From the Oct 7 – Oct 13, 2004 issue

Music

Up & Coming

THURSDAY 10/7


RYE COALITION, THE KINISON, KANE HODDER
(Graceland) See Stranger Suggests, page 23.

THE DIRTBOMBS, THE PONYS, STARLITE DESPERATION
(Crocodile) The Dirtbombs are legendary in the modern world of garage rock--as they should be. Frontman Mick Collins was in (this generation's) proto-Detroit garage band the Gories, and guitarist Jim Diamond has recorded half the bands classified in the genre. But the Dirtbombs aren't one dimensional; they incorporate power pop, R&B, and soul into their repertoire and the band can really bring it live. The Ponys swathe garage with a heavy dose of shoegazer buzz, and Starlight Desperation sound a lot like that smarmy Detroit band the Von Bondies. You really can't go wrong with this lineup. JENNIFER MAERZ

STORY OF THE YEAR, TAKING BACK SUNDAY, LOSTPROPHETS, FALL OUT BOY, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, MATCHBOOK ROMANCE
(Premier) After listening to Taking Back My Matchbook, Chemical Romance's new record, I am very convinced that these bands are all cousins, Patty Duke style. They all sound alike in that screamo/emo way and they all wear fancily disheveled hair, expensive pants, and zip-up jackets with arty logos on them. Awesome. But, I have to admit, these kids are passionate about their formulas (either for the money or the art--haven't decided), so their live performances are usually set to impress. MEGAN SELING

FRIDAY 10/8


ANTIBALAS AFROBEAT ORCHESTRA, DEREK MAZZONE
(Neumo's) See preview, page 35.

HER SPACE HOLIDAY, DAEDULUS, NEOTROPIC, OCTAVIUS
(Chop Suey) See preview page 41.

TAKING BACK SUNDAY, STORY OF THE YEAR, LOSTPROPHETS, FALL OUT BOY, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, MATCHBOOK ROMANCE
(Premier) See Thursday's preview.

UNEARTH, TERROR, BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, REMEMBERING NEVER
(Graceland) Not to be confused with its cutesy counterparts in the emocore scene, Unearth pairs its overstated emotional outpourings ("My heart bleeds no longer for your love") with undiluted hardcore fury. They prefer battering-ram breakdowns to crooned choruses, and use Iron Maiden-style high-toned guitar lines to establish their melodies. Even during "Aries," a slow, piano-peppered track from their 2002 disc, Endless, Unearth make no room for vulnerable vocals. Opening act Black Dahlia Murder employ equally robust riffs, but they would never sing, say, "I cling to a dream that once ruled my world." BDM are done with dreams; they deal in death. On "When the Last Grave Has Emptied" and "Closed Casket Requiem," serpentine shrieks and blast-beat drums swirl into a sonic cyclone. ANDREW MILLER

BACK TO ITS ROOTS: BEYOND REALITY, IESE, RAJNII, BLUE SCHOLARS, DV ONE, CIRCLE OF FIRE, MASSIVE MONKEES, GUESTS
(Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center) Those who have heard local rapper Rajnii on record or on stage know that he has a gift. And a gift is requisite if one hopes to fuse poetry and rapping into a believable language. It's so easy to get it all wrong, to sound silly when you are trying to sound serious. These obstacles do not stand in the way of Rajnii's flow because it's natural for him to be poetic. A former member of the highly regarded rap group 500 Years, and presently very active in the Poetry Experience and the hiphop night Jumbalaya, which recently moved rooms (from the Baltic Room to the Mirabeau Room), Rajnii raps are not packed with obvious tricks, or wrought words and twisted meanings; he just does his thing--which is precisely the meaning of having a gift. CHARLES MUDEDE

BADLY DRAWN BOY, RAY LAMONTAGNE
(Showbox) Back in 2000, after the release of Badly Drawn Boy's debut LP, the British press spasm-hailed him as the most important singer/songwriter since Bob Dylan. Which is really funny. One is a tottering vortex of fetishistic acoustic folk, street-performer charisma, rootless politics, and a repetition-built reputation, and the other is Badly Drawn Boy (boom!). Luckily for us, The Hour of Bewilderbeast is an endearing little thing with stuff like "Once Around the Block," which bends indie-folk melodies in odd spots like it was Gang of Four's, and BBB's live shows often go sailingly past the three-hour mark thanks to "I'm Andy Kaufman" talky bits. Enjoy, and pretend the last couple of albums never happened. GUY FAWKES

THE SILOS, MEMPHIS RADIO KINGS, SONS OF GUNS
(Sunset) If it's true, the age-old maxim that "wherever you lay your head is your home," Walter Salas-Humara must live in a van somewhere on Interstate 90. For nearly 20 years this son of Cuban exiles and current New Yorker has been the constant in the Silos, one of America's most underappreciated bands, running in a late-'80s herd of indie combos (Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, R.E.M.) that signed to major labels. Following the 1987 release of the band's defining Cuba and leading to the underrated self-titled big-league debut in 1990, Salas-Humara downsized the Silos. But on seven subsequent records, he has continued to lay down his emotionally charged songs that can be as tender as they are scorching. And every time you look up, the Silos are in your town. This performance (their 25th straight night in 25 different cities) supports their new Dualtone release, When the Telephone Rings, a hard-hitting, violin-tinged effort with echoes of the timeless Cuba. SCOTT HOLTER

SATURDAY 10/9


MAVIS STAPLES, LEROY BELL
(Triple Door) See Border Radio, page 53.

SISTER CAROL AND PABLO MOSES, DJ KID HOPS
(Chop Suey) See also preview, page 39.

THE GUNG-HOS, THE GLORYHOLES, THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE MESSIAH, THE BULLET CLUB, DJ DENIM DADDY
(Sunset) It's E-Rock's birthday and the plan is to amaze you with his drumming prowess as he pulls double duty for the ever-increasingly kick-ass garage rockers the Gloryholes, as well as for the spanking new One and Only True Messiah. A night full of Seattle's rock pioneers (it's true, history does repeat itself, and sometimes that's a brilliant thing). The One and Only True Messiah feature the curious resurfacing of mythical howler, Steve Van Liew, of the long-defunct visionaries Overlord. The Gloryholes feature punk-purist frontman Doug Slug of old-school cult faves Sinister 6. You may not want the history lesson, but the cast of characters at this big, fun, messy party will certainly reestablish that killer rock and roll is timeless. NES REDNAAJ

CAPTURED! BY ROBOTS, BIG BUSINESS, BLÖÖDHAG
(Vera Project) When it comes to Captured! By Robots, I'm fairly certain that even if their music is a little unfamiliar, anyone would at least be entertained by the hand-built robots that play in this Bay Area band (fronted by a real human). With BlöödHag opening for the heavy metal headliners (get it, cause they're robots, although they also play metal), and unleashing their lit-positive, spazzy speedy stuff on the crowd (watch out for flying books), this lineup promises to make for a night of strange and unconventional, but ultimately pretty damn good music. MEGAN SELING

THE ESOTERICS
(St. Joseph's Church) This excellent a cappella ensemble sings chansons by three great French composers: The Trois chansons de Charles d'Orléans by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel's Trois chansons, and the Sept chansons of Francis Poulenc. Don't be deceived by the dull titles, these songs are lush, ravishing ear candy. They'll also tackle five poems from Guillaume Appollinaire's Bestiaire set by Belgian composer Jean Absil, six sonnets written in secret by the imprisoned poet Jean Cassou and set by Darius Milhaud, Florent Schmitt's cycle En bonnes voix, and the Trois poëmes de Paul Valéry by Jean FranŸaix. Also Sun Oct 10 at 3 pm at Holy Rosary Church. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI

SUNDAY 10/10


BUCK 65, JIM BIANCO
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests, page 23.

BOBBY BARE JR.
(Tractor) This Tennessee scion is a scruffy sumbitch who can play the living shit out of a guitar and who writes some of the smartest, sweetest, strongest songs ever to be saddled with the prefix of "alt"-anything. If Bobby Bare Jr., whom I recently saw burning down a Nashville record store in the middle of a hungover afternoon (with his pregnant wife in attendance), isn't country proper, then George W. Bush deserves another term. Buy the records, see the show. It's the facts. SEAN NELSON

SEATTLE CHAMBER PLAYERS
(Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall) The SCP celebrates its 15th anniversary with a "greatest hits" concert that lives up to its billing. On the program: John Zorn's feisty Cat O' Nine Tails; Catch by Thomas Adès, who requires the clarinetist to wander around as she plays; the haunting Ashk Havasi by Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh; Shulamit Ran's Mirage for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano; the Postludes by hot composer of the moment Valentin Silvestrov; and a clutch of short birthday pieces by various composers including Chen Yi and the SCP's own David Sabee. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI

MONDAY 10/11


HOT CROSS, DOOMSDAY 1999, THE ASSAILANT
(House Show) See All Ages Action, page 58.

BOOKMOBILE
(Rendevous) See Stranger Suggests, page 23.

WEEN
(Neumo's) I recently sold my copies of God Ween Satan and The Pod, Ween's first two albums, even though the trustworthy Autechre said they were genius. (They are, if you possess the potent drugs Autechre have.) I hadn't played these albums in a decade, but recent listens proved their pisstaking eclecticism and grade-school humor hadn't aged well. The only Ween albums that have endured are the warped-pop brilliance of Pure Guava and psych-prog in-joke of The Mollusk. Last year's strong comeback, Quebec, however, shows Ween may still be worth wading through the poop-centric lyrics for. (To register for a free ticket, go to ween.speakeasy.net.) DAVE SEGAL

TUESDAY 10/12


INCREDIBLE STRING BAND, JOANNA NEWSOM
(Triple Door) See Stranger Suggests, page 23.

MORTICIAN, AKERCOCKE, VEHEMENCE, HELL PROMISE
(Catwalk) "Ripped in half/left to die/blood pours out/from both sides." As far as grindcore metal goes, that's pure poetic perfection. Mortician are a band of few words (those lines compose an entire song), but they pack plenty of splatter into every sonnet. For years, the group recorded with a drum machine set on blur, so new live (or undead, in Mortician parlance) drummer Sam Inzerra has an inhumanly fast standard to match. Without apparent electronic assistance, Mortician produces the most insanely downtuned guitar riffs in existence. Will Rahmer's guttural growl marks the moment that anguish festers into anger; it's the sound abused circus lions make right before they turn on their trainers. ANDREW MILLER

THE FIERY FURNACES, THE ROGERS SISTERS, DALMATIANS
(Crocodile) It's not often that the omnidirectional "what is rock?" hype of the smart music press (all seven of them) gets focused on a single band, but this month, the laser is boring holes in the sibling act known as the Fiery Furnaces, who have made a truly epic, unwieldy, and amazing new record called Blueberry Boat. Boat features several songs that close in on 10 minutes, and which, despite everyone's protestations to the contrary, sound nothing whatsoever like the Who. It is, however, a great album anyway, and you have to assume that the show, despite being at the Croc (and therefore sure to be packed), is essential. SEAN NELSON See also preview, page 36.

THE BLOOD BROTHERS, AGAINST ME, TRUE NORTH, THE ANTLERS
(Neumo's) I love Against Me. Their folk-flavored political, posi-punk rock is incredibly contagious, and it's only magnified by the fact that the band unleashes every ounce of energy into their live shows, working the crowd into an absolute tizzy. Whether it's with their hilarious love song set amidst the chaos of the TDO or an upbeat "We do it because we have to" anthem, Against Me has never not rocked (even the often-dismissed Fat Wreck Chords release has a few gems by them, ya gotta admit). After their set, you're guaranteed to be sweaty, smiling, and ready to say "fuck authority" and change the world. MEGAN SELING See also preview, page 35.

WEDNESDAY 10/13


LLOYD BANKS, GUESTS
(Showbox) See My Philosophy, page 49.

EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, BULLETS AND OCTANE, THE GIRLS
(Chop Suey) It'd be one thing if you were, like, smoking weed with Josh Homme and these songs were random party recordings. But Eagles of Death Metal tour and release records--making them quasi-serious. And they're not just the Queens frontman's band (he's only appearing on a handful of Southern California shows this tour); they're fronted by Jesse "the Devil" Hughes, who sings mostly in an ironic falsetto that quickly grates. The music is sloppy garagey pop and blues that coincidentally has as much to do with death metal as a church picnic. JENNIFER MAERZ

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