Cheap Time, James Plane Wreck and Lakefriend @ the Red Room (10/15/12)

This show interested me because it featured a band I'd never encountered before, the Nashville-based trio Cheap Time.  The presence on the bill of solid local acts James Plane Wreck and Lakefriend was a nice little bonus.

I got down to the Red Room around 8:15.  The crowd started out pretty thin but built to about thirty people.  Pretty respectable for a Monday.

Lakefriend's strong opening set built upon the progress that they'd shown at their Flying M gig back in August.  Particularly impressive was Jacob Milburn's drumwork; at once more flexible and more solid, it provided the foundation and the ignition for the chugging basslines and for Mason Johnson and Matt Stone's blending, weaving guitars.  Their marginally slower tempos just allowed them to show off how assured their groove has become.  Very well done.

James Plane Wreck played next and kept the ball rolling.  The crowd whooped and hollered as this group's grinding riffs, terse solos, rumbling bass and thunderous drums hit with more concentrated force than ever before (as far as I've heard, anyway).  Aaron Smith's rough, charming tenor worked his rough, charming lyrics with increased finesse.

"F*** YEAH!" shouted an audience member at one point.

"Quoth the Raven," Smith quipped back.

Cheap Time closed out the night's music.  If the Sex Pistols had tripled their weed intake, they might've sounded a little like these guys: droning riffs, clipped but fluid soloing, slippery basslines, relentless drumming.  I didn't catch more than ten words out of their entire set, but I'd be willing to bet that the snotty, can't-be-bothered sneer in Jeffrey Novak's vocals told me all I needed to know anyway (possible giveaway: they named their latest album Wallpaper Music).  Luckily, they rawked more than hard enough to purge me of my desire to smack Novak in the face.  Songs for the bored, surly malcontent in all of us.

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

James Plane Wreck and Sad Horse @ the Red Room (7/28/12)

This show caught my attention because it featured James Plane Wreck, a local punk/hardrock-country band whom I've grown quite fond of, and a couple of groups I'd never encountered before.

I stopped by O'Michael's to wish Speedy Gray a belated Happy Birthday, so I didn't make it down in time to catch most of Go! Go! Jesus Genius's set.  Sorry about that, guys.  I'm sure I'll see you sometime soon.  Heck, with a name like that, how could I not?   Anyway, I was glad to see a decent enough crowd at this show.  It helped a little that the drummer for the out-of-state band, Sad Horse, had family around these parts.

James Plane Wreck played the first set (that I saw) this night and may have delivered their best performance yet (that I've seen).  Aaron Smith's winningly rough lead vocals and Shane Brown's jagged lead guitar rode atop Shaun Shireman's hard-driving basslines and Andrew Bagley's careening, unstoppable drumming.  Nearly everyone in the crowd moved up to the front of the stage as this group played, and rightly so.  Raucous, funny, smart and gloriously democratic in spirit, they reminded me of eveything that I love most about the Ramones and Hank Williams.

After James Plane Wreck came Sad Horse, a Portland-based, arty punk duo.  Their scrawny sound, deadpan lyrics, humorously yelped vocals and harshly catchy one-to-two-minute tunes called to mind the Minutemen, Sonic Youth and especially Wire.  Geoff Soule's guitar clanged, droned and freaked out while Elizabeth Venable pummeled her drumkit like it owed her an NEA grant.  Post-collegiate punk enthusiast that I am, I liked it fine.  It helped that they were smart enough to have a heart: their encore included an inspired, Lou Reed-esque cover of Dire Straits' "So Far Away."

You can look up info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.

James Plane Wreck and Death Ray @ Tom Grainey's (7/9/12)

Part of me considered passing on this show.  I'd seen six shows the previous week, and I have something scheduled for just about every other night this month (I'm even marking stuff down for September right now).  In the end, however, my desire to support the good people at ORRiginal Promotions, who booked this show, and James Plane Wreck, whose Atypical Tuesday performance impressed me greatly, won out.

As it turned out, this show needed whatever support it could get.  Monday nights are typically slow for any bar, and many of the folks who did come down to Tom Grainey's chose to hang out on the patio.  So it goes.  To their credit, the two bands who played this night didn't seem to let the small audience adversely affect their performances.

James Plane Wreck went first and more than confirmed my initial good impression of them.  Between their confident mash-up of genres (country, folk-rock, metal, punk, pop, hard rock), their solid tunes, their sharp arrangements and their amiable, ragged-but-right rowdiness, I'm tempted to call them the band that Parade of Bad Guys wants to be.  That's kinda harsh, though, so I'll just say that they made me think of what the New York Dolls might sound like if they went alt-country.  Agreeably rough singing, terse and twangy guitar riffs, unflashy basslines, dynamic drumming.  I'll look forward to seeing this group again.  And again.

After James Plane Wreck came Oakland-based pop-punk band Death Ray.  This duo boasted a strong tune sense, good guitar riffs and rhythm tracks, mega-catchy synth hooks, a very robust sense of humor and a willingness to go to extreme lengths to entertain the audience.  Examples of the latter two: playing original songs about Die Hard (yes, the chorus includes the line you're hoping for), why you should never date a five-foot-tall girl and the guy who played "the fat ginger kid" in The Sandlot; dropping some wonderfully un-PC banter; and the lead singer downing some white glue during one song and then stripping down to his briefs and gyrating like crazy during their set-capping cover of the J. Geils Band's "Centerfold."

This is what you miss when you stay at home on a Monday night in Boise.

You can find info on James Plane Wreck and Death Ray on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Also, for any touring bands interested in booking shows in Boise, you can look up ORRiginal Promotions on Facebook and contact them at info@ORRiginalpromotions.com.

Last King Outlaw, Lakefriends, Like A Rocket and James Plane Wreck @ the Red Room (6/19/12)

Oy.  Is this what they mean by saturating the market?  In addition to this Atypical Tuesday at the Red Room, there was the Radio Boise Tuesday at Neurolux and a Vagabond Promotions bill at the Shredder.  I suppose that all of these show-going options speaks well of the health of the live music scene nowadays.

I opted to check out the Red Room show for two reasons: 1) I was curious to see how Like A Rocket would go over with the Atypical Tuesday crowd; and 2) I'd never seen the three other bands on the bill.  This show was somewhat sparsely attended (an atypical Tuesday indeed), possibly due to the other shows mentioned above.  The crowd certainly wasn't bad, though, or unreceptive to this night's music.

First up was Last King Outlaw, a reggae trio based here in Boise.  I suppose that it's kinda redundant to commend a reggae group for its groove.  Still, it must be written that the slinky, sinuous skank of Melissa Thomas's bass and David Weatherby's drums greatly pleased the ears of this Barrett brothers fan.  Leader James Thomas's bluesy guitar danced like a butterfly and stung like a swarm of multicolored bees.  His singing wisely eschewed aping Toots Hibbert or Bob Marley and came across instead as just a man speaking to the people.  Ditto his lyrics, which featured plenty of Jah-worship and Babylon-dissing but avoided caricature.


Next up was the Caldwell group Lakefriends, which featured Fountains/Deaf Kid's Matt Stone on guitar and Art Fad/Cat Massacre/Deaf Kid's Jacob Milburn on drums.  Maybe listening to Last King Outlaw spoiled me, but this band's mix of bright, tuneful guitar riffs, simple basslines and hyperactive drumming sounded a little stiff and awkward.  The different elements never quite seemed to mesh together.  However, that could simply mean that they need some more time to blend.  As it stood, the different parts were appealing enough without altogether forming a whole.


Like A Rocket followed Lakefriends.  They delivered their standard solid set, and the two handfuls of people who saw it applauded warmly.  Z.V. House's bass sounded as fluid and propulsive as ever.  Max Klymenko was at the top of his game throughout.  Speedy Gray got off some fiery solos and coaxed Jacob Milburn into coming up on stage and doing the monkey with him.

I really hope that Mr. Milburn doesn't kill me for posting this picture.

After Like A Rocket came James Plane Wreck, a local, four-man outfit.  Their rowdy, punky take on roots rock brought the night's music to a smashing finish.  They backed up their smart lyrics and country-ish melodies with a brawny rhythm section (that's one helluva drummer they've got) and grinding, hacking, slashing guitar riffs.  Their singer's voice more than made up in personality what it may have lacked in range.  There's not a whole lot of info online on these dudes right now, but any Drive-By Truckers fans in the Boise area are advised to keep their eyes out for them.

You can find info about most of these groups on Facebook or elsewhere online.  I couldn't find anything about Lakefriends, but you folks at home can dig up some stuff on one of the dozens of bands that its members are also in.  For info on upcoming Atypical Tuesdays and more, go to www.evilwine.com.