RTP-area local music and culture

[grady AT ibiblio.org]

I'm going to the beach in a few hours, so don't lay any trips on me 
about inaccuracies & whatnot, as I won't be around to care. Also you 
should go check out the Flicker website 
(http://www.flickerfestival.com/flicker/50feet.html) & learn about their 
50 Feet of Good and Evil movie-making party/project fun-day thing next 
Saturday.

Otherwise, rock out:

Saturday, May 1
Utah! [http://www.utah-rock.com], Torch Marauder, Proof, Continent
Kings, Raleigh

This show is presented by Axis of Change, and their philosophy in this
election is "Anybody but Bush." I'm not sure if that means they're
pro-Nader or not (I mean, on the one hand, "anybody" implies that they
don't care who you vote for as long as it isn't W; on the other hand,
voting for anybody other than Kerry is pretty much going to guarantee
that the outcome is Bush, so perhaps "anybody" means "suck it up and
vote for Kerry because he's better than W"). I don't really care,
actually, because anything that promotes political awareness is a Good
Thing.

AND because these are four great bands, and that's reason enough to
attend anyway. Utah! might occasionally get called "chamber-pop" due
to their use of cello, but they're way too propulsive (at times,
explosive) for that term to fit. I prefer to think of them as a
rockband who've figured out how to use drone to good advantage.

Torch Marauder is riding high on the success of his 2nd CD, which is
called something like "Boxers, Painters and Snappers," and I know I
should know that for sure, but I keep getting it confused with
Spatula's "Medium Planers and Matchers." I assume the Torch's title is
a turtle reference, but I don't know the details. But I digress: He's
blue, he's grown more comfortable with revealing his sensitive side,
and he's got some making-up to do with himself. He's back to
accompanying himself for this show, and I'm not sure he's really
gotten over the insult of being kicked to the curb in favor of the
full band that he had for his CD-release party. Might make for an
interesting evening.

Continent I haven't seen, but they're various ex-members of
Ladderback, who were a fascinating and pretty-fucking-brilliant
spazz-core band from Raleigh, along with Sam Taylor, who used to front
El Sucio, who were fucking huge.

Finally, Proof includes ex-members of Cole, along with Greg Eyman of
Goner, and did somebody tell me that Linc Hancock (ex-White Octave)
was also playing with them? Is that possible? Can they be that lucky?



Monday, May 3
usaisamonster [http://www.loadrecords.com/bands/usaisamonster.html],
Happy Mother's Day, I Can't Read, Ova! [http://www.ovasite.com/]
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

usaisamonster are yet another gtr-drums duo on Load Records out of
sunny Providence, RI. I can't keep 'em all straight but I can only
assume that includes some thrashing and spazzing and screaming, but I
dunno for sure. The other two outfits are associated with
[http://www.freedom-from.com] freedom-from which is just plain
high-order weirdness.



Tuesday, May 4
Sebadoh [http://www.sebadoh.com/], Cub Country
[http://www.jadetree.com/bandpages/bio_cubcountry.html]
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Thursday, May 6
Beauty Pill [http://www.beautypill.com/], Ben Davis + The Calculators
[http://www.lovitt.com/artists/bendavis.html], Manamid
[http://www.manamid.com]
Project Space 211, Winston-Salem

Manamid are from Greensboro, and they make post-Fugazi
married-former-punks-with-kids rock. Ben Davis & his Calculators just
got back from Japan, where they appear to have had an excellent time,
at least judging from the photos I've seen. I should also mention that
they rock mightily and set some sort of standard for literate
post-indie-whatever rock.



Thursday, May 6
Erie Choir, Hotel Lights
Go! Studios Rm. 4, Carrboro

Erie Choir make soft, somewhat mournful but not-without-hope "rock"
music. They exist pretty much to showcase the singing/songwriting of
Sorry About Dresden guitarist Eric Roehrig. Bonus points if you can
figure out what happened to the RG.



Friday, May 7
Schooner, Bellafea [http://www.bellafea.com/], Ticonderoga, The Sames
[http://www.thesames.com]
Go! Studios Rm. 4, Carrboro

This is a CD-release party for the new Schooner CD, which I haven't
yet heard. I *have* heard demos for it, and of course their track on
Compulation Volume 1, "Long Long Time," which was too sappy for me by
half. The demo version was much grittier and lacked some of the studio
foo-fah, and I found myself liking it way more than I expected to,
given that it was essentially the same song. So: I guess we'll all
find out together what the new CD sounds like.

Bellafea are one of my personal fave local outfits, for their
sartorial flair, their ability to do more-with-less (they're a
gtr-drums duo), and for Heather's habit of throwing her head back and
yowling at appropriate moments.

The Sames write great popsongs and deliver them with a full-bore
two-guitar wall-of-noise attack that leaves the pop fans scratching
their heads & the rockfans gazing in rapt admiration.



Friday, May 7
Clang Quartet, Ahleuchatistas, Black Castle
[http://www.enterblackcastle.com]
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Black Castle are from Raleigh; they use synths & bass & a lot of
screaming to make hellacious electro-trash-screamo. Former members of
Witchcraft by a Picture, if that means anything to you, which it
should if you like that stuff.

Clang Quartet is one Scotty Irving, ex-drummer for Geezer Lake, who
has for many many years now been performing solo as Clang Quartet,
making all kinds of racket with a variety of homemade percussion
instruments and in so doing, somehow, testifying about his faith in
Jesus. Really. He's also one of the nicest men I've ever met.



Saturday, May 8
The Dirtbombs [http://www.thedirtbombs.net/], The 45s, Jimmy & The
Teasers [http://www.geocities.com/booze1031/teasers.html]
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Saturday, May 8
The Loners [http://www.demonbeachrecords.com/loners.html], Anderson
Airplane, Can Joann [http://www.canjoann.com/], Buckthorn Superstar
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Loners are from Raleigh; they're an utterly kickass r&b/blues/garage
duo, who are great on record but about 100 times as good live.
Anderson Airplane trims it down even more: he's a ONE-piece
guitar/drums garage-blues-stomp machine.



Saturday, May 8
Sentinel
Go! Studios Rm. 4, Carrboro

Sentinel are from Chapel Hill; they've got ex-members of The Weapon,
whom I never saw, although I did hear their side of a split 7" that I
believe never came out. In any case, they've got heavy-ass-guitars,
bass, drums, and on CD that sort of faraway-sounding scream/singing
that serves to make everything else sound huger. I'm assuming that in
person, their stage volume achieves that nicely.



Saturday, May 8
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
[http://www.daptonerecords.com/pages/stable_sharon.html]
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Daptone is a weird 60s-organ-jazz-funk/soul/R&B revival label out of
New York. Their roster includes Lee Fields, who has since the 60s
worked happily in the shadow of the influence of James Brown, although
for the past many years I'd wager he'd blow James off the stage. Lee's
not on this tour, but Sharon Jones is, backed by the label's house
band the Dap-Kings. She's younger than Lee by a few decades, but she's
eerily able to re-create that fat, warm 60s soul sound, even when
she's covering Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately."
Since the Dap-Kings include a pretty hefty horn section, I'm going to
go out on a limb and predict this show's gonna rock the fucking house
down.



Sunday, May 9
North Elementary [http://www.northelementary.com], Goner
[http://www.gonertheband.com/]
Kings, Raleigh

This is the matinee show, which means you show up at 5:00 or so, or
you miss the rock action. This afternoon's lineup includes Chapel
Hill's North Elementary, which has half the original Comas, pursuing a
similarly-befuddled-and-woozy psych-pop agenda. And Goner, who make
something I can't help but wanna call "emo" with bass, synths and
drums. In fact, though they bear little resemblance to the bands that
the popular press currently thinks of as "emo," Goner are both more
genuinely emotional, *and* more deserving of widespread teen
love-and-admiration. Teen People, are you listening?



Sunday, May 9
Chris Brokaw [http://www.chrisbrokaw.com/], Antietam
[http://www.carrottoprecords.com/artists/antietam/], Evening Pines
Go! Studios Rm. 4, Carrboro



Sunday, May 9
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
[http://www.daptonerecords.com/pages/stable_sharon.html]
Kings, Raleigh

I'm just gonna cut-and-paste what I said about Sharon Jones & the
Dap-Kings for yesterday's 506 show:

Sharon Jones, backed by the Daptone label's house band the Dap-Kings,
is eerily able to re-create that fat, warm 60s soul sound, even when
she's covering Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately."
Since the Dap-Kings include a pretty hefty horn section, I'm going to
go out on a limb and predict this show's gonna rock the fucking house
down.



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