RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Saturday, May 17
All Your Science
Rachel Van Slyke    (http://www.myspace.com/rachelvanslyke)
Fictional Detectives    (http://www.myspace.com/fictionaldetectives)
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

This show is at 3:00 p.m; BCHQ says "Benefit for the Durham Bike Co-op! 
Afternoon show followed by bike ride. Rachel is currently touring the 
country on her bike!!"



Saturday, May 17
The Delta Drift    (http://deltadrift.com)
Sadlack's Heroes, Raleigh



Saturday, May 17
S.C.O.T.S.    (http://www.scots.com/)
Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies 
(http://www.myspace.com/violetvectorandthelovelylovelies)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

It's still more than a month until Summer, but this show feels like the 
official kickoff of the season. VVLL bring the breezy, bell-heavy 
girl-group pop, and SCOTS (of course) crank up the humidity with their 
swampy originals & choice covers.



Saturday, May 17
Velvet    (http://www.velvetpop.com)
Midnite Sun    (http://www.myspace.com/midnite_sun)
Jack Sprat Cafe, Chapel Hill



Saturday, May 17
Red Collar    (http://www.myspace.com/redcollarmusic)
Hammer No More the Fingers    (http://www.hnmtf.com)
Pneurotics    (http://www.myspace.com/pneurotics)
The Proclivities    (http://www.myspace.com/theproclivities)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is a CD-release party for the Pneurotics.



Saturday, May 17
Rahdunes    (http://www.myspace.com/mindzoo666)
Jooklo Duo
Clearvoiant
Todos Somos Ninjas
Black Yeti
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Saturday, May 17
Jimmy & The Teasers    (http://www.geocities.com/booze1031/teasers.html)
Table    (http://www.myspace.com/table)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Saturday, May 17
Dexter Romweber and the New Romans 
(http://www.myspace.com/dexterromweber)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Dexter Romweber and the New Roman's are Dex's large band, generally 
featuring 2 drummers, 2 guitars, bass, keyboards, and a horn section. 
For Dexter, a man whose love of Louis Prima goes back to early 
childhood, the New Romans must be a chance to hear the songs onstage the 
way they sound in his head.



Sunday, May 18
Dexter Romweber    (http://www.dexterromweber.com)
Billy Sugarfix    (http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/billysugarfix.htm)
The Tremors    (http://www.tremorsrockabilly.com/)
Killer Filler    (http://www.myspace.com/killerfiller)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is a Zombie Party (!), hosted by local cable-access Monster 
Creature Feature host Ormon Grimsby. Charlotte's Tremors were an obvious 
choice, as they routinely rock the monster/zombie makeup shtick already.



Sunday, May 18
Hundred Air    (http://www.myspace.com/hundredair)
My Dad is Dead    (http://mydadisdead.com)
Argyle Denial    (http://www.myspace.com/argyledenial)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

If you google My Dad is Dead Cleveland, you get 1.1 million hits. If you 
google My Dad is Dead Carrboro, you only get 2300. Yet he lives in 
Carrboro, and has for most of this century.

He moved here for love, which may explain why all the songs on the last 
MDID album were so damn lovey-dovey and happy-sounding.

Argyle Denial are Cleveland-ites, and the song I heard on MySpace was a 
pretty freaking rippin' garage-surf rocker.

Hundred Air are the countryish mope-pop band of Adam Price, who was in 
the Comas & the Mayflies USA back in the '90s.



Sunday, May 18
Tooth    (http://www.myspace.com/toothrocks)
Javelina    (http://www.myspace.com/javelinaphiladelphia)
Horsefang    (http://www.myspace.com/horsefang)
Hell, Chapel Hill

There is no better metal band in North Carolina than Tooth. Period. Full 
stop.



Monday, May 19
Dutchess Headbangerr    (http://www.myspace.com/dutchessheadbangerr)
Yo Majesty    (http://www.myspace.com/yomajesty4life)
Rosetta Stoned    (http://www.myspace.com/rosettas)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, May 20
Dexter Romweber    (http://www.dexterromweber.com)
The Garage, Winston-Salem



Tuesday, May 20
Stinking Lizaveta    (http://www.stinkinglizaveta.com/)
Torche    (http://www.myspace.com/Torche)
The Sword
Lincoln Theater, Raleigh



Tuesday, May 20
Tiger Piss    (http://www.myspace.com/tigerpissrock)
Hell, Chapel Hill



Wednesday, May 21
The Graves of Fairmount    (http://www.myspace.com/thegravesoffairmount)
The Cotton Jones Basket Ride 
(http://www.myspace.com/thecottonjonesbasketride)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

The Graves of Fairmount are, on record, an indie-rock band who seem to 
hold Paul Westerberg and Belle & Sebastian in equally high regard. 
They're also almost entirely the work of one guy, Paul O'Keefe, so I'm 
unclear as to what they're like onstage. He cites Portastatic as a major 
influence, so if that's to be our guide, then anybody who has both heard 
a Portastatic album and seen a Mac-solo Portastatic show can draw their 
own conclusions.



Wednesday, May 21
Irata    (http://myspace.com/iratalive)
Boat Burning    (http://www.myspace.com/55118578)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Wednesday, May 21
Beloved Binge    (http://www.myspace.com/belovedbinge)
Grappling Hook    (http://www.myspace.com/torchmaraudersgrapplinghook)
Marionette    (http://www.myspace.com/marionettebandpage)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Beloved Binge are just a few months away from departing on their 
year-long Vanagon tour (assuming they actually manage to procure a 
Vanagon that's not inches from death), so your chances to see them are 
about to get much fewer & further between.

The Grappling Hook are by far the best space/fantasy prog-metal band 
currently working the Triangle, and if I left it at that, you might 
think I was being facetious. They're a supergroup: keyboardist Jenny 
Greer and gtr/bassist Dave Heller were at the core of Analogue/Analogue 
II, drummer Evan Rowe propels the Maple Stave, and singer Dave Bjorkback 
is The Torch Marauder. Their riffs are massive, unstoppable, and go on 
for long enough that you enter a kind of fugue state, until Bjorkback's 
insane vocals about conquistators and shit snap you halfway out of it.



Thursday, May 22
Reid Johnson
Filthybird    (http://www.myspace.com/filthybird)
Soft Company    (http://www.myspace.com/softcompany)
Chop Chop    (http://thechopchop.com)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

The show of the week, courtesy of two bands fronted by women who sing & 
play piano. If this were Newsweek Magazine, I'd call it a trend.

Filthybird are clearly influenced by Joni Mitchell's mid-70's 
jazz-influenced freakout music; singer/pianist Renee Mendoza has an 
extraordinary set of pipes, and she's paired them with a band that's 
more than capable of following her as far up/out as she wants to go.

Soft Company's influences are harder to pin down, in part because there 
are so damn many of them, and they've been in so many other bands 
(Audubon Park, Piedmont Charisma, Hotel Motel, Razzle, Erie Choir). 
Dunno if it was intentional, but to my ears, the sum of those parts 
achieves some of the pop-anarchy of early (Eno-era) Roxy Music.

Neither of these bands are well-served by the underpowered PA at the 
Cave, but if you stand right up front, next to a speaker, you'll be all 
right (more than all right: it'll be like joining the band for a night).



Thursday, May 22
Left Outlet    (http://www.myspace.com/leftoutlet)
Tir Na Nog, Raleigh



Thursday, May 22
Dead to Society    (http://www.myspace.com/deadtosociety101)
Veronica Blood    (http://www.myspace.com/veronicablood)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Thursday, May 22
Dirty Little Heaters    (http://www.thedirtylittleheaters.com)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Friday, May 23
Jule Brown    (http://www.julebrown.org)
Joe Romeo    (http://www.myspace.com/joeromeomusic)
Jack Sprat Cafe, Chapel Hill



Friday, May 23
Lost in the Trees    (http://www.lostinthetrees.com)
Efterklang    (http://www.myspace.com/efterklang)
Slaraffenland    (http://www.myspace.com/slaraffenland)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

The two Danish-sounding bandnames belong to two bands from Copenhagen, 
both of whom seem to be doing a kinda druggy baroque chamber-pop type 
thing. Sounded fun for 30 seconds on MySpace, anyway. And they're from 
freaking Denmark, which still counts as a +1 in my book. CDs from 
foreign lands are easy. *Musicians* from foreign lands, especially with 
Homeland Security being the assholes that they are, are still pretty 
hard to come by.



Friday, May 23
Bibis Ellison    (http://www.myspace.com/bibisellison)
Lonnie Walker    (http://www.myspace.com/lonniewalker)
Lake Inferior    (http://www.myspace.com/lakeinferiormusic)
Lacrymosa    (http://www.myspace.com/lacrymosa)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Friday, May 23
Legion of the Fallen    (http://www.myspace.com/legionofthefallen)
Caltrop    (http://www.myspace.com/caltropband)
Colossus    (http://www.myspace.com/thecolossuswillcrushyou)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Caltrop are the kings of NC uber-heavy slow/crazy riffage; their 
upcoming album on Holidays for Quince is tops on my list of stuff that's 
going to make this summer great (yeah, even though I haven't heard it 
yet . . . I've seen 'em enough to know that they're the Real Deal, plus 
their debut EP was awe-inspiring).



Friday, May 23
The Kick Ass    (http://bifocalmedia.com/ourbands/thekickass.html)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Saturday, May 24
Audubon Park    (http://audubonpark.blogspot.com)
Le Weekend    (http://www.myspace.com/leweekendleband)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Since Audubon Park frontman David Nahm is currently living in East 
Bumfuck, Virginia, yr chances to see Audubon Park have been seriously 
constrained. So don't snooze on this one; they're still about the best 
amalgam of brilliant pop and impenetrable melodic confusion around.



Saturday, May 24
Fin Fang Foom    (http://www.lovitt.com/artists/finfangfoom.html)
Kerbloki    (http://www.kerbloki.com/)
Monsonia    (http://www.monsonia.com)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Two bands specializing in postpunk rumble; the third (Kerbloki) grafts 
the rhythm section from uber-heavy local metallers Caltrop onto a 
Beasties-influenced party-hip-hop band, with predictably mystifying results.



Saturday, May 24
Ruscha    (http://www.myspace.com/ruscha)
Fighting Poseidon    (http://www.myspace.com/fightingposeidon)
Nightstick    (http://www.myspace.com/nightstickband)
Hell, Chapel Hill

Poseidon won.



Saturday, May 24
The Needles    (http://www.moonrockneedles.com/)
Dropsonic    (http://www.myspace.com/dropsonic)
Luxury Pushers
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Sunday, May 25
The Sammies    (http://www.myspace.com/thesammies)
The Houstons
Huguenots    (http://www.myspace.com/thehuguenotsmusic)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, May 27
Detroit Cobras    (http://www.motorcityrocks.com/cobras.htm)
X    (http://www.xtheband.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

Ever since Mission of Burma reunited and kicked everybody's asses up & 
down the east coast, I've found it difficult to cling to my old 
resolution to always resist reunion tours. I never saw X (opportunities 
to see the attenuated, compromised post-Billy Zoom version of the band 
never really interested me), but those first three albums are still near 
the top of my punkrock canon. So I'm taking a chance on this 
original-members reunion tour, and hoping that, if nothing else, I get 
to see Billy Zoom standing there with his feet about 7 feet apart, 
shit-eating grin on his face, nothing moving but his hands as he flings 
one classic riff after another out into the room.



Tuesday, May 27
The Karloffs
3 Christs    (http://www.myspace.com/the3christs)
Virgo 9    (http://www.myspace.com/thevirgonine)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, May 27
Double Negative    (http://www.myspace.com/thedoublenegative)
Logic Problem
Chronic Seizure
Double Down, Raleigh

The Raleigh rock scene moves in mysterious ways, and thus this little 
dive bar on the fringes of the Glenwood South yuppie zone has become the 
new home of the Raleigh hardcore scene.



--------> http://www.trianglerock.com <--------