PLAYBACK:stl

may 2005

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built to spill profiles: louis xiv, bluebottle kiss, new line theatre reviews: clem snide, magnolia electric co., stephen elliott previews: athlete, the wedding present, outrageous cherry

www.playbackstl.com

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MAY 2005

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PlaybackSTL: Get used to it.

and BALLWIN 15355A Manchester Rd. 636-230-2992 5/6: Salt of the Earth 5/13: Barefoot Jones 5/14: Gene Operle 5/20: Ron Wilkinson 5/21: Dan Hoerle 5/28: Brendan Bradley

PLAYBACK– TALK Playback Don’t Play Those Games (or, And This Is Why PlaybackSTL Will No Longer Review Ragged Blade) I would like to start by thanking you for your continuing support of Ragged Blade. I am sure that the publicity you provide for each of our productions has added to our attendance and public awareness.

However, the reason for my letter is the comp tickets that we provide for reviewers.

Our current show, Tattoos, marks the second time this season that we have provided comp tickets for your reviewer and a guest only to have them not write a review. Because of this, beginning with 2005–2006 (our tenth season), we will make the following adjustments to our reviewer ticket policy: 1. Reviewers will be allowed only one comp ticket. This is actually in line with most other theater companies. If the reviewer chooses to bring a guest, a ticket must be purchased.

2. If a review is not printed in the next available publication date following the reviewed performance, the publication will be invoiced for the comp ticket.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding this policy. | Skip Hardesty, Managing Director, Ragged Blade Productions Tyson Blanquart, Theater Editor, responds: This is only the second show this season that PlaybackSTL has come to cover, and only the first that we have not reviewed after attending. There have been no other shows that any of my reviewers have come to that weren’t written up.

Cosponsored Events BRENTWOOD 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd.

314-918-8189 5/13: Javier Mendoza Band 5/14: Philip Wesley 5/21: Jenny Choi CREVE COEUR 11745 Olive Blvd.

314-432-3575 5/7: Dan Hoerle 5/14: Philip Wesley 5/21: Mark Biehl

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS 6611 N. Illinois 618-397-6097 ST. PETERS 1320 Mid Rivers Mall Dr. 636-278-5000 5/21: Ron Wilkinson

SUNSET HILLS 10990 Sunset Hills Plaza 314-909-0300 5/7: Maple Jam 5/21: Gene Operle

SOUTH COUNTY 25 South County Centerway 314-892-1700 *All shows 8-10 pm unless noted

Actually, every company in town automatically offers us two comp tickets. Ragged Blade has been the only one to have any issue with this. We don’t mind if you want to make it only one, that’s your right, but to say that it’s “in line with other theater companies” is just not true.

We at PlaybackSTL have a strong commitment to the local arts, and we support the community in all it does, whether it be theater, art, music, film, or written works. Keeping that in mind, PBSTL will no longer come to cover events hosted or presented by your company.

You Missed The Earlies at SXSW, as Well Not only did you miss Rob Dickinson, but you also missed The Earlies play their first American gigs at SXSW. I was also sad that Dickinson had to cancel. I knew beforehand, though, so I didn’t get to see the Shout Out Louds (who are not bad). | Michael A. Thomas, San Antonio, Texas

Life Is a Bowl of Berries Thank you so much. It is a wonderful review, and we really appreciate your taking time to ask us questions and go so in depth about the process of making Marriage. It has certainly been personally a very intense one, so to have our efforts noted in one of St. Louis’s best publications means a lot! | Paul Goodenough, Berry LETTERS POLICY All letters to the editor are subject to publication. Letters may be edited for clarity or space. Letters are of the opinion of the writers and do not necessarily represent the beliefs of PlaybackSTL.

MOLLY HAYDEN

Last month, PlaybackSTL celebrated its three-year anniversary. The party lasted an entire weekend, beginning and ending with PBSTL-sponsored shows (Aqueduct and The Golden Republic at Cicero’s April 21, Leo and Gooding at Cicero’s April 23). Smackdab in the middle was our annual anniversary shindig, held this year at Off Broadway and featuring Cameron McGill, The Lab, Punsapaya, and Dave AlanS. Thanks to all who came to one or more of the shows and helped us celebrate!

Looking ahead to May, we are, of course, sponsoring more shows. First and foremost,

we invite you to come out and support some of the best STL bands at our Midwest !,%9 Music Summit Showcase May 6–7 at The Gearbox at Lil’ Nikki’s. Josh Baker, execu#!" &/2 #54)% !" & tive director of MMS, will be in attendance, where he will hand-pick some of our city’s

finest for the annual Midwest summer rite of passage, the Midwest Music Summit. Held in Indianapolis, this year’s festival will be in conjunction with NAMM and expects to draw some serious crowds. At the STL showcase, you’ll see six bands each night; we’ve set a low ticket price ($7 for one night, $11 for both) to make it a no-brainer. See the full lineup online at www.playbackstl.com (and on our back cover).

We’re also proud to be involved with The Floating City’s CD release party (May 14 at Mississippi Nights) and the Low Key Comics Launch Party (May 6 at The Way Out Club). Come out and get your Playback fix; we promise a good night of music and entertainment. Don’t forget to wear your PBSTL t-shirt and show your independent homegrown pride!

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CONTENTS FISH IN A BARREL ...........................3

LOCAL SCENERY ............................30

PROFILES

PRETENTIOUS RECORD STORE GUY ......................................31

Louis XIV ..............................................4 Bluebottle Kiss.......................................5

PLAY BY PLAY...................................7 Spoon, Aqualung, Efterklang, Emperor X, Ben Folds, Four Tet, Jason Miles, Charlie Poole, Spookie Daly Pride, Summer at Shatter Creek, Martha Wainwright Quick Hits.......................................... 26 Kaiser Chiefs, Millencolin, Missile Silo Suite, Over the Rhine

BACKSTAGE PASS Reviews: Clem Snide, Link Wray, Magnolia Electric Co............................. 14 Photo Gallery: PlaybackSTL anniversary show ................................. 29

THREE TO SEE ................................15 YOU ARE HERE ...............................16 Venus Envy

FROM THE CORNER .......................16 Johnnie Johnson

ON THE COVER ...............................20

ELLIOT GOES ...................................31 CURMUDGEON ................................32 COME OUT AND PLAY ....................33 Profile: New Line Theatre .................... 35

TAKE FIVE ........................................34 Athlete

PAGE BY PAGE................................36 Stephen Elliott, Elizabeth Crane, McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories

DELIRIOUS NOMAD ........................39 WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? ...........40 Low Key Comics Launch Party, Outrageous Cherry, Tilly and the Wall, The Wedding Present, Chin Up Chin Up, Thos, Unsane, The Fucking Champs

PORTRAITS ......................................44 Carmelita Nunez

Built to Spill

NOW PLAYING Cinema: Palindromes, Crash, Oldboy.... 24 Interview: Angelo Pizzo ..................... 25 Our Filmy Substance.......................... 27 DVD: Drive-by Truckers, AMP Magazine28

NEVER MISS A COPY Avoid the rush and make sure you get your copy of PlaybackSTL every month in the convenience and comfort of your own mailbox. For just $25 you get 12 months of great reporting on arts and entertainment, along with our monthly events listings, columnists, interviews—all in big, bold color. You will also receive the special edition PlaybackSTL T-shirt, be put on a special subscriber-only e-mail list (free stuff!), and receive two discount coupons for Now Hear This music store in Kirkwood.

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Playback Pop Culture playSt. Louisack Publisher Two Weasels Press LLC Managing Editor Laura Hamlett Associate Editor/Art Director Jim Dunn Contributing Editor Bryan A. Hollerbach Book Editor Stephen Schenkenberg Film Editor Pete Timmermann Live Music Editor Brian McClelland Theater Editor Tyson Blanquart Editors-at-Large Rob Levy, Kevin Renick Editorial Assistant Kimberly Faulhaber Interns Jordan Deam, Kate Merwald Contributing Writers Sid Andruska, Tyson Blanquart, J. Church, Thomas Crone, Jordan Deam, Jim Dunn, Rob Edgecomb, Kimberly Faulhaber, Daniel Green, Jason Green, Adam Hackbarth, Laura Hamlett, Joe Hodes, Bryan A. Hollerbach, Preston Jones, Byron Kerman, Carey Kirk, John Kujawski, Sarah Lenzini, Rob Levy, David Lichius, Brian McClelland, Sean Moeller, Angela Pancella, Jon Rayfield, Kevin Renick, Aaron Richter, Andrew Scavotto, Stephen Schenkenberg, Jeremy Segel-Moss, Pete Timmermann, Anne Valente, Rudy Zapf Cover Photograph Autumn DeWild, Courtesy Warner Brothers Records Contributing Illustrator Carlos Ruiz Contributing Photographer Patrick Vaughan Advertising Sales Jim Dunn • 314-630-6404 Jim@playbackstl.com Distribution Two Weasels Press LLC PlaybackSTL is published monthly.

Current circulation is 18,000. © All content copyright PlaybackSTL 2005. No material may be reproduced without permission.

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MAY 2005

Bono Continues to Exploit the Enfeebled, Dead | We hate to fritter away valuable words on Shades every month (we’re considering a “Bono in a Barrel” pullout section), but the man produces an impressive amount of bullshit and it must be noted. Bono recently honored the late Pope John Paul II the only way he knows how: by skillfully making it all about his favorite rock star. During a California show, he recalled their meeting several years ago: “I met the Holy Father and I was so taken by this showman, even if I didn’t agree with everything he said...I said ‘Holy father, do you want a pair of fly shades?’ and he said yes and he put them on and made a face kind of like this.” After respectfully scrunching his face, Bono showed off a token of their meeting, which he coincidentally had on him. “He reached out and gave me this sort of crooked cross. It was designed

by Michelangelo. They’re my rosaries and I wear them around my neck, and I take them off and put them in my pocket during a rock show; you understand [why].” (Because he croons “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” like the Devil himself, muthafuckas.) Bono later described the Polish pontiff as “an Italian who knew the right person to get into heaven,” and, as a final subtle reminder, hung the rosary on his microphone stand before leaving the stage.

After losing that World Bank position, we’re pretty sure he’s putting his feelers out for head of the Catholic Church. Don’t fall for his fancy talk, Jeebus!

Is It the Hippies? | Do we smell bad?

Seriously, smell us. Yeah, it is Glow! Can you believe she sings, acts, dances, and still has time to study perfumery?! Wait, we have a point. And here it is: Doves, Weezer, The Shins, The Raveonettes, Dinosaur Jr., and Spoon have all skipped over STL on their current tours, despite performing to packed houses the last time they hit our fair city.

But you won’t be bored this spring—Tesla, Widespread Panic, Jesse McCartney (read: poor man’s Aaron Carter), Dave Matthews Band, Rick “Botox” Springfield, any/all country-pop super-tours, and, of course, Hagar will grace our larger venues in the coming months.

Now if we could only pull some strings and get Meat Loaf back into town. Frequent visits from that My Chemical Romance youngster have whetted our appetite for grandiose gesturing and facial contortion.

Self-Loathing Indie Label Secretly Wants to Fail | Hootie & the Blowfish and Blues Traveler have signed deals with Vanguard Records, with respective albums tentatively slated for

August and September. According to Kevin Welk, president of the independent that owns Vanguard and Optimist Club shoo-in, “We can make our nut without radio play.” Yeah, good luck with that. Now if they can only get Deep Blue Something to return their calls...

Source’s Benzino Bolsters Status as “Ginormous A-Hole” | The good times continue to roll over at The Source. Days after the confusing “I quit. No wait, I still totally work here” antics of co-owner and chief brand executive Raymond “Benzino” Scott, he and his partner, CEO David Mays, have been named in court documents filed with the EEOC that accuse them of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The charges were filed by two former high-ranking female employees on behalf of all women working at The Source, and accuse Scott and Mays of charming office behaviors such as: passing women over for promotions in favor of unqualified men, allowing men to threaten women with physical violence, forcing women out of the company when they raised the issue of gender discrimination, commenting on one woman’s lollipop consumption, and betting on who could be the first to sleep with an intern. Chicks can be so uptight. In response to the charges, The Source issued a totally mature statement claiming that one of the female accusers, a former editor-inchief, “had sexual relations with a number of high profile rap artists.” (Pot, meet kettle.)

Meanwhile, somewhere in Detroit, Eminem is cracking up.

A Long Way From “Booty Call” | Not about to let his Oscar win go to waste, Jamie Foxx has set to work recording a follow-up to his critically acclaimed 1994 album Peep This (Psyche!

We’d never heard of it either!). The new LEAD BIZKIT demonstrates his contempt for traditional television programming, announces development of reality TV venture, My Life With Fred Durst.

FISH IN A BARREL MUSIC NEWS

album, tentatively titled Southern Gentleman, includes collaborations with musicians such as Kanye West, 50 Cent, Slash, and Snoop Dogg, and no-talent ass-clowns such as Scott Stapp. According to Foxx, the album is a collection of “love music.” We’re not sure what that means, exactly, but no matter. Foxx’s everything-I-touch-turns-to-gold era—exhibited by his spot alongside Jay-Z and Alicia Keys on Time’s list of 2004’s most influential people—shows no sign of ending. At least until Miami Vice: The Movie is released.

Too Much Brandy (Extended Remix) | English rapper Mike Skinner (The Streets) was thrown out of the Prince’s Trust Urban Music Festival for drunkenly interrupting interviews.

Normally, this brand of childish behavior would immediately qualify Skinner for our prestigious “Awesome English Dude” award. (Hi, Pete!)

However, the rapper also repeatedly shouted, “You’re gay!” at kids’ television presenters (in that oops-I-totally-thought-I-was-whispering way, but still). He was soon escorted to his dressing room until a car arrived to take him home, where, presumably, a bevy of NME staffers stood by to blow him silly.

Name That Fetus! | Congratulations to Britney Spears and her stunningly bad choice of a husband, Kevin Federline, on their impending spawn. (Special congrats go out to K-Fed for fathering his first legitimate child!) In honor of this historic event, FIAB asks you (yes, you) to send us your ideas for a name. When selecting your choice for the perfect name, keep in mind the celebrity tendency toward wildly unusual, inappropriate, or totally obsolete names. Consider the fact that Brit will want to choose a name that makes a strong statement, possibly a shout-out to a mentor or influential figure, and also that the Federlines are—how do we put this gently?—unencumbered by a tremendous amount of book learnin’, so their choice may not be as highbrow as some of your more educated celebs (Apple, Phinnaeus, Moon Unit, etc.).

Here, we’ll get you started: Louisiana Red Bull (boy), Cheeto Madonna Tanktop (girl). Send us your guesses and we’ll print them, maybe, if we feel like it sometime. Good luck! | The above are the opinions of Fish in a Barrel, and not necessarily those of the editors of PlaybackSTL. Just the funny ones. And the ones who wear cheap-ass parfum.

Contributors: Kimberly Faulhaber, Sarah Lenzini

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PLAYBACK STL

PBSTL PROFILE LOUIS XIV

LOUIS XIV: HERE COMES THE SUN KING T

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here’s a natural progression to the way a courtship is supposed to happen between man and woman.

You’ve got the small talk that builds a comfort level. There’s the first date where you’re off to dinner and a movie. You meet parents, move in together, have some pregnancy scares, and think about marriage.

San Diego band Louis XIV doesn’t have matrimony or monogamy in its vocabulary and all of the other steps would be considered too drab and slow-moving to be any good to it. And the four members aren’t wrong when considering all of the time that’s wasted doing things the old-fashioned way. They aren’t going after those sexy, prude librarians and actuaries. They’re trying to nail those saucy teases who know they’re showing too much breast and thigh and want to be lied to and loved up, in that order.

Why sweet talk women when you can win them just as easily by inciting them with crass talk of even crasser behavior? Why put any sort of effort into upholding decency when a good and dirty working verb could get you to the same place without sacrificing any face?

You can be all that you want to be and all that you are in the comfort of your own pathetically raunchy fantasyland head, where there’s an endless supply of naughty, topless blondes brandishing fully-loaded cans of Redi-Whip and sharing the same amount of lewd and skewed perversity.

Louis XIV start in the sack. Pillow talk would be a sweaty rollover and a panting, “Ready for another go?” Every Jason Hill lyric on the group’s Atlantic debut, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, is completely forward and rife with titillations. There are no mixed signals or crossed wires, just straight-ahead, animalistic behavior. If Hill read this month’s copy of Esquire and thought about trying America’s most popular pick-up line, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he’d probably get to “don’t” and then say, “Aww, fuck it; let’s screw, carrot juice.”

“We speak bluntly. We aren’t like, ‘Honey, I want to sugar and spice you with roses.’

Nobody actually talks like that,” guitarist/ keyboardist/vocalist Brian Karscig said while on a Canadian tour with The Futureheads and Hot Hot Heat last month. “It’s meant as a form LOUIS XIV frontman JASON HILL; photo by JIM DUNN

of flattery. I don’t think women of the Midwest will get it. It’s our mood. [Words] just come out the way they do.”

The two-year-old band of lifelong friends has created quite the stir among the thinskinned and anal. One Portland newspaper ran a piece on the band in advance of its performance in the city advising that the band is a pack of glam rock woman-haters that needs to be stopped at all costs. Seriously. It’s not like the band’s garnering the kind of heated opposition as the antichrist superstar Marilyn Manson did in the mid-’90s, but it’s enough to weird out Karscig and make him wonder about people.

“Woman haters? Us? We love women,” he said. “I think girls are more into it than guys are. You won’t see many guys at our shows. I just think girls like to be flattered.”

Louis XIV, the historical figure bent on lavishness and spectacle, was also a lover of the ladies. The band had the idea to write a concept album about a boy who thought he was Louis XIV, which led to a song of that name and, eventually, the naming of the group itself. Hill, Karscig, and drummer Mark Maigaard have played in “millions” of bands together for the past 13 years. Their last was a Beachwood Sparks/Beach Boys–esque outfit Convoy; it eventually got so that Hill wanted nothing to do with making that kind of music anymore.

“When I was 15, I dressed a certain way.

You don’t wear the same shirt for 15 years,” Karscig said, explaining their evolution from a band that would have fit on a Wilco bill to a band that could get the Wilco gig, but would just try to seduce the wives of the headliners and steal all the rider alcohol. “I’m sure The Beatles went through the same thing from ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ to ‘I Am the Walrus.’

This started as just a side project for us.

Eventually, Louis XIV just got more popular.”

Hill turned himself into a less mummified and shuffling Ozzy Osbourne, done up with mascara and imposing dark hair, and began to sing the unadulterated conversations made for a locker room or men’s club. He gets lusty all over the place and the band backs him with a manic garage rock sound that The Thermals aped from The Kinks and so on. There’s Karscig in the back with the nasally accompa-

By Sean Moeller

nying backups that lend a quirky Elephant 6 Collective touch.

“I don’t really know how to talk about this all yet,” Karscig admitted. “It’s kind of weird coming up with explanations for our music because it was never meant for anyone else; it was meant for us. And now everyone’s passing some kind of judgment on it. It’s just what it is.”

Before they were signed last summer, demo copies of a self-titled disc—recorded in a friend’s flat in Paris—made their way around radio station playlists. They were getting large numbers of spins on the West Coast and were invited out for a short stint with The Killers. While they traveled America with the Las Vegas sensations, sales of the record exploded.

“Everyone in the world wanted that Killers tour,” Karscig said. “We hit it off really well.

They gave us the opportunity of a lifetime. I don’t think most of us in the band even want to ask them why they took us out. Brandon [Flowers, The Killers’ lead singer] did tell me, ‘The second I heard that song [“Louis XIV”], I knew I loved your band.’”

That’s karma that bodes well for Louis XIV, the ambassadors of instant gratification.

“Everybody likes excess in one way or another,” Karscig said. “We’ve been hibernating geeks for a couple years, but we’re always up for a good party.” | Louis XIV open for The Killers at a sold-out The Pageant May 23.

BLUEBOTTLE KISS COME ACROSS

PBSTL PROFILE BLUEBOTTLE KISS

By Laura Hamlett e bragged about Come Across last year.

Back in November, PlaybackSTL called it, Australian band Bluebottle Kiss’s second U.S. release (fifth overall), “truly an amazing album, breathtaking and magical, poetic and rocking.” We went on, claiming, “As they did on last year’s Revenge Is Slow, BBK manage to incorporate strings and literary lyrics into their cacophony of sounds to create a brand of rock that is at once fresh, familiar, and richly woven.” And in January, in our look back at 2004, I ranked Come Across as the third best album of the year.

This was all before I found out Come Across hadn’t been properly released in the States yet; that happens May 10. Seems the early distribution was just for press people, like myself, to support the band’s October tour of America. So now it’s your turn: With this proper release (ask for it at your local record store! Check online sites such as cdbaby.com and amazon.com!), Bluebottle Kiss is available and ready for the masses.

W

There’s an addictive disparity to the music, a juxtaposition of sorts. Let’s start with the name. Frontman/band mastermind Jamie Hutchings—the beacon in a rotating lineup led by his vision—had to think; it had been so long ago. “The bluebottle is a stinging jellyfish in Australia, and then The Jesus and Mary Chain had this song called ‘Barbed Wire Kisses,’” he explains by telephone from his home in New South Wales, “and I kind of threw it all together. It seemed like a good image to give the music. I like music that’s painful; I like

music that’s beautiful at the same time…dissonant and ugly-sounding music, and music that can be really beautiful and melancholy.

It’s kind of half and half. It’s what our music is like, as well, so it made sense.”

Though not formally trained, Hutchings comes from a musical family. His father made a living as a jazz session player; sister Sophie plays piano and brother Scott drums. “I don’t know anything about music in a formal sense; it’s all self-taught,” he explains. “You sort of end up finding your own sort of style that way.” Still, it wasn’t as if Hutchings grew up with rock-star dreams.

“I didn’t ever really think about it,” he admits.

“I sort of surprised myself. When Bluebottle Kiss started, it was the bass player and the drummer that were really pushing hard to get gigs.

They didn’t even really like the music that I was writing, but when we did some demos, all their friends were really impressed. We started getting gigs, and then different people—movers and shakers around town—heard it. Suddenly it just started happening, and I was addicted. Those guys are long gone,” he adds with a laugh, “but it became something that, once I got a taste for it, I couldn’t give up.”

Hutchings writes the kind of songs you want to hole up with, alone in your room with a bottle of wine, the CD player, and the lyric sheet, listening to the beauty and the anarchy and savoring every word. And Come Across, like earlier BBK releases, is well-suited for just that. Lines like, “When the car expired I thought, ‘Hey just as well’/when your greatest fears are realized you can take your hand out of the till” from “Everything Begins and Ends at Exactly the Right Time,” and “Woke to find the rain’s come up and it’s raining fire trucks/I want to turn the summer on and let your heat light my roadway” from “So Slow.”

Aching guitars, such as the ones that grind on the aforementioned “Everything Begins” and “Crawling With Ants.” Moments of quiet beauty and stark sounds, such as “Can I Keep You?” the love song to his wife—Hutchings alone on vocals, piano, keyboard, guitars, and drums—or the enlightening, meanderingly

pointed “Something Tiny.” All of it perfectly placed, planned, and penned, and colliding just right.

“The last three records, there’s a real obsession with cohesion,” Hutchings agrees, “with the records being real pieces from start to end.”

And it’s worked really well, I tell him; the three (Patience, Revenge Is Slow, and Come Across) are absolutely beautiful, flawless except that they haven’t found the larger audience they deserve. “Yeah, but we never want to repeat ourselves, either,” he says, adding that, next time, “I kind of feel like throwing caution to the wind and making a really sprawling, adventurous record.”

Hutchings’ songwriting genius is often heralded by the Australian press. One review of his 2003 solo debut (The Golden Coach, Nonzero) declared, “There’s no doubt that he’s easily one of the most talented songwriters in Australia.” No small distinction, that— and yet, Hutchings remains firmly grounded in the non–rock-star world. “[In] Australia, there’s not enough people to support the kind of music we make,” he explains. “You can’t really tour relentlessly here for ten years; you wear your audience out. There’s only so many people you’ve got to convert.” So, in order to succeed—to reach that larger audience, to become self-supporting musicians—they naturally have to look overseas, to the United Kingdom and the United States.

Last fall, Bluebottle Kiss returned to the States for the second time, on a self-booked minor disaster of a tour. Most of the time, they were slotted with dissimilar bands on overcrowded bills. Still, the experience hasn’t soured them. “We’ll definitely do it again,” Hutchings says readily. “It’s just a matter of really hunting out opportunities for it to happen. The Northern Hemisphere is just so far away. You can’t tour [for months] over there; there’s just no money to do it.”

Everyone in the band still has day jobs; they have to cut costs whenever possible.

Unfortunately, that often comes at the expense of the band’s self-promotion. “We had people interested in helping us do college radio,” he tells me, “but we just couldn’t afford to pay them.” So their label pushes for print reviews, which Hutchings knows is “kind of limited because people don’t actually get to hear it.” continued on page 34

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MAY 2005

PLAY BY PLAY

MUSIC REVIEWS

SPOON: GIMME FICTION (M

ERGE)

This is what happens when Spoon frontman Britt Daniel tries to make a dance record.

He fails miserably—miserably in terms of the whole dance thing, not the actual record.

Gimme Fiction is not the album Daniel intended to make as his band’s fifth full-length venture. But with the recent over-abundance of artists looking to bop trou, we can be more than thankful for the characteristically Spoonish fare that emerged from these dancemotivated studio sessions. (Read: You’re not going to get much sequin-shirted shakin’ time with this record.) Gimme Fiction isn’t entirely more of the same, but it definitely reeks of what we’ve comes to expect from the band’s past two albums.

Girls Can Tell was immediate. The tunes couldn’t be forced out of your head with a young priest and an old priest carrying a bottle of holy water and a bible. Kill the Moonlight isn’t quite there. The music seemed incomplete at times, took forever to catch on, and now you’re torn between following the herd that touts it as perfect and the skeptics who think its just pretty good. During the first few weeks of listening to Gimme Fiction, it draws no reaction. The songs are there, but that’s about it. They play for hours and lack any feeling of substance.

Then, like some act of spontaneous fusion, it all comes together. The piano plod of the album’s opener “The Beast and Dragon, Adored” hits squealing spurts of guitar that fall into place when adrenaline threatens to take control of the song but never does.

“The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine” livens up the album with its piano placed slightly behind Daniel’s rich narrative verses that echo the best moments of Tom Petty.

SPOON frontman BRITT DANIEL; photo by Jim Dunn

You might find yourself listening to “I Summon You” 15 times before realizing that, with its furious acoustic guitar pacing and soaring vocals, it’s the best love song (best song?) Daniel has ever penned. Or “Was It You?” might hide as a rehash of the Moonlight experiments in sparseness, but the tight loops soon become too enchanting to ignore.

As for the remnants of Daniel’s intended dance music, “I Turn My Camera On” has a stutter-step disco beat with goofy Prince-style vocals. It’s not much to dance to, but lightens the album and gives reference for thanks that all of Gimme Fiction didn’t turn out in such a manner.

Gimme Ficton isn’t the instantly catchy style of Girls Can Tell, and it isn’t the fencesitting promise of genius that is Kill the Moonlight. Gimme Fiction is a slow cooker that promises a fine feast. You’ll have to wait for it, but waiting isn’t that hard when there is no inkling of what’s expected. The songs hide themselves in their own mask of simple normalcy until bursting out by exposing that this simplicity is exactly what makes them so special. | Aaron Richter AQUALUNG: STRANGE (Columbia)

AND

BEAUTIFUL

Knowing the background of Aqualung’s Matt Hales, no one could ever say that he just haphazardly stumbled upon rock stardom.

Having grown up above his parents’ independent record store

in Southampton, London, Hales began writing songs at the age of four. At 11 he was asked to compose his school’s anthem, and at 16 he was granted a scholarship to study composition. By 17 he had written his first symphony, which was subsequently performed by a 60-piece orchestra, Hales himself at the conductor’s stand. He then went on to earn a degree in music from London’s City University, his musical compositions played for religious gatherings at The Royal Albert Hall. During this time, Hales also formed a band with his brother, Ben, taking his classical training into the realm of rock and onto the radio waves as the band signed their first record deal. Prepped since birth for a life in music, it would be ludicrous to say that Hales simply found his calling.

Given this polished background, which has spawned the equally polished sound on Hales’ new album, Strange and Beautiful, this is just the kind of recording that you really want to hate. It’s stylized, it’s glossy, and it’s exactly the type of straight-A sheen that you’d expect from a child prodigy. No surprises here.

However, the real surprise comes when you pop this disc into your CD player for the first time and, aghast by the obliteration of your own expectations, you find that it’s actually pretty good. Really good. How irritating, seeing as how you wanted to hate it so.

The truth of the matter is that, despite the calculated path that has led to the making of this album, it comes off not so much calculated as it does a natural progression of someone impressively talented. Under the alias of Aqualung, Hales delivers to us a collection of complex, textured songs that bind the classical strands of his upbringing with continued on next page

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the rock inclinations of his adult years. The result is an alluringly poised, sophisticated album, on which it is clear that its creator understands music.

From the first sequence of chords in the opening title track, Strange and Beautiful immediately draws you in. An elegy describing unrequited love, it is certainly the standout track on the album. Hales’ soothing voice poignantly yet succinctly details what love feels likes from a distance, unseen. Many of the other tracks revolve around love as well, in particular the quiet agony of slowly falling out of love. That there seems to be a central theme here is interesting, considering that this album is actually a compilation of songs that Hales wrote over the past few years and put together for Columbia Records to release in the United States. Even more puzzling is the disenchanted tone of most of these songs, when Hales’ personal life reflects the opposite: He just had a new baby with co-songwriter Kim Oliver.

But never mind these little peculiarities. When you’re listening to Strange and Beautiful, you won’t be lost in the details of its production.

You’ll be lost in the music, which is exactly what a good album should do. | Anne Valente EFTERKLANG: SPRINGER (The Leaf Label) The world’s scarcely caught up with the sweeping textural beauty of Efterklang’s 2004 debut Tripper, and we’re already graced with this new EP. Well actually, Springer is older; it dates back to early 2003, but was only released in Europe in a limited edition of 500. Now it’s been reissued by The Leaf Label to tide fans over ’til the group’s new album is finished. First of all, let’s give kudos for the sheer length of this disc. Most EPs are between 12 and 20 minutes long; Springer clocks in at nearly 31 minutes—as long as many full-lengths these days! So if dining at Club Efterklang is your thing, prepare yourself for another sumptuous platter.

Me, I’m a glutton for this kind of exotic, glitchy, contemplative, boy-girl balanced, Scandi-coated aural confection. There are five tracks, each displaying the Danish ensemble’s trademark blend of evocative ambience, buzzing and humming electronica, and softly beckoning vocals blending the masculine and femi-

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nine in equal measure (it’s one of the group’s trademarks; I can’t name another Scandinavian outfit who do this with such effortless organic grace). The elegiac opener “Kloy Gyn” is reminiscent of Sigur Rós in its slowly unfolding languid textures; it sounds sad and hopeful at the same time. “Antitech” (funny title, since this music couldn’t exist without the technology employed in its creation) begins with machine-like percussive sounds and childlike keyboard competing for your attention, with harmonium also in there somewhere. There’s a gorgeous moment when all instruments drop out of the mix except piano and a simple drum loop, and you’re left contemplating this band’s amazing ability to conjure the stark, spooky beauty of life with their sonic sleight of hand.

Four minutes pass before any vocals, singing something like, “Now it feels like my body is meant to react…” Mine did, lemme tell you.

By the time horns enter near the end of this lengthy track, I had totally surrendered.

Both “Redrop” and “Filmosonic XL” owe a debt to Brian Eno, especially in the former’s speeded-up tape whirr that becomes a field of white noise over which a few simple piano notes glide, and the latter’s abrasive mechanical loop that gives way to a bit of soft, glowing ambience straight out of Eno’s Music for Films era. And “Bright” is an aptly named piece with cascading layers of lush, flowing electronica very similar to Mum, this band’s closest stylistic brethren. “You still float,” sings a voice from the misty mix. And Efterklang, you still float my boat, dears. | Kevin Renick EMPEROR X: CENTRAL HUG/FRIENDARMY/ FRACTALDUNES (Discos Mariscos) For every talented, artistically inclined group of musicians recording onto a digital medium, there are a dozen more whose labels pay for the full ProTools treatment in the hopes of making their albums sound as generically as possible. While the former camp uses the format’s flexibility to create soundscapes that would have been inconceivable in the analog age, the latter use it as a instrument to destroy the evidence of their heinous crimes against music. The result is a singer who hits all the right notes, and guitars that are perfectly quantized to the beat continued on page 10

MAY 2005

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of the song and flawlessly placed in the mix.

It’s easy to listen to these releases and be more impressed with the software than the actual songwriting.

Chad Matheny, the man behind Jacksonville, Fla.’s Emperor X, doesn’t fit into either of these categories. While not the most accomplished singer/instrumentalist ever set to tape, Matheny doesn’t hide his flaws behind software plugins. In Central Hug, he boldly places them front and center in the mix, impossible for even the least discerning listener to ignore. His voice slips in and out of tune, drums occasionally stutter in their struggle to maintain a consistent beat, analog synthesizers hiss and splutter, and layers of rhythm guitar rarely mesh perfectly with one another. Far from ruining what could have been a perfectly passable album, however, Matheny’s stark imperfectionism helps create an album of surprising character.

Upon first listen, it’s easy to classify Central Hug as “lo-fi” alongside the likes of Guided by Voices or The Microphones. In reality, the album is recorded quite well: The guitars vacillate between dirty overdrive and blissed-out clean delays, the drums have a satisfying, compressed pop, and the synths are tastefully placed in the mix in most tracks.

In Matheny’s case, it is the performances themselves that contain that feeling of sloppiness and spontaneity. What he lacks in technique he makes up for in sheer enthusiasm.

Album opener “Right to the Rails” builds to a satisfying climax accompanied by pounding toms, chugging guitars, and Matheny’s frantic shouting. While his voice occasionally slips into a stereotypically “emo” inflection, Matheny reigns it in with the kind of absurdly impressionistic lyrics that you’d expect from an album with this title.

Of course, when an artist takes as many risks as Matheny does, there are bound to be more than a few missteps. The synth-pop beat of “Sfearion” begins to wear thin long before the song ends. Still, when a musician displays this much zeal for his art, it’s hard not to be captivated by the results, regardless of how amateurly they come off. | Jordan Deam BEN FOLDS: SONGS FOR SILVERMAN (Epic) Ben Folds’ previous solo effort, 2001’s Rockin’ the Suburbs (Epic), was lost in a post9/11 shuffle of reprioritized lives, shell shock, and national mourning. An excellent album, it was nevertheless one very much removed

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from the times; the snarky, wise-ass title track poked fun at Limp Bizkit and spoofed gangsta rap clichés as a country reeling from senseless violence turned toward all-star benefit concerts, moments of silence, and the soothing strains of Paul Simon’s “The Boxer.”

Building on hints of maturity that flickered across Rockin’ the Suburbs, Folds returns three years on, with a potent, occasionally raw collection of songs that often feel akin to 36 months spent in quiet contemplation—in other words, Folds has distanced himself from the khaki-clad frat hipsters this time around, casting his lot with the laid-back, 30-something parents.

Songs for Silverman is Folds’ most emotionally resonant and mature work since Ben Folds Five’s unexpectedly poignant Whatever and Ever Amen. Shaking off the fog of the last three years—from the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq war to a nation sharply divided over everything from Terri Schiavo to who’s in the White House—Folds offers wry but deceptively clear-eyed dissections of political fanatics (“Bastard”) and the religiously blinded (“Jesusland”), tempered with sweetly charming odes to his offspring (“Gracie”) and a faintly humorous take on a nerve-wracking wedding day (“You to Thank”).

But it’s more than just the material Folds assembles—it’s the attitude with which he attacks his songs. A musician known for an exceedingly self-deprecating sense of humor about who he is and what he does, Songs for Silverman has a low-lying urgency and a passion that elevates, for example, what would otherwise be a throwaway riff on long-term relationships (“Sentimental Guy”). He’s still having fun, but it feels as though he’s doing so with a distinct purpose.

The emotional roundhouse of the record is “Late,” the disarming remembrance of the late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, which seems at once fondly remorseful and vaguely angry: “Songs you wrote/Got me through a lot/Just want to tell you that/But it’s too late.” It’s an unnerving but uplifting blend of pathos and irony; does Folds really want Smith back or merely an opportunity to chastise him for going so soon?

Despite the sometimes-darkened waters

explored by Folds’ songwriting, Songs for Silverman remains spiked with his trademark musical smirk and gilded with superb performances; the record is perhaps the most complex, engaging entry yet in Folds’ solo discography. | Preston Jones FOUR TET: EVERYTHING ECSTATIC (Domino) Dearest self, Please stop complaining. Musicians don’t want to make the same album over and over.

Departures from an established, and critically acclaimed, sound are fine. Just because it’s not what you expected doesn’t mean it’s not fantastic on its own. You really need to get over this; it’s plagued your listening habits for far too long.

Remember back when that band of dorks came out with an album that spoke directly to you? It had a blue cover with pictures of the band members standing, and they didn’t look like rock stars, and you loved that because it was refreshing that someone didn’t have to be a rock star to communicate with you on a musical level, and then they became rock stars and released an album that didn’t have a blue cover. And what’s that? Guitar solos? Oh, it was all wrong, so you listened a few times and shelved the album forever, denying its merit to anyone who asked.

That was a stupid move, wasn’t it? Yeah, you missed out.

Our real agenda here, however, is tackling the latest release by electro-innovator Kieran Hebden, better known to you under the moniker Four Tet. Hebden’s third and best received album, Rounds, struck you late, well after the hype of its release died off and the attention toward a new project began developing. It was accessible but pushed the boundaries of what your ears found appealing, and you couldn’t have asked for a better opening song than “Hands.”

But then there was that fateful day when Hebden’s follow up, Everything Ecstatic, arrived. It was greeted with the kind of disappointment similar to what you felt when your best high school friend returned from freshman year of college. Things were not the same.

Whereas Rounds was a siren’s song, beckoning you forth to partake in the subtle, continued on page 13

MAY 2005

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intimate pleasures while lounging on a bed of rose petals, Everything Ecstatic is a wake-up call from Michael Buffer that leaves you stranded in your corner as the world heavyweight champion barrels forth, showing his determination for pain by slamming his gloves together. The fear had you, and you wanted nothing to do with it.

You missed “A Joy,” a song that challenges the inner break-dancer in all of us and poses the question, “Can you stall with this shit?” The drum fest and penetrating sax of “Sun Drums and Soil” fell on unwilling ears. Sonic allusions to Wu-Tang Clan on “High Fives” passed unrecognized. And “Sleep, Eat Food, Have Visions,” beginning with sparse electronic blips, builds its density to a thundering overload. But you didn’t notice because you were too concerned with how much it didn’t sound like Rounds.

Hebden has crafted a much more aggressive album, dipping into the many flavors of hip-hop and dance music. He’s not trying to alienate you, so don’t take it personally; Hebden is harnessing the evolution of his sound. Give him the freedom to create what he wants, and give the music another chance. I’ll be damned if I let you miss out on another brilliant album. | Aaron Richter JASON MILES: MILES (Narada Jazz)

TO

MILES (IN

THE

SPIRIT

OF

MILES DAVIS)

It was the 1970s, and jazz was at a crossroads. Purists of the post-Bop era had two choices: further develop what was or set the trend of what will be. Progressive artists already embedded in fusions of jazz with funk, rock, and world musical genres were pushing the envelope and reshaping definitions of jazz. Enter Jason Miles, who by 1979 was at the forefront of producer/artists in the genre. His 2005 release Miles to Miles is a tribute to the founding father of fusion, epic trumpeter Miles Davis.

Miles’ compositions on Miles to Miles (redundent, eh?) are densely orchestrated and widely varied in style, but all center around a jazzy improvisational atmosphere. Miles contributes to all tracks, playing at least two instruments in each, and has a tremendous sense of finding the instrument’s groove. From ganja-laden reggae grooves to spacy ambience to poppy house breaks, Miles puts the right amount of spice on every track. His ear behind the soundboard is impeccable as well, with crisp, slick production and composition. Tracks like “King of the Bling,” featuring scratches by DJ Logic, feel attuned to what Davis may have done with today’s production.

Realize, though, that this familiar feeling is no accident. Miles has been doing this since the ’70s, cutting his teeth on albums with Michael Jackson, Chaka Kahn, Quincy Jones, and Miles Davis’s 1986 album Tutu. His clout in the industry is no secret, as evidenced by the album’s lineup. Miles is a who’s who of contemporary progressive jazz artists. Michael and Randy Brecker of the well-known Brecker Brothers contribute to “Ferrari” and “Bling,” respectively, Nicholas Payton plays trumpet on “Love Code,” and both Bob Berg and Me’shell Ndgeocello add their funky spice to “Guerilla Jazz.” The namedropping could go on for days, with dozens of talented studio and touring artists blending together for one unmistakably unique sound.

The most enjoyable aspect of this album was the richly harmonized vocals in tracks like “Bikini” and “Love Code.” In general, there are few

production problems with the disc. Critical ears would call it overproduced, but considering the resulting quality of the recording and the relevant need for every musician to sound their best, this is not a huge detriment. I could have lived without the wah-wah trumpet solos, which is very much an acquired taste, even among the more openminded jazz enthusiasts.

The casual listener will be swept up by the irresistibly catchy melodies and tightly produced grooves, and the more discerning—shall we say pretentious?—listener will still have some meaty compositions and stellar musicianship to digest. In Miles to Miles, Miles pays a fitting homage to a legendary jazz artist that had one of the most profound influences on the progression of jazz in his 40-plus–year career. | Jon Rayfield CHARLIE POOLE: YOU AIN’T TALKIN’ TO ME: CHARLIE POOLE AND THE ROOTS COUNTRY MUSIC (Columbia/Legacy) Years before the Great Depression hit, Charlie Poole, a 20-something, Cain raisin’, dumbo-eared banjo picker blessed with the gift of song (and cursed with rebel tendencies), roamed the Southland. In tow, his new banjo, an Orpheum #3 Special bought with bootlegging monies. Cost: $132. His companions: a fiddler named Posey Rorer and a guitarist, Roy Harvey, who called themselves The North Carolina Ramblers. Together, they staked out every street continued on page 22

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PLAYBACK STL Aussie singer/songwriter BEN LEE always entertains.

Photo by JIM DUNN; review by LAURA HAMLETT online at www.playbackstl.com.

BACKSTAGE PASS CONCERT REVIEWS

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Clem Snide 14

Blueberry Hill Duck Room, April 17 Remember the guy in your high school art class with the flame tattoos, goatee, and multiple piercings who played wicked guitar in three different thrash bands? He was always doodling flame-embossed electric guitars in his sketchbook and giving himself new felt-tip tattoos and bitching about how he was gonna blow this shitty scene and score a gig in a touring band. Well, he’s been slaving in his uncle’s machine shop since graduation and working for the weekend. Hasn’t touched his axe in years.

But damned if that quiet guy in Lit class—the tall, skinny one with the glasses who always seemed to know too much for his own good—didn’t go out and just as quietly put together a slyly intellectual little quartet of quality music-makers. Albums, TV appearances, national and international concert tours. No kidding.

And such might be the past of Eef Barzelay, Clem Snide’s resident poet-singer-songwriteruber-mind, who recently brought his wry wit to Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room. It was the band’s first visit to St. Louis since playing the Hi-Pointe a fistful of years ago in support of one of their earliest records. Now, on the heels of the recently released End of Love, Barzelay and company were able to spread out and flex their musical muscle to the tune of mostly new songs.

A fussy and frustratingly verbose Langhorne Slim opened the show with a few making-it-up-as-I-go-along white boy blues numbers until Barzelay himself emerged from the dressing room and reprimanded the droning hipster to wrap it up. Damn kids. Bobby Bare Jr. and band followed with a solid (if slightly overlong) set before Clem Snide took the stage in matching, resplendent white thrift shop tuxes with niftily cheesy wildlife paintings on the jacket backs. The appearance of this quirky quartet would have made Hank Williams proud.

End of Love, the band’s fifth album, features Barzelay at his most poetic and whimsical, in an oddly appealing dream state where melody meets metaphor and buys it a cup of decaf.

The typical Clem Snide song takes its sweet time, wrapping around Barzelay’s soft seventh chords and precocious schoolboy voice and seducing the listener with blushingly stark word poems. The Duck Room played host to many of those new tunes, including “Fill Me With Your Light,” the jaunty “Something Beautiful,” the strangely opaque “The Sound of German Hip Hop,” and the anthemic title track in which Barzelay avers, “the first thing every killer reads is the Catcher in the Rye.” Many of the audience members appeared to be receptive Snide newbies, as older catalog numbers such as “Long Lost Twin” and “Joan Jett of Arc” were met with the same polite interest as the newer material. The band shied

away from “Moment in the Sun,” its closest claim to fame, used as the theme to the NBC show Ed, but you’ve gotta dig a heady art-pop band that’s not afraid to put the religious right in its place, as Barzelay did when inquiring if there were any Christians in the audience before launching into the back porch country “Jews for Jesus Blues,” a perfect companion piece to the band’s earlier “Messiah Complex Blues.”

Clem Snide’s musically eccentric lead guitarist Pete Fitzpatrick cranked up his electric banjo and bowed it like a freaked-out cello, then sang into the instrument’s bridge as it ran through a multiphase effects pedal.

Later he roamed the basement bar blowing a lonesome tuba as Barzelay crooned about Mike Kalinsky, an awkward outsider kid with asthma who grows up to play in a kick-ass band. Sound familiar?

Armed with wit, wordplay, and gaudy white tuxedos, Clem Snide might just be artpop’s best-kept secret. | Larry O’Neal

Link Wray The Way Out Club, April 19 God bless a musically inclined circus carny named Hambone. One day back in 1937, after watching a kid bang out indecipherable chords on a guitar, Hambone decided to teach him a thing or two about playing. Only eight years old at the time, that fledging rocker was Link Wray, known today as the Godfather of the Power Chord. Not only did he pioneer the fearsome guitar growl upon which heavy metal and punk is based, but he also wrote the song “Rumble,” the ominous instrumental that was banned from airwaves in 1958, its raw and ferocious riffs inspiring gang fights and rebel tendencies among teens.

At age 75, Wray still hasn’t outgrown his leather jacket and wraparound shades; he continues to tour and play rockabilly weekenders throughout the world. Recently, The Way Out Club welcomed him to town with locals The Cripplers opening, and of course, I arrived an continued on page 19

MAY 2005 BRANDY JOHNSON; photo: MOLLY HAYDEN

Three to See Here are just three great, original St. Louis bands that play around town on a regular basis. Check them out as soon as you can.

Brandy Johnson | Johnson has been playing consistently good shows in the St. Louis area for quite some time. Whether performing solo acoustic or with a full band, she has found receptive audiences that have taken a liking to her unique songwriting style. She does a great job of mixing a variety of folk, country, and rock influences into her strong melodies. On any given night, she can play through a long list of originals that all sound like they belong on the radio; she possesses a manner of addressing the audience as if the clubgoers were guests in her living room.

In addition to performing her own songs, Johnson isn’t afraid to throw a few cover tunes into the mix.

The Lab | If Kevin Barry’s new band The Lab was put together as an experiment, I’d say the results are quite conclusive. Barry sings and plays guitar in his own distinct

style. Though the band’s overall sound is solid, melodic rock, Barry’s voice is so distinct and the melodies are so haunting, it’s hard to even think of a comparison. Their songs are so original and striking, they’re sure to make a positive impression on listeners. Drummer Matt Hickenbotham and guitarist Jon Armstrong, both former members of Colony, bring a lot of energy to the stage; the live show is nothing short of professional. Jeff Church’s bass lines remain solid and well played as he grooves around the stage.

The Lab has cooked up something good for the St. Louis music scene; it’s just a matter of time before the industry takes notice.

The Flea Bitten Bastards | The Flea Bitten Bastards’ sound is described as “hardcore street punk” Their mix of distorted guitar and heavy drumbeats is so ferocious, it’s likely to kick a person’s heartbeat into overdrive. It’s no surprise they have song titles like “F-off” in their set. Lead singer Albino Bastard has a strong stage presence and personality; his in-between song banter often condemns mellow indie rock and emo music fans. Lifelong fans of punk rock will no doubt be satis-

T

fied by the group’s “punk rock pride,” but their appeal extends beyond a single genre.

There’s something about their performances that will leave people talking—and even writing—about them.

P tio lo si A ou S

Notes | Last month’s writeup of Catatonic listed Aaron Walker as lead singer. Lance Ferrell replaced Walker eight months ago.

I also wish to thank the staff at the Rec Room for making my Wrestlemania viewing experience so enjoyable this month. | John Kujawski 15

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SHOWS NOT TO MISS! tue may 3 — Neil Hamburger wed may 4 — Outrageous Cherry

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YOU ARE HERE VENUS ENVY 2005

Venus Envy has grown from a young idealist’s dream into an arts foundation that engages four metropolitan areas in a mass of performances and exhibits—a Mardi Gras of the arts: visual artists, dancers, performance artists, musicians, comedians, actresses, etc.

Mallarie Zimmer has been the catalyst that transformed a mere idea into an explosion of creative sharing. Like many overnight sensations who work for years in obscurity before their big break, Zimmer has toiled tirelessly behind the scenes to build an event and exhibition that celebrates and supports women, both in the arts and in the community. From volunteer enthusiast to executive director, Zimmer has shown the power of womanhood by example—through sacrifice, determination, and empathetic spirits (does this sound like a creation myth?). She has built an organization

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St. Louis’s Boogie Woogie Hero, Johnnie Johnson, died April 13 at his home in North St. Louis at the age of 80. Those familiar with St. Louis’s blues community know it’s nothing new to bury one of the elder musicians.

Tommy Bankhead and Oliver Sain are recently fallen icons, but none has touched the lives of so many around the world as Johnnie Johnson, Father of Rock’n’Roll.

FROM THE CORNER JOHNNIE JOHNSON

Johnson’s early years of playing music in East St. Louis with guitarist Chuck Berry has been well documented (check out Father of Rock & Roll: The Story of Johnnie “B.Goode” Johnson, by Travis Fitzpatrick), but the last 20 years really brought him back to the forefront in St. Louis and around the world. He was featured in the movie Hail Hail Rock ’n’ Roll, in which Keith Richards implied Chuck Berry’s guitar licks (and subsequent creation of rock ’n’ roll) were really variations of what Johnson had been doing on the piano. He was inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and was reintroduced to a new generation of music lovers when he performed with everyone from the Grateful Dead to Bonnie Raitt. Johnson also performed often around St. Louis for a good cause, like the Stlblues Benefit for Cancer research a few months ago, or just for

whose influence lasts for much longer than one weekend per year.

In her tribute to the memory of Brenda Kay Pollard in Venus Envy’s 2005 catalogue, Zimmer asks us all to remember that one person can certainly make a difference. Modesty speaks well for her, as she does not seem to be overtly aware of the positive influence she has served for many a young woman who is still trying to find her voice.

In a mere six years, Venus Envy has burgeoned from a single exhibit in St. Louis to a multi-citied weekend extravaganza all up and down the Mississippi. The show now takes place with local talent in St. Louis, Baton Rouge, Memphis, and the Quad Cities. All exhibiting artists are female and much, if not most, of the work is female-oriented. The pieces that work the best are those that are not self-consciously feminist. This does not imply that they don a masculine sensibility, nor do they shy away from pertinent issues.

Quite simply, the strongest pieces are those that reflect human concerns without being shrill in their orientation. Sure, political ads might work and be effective, but they are not necessarily good art. In the St. Louis site for Venus Envy, a few of the notable artists were Christa Denney (silver gelatin prints), Caroline Huth (mixed media), Deborah Katon (glass), Crystal Kwentus (fiber/mixed media), Julie Malone (abstractions), and Beth Martin (mixed media drawing). Each of these artists brought their own perspective to the table and the show was stronger due to their presence.

The catalogue shows a representative piece from each exhibiting artist from the four participating cities; the consensus is that each show is not to be missed. I am sorry that it was not possible for me to attend Venus Envy in every city. And what about you? If by some fluke or flaw you missed it this year, burn next year’s event into your memory. | Rudy Zapf

the love of music and friendship, like the time he surprised Bennie Smith for his birthday at the Venice Café a few years back.

Johnson’s wake, held at the Ronald L. Jones Funeral Home in North St. Louis, was a telling tale of the impact Johnson had on such a huge community of friends, family, and colleagues. He was laid out in a blue suit with one of his trademarked cigars, military flag, and Marines hat (interesting to note that Johnson was one JOHNNIE JOHNSON PERFORMING IN ST. LOUIS. PHOTO: MOLLY HAYDEN of the first black marines to serve in WWII). Flowers lined the coffin from the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith, Robert Oxford of New York and Darrell Davis from Cray, Buddy Guy, and the mysteriously signed Washington D.C., who sat down at the piano “from a friend and fan, E.C.” Across the room, and said what no one else could say with a stage had been put together for the musi- words. They said goodbye in the language of boogie woogie. cians to come play and pay their respect.

As I sat listening to the music for almost six In true St. Louis tradition, the music started in the early afternoon and went well into the hours, I had time to reflect on Johnson’s life as evening. As Mae Wheeler put it, “This is a well as the one he left behind. And with each sendoff. We’re sendin’ him home.” The music, new musician standing up and plugging in to which barely stopped for more than a few min- say goodbye, I could swear Johnnie had a little utes, definitely sent him home in St. Louis style. smirk on his face, as if this was exactly as he The jam included Beau Shelby, Gus Thornton, would have wanted it.

And I realized Johnson isn’t really gone. He Marsha Evans, Billy Peek, Eric Foreman, Kim Massie, Rondo, Stacy Johnson, and so many might not be on stage leaning over the piano more. National musicians, including Bob the way he did, but he will forever be alive in Weir of the Grateful Dead and the Kentucky the fingers and voices of every musician he touched. Hail, hail, Johnnie Johnson. | Jeremy Headhunters, also came to pay their respects.

But there was almost no better sendoff Segel-Moss than that given by Johnson’s protégé Dona

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MMS 2005

STL SHOWCASE MAY 6&7 LILâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; NIKKIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S (Next to the Soulard Market) STL bands are trying out for slots at the Midwest Music Summit this July in Indianapolis. There, they will play for thousands of music industry pros and many more music fans. Come out and support STL bands on the road to success!

FRIDAY, 5/6: Tickets $7/one night Brain Regiment $11/both nights Bagheera SevenStar Doors 7/show 8 Lord Baltimore Missile Silo Suite Sponsored Camp Climax for Girls

by PlaybackSTL and MMS 2005 SATURDAY, 5/7: Tiara (Columbus, OH) Wydown Margo & the Nuclear So & Sos (Indianapolis) Jon Hardy & the Public Miranda Sound (Columbus, OH) Domani More info: www.playbackstl.com/mms

OLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; BLUE EYES: MORRISSEY

Fair Trade & organically grown coffee air-roasted on site Live acoustic music Saturday nights Free wireless internet Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Patio seating Iced coffee, frozen frappes and fruit smoothies

3974 Hartford Avenue â&#x20AC;˘ St. Louis, MO 63116 (314)771-JAVA www.hartfordcoffeecompany.com

SCHEDULE

Every Monday:

5/2: Of Montreal, Tilly & The Wall, Team Up!!!

Fetish Night 5/3: One Eyed Jack Night: Bands TBA 11 p.m.

5/10: Appleseed Cast, Chin Up Chin Up, Think Thank Thunk, Last Flight Home 5/11: Planesmistakenforstars, Gasoline Fight, The Forecast, Red Cloud, Hot Atomics 5/13: Slamfestival 2005: Epithet, Scarred Within, Blood Red Skyline, What Thou Will, Blood Magic, Vengeance Is Mine 5/14: Slamfestival 2005: Low Twelve, Red Sun Rises, Baine, Divulsion, Cast the Stone, Aminion, Animated Dead, Scarlett Whore, Abomination, Southern Realm, How Your Life Ends 5/10: Chin Up Chin Up 5/20: The Effigies, 7 Shot Screamers, Ultraman, The UnMutuals 5/21: Vaderfest III: Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Invaders, Corbeta Corbata, The Arch, Pat Sajak Assassins, The Frankenhookers, This Is the News, Airport Elementary School, Waxwork of a Dynasty 5/27: Kasabian, Mad Action, + TBA 5/28: Punchline, Jupiter Sunrise, This Day and Age, June 5/30: The Fucking Champs, Zombi, Boy Jazz, Riddle of Steel 5/27: Kasabian 5/31: Jenoah, Slow Coming Day, Centrepointe, + TBA Complete schedule on page 41

412 N. TUCKER - ST. LOUIS, MO 63101 314-851-0919 - www.creepycrawl.com

MAY 2005

Backstage Pass

hour before the show was scheduled to start, staking my claim on a table in front.

Six cocktails and what seems like hours later, still no show. Anxiety got the better of some, who began voicing their impatience in no uncertain terms: “Chop chop! What’s the hold up? Get on with it!” Finally at 10:30 p.m., hopping on stage with smokes and PBRs in hand, The Cripplers played a floor-shaking set with scorching vocals and raucous banging—the perfect precursor to Wray, who paved the way for this ear-busting genre.

Afterward, I noticed the audience swelling in size near the stage just to catch the first glimpse of Wray’s entrance. Looking like a veteran Hell’s Angel, Wray appeared, cloaked in a black leather jacket, long gray hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing pitch-black shades.

Beside him, two young cats, one on bass, the other on drums. And in back, playing the tambourine, the cowbell, or blowing into a bottle for effect was his lovely, red-headed wife, who accompanies him on tour.

First, he scanned the crowd and flashed a sinister grin. Then, the first few rhythmic strums of “Rumble” jumpstarted things—as did the screaming from rowdy devotees. From there, he played for over an hour with few breaks in between. I really had to pay attention to determine which song he was on; hypnotizing riffs from classics like “Rawhide” and “Jack the Ripper” made me lose track of everything, including time. Or, maybe I was just tanked.

In fact, I couldn’t help noticing that he transitioned many songs with the first few chords from “Rumble,” sort of like a signature intro.

Frequently, he would turn his attention to either the bass player or drummer and mouth instructions while they were playing, as if he LINK WRAY photo by SID ANDRUSKA

from page 14

wanted to experiment with a song or a sound.

Their facial expressions conveyed that they were listening intently, heeding his advice, trying to please him. Once, he unzipped his fanny pack, produced a guitar pick, and handed it to his bassist, gesturing for him to use it. Wray experimenting onstage, even now, doesn’t surprise me; his desire to explore and distort sound is what made him legendary.

Wrapping up, he introduced his posse, for whom he was not short on compliments, as well as his wife, who walked up next to him, tightened his ponytail, and gave him a squeeze. Then he happily broke into an autograph session, closed up his set, and waved to the audience, who was not ready to see him leave. We demanded an encore and got one.

He came back to announce he wasn’t going home and finished up with a few more songs, including the “Batman Theme Song.”

His closing remark to us all: “Drive home safe, drive home safe…” A rebel who cares.

Nice touch. | Sid Andruska

Magnolia Electric Co. The Red Sea, April 20 Prolific singer/songwriter Jason Molina has been making stark, brooding folk rock for years under the name Songs: Ohia, earning plaudits from the critics and a devoted cult following.

There wasn’t a lot of “rock” in his work for that outfit, however—most of the time, Molina’s pained, angsty Neil Young–ian voice was accompanied only by his own disciplined guitar playing and an occasional rhythm section. With the confidence gained from a musical lineup that has truly gelled in recent years, Molina made an aesthetic shift; the last Songs: Ohia record was called Magnolia Electric Co., and that became the official name of Molina’s new band, who have turned up the volume considerably.

A small but enthusiastic crowd checked out this new configuration at the Red Sea on April 20. Molina is about as somber a presence as there is on record, but he seemed genuinely pleased to be performing these Crazy Horse–styled rockers for appreciative fans, and he actually spoke a few times, too.

The band played a few songs from their new disc What Comes After the Blues (including a cool alt-country shuffle of a tune called “The Dark Don’t Hide It”), but many were Songs: Ohia numbers with which yours truly was unfamiliar. “I’ve Been Riding With the Ghost” was an intense, hypnotic number that featured the memorable lyrics, “While you’ve

been busy crying about my past mistakes/I’ve been busy trying to make a change,” a couplet applicable to any number of real-life scenarios.

Also gripping was a ferocious song late in the set built around a descending chord progression—with the band jamming its collective ass off. This tune was oddly reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” and I’m not sure what category of irony it constituted to hear a guy in the “influenced by Neil Young” realm tipping a hat to another band that name-dropped ol’ Neil in their Southern-fried classic. At any rate, there were few acoustic guitars in sight; this was mostly thrash, bash, and emote. Molina sounds like singers other than Young at times—I noted Bruce Cockburn, Eddie Vedder, and even Van Morrison once or twice in Molina’s subtly shifting timbre.

The band was unquestionably tight, with bass player Pete Schreimer (whose bushy hair and cigarette glued in his mouth made him an amusing figure onstage), guitarist Jason Groth, and steel guitar player Mike Brenner making the strongest impression. Drummer Mark Rice fared less well, as the amped-up volume in the Red Sea’s cavernous basement distorted any subtlety in the percussion. It was hard to hear lyrics much of the time, also. But there was electricity in the air for most of the set, and Molina doesn’t need to do much to be compelling onstage: his intelligent, empathetic songs speak for themselves. “I think twice about everyone,” he sang out in one tune, and if anything, that’s an understatement.

Marked Man—a new project consisting of two locals (including former Julia Sets bassist Kate Eddens) and a couple Bloomington, Ind. boys—opened the show, but, while definitely pumped up, the band’s excessive volume and overly growly lead vocals stymied any accurate assessment of their musical abilities. | Kevin Renick

IT DOESN’T STOP HERE. Every week we load up our Web site— www.playbackstl.com—with reviews, interviews, and previews LEO that you can’t read anyplace else. For example, this month, we’ve got reviews of live shows by Ben Lee, Drive-By Truckers, The AP/Vans Tour, Leo w/Gooding, Spouse, Dysrhythmia, Stroke 9, Life and Times, and Steve Vai.

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PLAYBACK STL

ON THE COVER BUILT TO SPILL

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n echelon exists when we find ourselves in the mood to categorize our indie rock favorites. There’s a spot on that top shelf that belongs solely to Guided

by Voices (of course they count, those papa bears of the genre) and a spot on the bottom shelf belonging to, oh, let’s just say the Buttless Chaps and Limbeck, for argument’s sake. All matters of the in between are left subjective, sometimes shifting up or down in drastic jerks due to simple whims and room temperature. There are days when Aloha and Maritime’s disrespected “Adios” don’t mean the same thing at all, and other days they’re exactly as defined. The Olivia Tremor Control could be riding the back fender of that Rogue Wave record you love so much, jockeying for a high spot in the order on Monday and come the weekend, be as forgotten and disgracefully tossed down as a banana peel. On most days, John Roderick of The Long Winters retains his gold standard, effectively telling every other songwriter within earshot that they’re free to go fuck themselves if they foolishly suspect they can do any better. But then, you can sit down to watch an average movie like Love Song for Bobby Long, hear Nada Surf’s “Blonde on Blonde” in a scene where it hardly belongs, and think that nobody does it better than Matthew Caws.

PHOTOS COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS RECORDS

Each time any of these thoughts cross, they’re correct. You’re right, “Jesus, Etc.” is the best song Wilco’s ever made and the world’s ever heard. Then two seconds later, you’re just as absolutely right to believe that The Arcade Fire rules you and makes everything else look like crumbs, forcing you to block all entrances and snuff out all lesser affinities. And while there is a constant flux in everything questionable, there does seem to be a basic frame.

As most people would put a jigsaw puzzle together starting with the border, establishing order to indie rock begins at the top and it rarely wavers. The ultimate pecking order is staked out with a lot of lightly penciled-in names making up the body, but the head and shoulders are marked in black permanent ink.

You’ve got the above-mentioned GBV, originators of the 20-year bender/hangover and some of the most renowned power-pop nuggets ever made. Then there’s Pavement, led by Stephen Malkmus, the modern-age’s foremost language twister and off-key troubadour. And last, but not least, the last member of the foundation’s triumvirate, Idaho’s Built to Spill.

You really get the sense that to be titled good indie rock, a band must don some, if not all, of the characteristics that these three purveyors of spectral and impossible brawn do. Their effect is not ephemeral, but stained deep into the fabric of what’s to come forth.

Built to Spill, more than the other two bands most-noted for their contributions to the cause, has had, if not influence, then coincidental relevance to a strong movement of indie rockers making up the new breed.

Doug Martsch, Brett Nelson, and Scott Plouf have been doing the deed—mixing irrelevant, yet speculative lyrics with bold, exploratory guitars—since they formed Built to Spill properly in 1993 and recorded their debut album, Ultimate Alternative Wavers. So much can be guessed at when you’re thinking about independent progressions in music. Someone who everyone believes writes and sounds like Ray Davies may never have heard a Kinks record.

As hard as that is to imagine, there are circumstances like that.

But with Martsch and BTS, it’s tough to see how The Shins or even Hot Hot Heat, for that matter, might have gotten to similar places without their predecessor. It’s all fairly obvious who was there first and yet Martsch, finishing up the group’s eighth album in the far Northwest, doesn’t place much stock in his band’s luster or its position as the world’s biggest least-recognizable band.

“I definitely appreciate having a big enough fan base that we can keep touring and making records,” Martsch said by telephone last month from his home.

“But anyone’s ideas

MAY 2005

of us are basically wrong because my own ideas about us are basically wrong. I don’t think about where our place is. I just like to stay out of the spotlight.”

The new album, tentatively set for a September release on Warner Brothers, has no title and even the song titles are up for grabs. It follows Martsch’s 2003 solo debut and the band’s last full-length, Ancient Melodies of the Future, which came in 2001 and was ten tracks of preciously precise and adventurous pop, all mashed together. Bits and pieces of it appear on The Shin’s Chutes Too Narrow and Oh, Inverted World, anything The Waxwings do, and on records like the self-titled—and only—release by Slowreader. It’s an influence that Martsch would almost prefer not exist. He’d sooner play the role of the faceless, toiling away at his pretty little songs in the privacy of his home and playing the occasional tour for bread and milk money. He’s found that he’s become more averse to getting involved with his esteemed status as a songwriter.

“It gets that way even more so, the older I get,” he said. “There are a lot of things that I like about it. I find pop culture kind of annoying and I don’t want to be any part of it. I think people become too attached to their aesthetics and their opinions. I do it too and I hate it. I think it’s a huge façade. To see other people doing it—‘pundits’ describing the world—it takes what’s good about it away. I think it’s bad for people’s souls. And I don’t believe in souls. So it’s bad for their nervous systems, at least.”

When the final tour for Ancient Melodies was completed, the three members went their separate ways to do their own things, needing time to recharge. Martsch, when he wasn’t playing the assorted solo show, spent his time over the past few years playing basketball and reading as he awaited some sort of pull to play Built to Spill songs again.

“We got back together a couple years ago.

I did some Halo Benders stuff [a side project with Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson on K Records], but I don’t even know what else I did during that time,” Martsch said. “It was nice to not have to play those songs. It was just a hiatus. We all get along fine and stuff; I was just tired.

“I kind of felt uninspired. I just didn’t think the music I was making was all that good.”

“I think [pop culture] is bad for people’s souls. And I don’t believe in souls. So it’s bad for their nervous systems, at least.”

His battles with his own inferiority complex tend to kick in randomly, yet regularly, getting Martsch to question his talents. He sometimes, despite being a skilled wordsmith and a chap who can stitch together spectacular melodies with ease, finds no worth in his own work. He talks himself into thinking he’s just another guy with a guitar, a pick, and a pen, writing another meaningless song with which no one could possibly share a conviction.

“That happens daily. You just deal with it,” he said of doubting his music. “That’s part of my life. I don’t really let it get to me. If I ever get stressed out about it, all I have to do is take a step back and say to myself, ‘I don’t really have that much to complain about.’

“A lot of [my music] would never pass my own personal criteria for what I’d choose

to listen to on my own. When we started, I felt like the stuff I had to offer was as good as what other people were doing. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to listen to really good music—blues, jazz, reggae, old soul—and people with voices that just melt you and make you want to do it yourself. They make stuff that’s beautiful, not me. I love and appreciate what I get to do. It beats washing dishes, but I never thought that anyone would be interested in what I was doing.”

Plenty have taken notice over the years since Martsch and Nelson became best friends in a junior high debate class and started Farm Days, their first band together. They’ve amassed innumerable loyal fans, many of whom have gone on to form bands of their own and are now almost accomplices in keeping music unpredictable.

And what these people want is not the solo record—recorded right after Keep It Like a Secret in 1999—that Martsch put out to tide everyone over. Though it was an impressive courtesy, “a little fuck-around thing for hardcore Built to Spill fans,” plumb-full of slide guitared–up gems, it was not the main course, but a mere carrot stick.

“We’re trying to go slowly,” Martsch said.

“I like to do that when we can. That’s one of the best things about being on Warner Brothers. We have the time and the money so we’re not busting our asses to get it done.

I’m pretty anxious to have it come out, but it doesn’t really matter to me if people are looking forward to it. I hope that people want to listen to it, but I don’t really care either way.”

At that point, following the fall release of the mysterious sixth full-length, they’ll be on a full-fledged tour for months on end and those hardcore fans will have the chance to see Martsch confident and enjoying himself on stages all across the country.

“I don’t think they would be able to tell I’m enjoying myself,” he said. “I think when I fuck up, I scowl. I used to always turn and scowl at the other guys in the band and they started thinking they’d done something wrong. Now, I have to keep my scowls to myself. But no, I don’t think anyone would think that I’m having any fun.” | Built to Spill plays Mississippi Nights May 24 with Mike Johnson.

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PLAYBACK STL Play by Play

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corner, gin mill, and barnyard jamboree for the chance to play recycled vaudeville, ragtime, and Tin Pan Alley tunes, all improved upon

by Poole’s unique harmonies and lyrical interpretations.

He was a performer, not a songwriter, hooking folks with his frenzied banjo plucking, razor sharp wit, refined “treble tone” vocals, and oftentimes obscured lyrics, which intrigued folks to run out and buy his records just to decipher his songs. A granddaddy innovator of the three-finger banjo picking technique, a method he used out of necessity after crippling his hand catching a fastball without a glove, Poole laid the foundation upon which bluegrass music was built. He’s influenced legendary greats like Hank Williams and Earl Scruggs and icons like Jerry Garcia and Bob Dylan, and impacted today’s alternative country music. Poole’s even got an annual music festival named after him in his old hometown of Eden, N.C. Many in the country music world recognize him as “the patron saint of modern country music.”

Back in 1925, he paid $75 to record his first and largest-selling two-song album “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down Blues” and “Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister” at Columbia Records, selling a whopping 102,000 copies.

His next recording that same year, “The Girl I Loved in Sunny Tennessee,” sold 65,000 copies. Columbia kept Poole and the Ramblers busy throughout the 1920s recording up to 70 songs, including ramblin’ favorites like “Sweet Sunny South,” “White House Blues,” and “If The River Was Whiskey.” However, none of those recordings seemed to match the success of Poole’s first release in 1925.

Gaining varying degrees of success throughout his career, despite tough competition from other Columbia artists, like the Skillet-Lickers, as well as numerous imitators, Poole’s life and work came to an abrupt end one morning, when he was found dead at age 39. The bottle did him in; he had gone on a 12-week binge, boozing it up to celebrate an invitation from Hollywood to play his music in an upcoming film.

As tribute to a man who did so much for country and mountain music, You Ain’t Talking to Me covers a lot of territory. Grab and jug of wine and sit a spell: The behemoth, three-CD set contains a total of 72 songs and over 200 minutes of rare recordings.

Introducing Poole’s vocals, humor, and frantic picking abilities, disc one contains a selection

from page 13

of 24 songs performed by Poole, from his first big hit in 1925 to his final recording, “Mother’s Last Farewell Kiss,” in 1930, which hadn’t been issued publicly until the 1970s.

An additional 29 tracks performed by Poole’s predecessors, including banjoists, blues, coon, vaudeville, and ragtime artists—all of whom inspired Poole and his music—are woven in with a comparative selection of Poole’s own work on discs two and three, so you can hear the difference between, say, Arthur Collins’ “Oh, Didn’t He Ramble” to Poole’s version, “He Rambled.” Also mixed in, about a half dozen recordings by artists who used Poole as a springboard for their own music, like Uncle Dave Macon’s “Man That Rode the Mule Around the World” recorded in 1929, which was a take on Poole’s version recorded in 1925. Or, Floyd County Ramblers’ “Sunny Tennessee,” which was recorded in 1930, five years after Poole’s version was issued.

Never mind scrambling on eBay for copies of his lesser-known stuff; most of it’s here, waiting to be discovered like a lost treasure.

Transferred digitally from rare 78s and cylinder recordings, the audio is crisp, yet tracks retain a hint of warmth from the hiss of vinyl—a lovely touch without the hassle of flipping records. | Sid Andruska SPOOKIE DALY PRIDE: MEDICINE CHEST (Funzalo Records) God alone knows how to characterize Spookie Daly Pride, the Boston quartet whose debut, Marshmallow Pie, appeared last year and blended roots rock, hip-hop, and two or three other genres in a funky fusion that likely nonplussed sonic Brahmins no end. Said Brahmins should brace themselves, though, because early May will see the release of Medicine Chest, the band’s sophomore effort—and it may well top its predecessor for polyphonic lunacy.

A scan of the titles on the 12-track Funzalo release suggests that something even more unthinkable than lunacy perhaps moves Spookie Daly Pride: irreverence. “Smacktalkin’ Smacktalker Smacked for Talkin’ Smack,” “Boogity Man,” “Sooo Delicious!!!”—selfevidently, they missed a memo or two about the grave state of the world in general and

the music business in specific. Such other tracks as “My Fancy Pants” and “The Personal Ad Song” similarly qualify as gonzo romps, especially the latter, a gloriously anti-love song. As if in confirmation of their nerve, the foursome—singer and keyboardist “Spookie Daly,” percussionist Tommy Diehl, bassist Floyd Kellogg, and guitarist and singer Pete Whitham—also covers the Ronald Blackwell composition “Li’l Red Riding Hood,” immortalized almost four decades ago by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. What would Bono say, for heaven’s sake?

Inarguably the most damning testimony to Spookie Daly Pride’s lack of proper gravity occupies the sixth track on Medicine Chest: “The Bumpin’ Uglies Song,” a ditty so hilariously scandalous it will likely soon earn the quartet both airplay on college radio stations across the nation and an invitation to explain themselves on Capitol Hill. In the meantime, as a result, listeners are strongly encouraged to rummage through Spookie Daly Pride’s Medicine Chest—strictly in the interests of staying abreast of current events, of course. | Bryan A. Hollerbach SUMMER AT SHATTER CREEK: ALL THE ANSWERS (Badman Recording Co.) Craig Gurwich, the one-man band behind Summer at Shatter Creek, was probably the quintessential lonely kid with few viable career options besides music. Listening to All the Answers, his sophomore release, you’re pulled into Gurwich’s private world—you want to know about his hopes, fears, and disappointments and reassure the guy that somehow it’ll all work out. This is an intensely melancholy, yet eminently listenable recording.

“I don’t think I’m a pessmist always/Just been away from some nice thoughts for a while,” sings Gurwich in one of many understated lyrical passages. Two of the distinguishing characteristics of this nine-song disc are, in fact, the emotionally compelling lyrical clarity (with Gurwich’s plaintive voice recalling both Mark Kozelek and Jeff Buckley) and Gurwich’s knack for building a satisfying emotional crescendo into each tune through his canny arrangements and instinctive musical timing.

“Worlds Away” is a great example. Gurwich

MAY 2005

sings an a cappella passage at one point here: “You used to be so witty and so sharp/With lots of energy and tons of heart/I think about how you were way back then/A lot has changed.”

When the instruments burst into the mix, the effect is transfixing: Every bit of emotion Gurwich heralded washes over the listener as his self-harmonizing rises and falls in waves.

It happens again in “Something to Calm Me,” one of the most haunting and Kozelekian tracks. The slow (but not lethargic) tempo and simple piano chords allow Gurwich to sing in a casual yet lovely tone that brings every emotional nuance to the forefront. And he delivers: “I like to travel lightly/Leave the weight behind/I like to go where no one knows me/To adapt to what I find.” The drumming stops suddenly, and you hear the echoes of Gurwich’s sad voice, adorned only by the soft background piano. It’s truly gripping.

There’s a purity and unpretentiousness to these compositions that one rarely experiences with higher-profile artists. On “You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Loved,” Gurwich tells us essentially just that, while his acoustic guitar, heartfelt vocals, and a lonesome whistle-like synthesizer unleash a torrent of melancholic

beauty. Both “Rebecca” and “Fall Down Drunk” are tunes likely aimed at specific figures in Gurwich’s life; the latter shows remarkable lyrical restraint considering its alcoholic theme, and the former is another fine example of the unique textured blend of mood and melody that Gurwich has specialized in since his SASC debut two years back.

This music is achingly sad but never morose, and not every introspective singer/ songwriter can pull that off. It’s the kind of sound that would make your ears perk up if you heard it in some little café or coffeehouse out of town, while you sat pondering your own existential struggles or recent heartbreak.

You’d feel like this singer knew just what you were going through. “It’s no good to carry it around/You’ve got to go and let it out/And you can’t hide from all your friends/Without help, it won’t end,” Gurwich sings on “Your Ever Changing Moods.” No, Gurwich may not have All the Answers. But he sure provides enough of the musical soundtrack for the questions to warrant your full attention. | Kevin Renick

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT: MARTHA WAINWRIGHT (Zoe/Rounder) Much of Martha Wainwright’s selftitled, full-length debut evokes the toe-curling feel of an exposed nerve.

This potentially c r i n ge - i n d u c i n g metaphor becomes both more apparent and certainly more apt when considering the shadow from which she’s stepping away.

The scion of acclaimed folkies Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle, as well as little sister to poperatic songsmith Rufus Wainwright (she gets a shout-out on the baroque “Little Sister,” from Rufus’s wildly avant-garde 2004 record Want Two and he repays the years of Martha singing backup on his albums by making an appearance on “The Maker” here), Wainwright has talent to burn and a keen ear for a precisely crafted turn of phrase that can capture heartbreak in a lyrical snapshot or just as easily douse her romantic views in a free-flowing shower of bile. continued on page 26

LIVE MUSIC NIGHTLY — PIZZA AND GIGANTIC BEER SELECTION ALWAYS

$5 COVER

GUNDERSON 5.14 www.gundersonmusic.com with SEVENSTAR and THE OCTOBER

Advance tickets for this show available at www.ciceros-stl.com or by calling 800-594-TIXX Advance tickets ARE NOT available onsite

SUNDAY Open Mic Night • MONDAY Madahoochi - Featuring $2 domestics www.madahoochi.com • TUESDAY The Schwag - Featuring $2.50 Shiner Bock www.theschwag.com • WEDNESDAY Helping Phriendly Band - Featuring $2 Boulevards www.helpingphriendlyband.com • FRIDAY Jake’s Leg - Featuring $1 PBR’s www.jakesleg.com

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PLAYBACK STL

NOW PLAYING CINEMA

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PALINDROMES (Wellspring Media, Not Rated) It’s kind of a shame that Todd Solondz’ more notorious works (Happiness, specifically) weren’t his first films, because the element of surprise would’ve been a killer.

But, after 1995’s Welcome to the Dollhouse, 1998’s Happiness, and 2001’s disappointing Storytelling, everyone is pretty much expecting Palindromes to be the freak show that it so sounds like, being an abortion drama by one of the world’s most controversial directors. And it pretty well is (a freak show), but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t surprising or important, or that Solondz is a one-trick shock pony.

The vehicle with which Solondz explores the abortion issue is a 13-year-old girl named Aviva who has no interest in sex but is hell-bent on becoming a mother as soon as possible (a bad combination, indeed). Aviva gets herself knocked up at first convenience, and when her mother learns of her young daughter’s dalliances, she forces her to get an abortion. “It’s like…It’s just a tumor,” Aviva’s mother Joyce (Ellen Barkin) says while trying to justify the abortion to her daughter, typical of the dark humor Solondz is known for instilling in his characters. After the process, Aviva up and runs away from home in search of another potential father, and the rest of the film plays like a perverse version of a road movie.

Although he is often accused of mocking his characters, it seems to me that Solondz actually writes and films them with no judgment one way or the other, letting the viewer decide whether they are sympathetic or not, but this feels like mocking because even the dorkiest or most violent of characters are romanticized in every other film. A good example of Solondz’ seeming lack of judgment

is his stance on the abortion issue here, in that he doesn’t appear to have one. Abortionists and extreme pro-lifers alike are portrayed as characters that are basically good but ultimately flawed and, in the end, the progress made either in the defense or prosecution of abortion is so minimal, it’s as if the issue was never tackled at all.

Those who have read more about Palindromes than what I’ve written here are probably wondering when I’m going to mention the unique storytelling device this film uses, which has been mentioned in any article about this movie since its premiere at last year’s Telluride Film Festival. Although my doing so will probably not save anyone from having the secret destroyed, I am not going to reveal this device, as it would ruin a wonderful sense of confusion and discovery that the film can instill in its viewers, and a recapturing of the surprise factor that Solondz lost after the release of his first films. Furthermore, this mystery device goes a long way toward proving Solondz’ ability to write complex, threedimensional characters, and confirms his status as one of the most exciting and inventive filmmakers working today. | Pete Timmermann CRASH (Lions Gate, R) Crash is a brilliantly executed, multi-level modern tragedy of race and alienation from writer/director Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby). (This film is not to be confused with David Cronenberg’s 1996 mangled sex odyssey of the same name.)

The film opens in the aftermath of a simple fender-bender. A passenger in one of the cars, a Los Angeles police detective (Don Cheadle), muses that it is only through the random violence of the car crash and ensuing vents of rage and recrimination that isolated Los Angelinos can hope to interact. In the pedestrian-hostile environment, they are denied even the occasion to brush against one another on the sidewalk; instead, they are hermetically sealed off behind glass and plastic and steel.

The plot expands unpredictably from that

initial scene, revealing the interwoven stories of an L.A. District Attorney and his wife (Brendan Fraser, Sandra Bullock), their Hispanic locksmith (Michael Peña) and his daughter, a pair of L.A.P.D. detectives (Cheadle, Jennifer Esposito), a well-to-do African American couple (Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard), two L.A.P.D. beat officers (Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe) and their families, a pair of low-level criminals (Ludacris, Larenz Tate), and a family of Iranian immigrants (including Shaun Toub and Bahar Soomekh).

The script explores every facet of the alienation Cheadle’s character has noted: husbands from wives, coworkers from each other, the police from the citizens they “serve,” each race and ethnic group from every other, each of us from his better self. Every interaction, from the simplest business exchange to the most profound statement of love, runs aground as

these isolated, alienated, broken people simply cannot connect. In a particularly affecting scene, Toub dejectedly clutches a revolver, his attempt at revenge thwarted. His look of utter bewilderment and loss conveys that he has no idea how he went so far astray; driven by rage and confusion, he is a perfect stranger to himself.

Crash’s only deficiency is that it feels just slightly contrived. No group of random individuals is quite this interconnected. No one’s

MAY 2005

life contains this much tragedy and violence.

No one’s choices are at stakes this high.

That is not to say the film is unbearably grim. There are several optimistic scenes between locksmith Daniel (a fantastic performance from newcomer Peña) and his daughter. In addition, Haggis injected the script with a streak of dark humor, which may stem from the incident that served as the writer/director’s inspiration for the film: Haggis and his wife were carjacked upon leaving a video store in the early ’90’s. As they cowered at gunpoint, one of the thugs seized their video rental, an obscure Scandinavian film likely not to the young criminal’s taste. | Joe Hodes OLDBOY (Tartan USA, R) The first I heard about Oldboy was from a friend who was raving about having seen it on a bootleg DVD from Korea. As a lover of obscure Asian cinema, I had to see it for myself and easily found a cheap original DVD on the Internet. Knowing very little about it, I sat down for what I thought would be a shallow bit of pulp and walked away having just viewed a surprisingly philosophical and subtly visceral film.

I wish that I could have best described Oldboy this way but it was during a conversation when a friend of mine said, “I love it because it is so...visceral...so raw.” And it’s true: There is no better way to describe Chanwook Park’s epic tale of revenge and pity.

Oh Dae-Su, after a night of missing his daughter’s birthday for being drunk, is captured and imprisoned in a small room for 15 years. He has no contact with the outside world except for his daily meal and a sedation so that his hair can be cut and his self-afflicted wounds treated. All he has is his hope, a TV, and journals. One day Oh Dae-Su is released, and what ensues is a brutal and violent journey for answers about his captivity and his perpetrators.

Oldboy does a good job of weeding out the average film watcher from the cinephile. There

is no animal too alive to kill, no body part too sacred to disconnect. All this circles around a very Shakespearean and/or Greek tragedy about a man being torn in different directions: love, retribution, and revenge.

You have to give this film a chance—true of any film out of the mainstream, but it is really amazing how this film works on you.

Packed into its two hours are scenes that will make you writhe and cringe in your seats, but get past them, don’t walk out; it is the whole of the movie that makes the film such a treat.

Every scene has meaning and relevance. Just take Oh Dae-Su’s need for live and raw emotion when he goes to the sushi joint. All he needs to something moving, real, and alive.

He gets it.

Coming in second of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival’s In Competition films (behind Fahrenheit 9/11), Oldboy is a film that has “classic” burnt into its celluloid. Its violence and savagery is only equaled by its humor and depth. As shocking as any Takashi Miike film but by far more intelligent, Oldboy is what filmgoers need these days: originality, creativity, and a live octopus. | Rob Edgecomb 25

Interview With The Game of Their Lives Screenwriter Angelo Pizzo | By Joe Hodes As his follow-up to Hoosiers and Rudy, screenwriter and producer Angelo Pizzo returns to the familiar ground of Midwestern life and dreams of sporting achievement with The Game of Their Lives, a chronicle of the U.S. World Cup team that defeated top-seeded England in 1950.

“The appeal of the 1950s for me is that it’s the last era that allowed true regionalism,” Pizzo told me by phone from Los Angeles. “Before TV homogenized the nation, you could have an enclave like the Hill with its close, special bonds.”

The film details how five players from the Hill neighborhood in St. Louis (St. Louis being a hotbed of American amateur soccer, both then and now) joined six polished Eastern players to form the U.S. World Cup team. “I am not a soccer fan, so I approached the project purely from the story. Would I go to see this on the screen?

The story appealed to my Italian heritage, and to my understanding of our country as a nation

of immigrants. Here are these men of different backgrounds thrown together.”

Central to the film for Pizzo is the theme of teamwork. “The whole is greater than just the parts. These men together, working for a common purpose, were better than the talent of a few [English superstars]. In fact, when we got to Brazil to film the final game, our team of actors and players from the U.S. played together so much better than the Brazilian all-star team we assembled to portray the English, we had to ask our guys to back off a bit to make a game of it.”

Authenticity was important to the filmmakers, so they filmed on location in St. Louis and Brazil. The players’ background and stories were harder to capture. “We had the rights to the book, which is more a socio-cultural analysis of the Hill, and a detailed history of the game of soccer in the U.S. at the time.” So, in constructing the story, he “stayed close to the spirit, if not the letter.”

Pizzo faced a similar challenge in writing the script for Hoosiers. “Conflict is the essence of drama, and there was too little dramatic tension” in the story of the small-town team.

There, Pizzo created a few new characters to “drive the plot,” while remaining true to the essence of the story.

The scene from the film of which Pizzo is most proud comes as the U.S. team receives their uniforms shortly before their first game.

“It puts the film and the game in context.

These men are just a few years removed from life and death service for their country, and here they are putting on their country’s uniform again.” Pizzo said they worked hard to convey the emotional impact of the moment with a minimum of sentimentality—or, in his words, “As little B.S. as possible.”

As a producer, Pizzo was impressed with the “exciting support” he and the production received from the local film community and ordinary people in St. Louis. “I love shooting on location in the Midwest. People here don’t view productions as an intrusion, but an honor, an opportunity. There’s so much more energy here than on the jaded West Coast.”

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QUICK HITS

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KAISER CHIEFS: EMPLOYMENT (Universal) Too bad for the Kaiser Chiefs. I heard their album after seeing them in concert…twice.

The CD pales in comparison to the live show, despite the fact that it is a pretty good debut.

What comes across as a joyful experience onstage sounds a tad contrived on the disc.

On the other hand, there is “I Predict a Riot,” which is probably the catchiest song about urban warfare to hit the charts since The Clash.

The album opens with the spectacularly mean and funny “Everyday I Love You Less and Less,” the antithesis to every sappy love song ever written. Equally catchy and quite irritatingly infectious is the song “Na Na Na Na Naa,” which will wrap itself around your brain stem and cause contusions. Other highlights are solid pop songs like “Modern Way,” “Saturday Night,” and “Born to Be a Dancer,” all of which show nice promise for the band.

If the Chiefs are playing anywhere within a couple hundred miles (Lollapalooza, anyone?), get your ass there—onstage is where Kaiser Chiefs shine, and that is the sign of a truly impressive band. | Jim Dunn MILLENCOLIN: KINGWOOD (Softcore Inc./Burning Heart) Millencolin may be a Swedish punk band and they may be on Burning Heart, but any-

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one expecting the careening-toward-oblivion garage rock of The Hives, Division of Laura Lee, or The Hellacopters will be in for disappointment. What Millencolin is, however, is a fast, bouncy three-chord punk band that bridges the gap between Lagwagon-style poppiness and Bad Religion/NOFX–brand polemics.

Kingwood is the band’s first album since singer Nikola Sarcevic’s surprise trip into folky singer-songwriterdom with 2004’s Lock-SportKrock. Much of Kingwood was written by guitarist Erik Ohlsson, and Sarcevic’s time away from punk allows him to attack the songs with renewed intensity. New sounds creep into the record as well, such as the AC/DC-inspired riffage of “My Name Is Golden” or the soft patches and power choruses of “Shut You Out.” But Millencolin is at their best when playing straight-up punk-pop, especially in the album opening kiss-off tune “Farewell My Hell.” Millencolin hardly reinvents the wheel, but for fans of no-frills, straight-from-the-heart punk rock, this is your record. | Jason Green MISSILE SILO SUITE: COMPANION FARE EP (self-released) How sophisticated Missile Silo Suite’s sound has become over the years. When I first saw MSS three years ago, the band’s guitarrock sound was more simplistic and hadn’t yet evolved, but with Companion Fare, the four are sounding better than ever. Singer Sarah Laak sounds perfect over the guitar-driven melodic riffs. High-impact tunes such as “I

Play by Play For an example of this intriguing dichotomy, look no further than the wistful “Factory,” with its winding, faux-Nashville ramble and “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole” (incidentally, the title of her debut EP, a self-eviscerating tirade that ruthlessly peaks with Wainwright screaming more to herself than singing to anyone.

Her quirky vocal gymnastics may distance some listeners eager to hear the pipes of the sister of such a smooth, burnished vocalist as Rufus; Martha’s occasionally grating style tends to endear more than infringe upon the deeply personal songwriting. By marrying a gentle, acoustic folk sensibility with fierce, unflinching charisma, Wainwright builds a fascinating tension that reveals genuine surprises as the pop-folk compositions are juxtaposed with often-painful personal revelations.

An artist very much in the musical vein of Cat Power or Hope Sandoval, Wainwright is most interesting when she struggles to contain the darkness that pokes through her work

Know Why” and “Window” demand to be heard again and again. Overall, the vocals are tight, the melodies are strong, and everything seems to fall into place. This EP is just a taste of things to come, as MSS has already begun work on a full-length. Whet your appetite. www.missilesilosuite.com | John Kujawski OVER THE RHINE: DRUNKARD’S PRAYER (Back Porch) Either you get to have successful relationships or you get to write beautiful songs.

This is a good general rule, but it doesn’t explain Over the Rhine, or the marriage of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist at the Cincinnati group’s heart. How many artists can show us the inside of a love both musical and personal?

Bergquist and Detweiler know the odds are against them; the lyrics on Drunkard’s Prayer are filled with observations like “Love is never far from danger.” And that’s what’s so endearing about them: They do not whitewash, they do not say what they do is easy.

One small complaint: There’s not a lot of tempo variation on this recording. Everything’s languid and mellow. It’s great in small doses, but taking the whole disc in on one sitting could be wearing. Every individual track is gorgeous, though, thanks to their great gift for pop melody, the intimate, spare production, and Bergquist’s butterscotch voice. | Angela Pancella from page 23

like unwanted shards of broken glass. In this way, she’s very much an undeniable product of her lineage; her father and her brother have both made startling, bold albums about their struggles with the world and their place in it—Martha just happens to have the lilting, angelic voice of her mother Kate and sister Anna McGarrigle and a less off-kilter perspective about her pain.

While it may seem as though Wainwright’s a dour, tortured soul, her family’s trademark wry sense of humor does surface more than once—most notably on “Who Was I Kidding,” a knowing nod to, among other things, the ephemeral nature of the record business.

By the conclusion of the starkly gorgeous closing track, “Wither Must I Wander,” you’ll have a much better sense of whether you’re interested in following this adventurous, nakedly confessional singer/songwriter down whatever fascinating paths her unorthodox career will lead her. | Preston Jones

MAY 2005

OUR FILMY SUBSTANCE

BY ADAM HACKBARTH St. Louis is the largest city in the country not to have a film office. So what do Missouri’s political geniuses do to improve the situation? They slash the hell out of the Missouri Film Commission as an apparent reward for helping bring in a $20-million-plus budgeted motion picture. I can understand if Matt Blunt and friends can’t offer an increase, but to slash the Commission like he did, I’m just really disappointed. Who knows, maybe St. Louis leadership can step up and patch that statewide wound. I really hope so.

THE FILM PREMIERE OF HER LIFE: CINEMA ST. LOUIS’S ANDREA SPORCIC POSES WITH SOME GUY Hopefully you read last month’s Substance and had a chance to attend that special screening of The Game of Their Lives. I say this because apparently Gerard Butler was a tremendous hit with ladies. But more importantly, more than 800 tickets were sold for the event, which served as a fundraiser for Catholic Youth Charities, St. Ambrose Church, and Cinema St. Louis, which co-presented the event with the Missouri Film Commission and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission.

It’s time to scramble and sign up for this year’s 48 Hour Film Project. Download your team’s application at www.48hourfilm.com or email doug@kdhx.org with your skill (writer, actor, etc.) if you wish to participate but do not have a team. The application deadline is May 15.

Bring on the luchadores!

You may not be aware of this, but over the last few weeks I MIL MASCARAS:

have been over at Robot Monkey Lab doing what little I can to help effects madman Patrick Voss assemble all kinds of mummy and creature effects for Mil Máscaras vs. The Aztec Mummy. Starring the famous Mexican wrestler Mil Máscaras, along with Willard “Harpo” Pugh (The Color Purple) and Richard Lynch (Curse of the Forty-Niner), this bizarre feature was written and co-produced by University of Missouri professor Jeffery Uhlmann. Mil Máscaras is the first lucha libre film shot in English.

A rough cut for Song of the Dead has been assembled and there’s a possibility that a cut will hop onto my desk real soon. Drop me an e-mail, Mr. Gubera.

Albert Maysles will present a workshop on production techniques and storytelling in nonfiction film on Saturday, May 28 at 1 p.m.

The workshop will be held in Room 123 of the Sverdrup Business & Technology Complex, 8300 Big Bend Blvd. Admission is free. This is a must-event for documentary filmmakers.

Space is very limited for the workshop. RSVP to Doug Whyte: 314-361-8870 ext. 229, or by e-mail at doug@dhtv.org. The event is sponsored by KDHX-TV, Cinema St. Louis, and CALOP. The world premiere of Matt McLaughlin‘s Diary of a Co-Worker was yet another soldout success. Shot almost exclusively at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, the film features locals Mort Burke, Dick Mintzloff, Kevin Stroup, Rob Severson, and Amanda McLaughlin, as well as Hi-Pointe manager Paul Faur.

The next Cinemaspoke readings will take place May 9 at 7 p.m. at HH Studios, 2500 Sutton in Maplewood. This month’s screenplays are “RipCord” by J. Brian Cooley and “Personality” by Tony McIntosh. For more info, visit www.cinemastlouis.org.

MEXICO’S HULK HOGAN

| Adam Hackbarth is a St. Louis–based screenwriter. Preorder sales for his feature Studio 666 begin May 10, and he has been invited to make a guest appearance at Twisted Nightmare Weekend in August. Why is he going? Evil Dead is neato. E-mail him at stlfilmwire@yahoo.com.

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DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS: DIRTY SOUTH: LIVE AT THE 40 WATT (New West) The liner notes to the Drive-By Truckers’ recent DVD release, Dirty South: Live at the 40 Watt, contain a brief statement from guitarist/songwriter Jason Isbell, who notes “This DVD represents where the Drive-By Truckers were, in every sense of the word, on August 27th and 28th of 2004. We’re somewhere else now. Hell will once again be raised.” When the band tore through St. Louis last month, hell was raised indeed, and the DVD release comes at a perfect time. Fans hooked on the band’s epic live performances finally have frequent, convenient access to America’s greatest touring rock band, and the footage doesn’t disappoint.

On August 27 and 28 of 2004, Drive-By Truckers were hosting a CD release party for the eagerly anticipated (now critically acclaimed) release The Dirty South, and as a result, just about all of the album is covered on the DVD. The Dirty South is an epic album, and although “The Southern Thing,” “Women Without Whiskey,” and “Get on the Plane” are the only tunes from 2001’s The Southern Rock Opera included in the 22-song set, longtime fans shouldn’t be disappointed by the lack of older material. There’s only room for so much, and the Truckers clearly wanted this DVD to

showcase their newest material and support The Dirty South.

The DVD features excellent camera work, and the editing avoids the rapid-fire scene shifting that can ruin an otherwise good concert video. The “bonus features” segment is simply a nice music video for “Never Gonna Change,” featuring some good live concert shots and interesting camera work. Interviews and backstage footage were spliced between songs during the main program, however, so there’s more to the DVD than the performance alone.

Throughout the DVD, the band showcases its trademark blend of cerebral, heartfelt songwriting and raucous three-guitar fury. “Where the Devil Don’t Stay” and “Lookout Mountain” rock hard and loud, while “Tornadoes” and “Goddamn Lonely Love” showcase the band’s songwriting talent, which has only gotten better with the addition of Isbell in 2003. At the start of the encore, Isbell’s songwriting ability receives the ultimate validation: The crowd joins in for a spirited sing-along of the chorus to “Outfit,” and during the verses the camera pans to show audience members mouthing every word.

Other highlights include “The Southern Thing,” which illustrates the emphasis the band places on history and storytelling, “Decoration Day,” and “Puttin People on the Moon,” which guitarist/songwriter Patterson Hood delivers with a vengeance. During the song’s frenzied outro, Hood exhibits just how much emotion he’s poured into the songwriting, which paints a vivid picture of frustration and economic strife in the Deep South. The

DVD captures Drive-By Truckers at its finest, and it’s a must-own not only for longtime fans, but for those who want to learn more about the band. | Andrew Scavotto AMP MAGAZINE: VIDEO ARCHIVE FOR THE AGES: VOLUME 1 (Music Video Distributors) Call them collectors. Call them whatever you want, because chances are you’re one, too. You are among the collective of people who irrationally have to own every single piece of recorded media from one single artist, and that sure as hell includes VHS. Back in the day, there was a monthly VHS tape called Music Video Monthly. On said videotape were roughly ten new music videos from whomever the folks behind MVM found worthy (or, more likely, whatever label paid the monthly slotting fee to get on the tape). To get to the point, on their “Rock” edition, you would get a wide array of artists who rarely had nothing in common with each other. That meant that you would be lucky if you even found a couple of bands that struck a nerve. Not exactly a recipe for success.

With Video Archive for the Ages, AMP Magazine has done it the right way. You will not find a cornucopia of genres on these discs, only punk, emo, and metal. This specific volume includes videos from The Bronx, Agnostic Front, The Explosion, Shadows Fall, The Start, and 13 others that, for the most part, could easily share the same bill—which is exactly the point. Listed at $7.95 retail, this disc is very well worth your dollar, if you’re a collector or are simply searching for that undiscovered gem. | David Lichius

MAY 2005

THE PLAYBACKSTL THIRD ANNIVERSARY SHOW

| Off Broadway, April 22

DAVE ALANS

THE LAB

PUNSAPAYA

A big thanks to everyone who attended our third anniversary show, and to the performers who contributed to such a great night of music: Cameron McGill (and band), The Lab, Punsapaya, and acoustic host Dave AlanS. Photos by Patrick Vaughtan; additional photos online at www.playbackstl.com.

CAMERON McGILL 29

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PLAYBACK STL

LOCAL SCENERY

EDITED BY J. CHURCH

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Lapush has signed to Carson Daly’s record label 456 and will release Someplace Closer to Here June 7 through 456/Universal. www.lapush.net Gothic Blues Quartet recently completed its first regional tour and is currently writing songs for a third studio album. Maybe something will be ready when they play at Sally T’s May 21 with Polarized Mind and Wreckage of the Modern City. GBQ are also releasing a new compilation CD, which includes a recent live recording from The Gearbox at Lil’ Nikki’s.

Ex-Colony singer/songwriter Ted Bruner had some tunes on the telly last month. Everything You Want premiered on ABC Family’s “Movie of the Month” and Bruner helped create the soundtrack.

88.1 KDHX recently broadcast the first-ever Caninecast—nothing but two hours of songs about dogs. It’s easy to sink your canines into this station; they truly have something for everyone. www.kdhx.org “Songs have been written, demos recorded, guitars tuned, whiskey aged,” reports an e-mail from Waterloo (drummer John Baldus, keyboardist Marc Chechik, guitarist and keyboardist Chris Grabau, bassist Dave Melson, and singer, guitarist, and pianist Mark Ray). “This summer, we’ll be returning to our own studio and to Denton, Tex., to make a new record, once again to be recorded and produced by the mighty Matt Pence.” The release, the quintet’s third, should appear this fall.

The Twang Gang—the cadre of masochists who host Twangfest, the acclaimed local four-day celebration of Americana music—recently announced the roster for this year’s event, to be held June 8–11. For details, visit www.twangfest.com. Exciting highlights? This year, in addition to the Tap Room and the Duck Room, the festival embraces a third venue for its finale: The Pageant. The headliner that night?

Neko Case. Yow! The wild boys of Essence of Logic (bassist Dan Hunzeker, turntablist DJ Mahf, singer/guitarist Jeff Nations, drummer Brian Schaeffer, and guitarist Dave Seithel) have been recording with Brandon Drury of Cape Girardeau’s puckishly named Echo Echo Studios. The four tracks will soon be available as a freebie at gigs, with certain of them also available for download.

In the fall, Eric Skelton and Tom Wehrle are teaming up for the City of Dreams Tour to support Wehrle’s new album Room to Dream (due this summer) and Skelton’s latest release Some Other City. www.myspace/ CityofDreamsTour, www.TomWehrle.com, www.EricSkeltonMusic.com

In late May, Bagheera will be playing as an acoustic two-piece at the Wasted Festival in Morcambe, and follow it with a week-long tour of the U.K. with POG. Supporters of the WM3 are vying for St. Louis to get involved in the West Memphis Three World Awareness Day. The concerts and benefits take place on the same day (July 23) all over the world. All proceeds from this event will benefit the West Memphis Three’s legal defense fund. www.wm3.org Belatedly, PlaybackSTL learned of the Feb. 20 death of Randy Leiner, vocalist/guitarist with local Americana quartet The Melroys, who released their eponymous debut last year on Swanzey, N.H.’s 95North Records. Surviving him are his wife Sally and sons Jordan (who plays lead guitar with the band) and Noah. They have our heartfelt condolences.

Pop’s bartender/waitress Shannon Katzmarek died in a car crash April 15. In addition to needing money for funeral arrangements, Shannon left behind two children aged five and seven. To help defray costs, Pop’s is auctioning off on eBay autographed posters from artists that have visited the venue, including Coheed & Cambria, Mudvayne, Tommy Lee, Yngwie Malmsteen, and George Lynch.

The Floating City CD release party (cosponsored by PlaybackSTL and KDHX 88.1) will be held May 14 at Mississippi Nights. The Potomac Accord opens, and has some regional shows coming up in the next few months.

On Saturday, May 7 from 7 to 11 p.m., Mad Art unleashes Mayhem, an exhibit examining the effects of pulp fiction and film noir on American culture. Mayhem will feature paintings, digital media, installation, and prints that reflect the anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion prevalent in Cold War America. Solo and collaborative pieces from Ron Buechele, Christopher Gustave, Tim Garrett, and Pat Garrett are presented. www.madart.com The benefit party for the next series of Readings at The Schlafly Tap Room will be Friday, May 13 from 8 to 10 p.m. $20 gets you in and will include music from area bands, door prizes, a poetry contest, and one free pint of Schlafly. http://belz.net/readings/ The 2005 Whitaker Music Festival begins Wed., June 1 and runs every Wed. through July 27. The free concerts take place on the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Linnean House lawn at 7 p.m.; admission to the Garden, as well, is free after 5 p.m. The concert series opens with jazz and adds bluegrass, rock, and popular music to the mix. The Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in St. Louis, just off I-44 at Vandeventer. www.mobot.org | Additional Reporting by Bryan A. Hollerbach

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by Bosco (with illustration help from Carlos Ruiz)

FESTIVALS! The Summer Sometimes we travel hundreds of This month, we are going to miles in our junker car to rock out ZoeJam to hang out with is filled with them.

George Clinton. with thousands of our friends.

We hop back here in July for Lollapalooza and the Midwest Music summit...

Then we head over to Europe, where people have rocked for ages.

...Over to Japan for Summersonic ...in September Phew...we wonder if the boss is giving us in August to see Duran Duran, and for South Park time off for all this? finally back to North America... and Pop Montreal.

www.scifiorpolysci.com www.scifiorpolysci.com

Elliot Goes

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CURMUDGEON

BY ROB LEVY

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My month was pretty boring. Sure there was the advent of baseball season and lots of big-time new releases to listen to. There was even basketball and all this crazy Pope business to keep my ADD going. However, nothing prepared me for the burst of spring that is The Floating City’s Entering a Contest. It’s always good to see local fellers make good and these guys have done so by making their debut album lyrically sharp and musically dense. TFC create songs that are simultaneously angular and fragile without having it all unravel in a big heap. Over the years, they’ve learned when to reign in the music and tighten the lyrics to create songs with substance and emotion. In a perfect world, this is the album that should put them on the map.

You may have thought that, after dominating last summer’s concert season, The Pixies would take some time off. Well, you were wrong. The band has decided to do it once more with feeling by mounting a high-profile three-week tour of venues they missed last summer. Before last year’s mega-reunion, singer Frank Black hunkered down in Nashville to record new material. The result is Honeycomb, his first solo effort in quite some time.

Cobra Verde’s latest, Copycat Killers, is a masterful album of covers. When you delve into the record, you’ll find unique reinterpretations of songs from The Rolling Stones, Hawkwind, and The Fall as well as classic covers of New Order and Donna Summer. Cobra Verde even take their touring mates The Undertones to task by covering “Teenage Kicks.”

ART BRUT I am the bearer of sad news this month because one of Scotland’s best pop bands, The Delgados, has called it a day after a decade and five solid albums. Despite the split, the band members will continue to run their label, Chemikal Underground.

A Scottish band that hasn’t quit, Belle & Sebastian, are set to release a double album of

their various singles and EPs they’ve recorded for Jeepster records, Push Barman to Open Old Wounds.

Fellow Scots Sons & Daughters came out of nowhere last year to deliver a wonderful debut EP, Love the Cup. They currently are prepping their long-awaited debut album, Repulsion Box, with a new single, “Dance Me In.” Electrelane have again joined forces with Steve Albini for their crunchy new album Axes.

The band, currently on a short U.S. tour, recorded Axes over the holidays last year in Chicago.

Albini’s Shellac recently mounted a short four-day tour of the Midwest.

The dB’s, one of the 1980s most important and most underappreciated bands, have reunited and recorded an album’s worth of new material for release sometime next year.

Kid Loco has scored the music for Eban & Charley director James Bolton’s new film, Graffiti Artist.

For the last decade, Liverpool’s The La’s have made one song (“There She Goes”) go a very long way. They are trying to recapture that magic again by recording a new album.

Lollapalooza lives again—sort of. The retooled and scaled-down festival has been revived for a two-day festival July 23–24 in Chicago’s Grant Park.

Son Volt returns next month with a new album, Okemah and the Melody of Riot. If you can’t wait until then, Rhino Records has released a comprehensive compilation of the band’s previous work, A Retrospective 1995-2000, which also features five previously unreleased songs. If you have to actually see Jay Farrar in action, check out the brand-new DVD of Son Volt’s 1997 performance on Austin City Limits.

June also sees the release of V2 Records’ At the Drive In compilation, This Station Is NonOperational. The collection includes several unreleased songs from ATDI, including covers of songs from The Smiths and Pink Floyd.

The reformed Dinosaur Jr. is spending most of July on the road. Although there is no St. Louis date, the band will play this year’s Lollapalooza.

“Jetstream,” the new single from New Order, features guest vocals from Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters.

The lineup is shaping up for this year’s Twangfest 9 (June 9–11). In addition to an undoubtedly stellar closing-night performance from Neko Case at The Pageant, the festival features performances by the always awesome Supersuckers, Nora O’ Connor, and The Meat Purveyors.

Thom Yorke may help out with guest vocals

on the upcoming Felix Da Housecat album.

“Hello Tomorrow,” the new single from Squeak E. Clean, features vocals from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It has been awhile since anyone heard a peep out of ex-Ride vocalist Mark Gardener. Lately he’s been holed up in a New York studio, putting the finishing touches on his debut solo album.

If you remember the Stereo MC’s and wondered where they buggered off to, fret no more. They have resurfaced with a new studio album entitled Paradise.

Depeche Mode is currently in California working on its new album, which should be coming up early next year.

Nick Carter was recently arrested for drunk driving. He should have been jailed ages ago for making terrible music with Backstreet Boys.

It is truly the end for we humans. That’s because Robert Smith has provided lyrical support for Billy Corgan. The duo teamed up to record a version of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody” for Corgan’s debut, Thefutureembrace.

David Essex is helping out Saint Etienne on their latest Tales from the Turnpike House by singing vocals on the track “Relocate.” In the meantime, they’ve released the record’s first single, “Side Streets.” The band will tour in support of the record this spring.

The soon-to-be-huge Art Brut has finally released its much-hyped debut CD Bang Bang Rock & Roll.

British Sea Power is playing a gig this summer in the middle of the North Atlantic.

The concert will happen at the Principality of Sealand, a deserted oilrig just outside of British water space.

The Boredoms have signed to Vice Records.

Author Nick Hornby will be supporting one of his favorite bands, Marah, next month.

Finally, books and music have long been synonymous with each other. This perfect match is highlighted during Ancora il Più Estinto II, an annual series of performanceinstallations held from 8 to 10 p.m. during the first three Thursdays in May at Dunaway Books. The event will gather many of the area’s best musicians and confine them to small, intimate nooks and crannies throughout the store.

The end result is a unique, quasi-detached sound art experience that is both compelling and improvisational. This may sound preposterous or pretentious, but this is one of the few times when St. Louis’s best musicians can create music completely uninhibited by the constraints normal musical presentation.

MAY 2005

COME OUT AND PLAY

THEATER

COMPILED BY TYSON BLANQUART If you have an audition, show announcement, or other news of interest to the theater community, please e-mail theater@playbackstl.com no later than the 15th of each month.

Also be sure to visit www.playbackstl.com for weekly updates.

POSITION OPENINGS/AUDITIONS Marble Stage Theatre announces auditions for its premiere production, Fiddler on the Roof, to be held at the Shrewsbury City Center, 5200 Shrewsbury Ave., May 20 & 21. Performances are July 14–16 at 7:30 p.m. & July 17 at 2 p.m. Auditions open to ages 8 and up. An accompanist will be onsite, as will a CD/tape player. To set up an appointment, call 314-647-1003.

First Run Theatre will hold auditions for Don Weiss’s Family Fugue, directed by Anna Blair May 1 1–5 p.m. & May 2 6–10 p.m. at the Logos School, 9137 Old Bonhomme Rd. in Olivette. Actors are asked to bring a headshot and resume, and to prepare a monologue. For more information about available roles, visit www.firstruntheatre.com.

The Broadway Center of Arts is still in need of production crew members for this summer’s production of The Rocky Horror Show by Richard O’Brien. The show is directed by Armand Vazquez, and they are still in need of a stage manager, music & vocal director, lighting designer, master carpenter, sound designer, properties coordinator, costume coordinator, and stage crew. If interested, please e-mail ajvasquez02@hotmail.com or call 773-2096816. www.broadwaycenterofarts.com

SHOWS OPENING | PROFESSIONAL Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis will present its summer 2005 show, The Tempest, May 27–June 19 at 8 p.m. nightly (except for Tuesdays) in Forest Park.

Admission is free. Opening the evening at 6:30 p.m. will be The Green Show, which includes jugglers, dancers, clowns, and activities for children, including a 15-minute version of The Tempest. For more info, visit www.shakespearefestivalstlouis.com.

HotCity Theatre continues Elaine May’s Adult Entertainment through May 7 at the ArtLoft Theatre, 1529 Washington Ave. Tickets are $23 general admission, $18 students & seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the

box office or by phone at 314-482-9125. Performances Thurs.–Sat. at 8 p.m. www.hotcitytheatre.org New Line Theatre opens its final show of the season, Kander & Ebb’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, May 26 with performances through June 18. Performances are Thurs.–Sat. at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15/18 adults, $10/15 students/children/seniors, available by calling MetroTix at 314-534-1111. www.newlinetheatre.com.

Stray Dog Theatre will present Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire May 27–June 12 at the Clayton Little Theatre, located at #1 Mark Twain Circle Dr. in Clayton. Performances run May 27–29, June 2–5 & 8–12 at 8 p.m. except for Sun. at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 adults, $15 students/seniors. Reservations can be made by calling 314-531-5923. www.straydogtheatre.org The Zim Zam Kök Show will present their newest episode of its stream-of-consciousness sketch comedy show at the new Laughs on the Landing Comedy Club, 801 N. Second St., May 26 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 advance, $10 door. Call 314-773-1531 for reservations. www.zimzamkok.com The New Jewish Theatre will bring its season to a close with Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy. Performances run May 5–22 at 8 p.m. except for Sun. at 2 & 7:30 p.m. Tickets $18–22, available by phone at 314-4423283. Reservations will not be held without payment.

Performances are held at the Sarah & Abraham Studio Theater in the Jewish Community Center, #2 Millstone Campus Dr. in Creve Coeur. www.newjewishtheatre.org The Fox Theatre and US Bank will host Mel Brooks’ The Producers May 10–22. Tickets ($27.25–80) available at any MetroTix outlet or by phone at 314-5341111. Shows Tues.–Sat. 8 p.m., Sat. 2 p.m., Sun. 2 & 7:30 p.m., and a special show at 1 p.m. Thurs., May 19.

The Fox Theatre is located at 527 North Grand Blvd. www.fabulousfox.com The Touhill Performing Arts Center will host Rick Miller’s pop-culture brainchild Machomer—a combination of The Simpsons and Macbeth—for one show Fri., May

IT DOESN’T STOP HERE.

13 at 8 p.m. in the A-B Performance Hall. Tickets ($12–32) available online at www.touhill.org. The venue is located on the campus of UMSL.

SHOWS OPENING | COMMUNITY Act II will present The Cemetery Club by Ivan Menchell May 6–15 at the St. Peters Community & Arts Center, located at 1035 St. Peters Howell Road in St. Peters. Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 adults, $6 students/seniors. For reservations, call 636-397-6903. http://www11.brinkster.com/Act2/New/ Alpha Players will present George Abbott, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart’s The Boys From Syracuse May 20–29. Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. The show is presented at the Florissant Civic Center at 955 Rue St. Francois. Tickets are $16 adults, $14 students/ seniors, and are available by phone at 314-921-5678, or online at www.alphaplayers.org.

Curtain Call Repertory Theatre presents Peter Link’s King of Hearts May 27–June 5 at the Carousel House in Faust Park on Olive Blvd. Performances Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m. Tickets are $13 advance, $15 day of show. Reservations can be made by calling 636-3467707. www.curtaincallrep.com First Run Theater will stage an evening of two one-act plays May 20–28. The plays, Wayne Crome’s Moondancing and Jerry Rabushka’s The Checkpoint, are original works by local playwrights. Shows at 8 p.m. Thurs.– Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 day of show, $8 students/seniors. Performances at DeSmet Jesuit High School Theatre, 233 N. New Ballas Rd. in Creve Coeur. Call 314-680-8102 for more info or reservations. Tickets can be purchased online at www.firstruntheatre.com.

Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jule Styne’s Bells Are Ringing May 6–14 at the Kirkwood Community Center in the Robert G. Reim Theatre, 111 South Geyer Rd. Shows Wed.–Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets ($18) can be reserved by calling 314-821-9956. www.ktg-onstage.org

JUNE IN PLAYBACKSTL: TWANGFEST INSERT PlaybackSTL produces the official program for Twangfest. It will feature interviews, a schedule of Twangfest events, and a complete rundown of all the bands that will be performing during the festival. This year the festival features the Bottle Rockets, Milton Mapes, Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys, Supersuckers, and Neko Case. Advertisers, want to be part of it? Check out our rates at www.playbackstl.com/scream or call Jim Dunn at 314-6306404. More information on Twangfest at www.twangfest.com.

Neko Case

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PLAYBACK STL

TAKE FIVE ATHLETE

MISSING OUT ON THE PARTY WITH ATHLETE By Laura Hamlett

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Athlete is one of those anomalies these days: A successful band composed of four childhood friends. After two albums and three years of touring, the four have, if anything, become more like family and less like friends. There aren’t those petty arguments; no one’s been kicked out.

When they return from long tours, they still hang out, getting together with wives and families for a meal at someone’s house. Simply, they focus their collective interests and energies on challenging themselves—and, by extension, their listeners—with musical complexity and innovation. They’re not out to be the next big thing; they know they’re not wearing the right jackets or hats to fit in. But that’s OK, because the music they make—melodic, heartfelt, yet not generic or bland—speaks for itself.

We spoke with drummer Steve Roberts by telephone. The band had returned home for three sold-out shows at London’s Brixton Academy before crossing the ocean for their first real American tour.

How’s the tour going so far?

Really, really good actually. We’ve been dipping off to Europe where we’re quite new over there, so we’re just doing a few gigs. It’s been interesting to see people’s reaction [to Tourist], to get a feel for how it’s all going over there, really. Now we’re back in the U.K. so we’re home and we’re playing for the home crowds. We’ve been playing around the U.K. for over three years now, so [we’ve] built up a good fan base and can play pretty big venues. Outside of London, it’s around 3,500, and in London we’re doing three nights at Brixton Academy, which is 5,000.

I know you toured the last album [Vehicles and Animals] for two solid years before you sat down to write Tourist. What did you learn from touring?

How to play in front of an audience is hugely important, such a massive part of things. When you record some songs and then you start playing them in front of an audience, they really start to take on a life

of their own; they mean different things to different people. That’s really rewarding, when you play and you see that response, and you meet people after the gig and see what they’ve got to say. That helped us to appreciate exactly what we’ve been doing when we started writing again. Also, confidence-wise, as musicians, we really grew.

Did you road-test any of the new stuff before you sat down to record it?

Yeah, we took a few songs on tour with us, just to try out. We took “Wires” and “Tourist” and “Attraction,” the first one on the record, in kind of early versions. And they kind of developed and changed a bit, after time. I think that was important as well.

When you come then to record them in the studio, it’s not the first time you ever played it.

You played America for the last album. How was the reception last time when you came over here?

We literally only did just one tiny little show in New York, and then we played South by Southwest. In fact, the gig we did in New York was probably the worst gig we have ever done. It was a really unfortunate night. We were jetlagged, using all hired equipment—and some of it didn’t work. But we still enjoyed ourselves. We’re really wanting to get back and show people that we’re a lot better than we were that night.

You said you wanted the new album to have “soul”; what does that mean to Athlete?

We knew the new songs really had to mean something; they couldn’t be just made-up stories. We really wanted them to be real experiences, no bullshit in them—just make sure that where we were coming from was honest and true. And also, to make sure we were writing the songs with other people in mind. We didn’t want to make an album that doesn’t mean anything, an album that’s pretentious in any way; we wanted to make something people could connect with. | Athlete plays Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room May 13.

Bluebottle Kiss

A Large Selection of Buckles For All Your Tastes SOLE SURVIVOR 6161 Delmar in The Loop, 101 W. (In the Loop next to the Pageant) • (314) 361-8336

SOLE SURVIVOR LEATHER 125 East Main St. • Belleville, IL (618) 234-0214

www.solesurvivorleather.com

from page 5

While there’s much to be said about the independent, DIY approach to making and distributing music, when you’re an ocean away, it’s often a daunting task. But Jamie Hutchings and Bluebottle Kiss certainly have the musical talent; now it’s just a matter of perseverance, of spreading the word, of finding and converting fans outside of Australia—one by one, if that’s what it takes.

“It’s a slow, textured build,” we explained late last year in our review, “like the album itself, growing on you until it suddenly hits you: There’s nowhere else you’d rather be.” Put that empty wineglass aside and curl up with your headphones; I’ve got just the album for you. | Come Across is available May 10 on In Music We Trust Records. Listen online and learn more at www.bluebottlekiss.com.

MAY 2005

PROVOCATIVE DOWN THE LINE: NEW LINE THEATRE

PROFILE

NEW LINE THEATRE

By Tyson Blanquart Sitting on the patio at Dressel’s Pub on a beautiful spring day is made only more interesting by a lively conversation. Scott Miller knows this, and is more than happy to engage in discussion. And if the topic is musical theater, then all the better. Miller, the founder and Artistic Director for New Line Theatre, is gearing up for the third and final show of New Line’s 14th season, Kiss of the Spider Woman, but took time out to talk a little about his company and the state of St. Louis theater.

In the 1980s and early ’90s, Miller worked with Affton Center Stage, a community theater organization with a reputation for quality work. Quality, yes, but safe. Miller started discovering musicals that he thought would be fun to do but whose material would probably not be something that you’d want Grandma to come see. Wanting to get more adventurous, Miller realized the best way to mount the edgy shows he had an interest in was to start his own company. New Line was formed in 1991, with the first show, a revue entitled A Tribute to Rock Musicals, performed in 1992 at the Center of Contemporary Arts.

For its first few years, New Line was nomadic, using whatever venues they had at their disposal.

Eventually, the company found a home at the St. Marcus Theater, located in the basement of St. Marcus United Church of Christ. In addition to New Line, the St. Marcus space housed companies including That Uppity Theatre Company and the NonProphet Theater Company. New Line’s first show there, Assassins, was a rousing success, and helped solidify the St. Marcus as a great house for the gritty, urban theater that St. Louis was lacking. Unfortunately, the theater was shut down in 1999 following the congregation’s objection over the production of Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi, which centers on a Jesus-like figure who is gay. New Line had nothing to do with the production, but found themselves punished when the church’s board voted to close down the space. New Line was again without a home.

Then Miller stumbled upon the ArtLoft Theatre, a somewhat new venue in the old garment district of Washington Avenue downtown, already housing the Hothouse Theater Company. Now, as one of the two main companies sharing the space (along with the new HotCity Theater), New Line not only is growing in the scope of its shows, but also building a solid support base that’s augmented by critical acclaim. The most recent show, The Robber Bridegroom, was a bona fide success, running four weeks to near soldout crowds. Oddly enough, Miller says that Robber was actually the show of the season that he felt wouldn’t get a large response.

“Every season we have one show that’s more of an experiment, one that we don’t expect to do well. Which is why the other two shows are generally a little more well-known—while at the same time being unconventional—so that we can cover our losses with the experimental

show. So to have Robber do as good as it did just made me really happy.”

So why musicals and not straight plays?

“I have never not been a freak for musical theater,” Miller says. “As a small child, we would go to the Muny every summer and I really just fell in love. In fact, most of our family albums were cast albums. With musical theater, everything plays out with music, and the abstract language of music sometimes says more than words can.”

New Line has a reputation in St. Louis for producing provocative shows. While Miller respects traditional musical theater, he is drawn more to the shows that would never see the light of day in St. Louis if not for his company. As the only professional alternative to companies such as The Muny and Stages St. Louis, Miller dubbed the company the “bad boy of musical theater,” and the proclamation rings true. In the last few years, the company has produced risky shows such as Bat Boy: The Musical, Reefer Madness: The Musical, Hair, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The company’s mission statement more or less hints at the fare audiences can expect to see: “New Line Theatre involves the people of the St. Louis region in the creation and exploration of provocative, alternative, issue-oriented works of the musical theatre.” Issue-oriented pieces aside, Miller says he just likes putting shows up that interest him, ones he wants to share with the audiences of St. Louis.

Occasionally, there is a nonmusical play that catches his attention. David Dillon’s Party is such a show. To do this play without running afoul of New Line’s mission statement, Miller formed a new branch of the company, Out of Line Productions, in 1998. The show proved to be so popular, it was mounted again in 2003.

Miller also has plans to produce his own original musical. Author of several books on theater history, Miller has tried his hand at scripting and scoring his first full-scale musical, Johnny Appleweed, a political piece.

“Basically, Johnny makes it to the president of the United States to tell him how much he’s fucking up the country,” says Miller, with the hint of a smile. He hopes to have the show in production by the time the midterm elections are held. In the meantime, though, Miller is focusing on the upcoming season, which includes a revival of Bat Boy along with The Fantastiks and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Above all else, Miller enjoys working in St. Louis, and is delighted to see that the number of New Line’s patrons increasing. “There is a growing audience for alternative theater in St. Louis,” he remarks, and thankfully, New Line is around to supply that demand. | Kiss of the Spider Woman closes out New Line Theatre’s 2004–2005 season May 26–June 18 at the ArtLoft Theatre.

FROM TOP: KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN OPENS MAY 26; THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (2002-2003 SEASON); MILLER’S BOOK LET THE SUN SHINE IN: THE GENIUS OF HAIR

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PLAYBACK STL

PAGE BY PAGE

BOOKS

This Boy’s Life

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STEPHEN ELLIOTT: HAPPY BABY (Picador; 191 pgs; $13) One of the most harrowing books I’ve ever read is Jerzy Kosinksi’s 1965 novel The Painted Bird, in which a young boy wanders through Europe during World War II, hiding and shaking behind bushes, rising for savage beatings by those who find him. Stephen Elliott’s extraordinary and affecting novel Happy Baby, published

by McSweeney’s last year and picked up for wide release in 2005, felt at times like The Painted Bird without the war.

Though both books are bracing first-person stories told by family-less, future-less boys, the comparison isn’t fair on paper. No setting compares with The Painted Bird’s after all, and its young narrator is entirely innocent while Happy Baby’s Theo courts some of his own beatings. And yet there the two characters are in the same frame of my mind—forced nomads, totally fucked—drawn together the way the lonely and battered are sometimes drawn together in life.

Happy Baby is told in reverse. Theo begins the story as a man returning to Chicago to check in on an ex-girlfriend (Maria) he’d met as a 15-year-old in a state home for wards of the court. It’s not long before the reader is witnessing Theo’s earlier life in brief flashbacks, understanding immediately the level of grimness involved. Maria notices burns on Theo’s hands, and he remembers the more recent girlfriend who’d put them there. “I said no and she said yes, pressing the cigarette into the back of my wrist, making a sound like the sizzle of an opium pipe. I screamed. ‘Now the other one,’ she said.’”

Over the course of the novel’s 11 chapters, there are marriages, abortions, drugs, fires, and sadomasochism. Theo tells of how his caseworker raped him (“The windows were closed and the room was dusty and hot and

filled with stacks of yellowing, creased paper forced into wide brown envelopes.”); his time at new juvenile centers (“I stopped speaking for a month but nobody seemed to notice.”); his father (“He pushed my kindergarten teacher down a small flight of stairs.”); his friends (“‘Hard day,’ Julie says, smiling as much as she can but it doesn’t come easy to her and it looks like it’s going to tear her face.”); himself (“If I could love I would have loved by now.”); and, most of all, the life in front of him. Take this unforgettable scene in which Theo, having been shivering alone on the street, escapes the bitter cold and enters the basement of a house he’s come upon. He takes off all his clothes, so that he can warm them in the basement’s dryer.

I cross my arms over my chest. I’m worried that someone will come into the basement and find me naked. Will they let me put my clothes back on or will I have to stay naked until I turn eighteen? I fold myself over the drying machine, rattling around on the blue floor. I hug it to try to quiet it down, my legs pressed against its front, and lay my cheek on the top, trying to get the heat to enter my body. The machine quivers, my clothes tossing inside of it.

I stretch my arms to its back, feeling.

There, the metal forms ridges like ribs that I slide my fingers between. I rub my face along the lid.

This was the scene that first brought The Painted Bird to mind: a character’s fiercely solo battle against the world as it cruelly unfolds; and his narrative tone, which is matter-of-factly ghastly.

Yet by Happy Baby’s end, cruelty and ghastliness are not the dominant feelings.

Because of the novel’s reverse chronology, the reader knows that the narrator who started

the novel—the 36-year-old Theo—has made it through to a safer, more human place. And while this doesn’t soften the ongoing blows to the book’s boy, it does mean that, in the end, sadness and brutality aren’t allowed to triumph. The book itself triumphs. The triumph is the story’s telling. | Stephen Schenkenberg ELIZABETH CRANE: ALL THIS HEAVENLY GLORY (Little, Brown; 224 pgs; $22.95) Elizabeth Crane’s first book, When the Messenger Was Hot (2003), seemed to introduce a writer with a fairly energetic prose style, an apparent willingness to explore alternative storytelling forms, and some insight into the travails of young women in turn-ofthe-21st-century America. It also suggested, however, that its author might be straddling a line between serious, if accessibly comic, literary fiction and what has come to be called “chick lit.” While some of the stories in When the Messenger Was Hot take on grave subjects indeed (the threat of suicide, for example), others are strained and superficial, exhibiting the forced jocularity that has led some readers and critics to regard chick lit as something less than profound.

Unfortunately, Crane’s new book, All This Heavenly Glory, pretty clearly crosses the line into unmistakable fluff. The situations and events related in the book are almost relentlessly trivial (even potentially consequential themes like the protagonist’s alcoholism are treated in such an unemphatic and offhand way that they are reduced to the same level of insignificance as her TV-watching habits), and Crane’s conversational style comes off as chatty rather than an attempt to explore the possibilities of ordinary language in capturing perceived reality.

All This Heavenly Glory takes the form of an increasingly popular kind of hybrid fiction that, depending on how the reader chooses to regard it, could be called either an episodic novel or a closely integrated collection of stories. To the extent Crane seems inclined to test out the

MAY 2005

potential of the “novel as stories,” she confines the effort to shuffling the chronological order in which the narrative pieces of Charlotte Anne Byers’ life are presented. Episodes from Charlotte’s childhood interrupt the sequence concerned with her adult life, stories that are themselves more or less free-ranging in time, but because the book is ultimately a character study of its protagonist more than anything else, the consequence of its loosely jointed structure is just looseness.

The parts of All This Heavenly Glory do not build on one another so much as simply coexist.

On the other hand, it isn’t as though very many of the stories in the book stand up that well on their own as individual fictions, either. The more formally ambitious stories, such as “Ad” or “Guidelines” (both of which come in the form named in their titles) are also among the most thematically slight, focusing primarily on the persistent problem of getting a guy. “A Malicious Use of the List Format” most explicitly calls attention to Crane’s frequent use of lists, which only serves the purpose of substituting such lists for similarly superficial prose. This passage, from “Notre Monde,” is typical: …An argument could be made that Jenna is still at the fashion advantate, as Charlotte Anne, who wears different clothes every day, is not wearing anything especially cool, which equal any of the following: a) anything as non-decrepit as Jenna’s outfit (more passable than cool, since her Lacoste shirt is regarded as sort of a classic, and therefore neutral, although Charlotte Anne is not the only one who notices that Jenna repeats) b) a tight, ideally pale blue t-shirt with rhinestones on it that spell out something like HOLLYWOOD or FOXY c) a t-shirt (any color) bearing the Pandemonium Boutique logo of a giant Charlie Chaplin head. . . .

“Howard the Filmmaker” is notable as one of the few stories in the book that introduces and adequately develops a character other than Charlotte Anne. It is mildly amusing, but finally doesn’t really go anywhere, other than to sketch a fairly familiar portrait of a Hollywood sleazeball. Most of the other stories as well tend to wander their way toward inconsequence, following out the book’s fixation on Charlotte’s quest to find the right man. “Eleven,” for

example, begins seriously enough: “She’d been sober for a while, but some things hadn’t changed.” The very next sentence: “Charlotte had heard it said many times in the program that A.A. wasn’t a hotbed of mental health, but this hadn’t stopped her from using it as a dating service.” “About the Dime” might be the best of the stories about Charlotte’s childhood, as it relates in a relatively simple and unfussy way Charlotte’s trip to Iowa to visit her father and his new wife. But even it is a by-now familiar tale about coping with family breakup.

It might be said that in writing about the immediate and ordinary concerns of young women, authors like Crane are only catching up to the many male writers who have indulged in portrayals of young men’s self-dramas and sexual obsessions. There is truth to this, of course, and perhaps it is progress of a sort that such books can now be produced as often by women as by men. But is this really what the pioneering women writers of the 1970s and ‘80s had in mind when they insisted women deserved a literary voice of their own? | Daniel Green MCSWEENEY’S ENCHANTED CHAMBER OF ASTONISHING STORIES (Vintage; 328 pgs; $13.95) Let’s cut right to the chase: McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, the second book in a series of McSweeney’s tributes to pulpy sci-fi and horror, is a mixed bag. That’s what happens with most anthologies of any kind. But amid the filler by 14 other authors selected by editor Michael Chabon, “What You Do Not Know You Want,” a short story by David Mitchell, is a tour de force. Hell’s bells, can this guy write.

The plot ostensibly concerns a sleazy detective who tracks down rare objects; he’s chasing down the ritual sword with which cult Japanese writer Yukio Mishima gutted himself.

It’s an object “radioactive” with mystical power, comparable with Marilyn’s empty pill bottle or Hemingway’s shotgun.

Mitchell keeps us going with the mystery of the missing seppuku blade—where is it, and did it somehow lead the man’s business partner to kill himself? There are clues, including a concrete poem, of all things, written in

mirror fog. The mood is slimy, fetid: basement bars, fleabag hotels, porn mags, and loadso-suicide. There are several femmes fatale, naturally, of dubious assistance.

The seamy noir manages to avoid self-parody, mostly, and when the big ending slams down, revealing the mystery for the existential conundrum that is has to be, dammit if you don’t recall the master, Jim Thompson.

If I told you what happens at the end, it wouldn’t matter—it wouldn’t spoil a thing, because—yes, I’m gushing here—transcendence has to be experienced. Talking about it don’t mean much.

Mitchell’s novels have the same dazzling prose chops but, some critics have argued, they read like he’s showing off, stretching the reader’s patience as he wanks on with his endless guitar solo of a narrative. My editor adores his novel Cloud Atlas, though, and I try not to piss off the boss, so let’s go ahead and paw through the chaff.

Jonathan Lethem’s story truly seems to have been written for another outlet—there’s nothing at all astonishing about this slice-oflife rumination on missed connections. The “cyberpunky” Steve Erickson offers a delicious riddle with tropes of the classic mindfuck film Videodrome, but then an unsatisfying answer. Peter Straub’s got game, but not in his enervated submission here.

Joyce Carol Oates has a good time with “The Fabled Lighthouse at Vina del Mar,” a riff on an undeveloped fragment originally by Poe. The creepy ending is downright Lovecraftian, too.

The runner-up to Mitchell here is the godfather, Stephen King. His “Lisey and the Madman” is a slow dissection of the moments just before, during and after a nutjob pumps a bullet into the narrator’s husband, a famous writer. (Hmm...)

King’s métier is the short story/novella: His collections Bachman Books, Different Seasons and Night Shift are better than 90 percent of his novels, I figure. Paging David Mitchell… | Byron Kerman

IT DOESN’T STOP HERE. Every week we load up our Web site— www.playbackstl.com—with reviews, interviews, and previews that you can’t read anyplace else. This month, we’ve got reviews of books by Roddy Doyle, Sarah Stonich, Haruki Murakami, and T.M. McNally.

37

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MAY 2005

DELIRIOUS NOMAD COMPILED BY BYRON KERMAN

THE OFFICIAL MUSLIM COMEDY TOUR comes to the SHELDON CONCERT HALL May 21.

May–Aug.: Trailnet sponsors weekly Tuesday evening Riverfront Trail Bicycle Rides departing from Laclede’s Landing & Wednesday evening bicycle rides along trail around Creve Coeur Lake (314-416-9930, www.trailnet.org) May 1: Earth Day at Muny grounds in Forest Park with 5K run, bike ride, parade, crafts, booths, concessions, live music, tree-planting, & bike valet (www.stlouisearthday.org) May 2: River Styx Literary Feast at Duff’s with poet Diane Wakoski & author David Haynes (314533-4541) May 4: Ragged Blade presents Jade Esteban Estrada in Tortilla Heaven at the Tin Ceiling at the Hispanic Center at 3159 Cherokee (314-276-8693, www.GetJaded.com) May 4: Strange Brew: Cult Films at Schlafly Bottleworks features Hunter S. Thompson tribute Where the Buffalo Roam, sponsored by Webster Film Series (314-968-7487, www.webster.edu/filmseries.html) May 4–7: St. Louis Storytelling Festival at various venues (www.umsl.edu/~conted/storyfes) May 5: Whitney Biennial Curator Shamim Momin speaks at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (314535-4660, www.contemporarystl.org) May 6: First Friday Gallery & Design Walk Downtown on & around Washington Avenue (314-4065778, www.downtowngallerywalk.com) May 6–7: Ovations! presents freaky comedy juggling of The Passing Zone at Edison Theatre (314-534-1111) May 6–7: PlaybackSTL Midwest Music Summit showcase at Gearbox at Lil’ Nikki’s (www.playbackstl.com) May 6–8: Laumeier Art Fair with national artists, Creation Location for kids, live music, & concessions (314821-1209, www.laumeier.org) May 7: Free Comic Book Day! Head to your local comics store for gratis glory (www.freecomicbookday.com) May 7–8: Independent Art Market featuring ceramics, letterpress prints, textiles, & paintings at Fort Gondo (info@independentartmarket.org) May 10: Twilight Tuesdays free outdoor concerts at Mo. History Museum with American Idol contestant Aloha Mischeaux (314-746-4599, www.mohistory.org) May 11: Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay! screened in Gallery 210 at UMSL’s Telecommunity Center (314-516-7776, www.umsl.edu/~wia)

May 11: Author of hilarious novel Crossing California Adam Langer at Left Bank Books (314-367-6731, www.left-bank.com) May 13: Fragile Forest outdoor primate habitat opens at St. Louis Zoo (314-781-0900, www.stlzoo.org) May 13: New Music Circle Cinema presents The Blue Bird (1918), special-effects–laden silent with live musical accompaniment at St. Louis Art Museum (www.newmusiccircle.org) May 13–15: Art on the Square art fair, Belleville Public Square (618-257-0747, www.artonthesquare.com) May 13–15: National Conference for Media Reform meets in St. Louis (www.freepress.net/conference) May 14: Bark in the Park at Queeny Park (www.hsmo.org) May 14: St. Louis Microfest microbrewed beer bonanza to benefit Lift for Life Gym & Academy at Forest Park, Upper Muny Parking Lot (www.liftforlife.org) May 14–22: Landmarks Assoc. Historic Preservation Week with house tours & events (http://stlouis.missouri.org/501c/landmarks/PW05.pdf) May 14–June 5: Greater St. Louis Renaissance Faire in Wentzville’s Rotary Park (www.stlrenfaire.com) May 15: Free Candy Very Unofficial 1K Run (for people who run, but not well) & Picnic at Tower Grove Park (info@freecandy.net) May 19: Ciné 16 16mm academic films screened at Mad Art; this month, “Angry Young Men” (www.afana.org/cine16stlouis.htm) May 19–June 16: Mo. Coalition for the Environment recycled-art exhibit & auction at City Museum, third floor (314-727-0600, klove@moenviron.org) May 20: Third Friday Glassblowing & Stretching Demos (BYOB) at Third Degree Glass Studio (314367-4527, www.stlglass.com) May 21–June 25: Opera Theatre of St. Louis season begins with Verdi’s Rigoletto (314-961-0644, www.opera-stl.org) May 21–22: Chinese Culture Days with acrobats, dragon parade, martial artists, children’s play, & food sales at Mo. Botanical Garden (314-577-9400, www.mobot.org) May 29: Washington Avenue Beat Festival (www.wabf.net) More listings online at www.playbackstl.com/Events

April may be the cruelest month, but you can forget all that pain in May, thanks to the engram-killing effects of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws. Their annual Worldwide Cannabis Liberation Day (May 1) is celebrated here with the political protest March to the Arch, beginning in Kiener Plaza (314-995-1395, gstlnorml.org). Then, the Greater St. Louis NORML Thomas Jefferson Birthday Bash at Tower Grove Park’s Stone Shelter (hee-hee) reaches its hacky-sackin’ high on May 8 (314-995-1395, www.gstlnorml.org). Don’t look in the freezer, Mom. Stay home on May 14 and 15 for a dazzling collection of films airing on cable’s Independent Film Channel.

“Z Channel Weekend” features a number of movies introduced to American audiences through a now-defunct, L.A.-based network called the Z Channel. The story of the maverick behind the network is explored in the documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, and 39 39 the films include the Orson Welles rarity F is For 39 Fake, Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, and Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (www.ifctv.com).

Good Lord, this is for real. Allah Made Me Funny, the “Official Muslim Comedy Tour,” hits the Sheldon on May 21. Preacher Moss, Azeem, and Azhar Usman get the audiences laughing, and then everyone comes together for a big hug and burns their respective Bibles, Torahs, and Korans in a conflagration of agnostic unity—or not.

(314-534-1111, www.allahmademefunny.com) The St. Louis Zoo, minus several thousand baby carriages laden with their unpredictable passengers, is a pretty chill place. Experience the quiet side of the Zoo at North Star Summer Zoo Evenings, May 27–Sept. 5, when the Forest Park attraction stays open until 7 p.m. daily, and features Friday night concerts & Saturday night animal-enrichment programs (314-781-0900, www.stlzoo.org). Sure, there’ll be a few kids there in the evenings, too, but compared with Saturday afternoon, it’s practically a Great Books club.

Burn the fat and inhale the carbs, big-time, at the annual Great Pizza Ride bicycle ride near Millstadt, Ill., on May 30. The enviro-grokkers of Trailnet (www.trailnet.org) sponsor the 23- to 43-mile ride through mostly-flat country, ending with a feast at an all-you-can-eat pizza palace—then you can heave the bike back onto its rack, head home, and power-nap like a grizzly.

PLAYBACK STL

LOW KEY COMICS LAUNCH PARTY w/THE MAXTONE 4, THE FUGLEES, THE MERCY KISS, & GENTLEMAN CALLERS at THE WAY OUT CLUB May 6, 9 p.m. | 21+ TICKETS: $6 | CALL: 618-664-7638 There are some bands that, the instant you hear them, you can tell they are destined to be on the radio. On the perfect summer day, their songs just ache to be played with the windows down, the volume up, and the pedal planted firmly on the floor.

The Mercy Kiss is that kind of band.

The Los Angeles-by-way-of-Milwaukee trio’s debut album, 2003’s self-recorded and self-released boys : girls touch : taste, showed a penchant for the orchestrated emo-pop of All-American Rejects or fellow Wisconsinites Hey Mercedes, but with a rich palette that draws elements from early ’80s new wave and Def Leppard–style anthemic rock. Songwriters Aryn Moore and Bay Dariz have an expert’s grasp on what it takes to make a killer pop song.

All the more appropriate, then, that 40 on their first-ever stop in the Gateway City, the Mercy Kiss will be joined by a full bill of bands creating some of the catchiest music to ever come out of the Midwest. Opening the festivities, St. Louis’s own Gentleman Callers swagger in with their trademark mix of garage rock and down-and-dirty rhythm ’n’ blues. After the Mercy Kiss’ set, Indianapolis’s The Fuglees will bring their tongue-in-cheek take on power punk-pop, sounding like the unholy (and slightly mental) lovechild of Cheap Trick and They Might Be Giants.

Then the whole package is wrapped up by headliners and local power-pop favorites The Maxtone 4.

What could bring together such a massive rock ’n’ roll event? Would you believe comic books? Yes, that’s right: This concert is brought to you not only by your friends at PlaybackSTL, but also by Low Key Comics, a brand new alternative comic book company making its debut at the show. A collective of writers and artists from around the United States and Canada, Low Key offers an assortment of genres, from mystery to western to sci-fi, and even a couple twisted takes on the superhero. And as if all the rock you’ll be getting isn’t enough, Low Key is offering a 36-page anthology free with admission. [Disclaimer: This event involves many PlaybackSTL staffers, an inevitable situation when mixing the comic books with the rock ’n’ roll. That combo’s like nerd gold!] | Jason Green

BAHA ROCK CLUB

BROADWAY OYSTER BAR

305 N. Main St. | St. Charles, Mo. 63301 636-949-0466 | www.baharockclub.com Mon.: Karaoke Wed. & Thur.: Big Daddy Rob

736 S. Broadway | St. Louis, Mo. 63102 314/621-8811 | www.broadwayoysterbar.com Mon.: Soulard Blues band Tue.: Kyle Everett 5p, Big Bamou 8p Wed.: Brian Curran 5-7pm Sat.: Brian Curran 6-9p 5/1: The Bottoms Up Blues Gang 8p 5/4: Logan, Graham, Schaffer & Murdick 8p 5/5: Johnny Fox 5p, Call Club 9p 5/6: Johnny Goodwin 5p, The Meroys 9p 5/7: Bluesfield 4p, Dangerous Leftovers 10p 5/8: Rich McDonough 4p, Logan & Griffin 8p 5/11: Roland Allen Band 9p 5/12: Alvin Jett & The Phat Noiz Band 3p, Call Club 8p 5/13: Bootigrabbers Delight 5p, Hudson & Hoodoo Cats 9p 5/14: 12 oz Prophets CD Release 1-5p, Diesel Island 10p 5/15: Mark Moore & The Smokers 8p 5/18: Call Club 8p 5/19: Bootigrabbers Delight 5p, Mem Shannon & The Membership 9p 5/20: Tom Wood 5p, Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentleman w/Gumbohead 8p 5/21: Jakes Leg 10p 5/22: Tab Benoit 8p 5/25: Alvin Jett & The Phat Noiz Band 9p 5/26: Johnny Goodwin 5p, Rockin’ Jake Band 9p 5/27: Johnny Fox 5p, John Lisi and Delta Funk 9p 5/28: The Boat Drunks 5/29: Baker-McClaren Band 4p, Tiny Cows 9p

700 S. Broadway | St. Louis, Mo. 63102 314-436-5222 | www.bbsjazzbluessoups.com 5/1: Kim Massie Band 7p, Brian Curran 11:30p 5/2: Sessions Jazz Big Band 8p, Bootigrabbers Delight 11:30p 5/3: Pennsylvania Slim Blues Band 9:30p 5/4: Beau Shelby & Flyy R&B Band 9:30p 5/5: Leroy Pierson 7p, Rich McDonough Blues Band 10p 5/6: Leroy Pierson 7p, Studebaker John Blues Band 10p 5/7: Tom Hall 7p, Bennie Smith & Urban Blues Express 10p 5/8: Kim Massie Band 7p, Brian Curran 11:30p 5/9: Pipin’ Hot Biscuits of Blues 8p, The Bottoms Up Blues Gang 11:30p 5/10: Eric Sardinas Blues Band 9:30p 5/11: Alvin Jett & Phat Noiz Blues Band 9:30p 5/12: Leroy Pierson 7p, Kenny Neal Blues Band 10p 5/13: Leroy Pierson 7p, Billy Peek Blues Band 10p 5/14: Margaret Bianchetta & Eric McSpadden 7p, Arthur Williams Blues Masters 10p 5/15: Kim Massie Band 7p, Brian Curran 11:30p 5/16: Sessions Jazz Big Band 8p, The Bottoms Up Blues Gang 11:30p 5/17: Alvin Jett & Phat Noiz Blues Band 9:30p 5/18: Beau Shelby & Flyy R&B Band 9:30p 5/19: Leroy Pierson 7p, Rich McDonough Blues Band 10p 5/20: Leroy Pierson 7p, Soulard Blues Band 10p 5/21: Jazz & Blues Reunion Band 6p, The Bel Airs 10p 5/22: Kim Massie Band 7p, Brian Curran 11:30p 5/23: Pipin’ Hot Biscuits of Blues 8p, Bootigrabbers Delight 11:30p 5/24: Alvin Jett & Phat Noiz Blues Band 9:30p 5/25: Cryin’ Shame Blues Band 9:30p 5/26: Leroy Pierson 7p, The Ground Floor Blues Band 10p 5/27: Leroy Pierson 7p, Pennsylvania Slim Blues Band 10p 5/28: Dave MacKenzie 7p, Bennie Smith & Urban Blues Express 10p 5/29: Dave MacKenzie 7p, Brian Curran 11:30p

BEALE ON BROADWAY 701 S. Broadway | St. Louis, Mo. 63102 314-621-7880 | www.bealeonbroadway.com Mon.: Shakey Ground Blues Band Tue.: Kim Massie & The Solid Senders Wed.: Rich McDonough Acoustic Blues Thur.: Kim Massie & The Solid Senders

THE BILLY GOAT

TILLY AND THE WALL w/OF MONTREAL & TEAM UP!! at THE CREEPY CRAWL May 2, 7:30 p.m. | all ages TICKETS: $8/10 | CALL: 314-851-0919 w/OF MONTREAL at Columbia’s MOJO’S May 22, 7 p.m. | all ages TICKETS: $6 | CALL: 573-875-0588 Coming home with a drumstick will be 50 percent harder because of this Omaha fivesome’s stubborn defiance to the world’s accepted ways of gainfully using percussion instruments to enhance and bolster one’s sound.

However, because they write enough marvelous and pureblooded pop songs—the kinds that smack of youthful exuberance, but sting with a lived-in depression, all at once—and they’re good enough buddies with Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst (who signed them to his Team Love imprint) that borrowing ingredients for making a batch of chocolate chip cookies is no biggie, they get a pardon. Tilly and the Wall find a way, in all of its beautiful, ass-shaking splendor, to undo the hold of a necktie and deepen dimples, making time feel all right to be stuck in. And while math’s not my forte, percentages tell me that there’s a 100 percent greater chance—just in the band being there—that you’ll get stuck with a tap-shoe in the eye at the end of its set.

Consider yourself good and warned. | Sean Moeller

1449 S. Vandeventer | St. Louis, Mo. 63110 314-371-4628 | www.billygoatstl.com 5/6: Naked Mike 5/20: Jan Marra 5/27: The U-Turns

Goodbye & The Fold 5/6: Tech N9ne 5/7: Pierpoint 5/8: Nikka Costa 5/14: Mae, The Academy Is, Jamisonparker & Daysaway 5/17: All American Rejects, Armor for Sleep & Hello Goodbye

2438 McNair Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63104 314-773-8225 | www.bluescitydeli.com 5/7: Larry Griffin & Eric McSpadden 12:30-2:30p 5/14: Bootigrabbers Delight 12:30-2:30p 5/21: Brian Curran 12:30-2:30p 5/28: Bootigrabbers Delight 12:30-2:30p

BLUEBERRY HILL

BLUE NOTE 17 N. 9th St. | Columbia, Mo. 65201 573-874-1944 | www.thebluenote.com 5/1: John Scofield Trio 5/2: Glen Tilbrook & the Fluffers w/Paradise Vending 5/3: Billy Idol 5/4: SOS Cancer Benefit w/The Confident Years, Say

6504 Delmar Blvd. | University City, Mo. 63130 314-727-4444 | www.blueberryhill.com 5/1: Arvin Mitchell 5/5: Dan Dyer 5/7: The Wedding Present w/The Organ 5/12: Bob Schneider Band w/Billy Harvey 5/13: Athlete

BRANDT’S 6525 Delmar Blvd. | University City, Mo. 63130 314-727-3663 | www.brandtscafe.com Sat.: The John Norment Trio

CABIN INN the City Museum 16th & Delmar | St. Louis, Mo. 63103 314-231-2489 Mon.: Traditional Irish Jam w/Tom Hall Tue.: Acoustic Jam w. Dave Landreth & Friends Wed.: The Blackeyed Susies Thur.: The Sawmill Band 5/27: The Bottoms Up Blues Gang

CAFÉ LOUIS (formerly Studio Café) 1309 Washington Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63103 314-621-8667 5/6: Agency 5/13: Theokrats w/Shinma 5/14: Brian Elder Project 5/20: Big Jest 5/21: Tony Z. Starbuck w/The State Machine 5/27: Thos 5/28: Sanction w/The Sinners CICERO’S 6691 Delmar Blvd. | University City, Mo. 63130 314-862-0009 | www.ciceros-stl.com Mon.: Madahoochi & Friends Tue.: The Schwag

MAY 2005

OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY w/BUNNYGRUNT at THE HI-POINTE May 4, 10 p.m. | all ages TICKETS: $6 | CALL: 314-781-4716 Wed.: Helping Phriendly Band Fri.: Jakes Leg Sun.: Open Mic 5/1: Afternoon Show: The Rub, Groupthink & Late 5/5: Modern Red, The Breakers & Wydown 5/7: Morgantown w/Shadyside Allstars 5/8: Afternoon Show: Jesus Does Vegas, Danger! & The Nitwits 5/12: Six By Silver w/Thos 5/14: Gunderson, SevenStar & The October 5/15: Poetry Open Mic 5/19: Greateful Gary and Friends w/Soma 5/21: The Original Honey Tribe w/Devon Allman 5/22: Afternoon Show: Instant Iguana 5/26: Remedy and Fusion Blue 5/28: The Maxtone 4 w/And Andy 5/29: Afternoon Show: CD Release Caleb Engstrom w/John Hardy & The Public Berry, Catjump & Brandon Baker

CREEPY CRAWL 412 N. Tucker | St. Louis, Mo. 63101 314-851-0919 | www.creepycrawl.com Mon.: Fetish Night 5/1: They Skyline, Runnerup, Downstate, Daniel, From Here On, Harvey & Semi-OK 5/2: Of Montreal, Tilly & the Wall, Team Up!!!

5/3: Morning Vision, Adaptation Soul, Guilty by Association, Lust of Youth & Deadly Dozen 5/6: Adeline, Revolution, Seethearts, In Place of Briar, Evil Illegal & PM Today 5/7: Aurynic, When Mourning, Comes, Inimical Drive & Wound 5/9: He Is Legend, The Receiving End of Sirens, Terminal, New Republic & Westcott 5/10: Appleseed Cast, Chin Up Chin Up, Think Thank Thunk & Last Flight Home 5/11: Planesmistakenforstars, Gasoline Fight, The Forecast, Red Cloud & Hot Atomics 5/12: The Brassknuckle Boys, Horrowshow, Malchicks, The Contradictions & Poindexter 5/13: Epithet, Scarred Within, Blood Red Skyline, What Thou Will, Blood Magic, Vengeance Is Mine, Cast the Stone & Ocularius 5/14: Low Twelve, Red Sun Rises, Baine, Divulsion, Revolution Theory, Aminion, Animated Dead, Scarlett Whore, Abomination, Southern Realm, How Your Life Ends 5/16: Throwrag, The Smut Peddlers w/Aces & Eights 5/17: Analog, The Shroud, Aubern Serene, The Romans Were Right & xtreasonx 5/18: Showbread, Number One Gun & Daniel 5/19: Into The Moat, Psyopus, Animosity, Summers End & Akathisia 5/20: The Effigies, 7 Shot Screamers CD Release, Ultra Man & The Unmutuals 5/21: Marks Invaders, Corbeta Corbata, The Arch, Pat Sajak Assassins,

When longtime Detroit scenester Matthew Smith created Outrageous Cherry in the early ’90s, he intended the band to be pure bubblegum—almost. “I envisioned the Archies,” he says, “if Leonard Cohen had written their songs to pay the rent.” While they did incorporate sunny harmonies and early Brian Wilson–worthy melodies into the mix, what they ended up with was more of a mashup between Motown groove and The Creation–sized swagger, with expansive, garage-edelic songs awash in groovy-cryptic imagery.

After ten years of increasingly experimental sounds, culminating in an ambitious pair of prog-pop concept albums—2001’s dark The Book of Spectral Projections and its slightly less sinister sister, 2003’s double-disc Supernatural Equinox—OC returns to a sound much closer to Smith’s original vision with their seventh full-length, a shimmering, heart-shaped candy box of a record called Our Love Will Change the World. The band sounds rejuvenated and sparkling new on these 11 tracks, a result that came quite naturally, according to half of OC’s all-girl rhythm section, drummer Carey Gustafson. “All four of us love the songs and really tried to deliver The Grankenhookers, This Is the News, Airport Elementary School, Waxworkd of a Dynasty 5/22: Open Hand, The Kinison, Idiot Pilot & Flow Clinic 5/26: Downset 5/27: Kasabian w/Mad Action 5/28: Punchline, Jupiter Sunrise, This Day & Age, June 5/29: Crowbar, Sleepmachine, Chaos Order & Icarus 5/30: The Fucking Champs, Zombi, Boy Jazz & Riddle of Steel

in the studio,” she explains. “We think they’re fun to dance to, and sing along.”

Smith’s a producer in his own right—his recording of The Go’s Whatcha Doin’ LP, an explosive garage rock masterpiece featuring some scorching guitar licks by pal Jack White, played no small part in kick-starting Detroit’s garage-rock scene—and his backto-basics musical mantra of “No cymbals, lots of guitars, and a bunch of reverb” remains a staple of OC’s vibrant recordings and live shows. Ask, why no cymbals? and Smith says, matter-of-factly, “Don’t like cymbals.” Although Gustafson is quick to add, “I do, but I don’t mind so much. I play tambourine with my feet.” Oh yeah, there’s no kick drums in OC world, either.

Yes, Mr. (wait, isn’t he a Sir yet?) Elvis Costello is performing this very night a few minutes away at The Pageant, but keep in mind that while his show wraps up around 11 p.m., the party at the Hi-Pointe will just be kicking into gear. And while this particular after-party might not change the world, it’s guaranteed to sun you up. | Brian McClelland

5/18: The Swell w/12 Oz. Prophets 5/19: Open Mic w/Brian Marek 5/20: The Silvermen w/Brian Jones 5/21: Shooting Blands w/Aces & Eights 5/24: Far Beyond Frail 5/26: Open Mic w/Tommy Halloran

DELMAR LOUNGE 6235 Delmar Blvd. | St. Louis, Mo. 63130 314-725-6565 | www.delmarrestaurant.com Tue.: Industry Night w/Jim Utz Wed. & Thur.: DJ Leon Lamont Fri.: Chris Hansen’s World Jazz Quartet & DJ Alexis Tucci Sat.: C Beyond & Chilly C Sun.: Chart Toppers with Brian of The Selectors

FAMOUS BAR 5213 Chippewa | St. Louis, Mo. 63109 314-832-2211 5/6: Michael Schearer 5/7: Rob Garland & The Blue Monks 5/13: Dangerous Kitchen 5/20: Rich McDonough Blues Band 5/21: Dogtown Allstars 5/27: Mark Moore & The Smokers 5/28: John Lisi & Delta Funk

FOCAL POINT 2720 Sutton | Maplewood, Mo. 63143 314-781-4200 | www.thefocalpoint.org 5/6: Flook 5/13: Dirk Powell 5/14: The Colin Sphincter Band 5/21: John Renbourn & Jacqui McShee

FOX THEATRE 527 N. Grand Blvd. | St. Louis, Mo. 63107 636-534-1111 | www.fabulousfox.com 5/4: Andre Rieu 5/5: Widespread Panic 5/10-22: The Producers

FREDERICK’S MUSIC LOUNGE 4454 Chippewa | St. Louis, Mo. 63116 314-351-5711 | www.fredericksmusiclounge.com 5/3: The Full Size Jimmy w/Mad Science Fair 5/4: Dave Insley & The careless Smokers w/Jesse Irwin 5/5: Open Mic w/Tommy Halloran 5/6: Les Fossoyeurs & Joey Skidmore 5/7: Two Cow Garage w/The Frank Morey Band 5/11: Trailer Park Travoltas 5/12: Open Mic w/Bob Reuter 5/13: Rev. Glasseye & His Wooden Legs w/Something Being Broken 5/14: The Tripdaddys 5/17: Tight Pants Syndrome

THE WEDDING PRESENT at BLUEBERRY HILL’S DUCK ROOM May 7, 9 p.m. | 21+ TICKETS: $15 | CALL: 314-727-4444 The Wedding Present has reemerged. You see, they never actually broke up; it was more like a hiatus. An eight-year hiatus in which songwriter David Gedge did everything but relax as he fronted Cinerama, a band whose sound progressed to resemble that of The Wedding Present after three successful albums.

Now stronger than ever and producing just as influential indie pop songs, Gedge and the rest of Cinerama have emerged with The Wedding Presents’ sixth release, Take Fountain.

As a member of one of the most established indie bands in Britain during the late ’80s and early ’90s, Gedge has continued to make the rules up as he goes, formulating two musical projects and ten albums with the ease of genius.

Take Fountain is a solid album reflecting many of Gedge’s standard pop-influenced songs, romantic and sexual-laden lyrics, whispery verses, and convincing choruses. All of which, in my book, translates to a damn good live show. | Carey Kirk

5/27: Diesel Island 5/28: Bowling for Bob Benefit w/Bejeezus, Highway Matrons, Palookaville, The Vultures, Love Experts, Lauren Gray’s 5 Piece Bucket, Dedbugs & Wormwood Scrubs

GEARBOX at LIL NIKKI’S 1551 S. 7th St. | St. Louis, Mo. 63104 314-621-2181 5/5: The Saw Is Family, Scene of Irony, Horror Show Malchicks 5/6-7: PlaybackSTL Midwest Music Summit Showcase 5/12: Evil Beaver, Gordo 5/13: Spunji, Unmutuals 5/14: 7-Shot Screamers, Dirty 30s 5/17: Say It Ain’t So, Lesly Rich 5/18: Unsane, Black Fire Revelation, Conformists, Adversary Workers 5/19: The Bug House, Kopper 5/20: Boss Martians, Blacked Out 5/21: Trip Daddys, Aces & Eights, Fifth Row Felons 5/25: Gothic Blues Quartet, Lepers, Jones Street 5/26: Operation Rock, Left Arm, Locco 88 5/27: Rusted Shine, Innerelement, Hybrid 5/28: Cripplers, Torg, The Nerds

HAMMERSTONE’S 2028 S. 9th St. | St. Louis, Mo. 63104 314-773-5565 Mon.: Tim Albert Tue.: Lucky Dan & Naked Mike Wed.: Park Avenue Thur.: Rondo’s Blues Deluxe Sun.: Voodoo Blues w/Bennie Smith 4p, Erik Brooks 8:30p 5/6: Uncle Albert 9p 5/7: Rondo’s Blues Deluxe 3p, Fairchild 9p 5/13: Rondo’s Blues Deluxe 9p 5/14: One Kindred Soul 3p, Fairchild 9p 5/20: Uncle Albert 9p 5/21: Rondo’s Blues Deluxe 3p, Fairchild 9p 5/27: Uncle Albert 9p 5/28: One Kindred Soul 3p, Fairchild 9p

HI-POINTE 1001 McCausland Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63117 314-781-4716 | www.hi-pointe.com 5/3: Neil Hamburger 5/4: Outrageous Cherry 5/7: Bring Back the Guns 5/19: The Ponys 5/22: Balloons

JACKSONS 6655 Manchester | St. Louis, Mo. 63139 314-645-4904 | www.jacksons-dogtown.com Tue.: Joe Garnier Thur.: Rhythm Rockers Sun.: JackSons’ Five 5/6: Joe Meroltti

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PHOTO: MARTHA WILLIAMS

CHIN UP CHIN UP w/APPLESEED CAST at CREEPY CRAWL May 10, 7:30 p.m. | all ages TICKETS: $7/9 | CALL: 314-851-0919

42

5/12: Phantom Limb & Bison 5/13: Icollide, Islaro, Dancing Feet March to War & Target Market 5/15: Larry Marotta 5/16: Wyes of Verotika, This Incredible Machine & Dancing Feet March to War 5/19: Bear Claw & The Conformists 5/21: Franklin Delano, Point Line Plane & Yowie 5/24: ARI ARI, Form of Rocket & Dancing Feet March to War 5/25: MELK the G6 49, Waxwork of a Dynasty 5/27: Big Nurse, Vehemence 6.2 & Legless Armless 5/28: Bullet Train to Vegas & Target Market 5/31: Embrace Today, Kids Like Us, Casey Jones, In the Face of War & Suplexxx

LLYWELYN’S PUB 4747 McPherson | St. Louis, Mo. 63108 314-361-3003 | www.llywelynspub.com Thur.: Irish Music Fri.: Jimmy Griffin & Amy Miller Sat.: Tiny Cows

In 2000, a Chicago foursome named Chin Up Chin Up (as in, “Keep your chin up there, MAGEE’S Clayton Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63110 Bucky”) released a self-titled EP. But their full- 4500 314-535-8061 length, last fall’s We Should Have Never Lived Mon.: Open Mic w/Heather Barth Like We Were Skyscrapers (Flameshovel) was Wed.: Johnny Fox almost not to be. The band was midway through Thur.: Jake’s Leg Confluence Benefit w/Bootigrabbers Delight, Rob production when their bassist was struck by a 5/17: Garland & The Blues Monks and hit-and-run driver and killed. For some months, Alvin Jett & The Phat Noiz Band the remaining members grieved and considered giving up. Thankfully, they opted to continue, MANGIA ITALIANO 3145 S. Grand Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63118 as Skyscrapers is one of the most charmingly 314-664-8585 | www.dineatmangia.com complex indie albums around today.

Sun.: Reggae Dub Spin w/Gabe & Dino Listening to Skyscrapers, you’ll hear some Mon.: Open Mic Hosted by Kieran Malloy Big Audio Dynamite–type compositions, some Wed.: Eightyfourglyde DJ Spin Fri.: Dave Stone Trio Minus the Bear lyricism and stutter-step grooves, 5/5: The Cops and some artful, introspective lyrics and under- 5/7: Palookaville stated Peter Garrett–ish vocals. Touring not so 5/12: Long John Thomas & the Duffs much in support of the album as to advance the 5/14: The Round-Ups 5/19: Todd Mosby Trio reissue of their earlier EP, C.U.C.U. are proof 5/21: The Good Griefs that perseverence and optimism always win in 5/26: Jimmy Griffin 5/28: The Bottoms Up Blues Gang the end. | Laura Hamlett THE MARTINI BAR 5/13: Power Play 5/14: Mid-Rock Crisis 5/20: Naked Grove 5/27: Power Play 5/28: Relation

JAZZ AT THE BISTRO 3536 Washington Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63103 314-531-1012 | www.jazzatthebistro.com 5/6-7: Erin Bode 5/11-14: Freddy Cole 5/25-28: Yellowjackets

LEMP NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS CENTER 3301 Lemp Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63118 314-771-1096 | www.lemp-arts.org 5/1: Ariel Pink, Ghost Ice, Miami Dragon, Worm Hands & Wiggpaw 5/10: Sword Heaven, Russian Tsarcasm, Skarekrauradio & Ghost Ice

GET YOUR CLUB LISTED IN WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? FREE! We want to be the number one source of events for our readers. To do this we need your listings.

You send it in and it will be here. Just send us your monthly schedule by the 15th of the month via one of the following methods: e-mail: calendar@playbackstl.com fax: 877-204-2067

4004 Peach Ct. | Columbia, Mo. 65203 573-256-8550 | www.themartinibar.biz 5/5: Bernard Allison 5/6: Urban Jazz Naturals 5/7: Kim Massie 5/11: Kenny Neal 5/12: Filthy Homewreckers 5/13: Mark Hummel 5/14: Eric Sardinas 5/19: Renee Austin 5/20: Kim Massie 5/21: Johnny G. & The All Stars 5/27: Shawn Kellerman 5/28: Jimbo Mathus Knockdown South

MISSISSIPPI NIGHTS 914 N. First St. | St. Louis, Mo. 63102 314-421-3853 | www.mississippinights.com 5/6: Old 97’s 5/7: Javier Mendoza Band w/The Hatch & Burn Rome Burn 5/9: The Blood Brothers w/Dance Disaster Movements & Big Business 5/14: The Floating City CD Release w/Target Market, The Potomac Accord & Wake Up Report 5/17: Lifehouse 5/21: Greenwheel w/Leo & Lost Parade 5/24: Built to Spill w/Mike Johnson 5/27: Westcott & Spitalfield w/Bi-Level, Crimson Addict & Flee the Seen 5/28: The Rushmore Acadame CD Release w/Novella, The Dog & Everything, Lowercase & Think Thank Thunk

MOJO’S

OFF BROADWAY

1013 Park Ave. | Columbia, Mo. 65201 573-875-0588 | www.mojoscolumbia.com 5/3: Earlimart w/Okkervil River 5/4: Neil Hamburger, The Show Is the Rainbow 5/6: Jessie Alexander 6p, The Elders 8:30p 5/12: The Thieves & Midwest Murder Society 5/13: Bait Shop Boys 6p, Big Muddy 8:30p 5/14: Tree w/Dubtronics, Universal Drum Appeal, Sean Nicholus & B-Drastic w/DJ Ghouldy 5/19: Shady Deal & Moonshine Still 5/20: Chris Edwards 6p, Primitive Soul 8:30p 5/22: Of Montreal, Tilly & the Wall 5/23: Deke Dickerson 5/24: Melk the G6-49 5/25: Ardent Eyes, Big Star Kadillac, Rev. Glasseye, Idiots w/Ben 5/26: Robbie Fulks 5/27: Bottoms of the Boot Bluesgrass Band 5/29: Sun. Night Blues Jam

3509 Lemp Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63118 314-773-3363 | www.offbroadwaystl.com 5/6: Rex Hobert &the Misery Boys w/Jackhead, The Southern Trespass 5/7: Bugs Henderson &the Shuffle Kings w/The Catfish Willie Band 5/11: The Red Elvises 5/12: Wonderful Smith w/Shaking Tree 5/13: The Avett Brothers, Jon Hardy & the Public w/Dexter Fishpaw 5/14: Steve Bequette 5/18: Gretel, Celia’s Big Rock Band & Maid Rite 5/19: Jordan Chassan, Joe Pagetta, Bob Mckee, Pure Volume & The Golden Arm 5/20: Zak Perry Band 5/21: Cumberland Gap w/The Wayward Mountaineers 5/26: B. Koolman &The Lot Lizards 5/28: The Transmitters, The Highway Matrons & Bunnygrunt

MOMOS

THE PAGEANT

630 North & South | University City, Mo. 63130 314-863-3511 Mon.: DJ Maz Tue.: DJ Matt Wed.: DJ Rafi Thur.: DJ Darren Snow Fri.: DJ Hamisi Sat.: DJ J.B. Sun.: DJ Mark & Sarah

6161 Delmar Blvd. | St. Louis, Mo. 63112 314-726-6161 | www.thepageant.com 5/1: Hairball 9 w/RuPaul 5/2: Billy Idol 5/4: Elvis Costello & The Imposters 5/5: Playback & KDHX Present The Dresden Dolls 5/7: Lenny Kravitz w/Nikka Costa 5/14: Nashville Suicide Mission, Conquest, Unundiun & Zero Principle 5/18: Jesse McCartney w/Brie Larson 5/20: Dave Attell 5/21: Mama’s Pride 5/23: The Killers w/Louis XIV 5/30: The Routs w/Floetry

THE MUSIC CAFÉ 120 S. 9th St. | Columbia, Mo. 65201 573-815-9995 | www.themusiccafecolumbia.com Mon.: Open mic

POP’S 1403 Mississippi | Sauget, Il. 62201 618-274-6720 | www.popsrocks.com 5/1: 105.7 The Point Local Show Live Remote 5/2: Tiger Army 5/3: Hemlock 5/6: Drizzit CD release 5/13: Doug Stanhope 5/19: Agnostic Front 5/25: Flogging Molly

POP’S BLUE MOON

THOS w/SIX BY SILVER at CICERO’S May 12, 9 p.m. | 18+ TICKETS: $6 | CALL: 314-862-0009 Local power trio Thos (rhymes with “post,” minus the “t”) is a jam band. But not really.

They certainly have the chops, and can solo with the best of ’em, but Thos prefers clever, taut structure and unsubtly absurd lyrics over bad poetry and watch-me-wank pyrotechnics.

And these guys know how to put on a show.

When always-sleeveless drummer Kevin Bowers trades his kit for a flabbergasting front-andcenter xylophone freak-out, you’ll wonder why more rock bands don’t have xylophones.

Because, daaaamn, do they rock! And when the band eventually lines up behind the drum kit to conglomerate for a few moments into a pounding, six-armed drum corps, you can’t help but laugh at the silliness, marvel at the talent, and admire the showmanship. | Brian McClelland

5249 Pattison | St. Louis, Mo. 63110 314-776-4200 | www.popsbluemoon.com Tue.: Worlds Most Dangerous Open Jam 5/2: Irene Allen Acoustic 5/4: Tim Moody Solo 5/5: Pat McLellan Band 5/9: Fab Foehners 5/11: Brian Curran 5/12: Wayne Kimler 5/13: Pik’n Lik’n 5/14: Naked Groove 5/16: Johnny Fox 5/18: Bootigrabbers Delight 5/19: Stephen White Jazz 5/20: Alsop Grossi & Halley 5/21: Percival Potts 5/25: Bob Case 5/26: Ryan Robertson Trio 5/27: Arkamo Rangers 5/28: Fusion Blue 5/30: Open Mic w/Shane Maue

RADIO CHEROKEE 3227 Cherokee St. | St. Louis, Mo. 63118 www.radiocherokee.net 5/6: The Mathematicians, Femme Fatality & Team Up 5/7: Franklin Felix, Green Meets White 5/12: Two Dead One Good, Josh Hydeman & Raglani

RIDDLE’S PENULTIMATE 6307 Delmar | U. City, Mo. 63130 314-725-6985 | www.riddlescafe.com

WANT TO BE SEEN BY THOUSANDS OF MUSIC AND ART LOVERS EVERY MONTH? JOIN PLAYBACKSTL AS AN ADVERTISER OR EVEN SPONSOR A WHOLE SECTION. CALL JIM AT 314-630-6404 OR E-MAIL AT JIM@PLAYBACKSTL.COM.

MAY 2005

RUE 13 1311 Washington Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63103 314-588-7070 Mon.: DJ Rafi Tue.: DJ Dirty Dan Wed.: DJ Kenny Kingston 5/14: DJ Mike Steele

RUMPLES PUB

UNSANE at THE GEARBOX @ LIL’ NIKKI’S May 18, 8 p.m. | 21+ TICKETS: $6 | CALL: 314-621-2181

221 N. Main | St. Charles, Mo. 63301 636-949-7678 Wed.: Open Mic Thur.: Gary Brokaw Fri.: Mid Life Crisis Sun.: Tom Nickeson 5/7: Randy Clemons 5/14: Mark Mobeck 5/21: Randy Clemons 5/28: Common Ground

January 27, 1998. That was the last time a SALLY T’S 6 Main St. | St. Peters, Mo. 63376 new Unsane studio LP hit record shelves. Since 636-397-5383 | www.sallyts.com then, the band has broken up, formed separate 5/3: Open mic Group Think, Simmons & Drew Danberry outfits in Cutthroats 9 and Players Club, done a 5/4: 5/5: 56 Hope Road & The Buskers Trio reunion tour or two, and released an anthology 5/6: Fifth of Phoenix, Lungdust, Left of Youth CD compiling work their work from 1991–1998. 5/7: Nick Parino and the blue Moon Risings, Preacher Clark & Soul Service Fortunately for fans, by the time the newly 5/10: Parted By Illusion, Mosaic, Alpha-Lyman Forest reformed Unsane (featuring guitarist Chris 5/11: Agathy and the Black Hole Incident Spencer, bassist Dave Curran, and drummer 5/12: Deviatore, Breed Love 5/13: The Stash Writers, Rusted Faith, Fella Vinnie Signorelli) arrives in St. Louis, that seven- 5/14: Low Cycle Hum year gap will have been bridged with a new 5/18: Poindexter & the Unmutuals, Horror Show Mall Chicks 5/19: Royal Gypsy Theater, Johnny O & the Jerks, Icarus studio album, the hotly anticipated Blood Run. 5/20: Drivin’ Rain, Big Star Kadillac, Field of Grey Unsane might as well be the reason ear- 5/21: The Gothic Blues Quartet, Polarized Minds, plugs were invented in the first place. Making Wreckage of the Modern City 5/24: Soma melodic noise rock that I’ve seen blow out a 5/25: Death Seyth, Night and Deaths Embrace, Park City PA on more than one occasion, Unsane are 5/26: Novalunacy & Group Think truly loud, and truly original. Even through the 5/27: Salt Vision, Spent, Palmers Room 5/31: Pacific Dream heady days of bands like Amphetamine Reptile and Trance Syndicate, Unsane stood above their counterparts in pure intensity. Most of that intensity was provided by the distinctive bark and glare of Spencer (be sure to check out his Olive | Chesterfield, Mo. 63017 Yankee tattoo) and the stone-faced drumming 13375 314-878-3886 of Signorelli. While they never received the Thur.: The Perry Woods Experience press and attention of Helmet, Unsane were Sat.: Jeff Gwantley and are head and shoulders above their fellow 5/20: The Bottoms Up Blues Gang New York rockers. For noise rock lovers, Unsane SCHLAFLY BOTTLEWORKS is the best in the business. | David Lichius 7260 Southwest Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63143 Tue.: Brian Curran and Friends Wed.: Ptah Williams Sun.: The John Norment Quartet 5/5: Uncle Albert 5/6: Jazz Renaissance 5/7: The Swirl Band 5/12: The Bottoms Up Blues Gang 5/13: Salt of the Earth w/Lynn Reif 5/14: The Uncle Albert Band 5/19: Uncle Albert 5/20: The Flying Mules 5/21: The Swirl Band 5/26: The Bottoms Up Blues Gang 5/27: Bennie Smith & The Urban Blues Express 5/28: The Piping Hot Buttery Biscuits of Blues

ROBERTS ORPHEUM THEATRE 416 N. 9th St. | St. Louis, Mo. 63101 314-231-7000 | www.contemporarygroup.com 5/1: Tesla 5/7: Todd Rundgren & Joe Jackson

314-241-BEER | www.schlafly.com 5/5: John Higgins & Charlie Pfeffer 5/7: Barb Weathers & Friends 5/12: Monica Casey & Dave Black 5/13: Lucky Dan & Naked Mike 5/14: Cumberland Gap 5/19: Brian Curran 5/20: Brian Curran/Folk ’n’ Bluegrass 5/21: Monica Casey & Dick Sharff 5/26: Stuart Johnson 5/27: Lucky Dan & Naked Mike 5/28: Salt of the Earth

SCHLAFLY TAP ROOM 2100 Locust. | St. Louis, Mo. 63103 314-241-BEER | www.schlafly.com 5/1: Tom Byrne 5/6: The Road Apples 5/7: Swing Set 5/15: Peters Clemens 5/21: Crawfish Festival w/Gumbohead, T-Wayne & The Swamptones 5/22: John Farrar

5/25: St. Louis Arch Rivals Comedy Improv 5/29: Dizzy Atmosphere

THE SHANTI 825 Allen Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63104 314-241-4772 Tue.: Open mic w/Heather Barth 5/4: Bootigrabbers Delight 8p 5/5: Tom Hall 8p 5/6: Johnny Fox 8p 5/7: Bluegrass 4p, Vitamen A 9p 5/11: John Cornell 8p 5/12: Paul Jarvis 8p 5/13: The Bottoms Up Blues Gang 9p 5/14: Alsop Grossi Haley 4p, Kevin Lucas Orchestra 9p 5/18: T-Bone Blues 8p 5/19: Barefoot Jones 8p 5/20: Mark Gorden 9p 5/21: Pik’n Lik’n 4p, Roads End 9p 5/25: Mary & Margaret 8p 5/26: Racket Box 8p 5/27: Lipton Crawfish Neuhaus 9p 5/28: Alsop Grossi Haley 4p, Devon Allman 9p

VENICE CAFÉ 1906 Pestalozzi | St. Louis, Mo. 63118 314-772-5994 Mon.: Open Mic Tue.: Late Happy Hour & Movies

THE WAY OUT CLUB 2525 S. Jefferson Ave. | St. Louis, Mo. 63118 314-664-7638 | www.wayoutclub.com 5/1: Emergenza 5/2: Bang Bang 5/4: Debris Inc & The Scared 5/6: Low Key Comics Launch Party w/The Maxtone 4, The Fuglees, The Mercy Kiss & Gentleman Callers 5/7: Prom Night!, The Phonocaptors & The Electric 5/11: Baby Rosebud 5/12: Webster Grad Night w/Casey Reid, Mike Tomko, Drop Dynasty & Tin Whiskey 5/13: That’s My Daughter, Gentleman Callers & Forgotten Four 5/14: 7 Shot Screamers 5/27: The Higharks w/Hoyle Brothers 5/28: Earl, Miles of Wire & Homewreckers

SHELDON CONCERT HALL 3648 Washington Blvd. | St. Louis, Mo. 63108 314-533-9900 | www.sheldonconcerthall.org 5/3: Jean Kittrell’s Jazz Incredibles 5/4: From the Steppes of Russia 5/6: George Winston 5/13: An Evening of Jazz 5/21: Allah Made Me Funny 5/25: Bela Fleck Acoustic Trio 5/29: Denise Thimes & Friends

SPOOTY’S 1028 Geyer | St. Louis, Mo. 63104 314-588-1807 Tue.: Johnny Fox Thur.: Taylor Trio

SQWIRE’S 1415 S. 18th St. | St. Louis, Mo. 63104 314-865-3522 5/1: Bill Murphy 11a, Chris Griffith 7p 5/6: Tom Hall 5p, Todd Mosby Duo 8p 5/7: Ron Sikes Duo 8p 5/8: Monica Casey & Mo Edeston 11a, Chris Griffith 7p 5/13: Pierce Crask 5p, Mo. & Dawn 8p 5/14: Blue Monks Unplugged 8p 5/15: Monica Casey 11a, Chris Griffith 7p 5/20: Tom Hall 5p, Lucky Dan & Naked Mike 8p 5/21: Todd Mosby duo 8p 5/22: Matt Murdick 11a, Chris Griffith 7p 5/27: Pierce Crask 5p, Mo. & Dawn 8p 5/28: Blue Monks Unplugged 8p 5/29: Bill Murphy 11a, Chris Griffith 7p

THREE-1-THREE 313 E. Main St. | Belleville, Il. 62220 618-239-6885 | www.three-1-three.com Mon.: Park Avenue Trio Tue.: DJ Rob Gray Thur.: DJ Kelly Dell, Just J, Andreas Ardesco

TOUHILL PERFORMING ARTS CTR. University of Mo. – STL | St. Louis, Mo. 63121 314-516-4949 | www.touhill.org 5/2: UMSL Dance Showing 5/3: Natural Bridge Theatre & Dance 5/4: UMSL Band Conductor’s Concert 5/5-7: St. Louis Storytelling Festival 5/11: Lorie Line 5/12: Celebrate Children 5/13: MacHomer 5/13-14: MADCO presents Clear Places 5/19-21: Gateway to Dance 5/20: Strings Out of This World 5/21: UMSL Student Recitals

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THE FUCKING CHAMPS w/ZOMBI, BOYJAZZ, & RIDDLE OF STEEL at THE CREEPY CRAWL May 30, 7:30 p.m. | all ages TICKETS: $8/12 | CALL: 314-851-0919 Profanity is lazy. Really it is. But the Fword truly is the most versatile word, useable as a noun, verb, adverb, or, most effectively, an adjective. There are times when simply no other word can do the job, and describing a certain San Francisco prog-rock trio is one of those times. Who are these guys? They’re The Fucking Champs.

Formed in 1995 by former Nation of Ulysses guitarist Tim Green, The Champs create symphonies with two guitars and a drum kit, bringing to mind the highest of the highs from ’80s metal gods like Megadeth and Iron Maiden. The amount of Champs songs with vocals, however, can be counted on one hand, which has kept the band off the radar of your average metalhead.

Shockingly, the group has yet to hit it off in the Vai/Satriani/Malmsteen–worship circuit either, who would no doubt bow down at the arpeggios and massive riffage on their last record, 2002’s V, and Fucking Am, their recent collaboration with post-rockers Trans Am. Their loss, however, is your gain. Those with a penchant for metal but a phobia of mosh pits are in for the show of their life. | Jason Green

PLAYBACK STL

PORTRAITS

BY THOMAS CRONE

CARMELITA NUNEZ: INDEPENDENT ART MARKET

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How did this originally come together?

I was just looking for a way to sell some artwork. And to kind of have a studio show.

This time the studios won’t be shown.

Is it strange to have people going through your house and studio?

No, not at all; it was great. It was kind of cool, actually.

How did Fort Gondo come into the picture?

We were looking for a smaller space. We came up against an obstacle and needed to get past that really quickly, and Gondo was there.

The group came together how?

It started because of Art Outside. Eric was next to Daniel and me; we met there. And I had already been working with Marie.

PHOTO: DANIEL E.C. NUNEZ-SHOWN

The idea of the Independent Art Market came from several local artists who wanted to highlight their South City studios just prior to the holiday season last year. This time out, they’re timing it to coincide with Mother’s Day and the subsequent need to buy something nice for Mom. Taking part in this second version of the event is the tag-team of the Kung Fu Chicken studio, photographer Daniel E.C. Nunez-Shown and clay artist Carmelita Nunez; letterpress artist Eric Woods of Firecracker Press; plus fiber artist J. Marie, who’ll be featuring wearable art and textiles, and her husband Matt McInerney (aka “Lull”), working with screen-printed tees.

According to the group’s Web site, “Almost everyone can afford high quality, unique art objects. Art doesn’t need to be expensive to be great. We offer art for a whole range of budgets. Part of the reason our prices are affordable is because we do everything ourselves. We aren’t paying a gallery or an agent a sales commission, and we aren’t paying to rent a booth at an art fair. Our local roots are also important to us. We’re happy to say we’re from St. Louis City. Broadening the cultural landscape of our fair city is important to us.”

Found at the wonderfully esoteric Southside storefront/gallery the Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, the second Independent Art Market will be held on Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8. The hours will be 12 to 10 p.m. the first day (with a reception that evening from 7 to 10 p.m.) and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

We caught up with Carmelita Nunez at AMP, a popular watering hole near the recent Venus Envy bacchanal. With the decibels rising, we reconnect by phone a couple days later, dissecting the idea of this spring’s I.A.M.

How do you feel, generally, about the support for independent artists in St. Louis?

I think it’s OK; I don’t think it’s bad. I don’t know how all independent artists feel, exactly. It’s a weird situation. There’s not a lot of push for local artists to be shown in local galleries. And with that being said, the artists themselves need to be pushing their own work also, to get that recognition. It goes both ways. That’s a hard question. A really hard question. I think, for us, that we’re still learning the retail side.

Did you enjoy Venus Envy? And do you think it will give a push to events like yours?

I always enjoy Venus Envy; I enjoy going. I know some people who don’t, because it’s all women and they feel it’s sexist in that way. I don’t understand that. I’ve always liked it. But how did it affect me, personally?

Well, do you feel it’ll give some momentum to an event like the Art Market?

I’m not looking for so much of a party.

Venus Envy is a giant party; it’s really difficult to view the artwork. You can try to see the work, but when you first step in, it’s just a mob. I always have a good time and it’s free drinks for $5, so that’s cool. But that is adding momentum for other events that happen afterwards, definitely. It’s so big and people seem to get excited about what’s next.

Where are you teaching these days?

I’m still at Craft Alliance and SCOSAG [South City Open Studio and Gallery for Children], working with clay and children.

Clay and children! I love it.

And adults. At Craft Alliance, adults. And clay and children at SCOSAG. How about your own work? Any new directions lately?

Yeah, I am experimenting with some new glazes and ways to finish my pieces. I’m personally moving myself out of the box I made, of only having functional work, food-safe work.

Everything I made, I thought of it as being used for everyday use, dinnerware or serving bowls.

And I like that, but I’m moving away from that and getting more experimental. I’m trying to find new ways of working with clay. | For more information on the Independent Art Market, contact eric@firecreackerpress.com, call 314-7767271, or visit www.independentartmarket.org.

IT DOESN’T STOP HERE. Every week we load up our online Events page— www.playbackstl.com/Events—with highlights and recommendations of all of that week’s happenings. This month, look for Events Page previews of Billy Idol, Flogging Molly, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Kasabian, and more. To sign up for the weekly Events Queen e-mail—and be eligible for ticket giveaways, including Dresden Dolls at The Pageant, and more—send your name to events@playbackstl.com.

Lunch Monday – Friday, 11:30–5 Dinner (nightly specials) Daily 5–10 Lunch Buffet ($5.95) Monday – Friday, 11:30–2:30

Open ’til 3 a.m. Nightly Reggae Every Sunday Night Dave Stone Jazz Trio Every Friday at 10:30 p.m.

COME FOR THE FOOD, but stay for the eclectic atmosphere featuring beautiful artwork, live music most nights, and the charm that only tradition can offer.

3145 South Grand Ave. 314-664-8585

www.dineatmangia.com

Serving the Finest Fresh Pasta in St. Louis for 20 Years

Gearbox Booked by Suburban Booking.

Contact Elvis @ 314-537-5456 or dedelvas@aol.com

MAY at THE GEARBOX in LIL’ NIKKI’S EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY CHEAP BEER NIGHT! 5/5: The Saw Is Family, Scene of Irony, Horror Show Malchicks • 5/6: PLAYBACKSTL MIDWEST MUSIC SUMMIT SHOWCASE featuring BRAIN REGIMENT, BAGHEERA, SEVENSTAR, LORD BALTIMORE, MISSILE SILO SUITE, CAMP CLIMAX FOR GIRLS • 5/7: PLAYBACKSTL MIDWEST MUSIC SUMMIT SHOWCASE featuring TIARA (Columbus, OH), WYDOWN, MARGO & THE NUCLEAR SO & SOs (Indianapolis, IN), JON HARDY & THE PUBLIC, MIRANDA SOUND (Columbus, OH), DOMANI

• 5/12: EVIL BEAVER (Chicago), Gordo, TBA • 5/13: SPUNJI (Alabama), Unmutuals • 5/14: 7-SHOT SCREAMERS, Dirty 30s, TBA • 5/17: SAY IT AIN’T SO (Weezer tribute), Lesly Rich (Ireland) • 5/18: UNSANE, BLACK FIRE REVELATION, Conformists, Adversary Workers • 5/19: The Bug House, Kopper • 5/20: BOSS MARTIANS, Blacked Out • 5/21: TRIP DADDYS, Aces & Eights, Fifth Row Felons • 5/25: Gothic Blues Quartet, Lepers, Jones Street • 5/26: OPERATION ROCK, Left Arm, Loco 88 • 5/27: RUSTED SHINE, Innerelement (Des Moines), Hybrid (North Carolina) • 5/28: Cripplers, TORG (Chicago), THE NERDS (Italy)