not saying this because I DJ'd at the same radio station
Eric did...Honest!
This first issue has Shellac and Superchunk interviews, too...
Contact Thicker at P.O. Box 881983, San Fran, CA 94188-1983. He
didn't pay me to write this. I just really like the thing, ok?
------------------------------
From: "glenn susser" <p01400@psilink.com>
Tara Key band
Mercury Lounge, NYC
Sat, May 14
The night was the stuff fantasies are made of. It was the Tara Key
band, which translates into Tara backed up by some friends who happen
to be some of the most happening musicians around. The all-star band
consisted of fellow Antietam-mates Tim Harris and Josh Madell, Ira
Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, Wolf Knapp (co-founder of Antietam and Virgo
soul mate), Sue Garner (Fish & Roses, Shams, and currently Run On with
Rick Brown and Alan Licht - Tara sez check 'em out!)
Tara is the guitarist for the NYC-based band Antietam. Just back from
Louisville for a reunion with her "first love", Babylon Dance Band
(and having won "only" $20 on the Derby), Tara seemed right at home
with this makeshift band. Actually, everyone on stage contributed to
the recent "Bourbon County." Therefore it was no big surprise that
seemingly over 90% of the songs came from this remarkable album.
Although I've listened to the album 1 or 2 bazillion times, it seemed
to come alive in concert. "Bourbon County" is a very tuneful and
melodic album and perhaps on the quiet side. It lost none of its
charm in live performance and gained handsomely by some raucous guitar
playing.
It is not hard to understand why Option called Key the best living
American guitarist. Tara played acoustic guitar for the majority of
songs, just as she did on "Bourbon County." The acoustic guitar only
served to prove how skilful she is. And 'acoustic' does not translate
to 'quiet.' Not only did Tara do phenomenal things with the guitar,
but the electricity between Tara and Ira and the rest of the band was
truly breathtaking.
If you haven't heard anything by Tara or Antietam, "Bourbon County" is
a great place to start. And the next few months should see a lot of
action. A Babylon Dance Band album featuring their songbook and some
new stuff is due out the first week of June on Matador. In September,
a new Antietam album will be released, followed by a tour. And
according to Tara, a gig with BDB is a distinct possibility this
summer.
*- glenn susser -*
------------------------------
From: "dann l.m." <DLM94001@UConnVM.UConn.Edu>
those inconsiderate people w/fast cars that run you over
*hello again..phew! one more final to go, and the year's out. hope
all is well everywhere, and that you've all subscribed to telegraph so
you can read fabby articles by marc and eric, an interview w/the
matador man, an article on...well, i don't want to say the wrong thing
and mislead you about the purpose of her piece, but check it out. it
explains frank sinatra and elevators. plus an interview w/aaron
oppenheimer of the lovely combustible edison. it's lovely and totally
rad. if you're not signed up, give sean a "ring" at his grump access,
and he'll square you away w/some good reading on "the man" in/or the
industry. yummy.
o well...lemme tell you, the last week and a half has been amazing for
new releases. we've gotten the ivy e.p.(seed), portastatic/supermac
on all instruments (merge; this is really amazing, i've only heard it
once fully, but it totally rocks my world), and magnetic fields
(merge). this is gonna be the last top ten from the station i send
in...i realized that the last thing we need is another cmj listing,
etc. i only get really excited when i see lists like this because it
makes me love our djs and staff for getting/playing such cool stuff.
dood.
tin...charles brown superstar 7"...w.i.n. i dunno. the one time i
was about to hear it, something went wrong. but w/a band name
like that, how could it not be good?
nin...sonic youth-experimental jet set trash + no star...'nuff said.
you know them. you love them. we got this in on l.p. nifty,
eh?
ate...elevate 7"- independent... beats me. o wait, i remember,
they're that out there band. i think. duh duh duh. you need
this, don't you?
svn...tindersticks- marbles for those...bar none... if you like nick
cave, you'll love this. then again, you probably will even if
you don't know who nick cave is. or maybe you don't care
because you listen to nothing but minor threat. how should i
know?
six...dynomutt- handbook for young scientists...farrago...it's been
finals week. gee whiz. i'm not doing well here.
fiv...unwound- new plastic ideas...krs... yay! yay! buy me! listen to
me! one of the coolest recent releases. or subrecent.
grindingscreaminginsane yet strikingly distant and
cleartoney. if that's a word. killer.
fur...cannanes- short poppy syndrome...ajax... really nice. poppy
w/pretty vocals. i'm not positive, but i'm pretty sure
they're from australia. or new zealand. whatever.
[australia, i believe.-az]
tre...jennyanykind- etc....no. 6...this album is doing really well
here, and i've had the good fortune to find out why. why
don't you?
two...3ds- venus trail...merge...a great great album. seeing them
this week- end, i KNOW that they're from new zealand.
pixieish in places.
won...polvo- celebrate the new dark age...merge...what's up w/merge?
they are turning out the most incredible shit this year! a
great album, kind of short, but still really cool. better
than the instrumental on pop narc (tho' i'm not knocking
that). groooovy
also in the top 25/stuff i really like...
ivy 7" on seed...voodoo glow skulls (ivyish psycho skapunk) lp on dr.
strange ...helium's pirate prude on matador (tracks 3 and 5 are
amazing and just as good as lucy)...sunny day real estate's 'diary' on
sub pop (super personal hmmm, not really pop punk at all. just good.
eat it up)...and the small 23 e.p. on alias (they're just getting
better and better)...
in concert news, i finally get to see this famed rodan show in boston
this weekend w/a great opening lineup: kudgel and ruby falls. plus
the helium/3ds/ superchunk gig. makes this week worth it.
last saturday i saw quivver/kamlung/ kicking giant/versus at the
middle east. i hadn't planned on writing about it, but it was such a
great show,(k.g. admitted to it being one of the best all tour) it
would be rude to let it to go by unmentioned.
quivver opened up, an all-female trio, local i think. they weren't
bad, i just wasn't into them. the drummer was having a good time,
though. as was this one guy in the audience who ran halfway across a
half-filled room to get a drumstick she threw.
kamlung consists of dave of dambuilders on guitar/vocals, his
girlfriend (i believe) on bass, and a fill-in drummer for mary from
helium (one of my favorite musicians of allever). she couldn't show
up, though, and some guy filled in at the last second for the drummer.
neat love songs w/cool chord structures...look for the new 7" on pop
narcotic this summer.
kicking giant was intense. they just kept building and getting better
each song, and the guitars never got loose for this show,(maybe he
learned?) the two were tight as all hell and kicked butt. yes, so
good that i could use a dumb adjective like that for it. nobody
wanted them to go, and they got two extra songs in, plus a large
swarming horde after the set to purchase recodings and nifty
shirts/buttons, etc . one of the most original and exciting sets i've
seen in a looong time.
versus cleaned up and managed to keep the high adrenaline level up
despite wading in a pool of their own sweat. i'm assuming that most
of the set was new, although i did recognize a couple cuts from the
e.p. (i haven't heard the full-length yet). the crowd was dancing,
dave derby was jumping up and down, and the upstairs room was just a
big happy mob. a real feelgood show w/lots of busted strings from
band after band.
and that's about it, unless you know anything about a punk list; if
you do, please send me a note. i'll love you forever and mow your
lawn. if you're local. take care. xoxoxo, dann.
send to: dlm94001@uconnvm.uconn.edu xoxoxoxoxo.
------------------------------
From: Jill Emery <llje@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu>
Subject: E. Costello
Elvis Costello live at the Backyard May 19, 1994 Bee Caves, TX
Lucky me, we were late & had some trouble parking and missed just
about all of Crash Test Dummies! I know that Elvis Costello is not
independent any more, at least as far as labels and production go, but
there is something very independent about him.
I'm not sure if this discussion took place here or not, but unlike
most of the major music stars, who come out play maybe 5 old songs and
then all of the new album, E. Costello only did it in reverse. He
played maybe, maybe 6 new songs of the new album and the rest of the
almost three-hour show consisted of old songs ranging from the
inception of E. Costello to presently before the new album.
I have not seen a crowd this enthused over "an oldie but goodie" in a
long time and have to admit that I was feeling pretty excited too.
I highly recommend going to see him even though he is old news. He's
Elvis, you know.
[and he IS everywhere.-az]
[at risk of losing any indie-cvred we have (whatever THAT is...) AZ
and I had designs on seeing him in Chicago. But at $46 (including
the "service" of Ticketmaster), it's a no go. Yo-You costs less...
-es]
--je
------------------------------
From: Mark Cornick <mcornick@nyx.cs.du.edu>
ANNOUNCE: Telegraph #1 hits the net
the Indie-List Infotainment Junta and the Telegraph Pioneers Of
America are pleased to present the debut issue of
+---++---------------------------------+
| T ++ _ . ._.. . __. ._. ._ .__. .... |
+---+| t/ e/ l/ e/ g/ r/ a/ p/ h/ |
<<*>>+---------------------------------+
( critique and entertainment for the adventurous indie geek )
* interviews with Gerard Cosloy and Combustible Edison
* Music and the Man
* obligatory corporate-rock bashing
* no reviews
* swimmin' pools, movie stars
-> issue #1 mails May 22, 1994 <-
[mailed, at this press date - and it's a fine thing for you to get!
-es]
if you haven't subscribed yet, now is the time
a subscription is >FREE< and gets you one issue each month
to subscribe, send your name and e-mail address to
Sean Murphy <grumpy@access.digex.net>
we love unsolicited submissions - for information please mail
Mark Cornick <mcornick@nyx.cs.du.edu>
more to come...
--
<< Mark Cornick >> mcornick@nyx.cs.du.edu
* finger for PGP-2.5 key - PGP is now 100% legit so use it! *
------------------------------
From: sister@sizone.pci.on.ca (Jeremy Rotsztain)
ANNOUNCE: pumpkinseed/superchunk
hello Indie-List readers!
My name is Jeremy. I'm new with this, if you couldn't tell. I just
wanted to say that there is another issue of a nice Canadian zine
called PUMpKINSEED. This issue has interviews with Trumans Water,
Bridget Cross, Edsel, Unwound, a story on the Queers, reviews and much
more. You can e-mail me for more information at
sister@sizone.pci.on.ca. And to add to all the fuss about Superchunk
(a great band indeed), we just interviewed them today (May 17), so the
next PUMpKINSEED will have a nice long interview, because Jamie and I
talked to them for a long long time. Other interviews should include
some of the following: Silver Jews (I gave Bob an interview March 25th
- where is it), Sebadoh, Ween, Fifth Column, Swirlies, Beat Happening,
and surely lots more. Sso write to me. Thanks. Also, if anybody has
a copy of the Superchunk "Freed Seed" 7" or an origional 1st print
copy of Sebadoh's "Weed Foresting," please get in touch. thanks,
Jeremy
------------------------------
c/o: "K. Lena Bennett" <keb@u.washington.edu>
ANNOUNCE: Queer Punk Events
I read this on alt.music.alternative and I thought some of the folks
on this list would be interested in this.
Lena keb@u.washington.edu
"Time sometimes tells but it doesn't say what it means." - Treepeople
---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: gust2057@elan.rowan.edu (SEAN GUSTILO)
>Subject: homocore at stonewall 25
_____________________________
HOMOCORE AT STONEWALL 25
PRESS/E-MAIL RELEASE:
PUNKS! QUEERS! HARDCORE MUSIC LOVERS! HARDCORE SEX
LOVERS!
Homocore Nights at Stonewall 25
Bruce LaBruce of JDs magazine invented the word Homocore. It's a term
for those who think homo music can be more aggressive than Judy
Garland or Holly Near and faster and louder than disco. The Chicago
Homocore Organization, NY Riot Grrrl and Mykel Board are presenting
(at least) two nights of homocore