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Issue # 46 Feb 2003 thewigwambam.com |
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| Ignoring Objectivity Since 1998
WIG WAM BAM “Albuquerque zine of music & nepotism” Letters Dept.
I can’t believe my home-boy Lincoln actually took a copy of this zine to freakin’ Europe with him! Makes me shudder to think what else he thought was essential to pack. -- editor |
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| The Sweatband, Coke is Better with Bourbon,
Leap, TNA, Falling Process, Asymptotes, Mistletoe, Love Overdose, the Platitudes,
One if by Land, the Electric Hobo, Dirty Novels, Spillway, the Alarm Clocks,
the Telephones |
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23 Silver Stars [CD-R 2003] The Platitudes Saphist [CD 2003] GoMotorCar True Tonight [CD 2003] One If By Land Wag Yr. Tail For…[CD-R 2003] the Alarm Clocks/ the Witnesses [split 12” 2002 ] |
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Las Cruces, NM |
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| LOCAL
SHOWS |
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| the Sweatband 12/31/02 @ house show This show was a half-hour short of being the first of ’03, the Sweats stopping early to go make out at midnight instead. Their debut (opening for the Epoxies last month) was a little sloppy but the real culprit there was teeny equipment and inadequate mix. Tonight was just as good as we knew they could/would be. The small sound system was fine in this cramped space packed full of drunken carousers--some punk things just work better in such surroundings. The vocals were just shy of adequately miked but what I heard from Isaac and Juliet was commendable. Zed’s bass was strong and solid, out front right where it oughtta be and I could hear more of Ryan’s drums than only the snare & kick last time. At the keyboards, Mr Blue sounded a bit out of kilter…or maybe that was just me. Speaking of me, I was deeply impressed by photog Jasmine introducing herself and being sweet & lovely even after I’d been quite rude to her in these pages last month. I hope that when I grow up I can be as gracious as she. Coke Is Better With Bourbon, Leap, TnA 1/4/03 @ Golden West I don’t care what you say: the Golden West is still my favorite room for shows; its a shame the sound system is so atrocious -- or more to the point-- mostly non-existent. This was TNA’s first ever gig here (huzzah!) but Penny, you’re full of shite. Hours before the show, the illustrious Midnight Penny told me that TNA’s set would suck because of her flu/sore throat. Wrong! Her high notes were a little lower and maybe the low notes a little lower but I had no (never have) complaints about TNA’s raw & Red-Aunts-inspired tuneage. Except maybe that this set is to be drummer Mikey D.’s last. He’s moving on, as they say, to “other projects”, one of which may include dealing with that new unruly mop o’ hair after years of bein’ a kickass skin’. We spent the total of Leap’s set hanging in the way-back, mostly watching Mikey and singer Amy X-Rated slap each other around. Melissa was the only TNAer with smarts enough to stay out of the mayhem but the rest of us had stupid fun hassling citizens on their way to the restroom. Kids will be kids… I’d never heard Leap before but word had it that they’re Christian rockers (as in “Leap of Faith”?). I didn’t confirm the rumor but they do have that mid-90s “alternative rock” sound that lives on only among Jesus rockers. Don’t believe me: tune your teevee to 81 for the local rockin’-for-the-Lord all music video station TVU where the style (if not the message) of “classic” Corgan, Cornell and Billie Joe lives on. I didn’t actually hear any lyrics about Jeesus from the Leap boys (how could I over the sound of the Suarez/Day slap-fest) but the band must practice a bunch ‘cause they were tight and Green-Day-catchy. Regarding practice, Coke Is Better With Bourbon also were on the ball, much moreso than the last time I heard them about a year ago. Moshing broke out instantaneously and being of the pacific sort, I lasted a few songs into the set before heading out into the night. Too, downing that last coke & bourbon that “Cannonball” Laura Jean bought me (thanks sweetie!) put me in mind of a nice warm bed. And hell yes, coke is better with bourbon. the Falling Process, Asymptotes 12/14/03 @ Smooch’s We was just mindin’ our own bizness, me and the Colonel, when I spied a flyer for Abandon All Hope on the phone pole. Since they boast my favorite hardcore drummer (hi Eben!), I figured we better note the date and damned if it isn’t happening right now, just a block from where we are. Wow. Flyering really works. How about that. After a slight wait (of course it wasn’t on time; no one ever is), first up is the Asymptote, a name I can barely spell let alone pronounce. It makes a band name like “Fukrot” sound like butter in comparison. Anyway they had an interesting stew going on. The first few tunes had some free-jazzy stuff going on, segueing into more hard & heavy riffs. The complete package didn’t quite work for me but then again, I’ve never been an aficionado of the harder stuff. Up next were the Falling Process who I enjoyed at first but veered off into what I call nu-punk. Ummm, I’m trying not to use the dreaded “e” word ‘cause all it does is piss off everyone involved it sounded like that to me. Heavier maybe than your normal e-- band but still as many stops, starts, tempo changes, etc. They were tight as fuck however which is almost a back-handed compliment these days, like: “Hey, how’d you like the band?” “Well, uh, they were tight…” Anyway, it was good to finally catch a show at Smooch’s (ugh! What a name! Asymptote’s would be more pleasant than that). Word is that the crew at Underground Nation next door (hip hop/techno record shop) are connected with this place somehow other than sharing a wall. That would explain the hip hop vids on the wide-screen inbetween sets. This music was a nice palate-cleanser but it was odd to watch punk bands and then see typical hip-hop-ho videos. You know the ones I mean: superego rappers surrounded by skinny slinky fly girls who look as if they’re having an orgasm by just being in dude’s presence. Ugh. The turntables an’ shit set up in the back appeared to be some fine equipment. I’m hoping to get it together to hear some of the live beats or scratch sets there soon. Which brings up another topic: the record shop. I’ve really been meaning to drop in but am intimidated by my own ignorance. I mean, my knowledge of hip hop has a huge gap between Public Enemy and Eminem. And what I know of techno/house/drum and bass/trance would fit inside a turntable’s needle with room to spare. Mistletoe, Love Overdose, the Platitudes, One If By Land 1/17/03 @ Launchpad Santa Fe’s One If By Land opened with a rockin’ nu-punk set, well-played. The angular stop/start/change-direction stuff loses me though, like when I misplace the roadmap under fast-food trash on the floor while driving through a new city. As I see that bands of this type where all the guys on stage appear to be rocking out to a different beat or rhythm, it makes me realize that its not just me: this stuff goes in all directions at once. If done well, its cohesive, if not its more jarring to me than, say, nutty stuff like the Meatmen or the Screamers. One If By Land had it together tonight but the Platitudes were what got me out of the house. This was my fave set of the night, upbeat and bright with accessible melody not buried under aspiring instrumentation. An extra treat was an obscure Beatles cover And Your Bird Can Sing from the butchered 1966 U.S. release Yesterday and Today. I pegged this song within seconds of Erik kicking it off. Its easily the most recognizable opening riff of any Beatles song, alongside Ringo’s staccato drum roll that introduces 1964’s She Loves You. It tosses you into the melody straight away and the Platitudes did a fine un-slavish rendition. The place was packed for Love Overdose who I’d never seen or heard before. I had the impression they were one of those Heights bands who occasionally made it as far west as Sonny’s or something. The pace was awfully slow overall and the lead singer’s performance was awfully affected but the crowd loved it, that is, their following that took off when Love OD finished. At first they seemed promising with a sound that Andrea Alarm Clock called “early Peechees without the charisma”. What more can I add to that? This was my favorite Mistletoe set ever. Either I’ve cleaned the shit out of my ears or these guys are sticking more to the melody than I previously thought. The first half of the set in particular was fine guitar-pop, miles away from what I’d call their “emo moments”. In the sole fashion-related note of the night, Jav’s hair had him looking like the hero on the old mid-60s Saturday morning HR Pufnstuf show. I recall that kid had some sort of magic flute but any inferences are at your own risk…. the Electric Hobo, the Sweatband, the Dirty Novels, Spillway 1/20/03 @ the Nursery Another great show at the Nursery, the house with a venerable punk rock/art student history. For instance, Scared of Chaka, Blind 9, and Word Salad have at one time either lived, recorded or puked within its walls as well as more recent outfits like the Ladykillers, TNA or Cowboy Up and of course the they-play-so-infrequently-they still-seem-like-new Alarm Clocks. Favorably, the boys in blue didn’t show up here tonight like the time last year they rudely put a stop to a very decent Mindy Set outing. The only potential trouble tonight was that shady scooter-gang roaring up to the house in a cloud of dust. These hooligans have been known to bust up parties and a few heads just as your regular biker trash do. Needless to say, we all gave them wide berth, being the outlaws/ bad element they are… Spillway was up first with their premiere set after only a few practices in. An intra-state with Albuquerque and Satan Fe members, Spillway features I-wish-he-was-my-schoolteacher Chuck Jurich, globetrotter Aubrey Sandoval and everybody’s drummer even though he’s extra fine on guitar Jeffrey Richards. Between the three of them, I can think of over a dozen bands they’ve been in at one time or another, spanning every genre except metal/hardcore: not a bad pedigree. Although not with direct comparison, I was reminded of the esteemed boy/girl stylings of Superchunk and a little of a mostly unknown one-off 90s band Spell. Not without a few warts (a first gig is always a first gig), it was a fun set. The Dirty Novels sound as if they practice and re-work songs continually. Maybe its because they do. The Nursery space was tight and crowded as usual tonight but that didn’t keep me from dancing. There’s no way I can stand still for this kind of modified rocknroll-before-things-got-psychedelic band. I wouldn’t say they’re perfect but they are perfectionists and will be busy gigging around here as much as they care to. Paul & Ernie’s sartorial elegance too is unsurpassed. With much the same starting point as the Novels but taking it somewhere else entirely and adding keyboards, the Sweatband kept things hopping but with a looser dynamic. Although on the schedule for this show right from the start, things were somewhat last-minute, what with Zac just barely back from an amorous trip to Mexico dodging banditos during a twenty-four hour drive ( de veras!). Also with just minutes to spare, Juliet did Isaac’s make-up by the light of a rear-view mirror as a few of us spied from the porch. Shit, where’s that telephoto lens when you need it? Some rumor that the Telephones were playing next was unfounded but to all’s delight the Electric Hobo ended the musical portion of the festivities with his one-man/one-guitar/one-drumstick and two-foot (kick bass and high hat) approach; more fun than a barrel of escaped lab monkeys. Since the Frontier is right around the corner, a bunch of us usual suspects ended up eating greasy food when it tastes best: well after midnight and more than a few libations. the Alarm Clocks, the Dirty Novels, the Telephones 1/24/03 @ Burt’s If 1984 had actually happened in 1984, the Alarm Clocks would have been the house band on American Bandstand. And after five or six years, its about damn time (he said lovingly) that Isaac and Andrea laid down some Alarm Clock tracks on something other than demo tapes or soundboard CDs. The mix wasn’t as clear as it could have been tonight but the groovy nuevo wave-o/punk/dance-pop fun, fun, fun message was there in spite of ‘drea inadvertently treading on Isaac’s pedals and even (gasp) his fallen spare guitar. You gotta watch out for that woman… Everyone in the packed house was in a good mood tonight but no one more than me because I was having a blast shaking it up for the sweet Clocks set as well as the sixth Dirty Novels outing --during which Paul quietly let it rip more than previously on forceful yet unobtrusive leads. The opening Telephones tore out some noisy shit with their new drummer (ex-Panjea?!). I was uncharacteristically sitting in a booth during their set. Soni & Rudi, after all, had valiantly saved me a seat while valiantly drinking since eight o’clock. Regular guitar heroes, them two. |
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| LOCAL
(and not-so local) RELEASES |
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Clocklife 23 Silver Stars [CD-R 2003] contact @ clocklife.com I hope he pardons me but when I first met Rudi, I thought he was one o’ those emo boys (must be the glasses) but I’ve since come to know better and this disc obliterates any trace of ever thinking that at all. Although a spare sound, this is a fine collection of 1’s and 0’s: nice progressions, samples, clicks and subdued basslines. It starts a little slow for programmed music but stealthily becomes full but calmly uptempo while never losing sight of taste, prudence and restraint.. Agreeable and unassuming, this is a quiet little gem. The Platitudes Saphist [CD 2003] Platypus Records www.platitudes.topcities.com As much as I enjoy the Platitudes, this disc is on the whole slower and rather same-paced. I’d prefer the tempo picked up a bit but it remains solid indie-rock of the sort that you’d find on old Merge releases and maybe a less poppy Fastbacks-- or maybe I was reminded of them by Allen’s Fastbacks tee shirt at their last gig (if you don’t know who the Fastbacks are, you’re not up on your indie history. And most of you aren’t). Live, the Platitudes come off poppier and more melodious which is always a plus in my book and a welcomed change from the emo and metal sameness of indie music these days, he said feeling dated and old. GoMotorCar True Tonight [CD 2003] Socyermom Records www.socyermom.com www.gomotorcar.com Another departure for this always approach-changing band, beautifully swirly and sweeping like early British shoegaze meets American post-indie rock. Its really nice for a change to hear tasteful and expansive keyboard work that’s not synth-pop or ? and the Mysterians homage. I haven’t seen a GMC show for awhile but I sure hope they can repro this sound live. One If By Land Wag Yr. Tail For…[CD-R 2003] www.vanilla secret.com As usual, I’m inclined to enjoy the clashing nu-punk sound much more live than recorded. Extra punk points for the “custom” CD-R burned while-U-wait on this Santa Fe band’s merch table laptop. the Alarm Clocks/ the Witnesses [split 12” 2002 ] Brains On Fire Records; NY, NY Finally finally finally a companion to the four-song Alarm Clocks demo that Andrea gave me back in ‘97 or something. I hardly recognized the band at first, what with the synth turned way down (too far down if you ask me).The first cut Boomtown Rage is a barn-burner that I’ve already committed to tape so I can play it in my truck’s cassette and be just as distracted as all those cell-phone drivers out there. At least I’m rockin’ out. Cut two, Don’t Lose Track of Your Heart, is a good follow-up and cut three--wait! there are no other songs! Oh the pain! I’m tempted to call this outfit lazy but when your personnel is split between Chicago, New York and Albuquerque (those three great centers of rockn’roll…ahem..), its gotta be tough to play at all. Oh I guess I’ll have to cut them some slack but--fuck! I’ve waited five years for two itty-bitty songs? Agony! New York’s the Witnesses feature ex-Rondelle, ex-New Mexican Oakley “afro-pick” Munson with more rockn’roll goodness. Sorry to hear I missed the November Rolling Stone fashion lay-out of these kids. I hope it helps sell a lot more of these records and everybody clamors for the layabout Alarm Clocks to record more shit!!! Peering at the nude-body lettering cover photography by NM resident Jess, I was trying to figure out which ass belongs to whom but I don’t believe I know all of these folks. But I do know how they each look naked. Not bad. |
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| KRUX, 91.5 FM Las Cruces, NM (505) 646-5667 Bet you didn’t think there was a worthwhile radio station in our entire state did you? Neither did I until I happened upon this modest NMSU student station. New Mexico State University is well known as the ag school (Cowtown U in other words) but as I’m finding more and more, the Cruces kids have a lively punk rock scene that crosses over with El Paso’s (a mere hour away). Not having the number of resources like (cough, cough) metropolitan Albuquerque, Cruces doesn’t have time to fuck around (of course, there’s boneheads everyplace as evidenced by the loudmouth beer-bottle-breakin’ mofos who managed to shut down the Dirt Records in-store show series. Bleedin’ wankers!) Unlike ‘burque’s purported “student” station KUNM (NPR wannabees that pander to the deep pockets of far-right-liberal listener/ supporters who favor classical music and innocuous jazz), KRUX has a wide indie palette. Dirt Records owner Adam G hosts a doom/stoner hour, another guy has a crust & hardcore program and best of all, a couple of sisters--bless their hearts-- pull a local music show. I’ve caught a few long stretches of daytime airplay, the first by a gal name of Groovy Selby. In a self-admitted quiet mood she spun Elliot Smith, the Shins, Sleep Station, Starflyer 59, Wilco, the Moldy Peaches and Bright Eyes (she also threw in Ben Folds Five, Phish and the White Stripes but don’t hold that against her). Making a girl band geek like me happy, I heard another recent set of Veruca Salt, Throwing Muses, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Donnas, Cat Power, the Breeders and Bjork --all before eleven in the morning! Add to this OK stuff like the Hives, International Noise Conspiracy, Anti-Flag, Hot Hot Heat, Ben Harper and some live ‘Pumpkins. When was the last time you heard this shit coming out of your radio? Not in NM, that’s for sure! Sadly, they’re kinda low-power. Tuned in from my truck, the signal cut out at 27 miles this side of Cruces. Incidentally, this was just at la Migra’s border checkpoint who keep unauthorized migrant mujados and, it seemed, good taste on the airwaves out of the rest of New Mexico. |
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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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