“Well I guess today’s the day…. It’s been a” week “ago today” since The Gossip came to play “and sometimes it still gets to me”. I know Beth will forgive me for playing with her lyrics for my intro. I just couldn’t resist.
Chicago was graced with 2 Gossip shows last week at The Bottom Lounge. Thursday night was a tightly timed all ages event with a surprisingly small percentage of young fans in attendance. The 3 support acts were timed down to the minute, set changes were swift and orderly and there was no time for fooling around. Though I had never heard of them before, The Tyrades impressed me with their high energy, ballsy, post punk 20-minute assault of a set.
As expected, The Ponys delivered a strong set of alt/pop confections. I was pleased to see they have moved toward a more balanced and nuanced set that moves away from simply aping Television and Richard Hell and now features more vocals from their 2nd guitar player (Ian?) and their lovely female bass player. Luckily, I had the good fortune to only have to stand through one dirge by Young People, (who you may or may not remember as the band that Dem voted worst band he had to muddle through at CMJ this year.)
Beth and Co. arrived late (which as Beth joked later is fairly standard) and were only given a line check before they began their set. Someone is doing something right over at the Bottom Lounge, because the sound was perfect. Beth’s vocals were strong and crisp but surprisingly ethereal and sweet, as she let loose with the first few lovelorn bars of “Yesterday’s News” in answer to Nathan’s off key guitar cum bass line crunch and Kathy's rock solid beat. The band seemed harried due to the strict 10pm curfew; and even though I loved every short minute, I never felt like they ever really hit her stride Thursday night.
This was not the case on Friday! Maybe it was the incredible energy generated by support act, Mahjongg, who presented a super funkafied set of upbeat dance music that blended, “Fear of Music” era Talking Heads (think “I Zimbra” and you’re there), tribal rhythm mayhem with an angular, choppy, Gang of Four guitar squawk and bass heavy stomp…. maybe it was something as simple as not having to rush to the venue and get on stage without a proper sound check, or being pinned in by an all ages curfew. Maybe it was because moments before the set began Beth realized she was bleeding all over her brand new underwear…… but The Gossip let out all the stops on Friday. Beth was more playful, the band played a longer more varied set, and really seemed more relaxed. Still absent from the set were fan favorites like Lesson Learned, Sweet, Sweet Baby, Where The Girls Are, Heartbeats, and Southern Comfort. But the band delivered stripped down, power versions of Jason’s Basement, Fire Sign, No, No, No, Don’t Make Waves, Dangerer and Light, Light Sleep from Movement as well as Swing Low, Got all This Waiting, and Bring it On, off That’s Not What I Heard plus Arkansas Heat, Gone Tomorrow and Ain't it The Truth from the Arkansas Heat EP.
I’m fortunate to hear a lot of great music in my daily life, but few bands that have come up over the last 10 years have managed to touch me the way that The Gossip have. Perhaps it’s the way they distill the basic essence of roots/gospel/blues swagger and smash it together with raw, stripped down guitar/bass riffs (Nathan only played with 4 of his 6 strings both nights) and straight ahead bombastic drum lines, which create the perfect backing for Beth’s super soulful, Joplin reincarnated vocal blasts and the real, honest, heart felt emotion behind her lyrics. This simple, sparse 3 piece really achieve a perfect balance that I feel would be tainted by big production values or more professional/slick backing players. Not to mention, they are really genuine, nice people!
--Sky
The owner of the original legendary Chicago punk bar, OZ, and producer of the infamous punk album Busted at OZ comments on music along with others. Visit Busted At OZ
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Puddle of Muck does a Creed
Subject: And the crap nu-metal slowly disintegrates!
Puddle of Mud vocalist WES SCANTLIN has been charged with disorderly conduct, and pelted offstage by 'fans'.
The band were playing at the Headliners Club in Toledo, when the drunken singer, confessing he was "too fucked up to perform," threw abuse at the crowd as they pelted him with random objects.
The rest of the band had already walked off stage after performing four songs, but Scantlin remained on for an hour and a half, playing indistinguishable tunes to an agitated crowd, before dropping his guitar onstage, reports Dotmusic.
The frontman was arrested on returning to his dressing room for 'disorderly conduct-intoxication', and then earned himself another charge for spitting in the police car on the way to the station.
Scantlin was later released on bail for $150. No comment has been made by the band.
--Dem
Puddle of Mud vocalist WES SCANTLIN has been charged with disorderly conduct, and pelted offstage by 'fans'.
The band were playing at the Headliners Club in Toledo, when the drunken singer, confessing he was "too fucked up to perform," threw abuse at the crowd as they pelted him with random objects.
The rest of the band had already walked off stage after performing four songs, but Scantlin remained on for an hour and a half, playing indistinguishable tunes to an agitated crowd, before dropping his guitar onstage, reports Dotmusic.
The frontman was arrested on returning to his dressing room for 'disorderly conduct-intoxication', and then earned himself another charge for spitting in the police car on the way to the station.
Scantlin was later released on bail for $150. No comment has been made by the band.
--Dem
Thursday, February 12, 2004
The Carlsonics (at Schubas, Chicago)
Monkey Paw (Chicago band) opened for Carlsonics, a good time overall. A lot of fast drums and matching beat line bass, and then change up to a whole other beat, then string you back to the first lines. There were a few songs that stuck in my head Hey Sailor, Go Fuck Your Mother (the opening song), White People and some new ones they played that I didn't catch the name. I can see now why Monkey Paw took a break from their hiatus to take advantage of playing with The Carlsonics. Yet another sign that they're a cool band, they came out to support a touring band they knew was good, despite not being ready, and set up a great show for them. Check them out if they stop in a city near you when they officially tour.
Entree The Carlsonics. First, I have to say I dug deep into my pocket for the $10 CD, despite not having much cash to spend, because these guys deserve support. They had a little crowd around the merch table afterwards--it really showed what an effect this band had on the room. Many a merch table I have seen band members sit lonely, but not these guys. This 5-piece fucking rocked and pulled off a sound that was so huge that they easily blew away some of the bigger names I've seen in even bigger venues. I think they could pull off a large stage even now. Schuba's is a very small venue, but wow, for a Tuesday night, they really had a nice crowd... I surmise many for the local band Monkey Paw, but no fast departures here. Instead, the crowd grew.
A slight departure: I met the band before the show while they talked with Dem and Ilene. To describe them is strange because they are pretty nondescript. All of them wearing T-shirts, jeans and looked like they just came from hanging out at the corner 7-11 with Coca Cola Slurpees. They were all very nice people, talking lots of music and very excited about what was going on in sounds, until the lead singer decided to wander off and play some vintage Atari games. In all the bands I've seen in the past year, this band proved one thing to me: offstage and onstage are two very distinct worlds. We all know it's true, but you have to see this metamorphosis to believe it. They blew the lid off of the phrase "leading double lives." And I wouldn't change a thing about them ... their look is exactly as it should be.
The lights go down, music starts, and Mr Atari jumps off the stage (I'm thinking, what the hell, that dude is the singer? okay then.) and literally pulls the front-row standers toward the stage, bridging the 20-foot gap immediately. Everyone moves up, how can you refuse? I think he won the audience right there within the first minute. The singer jumps back on stage in his cords and tshirt and proceeds to mutate from vintage video gamer geek (bowl cut and all) into Mick Jagger, in the best of ways. But then he's also got this jumping thing going on, maybe he has his own personal trampoline built into his shoes, I don't know. Pure energy, not only from him, but the entire band. It was like flipping a transformer, all hum and wattage, which grew exponentially throughout the show. The music was so huge, they might as well have started the set by throwing a giant blanket over us all, nailed down the edges to light a whole other universe as our new reality; it was instantaneous. Sensory deprivation tanks? Who needs 'em. Just see The Carlsonics and get ready for a saline floating sound waves and pay no attention to that live wire flipping precariously close to the water's edge ... yeah, you'll get a jolt and be better for it. You'll want more. Shock treatment never felt better.
After two minutes I turned to Dem and said, "I know exactly why you said it doesn't look like this sound should come out of them." As a unit, they were breathtaking to watch. One of my personal favorites were "Great Cat!" "Senator Trudge and The Clap Division" "Malaria Drive Through" and "Gene Jacket" (very Pixies) both on the CD and live. And let me tell you, what you hear on the CD translates beautifully, but you have to see them live.
The bass player, a tiny woman looking very quiet, but onstage she ripped the bass to shreds and pounded out sound three times her size to match the drummer, who's clearly insane. The boy moved so fast that it was unbelievable. The two guitarists very switchy into the changes of much melody and then smashing into walls with vintage feedback riffs that remind me of watching big cats stalk prey. It's sexy, primal, hypnotizing. Then there's the other sounds of guitars, bass, drums and vocals all coming together into a crazy jump up and down tantrum. At one point they went off on some trippy tangent music, no vocals ... and end this great 3-minute interlude with the audience screaming for more. The singer says, "What are you all hippies or something?" More interaction with the audience and between themselves onstage, they were really into each other and had so much fun and love going on together onstage it was seamless, naturally flowing to the audience. If you're that wrapped up in each other, I find it's infectious, the whole room joins the affair.
Toward the end, the singer switched up with the bass player for a song, and he starts playing the guitar and then the bass, able to play both roles. Impressive, but never taking themselves too seriously, the drummer yells out "Someone take that bass away from him." They finished the show with the bass player singing, and the singer playing bass, to everyone's favorite tune, "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound Of Music. hahahhaha. And the audience screaming "More!" Much fun.
All I can say is: DC rock, holy crap--what happened here? Some of my favorite bands. First Weird War (formerly Scene Creamers), then The Apes, and now The Carlsonics. It's something in the water, it's something in the DC brain gray matter, possibly it's due to living amidst the paranoid political secrets of the nation that has borne this geological shift music. Like watching the earth open, at the edge, I want to jump in just to see what’s happening below the surface in Molten Lava Town. Oooo, hot.
Lyrics are also awesome. I can't find anything bad to say. Go see The Carlsonics, you will not be disappointed! Definitely a band to watch and to stalk. Thank you for reading my review. :) Can't help myself when I like a band as much as I did these guys.
--Becky
Entree The Carlsonics. First, I have to say I dug deep into my pocket for the $10 CD, despite not having much cash to spend, because these guys deserve support. They had a little crowd around the merch table afterwards--it really showed what an effect this band had on the room. Many a merch table I have seen band members sit lonely, but not these guys. This 5-piece fucking rocked and pulled off a sound that was so huge that they easily blew away some of the bigger names I've seen in even bigger venues. I think they could pull off a large stage even now. Schuba's is a very small venue, but wow, for a Tuesday night, they really had a nice crowd... I surmise many for the local band Monkey Paw, but no fast departures here. Instead, the crowd grew.
A slight departure: I met the band before the show while they talked with Dem and Ilene. To describe them is strange because they are pretty nondescript. All of them wearing T-shirts, jeans and looked like they just came from hanging out at the corner 7-11 with Coca Cola Slurpees. They were all very nice people, talking lots of music and very excited about what was going on in sounds, until the lead singer decided to wander off and play some vintage Atari games. In all the bands I've seen in the past year, this band proved one thing to me: offstage and onstage are two very distinct worlds. We all know it's true, but you have to see this metamorphosis to believe it. They blew the lid off of the phrase "leading double lives." And I wouldn't change a thing about them ... their look is exactly as it should be.
The lights go down, music starts, and Mr Atari jumps off the stage (I'm thinking, what the hell, that dude is the singer? okay then.) and literally pulls the front-row standers toward the stage, bridging the 20-foot gap immediately. Everyone moves up, how can you refuse? I think he won the audience right there within the first minute. The singer jumps back on stage in his cords and tshirt and proceeds to mutate from vintage video gamer geek (bowl cut and all) into Mick Jagger, in the best of ways. But then he's also got this jumping thing going on, maybe he has his own personal trampoline built into his shoes, I don't know. Pure energy, not only from him, but the entire band. It was like flipping a transformer, all hum and wattage, which grew exponentially throughout the show. The music was so huge, they might as well have started the set by throwing a giant blanket over us all, nailed down the edges to light a whole other universe as our new reality; it was instantaneous. Sensory deprivation tanks? Who needs 'em. Just see The Carlsonics and get ready for a saline floating sound waves and pay no attention to that live wire flipping precariously close to the water's edge ... yeah, you'll get a jolt and be better for it. You'll want more. Shock treatment never felt better.
After two minutes I turned to Dem and said, "I know exactly why you said it doesn't look like this sound should come out of them." As a unit, they were breathtaking to watch. One of my personal favorites were "Great Cat!" "Senator Trudge and The Clap Division" "Malaria Drive Through" and "Gene Jacket" (very Pixies) both on the CD and live. And let me tell you, what you hear on the CD translates beautifully, but you have to see them live.
The bass player, a tiny woman looking very quiet, but onstage she ripped the bass to shreds and pounded out sound three times her size to match the drummer, who's clearly insane. The boy moved so fast that it was unbelievable. The two guitarists very switchy into the changes of much melody and then smashing into walls with vintage feedback riffs that remind me of watching big cats stalk prey. It's sexy, primal, hypnotizing. Then there's the other sounds of guitars, bass, drums and vocals all coming together into a crazy jump up and down tantrum. At one point they went off on some trippy tangent music, no vocals ... and end this great 3-minute interlude with the audience screaming for more. The singer says, "What are you all hippies or something?" More interaction with the audience and between themselves onstage, they were really into each other and had so much fun and love going on together onstage it was seamless, naturally flowing to the audience. If you're that wrapped up in each other, I find it's infectious, the whole room joins the affair.
Toward the end, the singer switched up with the bass player for a song, and he starts playing the guitar and then the bass, able to play both roles. Impressive, but never taking themselves too seriously, the drummer yells out "Someone take that bass away from him." They finished the show with the bass player singing, and the singer playing bass, to everyone's favorite tune, "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound Of Music. hahahhaha. And the audience screaming "More!" Much fun.
All I can say is: DC rock, holy crap--what happened here? Some of my favorite bands. First Weird War (formerly Scene Creamers), then The Apes, and now The Carlsonics. It's something in the water, it's something in the DC brain gray matter, possibly it's due to living amidst the paranoid political secrets of the nation that has borne this geological shift music. Like watching the earth open, at the edge, I want to jump in just to see what’s happening below the surface in Molten Lava Town. Oooo, hot.
Lyrics are also awesome. I can't find anything bad to say. Go see The Carlsonics, you will not be disappointed! Definitely a band to watch and to stalk. Thank you for reading my review. :) Can't help myself when I like a band as much as I did these guys.
--Becky
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker
From: dem
Date: Wed Feb 4, 2004 4:54 pm
I really started getting into The Coral about fall of last year and caught up on music by them that I had missed. The new limited release "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" is the most fun thing they have done to date. Very simple song structures; but what they do within them is so wonderful. Not the least overproduced and from stories I read this release was kind of a spur of the moment decision on their part while they work on releasing what is supposed to be their "real" album. If you like The Kinks circa Village Green / Arthur--you will love this album. This is the most purely entertaining album I've heard in this very young new year. There is only one pressing of 75,000 copies of this (again, from what I have read) and I haven't seen it in Chicago. I ordered out of either Tower or Amazon UK. Definitely a must for Coral fans and a great play at any party.
--Dem
Date: Wed Feb 4, 2004 4:54 pm
I really started getting into The Coral about fall of last year and caught up on music by them that I had missed. The new limited release "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" is the most fun thing they have done to date. Very simple song structures; but what they do within them is so wonderful. Not the least overproduced and from stories I read this release was kind of a spur of the moment decision on their part while they work on releasing what is supposed to be their "real" album. If you like The Kinks circa Village Green / Arthur--you will love this album. This is the most purely entertaining album I've heard in this very young new year. There is only one pressing of 75,000 copies of this (again, from what I have read) and I haven't seen it in Chicago. I ordered out of either Tower or Amazon UK. Definitely a must for Coral fans and a great play at any party.
--Dem
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