Maserati, Dark Swallows and Red Hands Black Feet @ Neurolux; Lost Weekend and Hedtriip @ the Red Room (2/28/13)

I hadn't heard much about Maserati, which would have given me reason enough to check them out.  The fact that they hailed from Athens, GA made them look promising, however.  So did the presence of local bands Dark Swallows and Red Hands Black Feet on the bill.

I counted about thirty people when I got down to Neurolux.  By the time that Maserati took the stage, the crowd had built to about a hundred.

Red Hands Black Feet opened the show.  I was glad to see them here since I'd been thinking about passing on their Treefort set this year (hey, it's not like I won't get to see 'em again, right?).  Anyway, this set gave me the opportunity to reflect again on just how far this band has come.  They've grown so comfortable and confident in their playing that this night's performance took on a certain stately grandeur.  It was as if the songs had become aware of their own greatness.  This doesn't mean that they sounded staid, however: some extra distortion and guitar embroidery here and some supple drumming there helped keep the older material fresh. The music was powerful enough on its own, but some flickering, twirling lights upped the intensity level another notch.

Great.  I might HAVE to see them at Treefort now.

Dark Swallows played next.  My eyebrow raised a little at the trumpet on their opener, but other than that, their somber tunes and their web of droning, howling guitars sounded as rousing and hypnotic as ever.  Maybe even more so, actually, thanks to the extra limberness in the bass and drums and the increased power in the vocals.  Mournful, fierce, beautiful.

Maserati closed out the night at Neurolux.  Rare is the group that can fuse Ministry with James Brown.  This band's percolating synth tracks, mind-warping guitars, sly basslines and ferocious, indomitable drums left me confused over whether to headbang or dance.  The crowd up front started off with a bit of the former but shifted more to the latter as the torrents of beats pounded into them.  Techno meets metal meets New Wave meets funk.  Stunning.

After Maserati finished, I staggered over to the Red Room to see if I could catch some of the show there.  I counted a little under forty people when I arrived.  Not too great, but not too bad.  At least the Maserati show didn't suck up all the show-goers/substance abusers this night.

I managed to catch the tail-end of electro-pop group Lost Weekend's set.  What I heard was definitely enough to make me wish I'd caught more.  Light, soulful vocals glided over layers of glimmering synth hooks and hard-driving beats.  Their songs were as catchy and dance-inducing as anything I've heard by, say, the Killers.  What's more, consultation with their Bandcamp recordings revealed some pretty sharp lyrics.  This band may hail from Winnipeg, but hopefully, we'll see them around here again.

Twin Falls electro-rock act Hedtriip closed out the night at the Red Room.  He seemed to have some technical difficulties early on, but once he sorted those out, his driving, intricate beats and riffs sounded as enjoyable as I remembered.  His set also featured new material that included--gasp!--vocals.  Should go over well at Treefort, I imagine.

You can find info on these acts on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Eric Gilbert and Duck Club Presents.

Twin Falls Invasion @ the Red Room (6/30/12)

When I heard about this show, I thought that it sounded like a great idea: a night showcasing up-and-coming bands from Twin Falls.  Some readers will know how impressed I've been with some bands from that region, so of course, I was eager to check this out.

Regrettably, attendance for this show was far lower than I or probably anyone else expected.  Most likely, this was due to much of its potential audience blowing its wad at last night's show at the Red Room, Neurolux's Valient Thorr show or the VAC's Delicate Steve show.  Some folks just gotta work on their stamina, I guess...

First up was Bear Refuge, a punk-folk duo.  Look this group up on Facebook and you'll find this self-description: "i play shitty music" [sic].  I'm tempted to let it go at that, but that wouldn't be altogether fair.  Their songs weren't without their rhythmic, lyrical and (even though they all repeated the same basic pattern of chord changes over and over) melodic appeal.  Still, the hint of smugness that I detected in Ehron Essig's deadpan stage act and snide, whiny, quavery singing got on my nerves.  He reminded me of every snotty little brat I've wanted to throttle since kindergarten.  In the end, this set got over on the electric guitar player's laconically expressive fills.

Next up was another acoustic-electric duo, Jimithy Feeds.  If the guy playing acoustic guitar looks familiar, that's because he played electric guitar in Bear Refuge (apparently, that happens quite a bit among groups in Twin Falls: folks pitch in and help each other out with their respective projects).  You could imagine Bear Refuge sounding a bit like this group when it grows up: they had more forthright singing, flashier guitar, more distinctive songwriting.  A better sense of humor too: they kicked off their set with a nice deconstruction of the 60's pop chestnut "Barbara Ann."

After Jimothy Feeds came Meth House Party Band, whose set this night was a vast improvement over their Atypical Tuesday performance back in May.  Sturdy tunes, funny lyrics, high energy, strong riffs and groove (well, as much as hardcore will allow), impressive guitar noise.  "Don't think that our shitty bands are all there is in Twin," their bass player said at one point.  "There really are some good bands out there."  Some people are just too hard on themselves.

Surf-punk trio Holograms were up next.  I held very fond memories of their Atypical Tuesday performance, but that didn't prepare me for the raw power of their set this night.  Screeching metal guitar, fierce drumming, winningly harsh vocals.  A nice little mosh pit formed during the middle of their set, and not without good reason.  RAWK!

Hardcore quartet Bad Carb played next.  Their songs suffered a bit in comparison with Holograms', but they still delivered an entertaining set.  And boy, did that lead singer have some energy!  He hopped down and moshed with the crowd, jumped onto one guy's shoulders and rode piggyback, rolled around onstage, jumped around, headbanged and never stopped singing the whole time.  This was doubly impressive when one considered that he'd already played drums for Meth House Party Band and bass for Holograms.

After Bad Carb came CAMP, whose lineup this night included horn player Shane Cox once again and, in a brief cameo, Katie Vant from The Gunfighters.  Cox's trumpet and trombone sounded a little out of place early on, but as the set progressed, it started feeling like it had always been there.  Cameron Andreas's guitar sounded a little out of tune at a couple points, but that didn't prove too bothersome.  Meanwhile, their drumming was as strong as ever, and the bass sounded even more fluid than usual.

Hedtriip closed out the night and sounded as rousing and danceable as ever.  I'll take this guy over a DJ any night.  Well, except maybe Kathy O (who else would dare follow Black Sabbath with the B-52's?) and Doug Martsch (I never thought I'd live to see a dance floor full of people grooving out to "White Light/White Heat").

You can find info about most of these groups on Facebook.

Summercamp 2 @ the Red Lion Hotel Canyon Springs in Twin Falls (6/16/12)

Being unemployed does have its advantages sometimes.  For instance, when I get invited to a mini-festival out in Twin Falls, there's nothing to keep me from hopping into my faithful Toyota Camry and heading out to the highway.  Of course, it helps to take along a couple of very good friends who are more than willing to chip in for gas.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours driving down I-84 and listening to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. and Leonard Cohen's Live in London.  We arrived with enough time to say hello to Cameron Andreas of CAMP, who organized this shindig, have a beer and then head over to the conference room.

Here's a picture of my companions.  The pretty lady is Keesha Renna of Vagabond Promotions.  The guy over to the right is Brent Massey.  He's a gentleman, a scholar and a fine judge of whiskey.  No, seriously, he is all of these things.

photo by Keesha Renna

photo by Keesha Renna

As the bands played, the projection on the wall seen above showed A Clockwork Orange, Night of the Living Dead, 2001 and some trippy, swirly stuff.  The crowd started off at about twenty and built as the evening progressed.  Not a huge audience (Cameron Andreas speculated that most of the folks who would've come were down in Utah at Warped Tour) but big enough and as enthusiastic as you would've liked.

First up was Bad Carb, a Twin Falls-based hardcore group.  A couple of folks in Boise recommended that I check these guys out.  Now that I have, I can understand why: they had solid tunes and guitar riffs, a sturdy rhythm section and effectively snide, Darby Crash-esque vocals.  Their G.G. Allin cover stood out, but only because it didn't sound as good as their originals.  Not bad at all.

After Badcarb came P36, a Boise-based, metallic punk band.  Their good arrangements and tight groove rendered their straightforward music worthy of the mosh circle that a couple of dudes in the audience formed.  I kinda wondered why they saved their most impressive soloing for the "Rock You Like a Hurricane" cover, but what the hell.  Stroke of genius: their cover of Pachelbel's "Canon in D major," into which they inserted quotations from Chumbawamba, Men at Work, Green Day, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock and I can't remember who else.

After P36 came Third Base, which featured the bassist and drummer of P36 and Jason Rucker from the Boise punk band The Useless on guitar.  This set was just pure trashy fun: covers of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher," Peaches's "Fuck the Pain Away" and Danzig's "Mother," originals with titles like "WTF BFF" and "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus."  Rucker's guitar playing sure wasn't no joke, though.

Next up was Boise-based hip-hop duo Dedicated Servers.  Their nerdy, geeky vibe reminded me a little of the Beastie Boys.  More importantly, so did their music: lyrics that didn't bother with any bling or gangsta b.s., steady flow, spartan but catchy beats.  They got the crowd chanting, dancing and clapping to the beat.  Word.

CAMP played after Dedicated Servers.  Between the dimmed lights, the cosmic projection show, the immensity of the sound and the smallness of the room, this was the most powerful set by this Twin Falls group that I've seen/heard so far.  The psychedelic distortion of Cameron Andreas's guitar washed over the crowd, the drums sounded downright thunderous, the bass rumbled underneath everything and the keyboard filled in what little sonic space that there was left.

The enraptured audience danced like maniacs.  The homecourt advantage undoubtedly helped, but really, the music was that good.

One-dog act Hedtriip closed out Summercamp 2 in fine fashion.  A strobe light flashed and the last 20 or so minutes of 2001 (basically, everything after Dave Bowman turns off Hal 9000) played as Hedtriip cranked out his industrial-strength dance rock.  The crowd went even wilder: they cheered, screamed, shouted, danced.

The only sour note of the night had nothing to do with the music.   When my friends and I went out to my car after the show, we found that it had been egged a little.  We stopped at a gas station a few blocks away and cleaned it up pretty well, though.  Yay teamwork!

photo by Keesha Renna

You can find info on all of these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Cameron Andreas for letting us come down and crash for the night.  Special thanks also to Keesha Renna and Brent Massey for the photos, snacks, gas money and wonderful company.

Cerberus Rex and Red Fang @ Neurolux; Stargaze Unlimited and Hedtriip @ the Red Room (6/12/12)

I wrote in my post for last Tuesday about my dilemma over whether to check out the show at Neurolux or the show at the Red Room.  This most recent Tuesday, my dilemma was somewhat alleviated when the start time for this week's Atypical Tuesday got moved back to 9:30-9:45.  This enabled me to see Radio Boise's show at the Lux and then catch at least part of the music at the Red Room.

I was fortunate enough to get to Neurolux before it got crowded.  I staked out a booth with good lighting, silenced my cell phone (just to stay in practice) and watched the people pour in.

I'll bet that Neurolux and Radio Boise made money hand over fist from all the PBR and Olympia that got consumed over the course of this evening.

Local stoner rock band Cerberus Rex opened the night.  Their name, their steady-as-a-tank tempo, their punishing riffs and their howling, shrieking solos all but begged for comparison to Dinosaur Jr.  I'll take Josh Galloway's stand-and-deliver bellow over J Mascis' arrogant passivity any day of the week, however, and Cerberus Rex's dense, swirling dual guitar interplay was all their own.  Galloway's stone-simple, wall-rattling basslines served as the eye of the hurricane of Pat Perkins and Z.V. House's volcanic guitars and Jake Hite's fifty-caliber drumming.  I'm definitely gonna be on the lookout for this band from now on (and I'll make sure to bring my earplugs too).

After Cerberus Rex came Portland-based hard rock band Red Fang.  Their droning, ominous, unstoppable riffs and primal rhythms signified as metal, but their wasn't an ounce of golden god to these guys.  In spirit, their down-and-dirty lyrics, their shouted/growled vocals, their raw guitar solos and their emphasis on groove and songcraft over vulgar displays of virtuosity was much less Iron Maiden and much more Motorhead (with maybe some Melvins thrown in for good measure).  As a guy who's always preferred Motorhead to Iron Maiden, I found this music entirely worthy of the raucous applause, horn-throwing and crowd-surfing that it received from the crowd.  Four horns up for John Sherman's on-target, indefatigable drumming.

After Red Fang wrapped up, I staggered out of Neurolux and headed over to the Red Room with a few friends.  By the time that we got there, local singer/songwriter Ben Kirby's Sun Blood Stories and Twin Falls group Bad Carb had already played.  That was unfortunate, but I'm sure that I'll see and write about those two soon (very soon, in Bad Carb's case--more on that later).

We walked in just in time to catch the set by Caldwell instrumental trio Stargaze Unlimited.  They've played quite a few gigs since they opened for Red Hands Black Feet back in April, and they've apparently been busy recording their first album as well.  All of this hard work seems to have tightened up their groove but good.  Richard Metzger's drumming sounded twice as dexterous and confident, the bright lyricism of Kurtis Beckwith's guitar lines had deepened and intensified and Travis Gamble's solemn bass held everything together even more firmly.  Man, I love being proven right.

Twin Falls-based, dog-faced, one-man act Hedtriip closed out this Atypical Tuesday.  His rousing, hypnotic guitar and his intricate, melodious, body-friendly programmed beats and riffs got the crowd swaying and dancing.  A fine ending to the night.  Look out for this guy when the Twin Falls Invasion hits the Red Room on June 30th.

You can find info about all of these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Eric Gilbert and Radio Boise.  Special thanks also to Keesha Renna for the use of her phone's much less crappy camera.