From the Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2005 issue

Music

Up & Coming

THURSDAY 3/31


THE BELLRAYS, VON IVA, ROTTEN APPLES, ROCK 'N' ROLL SOLDIERS
(Crocodile) See preview, page 43 and CD Reviews, page 45.

TOMMY LEE, DJ AERO
(Club Medusa) See Stranger Suggests, page 25.

ED HARCOURT, MARTHA WAINWRIGHT, TIM SEELY
(Tractor) See Border Radio, page 55.

THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES, DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979, BIG BUSINESS, OXES, CONTROLLER CONTROLLER
(Neumo's) See Stranger Suggests, page 25.

THE ROBOT ATE ME, NATE ASHLEY, SOME BY SEA, SURETOSS
(Catwalk) San Diego's the Robot Ate Me have crafted a bizarre device that allows them to graft together bits of Cole Porter's perfect pop on the back of some disembodied, fluttering indie rock. Vocalist Ryland Bouchard drops a variety of surreal, deadpan lines about making tea and genocide, and the rest of the band takes a songwriting approach wherein each musical device is treated like an object of wonder and curiosity. Behold: a banjo! Witness: an analog synthesizer! Their last release, the double disc On Vacation, saw them bravely jump into the worlds of manic pop, nonsense narratives, and bipolar strangeness. Uh, don't tell your therapist you're going. JON PRUETT

SHONEN KNIFE, GORE GORE GIRLS, SGT. MAJOR
(Chop Suey) Sloppy Detroit garagesters the Gore Gore Girls have had more lineup changes since their '97 inception than your baby's diaper. Today's GGG experience holds the same tattered, faux-glam Stooges goof motif as the band's earlier shows, except the quartet has morphed into something decidedly more Supersuckers and less Ronettes. Heavy-banged crooner Amy Gore remains the Girls' figurehead: kitschy and white-booted, she wields a Gretch White Falcon axe like Xena, but in a Troma film. Second guitarist Marlene Hammer supposedly did time in the clink, while the unfortunately nicknamed drummer Nikki Styxx likes dogfights, and their thrasher bassist is simply called "The Deuce." What's great about seeing the Gore Gore Girls open for Shonen Knife, as they've been doing on this requisite SXSW-related tour route, is that it's a night of f-u-n: Gore's songs are tough, but playful. JOAN HILLER

SUBARACHNOID SPACE, SEAN, AAIIEE!!, LESBIAN
(Fun House) Over the last decade, San Francisco's SubArachnoid Space have evolved from prototypical Terrastock-friendly space-rockers to Bongapalooza stoner-metal practitioners. What a not-so-long, not-so-strange trip it's been. Beginning with 2003's Also Rising, the instrumental quartet took on some girth and reined in the improvisational sprawl, earning them an invitation to Ohio's stoner-metal fest, Emissions from the Monolith. Supporting their new album on Strange Attractors Audio House, The Red Veil, SubArachnoid Space have slightly succumbed to gravity and morphed into a more conventionally rocking, linear vessel of heaviosity. But the transition's been graceful, as these cacophonous cosmonauts learn to adjust to Earth's atmosphere. DAVE SEGAL

FRIDAY 4/1


THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT, THE SUPERSUCKERS, I CAN LICK ANY S.O.B. IN THE HOUSE
(Premier) See Border Radio, page 55.

DIZZEE RASCAL, DJ WONDER PRESENTS A HISTORY OF GRIME
(Neumo's) See preview, page 39.

FACE OFF: ADAM F, DJ FIXX
(Catwalk) DJ Fixx hails from America's funky-breaks capital, Orlando, Florida, and he's considered just as much of a badass in that field as his neighbor DJ Icey. Funky breaks, as you may know, are sure-fire party ammo--and sound great scoring sports-highlight footage, too. Adam F was deservedly one of Britain's most respected and popular drum 'n' bass producer-DJs in the '90s. His 1997 opus, Colours, stands as a dark, jazzily melodic peak of what some used to call "intelligent jungle." Now Adam F works with hiphop biggies like LL Cool J and Missy Elliott, and his new album, KAOS, features contributions from Redman, De La Soul, Pharoahe Monch, Guru, LL and others. So don't be surprised if Mr. F drops a mishmash of d 'n' b and hiphop, two genres tailor-made for mishmashing. DAVE SEGAL

STUDIO 66: PANURGE, CANTONA, DJS GREG VANDY, BROTHER JAMES, CHRISPO
(Lo_Fi Performance Gallery) The hoppin' bimonthly event (first Saturday of every other month) devoted to fetishizing mod, psychedelia, vintage soul, Britpop, and acid jazz has snagged Canadian trio Panurge to headline tonight's edition. Panurge's second album, Throw Down the Reins (Nettwerk), suggests that the group have a Brian Jonestown Massacre-sized jones for blissed-out psychedelia and perhaps knowledge of that short-lived moment in the early '90s when British shoegazers discovered dance music and chunky drum-machine beats; some songs here remind me of Chapterhouse, a band I haven't thought about in years. Panurge straddle the '60s/'90s gulf with subtlety and style. Joining them are local power-pop group Cantona, DJ Greg Vandy (KEXP), Brother James, DJ Chrispo, go-go dancers Tangerine Tonic, and visual artist porchlightstar. DAVE SEGAL

AMBULANCE LTD., AUTOLUX, DR. DOG
(Crocodile) Los Angeles trio Autolux feature ex-Failure guitarist Greg Edwards, and they can't help carrying over some of that band's slick, stadium-shoegazer vibe to this new endeavor. Autolux's T-Bone Burnett-produced debut, Future Perfect (DMZ/Red Ink), bears the benumbed beauty and fuzzed-out torpor of people who spend a lot of time in traffic jams, enwombed by antidepressants, and surrounded by surgically enhanced beautiful people. Think Dandy Warhols without the junkie chic or Medicine without Brad Laner's guitar extremism and you're close to grasping Autolux's heavy-lidded, hazily focused charms. DAVE SEGAL

THE MATCHES, PLAIN WHITE T'S, THE FOUR COLOUR PROCESS, WAKING ASHLAND, ROSES ARE RED
(El Corazòn) The Plain White T's sound a whole lot like Yellowcard, though there isn't a whiny violin mixed in with their uninventive power punk. But with the Diesel Jeans Soldiers (which I've decided is a much more fitting moniker), there are bucket loads of whininess elsewhere in the music. And the Matches? Their song "Dog Eared Page" is just a terrible Used rip-off. You don't wanna rip off the Used in the first place, but to do it badly? Ouch. Waking Ashland, in comparison, aren't nearly as insulting to music but they're not good either. With this lineup, it's kind of like having to choose between eating shit and drinking vomit. I could see any one of these bands land an opening slot on an Ashlee Simpson tour and be so totally stoked. MEGAN SELING

IQU, THE TURN-ONS, MON FRERE
(Vera Project) This is a top-shelf local bill, featuring the finest of dancey beats and heavy-textured guitar pop our city has to offer; I'd recommend getting high either before or during this show (why wait for an after party?). But don't forget to show up early for Mon Frere, a jazz-laced young trio with smart, sweet songs and a very talented girl singer. Their Real Vampires EP makes a welcome edition to anyone's On-The-Go playlist. SEAN NELSON

MARIA DE BARROS, RICHARD GOLDMAN
(Royal Argosy Cruise, Pier 56) One of two humanitarian events for the week, tonight's cruise aboard the Argosy benefits Ginene Swanson (www.ginene.com), who has stage-four kidney cancer. To help subsidize the cost of her treatment, her husband has organized a benefit cruise featuring Cape Verde Islands-born recording artist Maria de Barros, whose soulful, internationally flecked dance music folds in elements of salsa and other world musics. Also on the bill is L.A. singer/songwriter Richard Goldman. All this plus a gourmet buffet will cost you $85--money that will go toward helping Ginene's medical care. JENNIFER MAERZ

SATURDAY 4/2


ASH, THE BRAVERY, ALASKA
(El Corazòn) See CD Reviews, page 45.

BIG BUSINESS, THE ABODOX, DOOMSDAY 1999
(Seven Gables Theatre) See Stranger Suggests, page 25, and Live Wire, page 50.

PETE KREBS, WILLY VLAUTIN
(Tractor) Veteran Portland songwriter/guitar picker/badass Pete Krebs (Hazel, Golden Delicious) has reassembled his excellent band, the Gossamer Wings, now featuring--speaking of Portland veterans--Jim Talstra on bass and original Wipers drummer Sam Henry. This'll be Krebs' first Seattle show in a while, and the local debut of the new lineup. SEAN NELSON

STARS, APOSTLE OF HUSTLE
(Neumo's) "When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire," a scratchy voice explains in the first few seconds of the third Stars album, Set Yourself on Fire. This is not a cry for arsonists to unite and take over but, rather, a little practical advice on how to keep warm. The band is from the punishingly cold vicinity of Montreal, and a lot of their "delicate Casio-toned anthems" (that was Spin's description) involve dark interiors, prison yards, one-night stands, heated cab rides, freezing rain, and foreign hotel rooms. Spin is a little off with that "delicate" word. These are sly, surging songs--"I'm not sorry I met you, I'm not sorry it's over"--that, strung together, make a flawless soundtrack for having sex, stoned, in a huge attic, under a round window, in the beautiful thaw of spring. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

SUNTZU SOUND, DJ COLLAGE
(Baltic Room) DJ Collage (who's actually what Americans call an MC) has animated tracks by dubtronic luminaries like Meat Beat Manifesto, DJ /rupture, Sofa Surfers, Stereotyp, and I-Wolf. His Rastafar-out pipes and robust flow bring a husky warmth to any tune on which he appears. Dude produces some mean dancehall and dub, too. SunTzu Sound's organically correct DJ sets encompass future jazz, broken beat, deep house, soul, hiphop, Brazilian, Latin, and funk. This is the record-release party for Mark de Clive-Lowe of London broken-beat crew Bugz in the Attic--but it's doubtful he'll be in the house. DAVE SEGAL

SUNDAY 4/3


CANNIBAL CORPSE, SADUS, INCANTATION, GUESTS
(Fenix Underground) See preview, page 43.

ARGO, SUMMER AT SHATTER CREEK, MOUSE HEART FACTOR
(Sunset) I hope you don't have many of those nights where even when you've cried well past that last tear, there's still more sadness in your hull than you can carry. For those morose moments, though, there's the ultimate loner CD, Summer at Shatter Creek's All the Answers. This album of cry-in-your-pillow bedroom pop swells with sadness, most of its hurt breaking through the falsetto vocals--lines like "Can't you see/how I came to be/so totally obsessive with love" and the echoing whistling behind it in "You Don't Have to Be Perfect to Be Loved." Yet Answers also refracts some of its most painful tones into glimmers of sunlight, sparkling through gossamer harmonies, quivering vocals, ghostly electronics, and tenderly plucked acoustic melodies. Headed by Craig Gurwich, this one-man band erects sandcastle walls of sound that never become completely washed away in melancholy, even amongst admissions like, in "Fall Down Drunks," "You're a drunk/a fall down drunk/I wish that you'd stop/but I know that you won't/'cause it's in your blood, it's in your heart, and in your soul." Broken hearts adorn Gurwich's sleeve, but with music this pretty, misery at least finds forlorn musical company. JENNIFER MAERZ

IDA, TARA JANE O'NEIL, MICHAEL HURLEY
(Tractor) For most guitar-based bands, live sets follow a formula that Camper Van Beethoven dubbed "greatest hits played faster." By contrast, already-glacial acts such as Ida tend to drag their compositions to a virtual standstill, letting spectators savor every note. Speedy groups get all the style points, but guiding snail-paced songs gracefully is as difficult as establishing a natural rhythm while strolling at a freakishly low treadmill setting. On their recent release Heart Like a River, Ida's three vocalists (two female, one male) merge so slowly that listeners can hear the varied pitches click into place as the harmonies form. Even during their occasional outbursts, when the guitars sputter, the piano keys plink, and the drums announce their percussive presence, the singers lag luxuriously, stretching every syllable. ANDREW MILLER

MONDAY 4/4


HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL, BUCK 65, RONDO BROTHERS
(Showbox) See Stranger Suggests, page 25, and Data Breaker, page 63.

TUESDAY 4/5


THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES, THE DEARS, AMERICAN MINOR
(El Corazòn) See CD Reviews, page 45.

BONNI SUVAL BENEFIT W/BLACK NOISE CANNON, LEGION WITHIN, LULLABELLE, C'EST LA MORT, DJ COLDHEART
(Chop Suey) The most recent benefit for accident victim Bonni Suval raised a nice little chunk of change. But the uninsured, hospital-ridden musician still has a long way to go in covering her medical bills--and a lot of friends willing to help her out. Tonight marks another benefit event--this one at Chop Suey. It includes music from a number of local bands as well as gift certificates auctioned off by local businesses and photographs of Suval's band, Fear of Dolls, for sale--all of which will help defray Suval's mounting medical costs. Once again, a good night out for a good cause. JENNIFER MAERZ

WEDNESDAY 4/6


JENNIFER GENTLE
(Laser Dome at Pacific Science Center) See preview, page 35 and Stranger Suggests, page 25.

THE HELIO SEQUENCE, MERCIR, DJS COLBY B AND PORQ
(Chop Suey) Tonight marks the third anniversary of Chop Suey, the Capitol Hill club breaking ground on showcasing experimental electronic music and hiphop, as well as the usual punk and rock staples. To celebrate, they're offering this free show with transcendent pop duo the Helio Sequence and smooth electronic-rock locals Mercir--a band deeply influenced by Radiohead's moodier moments. Between bands, Comeback DJs Colby B and Porq spin the electro, indie, and hiphop hits. All that and you can save your precious entrance funds for the cocktails. JENNIFER MAERZ

LOUIS XIV
(El Corazòn) Everybody knows record labels don't really assemble bands--not unless there's a reality television camera nearby. But cloying schlock-rock acts like Louis XIV do little to dispel suspicions about the inner workings of the Evil Music Industry. The A&R meeting for this plastic California act probably went something like this… Q: "Okay, how's the hair" A: "Styled for a Teen People shoot." Q: "And the clothing?" A: "Vintage." Q: "And the music?" A: "Let's worry about that stuff later, buddy." And with that, Louis XIV were signed, sealed, and delivered to the masses, while deep underground, Marc Bolan rolls in his grave--thinking his legacy has come down to clown bands and their songs about banging you and "your Asian friend." JENNIFER MAERZ

BLOWFLY, THE SATURDAY KNIGHTS, COCONUT COOLOUTS, DJ FRANE
(Fun House) California's DJ Frane is one of the master producers of "beats to blaze to," the subtitle of both of his stone classic albums, Frane's Fantastic Boatride (1999) and Electric Garden of Delights (2003). Frane puts the THC into technics with a hydrosonic adventurer's ear for vivid detail, fastidiously engineering funkadelic vistas for altered-state head nodding of the highest order. His brand of hiphop embraces psychedelia, prog rock, laid-back funk, astral jazz, and even comedy-LP and porn-flick samples, all densely layered in order to dilate your pupils with utmost intensity. Inhale to this chief. DAVE SEGAL See also preview, page 41.

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