There are several new and important releases available at the record stores, as well as a bunch of upcoming live shows you might really want to know about in advance, and there were even a few shows I caught over the past two weeks that I haven’t written about yet so I should just dig right in. First off, if you read this in time on Thursday evening, you should immediately haul ass down to the Eagle Tavern for a very special line-up of entertainment, part of the 7th annual Mission Creek Music Festival, starting at 9 pm with the wonderful brooding dark and brilliant sounds of Waycross, a very under-rated local act featuring Doug Hilsinger, the man who runs Thursday nights live at the Eagle, Caroleen Beatty, a singer/songwriter of unyielding talent, Sunshine Haire on guitar and Bruce Ducheneaux on drums. After that comes one of my favorite local acts, The Vanishing, with their spooky guitar-less synth sax and drum driven gothic disco, followed by Oxbow, a truly intense and harrowing band of noise terrorists whose live shows are reportedly mind-blowing and confrontational and finally, a fantastic way to close on a high note, the incredible Extra Action Marching Band returns to the Eagle to inhabit the place like no other musical group can or ever has. It is a spectacle not to be missed, so if you’re reading this, run don’t walk to the eagle, you got to see this great line-up of entertainment.
I caught a show about two weeks ago that was short sweet and formidably hard-hitting in that great old dirty angst-ridden renegade rock and roll way, and that band was The Kills. Hailing from London, this male female duo, the girl a 23 year old ex-patriot from Florida who goes by the nickname VV and the guy a guitar slinging Londoner a few years older who calls himself Hotel and has one of the best rock and roll sneers I’ve seen since Sid Vicious, really tore it up live. What’s even better is their debut LP, Keep on the Mean Side perfectly mirrors the fury and the blunt assertion of the authentic fundamental blues style The Kills have such a firm grasp on. Unhampered by superfluous technological enhancements (perhaps taking a tip from the winning recording methods of The White Stripes Elephant, this disc was recorded at the same pre-digital facility with the same engineer), it burns white hot and exposed like the truth, like the symbiotic charge that passes between VV and Hotel when their eyes lock onstage and they are so intent upon each other the whole world drops away and what’s left is something primal, resonant with heat and totally alive. The pared down approach of this band, a guitarist, a vocalist, and a drum machine with VV picking up an additional guitar for one or two songs, really didn’t make for any sense of inadequacy, what wasn’t there wasn’t missed, the stage, like their sound was complete. These two mysterious and explosive individuals have star quality in spades, punctuated by a reckless sexual tension and a gimmee danger attitude. There set ended and I was totally thrilled and impressed by the fact that they didn’t return for an encore, it’s a tired ritual. I stopped by their merchandise table and bought a button that says, “Fuck the people”. I enjoy that sentiment. I also just learned that The Kills return to Bottom of The Hill on July 28 so get your tickets now and buy Keep on The Mean Side, its one of the best listens of the year so far.
Speaking of great records, I was totally thrilled to see that The Gossip have just released a new full length LP on Kill Rockstars called Movement. It’s their second LP, following last years Arkansas Heat, a six song EP that has some great moments but it wasn’t 12 full songs of ass-shaking, liberating, sexy sweaty soulful pared down blues genius sung by Beth Ditto, arguably one of the most exciting vocalists to burst onto the indie rock scene in years. Movement is all that and more. The disc drops in on a really wonderful band showing definite progression and growth while reinforcing the best qualities present at the core of their conception, that indelible D.I.Y. sensibility, the unstoppable spirit and belief in the power and transformative qualities of music, how creativity set them free from the small minds, prejudices and a stunted confining way of life their hometown of Searcy, Arkansas held in store for them if they didn’t get out.
If you’ve seen The Gossip live you know it’s like a sermon Beth preaches to the audience between songs, how to believe in yourself and not let anything beat you down, how to escape and break free of those places and people who want to confine you with their ideas, saddle you with their weaknesses, break your spirit. The three individuals in The Gossip found their way out of Arkansas and to Olympia Washington where they were embraced by the established indie rock scene and in no time found themselves opening for Sleater-Kinney on a national tour, and they’ve been ardently touring and putting out records ever since.
With the first cut on Movement, “Nite,” Beth tears into the vocal with such urgent and startling vehemence it gave me chills, and in that first delivered vocal line when you think she’s hit the top of her vocal prowess, she continues with the ascent, climbing higher and going further than I thought possible and bringing to mind the legendary performance of blues legend Etta James on her famous live version of “Baby What You Want Me To Do.” I’m not kidding, Beth Ditto’s already amazing voice hits upon relentless fucking brilliance with each song. It’s hard to believe this full throttle intensity comes from a 21-year-old girl. She shows a versatility and broadened capacity that her recent soulful duets with the unusual Har Mar Superstar, the 23 year old white boy who sings like Stevie Wonder and looks like Ron Jeremy, only hint at.
The band flexes some new muscle too with more complex and skillful arrangements as well as adding more meat to the bones of their basic blues and rockabilly riffs, achieving a more solid sound textured with layers of thickening distortion and at times a quicker and harder pace. It’s very apparent that each member has become a better musician, in that way that only constant touring and playing can do. Movement is an unstoppable celebration of a band borne of motion, which brings to mind another of Beth’s expressed beliefs, “If y’all aren’t dancing you might as well just get gone.” After you buy this record you probably ought to buy yourself a ticket for their August 5th show at Bottom of The Hill because they definitely will sell out .
Another upcoming show of note is a double bill featuring a couple of formerly based in Sacramento bands who pulled up stakes and moved to New York about a year ago, joining a burgeoning New York scene of bands exploring the more danceable and rhythmic and experimental end of things. They definitely were influenced and inspired by a lot of late 70’s and early 80’s bands who took the post-punk path towards ethnic rhythms, funk and experimental jazz elements like Talking Heads, Liquid Liquid, Bush Tetras, ESG, The Contortions, etc., yet an aggressive second generation punk aggression fueled their sound and energy. The bands are !!! (pronounced chick chick chick) and Outhud and they are coming to Bottom of The Hill for two nights in a row June 24 and 25. This double-whammie of two bands guaranteed to make you move is facilitated by the fact that they share a few members but who am I to complain? Both bands have great records out and by the time this show rolls into town, !!!’s long-awaited second LP should be out and if it is even half as exciting as their first it will be occupying my decks with regularity. Be there if you wonder why you haven’t been out dancing in awhile.
Finally, there’s another great band coming to, you guessed it, Bottom of The Hill on July 9 and that’s The Soledad Bros., a duo from Detroit who put out two really stellar blues/R&B based rootsy retro rockin’ discs that have shown a real staying power in my DJ rotations. They’ve got lots of integrity, skill and respect for their influences and I’ve heard they really can burn in the live situation. It is also my understanding that one of The Soledad Bros. Is Meg White’s boyfriend. This should be a fun show.
Gee, I had a few more records to write up but I ran out of room so I’ll just list them as recommended and you can shop accordingly
The Detroit Cobras—Seven Easy Pieces (this vocalist is fucking awesome)
The Murder City Devils—R.I.P. (live recording of a great band who are no longer)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs—Fever To Tell (believe the hype, this band has epic rock and roll swagger
The Mountain Goats–Tallahassee–a folk-y excursion through the hell that destroys one couple. Abysmally beautiful and sad