indie-list-31.txt
[ Note from Mark: Due to circumstances beyond my control, the
formatting on this issue sucks. I apoligize for the difficulty
in reading. ]
* THE INDIE-LIST DIGEST #31 * May 15, 1993 * "Forward In All
Directions - Playable At All Volumes" Serving the International Pop
Underground since 1992
*
From: Mark <cornick@access.digex.net>
If this particular issue of Indie-List is formatted a little
strangely, I apologize. I have just moved the production of Indie-List
from a Macintosh system to an IBM PS/2, which means I'm no longer
using my beloved Mac editor; instead I'm back to micro-emacs. But hey,
it's all about the music anyway, right?
On a lark, I bought a few lottery tickets today and ended up with a
net profit of $14, so I got the new Grifters CD _One Sock Missing_
(Shangri-La Records.) It's been reviewed before, so I'll just add my
stamp of approval. Anyone nostalgic for Pavement's "Slay Tracks" EP
should check out this wonder of low-fi pop feedback. Gritty &
beautiful.
I've also heard bits and pieces of the new Fall record _The
Infotainment Scam_ on Matador/Atlantic. If you forget that a band
called the Fall once made records like _I Am Kurious Oranj_ and
"Kicker Conspiracy", this is a fine record. It'll make a lot of Fall
fans wince with its almost- accessible sound, but judged solely on its
own merits Infotainment is OK with me.
Also, I am now back on the radio on a regular basis. I am on WTJU-FM
(91.1) from 3-6 AM on Monday night/Tuesday morning. If you live within
75 miles of Charlottesville, you may (may) be able to pick it up.
(You won't be able to pick it up in Richmond except maybe in the outer
reaches of the West End -- there is a high-school station east of
Richmond on the same frequency.)
*
From: Joshua John Buergel <jbbb+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Well, this is it for me for the summer. I guess if anybody really
feels like sending me a letter, feel free to do so:
Joshua Buergel 15404 Fircrest Circle Spokane, WA 99208
I love getting mail. Gee, is there a paper edition of the Indie list?
:)
Helmet has a new 7" on AmRep recorded live from a Tokyo radio show.
It's got "Primitive", a Killing Joke cover, on the a side and a new
version of "Born Annoying" on the flip. I haven't listened to it yet,
but if there are any other Helmet completists out there, you obviously
need this.
Two reviews and I'm done for the summer. I might actually get the
chance to send one more message in a couple of weeks when I go visit
my friends at the University of Washington (who have school for over
another month), but this is it for now.
Union Carbide Productions, Swing (Fistpupper/Cargo FIST 014)
I hadn't heard UCP before but they had gotten some decent press so I
gave this a try. What is it? Rock 'n' roll, baby. Straight forward
rock 'n' roll. Despite the fact that it isn't terribly original, it's
quite catchy and alot of fun. The piano adds sort of a cheezy element
to it, but it's still a pretty fine record. Good spring music for
just rockin' out to. Not spectacular, but I'm happy with it. *1/2
(Fistpuppet Records, 3058 North Clybourn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618)
(Incidentally, the Pitchblende album I reviewed last time was also on
Fistpuppet)
Dog Faced Hermans, _Hum Of Life_ (Project A Bomb 010)
Yeah! One of the most interesting and original release I've heard in
a long time. Very, very strong rhythm section that is obviously
influenced by punk but is alot more interesting than that. Cool jumpy
guitar and then great female vocals and this wonderful trumpet stuff
all over. Akin to The Ex, but not really. Great stuff! **1/2
(Project A Bomb, P.O. Box 4233, Industrial Station, St. Paul, MN
55104)
That's all. Have a great summer everybody,
Joshua Buergel - allroy@cmu.edu - jbbb@andrew.cmu.edu "Anybody who
thinks we overstepped the playground perimeter of lyrical decency (or
that the public has any right to demand 'social responsibility' from a
goddamn punk rock band) is a pure natural dolt, and should step
forward and put his tongue up my ass." - Steve Albini
*
From: davidb@dbadmin2.amgen.com (David Bennison)
A TRUMANSWATER TRIOLOGY Pt1: The Discovery
Trumanswater + Hood + Bush-Pilot - Leeds Dutchess of York 3rd May
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I was initially suprised at how packed it was for this show but it
obviously proves how much people hang onto John Peels words of praise
over Trumanswater, plus I think the other two bands are local
favourites. I'm not aware of Bush-Pilot but had heard of Hood who I
had been told were worth checking out. So... Bush-Pilot started out
sounding kinda tortured and brooding in a Crime&CitySolution style,
the lead singer swigging a bottle of red wine in a way which made me
suspect it was Ribena. He also had an irritating goatee beard and
looked more like Dartainan from the Musketeers than Frank Zappa or
whoever so I was not expecting too much from them. As they went on
tho' they mixed the quieter moments with pretty fierce tracks where
songs built up with primal sounding drums/bass similar to Jesus Lizard
and the obligatory tortured vocals. I was pretty impressed by the
end. Not just for the music but also for a Malcolm X looking guy at
the front who danced a new dance which involved James Brown steps
where you balance on one leg and shuffle along on the other. Quite
impressive and totally out of synch with the music. Next were Hood. I
didn't know what to expect, they all seemed to be around 18 years old
and were pretty ugly to boot but I thought that they may have been
blessed with angelic singing voices and the gift of perfect
songwriting to balance out what they lacked in stage presence and
looks. Unsuprisingly, Hood were yet another band who aim to ride along
on the lo-fi D.I.Y wave which is popular at the moment but which
wouldn't be given the time of day 5 years ago. They were remarkable in
their blandness and unremarkableness, I was blown away by the inept
whining vocals and emotionally overcome by the lack of a tune/hook/
melody or idea. In these circumstances, the only thing they could do
was to hope nobody would notice what was lacking by playing it loud
and hoping nobody listened too hard. It obviously worked, as I went
for a beer. There were two girls who seemed to enjoy them tho',
insisting on dancing together at the front, arms waving about like a
Mission/Goth fan (tm), stealing Hood's 25 seconds of fame and feeding
off eachothers "We are wild" vibes. Not as entertaining as Malcolm X
but a decent diversion. Trumanswater came on. My expectations were
high (I'd got tickets to see them 3 times in the next 10 days) and
they were mighty impressive to my ears plus they wore a good line in
luminously coloured jeans. Individual tracks are difficult to
distinguish on record and nigh on impossible live, although I remember
Rations, Apolitix, Deep Grub Yonder and the first two tracks off Spasm
Smash. They truely rocked in an expected Pavement/ Polvo way but were
loud and noisy in an Unsane way as well but wayyy more aggressive, the
lead guitarist/vocalist being a certified wild and crazy guy with a
probably high blood pressure problem in future years. The bassist
looks like the non-Keanu Reeves character in Bill and Ted. I thought
the drummer was almost amazing for such a weedy puny guy but I'll
reserve all judgement until I've seen them a coupla more times this
week.
A TRUMANSWATER TRIOLOGY Pt2: Mystery and Confusion
Trumanswater + Cable - Old Vic, Nottingham 6th May
--------------------------------------------------
The Old Vic is a large plush looking pub with a 1ft high temporary
stage put in a pretty odd position given the shape of the place:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | D | | | | G3| | | | G1 G2 | | | ^ --------------- | | | 10ft *
<-----------100ft------------->| | | J # |
----------------v-------------------------------------------------------
Key : D = Drummer
G1 = Mental Guitarist
G2 = Bass Guy (Bill or Ted lookalike)
G3 = Guitarist (the quiet sensitive one)
* = Me
J = My mate Jezz
# = Bloke I saw in Leeds on Monday and said hi to
That was fun.... Anyway, Cable must have been a local band. Given the
coolish name, they were only another Nirvana rip off, not destined to
go far unless they get different quick. Trumanswater came on, tuned
up for 10 minutes during which time G1 (see above) left the stage a
coupla times before the 'stark fist of reality'(tm) hit me that they
had already started their set and they were by now, about 15 mins into
an improv-jam-drone which eventually evolved into Apolitix (a snappy
number with a catchy beat). The next thing I could name was Deep Grub
Yonder off 'Of Thick Tum' although I recognised a fair amount of the
tracks. The audience seemed bemused, the guy next to me shouting
"Bloody Awful" after each song. I told him where the door was but he
continued to have a horrible time. I thought they were not as good as
at Leeds, they were less enthusiastic due to the audience reaction,
although there were about 5 of us who seemed to be getting off on
their brand of music. I concluded that they have a tremendous drummer
who holds it all together just enough to allow the rest of the band to
do their own thing, but that they were even more free-form than in
Leeds and tended to wank about too much on occasion waiting to get
into the main body of their songs. I ended up speaking to G1 after
they'd finished and he said Leeds was their best so far in the UK,
that I'd got the exam results of G2 in my copy 'Of Thick Tum' and that
I'd say hello when I saw them in London on Saturday. Got a T-shirt
tho'. I'm a material guy...
A TRUMANSWATER TRIOLOGY Pt3: The Justification
Trumanswater + Hood - London Camden Underworld 8th May
------------------------------------------------------
Well, same bloody support as in Leeds but I was looking forward to
seeing how both there bands coped with a larger, more expecting and
demanding audience and was prepared to forget Hoods uninspired Leeds
show. Hood seemed to go thro' the same set as before (fair enough)
but it was pretty packed in the Underworld and they were getting a
pretty enthusiastic reaction from the crowd, particularly for a
support. I thought they were far better this time, nothing startling,
but they did have some interesting moments (one song with "Break My
Heart" repeated in the chorus). Their weak link for me, is the singers
voice which is severely lacking in everything except strain. I don't
know if it's the time of month, tidal influences or an unusual week
for Virgoians, but I seem to be impressed with the quality of drummers
at the moment, and Hoods drummer was a definate plus. Hood came off
and I chatted to G1 and G3 for a while (my middle name is Showbiz). I
told them I thought Hood were better tonight, that I was beginning to
O.D. on Trumanswater this week, that Nottingham was a weird venue and
that the Underworld was more packed than it was for Ween a
coupla-weeks ago. They agreed and said they were doing a Peel Session
this weekend. We kissed and said goodbye! Trumanswater came on to a
packed audience. They started off with the same intro as in Leeds, a
slowly building drone-chant-moan with manic loud bits dotted around (I
think it's called the chorus but I'm no musician). The head-honcho of
Wiiija was standing next to me and was really enjoying them, the crowd
seemed to like them too, although being at the front obscures you from
the bored faces socialising at the back. Particular crowd favourites
seem to include Apolotix, the Krautrock song?!, Rations and a song
that alternates between all-out noise trash and a Waltz!. And the one
about Brett and Calvin off the first LP. I was totally blown away by
them, their best yet, and the best show I've seen here since The Cows
early last year. Their drummer was another highlight, (best drummer
I've seen anyway) getting rounds of applause mid-song for his
drum-man-ship as though it was a jazz show or something. They played
for an hour and I left satisfied at my choice of activities this past
week. Next stop, The Fall, Moonshake and The Voodoo Queens.
David...
*
From: SIERACKIR@vms.csd.mu.edu from Rob Sieracki in Milwaukee Wi
QUESTION ABOUT OLD LEMONHEADS:
First off, a question, does anyone know what happened to Ben,
the co-songwriter from the Lemonheads Creator/Hate Your Friends era?
My favorite songs from the Lemonheads were written by him ("Burying
Ground," "Falling," "Two Weeks in Another Town," etc.) I heard that
he recently put out a 45 with a title that punned on _It's a Shame
About Ray_. Does anyone know if that's true, or just nonsense?
MAGAZINE REVIEW:
There's a quite cool indie "zine" I've found recently that I
think people should know about. It's called _Nice Slacks_, and it may
be the only piece of press I see as worth buying right now (well,
_Forced Exposure_ has captured my attention for a while, too). _Nice
Slacks_ is mainly a collection of interviews (5 or 6 per issue) and
intelligent reviews of records and of some Chicago area shows. In the
past interviews with Bastro, Table, Jon Spencer (twice-- once with
Pussy Galore, once with the Blues Explosion), Cop Shoot Cop, Polvo, My
Dad is Dead, King Kong, Thinking Fellers, and Babes in Toyland have
appeared, as well as an amazing Tar tour diary (in which Head od David
was afectionally termed "Head of Lettuce" by Tar's drummer). The King
Kong interview especially interested me, because Ethan talks about the
first Slint record and why he feels it sucks and why he left Slint.
It's my understanding that the next issue will include a
double single with previously unreleased studio tracks from Table,
Unsane, and a couple other things/
Anyway, the address is:
Nice Slacks/Todd Ambrosini
P.O. Box 476659
Chicago IL 60647
Tell the you saw it posted here, too, it might interest them.
AND ANOTHER QUESTION, A SLOVENLY QUESTION:
Hey, does anyone out there know anything about the band
Overpass. I heard that some of the fellows from the Slovenly were in
the band, though Slovenly's singer wasn't? Anything anyone knows
would interest me.
*
From: M_PARAS@uvmvax.uvm.edu
greetings to all from the city that everyone equates with Ben &
Jerry's. yup. I am currently in the midst of exam hell, and once
it's over I leave for home (Maine). summer classes, too. anyway,
positions shifted here at WRUV for next year. I am now station facist
(manager) as they say. whatever. new antenna & transmitter to go up
in a year, but anyway.
I'm just writing away to avoid studying.
I thought I would put one review in, and it's this one:
steel pole bathtub: the miracle of sound in motion, boner records,
1993. I was once explaing to a friend of mine how to make greek (or
turkish) coffee. he thought it sounded neet, I guess, and he then
said "we'll heve to sit down, drink coffee, and listen to steel pole
bathtub." sounded like a plan. this album's pretty not too shabby, I
must say. the first track is called "pseudoephedrine hydrochloride",
appropirately the main ingredient in most cold medicines. I thought,
am i supposed to feel like I'm on cold medicines? am i supposed to
take cold medicines? did they take cold medicines and then write the
song? then I realized none of this really mattered anyway, so I just
listened to the rest of the album, and it was good. some tracks are
verging on that ok alt rock thing, but then they make all sorts of
weird and crushing noises with their guitars. it's got some
interesting well placed samples, too (none from the brady bunch this
time). the last track, entitled "waxl" is sorta like the melvins
thing. long, droning, heavy noise, which I like anyway. overall,
pretty okay. I do, however, like some of their previous tracks a tad
(not the big guy, but I like him too) better, but then again, it could
grow on me faster than penicillin mold. take a listen.
there. well, time to study for the three exams that occur in the next
40 hours. ick.
Mari Anne Paraskevas (to be found at paras@maine.maine.edu over the
summer).
*
From: prdillo@med.unc.edu (Paul R. Cardillo)
Well, a quick hola and quesadilla from Chapel Hill, N.C. and on to
some reviews and a minor "scene report." It's been several months
since I last posted and the winter winds have given way to eighty
degree days and the olfactory pleasures of wisteria and honeysuckle.
Being a Yankee, I have never really experienced the true grandeur of
springtime in the south, but I do so enjoy it... so far. Well, this
is my second post from "the next Seattle" and The national media's
favorite subject for the next wave of new music.
First off, I've seen a buttload of shows recently and will try TO Give
brief yet comprehensive reviews of The pertinent ones. Secondly, I've
had a stack of 7"s lying around waiting TO be reviewed and I'll try to
get to Them. Thirdly, I'll try to give a small overview of what's
happening in town lately in terms of the record-label jackals and our
favoriTe bands. I hope this gets in in time to make it for The May 8
issue of Indie-list, but if not, y'all have some slighTly dated info
to read on May 15.
I am slightly suspect of most music reviews. without any prior
knowledge of a reviewer's subjective musical tastes, it is hard to
decide whether or not to take his/her advice unless There is some
common ground. Well, for the sake of providing y'all with common
ground here are some thinGs I really like: Obvius choices first -
Pavement, Sebadoh, the Pixies, the Breeders. Other things I've been
listeninG to a lot: UnresT, Uncle Wiggily, Hypnolovewheel, Yo La
Tengo, Tsunami, Velocity Girl (Ep), Bettie Serveert, Galaxie 500 (and
all its spin-offs Luna - Damon and Naomi), Grenadine, Mazzy Starr,
Charles Mingus. Things which go on my all-tIme favoriTe band list:
Scruffy the Cat, The Young Fresh Fellows, The Clash, The Buzzcocks,
The Kinks, fIREHOSE, the minutemen, Superchunk, the Beatles, Tom
Waits, Neil Young, Elvis Costello and (horror of horrors!) the
Grateful dead. A pretty diverse list, but probably necessary so you
know where the hell I'm cominG from in The followinG reviews.
Sebadoh/The Dambuilders/Further -
The Cat's Cradle- Chapel Hill - May 5,1993.
First off, this was the show to be seen at for all local musicians.
Every member of Superchunk was there, as well as members of Picasso
TriGGer, Blue Green Gods, Pipe, Small, Archers of Loaf, 81 Mulberry
and many other local "hipsters" and "scenesters." Rumor has it that
David Geffen was at this show but left before Sebadoh came on. I
haven't heard any definite confirmations of this rumor yet, though.
Well, I missed Further because I was bartending at Margaret's Cantina
and didn't get off work until eleven - but I hurried righT down TO the
Cradle and was in absoluTe awe of The Dambuilders. I had no idea what
to expect of The opening bands on this bill, but I was mosT pleased
with the Dambuilders, a noisy quartet who ( i think) are from N.Y.
This was the first time in a long Time that I was taken by surprise
and absoluTely loved an opening band that I had never heard of before.
They were kind of noisy, with some moments of complete deconstruction
where the guitar, bass and violin interplayed so well That it was
impossible To Tell which noises were coming from which insTruments.
The violin player (joan wasser) was sporting a "Josie and The
Pussycats" skunk stripe hair-do and made some of tHe most interesting
noises I'd ever heard from a violin. This wasn'T your regular folkie
or Camper Van BeeThovenie violin sound. This thing was LOUD and
crisp. All four band members shared singing duties and I bought their
EP "Tough Guy Problem" (spinART 10, p.o. box 1798 N.Y., N.Y.
10156-1798) immediately following the show and after a few listenings
i'd give iT a Three (ouT of five) star ratinG. Pretty stronG, buT
lacking The maniacal cacophony of Their live show.
Sebadoh came out about an hour after The Dambuilders finished and Lou
informed us all that he had just awoken from a nap and that his
finGers and lips were a liTTle numb. This being the case, they
started ouT pretTy slowly and mellowly. They played a fair amount of
material from The new album and both Lou and Jason were real snotty
and funny. Lou kept saying that he'd probably be jumping all over the
stage and that we were getting cheated out of a good show because he
had just woken up. "Literally, not figuratively, I've been awake for
years," he said. They played for about an hour and left the stage.
The house lights began to come up and the house sound system came on,
when the band reemerges and Eric Gaffney's playing guiTar, Lou
Barlow's Playing Bass and Jason Lowenstein is on the drums. They
played about another forty-five minutes of Eric's demented
scream-oriented songs after which Eric said. The crowd seemed to
really enjoy Eric's stuff. He answered the crowd's positive response
by saying. "If you clap real loud we might come back out, but probably
not." And so once again the house lights and music come up and people
start leaving. I go to get a cup of water and suddenly Lou's back on
stage playing a really soft version of "Soul and Fire." They played
for abouT another half hour - all really soft pretty stuff and the
sound-man is trying to give them the kill sign, Slashing his finger
across his neck. At this point it was 2:30 a.m. and cabaret curfew in
N.C. is 2:00. Lou and Jason started hassling the sound guy and the
handful of people left started cheering for more songs. At which the
sound guy relents and they play another three songs. It was a great
show overall. Not at all what I expected from Sebadoh. Given the
early albums and Lou and Eric's penchant for self-indulgence, there
was very little unnecessary screwing around. They did great versions
of "Vampire" and "Really Insane," and gave the crowd the choice of
"It's so hard to fall in Love" or "Ride the Darker Wave" and the crowd
unanimously chose "Darker Wave" (thank goodness!) Lou also modified
the J. Mascis reference from "cliche" to make it even more obvious,
singing "there never really is a good time, so J. says," instead of
"There never really is a good time so they say." Well, I've rambled
for two long about this, buT all the hype around Sebadoh is well
deserved. This was one of the most entertaining and enjoyable shows
I've seen in a very long time. (Certainly gos on my top five list).
Yo La Tengo/Basehead/Grover
Cat's Cradle - Chapel Hill - Thursday, April 29.
Another Excellent show at the cradle. It's too bad that the Cradle,
In its current incarnation, will not be around anymore after may 19.
I'll elaborate on that situation later.
Well, Grover is Mitch Easter's new project and he and his wife and a
drummer play some catchy female-voiced pop stuff that's all very
unassuming and melodic with bit of distortion thrown in to satisfy the
"grunge" fans. It didn't stray too far from the "Let's active sound,"
and when they did a let's active song, I accidently thought it was a
Db's song and asked Chris Stamey (who was standing right behind me) if
it was one of his. Oh wel, pretty good stuff but not really earth
shattering. Oh yeah, at one point they had to stop in the middle of a
song because Mitch's wife kept screwing up because , in her words,
"It's so dark in here, I can't see the dots on my guitar."
I was excited to see Basehead and was surprised to see a full band
setup. There was little or no sampling which could be heard and he
stuck to a real soul/r and b style moreso than a rap style. However,
the ho's, drinking, and smoking, content of every song wore thin
pretty soon and after about ten minutes I was pretty bored.
Yo la Tengo came on in a burst of feedback and pure noise that lasted
for about ten minutes. Ira and Georgia beat furiously on their
guitars while James McNew beat up his bass and operated Moog bass
pedals for a really weird undercurrent of noise and sensation. Well,
after this little outburst Ira just couldn't figure out why his guitar
wouldn't stay in tune. It was pretty funny. The show, for the most
part was really quiet and mellow with Georgia stepping out from behind
the drums to provide accompaniement on the keyboards. They played a
few of their louder tunes and did a really stretched out version of
"Barnaby, Hardly Working" They also did "Yellow Sarong" as a request
from Chris Stamey. Again, a very enjoyable show - but kind of sleepy.
Belly/Velocity Girl
Cat's Cradle - Chapel Hill - Saturday, May 1
Yaaaaawn! Christ this was one of the most boring shows I've ever seen.
Velocity Girl (who started promptly at ten like a good little opening
band should) sounded over-produced and hollow since they were using
the same sound system and effects as Belly. I missed the first half
of their set and the second half didn't impress me at all. What a
disappointment. I wanted so badly to like Velocity Girl, but their
show was really uninspired and Formulaic.
Belly - avoid, avoid, avoid. It's all really good on album, and once
again I wanted to like them - but, their bass player was so damn
annoying.
she wouldn't shut up between songs. Yeah she played pretty well, as
did the whole band, but everything sounded just like the album. There
were no surprises or highpoints.
Archers of Loaf/81 Mulberry/Rights Reserved - WXYC night
Local 506 - Chapel Hill, Tuesday, April 27
Three Local bands - three bucks. Tuesday nights are turning into one
of the best music values in chapel hill due to this collaboration
between UNC's student run radio station and the new club in town -
Local 506. Some of the music on past Tuesdays had been sloppy and
kind of amateurish But this night was different.
Rights Reserved was a good Fugazi-esque group of locals who played
loud-angry-grungey pop. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more
from these guys.
81 Mulberry, as always just blew my head right off. Duncan is an
absolute monster on the guitar. He definitely learned his Eddie
VanHalen licks well in high school and he uses them so well, just
shredding them and mutating them for his own twisted ittle ends. He
also does a really great angus young head-bob/thrash that adds a
visual aspect to the show that really should be seen to be believed.
These guys are tight/ solid Marshall-driven rock. But, they've got
the greatest hooks and pop melodies running around inside all the
noise that it's impossible not to bob your head along with Duncan.
Their singer, Richie, does a fair amount of screaming interspersed
with his singing, which, at first kind of put me off (on their 7")
But, it works well live, and he's beginning to tone it down a little.
81 Mulberry is consistently one of the best Bands in town and they're
making a big impression on me. I expect great things from them, and a
recently signed record deal with a small british label (i'll find out
which one and tell y'all next week) should push them on their way to
well deserved super stardom. In a guitar-war or wrestling match - 81
Mulberry kicks Superchunk's ass. (actually there's very little
infighting or competition amongst local bands and that last comment is
kind of unfair since everyone supports everyone else in this town).
Archers of Loaf are destined to be one of the big winners in the
record label sweepstakes going on in Chapel Hill right now. Them and
local popsters Small have both signed multi-record deals with Alias
records (2815 Olive Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505). The Archers are a
clean-cut wholesome athletic bunch who play alternately angry and
twisted pop gems like "South Carolina" about being harassed by
rednecks and cops and "Wrong" about a failed/misunderstood
relationship. The chorus of "Wrong," "I was just being honest it's the
least I could do," will swirl around in your head for days after
hearing it once. The same is true of "South Carolina"
Well, live, they're great - lots of motion/ action excitement.
Noisy, jangly, dischordant guitars chiming all over the place atop a
solid rhythm foundation. Damn tasty. And Catchy too.
O.K. this has gone on for a little too long and I'm getting a bit
tired. I'm sure this won't make it in for May 8, but I'll pick up
from here next week and continue on this little musical Journey.
Today is TRASH day in Chapel Hill - a fund raiser for a new local
'zine that's chock-a-block with musical and cultural info. TRASH day
consists of sixteen bands split between two clubs all for $5 and -
food is included in the ticket price. Pretty cool. I'll try to
review what I can of it (I'll be bartending at LOCAL 506 one of the
clubs involved) and will try to shuttle down to the cradle a couple of
times to catch some of the bands there.
Well, I'm back, It's now Thursday, and this didn't make it in time for
last saturday's issue, but this strikes me as a good time to try to
explain things in this town from my point of view. As a newcomer to
C.H. I feel somewhat unqualified to comment on the scene as a whole.
But, no one else from here is writing in Indie-List so, I'll try to do
my best.
Trash day on Saturday kind of epitomized the spirit of this town's
music scene. For one thing, there is no discernible Chapel Hill
sound, and, Chapel Hill isn't the only town around here with a
thriving music scene. What Chapel Hill has (had) that Raleigh and
Durham are lacking is the Cat's Cradle. I also don't know if either
town could have pulled of a day like "Trash Day" with sixteen bands at
two clubs for $5 and food which was donated by local restaurants and
merchants. Burritos, pizza, chili, veggie sandwiches, and sixteen
damn bands! But, without the Cradle (yeahLocal 506 was involved) none
of this would have happened.
As someone wrote in last week's issue, the Cat's Cradle is indeed
closing down on May 19th. Frank Heath, the owner of the Cradle will
be trying to relocate somwhere in town, and there are several rumors
floating around about possible locations, but as it looks now, Chapel
Hill will be Cradle-less through most of the rest of the year. The
situation is this, four years ago, the Cradle moved into its current
location from a smaller location two blocks down the street. The
Cradle, in its twenty four (or five?) year history has occupied five
different locations. Its current incarnation has done much to spawn
the current media attention. The Cradle was graciously allowed to
temporarily locate in the building on West Franklin Street (an old
bank building) while the building's owners looked for a buyer. Well,
four years later, and a buyer/developer has emerged. One rumor is
that the space will be used as a parking lot. Well, in most towns,
the closing of a local club would be cause for celebration among local
politicos and life-long residents. Not so in Chapel Hill. The town
council is actually helping Frank scout new locations for the Cradle.
It will be very interesting to see what this does to the local music
scene, and to see how the whole situation resolves itself.
Well, with the cradle closed, the only place in town left to see
indie/alternative music (as opposed to blues cover bands and frat-rock
crap) is Local 506. I'll reserve my opinion of the new club because I
work there, although there are some good shows coming up (Steel Pole
Bathtub, Railroad Jerk). Local 506, however, is much smaller than the
cradle (250 capacity vs. 750/800 at the Cradle) and won't be able to
accomodate a lot of the larger nationally touring acts that came
through town. The Cave also books some of the cooler local bands on
Sunday nights, but is also way too small to book some of the larger
drawing acts in town.
Now that I've got the venues straight I'll try to explain a little bit
about the diversity of bands in town. It's important to know that
Chapel Hill has a thriving folk-rock scene as well as the more
alternative scene which is getting national attention. With a slew of
Cafe's and coffee shops which book live music, there is usually
someone somewhere with a guitar performing in this town. But, I'll
stick to what y'all are most likely interested in -- Who is the Next
Superchunk? This question may not be as absurd as it sounds. Due to
the nature of the scene, there is a lot of cross-pollination and
in-breeding amongst the local bands.
Let's start with Chuck Garrison, former drummer for the
chunk-meisters. Chuck is currently playing with Pipe and Small, as is
Mike Kenlan. Both bands sound very different despite having Chuck on
Drums and Mike on Guitar. Groves Willis is currently playing in
Family Dollar Pharaohs (along with the Bassist from Zen Frisbee who's
drummer Clint is also in Kung Fu Fighting and the Anubis Leisure
Society), Bobo the Amazing Rubber Faced Boy, and Evil Wiener (whose
guitarist Bill McCormick also plays in Hymen). Matt Goecke of 81
Mulberry is also playing in Spatula. Got it?
You see, it's this screwed up in-breeding that will keep Chapel Hill a
local phenomenon in my opinion. Sure, Small and Archers of Loaf have
signed with Alias, and Superchunk (as far as I still know) are free
agents now, and Jennyanykind somehow managed to sign a deal with
Shimmy-Disc, but the music will continue to go on at people's party's
and more or less as a diversion from the mundane in this town (as it
will just about everywhere, I guess). So let the media believe what
they like, I'll believe it when I see Zen Frisbee or Family Dollar
Pharaohs signed to a major label. I will try to review material in
the future from all the bands mentioned up above. Most of the bands
above performed at "Trash Day." All of them were good in their own
way. No one emerges as "the next S-Chunk" or even as the best band in
town. The styles attitudes and people are so different in each and
everyone of the bands, that it's hard to believe that people are
expecting another Seattle of this place. I don't think we'll see
anything nearly as big and I'm glad for it. There seems to be a
reluctance to let any of this get out of hand it's kind of nice having
a cosy but diverse scene. There certainly will be no "Stone Temple of
the Pearl" or whatever.
[ The in-breeding isn't just Chapel Hill -- ask anyone from DC. - Mark
]
Well' I must be going now. Time to sleep and to let all you nice
people get on with your lives.
So long for now Indie-friends.
Lurid Crapolla (Paul R. Cardillo)
*
From: MGANGLOFF@Gems.VCU.EDU
re: punk bands who attack their audiences
1. there was a rumor on grunge-l that the guitarist for the dwarves
was recently stabbed to death. i haven't heard anything more yet --
does anyone know anything?
2. i interviewed gg allin last night, then saw his show -- i'm writing
both up for the richmond city paper. i can send the interview
transcript to anyone that's interested. email me at
mgangloff@gems.vcu.edu
--mg
*
From: "Josh Ronsen" <rons@midway.uchicago.edu>
Recent listenings:
The Perfect Disaster "Heaven Scent" CD (Fire Records/Dutch East India
Trading). This is a 1990 release, and is surprisingly quite good in
places. They are much much better in doing slow, long songs, than
faster, rocking bits. The first song is awful: imagine the Lilacs
without talent or style. The rest of the disc improved greatly. Then
two slower pieces, which remind me of stuff from Spacemen 3's
"Recurring". The singer at these bits sounds like Lou Reed or Steve
Kilbey. Acoustic guitar, with clean-tone Fenders playing bluesy and
melodic riffs. It is quite good. They should stick with this style, as
their faster number really do not work all that well. The rest of teh
Cd alternates between slow (good) and fast (not-so-good). The CD has 4
extra tracks recorded live, which all all faster numbers, but work a
lot better than the newer recorded fast stuff. Bottom Line: If you
like Spacemen-3-like stuff, perhaps you should seek this out.
Eliot/Liz Phair/Seam at the Lounge Ax, 5/8/93: For once, I got to the
Lounge Ax before the first band started. Local band Eliot (whom I had
not seen before) surprised me: tuneful, melodic, quirky and wonderful
arrangements and instrumentation. The bassist has a cool rickenbacker
with the treble turned all the way up, producing a very harsh, melodic
basis for most of the songs. The guitar playing was cool and adept:
not a wasted note or chord. The only drawback of the band could
possibly be the singer's voice, which reminds me of one of the guys in
They Might Be Giants, but perhaps I could forgive them for this.
Liz Phair was up next, and (at least in Chicago) there has
been a lot of hype about her and her upcomming debut double-LP. Even I
was curious, hype-hater I am, although I am slightly annoyed that hype
exists for someone who has no releases out. The first thing she
announced was that this was her last solo performance: this is a good
thing. None of her material could stand up just by her voice and
guitar: it needed drums and bass and another guitar. Besides that, it
was all ok. Her voice reminded me of the singer in Bettie Servreet,
whom I really can't say that I like. And actually, listening to my
tape of the show, I find her voice annoying. The guitar playing was
ok, but again needed more. It wasn't loud and fast enough to be
interesting, and it wasn't slow and groovy enough to be even more
interesting: just caught in a very dull middle. Let's face it: I was
disappointed (oh Hype, how you've wronged me again) (but at least I
discovered Eliot and it was a benefit for some AIDS research fund or
something). I would not recondmend buying her album when it comes out,
no matter how much Spin or Rolling Stone talks about it (which I am
sure they will). I will be pissed if she becomes The Next Big Thing.
Keeping with my new tradition of not seeing headliners, I did
not see Seam.
Corndolly/Sebadoh (or whatever the fuck they are called)
Lounge Ax, Chicago 5/13/93. The Lounge Ax is by far the coolest place
in Chicago. Corndolly from the depths of deepest darkest Illinois
opened and they were great! Loud guitar rock. Sorta typical
arrangements, but they had style and the right amount of volume. The
lead guitaring (remember, in English, any noun can be verbed...) was a
bit on the weak side, and was shared equally between the two
guitarists (I known none of Corndolly's names, except for the bassist,
who was announced to be leaving the band. They also announced that the
rumor of their impending breakup was false). Anyways, I really
enjoyed the show. I wish I were feeling more eloquent right now, as
this paragraph deserves to be much longer.
I didn't actually see Sebadoh (see above section), but heard
most of them from outside the Ax. Not really my kind of music. If you
want to know how the show was, you'd have to ask Robert Lim (ha ha ha
ha).
Until next week...
Josh Ronsen, Hep Cat, or Lost Kitten?
"Beware of whores who say they do not want money. The Hell they don't.
What they mean is that they want more money. Much more money. These
are some of the most expenisve whores one can find."
-William S. Burroughs
"Advice To The Young"
*
From: Linus Van Pelt <jis@Panix.Com>
------------------------------------- UNREST-- ISABEL CD EP
TeenBeat/4ad/Warner Records
You know, with all the negative things i have heard about this thing
(ie: it has previously released tracks that most Teen Beat fans
already have, and that the remix of Isabel sounds like Spandau Ballet,
etc....), I was really suprised when I got it.....
It's one damn fine CD!
The remix of Isabel is really great. Yeah, it doesn't have that
sweetly melancholy sound of the original on _Imperial f.f.r.r._ but I
don't think it was sin to do what they did to it. In fact, this remix
reminds me alot of early New Order stuff (and maybe Joy Division is
places).....
_Teenage Suicide_ is absolutley fab......
_Yes She is My Skinhead Girl_ is just the same sounding thing that was
on the International Pop Underground single, so it's no better or
worse, but just as fab....
And my fave track is the instrumental _Nation Writer_. Six minutes of
grozzing punky bass. How neato, keen and all those good things us
cool people say ;)
In general, this disc is great.....
And now that they're releasing stuff on 4AD/Warner, I hope that Unrest
gets the fan-base it deserves. Huge and many....
But I just hope that Robin Frasier (Mr. CocteauTwins himself) doesn't
try to produce any Unrest stuff. THAT would make me hurl....
(NOTE: This is not to say that I hate the Cocteau Twins. I love them
to death, but Robin Frasier is just so full of himself when he
produces other groups work that he inevitably drowns out the groups
natural talents, and makes them ALL sound like Cocteau Twins spawn.
Don't believe me. Then listen to the the pre-Robin LUSH collected on
GALA and then listen to the fully Robinized SPOOKY. While it isn't
really bad, I can say that something is lost in the translation.....)
Later...
Linus Van Pelt jis@panix.com "I'm not your sweet baboo!"
*
From: enriquk@instruction.CS.ORST.EDU (everyday oozer)
Hi All!
And greetings from Corvallis...fun town USA (yeah...right).
Well...I'm going to try to compile a top 10 playlist for the Indie
List once a month. So...if you have any connections with a radio
station that plays cool music (predominantly indie music)...send me
the top 25 albums/cds/7" in rotation once a month. I'll try to get
the first top 10 out for the first week of June...so send me your
lists before then (give me enough time to compile the thing). This
may or may not work...since a lot of stations have vastly different
play lists from one another. But we'll give it a try. And hopefully
we'll show that the college stations that we listen to aren't nearly
as dorky as MTV and Rolling Stone would have everyone believe.
now for a couple of reviews:
Mr T Experience/House of Large Sizes/Stagnant Waters/Voodoo Gearshift
4/30/93 in Corvallis
Quite an impressive line-up for a little hick town, eh? Well..the
less than 20 people who decided to turn up for the show certainly got
their money's worth. Too bad the bands and promoters didn't. I'm
sure everyone involved ended up shelling out their own money. It was
too bad...'cuz 3 of the bands were great and had decent attitudes
considering that they weren't being paid. House of Large Sizes were
the only ones who really complained...first demanding $250 up front or
they wouldn't play (like anyone was going to be seeing $250). Then
when they did play it was a half- assed effort. IMO they should have
just not even bothered (can you tell that I didn't get a favorable
impression of HoLS?) Anyway...Voodoo Gearshift were great. Nice
tight kinda-grunge band. They sounded really good (and didn't cop a
big attitude...although I'm sure they weren't really happy about the
lack of people). Stagnant Waters was next. They're a pop-punk band
from Mt. Vernon, WA. The lead singer was really cool...he actually
didn't mind not getting paid...he even gave my friend a free cd for
KBVR (the cds were really cheap anyway...only $5!!! if anyone's
interested I could get the address for you...I haven't listened to
it...but I've been told that an unedited version of Kasey Kasem
slamming U2 is on it...the same one that Negativland sampled from) I
already said enough about House of Large Sizes. Mr T Experience was
really good...you could tell they weren't really happy about the
situation...but they still played a fairly tight set for 30
minutes...and even came back for a 15 min encore...really cool
considering that there were about 20 people there including some of
the other band members and the people putting on the show. All in all
it was a great night of music...too bad so few people turned up.
4 2 Pudding compilation (Very Small Records...sorry I don't have the
address right now...but if anyone wants it just e-mail me) This
compilation is excellent...and quite a bargain too ($6ppd). Mainly
comprised of Berkeley/SF punk bands, this cd is great for upbeat & fun
music. Some of the bands on it are: Sewer Trout, Screeching Weasel,
Downfall, Samiam, Horny Mormons, Econochrist, Fuel, and lots more.
Highly recommended!
Angel Corpus Christi Big Black Cloud/Down 7" (A&R/ENT, PO Box 22113,
San Francisco, CA 94122) Nice, toe-tappin' music...kind of simplistic
like Beat Happening but with an accordian too. Almost reminds me of
mid-80's techno-pop. Fun stuff!
well that's all 4 now! see ya, Kelly
*
From: Brian K!z!K MacDonald <bmacdona@Bonnie.ICS.UCI.EDU>
Hey, I just wanted to make corrections on the names of the Trumans
Water folk before I left you with a huge profile:
Trumans Water are:
Glen Galloway: guitar, vocals (this is unchanged)
Kevin Branstetter: bass, vocals (this was GRAMstetter before)
Kirk Branstetter: guitar, vocals (ditto)
Eli Moyal: drums, vocals (I didn't know Eli's last name before)
All right, now we're up to date. BTW, I sent a new updated profile
of Trumans Water not too long ago on the net
(alt.music.alternative,
alt.music.hardcore, rec.music.misc). I didn't feel it was
appropriate
to resend a huge profile with minor adjustments on such a respected
quality mailing list as this fine establishment, so I didn't.
(However, I'll mail it to anyone who asks for it.)
Anyway, the only other change is that the new Trumans Water 7" is
out. It's called _Hey_Fish_ (on Drunken Fish records) and I
haven't
got it yet. However, if any of you feel adventurous enough, check
it
out and review it. (I'm sure it is more than fab).
If anyone has any live reviews in the UK, send them this way. I'm
interested to see the reaction.
Thanks. K!z!K
[Submitted by: Mark Cornick (cornick@access.digex.net)
Sat, 15 May 1993 16:43:43 -0400 (EDT)]