Let's start off with a salute to Erin & Charlie at Hal & Mal's. They've been really accommodating with the rock n' roll. Give them a slap on the back (or the backside) the next time you're there. And tip well. Robin, Laura, and Shannon always laugh at your jokes. That's some tough work.
And one more salute to Ronbot Rodenmeyer, who dusted off the Farfisa to help Buddies murder other peoples' songs for a change. Good times. And my apologies for any chocolate still stuck to the floor.
Now on to Harlem (from TX). Most of their self-released LP played on repeat in my head throughout the year. Jingle, jangle, woowoo. Instant hootenanny. And that's exactly what happened when they hit the stage armed with the biggest kick drum I've ever seen. I think I sang along to songs I've never even heard before. I definitely drank along. New record soon from Matador, so you can play along at home.
I've been locked in an iron lung for the past several days. So please bear with any incoherence. But I'm happy to report on thee awesomest JXN show in years. I mean like since Nick Deathray used to dance on tables with his cuban heels (or were they pumps?) at Martin's.
It was the last weekend of the State Fair. The scent of corndogs and carnies filled the crisp air of the Hal & Mal's patio bar. Perfect. The patio bar is also the smallest of Hal & Mal's venues. So by the time Vivian Girls took the stage, 100+ kids were piled on top of each other and dancing on tables. Greasy Chip, doorman extraordinaire, reported that carloads came in from as far as Louisiana. Let's hear it for 18+ shows. And let's hear it for Schooler's sweet cornblade poster.
New/revised Jackson band, Cursed Branches opened with a LOUDDDD set of Superchunky tunes. Good stuffs. Closed with The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait." Yes. ¡Los Buddies! played next and we turned in a pretty good set. Even the stuff that broke managed to break appropriately, if that makes any sense. I had a blast, at least. Cassie challenged us to play our Urinals cover with the promise Vivian Girls would play their Wipers cover. Unfortunately, we didn't quite remember how to play it. Fortunately, the Vivs were great sports and played "Telepathic Love" anyway.
Which brings me to the VIVIAN GIRLS. Wowza. They were awesome last time they stopped in Jackson - which was sometime between them instantly selling out of their Mauled By Tigers debut and the In The Red repress. They were selling CDRs of the album as fast as they could burn them on the MacBook. Everyone at 121 Millsaps that night became an instant fan. And I bought a Holy Grail reverb pedal.
But now they had a new album, a handful of new singles and, of course, new drummer Aly. Somehow they were even awesomer than the last show. I think maybe they backed off the trance-inducing reverb a little bit and dialed up the rocks and rolls. They were on fire from the first note and never let up. Every face in the crowd was beaming, even the ones crammed in someone else's armpit. I managed to squeeze my way up front next to KC, and everything else is a blur of beers and hollers. "Out For The Sun" was particularly amazing. I like that tune on the record, but when Cassie's belting that out right in front of your face it's 1000x intense. By the end, the Vivian Girls launched into a noise jam where they seamlessly switched instruments and fell back into "My Baby Wants Me Dead." Nice.
Bobby Tacos had cleaned his apartment and cooked a batch of jambalaya, so the ladies headed their after the show. After a thoroughly surreal encounter with an "urban shaman" at the Shell station (ask Murph), I stopped by Bob's for one last beer. The jambalaya was great and Kickball Katy introduced us to the marvels of Maru The Cat. Good night.
Woods' "Songs of Shame" LP and "Sunlit" 7" haven't strayed too far from my turntable since their respective releases. So I was beyond stoked when it worked out for Woods to stop in Jackson this summer. I also wasn't quite sure what to expect. The songs themselves are fairly classic, but the recordings send them to an off-kilter orbit. It's texture. But it's vital. When I put on a Woods record, it's likely to stay on the turntable for a couple of days. I get sucked into the sound and nothing else will do.
Their tour rider was pretty basic - sound system and refreshments. It did specifically mention Jim Beam. So I figured that was the least I could do. Then at the package store, I found the most magnificent bottle of Beam ever: OPERATION HOMEFRONT. I figured such a combo of patriotism, bravado, and booze would end in an inspired set.
It also almost ended in jail.
During the opening act, the Woods boys took a table up front and passed the bottle around wild west style. Later on, round about the time for Woods to be taking the stage, I spot a very large and angry police officer by the door to the club. He's corralled the Woods boys and is brandishing the Beam bottle at them. Luckily, Gorjus noticed the scene, too, and springs into barrister mode - smoothing out a near-tragic breach of Jackson's open container law. They even got to keep the whiskey, and everyone celebrated with a round of Gorjus' "short drinks." Operation Homefront: mission accomplished.
Turns out the problem with seeing Woods live, is that now the records just don't cut it anymore. I want to be there, five feet from the Silvertone guitars and that battered suitcase full of delay pedals and cassettes. All that psychedelic texture comes from Lucas - howling into a reverse-wired pair of headphones while hunched over a couple of old Panasonic tape players run through a DJ mixer. Oh yeah, and he kept a stick of incense burning through the set. Nag Champa, I believe.
Tyler Keith's new band, The Apostles (a.k.a. Andy and Van), blew into town last weekend and proceeded to kick every ass in the joint. Unfortunately, there were only a couple of dozen asses there. They could've taken on at least 100 more, no problem.
Over the last decade or so, Tyler has restored my faith in rock & roll many times: The Neckbones, Preachers' Kids, and now The Apostles. This guy lives it, loves it, hates it, but always comes back around to loving it. I don't think he has a choice.
The Apostles are still rock and roll, loud and boozy. But he's on to something a little bigger now - even though he's stripped things down to a trio. Maybe that's it. These songs don't need a wall of guitars to cut through. Tyler's got a message to deliver, and it's on fire. Oh, he still has something to say to the stuck-up chicks on the Square. But it's the uptight guys behind the pulpit that really get him chooglin'.
Tyler may be the most under-appreciated man in rock and roll. Go see this band. Buy them whiskey.
Oh, you might still be able to find the Hiss Lab cassingle at Goner. KC's finest work yet. http://www.goner-records.com
They came out swinging with "Party Lines," and never let up. I was still fumbling for the camera:
Immediately after their set, the house p.a. blasted Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters." Odd choice. But it got everybody in the bar busting wacky celebrity cameos.
Bare Wires were one of the most refreshingly good times I've had in a while. First of all, they were some of the nicest rock n' roll folks I've ever met - I mean like almost as nice as Talbot. Then they got up and played. Wow. I mean, I expected them to be pretty good. But they cranked out 30 minutes of awesome - raw pop with a little glam and a lot of fuzz. Made me wish I had a car with t-tops.
I was having so much fun, I forgot I had the camera in my pocket until the end. The light was crap, anyway. But I can't believe I missed "TEEN WITCH." LP on Tic Tac Totally comes with a VHS home video. Classy.
The Oblivians reunion festivities also included a day show at Murphy's. KC and I made it just in time to catch Twinkle & Her Little Stars taking the stage. Unfortunately, I still hadn't quite figured out how to turn on the new tiny camera. Durn. I really wanted to blackmail Scott with footage of their ace Echo & The Bunnymen cover. Wonder if Twinkle told him that's what it was?
This footage compliments of Twinkle's sis, Braden. And if you haven't picked up that Perfect Fits/Twinkle split 7" on Contaminated yet, you better recognize. Hopefully Alicja still has one left for you.
I did manage to get some footage of the Magic Kids, which is the latest pop outlet for some of the Barbaras/Girls of the Gravitron kids. Goner 7" coming soon. "Superball" had been stuck in my head for a good part of the summer. So it was hard to refrain from dancing around like a Peanuts kid when they played it. There's a fantastic home demo version of it on the CDR collection the Gravitron guys were selling on tour. Maybe you can pester somebody through MySpace and get it. I dunno.
UPDATE: Magic Kids 7" out now http://www.goner-records.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=4807
This is old news now. But I finally got around to actually downloading some videos from my new tiny video camera. So here ya go.
The Oblivians (and Gories) played two sold-out nights at the Hi Tone in Memphis. It was armpit-to-armpit in the bar – and exceptionally musky armpits, at that. So KC and I made it through about two Gories songs before retreating to the courtyard. Never been a huge Gories fan, but "Nitroglycerin" is a pretty snappy number. Lucky for me, that was one of the first couple of songs in the set.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting from the Oblivians. After keeping their records in constant rotation for years, I hadn't really listened to them much lately. But, man, once they cranked up, my beer-clinched fist shot straight into the air – along with everyone else's (most of which also held new tiny video cameras). Oh, yeah. That's why I love the Oblivians. And they played my favorite song:
