DONNER PARTY OF FOUR, THE SHACKLES, ROCKIN' ROD & THE STRYCHNINES, DJ KEN DIRTNAP, GUESTS
(Fun House) They only have a demo out, but there's nothing skimpy about the Shackles' sound. The band is mostly a two-piece that at times expands to include other instrumentalists (I heard that recently they had a saxophonist join them on stage), and they coat the blues with generous punk grime, making catchy little tunes in the meantime. They'll be a good combo with Donner Party of Four, who strip surf and garage back to their rock 'n' roll skeletons, making primal music at its best. JENNIFER MAERZ
DJ CHERRY CANOE
(Lava Lounge) One particularly torturous family vacation that my parents had so hopefully put together years ago included not only boats, but bunk beds--two lakeside constants I despise to this very day. I had nothing to do during those awful weeks but fling myself into my dusty bed and re-read gossip magazines while memorizing the lighted beer sign hung on the wall. So imagine the satisfaction I feel hundreds of years later now that I have a friend, Kerri Harrop (AKA DJ Cherry Canoe), whose official signature is followed by the no-less-illuminated phrase "...it's the champagne of beers..." whenever she sends an e-mail. As far as DJs go, I'm pretty sure no other in Seattle brings old friends together in such a celebratory manner: She's the good old-fashioned kind that plays your favorite songs and always manages to throw in plenty of "good ones" you haven't thought of in far too long. And that's what tonight's all about anyway. KATHLEEN WILSON
FRIDAY 1/2
THE GREEN PAJAMAS (RECORD RELEASE), SIX SELECT, DJ GORT
(Sunset Tavern) See preview, page 26.
BO DIDDLEY, MUDHONEY
(Showbox) See Stranger Suggests, page 15.
DISCO D, PHIL ANTHONY, DJ KEMEL
(Club Medusa) See Stranger Suggests, page 15.
THE BLACK HALOS, THE JET CITY FIX, THE IOTOLAS
(Crocodile) Down but not out for the count, Vancouver, BC's Black Halos are still at it after losing/rearranging their lineup. Frontman Billy Hopeless still gives off an image that lives up to his moniker, playing up the act of unfulfilled drama king on stage. I saw the Halos at the Crocodile over the summer and they'd shifted their sound slightly away from pop hooks to something a little faster and harder, but for me, there's always a place for "Some Things Never Fall," that killer track off the 2001 Sub Pop album The Violent Years. JENNIFER MAERZ
SATURDAY 1/3
THE DIPERS, COACHWHIPS, TRACTOR SEX FATALITY
(Fun House) See preview, page 24, and Live Wire, page 27.
KEXP'S EXPANSIONS W/DJ RIZ
(Liquid Lounge at EMP) In my opinion, despite his numerous successes and his local celebrity, Riz Rollins is still underappreciated. He's a writer, theologian, DJ, and public intellectual, and his show on KEXP, Expansions, has been running ever since electronica emerged in a big way in the U.S. in the mid-'90s. Rollins' mixes are gorgeous, vaporous, and nocturnal. Indeed, it's not at all surprising that when director Robinson Devor decided to make the film Cascadia, one of his main inspirations was Rollins' set on Expansions. Like Devor's imagery, Rollins' sound has a beauty that seems natural, instinctive, and as encompassing as the epic breadth of Milton's Paradise Lost. CHARLES MUDEDE
BANDOPPLER BENEFIT W/RAFT OF DEAD MONKEYS, ROY, MEA CULPA
(Studio Seven) Among other things important, tonight offers the chance to see some real music-club theater, as Raft of Dead Monkeys have been known to incorporate all manner of performance into their live music shows. The first time I saw a RODM show it featured not only a bunch of blood-stained nurses on stage but a peculiar chap who sat stage left, silently eating a continuous chain of bananas until he eventually vomited into the bowl on his lap, at which point he began to re-eat the bananas. I should have been disgusted, but I was charmed, and it's not just because of the efficiency displayed by banana boy's art--RODM was equally compelling. Frontman Jeff Suffering continually marries his flair for the theatrical with impassioned and perfectly overwrought musicianship, whether he's mired in angst or anger. KATHLEEN WILSON See also All Ages Action, page 23.
MARC OLSEN, DOWNPILOT, CALICO
(Sunset) There's plenty of Seattle's music history to be heard in the voices of former Sage member Marc Olsen and Downpilot's Paul Hiraga. Olsen's blessed with a voice (and solo catalog) aching with an old-soul weariness that sounds just fresh enough to keep reeling listeners in for another helping of bittersweet storytelling. Hiraga's lyrics reflect a poetically stoic romanticism, and Downpilot's Leaving Not Arriving is rife with songs that will have you clucking with amused recollection. KATHLEEN WILSON
SUNDAY 1/4
This isn't my fault.
MONDAY 1/5
THE FITNESS, THE NEW MEXICANS, BLACK BELT
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests, page 15.
TUESDAY 1/6
JOHNNY SKULL FUCK, THE EARACHES, MEA CULPA, THE SPITS
(Re-bar) There's a lot of straight-up punk bands playing this week, part of this lineup included. Mea Culpa is fronted by sometime Stranger scribe Bill Bullock, who uses the same writerly wit in his lyrics, making the political personal and vice versa. His vocals add a gruff sensibility to the band's tight performance. JENNIFER MAERZ
