hearing - Indy Week

YES, PLEASE
05.20 BLAIR CRIMMINS
@ THE CAVE
With a smile and a glint in his eye, Blair Crimmins
entices listeners into his world. Songs jump with a
1920s cabaret gaudiness, reminiscent of tawdry, dangerous jazz. Tonight, Crimmins takes the stage solo,
sans his normal backing band, The Hookers. A multiinstrumentalist, he will likely deliver off-kilter piano
lines and rapid guitar strums, but tenor banjo, ukulele and accordion aren’t out of the question. While
devious lyrics can mirror the sinister Charlestons
they accompany, Crimmins also has a grab bag of
unjaded torch songs at his disposal, spotlighting the
loneliness of a life spent in the shadows. 7:30 p.m.
—Andrew Ritchey
05.21 THE ROSEWOOD THIEVES
@ BROAD STreet CAFE
Explaining his band’s vintage lean, Rosewood
Thieves frontman Erick Jordan told Paste (save it
if you want it, by the way), “For some reason, my
ear just doesn’t accept anything from 1975 on.”
Sounds about right: Rosewood Thieves connects
the hooks and harmonies of classic ’60s pop and
the sun-soaked organ-drenches of ’70s heartland
rock. Its loping, romantic numbers earned the band
a contract with V2 and placement in Entourage
and Grey’s Anatomy. Thursday night’s free Broad
Street Cafe show finds the Thieves’ vintage-filtered
pop/ rock contrasted with the steaming, bluesheavy and jazz-inflected R&B of Durham quartet
Soulless Dogs. Rosewood’s British Invasion take on
Solomon Burke tunes pairs perfectly with locals
The Huguenots’ retro-flavored pop sunshine, which
takes the bill’s middle tonight at Broad Street and
Friday at Nightlight. Ethereal D.C. indie band True
Womanhood opens that second bill at 10 p.m. The
Broad Street bill begins at 8 p.m. —Spencer Griffith
05.21 JUSTIN JONES & THE
DRIVING RAIN @ THE STATION
After getting his start in North Carolina dives and
open mics, Virginia native Justin Jones returned
north, moving to the nation’s capital early in the
decade and finding himself a producer and a job
at Washington’s famed 9:30 Club. Though he can
sound a bit like John Mayer with banjo licks (“Honey
I Need You”), Jones makes smooth roots pop with
radio-friendly soul. Tonight, he joins fellow D.C.
residents (and former Raleigh lads) The Moderate’s
easygoing, often Wilco-esque rock and Nashville
pop-folk singer/songwriter Flinn Pomeroy, whose
twangy voice soars inside sensitive odes penned in
coffee shop corners. The free show starts at 9 p.m.
—Spencer Griffith
dirty little heaters
05.23 THE DIRTY LITTLE HEATERS,
THE LONERS @ THE PINHOOK
Badass apples who love each other, Durham’s
The Dirty Little Heaters and Raleigh’s The Loners
comprise a mutual admiration society of heavy,
belligerent garage rock bombast. Aside from sharing
a label (Durham’s Churchkey), the Heaters and
LOST IN THE TREES
From: Chapel Hill
Since: 2004
Claim to fame: Teeming 11-ish-piece orchestral pop
Recovery and redemption are among the key topics taken
to task on The Mercy Filter, the 2006
release from KENNY ROBY (05.24,
SADLACK’S). To that end, one of that
record’s highlights, “Foot Soldier,”
takes us into the mind of a wounded,
hospital-bound soldier whose Purple
Heart pales in comparison to his
questioning heart. Download the song
and read an interview with Roby at
www.indyweek.com.
TONY LUCCA
FROM: Los Angeles via Pontiac, Mich.
SINCE: 1996
CLAIM TO FAME: Appearing on New Mickey Mouse Club
alongside JC Chasez, Keri Russell, Britney, Christina and Justin
05.23 THE OLD CEREMONY, THE
LOVE LANGUAGE @ CAT’S CRADLE
It’s tempting to cheerlead here, to champion a
local-band scene that’s built itself to the point
where two acts can headline a Saturday night at
the town’s most legendary rock club and likely sell
the space out. But, by now, we shouldn’t require
the handicap of area advocacy: Whether from
California or Carolina, The Old Ceremony and The
Love Language are top-notch pop bands pushing
strong melodies in dichotomous directions. The
Old Ceremony wraps its songs in luxury, violin and
vibraphone and vocal harmonies lifting Django
Haskin’s platitude-twisting songs about love and
aging from all sides. The Love Language, though,
pounds away with pianos and organs and lots
of guitar, pushing Stu McLamb’s girl-and-grief
blasts from behind. Tonight promises two dozen
earworms for a Mr. Hamilton. 9:30 p.m.
—Grayson Currin
THURSDAY,
MAY 21
Ari Picker marshals Lost in the Trees, guiding a packed stage
of players through the symphonic flourishes of indie rock
anthem “Fireplace”—which pairs swelling strings to a jutting bassline and
euphoric gang vocal chorus—as adroitly as the full-on orchestral overtures of
his two “MVT” sketches. Between those two poles, violins, violas, cellos and
mandolin slash and sway against textures of accordion, euphonium, French horn
and tuba. Picker’s ex-bandmates and current Trekky labelmates The Never share
the bill, offering dreamy pop that’s lost a step or two over the years but remains
reliably melodic. At TIR NA NOG. Free/ 10:30 p.m. Lost in the Trees also plays a
free show Sunday at 8 p.m. at OPEN EYE CAFE.
SONG OF
THE WEEK
hearing
aid
Loners
have
t
minds full
guihe
t o t de
of unapologetic,
he
w eek
unrelenting rock ’n’ roll,
concer
’s
manifested in perfect form
ts
by The Loners’ run-the-roads
“Revolution!” or The Heaters’ massive
fuck-off missive, “Railroaded.” Tonight,
they let the guard down and the quiet in:
Greensboro’s Basalt—a minimal two-piece that puts
woozy, scattered laments to four-track—opens. $5/
10 p.m. —Grayson Currin
re-Introducing...
05.23 THE BLEEDING HEARTS
@ SLIM’S
Didn’t know The Bleeding Hearts were gone?
Well, they weren’t exactly, but the Raleigh fourpiece has taken an extended break from touring
last year in support of its second
album, Nothin’
On But the Radio.
“We did all
that last year
and were kind
of burned out on
each other,” reports frontman Sam Madison from
a campsite in Huntington Beach, S.C.
But the Hearts have been practicing for the
last month, welcoming new second guitarist
Larry Burlison, who does double time in Richard
Bacchus and the Luckiest Girls. Burlison renews
the band’s energy, says Madison, who admits he’s
contracted the songwriting bug again.
“Everybody’s playing better than ever, and I’m
writing songs like crazy again,” he says. “We’ve
always had a combination of sounds between
punk, pop and hard rock. The first album was
more pop, and the second album was more punk.
The new stuff is more ’70s hard rock-sounding.”
One of the 10 new tunes is called “Search and
Destroy,” which has nothing to do with Iggy Pop
and, according to Madison, everything to do with
“hooking-up.”
“We definitely may do another album,”
Madison cryptically teases. “We’ll see what happens.” $5/ 11 p.m. —Chris Parker
JUKEBOX THE GHOST
FROM: D.C.
SINCE: 2006
CLAIM TO FAME: Bouncy three-piece piano pop
Ben Thornewill leads Jukebox the Ghost into battle, banging on
his keys with the same ferocity of a local Ben more famous for
pounding the ebony and ivory. Jukebox folds the Five’s enthusiasm with operatic
Freddie Mercury panache (“Victoria”), adding some of They Might Be Giants’ quirks
(“Where Are All The Scientists Now?”) for good measure. Guitarist Tommy Siegel
and drummer Jesse Kristin add harmonies and shifting rhythms to the madcap
commotion, with the infectious results landing in the neighborhood of The Format’s
fantastic Dog Problems. The rest of the lineup is packed with indie pop power, from
energetic folk enchantress Jenny Owen Youngs to the youthful ambition of The
Winter Sounds. At CAT’S CRADLE. $8-$10/ 9 p.m. —Spencer Griffith
TUESDAY,
MAY 26
Tony Lucca isn’t any less talented than his fellow
Mouseketeers, which is a bit like suggesting Hervé Villechaize isn’t any shorter than
Verne Troyer. He’s worn several hats as a songwriter, from sensitive, aching, loveaddled strummer (2006’s Canyon Songs) to blue-eyed funkster with less soul than
Josh Kelley’s shoes (last year’s Come Around Again). His apparent guitar skill is lost in
waves of sentimentality designed to appeal to those born with an aversion to pungent
cheese. You’d have to tap a sequoia to gather this much sap. Tony Furtado, the night’s
contender, is safe: Lucca would have a difficult time beating his own Little Tony. With
Joey DeGraw (OMG, Gavin’s bro) and Andrew Hoover at THE CAVE. $5/ 10 p.m.
TONY FURTADO
FROM: Portland, Ore.
SINCE: 1987
CLAIM TO FAME: Banjo skills that
earned him the Grand National Banjo
Championship at 19
Furtado may lack Lucca’s Hollywood pedigree, but his musical skills supply a rout tonight
unlike any since the charge of the light brigade. With interests that extend beyond the
bluegrass sound best suited to banjo, Furtado developed into a masterful slide guitarist.
Not one to sit still, he branched out beyond the richly inventive, genre-bending jazzyfolk-blues instrumentals that characterize his first decade of music-making to include his
shadowy baritone vocals. Familiarity and facility in a variety of idioms have afforded him
the ability to easily sidestep triteness. The worst track on Feburary’s terrific Deep Water is
better than anything Lucca’s ever done. At the BERKELEY CAFE. $10/ 8 p.m. —Chris Parker