Used to like the Bee Gees, now I'm into the Purple
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Indie List Digest!
March 27, 1995
Volume 4 Number 22
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Reviews from the Southern Side of the Globe
TeenBeat stuff... and a cool zine.
ANNOUNCE: Free Show in Houston
AD: Quilt (zine)
AD: Junebug/Pumpernickel split 7"
Welcome to another issue of the Indie-List. This week, we've got a
second take on the TeenBeat anniversary series, and the first of a set
of reviews originating from down under.
Anne alluded to an upcoming review from us of our southern sojurn.
While the personal details may not belong here (including the True
Adventures of the Highway Patrol), she's correct that we had a fine
time and picked up much stuff (for my part, this was paper media -
reviews in our next thrill-packed adventure).
Naturally, a chance to get out of town is a chance to see some
different music. While in New Orleans, we had the pleasure of
reconnecting with former Bloomingtonians Matt Uhlman and Michael
Hurtt, who make up 1/2 of the Royal Pendletons. They play a dirty,
yet somehow polite (in that midwestern way), version of the garage
'50/'60s axis sound (c.f. surf music, the early Cynics, et al.).
When we saw them, it was an enveloping experience, one which involved
the audience and actually moved them to dance (at something so indie,
so cred?). Look for their forthcoming ep on Goner records, if the law
doesn't catch up to the owner first, or the postal service doesn't
destroy the cover art.
Opening for the Pendletons were a young and punky all girl band, AGB
(get it?). While they betrayed in every song the lack of musical
callouses, they've got a running start on the tradition of noise and
squack that makes a good garage sound.
While many others can write more lucidly about the SXSW experience, I
managed to avoid most of the pain while in Austin. I did take in one
of the showcases, that of Caspar Brotzmann. I've long been impressed
with his various works that I've been able to find, although usually
more so with the rumble he lends to other people's projects (Ammer and
Einheit's Radio Inferno, for example) than with his own ensemble.
This show reminded me why. While the rumble and skronk was there,
with a driving rhythm section, there was also a subverting influence
of Hendrix or Clapton floating through. Sometimes this lent itself
well to the experience (as in his neck-hammering of repetition), but
sometimes it struck me as distracting (note the medallion about his
neck, rock fans).
It came out like a bizarre mix of styles, one which might take some
practice to enjoy -- Link Wray meets Blue Cheer meets Einsturzende
Neubauten.
Playing in the same aircraft carrier sized venue was the Matador
showcase, which I missed the bulk of. As a respite from Brotzmann's
raised fist, however, I did catch a 25-minute burst of Guided by
Voices. We all know the sound, the rock traditionalism. What struck
me this time was the way they could actually present themselves on a
large stage as engagingly as the small stage I'd seen them on
previously.
-es
<------------------------------>
From: langham@multiline.com.au (Mr Bernard Langham)
Reviews from the Southern Side of the Globe
Howdy pop kids, Mr Bernard Langham here.
I do an indie-label show called Spiral Scratch (web page
http://multiline.com.au/~langham/spiral.html) on public radio in
Perth, Western Australia. We do label profiles and encourage
listeners to send away for mail-order stuff. So if you want yr
rekkids played on Perth radio, email me pronto (unless, of course,
you're The Man).
I'm also webresentative for Chapter Music (web page and catalogue
http://multiline.com.au/~langham/chapter/index.html), a small Perth
label run by Richard Forster (richard@4zzzfm.brisnet.org.au) and Guy
Blackman. So far we've put out 8 cassettes (Mustang!, Molasses, Blue
Tile Lounge, O!, Cannanes, Small World Experience inter alia) and one
CD (O!), and are just about to start a run of split 7" singles (first
up: Molasses "Superpowers Activate" b/w Minimum Chips
"Don'tknowwhattheesong'sgoingtobecalledyet").
Richard and Guy's paper zine Salty And Delicious (web page and back
issues http://multiline.com.au/~langham/chapter/salty.html) has cast
its wry, spry eye over thee confusingly incestuous Perth and Brisbane
(and Melbourne!) indie scenes for three issues now. Richard sent me
these here reviews for thee next issue. Enjoy.
-------------------les revues des richard-------------------------
(excuse my French)
FREE KITTEN: "Nice Ass" LP (Kill Rock Stars) - I liked this way more
than I'd expected to. The stuff I heard off Unboxed (a CD compiling
earlier releases) was pretty cool in a fucked-up, crazy kind of way,
but too much of it just sounded like noise-for-its- own-sake-wank that
I really didn't have heaps of patience for. On "Nice Ass" there's
still plenty of noisy chaos, but it's more focused.
Still based around guitarists Kim and Julie, Free Kitten is now more
like a "proper band;" the same line-up is featured throughout the
whole album. (Pavement's) Mark Ibold adds something pretty special
with his big, driving bass lines, and (the Boredoms') Yoshimi's
no-shit drumming is the perfect backing for the sleazy, sassy attitude
that oozes out of the songs.
The songs are all stripped back to these big, obnoxiously groovy
riffs, with lashings of abrasive noise and a vocal delivery that
approaches a kind of rapping! I mean, Kim Gordon doesn't exactly sing,
does she? The lyrics are playful, (ironic?) pretentious, often
self-referential rantings that sound like they're made up on the spot
and mostly seem to deal with undermining indie-rock mythology (I
think...).
There's some classic song titles anyway, like "Revlon Liberation
Orchestra", "Scratch Tha DJ" (which is about turning on a College
Radio Station and hearing the DJ turn down a request for a Kitten song
and how that made their day), and a 6-second blast of silly feedback
called "Alan Licked Has Ruined Music For An Entire Generation". How
cool?
MARY LOU LORD: s/t LP (Kill Rock Stars) - Anyone who covers Daniel
Johnston's "Speeding Motorcycle" is cool with me, but Mary Lou is so
cool that she changes the words from "damn proud" to "very proud." So
polite! And on most of this 8-song affair, Mary Lou comes across as a
very polite, well-mannered young country girl - hardly what we've come
to expect from Kill Rock Stars! While her guitar playing is nice, it's
basically nothing too adventurous or mind-blowing, just nice acoustic
pop. What really gets me is Mary Lou's sugary sweet voice, which is
kind of like Juliana Hatfield's only with about 100 times the range
and depth of emotion.
As well as "Speeding Motorcycle" there's a few other covers, by people
like Jimmy Bruno, Matt Keating, and the Bevis Frond, and while I don't
know the originals from a bar of soap they sit well with her
originals, which are all poignant and heartachey. You have to check
this just so you can hear "His Indie World" a song about how she can't
deal with her boyfriend's obsession with indie-rock, but just in case
you don't it goes along lines like these:
"he says my songs are too deep and gloomy,
he wishes that I could be more like jenny toomey,
just give me my joni, my nick, neil and bob,
you can keep your tsunami, your slant 6 and smog"
but it gets better!!!,
"I say, "what's the story?"
he says, "butterglory"
I say, "what's news?"
he says, "the silver jews"
his heavenly hang-up is getting me down,
and making me wonder why he's hanging around,
'cause I don't fit into his indie scene,
huggy bear and helium and half japanese,
sebadoh and sentridoh and superchunk and I don't know..."
Wow.
SOME VELVET SIDEWALK: Shipwreck LP (K) - An ironic title for an album
being released now for the first time, years after it was actually
recorded way back in 1990. And shit, it really must have been lost
somewhere, cause its so cool - I can't imagine why else they would've
waited so long to put it out.
The line-up here is different to the two albums (Avalanche and
Whirlpool) that have come out since this one should have: for
Shipwreck, singer/writer/guitarist Al Larson was joined by Louise
Olson on bass, Tobi Vail (Bikini Kill, Go Team) on drums, with Donna
(Team) Dresch guesting on a couple of songs.
Its been said before but there's a big Modern Lovers influence, I
reckon - there's an overall sense of sadness but also a prevailing
sense of humour and romanticism in Larson's anguished, off-key
scream-a-longs. There's also something agreeably Beat Happening- like
in Some Velvet Sidewalk's jangly teenage-caveman "love-rock" thing.
There's also places where they forget about the cute jangles and go
all out for a big, tough, punk riff-off type thing, but it all comes
out the other end sounding a bit self-conscious and silly, and is
endearing because of it. I dunno, like cock-rock without the
testosterone.
I love Al Larson's awkward swagger on this album, especially on the
nearly cloying "Eyes Like Yours," the stompin' "Mousetrap," and the
gentle yearning of "Boardwalkin'" ("take me to your favourite end of
the world... listen to the tide, hold it next to mine, think about
the consequences with me"), but my favourite favourite is "Eye of the
Storm" cause of the way he yelps "some people live their lives,
walking down streets, and that's nice, but you and I, we can live in
the eye of the storm" and then goes crazy screaming "and if we
shipwreck, we can shipwreck all we want!!!".
Yep, a lost treasure.
FIGURE 60: Six Days 7" (Crawlspace) - This is cool! Messy guitar pop a
la Pavement and the 3Ds, but with more messiness, and I dunno, a sense
of spontaneity that's maybe been missing on both of those bands recent
releases.
Great lazy, lackadaisical vocals too that remind me a lot of the
Puddle (another awesome New Zealand band), especially on "Stoned
Loser" full of resigned passion and gentle, but biting ill-humour, and
some really catchy guitars. A classic song to play to your
drug-fucked best friend.
I get the feeling they'd be amazing to see live, all sloppy and warped
and crafted songs with warmth and melody. Yeah, yeah, Yeah!
Crawlspace is a 7" only label, and this is limited to 300 copies so if
you're at all interested write off for it asap!
(send $US5 postpaid to: Crawlspace P.O.Box 7127 Wellesley St Auckland
New Zealand)
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Molopo Cassette (From The Same Mother) - You can't
blink these days without Julian Williams bringing out another great
tape on From The Same Mother, and the latest makes for yet more
essential listening for followers of the Perth-Adelaide-Brisbane (via
Melbourne) lo-fi love triangle, or a fine introduction for those not
yet acquainted.
Boasting the likes of Molasses, Sleepy Township, doublechin, Clag and
even Minimum Chips, Molopo is by far the poppiest, most feel-good
collection I've ever heard on f.t.s.m., but of course there's a
healthy dose of difficult listening on offer, from Sevanate (a solo
excursion for Tripod's Greg Hilleard), Big Interesting Rifle (hijacked
here by J.W. himself), Dead Men in Suits, Julian Williams and Julian
Williams' awesome and much hyped Solids.
Add to that a collaboration between Nathan Stump Mitten and Dylan Fang
called Fong (doing a rockin' guitar instrumental called "me and
chrissy g") the classic "Don't Call Me" from Felafel's Telethon tape
lp (another essential buy from f.t.s.m.) a nutty version of Syd
Barrett's "Scarecrow" by Eggsweat, and a live version of "Carton
Halving Triangle" by O!, recorded (like a few other songs on this
comp.) at the Melbourne launch of s&d#3, and you have great document
of the seething underbelly of oz-indie-rock of the moment. Oh,
there's also something called Wernard too, which cuts out early but
sounds amazing.
(the next release planned for f.t.s.m. is a Solids/doublecin 7")
(richard@4zzzfm.brisnet.org.au)
[Bernard also sent along a sequence of zine reviews from Richard.
Look for them in the next issue -es]
Cheers,
~Barney
Mr Bernard Langham . langham@multiline.com.au . Perth, Western Ashtraylia
<a href="http://multiline.com.au/~langham/">Mah homepage</a>
"Cover me with rain/ Walk me down the lane/
We will never change/ No matter what they say"
Beat Happening "Indian Summer"
<------------------------------>
From: Sean Murphy <grumpy@access.digex.net>
TeenBeat stuff... and a cool zine.
So, a couple weeks ago, Mr. Robinson decides to throw a big party for
the 10th anniversary of TeenBeat records. And even for those people
who weren't cool enough to attend the infamous banquet, there were 3
different shows, all free, and all conveniently within walking
distance of my house (finally, a point to living in Arlington, VA).
#1 - O'Carroll's, Arlington, VA - Butch Willis, Romania, Air Miami
Butch appeared in lieu of Cath Carroll, who was unable to make it at
the last minute. A cappella merriment from one of the craziest people
I've ever seen. Took a little while to get my bearings, as I'm not
familiar with all of his work, and he was leaving spaces for guitar
solos and whatnot... "Everything's Alright" and the "rock and roll"
song were highlights for me.
Romania - why does this exist? These two guys are the hosts of the '80s
Dance Party at a club in downtown DC and have a band on the side.
Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, Soft Cell, need I say more?
Entertainng in single-song doses (unless you catch their cover of
Toto's "Africa" - truly wretched), particularly their rendition of
"China" by the Red Riders (or some other old Canuck band - the name is
escaping me at the moment).
Air Miami - happy to be home, in front of an appreciative crowd. A
decent set, not as mesmerizing as when I saw them in Princeton a
couple weeks earlier, but still solid.
Show #2 - Go! Compact Discs, Arlington - Viva Satellite, Phil Krauth,
BOCS.
Viva Satellite is Rob Christiansen (Eggs, Grenadine) and Lauren
Feldsher (ex-Air Miami). They have 2 singles, neither of which I've
had the chance to hear. Imagine 6-minute rock operas about the life
of Moses. Or things that even Rob says are too complicated to
understand until they're heard a bunch of times. Warped,
hyper-intelligent material, with loopy but soothing music behind it
(just guitar and bass). Wow.
Phil Krauth, former drummer for Unrest, now out playing guitar and
singing. Unfortunately, I can't compare his new solo stuff to the
Clarence cassettes ('cause I've never heard them). Easy reference
point - West Coast Love Affair (from Unrest's _Perfect Teeth_ lp) -
Phil's new version of that song was a little lighter, less
rhythmically driven than the old version, and that sorta set the tone
for his whole set. Very pleasant.
Skipped Blast Off Country Style - They annoy me substantially in more
than a 3-minute dosage, and I needed to get dinner before the later
show.
Show #3 - O'Carroll's, Arlington - Uncle Wiggly, Versus, Tuscadero.
Uncle Wiggly seems to have escaped from Shimmy Disc and is now sorta
on the TeenBeat roster. Enjoyably quirky pop songs - can't say I'm
too familiar with them, but I enjoyed it. They have about 4 lps out
there, which again, I've never listened to but probably should.
Versus - a slightly more inspired set than usual. This band has been
in something of a rut for about a year and a half, where you can
virtually predict the set list and the boredom factor based on how
recently you had seen them. Maybe I'm jaded 'cause I've seen Versus
more times than I can count. But this set restored my hopes for a
little while longer - a few new songs had a good punch to them.
"Double Suicide," the new set-closer of late, is pretty cool. Next
new material (not the _Dead Leaves_ comp of old singles and stuff)
should prove where they're headed.
Tuscadero - I've now seen them 3-4 times. Take first LP B-52s (Planet
Claire, Dance This Mess Around era) and a solid dose of Blondie (Heart
of Glass or Hanging on the Telephone type, not The Tide is High), with
an unskilled surf-ish approach. Then pick your formula - will it be a
list song, or a story-ish song? List songs, like "Candy Song" or "Game
Song," are initially funny in an "oh yeah!" way but typically get
tired after 3 listens. Story songs (for lack of a better title) are
better structurally, but the geek-slut complex gets tired (Latex
Dominatrix, Hollywood Handsome, Dime A Dozen).
So why do I like this band? They have hooks all over the place.
"Nancy Drew" is a total masterpiece of a song, transcending its "list"
origins to make me sing along when I can remember the lyrics. This
set was decent, inspired, but I'd like to see a little more song
development before they record again...
As for record purchases, well, those can wait 'til later, since none
of it was particularly new.
Zine review time:
GREEN MEANS GO! (25 pp., 8x11, $1, P.O. Box 6278, Hoboken, NJ 07030.)
OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: Jen and Mike are really good friends of mine, so
I'll warn everyone up front that this may be a little biased...
Two of the hippest, funniest DJs from WPRB, Princeton, NJ, have
finally put out the zine they've talked about for at least a year.
Solid Gaunt / New Bomb Turks interview, really entertaining European
trip diary by Mike, and a slew of record reviews. If you like the
musical content of old MRRs (i.e. pre-Tim Yohannon's "all punk"
ultimatum), then you'll probably feel at home here. Definite
garage-punk slant, but some surprises here and there, too... and some
interestingly random segments/graphics/whatnot. Definitely worth
reading, even if you're not punk.
One final announcement - My other e-zine project, _Finley Breeze_,
should have issue #3 done by the time this article gets published.
The suggested topic: theory v. instinct. Not as dry as that implies.
Really. If you're interested in finding one of these bad boys in your
little electronic mailbox (and didn't receive #2), drop me a line...
thanks.
Grumpy Sean
grumpy@access.digex.net
<------------------------------>
From: Erik Jon Benke <ejbenke@owlnet.rice.edu>
ANNOUNCE: Free Show in Houston
KTRU is hosting its 4th Annual FREE Outdoor Concert on Saturday, April 1.
The following bands will be playing:
Silver City Trading Post at noon
Lump at 12:45
Voice of Eye at 2:00
DeSchmog at 3:00
Slaphappy at 4:00
Bob at 5:00
Death Valley at 6:15
Alejandro Escovedo at 7:30
Location: Rice University in Houston, TX
For more info email me or call KTRU at (713) 527-4050
<------------------------------>
From: $JFENNEL@LWCVM1.LWC.EDU
AD: Quilt (zine)
I have finally finished my 'zine i've been working on for a while, called
Quilt. it's the "guide to fun and frivolity in Farmville, Virginia," and
for the most part it's silly-fun. included:
* description of our roadtrips to Yogaville, a most bizarre subculture
near Farmville
* A (kind of short) interview with K's Calvin Johnson
* Reviews of a few shows, including Jad Fair, the 6th, 7th, and 8th
times i saw the Ramones, Lois, and a few others.
* some recipes
* bizarre pictures i took in Farmville
* some perspectives on this crazy
and more stuff, so if you'd like a copy, please send me mail at
$jfennel@lwcvm1.lwc.edu (don't get the ls and the 1s mixed up in the
address!) or send some stamps or donations for the Juniper the Bunny
Rabbit's Neutering Fund to Jennie, 200 South Virginia Street, Farmville,
VA 23901
before the middle of May!
********Also, if you haven't already done so, quickly
send off for SPLASHDOWN, which was mentioned by my friend Peter on here last
time. It's really, really cool and a necessary addition to anyone's
collection. Don't delay! Thanks future penpals!
jennie
<------------------------------>
From: "Alec: the Jaboni Youth Corp." <alecjab@minerva.cis.yale.edu>
AD: Junebug/Pumpernickel split 7"
Hello I run Teenage Velvet Records and I write the zine Jaboni Youth.
Our Junebug/Pumpernickel 7" got reviewed here last week (without an
address or anything on where to get it) so I figured I'd advertise.
Junebug is happy, upbeat, innocent pop and has often been compared to
Beat Happening...only a little weirder maybe. Pumpernickel is noisy,
sad love songs...often co