And when his eyes met mine he made a little whine
He came within an inch or two and then he whispered, "i hate you"
#############################
Indie List Digest!
June 13, 1994
Volume 3 Number 37
#############################
Blaise Pascal & Pavement, pt 4
Tortoise, etc
NZ reviews (Tall Dwarfs, Bailter Space)
Charlie Chesterman & Desk
Helium/3d's/Superchunk, Red Bliss/Rodan/et al.
Garage Shock '94
ANNOUNCE: Franklin Bruno Tour Dates
ANNOUNCE: alt.music.independent
ANNOUNCE: Big Fish Ensemble Tour
For your pleasure: another delicately edited and deliciously
concocted Indie-List digest! Feast, enjoy, share the conversation!
-es
------------------------------
From: marcelf@wimsey.bc.ca (Marcel Feldmar)
Blaise Pascal & Pavement, pt 4
CALGARY REPUBLIK FRI 29 1994
& We're hanging out at this kool-looking club doing the soundcheck
blues. Roller Skate Skinny left the tour in Vancouver, so here it's
Pavement headlining, then us, w/ the Evaporators taking the opening
slot. Moving on up...Pavement's guitarist is "unavailable" so Nick
jumps up & sound checks w/ Steves Malkmus & West on a chaotic version
of Louie Louie.
We head off to a Vietnamese restaurant w/ Remco, the Pavement soundman,
& Mark, Pavers bass, & get wired on iced coffee & condensed milk.
Mark entertains us all (he's an amazing storyteller).
Back at Republik, the place is packed, & the Evaporators garage-rock
out while the crowd seems unsure about what they're supposed to be
doing. We play, & the crowd moves up front. Even though the sound is
pretty bad, they all cheer & clap & move anyway. We do 11 songs, and they
yell "more! more!" so we get to do a two-song encore. Pavement rocked
tight & seemed to play all the songs very straight, not a lot of
messing around. The sound was still a bit off, but they triumphed over
it nicely. We managed to sell the most CDs here & gotta lotta
compliments, & I was getting happily plastered.
Somehow, we managed to end up w/ three kids who were trying very hard to
be hip & they offered us a place to stay- Schweisss- & in the
bathroom.... Nick is Wicked.... and if anyone wants to know who the
cool guy to hang out with in Calgary is.... it's Cal. The guy with
the drumstick in the beer bottle. The guy with the real cool coat.
The guy who was convinced that Scott was Billy the Kid.
What A Night
rock on baby baby.
There's also the Bruce Lee T-shirt episode, but you'll have to ask
Dave about that, I really don't wanna get into it.
Thru the tired electricity of Calgary Friday nite late nite drag...
scary scene... It's hard to believe that we were better received in
Calgary than Vancouver... Or at least, that's how it felt. We get to
the home of this guy, who is convinced he saw us play at his brother's
party in Vancouver... & we get out of the bus, stumbling & whispering
"schweisss" & giggling... When we notice a group of fratheads up on a
balcony making noise. Words are exchanged, graduating to insults, &
things start feeling uncomfortable & it turns into escape from alcatraz
w/ Andrew saying "fuck this, Dave... get Mike, we're leavin" ....Take
off into the nite laughing at the chaos.
Late-nite drive to Drumheller. Flat. Off the end of the world.
Pretty giddy, but loving it. We stop, six of us drifting out in
different directions, stare at the stars, the moon; listen to the bugs
& the buzz of the wires & just breathe. Get to Drumheller, the INN, &
pass out in a nowhere town w/ a cool name.
Saturday morning, head out & stop at teh "Family Restaurant" fer
breakfast... there's nothing out here but flatness. Driving thru the
badlands, warriors of the wasteland, MadMax was a hoser. Pass a sign
fer a town named Sheerness.... what more can you say.
Up in front, Andrew's driving & trying to teach Dave teh basics about
being a sound dude & checking out all the scattered splattered insect
bodies on the windshield. Stopped at Cereal, Alberta, fer some photos,
just a cheesy band shoot. Wandering around in a patch of dead grass.
So flat... so straight...& we pass into Saskatchewan. Blasting
Hootenanny as we pass Smiley, Sask. Happy Happy Joy O Boy.
If wishes were ponies, beggars would ride.
------------------------------
From: "Matt Galloway" <yku02001@CAWC.YorkU.CA>
Tortoise
Hello hi. First time submitting anything to the List, but I thought it
was worth my while to let you know about a few things turning heads
here in Toronto, Canada.
First up, I'd like to give up a brief review of the debut CD by this
group Tortoise. I picked up a 7" by this group last year and it
didn't do a whole lot for me. This CD is an entirely different
matter. Five guys based in Chicago, including John McEntire (late of
Seam and a few other notables) and Bundy K. Brown (who made his most
recent appearance along with Mr. Grubbs in Gastr del Sol). This long
player was produced by McEntire, Brown and Brad Wood at his Idful
Studio Emporium in Chicago. Ten tracks here, instrumental for the most
part (apart from some mumbling at the beginning of the disc).
Not your standard guitar / bass / drums thing. Some of the more
unusual instruments introduced into the mix include a Moog (see
Stereolab), an accordion, and an intricate rhythm set up around
tablas. People might take the easy way out and compare Tortoise's
experiments in angular sonic sculputres with the mighty Slint, but
there's a whole lot more going on here. At least half of the tracks
have a more direct jazz sound to them (brushes on the drums, etc). The
tracks are also very intricate and rhythmic - almost groove-
oriented, several layers of percussion happening at one time. This CD
is perhaps the most interesting thing I've heard in a long time. Send
some $ their way: Thrill Jockey. PO Box 1527 Peter Stuyvesant
Station, New York, New York, 10009. (CD $9, LP $8 PPD).
Also just wanted to let people in on a few things happening around
Toronto. A couple of interesting bands popping up here and there:
Slow Loris - instrumental combo between Naked City, Marc Ribot and Don
Cherry (genius trumpet playe,r not hockey analyst extraordinaire).
Also Life Like Weeds - two guys (Eric and Gavin) ex of Phleg Camp
doing it up bluegrass style. Two guitars, occasionally a tuba in that
Palace Songs / 3 Finger Spread kinda way. They will have a CD EP out
in the next couple of months.... Finally, what would be a submission
without a wee bit o' self promotion. Me and a friend run a label (All
You Can Eat Sound). We'll be putting out the Life Like Weeds CD
thingie. We also (in January) released the last Phleg Camp 7" - 2
songs, different from their old stuff but still.... There's about 20
left. If anyone wants one, email me and i'll hook you up. Thanks.
Peace and soul.
Matt Galloway. yku02001@cawc.yorku.ca
------------------------------
From: "michael l. medlin" <al@iris.claremont.edu>
a few nz reviews
It's been far too long since I last commented on the music flowing
from my favorite island nation, so here's a couple of reviews to break
radio silence:
Bailter Space Vortura CD (Flying Nun) Tough for me to review this
band objectively, as they continue to produce a noise that fits my
ears so perfectly that it sounds like it was custom crafted for me
alone. I look at it as pure ear candy, but that might seem an odd way
to describe such a thick, gauzy wall of sound. Vortura is a big
wall, maybe their biggest yet, but it has incredible texture and
color. I'd call them a force of nature if it all wasn't so perfectly
structured, a storm with a purpose and a temper.
Tall Dwarfs _3 EPs_ CD (Flying Nun) Their last effort, _Fork Songs_,
dug so deep into my consciousness that I thought they would never be
able to top it. At first listen, it was "nice," but my appreciation
grew by leaps and bounds until it became "necessary for survival."
3EPs is having the same effect, but the starting point is much
higher, right around "woo woo". Who knows where it will end. This
here is a beautiful mess, "organized" into three, well, EPs, each with a
different feel. There are simple, hooky Lennonesque pop songs, simple
noisy Lennonesque noisier pop songs, and complex, itchy, disturbing
things that sound like nothing but other Tall Dwarfs songs. My
favorite release of the half year, mostly because it surprises the
hell out of me every time I listen to it.
--
m i c h a e l l m e d l i n a l @ i r i s . c l a r e m o n t . e d
u
whenever we kiss, dear, our two lips meet,
and whenever you're not with me, we're apart.
when you sawed my dog in half, that was depressin',
but when you shot me in the chest, you broke my heart.
--lucius shepard
------------------------------
From: "LePageL/MF" <LePageL/MF@hermes.bc.edu>
Charlie Chesterman and Desk
Charlie Chesterman: From the Book of Flames
[Slow River Records - P.O. Box 487, Durham, NH 03824]
I used to think of Scruffy the Cat as "the love band" - all their
songs seemed to be about being ecstatically in love or bummin' cause
the girl was gone. After a brief hiatus from the scene, Charlie
Chesterman, former front man for Scruffy the Cat, has a bunch of songs,
old and new, that pick up pretty much where the Scruffies left off.
It's country-rock you can dance to, heartfelt but buoyant little tunes
about not getting the girl, including the poignant "Lover's Day,"
"Sleeping with Nero (and Dreaming of Smokey the Bear)" and "Got You
Bad." Charlie sounds best with a band behind him - his pitch isn't quite
solid enough for the solo unplugged route - but of the four solo tunes,
"If You Were Mine" is a winner, sweet and fragile as it should be.
All the same, if the cover art (drawn by Stephen Fredette) is any
indication, Charlie's romantic woes have not been as cheerful as these
tunes would lead you to believe: the central figure is a claw-footed,
angel-winged grotesque with an exhumed heart for a head, bursting out
of a burning book into a sea of eyeballs. I guess sometimes love is
hell.
Live: Charlie Chesterman and the big ass band, at Charlie's Tap in
Cambridge, one time only (May 30)
No joke about the band. Charlie got together something like 11 of
his friends and former bandmates to do a record release show at
Charlie's Tap in Cambridge. Charlie, a very relaxed front man (he's
from Iowa :) ), did it up with aplomb. His voice actually sounded
stronger live as he strolled through most of the stuff on the new cd
as well as a few very welcome chestnuts (NPI) from Scruffy
days - "Capital Moonlight" (with horns!) and "I Do" stand out. His band
was as tight as one rehearsal will get you, with a core group of Andy
Pastore (gtr) and John Clarke (drums), both from the Quiet Ones, and
George from Desk on rhythm guitar. Among the guest luminaries were
Rich Gilbert on steel (ex-Zulus, now in Concussion Ensemble, I think,
there may be others), and two former Scruffsters: Stephen Fredette
looking intense on mandolin (he claims he was staring at the inside of
his hair) and Burns Stanfield on electric piano. So did I mention
horns? Accordion? The guest vocalist? A rare show, with that happy
ragged quality that takes over when no one knows exactly what's going
on and they're still good enough to pull it off. If Charlie gets a
band together to tour - and he might - hope he comes to your town. It
may be a little old-fashioned, but it runs good.
Desk opened with a charming sort of Beat Happening thang including
deliberately rudimentary playing, simple tunes with simple lyrics (la
la la!), and a nerdy stage presence that reminds me of what Johnny
Slash said about Sarah Jessica Parker and her pal on Square Pegs:
Their style is that they have no style. Not strictly true. Desk
have lots of style, lots of different styles, all milling around in a
little circle with their lead singer guy in the middle like a cross
between PeeWee Herman and a maypole. He sings like Calvin - that's
cool. But their songs aren't too good. Then again, he tells good
jokes. I dunno. Their highpoint for me was when they covered "99 Red
Balloons," enunciating the words so we could all hear just how
adorably silly those lyrics really were. And then, lo and behold,
the lead singer guy took a guitar solo, and it was really good, and
went on for several satisfying minutes. Apparently Desk have a bit of
a following - I spotted Mary Timony of Helium and Joan Wasser of
Dambuilders. Does this make Desk a "musician's band"? Not sure why
that would be. They have a 7" out but I did not buy it. Look for it
in your favorite record store.
from Lise - Boston Mass
LEPAGEL/MF@hermes.bc.edu
------------------------------
From: dann medin <DLM94001@UConnVM.UConn.Edu>
eating yer lawn
bonjour... well, this is probably going to be my last i-l entry for a
while, i'm leaving for california to do some summer camp counseling on
june 17th. if i'm really lucky i'll be able to catch bands like
karate, drive like jehu, and combustible edison. camp doesn't start
'til the 24th, though, and if anyone would like to give me a tour or
hang out, i'll still be checking my email, so please do let me know.
it would be highly appreciated. (los angeles area) plans for next
year include hopefully a zine too, so any recommendations or
suggestions would be helpful as well. (thanks jeremy!) da da da.
show reviews...
may 20th. helium/3ds/superchunk @ venus de milo, boston... of all
the nights to get sick. finished my last final in the morning, got
packed and picked up by my friend, and slept to boston. i'd been
looking forward to this show for a while, and i rarely ever get sick,
so i was kinda bummed when we got in the club and i couldn't stand up.
i love helium. mary timony is just totally rad. and this was my
first time seeing them, so i was pretty psyched about hearing most of
the new one (on matador; "pirate prude") plus the songs on the lucy
7". also a special surprise: on bass AND violin, joan dambuilders!
a good set.
next: the 3ds from new zealand. i've read a lot of great
stuff about the cd on indie list and have enjoyed it myself since its
release. i was really bugged when they came on and my body shut down.
i did, from the floor at the back of the club, recognize most of the
tunes, and they sounded good. i just didn't see much of them.
and finally, superchunk. what can i say? was it coincidence? or magic
healing powers? either way, as they progressed from tune to tune i
somehow felt better and better so that by the point that they played
"driveway to driveway" i was smiling and totally into it. the band
rocked, and when they played "slack motherfucker" as a second encore, i
was back and up on my feet. played a lot of if not all of "foolish"
w/ a few off of "on the mouth" (precision auto! yay!) and "skip steps
1 & 3", among others. rock on.
may 21st...red bliss/ruby falls/kudgel/rodan @ tt bears, boston.
feeling mostly recovered was a relief for this one. tt's was filled
w/ wonderful stars and workers in the world of great independent music
(kill rock stars, pop narcotic...) for this one, and no wonder.
unfortunately, i missed red bliss because i was munching falafel
w/jeff rodan @ the middle east restaurant, but he told me that they
were good, which kind of made missing them stink.
anyway, ruby falls. way cool. you may have heard them on the pop
narcotic comp. if not, listen to them! and look out for their new 7"
too. just a great band; beautiful female vocals, and the drummer from
flower. (who's rerelease on simple machines introduced me to them; a
definite recommendation) next up, ta-dahh, kudgel! they were loud,
amazing, and insane! how the singer/ guitarist's back doesn't break
w/the mic that low is news to me. they played the songs on the new 7"
and lots of material i've never heard. w/spoofy improvised goofiness
in between tunes.
before i begin w/rodan, allow me to mention that they are some the
nicest folks i've had the pleasure of meeting. i learned a lot about
the kentucky scene, the tours, and the unending questions about slint.
(they've been asked about them every show so far) anyways, maybe it's
because i really haven't heard much of spiderland, but live this band
was totally amazing. they were so tight, the sound was so perfect,
tara sounded and looked beautiful as well as jason, jeff, and kevin.
totally smothered my expectations. the crowd dug it too, even this
obnoxious motorheadish metalguy that somehow kep his fist pumping in
the air throughout the whole hour and 15 minutes. (i'd have liked him
a lot more tho' if he wasn't hitting people.) this was probably the
best performance i've seen this year. Two strings were broken during
"everyday world" (guitars & bass) and i didn't even notice. worth the
hype. if you haven't, check them out.
was supposed to see the dambuilders/sunny day real estate show, but my
ride forgot about me and went to see a movie w/someone. win some,
lose some, i guess. also, universal order of armageddon played studio
158 last week. intense as unwound live.
gotta be quick, but here's my favorite shit that's come out since
september (lps over three months old that i still play constantly) :
archers of loaf/icky mettle...bratmobile/the real janelle...jawbox/for
your own special sweetheart...bikini kill/pussy whipped...combustible
edison/i, swinger...
epic monster songs of the year-
"everyday world of bodies"/rodan & "luau"/drive like jehu...
ultimate compilation- pop narcotic's "why do you think..."
best non-jazz trombone in a song- eggs's "rollercoaster" 7"s- mary lou
lord, bouncing souls, kudgel, helium, combustible edison, & ivy.
best out of genre you've gotta check out- medeski martin & wood "it's a
jungle in here/gramavision" ("organic acid jazz") & del the funky
homosapien's "no need for alarm" on elektra. (hip hop w/total jazz
feel. killer) import- rollerskate skinny's "threshold" e.p.
that's all. much love and a great summer to you. take care!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
dlm94001@uconnvm.uconn.edu
xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxooxoxoxoxoxox
------------------------------
From: topaz@xmission.com (Topaz)
Garage Shock '94 review
PUNK ROCK!!! shhhh!!
or
Hilkka and Me: 23 Bands in 96 Hours--Garage Shock '94
DAY 1 (wild, wild, lo-fi rock'n'roll hell night)
THE INHALENTS
The Inhalents started off Garage Shock '94 by laying out the aesthetic
parameters of the event--by stating in no uncertain terms what to
expect for the remainder of the trip. If this sounds like a candy-ass
way of saying they were generic as hell, well then, they were. Loud,
snotty lo-fi garage punk with no personality of its own.
THE RIP-OFFS
Now THIS is the shit. I'm not entirely sure what they did that the
Inhalents didn't do, as they didn't sound that much different, but
these guys were PUNK AS FUCK! They wear stocking masks! They take
turns singing! They do not take turns abusing each other! They have
some sort of personnel connection with Supercharger and/or the
Mummies/ Phantom Surfers.
THE STATICS
A more minimalist sound than the first two bands. Not vastly
exciting, especially coming after the Rip-Offs, but cleanly executed.
Points are subtracted for the supremely dumb novelty lyrics (songs
about Yogi Bear anyone?). Points are added for looking like they
stepped out of the pages of high school slice-of-life issues of ZOT!,
and looking completely unlike PUNK ROCK musicians.
THE MAKERS
A difference of opinion here. I thought they were chaotic and stupid,
and not in a good way. I also thought that the songs weren't there.
Everyone else I talked to grooved on the live energy. Points awarded
for coming to Garage Shock in a massively cool big black hearse, and
for giving us all free Man Or Astroman? shirts.
THE WOGGLES
The Woggles' live show can only be described as a spectacular public
display of foreplay. The Woggles are a well-oiled monster sex
machine. The began the set with a conga line through the 3-B Tavern
complete with (female, attractive) members of the audience. They all
got on stage, the band to play, the women to go-go dance. By the end
of their set, the band would have had to physically fight the dancers
off to protect their honor.
For those of us who couldn't get in on the extra-musical action, they
totally rocked the house. The lead singer preached and testified for
us all, the band swung their instruments around in unison on several
of the songs--totally stupid, but it looked incredibly cool. They did
a cover of a song from Love's first album ("No Matter What"? "Can't
Explain"? don't recall which one). Of all the bands who played on the
first night, the Woggles were the least unsophisticated. Some of the
songs had actual chord sequences (as opposed to just riffs), and some
of the duel guitar interplay actually sounded like it had been thought
out ahead of time. Great stuff!
DAY 2 (blood suckin' rawk'n'roll vampire nite)
THE COWSLINGERS
Cowboy punkabilly, a la the Reverend Horton Heat. OK playin', OK
singing, stupid and offensive (in a sorta good way) between-stage
banter. Question: is there a band in this style who doesn't do
"Folsom Prison Blues"?
THE MORTALS
If I ever made a movie, and if that movie had a club scene with a real
rock band rocking out (i.e. the real stuff--none of this
Medicine/Thrill Kill Cult shit), then that band would probably be the
Mortals. No frills rock with psychedelic overtones--nothing we all
haven't seen and heard before, but executed with supreme confidence
and ability. They did one song which consisted of several slow,
tension-filled quiet parts interspersed with louder-than-fuck guitar
freakout. I think they were the only band the whole weekend to
attempt something that structurally complex.
GRAVEL
If anyone ever wondered what the fuck Gravel are doing on Estrus,
seeing as they don't sound remotely like any other band on the
label--during their set, the women of Estrus (i.e. Dave Crider's wife
Becky, the other women whose names I didn't get, who were working the
Estrus table through Garage Shock), were all in front of the stage
rocking out and having a great time. This explains a lot, I think.
Anyway, they did their slow, heavy, Neil Young-meets-the-Melvins
thang, and did it extremely well. Great simple depressing lyrics. A
lot of people didn't like them at all. They're wrong, of course, but
given how much they stuck out like a sore thumb stylistically, one
can't be entirely surprised.
THE CYNICS
More difference of opinion. I was three feet from the stage for most
of the set and totally grooved on the faux-lizard-king rock-n-roll
energy. Rob, Dan and the drummer from Hilkka watched from the back
and thought it was stupid and fake. Greg Kostelich is long and lean
with flowing curly hair. He writhed, he moaned, he addressed
particularly heartfelt lyrics to individual female members of the
audience. I was reminded of just why it is that I haven't bought any
Cynics records lately. After the set had gone on a long time, Dave
Crider went up, signalled "one more song." Greg nodded 'ok', and
proceded to take the band through two songs--the last one being a long
mostly-instrumental freak-out thang that I thought was pretty cool,
and Rob, Dan, and the drummer from Hilkka thought was pointless
wankery. We all agreed that it was a shitty way to treat....
DEAD MOON
Dead Moon have a well-deserved reputation as one of the best live
bands on the planet. Leader and chief song-writer Fred Cole has been
playing in rock bands for longer than I've been alive (truly--his
earliest recordings were done in 1964. Look for "It's Her Time" by
the Weeds on one of the Pebbles albums). His closest brush with
success was "You Must Be a Witch" with the Lolipop Shoppe in 1967
(which also appears on '60s comps, and which was badly covered by
the Cynics a couple of albums ago).
This is all a prelude to saying that I was just a little disappointed
by their set. Mostly, it was because I had a list of songs I wanted
to hear them do, which they didn't, partly because of the fact that
they have two new albums which I haven't heard to draw material from,
and partly because of the forty minute set time constraint (which the
Cynics had probably shortened significantly, grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Rob,
who hadn't seen them before, was highly impressed, but damnit I wanted
to hear "Dead Moon Night" and "Animal" and "54-40 or Fight" and "You
Must Be a Witch" and....
DAY 3 (more brains in da movies than the bands night)
THE GALAXY TRIO
Missed them. We got pizza next door to the 3-B Tavern. Yum yum.
THE OBLIVIANS
Three guys--two guitars one drummer. Imagine the John Spencer Blues
Experience doing garage rock instead of blues, and you get the general
idea. I thought they were inconsistent (but VERY good when they were
on). Rob, Dan and the drummer guy sounded totally impressed.
TEENGENERATE
Japanese Ramones (they even looked the part). After all the hype, I
was disappointed. Nice cover of "Hippy Hippy Shake".
MAN OR ASTROMAN?
The most elaborate stage setup of the whole event. They had tons of
'50s mad-scientist gear on stage (most of it looked like window-
dressing, except for computer that one of the guys would feed floppy
disks), a backdrop, five TV monitors, showing previews for
'50s/'60s trash science fiction movies. Mostly, Man Or
Astroman?, was three guys playing, one guy dressed in a high-tech jump
suit, with what looks like a PC monitor on his head doing "vocals"
jumping around, and generally making a complete ass of himself on
stage. On a couple tracks he plays an instrument. A great time was
had by all.
MONO MEN
For me, the high point of the whole shebang. They are MUCH MUCH
better live than recorded. Total punk rock energy. They did a bunch
off of their upcoming *Sin and Tonic* album. They finished up with
the Wipers' "Over the Edge" which took me into a different, better
dimension. Then it stopped. Not much else to say, except SEE THEM if
you get the opportunity.
DAY 4 (Interlude in Seattle)
(On finding out that Unwound were doing an afternoon show in Seattle,
we obviously had no choice but to drive down and Check It Out).
THE INCREDIBLE FORCE OF JUNIOR
One of the stupidest band names I've encountered in quite some time.
The band themselves were okay, but nothing special. Okay songwriting,
so-so playing, a male vocalist who sounds way too much like Tae of
Kicking Giant for comfort.
BABOON
Four guys, very male, very young, very punk rock. Right now, they're
still a little too much the sum of their influences (Ian MacKaye,
Sonic Youth, SubPop), but they could very well be a band to watch in
the near future.
SLIM MOON
Slim Moon runs Kill Rock Stars. He did a brief spoken word thang plus
a song. It was all very brief and very good humored. The best thing
was a very funny "play" (actually a description of a possible, but
highly unlikely play).
UNWOUND
The obvious point of reference is Sonic Youth, especially live, where
they do a lot of the playing-with-amplification stuff that they used
to do before they decided to be a Rock Band, but it's hard to imagine
Sonic Youth ever sounding so hungry again. A great combination of
LOUD guitar soundscapes, screamed vocals, and no irony. My only
problem with their set was that it was too short.
DAY 4 (Butt shakin', haunted house party)
(By this time, I had just seen 17 bands in three and a half days, and
was beginning to burn out on the whole experience. This is probably
reflected in my reactions. Proceed with caution...)
THE APEMEN
Of all the bands I saw, the only one with keyboards. They're from
Holland, and played instrumental surf-pop. Decent I thought. They
all wore matching red Star-Trek shirts.
JACK O'FIRE
They don't do anything significantly different from the records, but
for some reason it sounds MUCH better live. The legendary Tim Kerr
turns out to be one of the most spectacularly ugly guys in the
universe. It's really nice hearing a harmonica player who no-bullshit
can actually PLAY the harmonica. They had singer from Poison 13 come
up and sing a couple songs with them (this means little to me, but I
talked to one person who actually knew about Poison 13 for whom it was
a totally unexpected dream come true), and they had a Japanese guy,
whom, I am informed, was Guitar Wolf come up and jam with the band on a
thoroughly shambolic rendition of "Rumble."
GIRL TROUBLE
Girl Trouble have been doing exactly the same thing for (at least) 10
years now and are incredibly tight. Front man K.P. is a consummate
showman (who could teach the Cynics a whole lot about playing the Rock
Star on stage), and seemed in fine form tonight--rolling around,
strutting, pouting, sticking his crotch where other people probably
didn't want it. We got in late (all except Dan) and missed the
distribution of the prizes (Dan got TWO, the bastard).
At one point, K.P. produced a Fonzie cushion, held it up for display,
doing Fonzerelli's signature "aaaaaaay" two-thumbs-up thang. Then he
grinds it, face inwards, into his crotch, all the while giving the
thumbs up with the most obnoxious fake shit-eating grin imaginable.
Maybe you had to be there, but trust me, it was a near-religious
experience.
JACKIE & THE CEDRICS I remain unimpressed by what recordings I've
heard, but they're a trip live. Three spectacularly geeky Japanese
guys in matching suits, occasionally trying (and mostly failing)
various co-ordinated rock-star moves. The music is strictly average
surf (mostly-) instrumental, but somehow that doesn't matter so much.
They pulled the same one-more-song-means-two-more-songs stunt that
the Cynics pulled, but for some reason I didn't really mind.
THE 5.6.7.8S
Three very attractive Japanese women in matching gold dresses. The
guitarist did most of the singing, the bass player providing some
scintillating back-up howls, miaows, "whooooos". By this time, I was
pretty out of it, and spent most of the set wondering (1) what it is
about non-Americans being so fascinated with American trash culture,
(2) whether there were any garage punk bands outside the first world,
and what, say, a black African band would sound like, and (3) whether
the band were wearing underwear. I make no excuses. The band looked
like they were having a great time on stage. For the last song, they
brought up someone from Supersnazz (apparently, they were all in
attendence, but didn't do any shows--bummer) for a big finale. They
were also the only band to do an encore.
topaz@xmission.com
------------------------------
From: GGPUTNAM@csupomona.edu
ANNOUNCE: Franklin solo tour itinerary as of June 2
FRANKLIN BRUNO SOLO TOUR ITINERARY
"Here I and Sorrow Sit '94"
6/13 Olympia Lucky 7 Coffeehouse
6/14 Eugene W.O.W. Hall, w/ Superchunk, Polvo
6/15 ?????
6/16 Seattle Crocodile Cafe (unconfirmed)
6/17 Vancouver Party @ Horsey's![as in Good Horsey, the band--ed]
6/18 ?????
6/19 Missoula Jot's Upstairs, w/ Crayon, the Softies
6/20 Fargo (tba) w/ Crayon, the Softies
6/21 hang out in Minneapolis
6/22 Chicago Lounge Ax, w/ Crayon
(all shows 6/23 through 7/6 also w/ Simon Joyner!!!)
6/23 Omaha Kilgore's
6/24 ????? Lawrence or Kansas City (unconfirmed)
6/25 Columbia MO Mixed Company, w/ Bunnygrunt
6/26 Memphis Shangri-La Records (4 p.m.)
6/27 Athens GA (tba) w/ the Bruces
6/28 Chapel Hill Cat's Cradle
6/29 Washington D.C. Black Cat, w/ Tortoise, the Sea & Cake
6/30 NYC Brownies, w/ Railroad Jerk
7/1 Philadelphia Khyber Pass, w/ the Mekons!! [!!!!!!--ed]
7/2 or 3 NYC (tba) w/ Versus
7/4 ????? Pittsburgh some BBQ...
7/5 Columbus OH Stache's, w/ Ron House, Jerry from Greenhorn
7/6 Indianapolis (tba)
7/7 Madison U. of W., w/ Guided By Voices, Prisonshake
7/8 Cleveland Euclid Tavern, w/ GBV, Prisonshake, Cobra Verde
7/9 St Louis Cicero's, w/ Simon (unconfirmed)
7/10 Sioux City 13th Club, w/ Simon
7/11 drop Simon in Omaha, drive like mad to Denver (play?????)
7/12 drive to Albuquerque (play?????)
7/13 Tuscon (tba)
7/14 home again, home again!
If anyone wants to help out filling in shows on days w/ big ?????s in
the appropriate areas of the nation, Franklin & Simon would be much
obliged. After the 9th, call me, Peter Hughes, @ 909 593-0699 or
email to ggputnam@csupomona.edu and I'll relay any information of
import to Franklin...
---
Email: ggputnam@csupomona.edu
-----------------------------
From: HOWES <HOWES%DIALOGVM@mcimail.com>
ANNOUNCE: alt.music.independent
A new news group was just created for the discussion of all aspects
of independent music. So if you need a daily dose of indie-charged
music discussion, read alt.music.independent.
If the group isn't carried by your site, find out who your news
administrator is and ask him to add it.
mike
mhowes@netcom.com
-----------------------------
From: Pylon@aol.com
ANNOUNCE: Big Fish Ensemble Tour Dates
Hello Indie List readers!
Following is a list of upcoming tour dates for Big Fish Ensemble. If
you're not familiar with the band (shame on you), you'd like 'em if
you're into Jonathan Richman, Ed's Redeeming Qualities, Yo La Tengo,
Camper Van Beethoven, or Country Joe & The Fish. Coincidentally, they
have two CDs out on my own dinky little label called Long Play
Records, and if you'd like a free catalog, just e-mail me yer address.
Anyway, check 'em out if they're coming your way...
6/18 * Greenville, SC - Peace Center
6/24 * Washington DC - Wolftrap
6/26 * Washington DC - 9:30 Club
6/27 * New York, NY - Wetlands
6/28 * New York, NY - Radio CIty Music Hall
6/30 * Winston-Salem, NC - Venue TBA
7/01 * Myrtle Beach, SC - Purple Gator
7/03 * Virginia Beach, VA - Peppermint
7/06 * Birmingham, AL - The Nick
7/07 * Nashville, TN - venue TBA
7/08 * Huntsville, AL - Tip TOp Cafe
7/09 * Knoxville, TN - Mercury Theater
7/13 * Chicago, IL - Venue TBA
7/14 * Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
7/15 * Madison, WI - Civic Center
7/16 * Minneapolis, MN - Northrop Auditorium
7/19 * Pensacola, FL - Sluggo's
7/20 * Valdosta, GA - Ashley Street St.
7/21 * Statesboro, GA - Chena's
7/22 * Augusta, GA - Squeekie's
7/23 * Atlanta, GA - The Point
7/25 * Atlanta, GA - Chastain park
7/26 * Richmond, VA - Twisters
7/27 * Washington, DC - 15 Minutes
7/28 * New York, NY - CBGB's
7/29 * Philadelphia, PA - JC Dobbs
Dates are subject to change, but you knew that already.
See ya,
Steve Pilon
Long Play Records
<Pylon@aol.com>
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