RTP-area local music and culture

[Ross Grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

OK, this is way too many shows for any 8-day period. SXSW plz get over 
with, plz. Thx!



Tuesday, March 8
The Invisible Hand    (http://www.myspace.com/adamsmith)
Americans in France    (http://www.myspace.com/americansinfrance)
Naked Gods    (http://www.myspace.com/nakedgods)
Milagres
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

The upcoming Americans in France album keeps finding its way back onto 
the stereo here; it has some of the whacked-out funny/ominous feel of 
Evol/Sister-era Sonic Youth, and there's not much higher praise 
available in my lexicon.



Tuesday, March 8
Dum Dum Girls    (http://www.myspace.com/dumdumgirls)
Reading Rainbow    (http://www.myspace.com/levarmotherfuckingburton)
Dirty Beaches    (http://www.myspace.com/dirtybeaches)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, March 8
New Euphemisms
John Brodeur
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Wednesday, March 9
Doom Bunny
The Demon Beat
Dirty Slang
Tickle Switch
Motorco Music Hall, Durham



Wednesday, March 9
Spider Bags    (http://www.myspace.com/spiderbags)
Last Year's Men    (http://www.myspace.com/lastyearsmenband)
X-Ray Eyeballs    (http://kaninerecords.com/xray-eyeballs)
The Pinhook, Durham

There are at least 8 shows tonight in the Triangle, which is about 4 too 
many for a Wednesday night, particularly given that many of the bands 
are hardly household names.

Lucky for you, you really only need to pay attention to ONE of 'em, and 
it's this one. Last Year's Men & Spider Bags are perennially 
neck-and-neck when it comes to the question of who's the badassest 
garage-rock outfit in the Triangle. A year ago it would've been Spider 
Bags hands-down, but then they made the mistake of taking three young 
lads from Chapel Hill under their wings, showed them the ropes, and now 
they're locked in a death-battle for dominance of any stage where the 
PBR is served in 16-oz tallboys.



Wednesday, March 9
Trashcan Sinatras    (http://www.trashcansinatras.com/)
Tim Carless
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Wednesday, March 9
Pinche Gringo    (http://www.myspace.com/pinchegringoband)
The Ill Family    (http://www.myspace.com/theillfamily)
High Points
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

I'm told (by Nightlight) that High Points are a Filthybird spinoff/side 
project.



Wednesday, March 9
Fujiyama Roll    (http://www.myspace.com/fujiyamaroll)
Barron    (http://www.myspace.com/barronnc)
The Bamfs
The Casbah, Durham



Wednesday, March 9
Astronautalis    (http://www.myspace.com/astronautalis)
Sims
Mr. Invisible
Kings, Raleigh



Wednesday, March 9
The Small Ponds
My Cousin the Emperor
Pour House, Raleigh



Wednesday, March 9
American Aquarium    (http://www.americanaquarium.com/)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Thursday, March 10
Animal Alphabet
Katharine Whalen and Her Fascinators 
(http://www.myspace.com/katharinewhalen)
Billy Sugarfix's Carousel    (http://www.reverbnation.com/billysugarfix)
The Casbah, Durham

I saw Katharine Whalen open for the Carolina Chocolate Drops, 
accompanied by William Dawson of the Alcazar Hotel, and it was really 
wonderful.



Thursday, March 10
Scarlet Virginia    (http://www.reverbnation.com/scarletvirgini)
Louder Moonlight
Plume Giant    (http://www.plumegiant.com/)
Of Whiskey and Blood    (http://www.reverbnation.com/ofwhiskeyandblood)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham



Thursday, March 10
des_ark    (http://www.des-ark.org)
Bellafea    (http://www.bellafea.com/)
Pygmy Lush    (http://www.myspace.com/pygmylush)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

There's a new des_ark album -- like really, like I've heard it, and seen 
video of other human beings actually holding copies of it in literal 
three-dimensional space. They're touring as a three-piece for most of 
this tour, but as it turns out this week Noah Howard has to miss some 
shows due to family illness, so it'll be Aimee and drummer-for-this-tour 
Johnny Ward, who has a great arms-akimbo hard-hitting style. No matter. 
One thing you know if you know des_ark is that something mystical is 
gonna happen as long as you've got the sense to shut up & listen for it.



Thursday, March 10
Cults    (http://cults.bandcamp.com/)
Small Black    (http://www.myspace.com/smallblacksounds)
Sun Airway    (http://www.myspace.com/sunairway)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Can you still be a buzz band if you're signed to Sony?



Thursday, March 10
The Loners    (http://www.demonbeachrecords.com/loners.html)
Huguenots    (http://www.myspace.com/thehuguenotsmusic)
Tir Na Nog, Raleigh

Local Bands, Local Beers. I think they're focusing on a single local 
brewery per week nowadays, and I think this week it's Aviator, but I 
could be wrong.



Thursday, March 10
Antibubbles
Little Gold    (http://www.myspace.com/littlegoldsongs)
Heaven's Jail
Kings, Raleigh



Thursday, March 10
Feast Upon Thy Brother    (http://www.myspace.com/feastuponthybrother)
Squall    (http://www.myspace.com/squallband666)
Earthling
Motorco Music Hall, Durham



Thursday, March 10
Lonnie Walker    (http://www.myspace.com/lonniewalker)
Motel Motel    (http://www.myspace.com/motelmotel)
Dinosaur Feathers
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Friday, March 11
Harvey Milk    (http://www.myspace.com/harveymilk)
Systems
Dark Sea Dream
The Casbah, Durham

Harvey Milk are one of my favorite bands of all time, heavy-as-shit 
division. They're from Athens and have precious little in common with a 
lot of bands who might spring to mind from that town. But then they have 
precious little in common with most other bands on Earth. They can play 
a sort of brutal boogie, or they can slow it down to glacial pace, but 
it's not the measured massive flowing slowness of a band like Earth; 
it's more a lurching tectonic tense-and-release.



Friday, March 11
Yellow Fever    (http://www.myspace.com/yellerfever)
Wild Flag    (http://www.myspace.com/wildflag)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is it, the Chapel Hill debut of Portland[ia] supergroup (and Merge 
recording artists) Wild Flag, featuring Mary Timony (Helium), Carrie 
Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney), Janet Weiss (S-K, Quasi) and Rebecca Cole 
(the Minders).



Friday, March 11
The Sammies    (http://www.myspace.com/thesammies)
Fan Tan    (http://www.myspace.com/fantanrock)
Wesley Wolfe
The Pinhook, Durham

Fan Tan are a bunch of folks who used to live here & then moved away. 
Sammies are from over near Charlotte somewhere, and they make this weird 
& kinda wonderful hybrid of classic rock & The Cure, or something. 
Wesley Wolfe writes the best bitter, biting self-deprecating popsongs in 
town.



Friday, March 11
Pontiak    (http://www.myspace.com/pontiak)
Horseback    (http://www.myspace.com/horsebacknoise)
White Hills    (http://www.myspace.com/whitehills)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

This version of Horseback features Jenks on guitar & vox, longtime 
collaborator John Couch on drums, local recordist (and Monsonia bassist) 
Nick Peterson on bass, and HOG guitarist Richard James on guitar. At the 
Bull City Metal Fest they worked through a chunk of "The Invisible 
Mountain" that was every bit as epic as the album, but bigger, more 
fluid, more alive.



Friday, March 11
The Tender Fruit    (http://www.myspace.com/thetenderfruit)
Sharon Van Etten    (http://www.myspace.com/sharonvanetten)
Ava Luna    (http://www.myspace.com/avalunaband)
Kings, Raleigh

By virtue of multiple tours & close friendships with Triangle folks like 
Bowerbirds & Megafaun, Sharon Van Etten is practically an honorary 
Carolinian. Her 2010 LP, "Epic," packs quite a wallop for a record 
that's only 32 minutes long.

The Tender Fruit has fluctuated wildly in numbers & makeup, but at its 
core it's a showcase for the brilliant songwriting (and breathtaking 
voice) of Christy Smith.



Friday, March 11
The Toddlers    (http://www.myspace.com/thetoddlersmusic)
Shithorse
Pussy Mountain
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Friday, March 11
A Place to Bury Strangers    (http://www.myspace.com/aplacetoburystrangers)
Free Electric State    (http://www.myspace.com/freeelectricstate)
Hooray for Earth    (http://hoorayforearth.net/)
Motorco Music Hall, Durham



Friday, March 11
Backwoods Payback    (http://www.backwoodspayback.net/)
Lo-Pan
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Saturday, March 12
Matt Pond PA    (http://www.mattpondpa.com/)
Rocky Votolato
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Saturday, March 12
Wye Oak    (http://www.myspace.com/wyeoak)
Lower Dens
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Wye Oak & Lower Dens are both from Baltimore; Wye Oak are on Merge & 
were, IMHO, one of the highlights of the label's 20th Anniversary 
festival 2 years ago.



Saturday, March 12
The Cartridge Family    (http://www.cartridge-family.com/)
New Town Drunks    (http://www.newtowndrunks.com/)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Saturday, March 12
Natural Science
Tonk
Kings, Raleigh



Saturday, March 12
4 on the Floor
The Mercators    (http://www.myspace.com/themercators)
Jason Kutchma
Motorco Music Hall, Durham



Saturday, March 12
Shithorse
Bitter Resolve    (http://www.myspace.com/bitterresolve)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Saturday, March 12
Fan Modine    (http://www.grimsey.com/fanmodine.html)
Gross Ghost    (http://www.myspace.com/grossghost)
Dom
2702 Lawndale, Durham

Gross Ghost have been ripping it up lately with a series of free EPs 
posted on Bandcamp. http://grossghost.bandcamp.com/

 Fan Modine have been promising a new album for about 8 years now, but 
the fact that Gordon's played about 14 shows in the past 6 months might 
just mean the time is actually nigh.



Saturday, March 12
Transportation    (http://www.myspace.com/transportation)
Minor Stars    (http://www.myspace.com/minorstars)
Township    (http://www.myspace.com/thefamilytownship)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Sunday, March 13
Huguenots    (http://www.myspace.com/thehuguenotsmusic)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

The Hugenots came across as a Beatlesy pop act on their early demos, but 
onstage they were a looser, wilder thing. Now they tell me they've been 
in the studio with Mitch Easter, who knows his way around both Beatlesy 
pop and The Heavy Stuff. Can't wait to hear what they've come up with.

They'll strut their stuff live on-air for you at 4pm at 88.7 FM or wxdu.org.



Sunday, March 13
The Love Language    (http://www.myspace.com/thelovelanguage)
Telekinesis    (http://www.myspace.com/telekinesismusic)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This show is sold out & has been for a while. Not sure why it isn't at 
the Cradle, other than maybe the whole Sunday night / spring break thing 
should've put a damper on attendance. Guess not, though.



Sunday, March 13
Antibubbles
Jenna & The Jintlemen
Brick Mower
Motorco Music Hall, Durham



Monday, March 14
The Rural Alberta Advantage    (http://www.myspace.com/theraa)
Pepper Rabbit    (http://www.myspace.com/pepperrabbit)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Monday, March 14
$tinkworxx
Mi Ami    (http://www.myspace.com/miamiamiami)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Monday, March 14
This Time It's War    (http://www.facebook.com/thistimeitswar)
Mouth of the Ghost    (http://www.reverbnation.com/mouthoftheghost)
Anubis Unbound
Reservoir, Carrboro



Tuesday, March 15
Plume Giant    (http://www.plumegiant.com/)
Motorco Music Hall, Durham



Tuesday, March 15
No Eyes    (http://www.myspace.com/noeyesband)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

No Eyes are from Raleigh/Boone/Raleigh, and at least one of them is kin 
to Robert Kirkland of Arrogance. The demo they sent me sort of 
tightropes between straight college pop & something altogether darker, 
weirder & more psych. Check out Endless Sea for a good example of the 
latter. http://www.myspace.com/noeyesband/music/songs/Endless-Sea-79843927



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