Inundation Zone

February, huh? That was fast. Maybe it’s time to stop pretending that this is a “monthly” thing and admit it’s more like a “when I finally finish it” thing. Hoping this is a month without terrible news, cuz, we really don’t need any more of that. What happened at the end of 2022 on the music front? I think December ended up a dud, actually. I went to the Thrill Jockey show at Mississippi, timed it just right to catch the second half of Rose City Band (boring, at best), then expected to see Marisa Anderson and The Body. Well, fuckers, they swithed the order up and Marisa Anderson had already played. Instead, Dommengang, who I thought I’d miss, played second to last. They were so good that I decided to leave before my faves The Body. Wow. What crap. Give me a rock n roll trope and they have embraced some part of it. Did get me thinking about all-time shit bands though, which is always a fun convo. Needless to say I have Guns N Roses alone at the top of that list. I mean, even Aerosmith, as implausibly awful as most of their catalog is, have a few songs from the 70s that are at least not terrible. Pearl Jam? They seem like nice guys so I always wanna give them a pass, but, oof. The Strokes maybe? They’re even supposed to be assholes! But I digress…. I shoulda gone to the Cold Cave show, I feel like I blew it on that one, I quite like the new record. In January there were a few things I claimed to be excited about and then bailed on. Ghost Ease and Slang. Will Sheff. Ils at The Spare Room. Was out of town for Sun Foot but I gather they were great. I did see Dry Cleaning at Crystal. They were pretty good (Coach Millions got me into the VIP section!), but I can’t see being too excited about them. They’re also not a band that really works particularly well live, what with the talk singing. And local noise night with Feed Fatigue and Body Shame at The Fixin To. Okay, now this show was real good. There were two other acts that were pretty decent too, but I really liked Feed Fatigue's harsh electronics and Body Shame’s danceable industrial noise (those are both lazy, but largely accurate, descriptions). Want to see them both again. That’s all I saw in the last two months?! I think that’s it! Anybody see either of the ESG shows? Anyhoo, coming up...

Those three Unwound shows, once upon a time waaaay out in the future, are now next week. Last I looked there are still tix for the middle show. Who all’s going? Am I gonna regret not going to this? I got a semi-rando DM on Insta yesterday from a way way way back old friend as he saw that Unwound is playing shows again and he thinks he remembers a whole squad of us walking from our apartment in Cambridgeport to The Middle East to see them, this would be 1996 probably. Playing with Blonde Redhead, no less! Is that possible? Probably, although I forget so many of those shows and that era in general. I may run this memory past my most trusted music colleague, who’s memory for this stuff is much sharper than mine. Funny either way. #shastathemastablasta Black Belt Eagle Scout, Fri 2/10, Aladdin Theater. Really lovely dreamy indie rock filtered through the lens of it’s Queer, Indigenous creator, Katherine Paul. The new record drops this day as well. This would probably be a sneaky good show. https://blackbelteaglescout.bandcamp.com/album/the-land-the-water-the-sky Sumac, Sat 2/11, Polaris Hall. Heavy Portland rock. Both openers, Thrones and Avola, are knob twiddling faves though. Usnea, Sat 2/11, High Water Mark. Actually opening for Ninth Moon Black, who I have on good authority are also of the doom/black metal vein of Usnea. Maybe we should check this out. Lingua Ignota, Fri 2/17,Star Theater. Sold out!? Wow, it wasn’t long ago she was opening for The Body at The Know. Unsane, Sat 2/18, Mississippi Studios. With Gaythiest. Yo La Tengo, Sun & Mon 2/19 & 20, Wonder Ballroom. I don’t know how I missed the boat on them, they were always around, I always had friends who liked them. And now I feel like it’s too late to go back and explore their gazillion year long catalog. Maybe not? (Do you know the origin story of the band’s name? Look it up, it’s funny. Sometimes I think my 12 year old self fucked up choosing a life of Red Sox fandom over the Mets.) Feed Fatigue, Sun 2/19, Turn! Turn! Turn!. Hey guess what? Here he is again! And with Caspar Sonnet who hosts some of the CMG shows at his house. I haven’t seen him play, but one of the pricklier characters on this thread raves. I will be at this, guarantee. Divers and Wild Powwers, Fri 2/24, Doug Fir. I need to go back and look at old notes, but I feel like we saw Wild Powwers in the before times and thought they were good, just in need of a little refining, very close to something excellent. Indigo Sparke, Mon 2/27, Mississippi Studios. I think folk is the closest standard category for her, but that’s selling it short. Maybe some sort of Australian Waxahatchee? I dunno. I feel like she’s on the verge of blowing up, if you like her, you should check this out before it’s too late. Quasi, Sat 3/4, Doug Fir. There’s also an early all-ages show the next day, Sunday, that, as much as I don’t like the idea of an all ages show, might be the one to check out, the openers are Yuvees and Sea Moss! Maybe some Sunday day drinking is in order! And I've actually bought a couple of tix way in advance, Xiu Xiu in May at Holocene (I haven’t seen them in ages) and Bonnie “Prince” Billy at Aladdin also in May. Somehow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Will Oldham live. Is that really possible? Never? Not some variation on the Palace Brothers theme, nothing. Well, see above, maybe I should check with the authorities on this one, but I’m super excited to finally see someone I’ve been a big fan of for probably closing in on thirty years. Alright, this is admittedly a lackluster entry in this ongoing inbox-stuffing prattling, but I’m tired, it feels like the last couple months were half a year long. Holidays, death, endless gray skies, plus all the regular shit. I’m sure I’ve missed something, I’ve been writing this in fits and starts for a while now. So, tell us what you know. as always always, always, additions, corrects, and/or subtractions welcomed. DW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD9zmHUU2jE