The restraint of a Doom metal drummer

Hey, look at this, we saw some stuff in April! Dragging An Ox Through Water at TTT. He’s pretty good, I mean its essentially folk (that’s not a dig) but with lots of weird little electronic gizmos and sounds accompanying his singin' and strummin’. Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin, damn, this was a great show. What did we determine their sound is, folkdoom? Ha! A little mellower than Bell Witch alone, but nearly as good. Oh, and I wrote this note to myself that night, presumably to expand on later, “the restraint of a doom metal drummer”. I mean, yeah, it’s an impressive thing. Missed part of Usnea’s opening set (I should know by now that Mississippi’s a punctual place), but they’re good too, even if there is some cookie monster singing. Quasi and Jon Spencer and the Hitmakers. Quasi is fun, I keep describing them as joyous and I think that’s pretty accurate. Jon Spencer was exactly what you’d’ve expected and that’s just fine. To see Bob Bert banging on a gas tank and some other metal was nearly worth the price of admission alone (it also made for moments when you could close your eyes and almost think it was Pussy Galore). Spencer perfected his onstage persona nearly 30 years ago, going crazy with the theremin during the Orange era (RIP Lupo’s in Providence!), yet he somehow keeps the music just fresh enough that it still works. And Janet, c’mon. She’s a killer drummer. Two sets. All badass. We skipped Quando Quando Quando, but we’ll make up for that tomorrow night. Speaking of coming up, there’s soooo much shit this month, its great, a little splash of the before times maybe, starting with three worthwhile show tomorrow night alone. Yeah, it snowed in Portland, Oregon in mid April and Roe’s gonna get overturned, but we can pretend everything’s okay, right?

Pom Pom Squad, Thurs 5/5, Holocene. It might not be some transgressive musical treatise, but a bi-racial, queer girl from Orlando toying with the classic cheerleader trope and funneling it through grunge influenced pop is more interesting that you might think. Jens Lekman & Youth Orchestras Across The USA, Thurs 5/5, Aladdin Theater. Oh, Jens. I bet this will be great. I think of myself as a fan, but I’m realizing I'm not as well versed in the Jens catalog as I think, the only record I’ve owned/know well is Oh You’re So Silent Jens which isn’t even a proper record, its a comp of his early stuff. But its super lovely, super good, sort of a sweet, Swedish version of Stephen Merritt maybe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdX0nf8nzDM I don’t know what this youth orchestra thing will sound like, but I have a funny feeling he could pull this off. I know some friends have tickets to this, and I’d buy one too, except… Stuntdriver, Thurs 5/5, Dante’s. "Electro-rock performance art-driven rock spectacle that’s out to woo and save the world - Siouxsie x Rocky Horror x Peaches x NIN.” Dang! That description's straight from the artist herself. And if that’s not enough (but, c’mon, that should be plenty!), friends Quando Quando Quando open. I’ll be at this and I know a number of others here will be as well, so consider this encouragement to join us for some little Friday drinks and rawk.

JRCG, Fri 5/6, Bunk Bar. We saw JRCG/Dreamdecay play with The Body at Bunk Bar in November, I didn’t know a lot about them going in, but I liked them a lot (even Scott liked them!). My thoughts at the time were "good and not gimmicky, kinda dreamy goth, with lots of hooks and plenty of wonderfully just noisy segments”. This would be good. So we saw some rad Creative Music Guild (CMG) show at St. Philip Neri Church in December (I think?) including Leila Bordreuil who I liked a lot at the time, but I’m now super into, her release from lat year, Not An Elegy, is absolutely stunning (thank you Levon for getting us to that show and for reminding me to dig deeper into her catalog). The next show CMG’s putting on is on Friday the 6th, again at St. Philip Neri, the line up is Evichsen, Redneck, and EEE, three local noise artists who I don’t know, but sound very interesting based on my cursory listening just now. I’m in, let’s go, the best shit happens in random spots like a church rec hall. https://creativemusicguild.org/discordance-evicshen-redneck-eee/ Sat 5/7 Kentucky Derby party at Turn! Turn! Turn!. Y’all know I love Turn! Turn! Turn! (even more now that friends took it over in January), but did you know I’m kind of a horse racing fan too? Suffolk Downs, Portland Meadows, New Orleans Fair Grounds (RIP to the former two). Who knew betting a dollar on the trifecta could make you feel so fucking alive?!? Yeah, I have some moral misgivings (that I can usually overlook), but I love the ridiculous pageantry of the Kentucky Derby. Apparently TTT is having a Derby party Saturday afternoon, and, really, do you need an invitation to come drink with friends on a Saturday afternoon at a bar owned by lovely humans? (The answer to that semi-hypothetical question is a resounding “no”, btw.)

Alex Zhang Hungtai + Arrington de Dionyso, Sun 5/8, The Old Church. As previously discussed, I love AZH. Saw Dirty Beaches a couple times, saw the underappreicated Love Theme at Holocene, and his absolutely amazing solo sax set at Mississippi a few years ago. And the sorta one-off Trouble, from the third season of Twin Peaks is great too. He makes sounds I adore. The other guy is from Old Time Religion, who I don’t really know, but I have a ticket for this and I bet it’s going to be great. Mastodon and Opeth, Mon 5/9, Keller Auditorium. I just realized I was confusing Opeth with Orthrelm. 2001 was a long time ago. I def had (and still do) Blackwater Park, but Orthrelm is what I was ready to stan for here. Anywho... HTRK, Tues 5/10, Doug Fir. Damn, Marry Me Tonight was, what, 12, 15 years ago? We loved that record at the time, it was the record you always dreamt you could make, not shockingly new, but perfectly executed. Slow, moody, bass driven, Suicide with a Melbourne female accent, and holy crap, produced by Roland S. Howard himself (the greatest rock guitarist of all time or just top five? Talk amongst yourselves.). I still listen to that record today. But then again, I also kinda forget about HTRK, ya know? I know the bass player killed himself after that first record and I think their sound changed, but not really sure. I don’t think I ever got familiar with another record of theirs, but, shit, that one’s still so good, how bout we give them the benefit of the doubt. The Crenshaw and Social Stomach, Thurs 5/12, Turn! Turn! Turn!. Actually these two are opening for Patrick McCully who I don’t know, but I saw listed on a CMG bill so I assume good things. The Crenshaw has been promoted by others among us so I’m intrigued. I saw them only once, maybe 4 or 5 years ago (also at TTT) and one of the dudes had a broken arm so I’m pretty sure we didn’t get the full experience. My recollection is we were intrigued though. Social Stomach is a two piece, drums with some electronic triggered stuff and a kinda throw back spoken word vocalist. They’re really good. They also used to be my neighbors, they’re good people and FOL (that’s friends of Lucas, in case you were wondering). On a normal night I’d be at this show in a heartbeat, but... ADULT., Thurs 5/12, Doug Fir. Electro/industrial heroes, husband and wife duo from Detroit (always all caps, never forget the period), they’ve been cranking out incredibly dark, dancey records for over 20 years. From early gems like "Hand to Phone" to their brand new record, Becoming Undone, they sure as shit don’t need my endorsement at this point. Legends. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3VsxfXEMak I kinda feel like nobody really sounded like that in 2000/2001. It sounds a little obvious I guess now, but it’s still so good.) I have a ticket to this and I can guarantee it will be awesome, they’ve always been one of the electro-forward bands that are intense live. I don’t have any black leather, but if I did, I’d loan it to you so you could feel even better about meeting me there. Lau Nau, Fri 5/13, TTT. Well, shit, this is legit exciting. Lau Nau is a Finnish gal who makes real good… well, what would I call her records? I dunno, some sort of artsy modern folk I guess? Whatever it is, it's a delicate and lightly haunting vibe. I’d lost track of her new stuff (looks like she hasn’t toured the states barely ever!), but 2008’s Nukkuu was a popular record in my house at the time and I still listen to it. She’s been releasing stuff sporadically since, shame on me for losing touch. This should be great. Odonis Odonis, Sun 5/15, Holocene. Darkwave, lightly industrial dudes from Toronto. They’re pretty good. Never seen them. Curtis Harding, Sun 5/15, Wonder Ballroom. Harding’s a soul guy, and I’m not usually a soul guy, but he does it in a modern way with just enough other influences mixed in (in fact, he calls his sound “slop ’n’ soul”, which is pretty awesome) that I find it a really fun listen. He even guested on a Guantanamo Baywatch song! I suspect this will sell out, me and Clara have tix, get yrs before its too late! Kurt Vile, Tues 5/17, Crystal Ballroom. I still like KV quite a bit, he’ll always be good sunny summer daydrinking music, but I’m probably not gonna pay a bunch of money to see him at Crystal. Peaches, Tues 5/17, Wonder Ballroom. Speaking of pricey tix, these are like a hundred bucks! The Teaches of Peaches is 20 years old and that’s nuts (it’s still great too). Saw her at little old Middle East Upstairs with her buddy Chilly Gonzalez, early oughts. We all went ape shit for that record and I didn’t know that she was essentially playing this crazy character, I went in thinking she was gonna be all wild and confrontational, maybe fucking with men in the audience, so it took me half the show to accept that it was a schtick. But so, so good. Bauhaus, Tues 5/17, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. I mean, it’s still the four original dudes, pretty sure. Could be good (could be depressing) and would fit right in with my watching season 2 of Russian Doll. There’s a cancelled show noted on the Dante’s calendar- Detroit Cobras and Jenny Don’t. Damn. Lotta death in this world. Anika, Thurs 5/19, Mississippi Studios. Yes! Sort of kraut, sort of psych, sort of just electro pop, she’s fantastic. Her record, Change, from last year is great. Seen her once solo and once with her other band, Exploded View, I have a ticket for this already. Where’s the Cuthbert Amphitheater? I have no idea, but Modest Mouse is apparently playing there. I only point this out so none of y’all can say “hey, you forgot to mention the Modest Mouse show”. I would like my indifference noted, thank you. Moss Wand, Fri 5/20, Kelly’s Olympian. Sound bath heroes ready to chill you the fuck out. Thoroughly enjoyable when we saw them at The Old Church a couple months ago. Jenny Hval, Sat 5/21, Holocene. Okay, same story as last time she came through, a number of people have told me she’s amazing and I need to check her out… but I still haven’t! I will fix that, I swear.

Devotchka sold out at Miss! Damn, woulda been cool to see them in a smaller space like that, I still quite like them. Animal Collective, Mon 5/23, Crystal Ballroom. I feel like over the years it's come as a surprise to many that I really like them, but, hey, I’m here to surprise and confuse. I’ve never seen them live, should I look the other way on my dislike for Crystal and get a ticket? Anybody else going to this?

A Place To Bury Strangers, Tues 5/24, Mississippi Studios. A few of us were just talking about loudest bands the other night, APTBS merits consideration for that list, holy crap, seen them a couple times over the years, including at Mississippi a few years ago, bring your earplugs. They also typically have a blinding light show to go along with their noise and psych. Heading out of town this same evening so I won’t be there, but they’re real good. Molchat Doma, Wed 5/25, Hawthorne Theater. Well, damn, as noted above, I won’t be here for this, but I’d like to see them at some point. Belarusian(!) darkwave, per their Bandcamp page they “sit at the intersection of post-punk, new-wave and synth-pop. Dark yet danceable, and with a heavy dose of goth ethos”. No argument there. Pretty good. Slang, Fri 5/27, Mississippi Studios. I think tis is a Janet Weiss, Kathy Foster side project thing, right? I should check that... Belle and Sebastian, Wed 6/1, Roseland Theater. Here’s a weird band, like, I usually think I don’t like them, but I’m not bothered by them if they come on the radio somewhere. I know, soooo twee, but I don’t hate it. I have a funny feeling they may be one of the more divisive bands among this crowd. Thoughts? Sonny & the Sunsets, Fri 6/3, Mississippi Studios. Sonny’s laconic garage rock is just what we need right now to help us pretend everything’s okay. Sounds like a pretty good Friday! The Body, Sat 6/4, Doug Fir. I have a ticket. You all know how much I dig them. I’ll leave it there. Okay, that’s it for now. Should I buy a ticket for Melvins and Helms Alee at Hawthorne in July? Anybody planning on that? (Apparently I buy tickets in advance now.). And Iceage is touring with Earth this fall? Hmmm, not sure how I feel about that. And as mentioned previously, there are three of us now who have tix to the Dundee Campout https://www.dundeelodgecampout.com, this is probably a more the merrier type of thing. Consider it. Okay. That’s a lot! Let’s hope BA.2.12.1 is a toothless variant and maybe we’re really past the pandemic and can focus on figuring out what the new normal is, I’m excited to get back to some semi-regular schedule of getting out to see lots of music. These are the things I know about, tell us if you know more (I bet you do!). As always always, additions, corrections, and/or subtractions welcomed. DW

https://guantanamobaywatch.bandcamp.com/track/too-late-feat-curtis-harding