Thrones, Cerberus Rex, Dream Hearse and Grey Cover @ the Red Room (5/3/13)

This show interested me because it had a bunch of question marks attached to it (for me, anyway).  I knew of the other bands with whom Thrones a.k.a. Joe Preston had been involved (Earth, Sunn O))), the Melvins) but had never seen him before.  I'd seen Cerberus Rex before but not since Pat Perkins had left.  Finally, this show marked the debuts of two local groups, Dream Hearse and Grey Cover.

I counted only fifteen people when I got to the Red Room.  By the time that Thrones played, that number would build to just a little under fifty (a good chunk of whom would opt to hang out on the patio).  Far less people than I'd expected, but not too bad, I guess.

Grey Cover kicked off the night.  A few days prior, I received a message from a member of this band inviting me to cover their second show.  I still get a good chuckle out of that.  Not that I don't understand first-show trepidation, but it proved unwarranted here: their sludgy dirge-beats and doomy guitar drones went over quite well.  I couldn't really tell what Arleth Medellin was saying, but she groaned with such conviction that I took it on faith that it made sense.  Meanwhile, Ian Corrigan's sharp fills darted in here and there as Ellen Rumel slashed steadfastly onward.  And actually, the songs weren't all dirgey and doomy: you could've maybe even danced to a couple of them.  If anything, this set was too short.  Oh well.  There'll be others.

Dream Hearse played next.  Given my various disparaging remarks about bands emphasizing sound over sense, I suppose that some may consider my enjoyment of this set perverse.  What did the trick for me was how this group (whose guitar player I recognized from another noise band I was fond of, Microbabies) tickled and teased the rational mind rather than pummel it into submission (cf. Wooden Indian Burial Ground).  The frequent stop-start passages, where you think the song's over NO WAIT! okay, now it's really over NO WAIT!, exemplified this trait most clearly.  Also, as this may suggest, their songs did actually show some good construction; each one had its own distinct riff, arrangement, etc.  This helped render their incomprehensibility articulate and even witty.  A very neat trick.

Cerberus Rex played next.  I never thought that I'd live to say/write that I was disappointed to hear a band's vocals better.  No dis on Josh Galloway's bellow or lyrics, both of which sounded fine; it's just that I missed hearing Pat Perkins snarl and weave.  Since this band continued to showcase one of the best guitar players in town, however, I couldn't complain too much.  Also, the reduction in sonic density allowed me to perceive better the solid craftsmanship of the songs as well as the strong rapport between Galloway's fluid basslines, Z.V. House's gargantuan riffs and raw solos and Jake Hite's tank-like drums.  A notch less roiling but still plenty powerful.

Thrones closed out the night.  I got the feeling that this guy was gonna be okay when he kicked off his set with a charmingly half-hearted merch pitch.  The rest of Joe Preston's set proved me right.  A playful, tongue-in-cheek quality pervaded his guttural vocals, grinding basslines and recordings of booming drums and whirring, whining synth.  This came through most clearly in his samples from The Exorcist and live shows ("Are you having a good time!?  Have you had enough to drink tonight!?").  Preston didn't goof around too much, however: he kept the music intricate and pulverizing enough to satisfy any metalheads in the crowd.  All in all, good fun.

You can find info on Cerberus Rex and Thrones on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Eric Gilbert and Duck Club Presents.  If you like what you've read and would like to help keep it going, click the yellow "Give" button and donate whatever you can.  Even $5 can go a long way.

Cerberus Rex, Brett Netson with Snakes and Tommy Dirtweed @ the Red Room (12/27/12)

I decided to check this show out because it had been a while since I'd seen Cerberus Rex.  Also, it'd been even longer since I'd seen Brett Netson, and I'd never seen Tommy Dirtweed before.  Hey, what else was I gonna do with all these spare ear cells?

I counted about twenty-six or twenty-seven people when I got down to the Red Room.  As you might expect, a pretty solid crowd had built up by the time that Brett Netson played.  As you might also expect, the aging hipster contingent formed an uncommonly high percentage of the audience this night.  As they are, so shall I be, I suppose.

"SHUT UP!!!"  That was how local musician Tommy Dirtweed kicked off his set.  Eric the sound-man said he could take ten minutes, but the man said fuck that and launched into a couple numbers with just his blown-out voice, his plodding basswork and some drumming courtesy of J.R. from Wilt Chamberlin's Baby. When his two guitarists took the stage, the quartet busted out some textbook stoner rock: sludgy tempos, crude riffing, screamo vocals, dunderheaded lyrics.  With his lethargic flailing and fist-pumping, Dirtweed came across as a parody of an 80's butt-rock frontman (or a stoner who secretly yearned to be one).  J.R. delivered some of his patented naughty-boy shtick, stumbling up to the mic between songs to educate the crowd about the different types of marijuana.  It's too bad that the guys in Cat Massacre weren't here: this set coulda given them hope for the longevity of dumbass transgressive art.  All in all, mildly amusing.

Brett Netson and Snakes played soon after.  Netson looked thinner and shorter than I remembered from Treefort, but of course, I was stuck back at the far end of the bar during his Sunday night set.  In any case (and much more importantly), his music sounded quite a bit sharper than I remembered.  It helped that, instead of acting like valets, the fluid, tune-carrying basslines and the steady, propulsive drumming served as equal partners to Netson's buckets of mind-bending wah-wah noise.  As at Treefort, the heavy reverb on Netson's mic made it hard to understand what he was saying.  As at Treefort, I doubted that it mattered much.

This set was especially noteworthy for its final number, when Tommy Dirtweed and Pat Perkins joined Netson onstage for an impromptu, one-song reunion of legendary local band Caustic Resin.  "JUMP, MOTHERFUCKER!" Dirtweed shouted over Perkins's grinding drums and Netson's howling guitar.  Only a couple of people obeyed, though I did observe some very enthusiastic nodding and bobbing.

Discretion kept me from taking a picture of Tommy Dirtweed dropping his pants and flashing his junk at the crowd.  "I give you my all!" he told the people.  Uh... thanks?

Cerberus Rex closed out the night and sounded in excellent form.  Pat Perkins and Z.V. House's guitars, Jake Hite's drums and Josh Galloway's voice and bass all roiled, roared and pulverized as one.  I like to think that you couldn't chalk up the crowd's more animated response to this set just to the drinks kicking in.  As usual, I couldn't tell you what Josh Galloway was bellowing up there.  As usual, that seemed beside the point--this was music designed to reach right into the id and blast it out.  The voice just helped it penetrate the conscious mind's defenses.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.

Andrew Felts, Memphibians and Cerberus Rex @ the Red Room (8/24/12)

The Red Room threw their second movie-themed party last Friday night.  I missed their Star Wars-themed show, but I had a good reason--Toots and the Maytals played the same night.  Anyway, I was curious to check out their Jurassic Park-themed party, especially when I saw that it'd feature mega-hard-rockin' local group Cerberus Rex and a couple of acts I'd never heard of before.

I got down there just in time to watch Laura Dern fend off the velociraptors in the power room. I sat at a table near the back and looked around at the patrons' costumes (my favorite was this one guy who dressed up as a dinosaur).  I didn't have anything that would've made a decent costume, but since I wore all black, I have glasses and I'm a pretentious asshole, maybe I could've passed for Ian Malcolm.

First up after the movie was Andrew Felts, a musician from Jacksonville, FL.  His rough vocals struck me as a little snide at first, but after a couple of songs, I realized that "pained" described them more accurately.  The man sang as if he could barely suppress a scream or a sob or both.  This suited his smart, sardonic punk-country tunes perfectly.  His sharp lyrics livened up the good old my-woman-left-me and my-woman-done-me-wrong themes, and I especially appreciated when he sang through a clenched jaw a la George Jones.

After Andrew Felts came Memphibians, who also hailed from Jacksonville.  Their clanging riffs, endearingly harsh vocals, xylophone and French horn hooks and rock-solid drumming got the punks in the crowd dancing and bouncing off each other.  Between songs, they gave shout-outs to Boise state parks, Lucky Peak and Finn Riggins (who they said helped them book this gig).  Hopefully, all of this means that we'll see them around these parts again sometime soon.  Grand arty/grungy fun.

Cerberus Rex wrapped up the live music for the night with a focused and galvanizing set.  Drummer Jake Hite was in particularly pulverizing form, and Josh Galloway worked up a fine bellow--I could even make out some of the lyrics this time around.  Meanwhile, the bass sounded as monolithic and the guitars as scorching as ever.  During their set-capping cover of Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice," Z.V. House scraped, detuned and literally tore at his guitar strings to produce some glorious noise.  Well worth a little ringing in the ears.

You can find info on these acts on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Wes Malvini and the Red Room.

Evil Wine Season 2 Premiere @ the Red Room (7/16/12)

Although I might not have written about it here, I'd have gone to this even if there wasn't any live music.  For one thing, I dig The Evil Wine Show--if you're down with absurdist, satirical raunch, you can't do better around these parts.  For another thing, this show doubled as a birthday celebration for Wes Malvini, one of the two deviants behind Evil Wine (the other being Dustin Jones) and the man in charge of booking at the Red Room.  Wes does a good job on both fronts and is a decent guy besides, so I wanted to show my support.

Happily, a lot of other folks apparently felt the same way.  According to the Boise Weekly, about 100 people showed up to this shindig.  You can read the article that I linked to for details on the episode; I'll just stick to the music.  Actually, before I begin, I have to share this video, which appeared in the episode.  It'll give those unfamiliar with Evil Wine an idea of what to expect.

Watched it?  Good.  Don't worry, the scars won't be that bad.  Moving right along...

Opening the evening was Oakland-based musician Flip Cassidy.  Even if he hadn't opened with "Tango Til They're Sore" from Rain Dogs, I'd have guessed that this dude has listened long and hard to his Tom Waits records.  Cassidy joyously belted his blues/murder ballad/gospel-based original songs in a friendly, phlegmy voice.  The clanging tone of his energetically strummed guitar evoked a merry jaunt through a scrapyard.  Damn good fun.

After Flip Cassidy came the San Francisco-based folk-rock band Dum Spiro Spero.  Their Celtic-flavored music had a strong beat and sustained the irreverent tone established by Flip Cassidy's set.  Driving guitar and banjo joined with haunting fiddle, solemn accordion and agreeably straightforward vocals.  In a way, it was too bad that this group played so early in the evening: a lot more folks would have probably danced if they'd had more time to drink.

After Dum Spiro Spero finished their set, the first episode of Evil Wine Season 2 premiered. After that, local one-man act The Sneezz kicked off the after-party.  His performance this night was a bit more relaxed than the one that I caught back in May but no less enjoyable.  His mind-boggling bass playing channeled Les Claypool, and his drum tracks got the people dancing.

Cerberus Rex played next and delivered a solid, ear-and-shin-vibrating set.  Drummer Jake Hite was in particularly good form, and Z.V. House's raw, kick-out-the-jams solos complemented Pat Perkins's cooler, more contained guitar work.  Listening to this band a second time, I found something downright cathartic about their music.  It seemed designed to shoot straight into the id and blast out any dark desires lurking within.  In that way, it tied in nicely with The Evil Wine Show's m.o. and provided the perfect ending to the night.

You can look up info on these bands on Facebook and elsewhere online.  For episodes of The Evil Wine Show and more, go to www.evilwine.com.

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.