CHOP SUEY'S ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY W/METRO AREA, THE DIVORCE, HINT HINT, DJ SUSPENCE, DJ SCENE, DJ DV-ONE
(Chop Suey) In the year since they opened, Chop Suey has become a Capitol Hill stronghold for underground hiphop and electronic music. But in celebration of its first birthday, the club is fusing the electronic and the rock (in the case of Hint Hint, within one band), showcasing local talent from both behind the turntables and behind the guitar. JENNIFER MAERZ
The Soundtrack of our Lives, Ceasars, Palo Alto
(Graceland) If it weren't for the band the Music, the Soundtrack of Our Lives might win the title for most pompous rock band name of the past five years. There's a big difference between the two, though--whereas the Music are actually a terrible kind of post-rave Spin Doctors, Sweden's Soundtrack of Our Lives pound out a more convincing blend of rock revisionism. Nothing streamlined here--instead, waves of heady riffs are textured by layered harmonies and the smell of incense. It's likely that they listen more to the Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Moody Blues than to the Sonics or the Stooges. They want to be as big and as epic as you might surmise, and sometimes they actually succeed. Sure, they've listened to Syd-era Floyd and the Who's "Disguises" more than most people ought to--but the Soundtrack of Our Lives have got some songs behind them. The singer rocks a pretty sweet mustache, too. Jon Pruett
FRIDAY 4/11
MEME CONCERT SERIES #8: BILL HORIST, MARCO FERNANDES, THE BLOW, SUPER UNITY
(CoCA) See preview, page 39.
ALL NATURAL, BLAK, E-REAL, DJ SAYEED, GUESTS
(Vera Project) See The Truth, page 46.
SILENT LAMBS PROJECT
(Royal Esquire Club) Formed shortly after rappers Jace and Blak met at a show at the Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center in the early '90s, the Silent Lambs Project have released one full-length CD, the sprawling and surreal Soul Liquor; one EP (the radical Comrade on K Records); and several contributions to compilations (such as 1998's Classic Elements, also on K Records, a definitive collection of the tones, tempo, and themes that define the region's hiphop). The bad thing is that the talented duo have yet to receive the full appreciation (if not worship) they deserve; the good thing is that this has not stopped them from producing more excellent hiphop. Street Talkin... Survival, completed at the end of last year, is set to be released at the end of May, and Blak's solo effort, Slow Burn, is set to be released in the summer. CHARLES MUDEDE
THE DELGADOS, AEREOGRAMME
(Crocodile) A decade ago, London was still secure in its status as Britain's biggest producer of rock bands--but there's something to be said for Glasgow's steady output of woolly angst and sparkling pop. Over the years, the Pastels, Belle and Sebastian, Adventures in Stereo, and Urusei Yatsura--and, of course, Teenage Fanclub and the Jesus and Mary Chain--have remained Sunday-morning mainstays at my house, and bands such as Mogwai and the Delgados have become vital in times of frustration and discouragement. Aereogramme sound like all of those bands packed into one--their sonic bluster is substantiated by buzzing guitars, twinkling pop (and its more aggressive siblings, noise and power), chiming orchestration, and vocals that rush forth or back off in beautifully written songs. Been a while since an album made you shout and weep at the same time? Aereogramme's Sleep and Release will surely open the dam--and tonight's show, with the Delgados headlining, just might be the best you've ever seen. KATHLEEN WILSON Also see preview, page 35.
THE AISLERS SET, HELLA, THE QUAILS
(Graceland, late) Hella should strike fear in any band that has the misfortune of following them. Their jaw-dropping mix of math rock and metal is like an unexpected kick to the back of the melon--and like happy masochists, the audience is left wishing Hella's too-short sets would go on and on. Not that the Aislers Set isn't good--they're just different, and at an unfair disadvantage given the lead-in. KATHLEEN WILSON
THE MIDNIGHT EVILS, THE FIREBALLS OF FREEDOM
(The Comet) Saint Cloud, Minnesota's Midnight Evils are a good group to line up on the bar floor, light the spark, and watch explode. When they played Industrial Coffee last year, they were a pit of filth and fury lined with the history of the Stooges, all blackened-and-bruised-sounding and thrusting themselves into the frontline of their fans. The Evils' new Estrus record, Straight 'Til Morning, was produced by Tim Kerr and sounds like more of the same--which is definitely more of a good thing. They speed past punk/metal gateposts on their way to the big guitar grease fire, flames shooting and vocals hollering and all the extras you'd want to hear bouncing off the Comet's walls on a Friday night. JENNIFER MAERZ
RAEKWON
(Northgate Music Theater) It is impossible to praise Raekwon's 1995 debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, enough. It stands at the top of all that the Wu-Tang Clan has produced, and is one of the best records of its decade, coming somewhere just below Tricky's Maxinquaye and just above Modest Mouse's The Lonesome Crowded West. This is the only reason one should see Raekwon: He made--along with the assistance of RZA, who was at his peak at the time--"something like a phenomenon." He and RZA didn't produce songs as much as they produced fevers: the manic-machine delirium of "Criminology," the porn delirium of "Ice Cream," the Mafia delirium of "Incarcerated Scarfaces." I sometimes wonder if that febrile period of hiphop ("I'm so high, he is so high") was but a dream within a dream within a dream. CHARLES MUDEDE
FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS, DAVID LOVERING
(Showbox) When Frank Black took offense at something I wrote about one of his solo albums and demanded I be removed from the Showbox's house list (get in line!)--or dragged to the band room for a tongue-lashing, were I to show up anyway--I cried "Unfair!" Only a year earlier I had written a lengthy show preview imploring Pixies fans to quit holding Black's post-Pixies output up to his work as Black Francis because the two were simply different beasts. After he'd released several projects as Frank Black (both alone and with the Catholics), I thought it was okay to hold Black up to Black--but NOOOOOOO! When I think about it now, I realize his hissy fit was exactly what I would have wanted from the man I came to love as part of the Pixies--and have come to respect as Frank Black, a prolific songwriter whose country-flavored 2002 releases Devil's Workshop and Black Letter Days are two of his records I call my favorites. KATHLEEN WILSON
SATURDAY 4/12
THE NOVEMBER GROUP, DEADSURE, FREE VERSE, CEPHIED
(Old Fire House) See Underage, page 47.
THE RAVEONETTES, LONGWAVE, THE TURN-ONS
(Crocodile) While I don't buy into the theory that the current crop of buzz bands has reinvented rock 'n' roll, I do believe this--the Raveonettes are doing a brilliant job of recycling all the best (and most fun) parts. The band's debut mini-album, Whip It On, conjures up visions of the Cramps and the Jesus and Mary Chain; it's the kind of glamorous, trashy, distorted, dangerous pop that'll put a snarl on your face, a swagger in your step, and a permanent imprint on your brain. Listening to the Raveonettes makes me want to cut class, smoke cigarettes, and hang out with guys who look like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. Better yet, I want to join the Raveonettes in "Beat City"--"I wanna hang with girls and shoot my gun, wanna catch the rays of the sun, wanna drink and drive and have some fun." Count me in! Barbara Mitchell Also see preview, page 37.
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, THE SPITS, A-FRAMES
(Showbox, late) As has been mentioned before in this here paper as well as in other publications nationwide, Seattle bands are currently leaving their mark in almost every genre, making this an exciting time to watch talented local favorites of all varieties get the national hype they deserve. The Spits and A-Frames are two local punk bands getting their due across the country--and tonight on the Showbox's big stage. After getting handpicked by Rocket from the Crypt's John Reis to tour with his band, the Spits are now doing their victory lap home, having also landed the headlining slot at Chicago's Blackout in May (and, according to Detroit's Paybacks, rocking the Motor City, which fell in love with the band). Keyboards, costumes, and clipped, snotty anthems--the Spits have all that and an extra reserve of attitude beefing up their energetic act. And the excellent A-Frames, who also play Chicago's Blackout, are releasing a new LP in May, which I can't wait to hear if it's anything like their last record of low-vibrating, stark punk intensity. JENNIFER MAERZ
SUNDAY 4/13
DAVID GRUBBS, CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS, LAMPLIGHTER
(Crocodile) This should be an evening of experimental, avant-gardy music that a pop punter can enter and enjoy. Grubbs, of course, is one of the framers of the Louisville-Chicago chapter of indie rock's constitution (with membership in Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol). His recent solo works--such as The Coxcomb, The Spectrum Between, Rickets and Scurvy, and presumably Act Five, Scene One--exemplify the seeming contradictions of experimental music that are also melodic and pleasing. While in town, Grubbs will also be presenting a paper entitled "Archival Recordings and Neo-Avant Gardes" at the EMP Pop Conference. SEAN NELSON
WILL HOGE, DEATH RAY DAVIES, POSEUR
(Graceland) Poseur have been relatively quiet given their bold start in 2001. The fashionably unfashionable trio's strident mix of beats, keyboards, and plaintive vocals caught the attention of bored listeners who were aching to hear something new, while some just found a new reason for their ears to ache. Either way, it's undeniable that Poseur write songs that stick in your head for days, and their earnest charm is equally winning. KATHLEEN WILSON
MONDAY 4/14
Tag, you're it.
TUESDAY 4/15
THE NOTWIST, STYROFOAM, GUESTS
(Chop Suey) See preview, page 43.
PIGFACE, MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT, ZEROMANCER, BILE
(Catwalk) The lurching rock 'n' roll Frankenstein known as Pigface has claimed nearly 200 members over the past 12 years, but most configurations have involved various industrial music iconoclasts (from Ministry, KMFDM, and Skinny Puppy, to name a few) casually organized by former PiL/Killing Joke drummer Martin Atkins. The resulting chaos made Pigface one of the more unpredictable and anticipated rock spectacles on tour. But time has softened Atkins' once indomitable anarchist ways. He's recruited younger and somewhat disciplined musical talent like Edsel Dope and Kittie's Fallon Bowman to record Pigface's new album, Easy Listening..., which features some of the most diverse and accessible pop songs the project has ever produced. And while the current cast actually rehearses together, that shouldn't take all the insanity out of the show. After all, Krztoff, lead singer of the bizarre shock rock troupe Bile, is joining Pigface on stage. DAVID SLATTON
BON JOVI, GOO GOO DOLLS
(KeyArena) Every time I say it, I get the same response: "WHAT?! YUCK!!" So let me qualify the comment once and for all. I think Jon Bon Jovi is hot. (Check him out in Moonlight and Valentino, where he puts new mileage on the ever-popular "hot painter guy and the home-owning woman" fantasy.) HOWEVER, even though I used to like it when my now ex-boyfriend Rich Savignano would sing "Wanted Dead or Alive" (being sure to emphasize the full four syllables of the word "wanted"), saying Jon Bon Jovi is hot is not the same thing as saying Bon Jovi the band is hot. It should be noted that Jon Bon Jovi must think he's hot, too, because lead singer John Rzeznik of tourmates the Goo Goo Dolls is his spitting image. And speaking of Goo Goo Dolls, who knew what schmaltz lay ahead when Superstar Car Wash and Jed came out a decade ago? KATHLEEN WILSON
THE FAINT, LES SAVY FAV, SCHNEIDER TM
(Showbox) The Faint take me back to high school, when going out dancing was all about pretending you were far, far away from dull club-life reality. All it took were strobe lights, black clothing, and strawberry-scented fog with some Front 242 or Meat Beat Manifesto mixed in and we were all on a musical catwalk, strutting to an invisible audience and drunk on Everclear and Kool-Aid. The Faint perfectly recapture that electric atmosphere without sounding like a rehash of the early '90s. By marrying pop/art with industrial dance, their 2001 album, Danse Macabre, was synthesized perfection, but their live shows (entombed in fog, strobe lights, and, more recently, video) are the true escape. Although they don't have anything new out yet (aside from a remix record on Astralwerks), the Faint are a sight to behold, whether or not you spent your teen years in all-ages clubs with names like Quest. JENNIFER MAERZ
JAY BENNETT & EDWARD BURCH, DOLLY VARDEN
(Tractor) It can't be easy for Jay Bennett to see the unswerving critical bend-over currently being visited on his former band, Wilco, particularly in the light of Bennett's exit from the band and subsequent villainization in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, the unbalanced documentary about the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But lest anyone doubt the depth and breadth of Bennett's acumen, check out the songwriting credits. And while you're at it, check out this show, which features Bennett's collaborator Edward Burch; last time they were in town, backed by members of the great Centro-Matic, the show drew raves. No reason to expect any different here. SEAN NELSON
WEDNESDAY 4/16
MATT POND PA, BITTER BITTER WEEKS, LEFTY'S DECEIVER, GRAIG MARKEL
(Graceland) As a singer and songwriter, Matt Pond PA (the PA is short for Pennsylvania) is a forceful talent, even if the songs played by his six-piece band are often gently loping in their exquisite geography. You'll hear strings, keyboards, and horns--along with guitars and drums--roll and jump through the understated lushness of Pond's four daydream-inducing albums. ("Promise the Bite" off The Green Fury is all the convincing you'll need to become a fan.) KATHLEEN WILSON
KELLY OSBOURNE, HAR MAR SUPERSTAR
(Showbox) While Kelly Osbourne is a talentless hack desperately grappling for attention before her 15 minutes clock out, Har Mar Superstar is a real entertainer. On CD, the Minneapolis native (who has written songs for Osbourne) sounds like a schlocky, pasty Prince, making a parody/novelty out of baby-oiled R&B come-ons that sound underwhelming until you witness them in the flesh. Live, Har Mar (AKA Sean Tillman of Sean Na Na) is a one-man spectacle, stripping down to his skivvies, bouncing his little paunch around the stage and into the crowd, and forcing even the most glum of his audience members to remember how much fun it is to actually dance to a beat instead of over-intellectualizing it. JENNIFER MAERZ
