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Issue # 37 May 2002 thewigwambam.com |
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| Ignoring Objectivity Since 1998
WIG WAM BAM “Albuquerque zine of music & nepotism” |
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| LOCAL SHOWS local venues, bands from here or there |
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| Mistletoe, Crushstory, the Mindy Set,
the Cuts, the Phase, the Mindy Set, the Chickenhawks, the Phase, TNA, Lucy
Kaplansky, Maria Colbert, the Briefs, the Mindy Set, the Phase, ...And You
Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Below the Sound, Mr Spectacular, Blue
Bottle Flies, Fukrot, Lisa Loeb, the Shins, the Fruit Bats |
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| LOCAL CONTRIBUTOR |
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| Mr. Toilet Goes To Portland Submitted by Obenjyo |
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| LOCAL RELEASES nm bands, any label |
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| Below the Sound more like a gunshot than a car wreck [cd 2002] The Eyeliners Sealed With A Kiss [cd 2001] Chuck Jurich SL III [cd-r 2002) Mistletoe sorry its been so long [cd2000] |
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| LOCAL SHOWS |
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MISTLETOE, CRUSHSTORY, the MINDY SET 3/22/02 @ Launchpad I like the Mindys more each time I hear them, good original alt.hollowbody-guitar fuzzrock. The leads (if you can even call them that) are deceptively smooth and unobtrusive; in fact “melody guitar” more be a more apropos label than “lead guitar”. Keep an eye on this band. They’ll get even better I promise (especially if the keyboards are cranked up). I heard people compare Crushstory to Elvis Costello and I can see that but it would have to be Costello produced by lead-Lemonhead Evan Dando with input from Aimee Mann before she hit it big. Sticky hooks and too-nice people singing them; I’m a sucker for that shit. Mistletoe seem so much larger onstage, their sound lots bigger every time. I think it has something to do with being more comfortable and tight onstage each show as well as not being afraid in evolving their style the CUTS, the PHASE, the MINDY SET 3/25/02 @ Sprockets Ex-Ladykiller Elton (I’m talking about his previous band, not his personal magnetism & charisma which still appears intact, baby) takes over the drum stool from Aubrey S who got the boot for tossing the television through the hotel window again; or maybe she signed to Interscope, I can’t recall. In any case, Elton punches things up quite a bit with lots of rapid-fire fills. A stronger drummer too makes the whole band louder as they are driven just to keep up and be heard over the tumult. Singer Zed in turn is prompted to move lots more (yay!) with the wide-leg stance of Joey Ramone but in Talking Head David Byrne’s big suit (from Stop Making Sense). The Mindy Set are one of the more confident bands out here lately (that’s confident, not cocky). I got what I expected tonight and maybe a little more with the extended psychedelia song (like a Mazzy Star song minus singer Hope Sandoval) that went even further tonight. Personally, I’d like to see that psyche stuff extend into a few other numbers as well. But the Number One This-Situation-Sucks complaint about the Mindys: that tiny, tiny keyboard amp just doesn’t cut it; you just can not hear what she’s doing except in those few and rare moments the rest of the band is ratcheted down. Please can’t something be done about it? Please..? The Cuts are hip-swivel danceable with that mod-America garage-pop sound that was influenced by Brit Invasion bands as disparate as the Animals and Herman’s Hermits. Although I love the Cuts, ultimately the overall sound veers more towards a less-cuter Hermits; this because the keyboards--as a star feature of the band-- have a precious ferry-cross-the-Mersey swinging London sound rather than the raw imported-blues of Newcastle and Birmingham or the Presley/ Gene Vincent teddyboy of Liverpool and Manchester. The fine walking basslines are perfect as they point back towards swing and boogie (the whiteman’s predecessors to rock n’roll), just like the early rockers’ older siblings and uncles used to listen to. A bit of filler fronted by the keyboard player (while a busted guitar string was replaced) turned into a great treat: early Bostonian folkie/blues revivalist Ric Von Schmidt’s Baby Let Me Follow You Down (fist covered on Bob Dylan’s 1962 self-titled debut LP). In all, it was a fine show of bands with different styles that added up to a big plus for Sprockets, a venue (once more!) raised from the dead. the CHICKENHAWKS, the PHASE, TNA 3/30/02 @ Sprockets Bassless, the TNA trio swung into action more raw than ever (but look for ex-Hopefuls bass player Melissa next gig) with some new songs and new-to-us but old tunes from the Midnight Penny/ Amy X-Rated repertoire. I got to preview these at a practice a couple of weeks previous in the Nursery’s basement. This basement has seen plenty of band action over the past decade as evidenced by graffiti remaining from the days when the likes of Blind Nine, Word Salad or Scared of Chaka lived/partied/ recorded in this illustrious punk house. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the junk laying around-- empties, busted guitar strings, butts, dried vomit-- were remnants of those days. Tonight’s TNA set reminded me more than ever of the Red Aunts, maybe around the 1993 Drag LP: vicious, sexed-up and barn-burning. At the risk of turning into an All Phase All the Time zine I’ll keep it short: the sound keeps gettin’ tougher and Zac sounds more like Billy Idol each show. The Chickenhawks flew into a frenzy from the get-go as usual and are some of the friendliest raunch-rockers around. We only caught a few songs out of the set as Colonel Aureliano was in from Boston and we zipped over to Burt’s for some surf action; however, the Surf Lords were covering Nancy Sinatra when we walked in, driving us back to Sprockets. We were too late for the rest of the ‘hawks’ set but on time to head over to the Nursery which saw yet another into-the-wee-hours debacle of booze, shit-talking and Amy X spitting blood. Just ‘cause the show’s over don’t mean the rockin’ stops… LUCY KAPLANSKY 4/4/02 @ The Paramount (Santa Fe) Quite a bit less twang than I expected, Kaplansky (ex-Cry Cry Cry) put on a fine show of acoustic balladry. Opening with George Jones' 50s busted-heart opus She Thinks I Still Care, things didn't get any upbeat from there. Although she had a good stage presence and sense of humor, Kaplansky was not as caustic as you'd expect a New York City gal to be. Just her voice and an acoustic guitar (it looed to be a Martin from my vantage point; always a good sign), the set was far from folk music. Your average listener will identify anything strum-y as such but true folk music is almost jounalistic with subjects ranging from the tyranny of the King (the British Isles) to the tyranny of the factory bosses (any Woody Guthrie tune); riding the range to riding the rails is more folk-like rather than the pure loser-in-love dities of Kaplansky's. I wasn't crazy about it but I enjoyed the set not least because I got to see the show & hang out with one of my old twang-fan buddies for the first time in years. MARIA COLBERT 4/6/02 South Valley Seed Day @ Cristo del Valle Presbyterian Church Quite comfortable in front of a crowd, Maria Colbert was a lone girl fiddling away in the mini-flea market atmosphere to only a handful of us who were paying any attention. I took her to be about 14 but afterwards when I asked, Colbert said that she was "almost eighteen" (in that way that kids do, wanting to be seen as older than their actual age). Turns out she's been sawing the bow since age four! It shows 'cause she sure knows her away around a fiddle tune, yessir. Of course she cites as an influence Alison Kraus (who was only about 21 the first time I saw her in 1986). Kraus kicks ass on the fiddle and is much responsible -- along with David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs -- for swaying the modern country music crowd back towards bluegrass. Like those two, however, Kraus has watered bluegrass down to appeal to the smooth-jazz Kenny G.-listening masses....which means that die-hard traditionalists like myself are tired of her anymore. Here's hoping that Maria Colbert doesn't soon tire of time-transcending traditional tunes & styles. The only question I have is as a bluegrass freak for almost thirty years: where were girls like Maria Colbert when I was in high school? the BRIEFS, the MINDY SET, the PHASE 4/14/02 @ Burt’s Jesus! this rag is turning into the Phase/Mindy Set Fan Club Newsletter. I swear if there were more watchable shows around here I’d cover them too… Tonight the Phase played a twenty-minute set in just under eight as if they’d just eaten a handful of dexatrims each. The mix was perfect, Felice’s bass without being overpowering like some mook blasting the ‘hood with his car audio system. The band is getting looser which accounts for some of the mistakes but looseness leaves room for all kinds of good lucky accidents to happen including increased confidence (which comes across even though they all make sure and tell me how much they sucked after each show. Sorry, guys, I refuse to hear that anymore, OK?) Finally, a Mindy Set set where I could distinctly hear the keyboards which range from high-end accents to cute popcorn blips and make a hell of a difference in the band’s overall sound. Since the Mindys are so good anyway, the addition of the keys (and since I could never hear the keyboards before I consider them a “new” addition) adds another dimension to their already ultra-multi-faceted sound. Its almost as if there’s one member each of a fuzzrock band, an alt.rock band, a britpop band, a pysch band and a new New-Wave band. The Mindys are one of the best things currently going around here. Although each member is doing just what they ought to do at any given moment, special attention goes to the guitar player whose continual “leads” (variations on a melody actually) bring to mind the very best of last decade’s Britpop (without being derivative mind you): utterly tasteful playing that accentuate the whole without grandstanding or jerking off. Ever hear the Seahorses or Coast or even the over-rated (but sill good) Oasis? Filter that brand of guitarwork through Neil Young in a pseudo-grunge framework and maybe you’ll have an idea of where I’m heading with this. The Mindy Set is also about the only current band I’ve heard that can nod to the emo thing and then go about their business independently-thankyouJesus! The last time I saw the Briefs was in Las Vegas during the trash n’ roll Shakedown and since signing to big bad Interscope, they don’t sound much different (no sell-out in other words) but have just too many roadies fucking with knobs before & during the set and attract many more moshpit boneheads from out of the woodwork. Speaking of anachronisms, the Briefs themselves dress like the bastard offspring (but with better haircuts) of Operation Ivy and Rancid (oops, almost the same band which makes it more incestuous than I first suspected!) but musically remind me more of a bad Rezillos copy than anything else (goofy but loveable Scotland punks circa 1975-78). Its sad that what passes for punk nowadays is the least imaginative pile of crap going, packaged neatly for inclusion on the 48th annual Warped Tour to sell shoes to the post-punk, post-skater, post-rave, post-indie, post-hip hop generations who haven’t (and considering the Warped line-ups it’s a wonderment they haven’t) yet given up on guitar pop altogether. The set was very by-the-numbers like some punk kit you could buy from Hot Topic or with your Visa card off MTV 2. This was all much more apparent after seeing the two opening bands mix things up rather than stick to formulaic claptrap. …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD 4/19/02 @ Launchpad More like knowing them by the trail of the Strokes, the White Stripes, the Hives… While not actually bad , …Trail of Dead certainly don’t live up to their hype (none of them ever do). I enjoyed them more about three years ago but that’s not an I’m-cooler-than-you-‘cause-I-saw-them-before thing but I just don’t hear anything new, outstanding or different. Guitar rock isn’t as dead as mainstream critics would have you believe but if this shit keeps up, someone ought to shoot it like a horse with a broken leg. Indie rock is on a slippery snow-covered downhill slope and at the bottom is a pile-up of downhill-racers crashing into an undistinguished twisted mass of arms, legs, skis, poles and corporate sponsorship patches. BELOW the SOUND, MR SPECTACULAR, BLUE BOTTLE FLIES, FUKROT 4/19/02 @ Launchpad Although “heavy” music is not my forte, this was a great night especially since three out of four bands were three-piece-- my favorite line-up because you can’t fuck around or hide behind the others in the band: you gotta be right there, right on the money or else everyone sounds like shit. Apparently, this show was promo-ed on 104.7-FM (“all Limp Bizkit, all the time”). I wish I’d tuned in if for no other reason than hear how “Fukrot” was mangled into “Fookrot”; y’know, with an umlaut (..) over the u. Makes ‘em sound like Scandinavian Black Metal… Every time I see “the boys” on stage (I mean a real stage and not some house show) they think they suck. They didn’t. Its just that onstage they can’t get the crowd feedback they’re used to that comes when you bleed, sweat and vomit along with your audience. In a valiant if no-brain attempt, one “dude” went up to them to request a “pit” then took off to get his beer and miss the last of the set. Bemused, bassist the Madcow announced the pit request (cracking everyone up including himself) but there were no takers. Maybe next time, dude ought to hang out a sign-up sheet rather than asking the band… The best thing about Fukrot is that although they’re serious about their music, they always seem quite amused to be playing at all. They’re just freaking happy and avoid that porn-guy-face that most heavy musicians affect to ensure you know how serious & important they are. All Fukrot makes (besides the best crusty hardcore in town) is jokes that no one but their usual “fans” get. Properly speaking their “fans” are mostly friends and everyone else involved in the local grind scene where crowd participation is as important as the band. Its appalling to me these days to watch entire audiences stand back eight-to-twelve feet from the stage. If there’s one thing that punk gave to dozens of musically-disparate bands, it’s that everything sounds and feels better (for bands and crowd alike) if ya get up close and bathe in the music. Although bathing in crusty blood, sweat & puke is not savory to everyone, the few of us right up front had a wonderful time. I liked Blue Bottle Flies better than the last time I heard them but not by leaps and bounds or anything. They were certainly solid and better practiced but what kept coming across to me was mid-period Kinks but from grunge-era Seattle with metallic influences. That’s not as bad as it sounds but not entirely complimentary either…of course ya can’t argue with the scene of lots of girls running up to the stage when the Bottle Flies started up… Mr Spectacular (ex-Fatso) were the surprise of the night for me. I’m one of the few people around who never cared much for Fatso’s (tongue-in-cheek) cock-rock but this stripped-down group has a nice sort of electro-blues base. It’s not readily apparent. Don’t get me wrong: Mr Spectacular is not a blues band by any stretch of the imagination, thank Christ. Let me explain: key here is the drummer who is also ex-Bovine. The best feature about rockabilly drummers is that they learn to make do with kits such as his: snare, floor tom, kick, high-hat & crash. Ya gotta be spot-on to make a spare set-up like that sound good and he did. His was a solid plain old rock n’ roll backbeat that to me made the band, setting the stage so to speak for the Motorhead (or what-have-you) leads and rumbling basslines. In other spectacular news, too-clean-cut-to-be-such-a-badass-guitar-player Christian is soon to be a badass papa. Shake his hand and wish he & wife Christie all the best next time ya see the band. This show was Below the Sound’s CD release gig, the CDs being driven down from Denver literally hours before the show. For reasons who-the-fuck-knows-why, they’re one of the least-known but better bands around the Dirt City. Chameleon-like, their sound is tweaked each time from CD to CD (this is the third including self-release promo). Word is the tracks they’re laying down now are different than what they’re playing to promote the release. All along they’ve been slow & deliberate but without being sludgy, stodgy or doom-crappy. So any change in tempo is like a thunderclap. Tonight they were faster than ever. The sound coming from the stage was leaning (only leaning mind you) more towards hardcore than their old gravel wail but cleaner, tighter and quite considered. The change is like easing from after-hours scotch on the rocks to the recreational spoon of blow before you head out for the night after a shower, shave and clean shirt right off the closet hanger. LISA LOEB 4/21/02 @ UNM Fiestas, Johnson Field Of course Lisa Loeb doesn't rock (as I heard a few people complain); that's not the point -- she never did. A short-lived phenom back when alternative-rock was a viable word, she plays strummy chickadee-rock with a crunchy guitar back-up band--except that her leads guy sounds (and looks) as if he'd spent lots of time with Dire Straits. His guitar-laying was dire indeed. She had a sweet & friendly stage presence and handled hecklers with ease, befitting her status now as a 31-year old veteran. The music was fun & breezy just what you'd expect from this early spring afternoon annual music fest; but as I say every year, it was better when keg beer was sold by the cup at this gig. C'mon; party-on-dude college kids stripping down to cop some rays (getting sun-burned as fuck in the process) chugging plastic cup after plastic cup of Miller on tap? How can you go wrong... Loeb dropped out of sight when the alt.rock sound shifted from grunge-crunch towards (c)rap metal. More disastrously, though, she got caught up in legal limbo during years of record company mergers that left lots of musicians (like Aimee Mann, the Stone Roses, etc) dropped from label rosters but still bound by contracts forbidding them from releasing new stuff. Although Loeb has a new release, she surprised me by playing all of her earliest hits ('94-95) but then again, she's sharp enough to realize that those tunes are the only ones anyone knows. And half of the crowd knew them well enough to sing along. they were mostly college frshment who would had to have been thirteen or fourteen when Loeb hit the big time. Wow. Things move fast these days. Nostalgic by age twenty... the SHINS, the FRUIT BATS 4/21/02 Launchpad As much as I enjoyed the Fruit Bats' set of vaguely twangcore vanguely slo-core goodness, there wasn't a lot of discernible difference between each of the tunes. I found myself wondering during the set if I'd missing applauding and the Bats had started a new one. As usual, I'd be happier if the gal in the band (keyboards and strummed mandolin) had sung a lot more than a few well-placed ooohs and la-la-la's. Next was a fun & sparkly Shins set, packed to the gills with cute little girlies of all ages swooning over the guys now that they're famous pop stars and cuter than any Backstreet Boy (even a confirmed hetero like myself can admit that). I was disappointed however in the fact that things are less punk around here than they used to be. I mean, I swear I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with the whole Shins/McDonald's commercial thing but a few years ago, drunken friends of the band would've been flinging french-fired potatoes and Happy Meal toys all over the stage (just picture what pandemonium would ensue if it were Scare of Chaka who had gotten the commercial deal!). I wish I'd been enough of a dick tothink of picking up an order of large fries before the show for that very purpose. All in good-natured fun, honest! if french-fry money will help pay for their time to cut another sonically beautiful disc like last year's Oh Inverted World, pass the ketchup! |
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| LOCAL CONTRIBUTOR |
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| The Honorable Mr Toilet just returned
from a trip to indie-mecca “ Portlandia OR...[and] was quite impressed, strange
enough…[by the] peaceful yet…underlying sickness or something sinister tucked
away”. Following is Ben Jyo-sama’s report. Mr Toilet Goes To Portland Submitted by Obenjyo So Sunday [March 10], fresh in town, little bloated from all-u-can-eat sushi ($13; cheap!) we go to a Oregon sports bar called Cal-Sports. Why? To see Alarm Clocks Isaac and his new outfit the Disasters. Opening for them is all-fem trio the Fisticuffs, obviously a new group but only Say My Name (Destiny’s Child cover) is memorable. The Disasters were better especially with ‘burque expatriate Chris Hutton on drums (rumored to be playing in three other bands); good but the name conjures up something else. They’re more New Wave meets country or lumberjack-folk meets New Wave. They played forever with two giant big screen TVs showing Lost In Space episodes. I drank lots of Cuervo. The owner is a short middle-eastern man who introduces the bands after their sets like Ed Sullivan but is incredibly enthusiastic. Cal Sports is like Jack’s but with gambling machines and a stage (actually the non-smoking area or somethin’). Isaac tells me that the Alarm Clocks are tryin’ to press some records…we’ll see… Afterwards I had a steak at the restaurant of a bar which is supposed to be one of the oldest r n’ r clubs on the west coast. The band was eh… I was more interested in hangin’ out with two full-on drag queens a couple of booths down. I was with a few ex-‘burque residents. From what I understand Portland don’t dig the Shins/ McD’s commercial. Seems like a total Albuquerque thing to do, move to another town, piss everyone off. Fuck yeah. Wed [March 13]: After visiting the conveyor belt sushi bar and stuffing on $2 maguro (tuna), we’s off to Chinatown and the Crystal Ballroom. The entryway was small and there was a short line and small hallways leading upstairs to a small room with framed flyers and posters of Ike & Tina, Grateful Dead and others. Weirdly enough John Waters did a Q & A there but opened by X-rated fem rapper Peaches. Then another flight opens up into the ballroom; as big as El Rey yet classy with chandelier above and bouncy wood floor beneath. Actually it’s two floors with a shock absorber sandwiched between. Feels like I’m gonna fall through to my death and if I live I shall be crushed by twenty tons of hipster & lesbian feeling. Oh anyway I’m here to see ex-Bikini Kill Kathleen Hanna’s new band Le Tigre and, opening for them, Chicks On Speed. The Chicks (from Germany) I thought were OK although CJ (ex- Drags) thought they were better than Le Tigre ( ‘burque people crawlin’ all over this town!). Anyone who didn’t know better probably couldn’t tell them apart: both had three girls, synthetic sounds, ridiculous outfits and big movie screens. Le Tigre did have a guitar, better outfits (sorta Star Trek /Crossing Guard) better stage presence, better songs, better visuals and better dance routines. Every Lady and Mr Lady was lovin’ it. I thought for sure the floor would give: everyone was losing their fucking minds. They are the best overtly political band since…Public Enemy but their message didn’t get in the way of enjoying yourself. On the way out I saw the chick from Sleater-Kinney, the one that looks like Caper the Ghost or Wendy the Good Witch (same thing). And to cap a very feminist night me and the ‘burque crew went to one of Portland’s numerous all-nude bars, ordered tequila and watched a girl strip to songs by Ladytron. ----Honorable Mr Toilet |
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| LOCAL RELEASES |
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BELOW THE SOUND more like a gunshot than a car wreck [CD 2002] Berserker Records 411 S. Implala Dr, Ft. Collins CO 80521 www. berserker records.com Crucial Blast Records PO BX 364, Hagerstown MD 21741 www. crucialblast.com Note: You haven't even heard them yet have you? Well--what the fuck are you waiting for? Just in time for a twelve-day mini-tour in May (or maybe this disc is the reason for it), Below the Sound continues to modify their style while, of course, layering it over the base they'd set down a couple' years ago. The lightest heavy music I've ever heard, this release won't fill you full of wank sludge like so many of the other leading b(r)ands. the EYELINERS Sealed With A Kiss [CD 2001] Panic Button/Lookout! Records Finally got around to picking this one up and except for the Ben Weasel guest vocals, I like it pretty well. Its nothing you wouldn’t already expect from the Eyeliners--more of the same oh-so- catchy poppunk found on 86% of every Lookout! Records release since dinosaurs (like label founder Larry Livermore) roamed the earth. The Lookout! style isn’t quite so fresh anymore especially with dicks like Blink 182 narrowing the sound even further. But this disc is fun if you’re in the right mood although it makes early Green Day (also Lookout! alumni) seem like Doom Rock in comparison. Many lyrics this style seem as deep as a 1962 Lesley Gore song. However the standout cut here is Too Good To Be True which sounds less like a teen’s diary entry than a (dare I say it? ) realization of maturity. It’s lyrically the best-written song of the Eyeliners repertoire, the melody, tempo and changes matching the words perfectly. I’ve ragged on the Eyeliners in the past because as good as they do the poppunk thing, I’ve always dug their earliest raw shit the best. This song is making me listen a little closer again instead of being a rocknroll snob. CHUCK JURICH SL III [CD-R 2002] http://home.earthlink.net/~sparknslaw/albumtoc.htm Chuck says this is all the stuff that his proper band Icelandic would have nothing to do with, assembled in one long-ass heart-lightening but not unserious honme-burned disc with a spiffy web site to match (which offers a look at all eight-hundred and twelve different projects he's worked on around the 'burque over the years). This is the CD that will be sought-after when Mr Jurich either makes it big in the biz ("the early years of bitter struffle!") or kicks the bucket in some recording studio mishap. Get yours now and beat the crowd! MISTLETOE sorry its been so long [CD 2000] June Records 5606 California St., San Francisco CA 94121 Recorded in 2000, 1999 and 1998?! I had no idea "those Mistletoe dudes" were even a twinkle in their indie-daddy's eye, so to speak, as far back as '98. This CD to me represents the kinder, gentler Mistletoe...which is to say it barely represents what they're doin' now (louder, faster, crunchier). Still, this is Mistletoe For Beginners. For a recording of their beginnings, it's not bad at all. (hey how 'bout that? I didn't even say emo once!) |
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|
Wig Wam Bam (by Captain America PO BX 4865 Albq NM 87196 captainamerica1941@hotmail.com) |
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| Wig
Wam Bam is written by Captain
America | po box 4865 | albuquerque, nm 87196 |
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