February 2010 - Antigravity Magazine

Transcription

feb. ’10 vol.7 no.4 your new orleans music and culture alternative
KING LOUIE’s
MISSING MONUMENTS
also
in
this
issue:
ROCK
PROPER
akron
ly
famAi
NTS
CUTS YOU IN
W
TO BOND WITH YOU
JIMMY
FEIT
BUF
SE
SURPR
A
MAKES
ANCE
APPEAR
AN RA
G
E
T
AD
S
D
AN
INTE
O
N
T A
GE
LOUIE
SETTLES
DOWN?
ANTIGRAVITYMAGAZINE.COM
FREE!
PHOTO BY MANTARAY PHOTOGRAPHY
STAFF
Publisher/Editor in Chief:
Leo McGovern
[email protected]
Associate Editor:
Dan Fox
[email protected]
Contributing
Writers:
Zachary Anderson
[email protected]
Michael Bateman
[email protected]
Emily Elhaj
[email protected]
Andy Gibbs
[email protected]
Erin Hall
[email protected]
Nancy Kang, M.D.
[email protected]
Dan Mitchell
[email protected]
Sara Pic
[email protected]
Mike Rodgers
[email protected]
Shai Rosenfeld
[email protected]
Brett Schwaner
[email protected]
Mallory Whitfield
[email protected]
Derek Zimmer
[email protected]
JIMMY BUFFET
SURPRISES SOME
SAINTS FANS-IN ANTI-NEWS, PG 6
Ad Sales:
[email protected]
504-881-7508
Missing Monuments cover graphic by Alix Petrovich
Jimmy Buffet Photo by Rob Mayeaux
FEATURES:
ANTI-News_page 6
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ANTIGRAVITY is a publication of
ANTIGRAVITY, INC.
Resources:
“Slingshots, Anyone?”_page 13
Akron Family_page 15
Dr. Feelgood_page 14
Photo Review_page 30
The month in photos.
Screaming Females_page 18
REVIEWS (pg. 22):
King Louie’s got something cooking.
Twitter:
twitter.com/antigravitymag
MySpace:
Homefield Advantage_page 10
COMICS (pg. 29):
Sustain the fashion!
W
EVENTS (pg. 24)
January listings for the NOLA area...
The Goods_page 11
INTRO
Albums by Beach House, Blakroc,
Haarp/Thou and more...
COLUMNS:
The end of a Super run.
myspace.com/antigravitymagazine
How can love go wrong?
A new distribution service arrives.
Missing Monuments_page 20
antigravitymagazine.com
That sneaky, sneaky Derek...
Rock Proper_page 16
Making a power move.
Homepage:
A look at the month in theatre.
Some of the news that’s fit to print.
A family on a mission.
events@antigravity
magazine.com
Splash Zone_page 12
Egad!, How To Be Happy,
K Chronicles, Firesquito.
ho Dat? Now, do I sit back and wait for the NFL goon squad to come and shut us down?
Kinda funny, isn’t it? The Saints make it to the Super Bowl and now our fair city has all kinds
of new and exciting problems to deal with, like the onslaught of memorabilia ($80 game coins
anyone?) and the intellectual property rights of ancient French symbols and exclamations of dubious
history. It’s amazing what this newfound spotlight on our beloved team has turned up. Seriously, it’s
surreal. As someone who’s lived here all my life and watched my father agonize for years over the plight of
the Saints, it’s truly strange to see this team reach the pinnacle of its craft. Or is it? One thing I’m bugged
by is the nonstop talk about fate and destiny and all the hoodoo and divine manipulation that entails. For
me, the Saints are in the Super Bowl for one simple reason: they worked for it, starting in the offseason
when Coach Payton decided that money wasn’t as important as a championship and offered up a healthy
part of his salary to secure Gregg Williams for Defensive Coordinator. Brees and Company have tons of
talent for sure (and we have had a few lucky breaks this season), but it was his incessant preparation and
focus that got the Saints to the promised land. I know, we’re not a city exactly accustomed to success and
fortunate times so it’s easy to look towards the sky and our own superstitions during moments like this,
but ultimately it was about the work... and a change in culture. We’ve got a few culture shifts for you in this month’s issue, starting with a fresh look at King
Louie’s new band as well as Rock Proper, an online record label that’s shaking up the old model. Win or Lose, come Monday morning, think about who
you play for, and prepare for it. Oh, and happy Mardi Gras!!! Be Safe, stay out of jail. Go Saints! —Dan Fox, Associate Editor
4_antigravity: your new orleans music and culture alternative
ANTI-NEWS
DRUMCART: THIS IS NOT A DRUM CIRCLE AN INTIMATE JIMMY BUFFET ENCOUNTER
by michael patrick welch
S
ure, other mobile carts adorned with
drums pound down New Orleans
streets during our hectic holidays. But
there is only one DRUMCART. Begun four
years ago by Steve Donnelly, owner of the
MetalOne metalworking shop in Marigny,
and 24-year-old Glorybee drummer Marcus
Davis, DRUMCART is essentially a colorful
three-man marching band—heavy on the
band.
Davis conceptualizes DRUMCART as a
mobile dance party proffering the weight of
Black Sabbath, and the joyous danceability
of Michael Jackson. Though DRUMCART
is undeniably tribal, the whole tribe isn’t
allowed to touch the drums. “Drum circle
people on the streets try to take the mallets
away from us and play,” testifies Marcus
Davis. “But usually we’re too intense and
into the beats, just slamming as hard as we
can.” All that dried blood spattered across
the white drumheads belongs to just the three
drummers who know the tight routines. “We
have songs, we just don’t know how long they
will be,” says Davis, who writes the beats on
an MPC sampler, to make rehearsal CDs for
his cart-mates. “We have four or five songs
now,” he tallies. “They’re color-coordinated;
I just scream out a color, based on how the party’s going, and everyone switches the beat.”
Davis is also brother of Glorybee’s Bradley “Master Boink” Davis, and thus brother-in-law of
Glorybee bassist/singer Nancy “Nasty Burga” Kang (also AG’s rock doc). Bradley manned one
of DRUMCART’s three drum stations for several years, but was recently replaced by original
DRUMCART member Paul “P Jam” Thomas. Regardless, Glorybee’s ambitious lunacy seems
to project itself through DRUMCART. Take for instance the desire to combine music and food:
“DRUMCART is about meat,” Marcus repeats a couple times. “Sometimes I’ll cook a pig, and
have this big pig roasting and just rock the beats. I had actually wanted to replace Bradley with
meat. We were going to modify his section, cut his station out and put a BBQ pit thing there, have
somebody flipping burgers. But there’s just something about three guys playing the drums.”
A fourth member in a donkey costume (Lucas Porterfield) pulls the cart, while a fifth ordained
member sits atop a six-foot high metal throne that sprouts from DRUMCART’s center. Way up
there, DRUMCART carried the king at the M.O.M.’s Ball in 2009, and will do so again this year.
But usually the character up top is a mere civilian in charge of riling the crowd. “Whoever’s up
there has to be experienced in getting the crowd pumped,” says Davis. “They have to rock the
crowd, and dance. They have a megaphone sometimes.” Past mascots have included a luchadore,
a Queen of Hearts, and Nancy Kang’s “Blue Mouse” last Halloween. DRUMCART’s “Workout
USA” theme featured a Richard Simmons impersonator atop the throne. The seat has not yet been
filled for Mardi Gras 2010, but Davis explains this year’s possible theme: “I think there will be a
big baby up top, with the drummers tied umbilically, and surrounded by lactating dancer girls.”
If you don’t happen to see—nay feel—DRUMCART on the streets this carnival season,
the crew has also lately been performing inside of nightclubs, particularly Circle Bar. “At a
club, it’s more like a blood and glitter sort of thing, a glam rock drum core,” Davis explains.
“Cause if it’s not moving through a crowd, then it has to be more of a performance. I’m
experimenting with electronic drum triggers that create sonic bass. We have this Arduino
board that a lighting programmer guy put on the cart for us: it’s a reprogrammable computer
chip that controls lights, but you can also get samples inside of it. We’ve got disco lights
running off of the cart, and I’m gonna program it with sounds. So yeah, the club show is a
whole different scenario,” concludes Davis. “Usually it’s more just about: out on the street
going renegade, and rocking people out.”
by michael patrick welch photo by rob mayeaux
B
lotsky’s Dog Haus mobile hotdog entrepeneur Travis Blotsky, of local noise band Van Halen II: Rise
of the Machines, has also for several years played saxophone for Louisiana “y’at rock” cover band, the
Creole String Beans. While rocking the recent Saints vs. Vikings tailgate bash for the Down Undas
crew (who’ve partied in the Dome parking lot off of Galvez and Poydras since Katrina) Travis and the Beans
experienced a close encounter of the Floridian kind.
“[JazzFest guru] Quint Davis and Jimmy Buffet were there, chumming around,” said Blotsky (not
seeming to notice his Buffetesque fishing pun). “And I
guess Jimmy Buffet got the old
wild hair, and jumped on stage
with us.” The stage being a beat
up flatbed trailer tethered to a
pickup truck. “I guess [Buffet]
and Quint had talked to our bass
player Rob Travoy, who works
with Quint on some JazzFest
stuff,” continues Blotsky. “But I
only heard about it when Savoy
looked over at us and said ‘Get
ready for this,’ then announced,
‘Now a special surprise, Jimmy
Buffet!’“
To Buffet’s credit as a true populist, he proceeded to jam the one song you’d assume he’d be sickest
of: “Margaritaville.” “We had to improvise it,” Blotsky admits. “It was only three chords, as [Buffet]
eloquently explained to us on stage. There was one little rough patch, but we made it through. We also
played ‘Sea Cruise’ with him, which went off without a hitch.” In the YouTube video of the encounter,
Buffet can be heard smoothly replacing the lyric “a Mexican cutie,” with “Look at all these Saints cuties,”
as if he’d substituted a different city every night of his life—yet it sounded fresh as the first time. Travis
defends the man: “You don’t get to be Buffet without knowing how to play a show. He’s a pro. Also just
so nice; afterwards he went around and shook everyone’s hand and said, “That wasn’t a bad version,” to
make us feel good.
Some would criticize Blotsky and his bandmates for being in such close proximity to the adult music
equivalent of Barney the Big Purple Dinosaur, and not seizing the opportunity to rid the world of him. ‘The
only reason we didn’t kill BUFFET was because we didn’t want The Saints to be a permanent part of his
life legacy,’ Blotsky should have said when AG inquired about this big missed opportunity, but instead he
insisted, “Jimmy Buffet is not in my iTunes playlist, but he has my respect for sure.”
NEW ORLEANS, MEET THE BELLYS
N
ew Orleans, meet the Bellys; your newest, fieriest and most promising garage rock band. The Bellys
have been a group for all but one month at this point and have only four shows under their belt, one
of them at the Saint with Philly rockers the Spooks, but these three guys still have a great many people
to reach in this city. But simply based off their frenetic brand of liquor-fueled rawk in the live setting thus far,
they are more than worth checking out. Each time they play, the crowds grow and the songs tighten. Their
most recent show, at Mother-in Law Lounge on September 21st, part of an impromptu benefit for the victims
of the recent earthquake in Haiti, was put together only two days before the show and raised over $2,000 for the
cause. It was a wild affair; with the Bellys’ set, albeit short, filled to the brim with rapid-fire, Nuggets-infused
numbers and the venue packed with an enthusiastic and receptive crowd that came to party. It’s hard not to
have a good time with this group; their vibe vivacious and their music immediately engaging.
The Bellys originally formed in Shreveport as a project for guitarist, vocalist and primary songwriter Brett
Roberts, 24, and featured members of the now (sadly) defunct Peekers. The songs they have been gigging on at
their recent shows are the same ones Roberts wrote while back in Shreveport, but now, with the addition of two
new members, the aforementioned Vonderahe, also 24, who is formerly a member of the group the Pharmacy in
New York and Randy David, 30, a drummer from hailing from Oregon, The Bellys are looking to expand their
sound as these three become better acquainted with one another musically. This makes the Bellys an exciting
group; there is really no telling what direction they will go in as they grow, but their plan is to keep going full
speed ahead. With a number of upcoming shows in February, including gigs at the All-Ways Lounge and the Art
House mid-month, there will be plenty opportunity to catch these barnburners. —Dan Mitchell
ANTI-NEWS
SKETCHED OUT: DR. SKETCHY’S ANTI-ART SCHOOL STITCHES UP THE ART WORLD
by sara pic
photos courtesy black sails photography
D
r. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School hopes to be the antidote
to the sickeningly dry art classes filled with boring
nude models that forced many of us to abandon
drawing. Started in New York in 2005 by an art school dropout,
Dr. Sketchy’s events feature burlesque performers and other
unusual models for artists to draw. Dr. Sketchy’s events now
take place in over a hundred cities in sixteen countries and just
began here in New Orleans. ANTIGRAVITY sat down with
Nona Narcisse and Ben Wisdom, two of the New Orleans
organizers for Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, to talk about the
collision of burlesque and art and how Dr. Sketchy’s can help
transform both.
ANTIGRAVITY: What is Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School
and how did it get started here in New Orleans?
Nona Narcisse: We found out about Dr. Sketchy’s online and
were really interested in the concept of combining burlesque
with other art forms, to make it more of a multimedia
experience. Molly Crabapple had started Dr. Sketchy’s classes
in 2005 in New York. She was an art student and had done
some figure modeling herself. She and her friends decided to
start throwing these parties combining the art of burlesque and
the art of drawing. We found it fascinating to have these two
worlds, the world of art and the world of burlesque, meet and
collide. We thought it was cool that all these art students and
performers were hanging out and creating this whole new form
of multimedia fun. New Orleans is such an eclectic city and
such an art-fueled city. Burlesque is having this revival here
and the art world is going through this strange transition postKatrina. Dr. Sketchy’s seemed so New Orleans to us, to bring
together burlesque, circus freaks, drag queens, street performers
and throw a party, with booze, contests and mayhem.
Ben Wisdom: Another thing we really appreciated about
Molly Crabapple and Dr. Sketchy’s was the independent spirit
of the events.
NN: It’s all very go-getter and DIY. Molly Crabapple is only
twenty-four and she has created this worldwide network of
events. It was amazing to see how all this groundwork and
DIY promotion can really work.
sketches of maddie ruthless by serena sin
performance then time to draw. The artists were entertained by
the models they were drawing. To us, it was like an exchange.
The artist drawing the model and the model performing their art
to the artists. A lot of the performers expressed to us this real
crazy joy at being drawn because many of them never had before.
BW: The burlesque performers also had time to draw because
it was a longer event. They could participate and relax. It was
really chilled out with pillows all over the floor. Instead of being
backstage busting ass to get ready, the performers lounged on
the floor with everyone else and were also drawing.
NN: They were also able to talk more to the crowd who sees
them perform. In a burlesque show setting there is more of a
barrier because it’s busier and louder.
in the future?
NN: I would really like for it to be a staple for the art
community, to have a place to come draw not only burlesque
dancers but other interesting-looking models. Something
different from the norm. They might be an art student looking
to get away from their stark dry classroom and have a little
bit of flavor or a professional artist looking for inspiration. I
hope we can really add to the beauty and eclectic quality of the
art scene here in New Orleans. Dr. Sketchy’s is so perfect for
New Orleans since there are so many amazing artists and wild
performers here.
BW: Just remember to bring your art supplies and get ready to
have a good time.
What are you planning for the next event?
NN: The next event is in the CBD, in the art district, in a little
event space. There will be a sign outside so people will know
where it is. Maddie Ruthless is DJing. She’s a fabulous DJ and
also a singer and guitarist. She also modeled for the first event.
She was a fantastic model with her record player and her 45s.
Burlesque dancers Bella Blue and Clair de Lune are modeling
at the next event. There will also be a surprise model who we
won’t announce until later. The surprise model will be very
interesting, wild and a little dark but really great for people
to draw. At the next event, we really want to delve more into
drawing and give the artists more time to focus on drawing
the models.
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School will be held at 810 S Peters (next to
Rio Mar) on Sunday, February 28th, from 6-9pm. Cover is $15.
Do you have any hopes and dreams for Dr. Sketchy’s events
Is there something like a Dr. Sketchy’s worldwide
community?
NN: That’s a big aspect of Molly’s larger vision. Not only are
these events happening in their own communities but they
are linked to art communities and performance communities
all over the world. You are networking with all these people
across the country that we never would have had access to
otherwise.
You put together the first Dr. Sketchy’s
event here in New Orleans in December.
What was that first event like?
NN: It was so wonderful to see all the models
up there in their costumes. Many of them
hadn’t figure modeled before. It was so
interesting to see the transition from being
a dynamic moving figure on stage to just
being still and also to see what everyone was
drawing.
BW: We also had performers who came
out and performed burlesque, so the whole
experience was an event and entertaining. We
showcased burlesque but also made it about
the drawing. We created a vibe. A lot of the
performers came up to us after the first event
and told us they hadn’t felt that way at a show
in a long time. They had this warm fuzzy
feeling. There was a special mood there.
NN: There was an artist from Canada, Serena
Sin, who just happened to be in New Orleans
and she came to the event. She had been to
Dr. Sketchy’s in Toronto where she lives and
also to Dr Sketchy’s events in two other cities.
She said ours was the most interesting she had
been to because there was so much burlesque
performance. She said she was entertained
the entire time like she was at a show but she
also had time to draw. All the models did
one burlesque number. It was back-to-back, a
antigravitymagazine.com_
7
ANTI-NEWS
“AFTER ’WHILE, CROCODILE”
JAY REATARD, 1980-2010
by michael bateman
by michael bateman
obert Charles Guidry (February 21, 1938—January 14, 2010),
legendary South Louisiana singer/songwriter better known simply
as Bobby Charles, died at the age of 71, in his hometown of
Abbeville, Louisiana. A friend of the family and a sort of hero of mine, it’s
hard to choose where to start explaining Bobby Charles. There’s his history
as a brilliant songwriter and pioneer of Swamp Pop music, his reputation
as a recluse with a criminal past and then there’s what I remember growing
up around him. To me, he was one mellow dude, a funny, often grumpy old
Cajun who could write some seriously heartbreaking songs—something I
regret not fully appreciating until I saw much less of him. Several of his early
45s and first album are among the most satisfying music out there. Bobby
began his music career in 1955, inspired by Fats Domino. He penned the
tune “(See You) Later Alligator” and called up Chess Records in Chicago
to sing it over the phone. Easy as that, he was signed to Chess and flown up
to Chicago, at which point Chess discovered that they were looking at the
label’s first white artist! The song gained worldwide fame a year later by the
more professional-sounding Bill Haley and His Comets. The flipside “On
Bended Knee”, and many of the singles that followed, were the prototype of
what would become known as Swamp Pop. The first Cajun rocker to have
a substantial hit, Bobby toured the U.S. with other Chess artists, all black—
as were the majority of the audiences. This led to confusion more than
anything else; just as well, since Bobby “never wanted to be a star.” Back in
Louisiana, Bobby finally met his hero Fats Domino, who’d already recorded
one of his songs (the local favorite “Before I Grow Too Old”), the start of
a lifelong friendship. He wrote “Walking to New Orleans” for Fats in 1960.
It was another great success, as was the classic “(I Don’t Know Why I Love
You) But I Do,” performed by Clarence “Frogman” Henry. Having learned
that the bandstand was not for him, he happily devoted himself to writing
and recording as leisurely and as far away from the public eye as possible.
There were seven singles for Chess between 1955 and 1957; six singles
for Imperial 1958-59; and four singles for Jewel—all in 1964—including
some of my favorites, like the depressive “Everyone Knows” and a heck of
a country song called “One More Glass of Wine” that would please Lee
Hazlewood fans. Bobby spent some time living in Woodstock, New York in
the early ’70s. There, he recorded his self-titled debut album, backed by The
Band (the best thing they ever did!) and released on Bearsville Records in
1972. Included on this album is yet another signature song of his, “Tennessee
Blues,” covered by the likes of Doug Sahm, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
and Kris Kristofferson. The early ’80s saw Bobby hiding out in Pedernales,
Texas, recording with Willie Nelson and Neil Young (a sampling of
these raw, beautiful recordings surfaced on 2003’s Last Train to Memphis).
Throughout the next three decades, Bobby Charles enjoyed time spent in
the studio when not holed up in his shack in the swamp. What he cared
about most was writing songs, enjoying his solitude, a basic small town life
and occasional visits from the likes of Bob Dylan. “Bobby’s always been
a loner,” says friend and Swamp Pop star Johnnie Allan. “I’ve practically
begged him, ‘Bobby, get up there and do a few songs!’ He wouldn’t do it.
He says, ‘I’m strictly a writer...’“ Recent announced performances at the
Ponderosa Stomp and Jazz Fest failed to materialize due to health issues.
With his cancer in remission, but suffering from a fall, Bobby managed to
finish recording the album Timeless with friend Mac Rebennack at the time
of his death. Here’s some words from “Tennessee Blues” that say more
about him than anything: “If I had my way / I’d leave here today / And I’d
leave in a hurry / I’d find me a place / Where I could stay / And not have to
worry / I’d find me a spot / On some mountain top / With no one around
me / With valleys and streams / And birds in the trees / And lakes that
surround me / A place I feel loose / A place I could lose / These Tennessee
blues.”
ay Reatard. Born Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., May
1, 1980, in Lilbourn, MO. Died in his sleep,
the night of January 12-13, 2010, at his home
in Memphis, TN. He was 29. Jay is survived by his
mother, Devonna May; his father, Jimmy Lindsey;
and three sisters; as well as many friends and fans.
You may know him from one of his many stops in
New Orleans - with either the Lost Sounds and Bad
Times back in the early ’00s, or more recently with his
‘Jay Reatard’ power trio. I met Jay about eleven years
ago in Jackson, MS, at a house party. I thought he was
a psycho and a jerk. A second encounter in Memphis
a couple months later reinforced my suspicions. But,
in fact, he was an extraordinarily restless, always
entertaining, [dare I say thoughtful] great guy. Jay
had a way of making what he wanted to happen
happen; and, in hindsight, probably enjoyed life more
than anyone I’ve ever known. He was also one of the
most contrary and complaining’est dudes ever! But
really that was all just part of the show. Definitely
the hardest-working man in the punk/garage world,
he released twenty-two albums, approximately forty
singles/EPs and several CDR/cassette-only things
- via nearly twenty bands/projects—between 1996
and 2010. Jay often joked about wanting to make
more records than Billy Childish! He also recorded/
produced several like-minded bands, including New
Orleans’ own Persuaders and Chicago’s Ponys.
The recorded output was pretty amazing, especially
considering his seemingly endless touring. He had
a great sense of humor about his profession as a
punk rock artist, but also became very serious about
the quality of the music he released and was always
proud of what he let others hear. It was good to see
that, finally, people could get past the spectacle of
the antagonistic live performances (fighting the band,
breaking stuff, biting the head off a dead pigeon, for
real). With two highly acclaimed solo albums, 2006’s
Blood Visions and 2009’s Watch Me Fall, Jay Reatard’s
fanbase was growing and things were looking up. The
memorial service really told how untimely his death
was... This was not supposed to happen. Jay was in his
prime. He had recently bought a home, where he was
piecing together a recording studio. According to Eric Friedl—of Goner Records / Oblivians fame and the first to help get the
bedroom punk of ‘The Reatards’ heard—Jay was hoping to fly over New Zealand’s The Verlaines to play a show in Memphis
for his thirtieth birthday. He sought out and planned tours with two of his favorites, TV Smith of The Adverts and Chris Knox
of Tall Dwarfs. He did exactly what he wanted. Last time I saw Jay, I was unhappy to be waking up on his living room floor—
with Matt ‘Muscle’ sprawled out a few feet away, snoring loudly. Jay remedied this bad, bad scene for everyone by lowering a
boom mic to Matt’s mouth and recording the ungodly weezing, reverb turned up and everything. Jay said he should submit the
recording to Matador as his next album—a minimalist/noise work. That is how I’ll remember him, cracking himself up and
anyone else in the room. Many of his friends were also his biggest fans. We all took notice of his accomplishments, and took
pride in knowing him personally. I think he kinda knew and really appreciated it. I haven’t even begun to know how to feel about
him being gone. I am really going to miss talking shit with him, making fun of garage rockers, and seeing him in full-on ‘Tard
mode. I can’t think of a more fitting final salute than being buried with his Flying V atop his coffin, just as it hung in place of a
cross at the memorial service! Badass. My heart goes out to his family, close friends, and his bro’s The Oscars and Evil Army.
Thank you for introducing me to the raps of Tommy Wright III and FCP! Thank you for saying “New Wave makes you fat.”
Thank you for waiting to listen to all of my Burzum CDs, in their entirety and in chronological order, after I left for work. Thank
you for all the laughs, and thank you for being a friend. I’m gonna miss you, donkey.
R
J
photo by gary loverde
ANTI-NEWS
TEGAN AND SARA PRACTICE THEIR SAINTHOOD
by sara pic
S
ainthood is the highly anticipated sixth full-length
album by the dynamic Tegan and Sara, released last
October. It was widely known that it was the twins'
first attempt at writing songs together after more than a
decade. In fact, in what was ultimately a failed endeavor,
they isolated themselves here in New Orleans but no songs
emerged that are on the album (one song is co-written by
the pair but it did not spring from their self-imposed New
Orleans sequestration). However, the album does not fail
to deliver the power-pop we have come to expect from the
duo after 2007's widely successful The Con. Like The Con,
Sainthood is co-produced with Chris Walla of Death Cab
for Cutie, as well as The New Pornographers' Howard
Redekopp, who co-produced 2004's So Jealous. Lyrically,
the twins explore similar themes as in The Con. As Tegan
and Sara describe the album, «Sainthood is about obsession
with romantic ideals. It's inspired by emotional longing and
the quiet actions we hope may be noticed by the objections
of our affection.» The title and inspiration for the songs
on Sainthood come from a lyric in Leonard Cohen's 1976
song, «Came So Far For Beauty, where Cohen sings that
he «practiced all my sainthood.» In «On Directing,» Sara
croons, “I know it turns you off when I get to talkin’ like a
teen.” The reference to teen-speak also evokes the evolution
of the twins' lyrical exploration of romantic obsession. Now
nearly thirty years old, Tegan and Sara display a much more
mature understanding of love and vulnerability than on
earlier albums. Though many similar lyrical themes of love
and loss are explored, diehard Tegan and Sara fans may be
disappointed by Sainthood, as the sound is quite different
from their early folksy acoustic days. Sainthood builds on
the edgier sound of The Con and displays markedly synthy
'80s-centric electro-pop; one song does not feature any guitar
at all. Overall, it has a harder, at times dissonant edge that
pushes the pair firmly into mainstream power-pop. Tegan
and Sara return to New Orleans to perform at Tipitina's on
Febuary 24th. It should be an interesting show if the twins
open up about their emotions, as they have been prone to do
in past concerts, as it's possible that our city, New Orleans,
might bring back some difficult memories for them.
Regarding their attempt to write together through seclusion
in New Orleans, Tegan was quoted as saying, «Isolating
Sara and I alone in a city where we knew no one after a big,
long tour where we really just wanted to be at home, it put
us really off guard. It was really complicated and difficult.
The music that came out of it was really complicated and
difficult.» And none of that music from their New Orleans
isolation made it onto Sainthood. Regardless, Tegan and
Sara have reliably put on really fun and engaging shows in
the past, even while singing about romantic martyrdom.
Tegan and Sara will play Tipitina's on February 24th at 8pm,
with Steel Train and Holly Miranda. Tickets are $35. For more
information, go to teganandsara.com.
9
COLUMNS
SPORTS
HOMEFIELD
ADVANTAGE
by leo mcgovern
[email protected]
LET’S EAT A SUPER BOWL SUNDAE
W
ell, this is the column I worried I’d never be able to write. And here’s the
sentence we thought we might never utter: “The Saints are going to the Super
Bowl!” By the time this issue hits it’ll be a week after the NFC Championship
and a week before the Super Bowl, exactly the time the championship berth should be
digested and processed into focus and preparation for the final game of the season. But
before we get on to Indianapolis and Peyton Manning, shall we indulge in a little reveling?
The NFC Championship game was the most intense Saints game I can ever remember,
and sitting in my Superdome seat was a surreal experience before, during and after the
game. It harkened back to the four-year stretch between the 2001 and 2004 seasons, when
expectations ran (somewhat) high and the Saints consistently let us down, only this time
we actually managed to come out with the win. Drew Brees and the offense didn’t have the
greatest night against the Vikings, but the defense rose to the occasion, just like they have
all year. For a time it even seemed like the Football Gods (or the NFL) wanted Manning to
face off against Brett Favre in a Super Bowl matchup between two surefire first-ballot Hall
of Famers, but somehow Jonathan Vilma, Tracy Porter and co. managed to turn the tide.
Surely, if this game had been played in Minnesota or anywhere else, the Saints would’ve
been underdogs and after seeing the game you could understand why. The Vikings seemed
to be the perfect matchup, and there was only one thing that turned the tide for us—
homefield advantage. If you ever wondered why this column has its title, it’s because of this.
I honestly believe that when the Vikings were called for twelve men in the huddle, a penalty
that resulted in a five-yard loss that pushed them out of long field goal range and essentially
forced them to give up their running game and pass, it was due to confusion on the Vikings
sideline, a confusion created by the crowd noise generated by 70,000 Saints fans. All the
next play resulted in was an interception by Porter that saved us from having to endure a
potentially game-winning 50-plus-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell and sent us straight to
overtime.
It
certainly
didn’t feel like it
during play, but
looking back you
have to feel the
way we won the
game was fitting.
This Saints team
has done so much
to put the ghosts
of
old Saints
teams away that
we started to
believe that any
game was possible
for us. Down 21
in Miami? No
sweat.
Throw
a
potentially
devastating interception before halftime in Washington? Robert Meachem just forces
a fumble and returns it for an offensive touchdown. Tim Hightower runs for a 70-yard
touchdown on the first play of the divisional playoff game against the Cardinals? We got
that, our offense just goes down the field and scores—“See that big play you got? Well, we
can do it better. Now do it again, we dare you.” The big plays our defense came up with
against the Vikings should surprise no one (though to most “analysts” on TV, it does)—it’s
what they’ve done all year. But on this stage, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, two
interceptions and three fumble recoveries washed away over four decades of doubt. More
than that, it silenced the old voice that said, “There’s no way they can do it—they’re the
Saints.”
Which brings us to Miami and the Colts. Can the Saints beat up Manning, who seems to
own the most intimate knowledge of every NFL defense, like The Architect in the Matrix,
in the second biggest game of his career and the biggest moment the Saints have ever
been a part of ? [I nearly say “second-biggest” here, only because the Falcons game postKatrina will never be replicated—but we now have logical hope that a second Super Bowl
appearance is possible.] I think we can, but to win Brees and the rest of the offense has
to have a dominant game and the defense must overload and disguise their coverages,
forcing Manning to consistently throw into double coverage, hopefully under pressure from
a four-or-five-man pass rush. Throw in a big play from special teams (another couple big
kick returns by Reggie Roby or Pierre Thomas would be nice) and winning seems pretty
simple.
Besides, how bad could the Super Bowl turn out? We were destined to end here, weren’t
we? I don’t know what your particular Saints superstitions are, but (besides keeping all
of our tags from the lot we park at before home games on my dashboard throughout the
season) you may remember I had a predictive column back in August, one that detailed
the Super Bowl party I envisioned myself throwing once the Saints got there. Well, it’s that
time now, and I’m planning it just like I wrote it. I guess that could be the lesson here, as we
get ready for the Super Bowl—keep doing what you’ve been doing all season, Saints fans,
not only because it’s been working, but because no matter whether we win or lose, being a
Saints fan will be different after this game. How different it’ll be is a matter of discussion
for next month. Right now, we’ve got a game to watch.
COLUMNS
THE GOODS
by miss malaprop
FASHION
[email protected]
FASHION SHOW A-GO-GO
I
recently got a firsthand look at the new movement to bring nutria fur back into
fashion when I modeled for my friend Kerry Fitts of Bayou Salvage at the Righteous
Fur Fashion Show at the Marigny Theatre and All-Ways Lounge on January 8th.
Righteous Fur is a project started by local designer Cree McCree to bring nutria-fur
clothing and nutria-teeth jewelry back into the fashion mainstream. By partnering up
with the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuary Foundation, Righteous Fur is promoting nutria
fur as a “guilt-free” alternative to other fur products.
Nutria are a big problem here in south Louisiana: they were imported from Argentina
and introduced to the area in the 1930s, though these semi-aquatic creatures were
originally raised
on fur farms for
their pelts back
when fur fashion
was at the height
of popularity. As
often
happens
with
nonnative
invasive
animal
species,
they
escaped
into the wild
and have been
wreaking havoc
on our (quickly
vanishing)
wetlands
ever
since. The nutria rip up and eat the marsh grasses, burrow into levees and the banks of
canals and bayous, and displace native animals. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries estimated that at one time the nutria were damaging between 80,000 and
100,000 acres over a five-year period. In 2002 the state began paying hunters a bounty
to keep the population of these fast-breading creatures under control. Since then, they
estimate the damage per year has dropped to closer to 23,000 acres. Most of the time, the
pelts of these creatures are destroyed once the animals are trapped and killed. McCree
sees the creative use of the nutria fur and teeth in fashion as a way of paying tribute to
the lives of these creatures: “I think we need to honor the animal by using the animal,
not just killing it.”
Kerry Fitts, who created a top in her signature deconstructed steamboat gothic style
for me to model at the Righteous Fur Fashion Show, noted how surprisingly nice the
material was to work with: “The fur was incredibly soft and luxurious, and the pelt was
easy to work with using my old Singer.” I would have to agree. I had my hesitations prior
to seeing and touching the garments in person (and I still have mixed feelings about fur in
general), but as fur goes, this stuff was nice—almost like rabbit fur.
The Righteous Fur Fashion Show also featured other tributes to the nutria, including a
screening of Miss Pussycat’s short film North Pole Nutrias, which featured voices of local
legends like Chris Rose, Bunny Matthews and the late Jefferson Parish sheriff and nutria
hunter Harry Lee, who performed a rap song for the film. Fitts notes how this screening
and others helped to pull the show together: “The audience participation, reverence for
the nutria and the assemblage of nutria related artistic creations such as music, film,
theater, spoken word and poetry combined with the fashion element tells me that the
nutria is a muse for all seasons and species of creative enterprise.”
Overall, the recent Righteous Fur Fashion Show in New Orleans was a success. Rumors
backstage were that they had to turn away between 40-60 people at the door, and McCree
is already making plans for a second show, to be held Saturday, March 6th at the Marigny
Theatre (2240 St. Claude Avenue). To see Righteous Fur fashions from previous shows
or to find out more about the project, you can visit the website at btnep.org/righteousfur,
or check out the Righteous Fur nutria teeth jewelry line at creemccree.etsy.com.
BRIDGE HOUSE GETS RECYCLED FASHION
Taking a cue from other successful recycled fashion show fundraisers like the Green
Project’s Worn Again Fashion Show, which has served to raise money for the Recycle
for the Arts program the past three summers, Bridge House will be hosting their very
own Recycled Fashion show on Friday, February 26th at the Howlin’ Wolf (907 S.
Peters Street). Local designers will strut their stuff with new recycled fashions created
from old duds found at the Bridge House Thrift Stores, while the Big Easy Rollergirls,
emcee Andrew Ward and DJ Nate White provide additional entertainment.
The goal of this fashion show is to promote responsible consumerism and creative
re-use while raising money for the Bridge House substance abuse treatment program for
the homeless and indigent. Bridge House has been working with individuals for over fifty
years to provide treatment and job training, often helping people who are turned away
from other institutions. The Recycled Fashion show goes down from 8pm til 11pm, with
a VIP pre-party from 7pm to 8pm. The recycled fashions will be auctioned off to benefit
this great cause and there will be door prizes as well. VIP tickets are $30 and general
admission is $15, and both are available via the Howlin’ Wolf or Bridge House websites
(www. bridgehouse.org) or by calling Leita Barnes at 504-522-2124, Ext 16.
11
COLUMNS
THEATER
THE SPLASH ZONE
by sara pic
[email protected]
UNIVERSES CRASH IN NEW ORLEANS
W
hat does it mean to be an American? Universes, a theatre collaborative based in the Bronx,
hopes to open a dialogue on that question in Ameriville, premiering regionally at Southern
Repertory Theater at the end of February. Stephen Sapp, an ensemble member with
Universes, says, “The company started out writing a piece on the history of fear in America, and then
Katrina happened. And we responded as we feel artists should respond.” The members of Universes,
a tight ensemble group, came to New Orleans a few years ago to hold workshops with high school
students and speak with New Orleanians about Katrina. Those conversations inspired Universes to
create Ameriville, a theatrical work that combines jazz, hip-hop, spoken word, percussion, dance, song
and movement, beginning with the tragedy of Katrina and our government’s failings then opening up
to show that what happened here could happen anywhere.
Universes is coming to
perform for the first time
ever in New Orleans as part
of a National Performance
Network residency, which
has been a collaborative
effort between four local
companies—Southern Rep,
Junebug
Productions,
Ashé Cultural Arts Center,
and
Tulane
University
Department of Theatre
and Dance. As Artistic
Director
for
Southern
Rep Aimée Hayes notes,
this collaboration is itself
an historical event. A
collaboration between these four disparate companies which serve such divergent communities has
never happened before. As Managing Development Director of Junebug Productions Terry Scott
jokes, ''This is like Rex meeting the king of Zulu on Mardi Gras day.'' The hope is that the audiences
of each company will come together to see Ameriville and begin a dialogue critical to the post-Katrina
world we live in. As Assistant Producer of Theatre at Ashé Cultural Arts Center Karel SloaneBoekbinder describes Ameriville, it raises many issues around racism and ecology, but perhaps most
importantly, it highlights “all these points of interconnection in our world. That if we can see all of
these points and start talking about it, we can hopefully have a paradigm shift and move in different
direction.”
Paradigm-shifting might not be what many expect in a show at Southern Rep, which Hayes notes
has traditionally been only interested in the craft of theatre and not about an ongoing conversation
about larger societal issues. However, the skill and talent of Universes is still top-notch and unequalled,
according to Hayes. As Community Engagement Director for Junebug Productions Kiyoko McCrae
describes, “There is a tendency in the theatre world to believe that community-based theatre or theatre
for social change is on one end, and well-crafted excellent theatre on the opposite end, and somehow
they are mutually exclusive. I don’t think any of us who are part of this collaboration believe that and
Universes is a perfect example of how theatre can be both.” Scott believes that “great art is supposed
to be relevant to the world we are living in. Universes does it, they raise important issues through
excellent artistic methods that resonates with audiences.”
As part of their residency, Universes is not just performing Ameriville. The ensemble members will
be immersed in our community for two weeks, teaching classes at Tulane and at the Free Southern
Theatre Institute and attending local spoken word events. Additionally, they will hold a free
community workshop that is open to anyone at Ashé Cultural Arts Center. There will also be several
free matinee performances for local high school students, both public and private. Teachers who bring
their students to the show will also be provided with study guides to help spark discussion and foster
dialogue between schools. Hayes is particularly excited about this aspect of the program, noting that
they've found that bringing theatre to young people can be transformative. As one young person
said this year, “I didn't know theatre could be like this,'' and we were like, ''Yes!'' There will also be
talkbacks with Universes after every regular Sunday matinee.
Some New Orleanians may be skeptical about what a group of artists from the Bronx could know
or say about Katrina. John Grimsley from the Ashé Cultural Arts Center says that when Universes
was here on past visits, the ensemble members were adamant about getting all the details correct and
hearing from New Orleanians as much as they could. Sapp says, ''We were nervous about how the
piece would be received at first, but as different friends of ours who are from New Orleans saw the
piece they were eager to see us 'bring the show home', so to speak.'' Sloane-Boekbinder also reminds
us that ''it's really important to welcome people's stories and their responses to our experiences here.
I don't have ownership over what happened here, none of us do. It's important that the world is
responding artistically as it keeps the conversation going. That Universes do it with such talent and
style and heart is phenomenal.''
Sadly, as we all know, much of America forgot about Katrina and the flood as soon as the next
big celebrity or political scandal broke and have not thought about it much if at all since then. Sapp
describes how he has often heard after performing Ameriville for audiences not from New Orleans that
“they had forgotten about what happened in the city and we reminded them that this was something
that doesn’t go away just because it’s not frontpage on the nation’s newspaper.” New Orleans is a
microcosm of the rest of the world. Universes opens up that microcosm to show how the macrocosm
is also reflected and affected by the micro. Our government failed us here. Ameriville shows that what
happened here can happen anywhere and that it is our responsibility to take care of each other. We
must continue the dialogue or the lessons we learned from Katrina and the flood will be lost, which
might be the worst loss of all.
Ameriville will play at Southern Rep from February 24—March 7, 2010. Various ticket prices,
including student rush and group discounts, can be found at southernrep.com. Talkbacks following
Sunday matinees. Educators interested in bringing their students to free matinees during the school
week should contact Kiyoko McCrae at Junebug Productions, kmccrae @ junebugproductions.org.
A free community workshop with Universes will be held at Ashé Cultural Arts Center on March 3rd
from 6 to 8:30 pm.
Send me press releases, vague info on shows, or theatre/performance art news or gossip! Holla at sara.pic@gmail.
com.
COLUMNS
LOCAL CULTURE
“SLINGSHOTS, ANYONE?”
by derek zimmer [email protected]
[Editors’ note: We love Derek for keeping it so real and we’re happy to have his insight-- the kid does get around-- but his opinions are clearly his own and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, who
are far too submerged in the politics and back-alley dealings of the, uh, scene to speak poorly of anyone whose cooperation we depend on. For anybody whose skin feels a little thin after reading his monthly
take, just remember these are HIS thoughts and we publish them uncensored (the young master demands it) because he’s out there taking it in for us and doing all the dirty work, while we’re at home watching
OnDemand. Got problems with anything he says? Email him about it. He’d love to hear from you.]
W
hat’s up, my ninjas? As I encourage any conscious individual to do from
time to time, I have recently undertaken a process of reexamining my
perceptions of the world—reaffirming many, while renouncing the others
which do not stand the test of time. Perhaps as a result of living in a punk fort with two
30-plus-year-olds—and also because I shall this coming summer ruefully wave farewell
to my teenage years—I have had this fascination lately with the oft-neglected concept
of “growing up” while “staying punk.” You see, up until recently I’d never before
treaded such murky waters; like the cartoon characters of my MTV-reared upbringing,
like the proclamation of that adored Rod Stewart hit which has undoubtedly embedded
itself into the public’s collective consciousness, I presumed I somehow might remain
cryogenically frozen in a blissful, perpetual state of boyhood. Upon further reflection,
this unstated premise eventually blossomed into a more cohesive ideology: “Growing
up is just stupid.” Duh! (I mean, just take a look at how uppity that scene overlord and
self-appointed “grown-ass man” Bryan Funck is!) After all, the punk “scene” is one
which fetishizes youth culture—popularly portrayed as an idealized Neverland of stage
dives and high fives, of kids holding hands n’ starting bands. With each passing season,
however, the thought becomes less and less abstract: What will it look and feel like to
be older?!
Which brings me to the evening of the Forgetters show at the ancient Nowe Miasto
abode...
I’ve really only heard about three Jets To Brazil songs that stick out in my mind
(though to be fair, I actually love all three! “Wish List”—talk about a perfect mixtape
song!), and I still can’t understand all the hoopla about Jawbreaker...Anyway, with a
lack of recordings to go on, as internet buzz circulated around the upcoming Forgetters
show, I was caught up in the excitement but not immediately willing to cream my jeans
simply because Blake whatever-his-name-is from Jawbreaker is in the band. I did find
it pretty rad that, as a band featuring said 40 year-old dude who is long accustomed
to rolling in the rock club circuit (plus a former member of the much-derided Against
Me!), they were not only down for playing a DIY show on the floor of a dingy New
Orleans warehouse but cited it as the reason of their entire tour! Never once upon pulling
up in their van did I sniff out any rockstar egos or attitudes. Quite to the contrary, the
bass player Caroline happens to be a longtime friend of the space, and all the other
guys proved themselves exceedingly generous with their time and conversation. As a
band bearing notoriety by virtue of its members, the fact that they were touring without
any record and selling beautiful screen-printed art instead was enough to immediately
attract my attention. After a few hours collecting money at the door, I relieved myself
of my sentry post in favor of obtaining a closer view of this much-hyped band. The set
started out sounding halfway decent—nothing to write home about. By the next song
I’d become acclimated to the rhythm and it started tickling my fancy a little bit more...
Then—all of a sudden—the right combination of cosmic elements had coalesced to
create this overall amazing atmosphere, my qi became supercharged, and before I knew
it I was jamming along like I’d been a fan of those above bands all my life!
The house had weathered itself for a turnout nearly proportional to the legendary,
life-altering Evens show of 2007 (life altering in more ways than one: this night was
incidentally my first ever visit to Nowe Miasto), but—alas—our worries were in vain.
Although a number of kids trekked from Mississippi and even the yonder sprawl of
Houston, the New Orleans contingent left a little something to be desired...Goes to
show the precedence the Saints hold in this city and where the loyalties of the punx truly
lie! In fact, the couple Elders of the Nowe High Council, well into their golden years
of punkdom, decided it would be a splendid idea (note the sarcasm) to set up a TV for
folks to watch the game during the show! Now I’m not trying to get anyone’s (let alone
my friends’!) panties/boxer briefs in a bunch or to rain on anyone’s parade—really,
I’m not. If people wanna root for their home team that’s their prerogative, but I will
say only that it baffles me in a general way how—in the midst of an intimate, enriching
punk rock gathering—folks can actually care so much about a nationally-televised
sports event! I mean, here I was attempting to fully connect with this great band in
front of me, and in between songs all I hear is kids in the audience asking the score, or
randomly cheering over by the TV screen, or even eventually leaving the show bummed
because “our” team lost! Like children who recognize the songs of cereal commercials
better than they do their own mother’s nursery rhymes, I can’t help but feel sometimes
like this Saints hysteria is a bit manufactured, you know? Similar to the way the post-911-patriotism is manufactured. Besides...”Who dat”?! What does that even mean? Can
anyone explain the etymology of such a phrase??? Not only have the punx regressed
to sporting fleur-de-lis like they’re going out of style, but on top of that we’re spouting
catch phrases that make no grammatical sense whatsoever! In any case, whether it’s the
boosted morale of a long-suffering city or riots against the NOPD bastards when the
Saints win (or don’t win) the Superbowl, there must be something good that will come
out of this whole thing...
Disavowing our sacred practice of hosting only one show per month, following the
Forgetters event, the Legion of Nowe consented to scheduling one nary a fortnight
later for the bands Lemuria, Max Levine Ensemble and the Loyola brother-duo
Caddywhompus—another instance which administered sobering tremors to the
foundations of my Youthful Tower of Babel. And yo—keep this on the DL Hughley,
but as a “field representative” for Iron Rail Book Collective’s Tabling Division, I’ve
implemented a clever new modus operandi: rather than “going out” to distro shows and
enjoy live bands, I just have the shows come to me! Mwhahaha!
I’m not sure how to explain the anomaly that took place at this pop-punk winter
gala. I love Lemuria—really. Ever since I caught them by accident in ‘06 I’ve been
captivated, and it was an honor to host their return to the Big Sleazy after a two-year
absence. But as they commenced playing the freezing cement floor of the warehouse,
sporting the purple scarf Sheena had entrusted to me for safekeeping during their set, I
had this conflicting out-of-body experience. It was like I’d stepped outside myself—like,
toward the PA where Dave was tirelessly working the sound, let’s say—and proceeded
to detachedly observe myself dancing and singing along. During their set I experienced
what psychologists would refer to as “dissociative identity disorder”: for there I was,
rocking out up front while at the same moment—wallowing in my own cynicism in a
heightened state of consciousness—I thought to myself, “Hmmm...Maybe I’m not as
stoked on this band as I used to be...” It struck me that, like the married couple who
have fallen out of love, perhaps I am merely attempting to conjure the nostalgia of what
once was, forcing a passion that has expired. That maybe the novelty has already worn
off, like an outgrown and faded pair of Dickies, waiting to be cast aside...
Granted, these feelings could very well be attributed to certain elements of the show
itself. Let’s just say the vibe was a bit less rowdy, and a little more...cerebral. Besides
myself (and Necro Hippies’ most devoted fan Christy), no one got buck wild at all!
Certainly no where near comparable to kids stage-diving for those crooning powerpop
ballads, like the instance when a French comrade snuck me into Lemuria’s show with
her wristband at the debaucherous Gainesville Fest. The PA arrangement was also
faulty, hindering the sweet melodies of Sheena’s airy vocals—undoubtedly my favorite
aspect of the band. Plus as far as I could tell, that new dude on bass just doesn’t boogie
down nearly as hard as his predecessor Jason once did. I’m not trying to rag on this guy,
who seemed super nice and for all I knew was experiencing some deeply introspective,
transcendental Buddha-like enlightenment, but it just reminds me of the residual effect
it can have to see the musicians themselves looking bored, stoically playing their
instruments and not moving around at all. This is a punk rock show, not a symphony
orchestra! I mean, if you’re playing your own songs and not into it, how can you expect
anyone else to react any differently?!
But as my disembodied self cast its bemused judgment as I writhed to those familiar
tunes, I had an equally frightening thought: What if I’m the one who’s gotten old?! I
mean, if the hooks are just as catchy, could it be I who’s grown dull, after all? I think
back to a humble time long past when a single show marked the highlight of my week;
when I would take the bus or arrive hours early for the house show after school just
to meet and hang out with the individuals in those bands—partially because I was so
stoked and partially because I had nothing much better to do! Well, ok—I maintain
no illusions regarding the latter...The point is, these days I feel as though I take going
to shows for granted. Living at the punk house, with no bed time or parents to answer
to, they’ve grown so accessible, no longer the hard-won battles I once relished every
moment of. The charm has become ritualized, which I suppose is only natural. But I
can’t help but feel like I have...lost something. Ahhh! Help! I’m having a mid-life crisis
at 19!
As I’m sure anyone can relate to, not every show I attend affects and transforms me
as decisively as the first successive dozen or so did. Some in fact—far from eclipsing
the drudgery daily existence, offering a sense of belonging, or breaking down musical
and individual barriers—offer me quite the opposite. But despite these occasional
instances of lacklusterness, the more I “grow up” the more I find myself embracing the
punk community—rather than the allure of false avenues like a work, church, alcohol,
(football?) etc.—for affirmation. So often as to pretty much have become the default rule
of thumb, upon reaching a certain age and for various reasons (steady jobs? families?
social acceptance? utter foolishness?), folks abandon their ideals and “move on” from
the things they once loved. But I hope the older I grow the more steadfastly I learn to
do things for myself and for others, the more uncompromising I become in shaping the
reality I wish to surround myself in and actively living my values. To me that’s maturity.
With each passing day, and the more I listen to Seal’s breathtaking rendition of “Fly
Like an Eagle,” I realize time is not something I have much agency over. Just because
we reach a particular age doesn’t mean we must de-legitimize our experiences up till
that point, nor should it mean that we flee responsibility and inhabit a delusive fantasy
land of stagnation. Gradually, I am understanding that the way by which I may lead
a fulfilling life is not by assimilating into one I’m not interested in or by staving off
the phantom of “adulthood”—but more so by creatively utilizing experiences and
opportunities in the world as they present themselves...
“I am not interested in putting my efforts into a backdrop that supports protracted
adolescence. I want to grow up, I want to change and mature. I just don’t buy the
prescriptions for that that...have been handed down by mainstream culture.” —Katy
Otto, Give Me Back columnist and drummer of Trophy Wife
13
COLUMNS
MEDICINE
DR. FEELGOOD
by nancy kang, m.d.
[email protected]
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
L
ove sick. What is it? A movie from
1983 starring Dudley Moore and ObiWan Kenobi (Alec Guinness)? A Bob
Dylan song from the late ’90s? A memoir
subtitled “One Woman’s Journey Through
Sexual Addition”? A novel by Alex Wellen?
“Lovesick Blues,” a great song by Hank
Williams?
I hate Valentine’s Day on general principle.
It makes a lot of people feel like poop; most of us
are unwanted, disposable, rejected doormats. It
seems everyone around me is getting strip-ograms, candy-grams, flowers and huge teddy
bears embracing overflowing boxes of my
favorite chocolates. I just try to maintain an
outward appearance of Zen while I am really projecting hate via shards of rusted metal shooting out of
my eyeballs. But I digress. For all those love sick, aching hearts out there, this one’s for you.
Love sickness is a non-medical term used to describe mental and physical symptoms of falling in
love. Since the advent of modern scientific psychiatry, the terms obsessive compulsive disorder, mania,
depression and psychosis have largely replaced the colloquial term “love sickness.” But I stand firm that
this should be a real diagnosis in the medical text books. Others agree. Medical insurance should pay
up! There are tons of grants and research money going towards defining the why’s and wherefore’s of
“Love Sickness.” A much better use of research dollars than towards a cure for cancer, don’tcha think?
Symptoms of love sickness:
—Mania or hypomania: abnormally elevated mood, inflated self-esteem, extravagant gift giving, eyepopping shopping sprees.
—Depression: tearfulness, loss of pleasure in other things, loss of concentration.
—Obsessive–compulsive behaviors: preoccupation with your heart’s desire, hoarding valueless but
superstitiously meaningful items such as a greasy fortune cookie paper from Panda Express.
—Stress: high blood pressure, chest pain, acute insomnia all brought on by one’s amour or paramour.
—Physical symptoms: upset stomach, nausea, binge eating, dizziness and confusion.
Serotonin levels of people falling in love were observed to drop to levels found in patients with obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD). Brain scans of people who professed to be truly, madly, deeply in love
showed activity in several structures in common with the brain activity of those with OCD. Their
research methods? Scientists scanned the brains of subjects who were really in love while they looked
at pictures of their lovers and compared these scans to scans taken when subjects looked at more boring
individuals.
Now don’t confuse “love sickness” with “love addiction,” “sexual addiction” or “hypersexuality.”
Read on.
Love addiction is when people become addicted to the feeling of love. They love the idea of being in
love, not necessarily the lovers themselves. Love addiction is common, but most do not realize they are
addicted at all. Love addiction can be treated similarly to other addictions such as alcoholism, through
support group meetings akin to Alcoholics Anonymous. Love addiction is described thusly: a person
begins to have feeling for another person through an initially innocent moment of attraction. The person
quickly idealizes and glorifies the other. The individual is then blindly attached, incapable of making a
realistic analysis of the situation. They may believe the other to be the only one that can bring happiness.
This whole process can be quick, known by some as Cupid’s arrow. Isn’t that cute? Stalk much?
It is typically not a normal romantic union, but an insatiable obsession that distorts the person’s
perception of reality. Love addiction is suffering brought about by an obsession over another person.
Love addiction can also be seen as addiction to romance, adventure, passion, romantic rituals such as
dates and candlelight dinners. Avoid these people.
Sexual addiction refers to a phenomenon in which individuals are unable to manage their sexual
behavior. Some believe sexual addiction is literally an addiction, analogous to alcohol and drug
addictions. Other experts believe that sexual addiction is actually a form of obsessive-compulsive
disorder. Psychiatrists may use instead the term “excessive sexual drive,” sexual behavior characterized
by two key features: recurrent failure to control the sexual behavior and continuation of sexual behaviors
despite harmful consequences.
Sexual addiction may be also described thusly:
1. Recurrent failure to resist impulses to engage in extreme acts of lewd sex. Awesome.
2. Frequently engaging in those behaviors to a greater extent or over a longer period of time than
intended. There are just never enough hours in the day!
3. Unsuccessful efforts to stop, reduce or control those behaviors.
4. Frequently engaging in sexual behavior when you are supposed to be doing other things (when you
are at work).
5. Continuation of the behavior despite knowledge of social, academic, financial or psychological
problems caused by the behavior. So that is why you flunked out of college!
6. Need to increase the intensity, frequency or risk of sex to achieve the desired effect (a.k.a. building up
a sex tolerance).
Numerous professional therapists and counselors offer treatment for sexual addiction. Self-help
groups such as Sex Addicts Anonymous and Sexaholics Anonymous are based on the 12-step system of
Alcoholics Anonymous.
Hypersexuality is the elevated desire to engage in sexual behavior at a level high enough to
be considered a problem, interfering with normal life activities and relationships. The concept of
hypersexuality replaces the older terms nymphomania and satyriasis. Nymphomania was believed to
be a female psychological disorder characterized by sex obsession and an overactive libido. In men the
disorder was called satyriasis. The threshold for what is considered hypersexuality is subject to debate.
Does a standardized diagnostic threshold even exist? Sex drive varies widely among individuals; one
man’s sex drive may be normal to him, but to his next door neighbor, this level of sexual activity may
seem excessive. To his wife, he may seem shockingly and distressingly chaste.
In closing, Love sickness seems to be associated with bad behaviors. Love addiction and sex addition
are associated with even worse behaviors. If you or anyone you know suffers from these disorders, get
help with your primary care provider or local mental health professional. Let’s have a stable soothing
cup of chai and read a novella instead! Let’s go on a platonic tapas luncheon!
I am full of cynicism today. I should have worn my giraffe shirt. Love-proof stoic comrades, have a
great Sunday-gras. Raspberries to everyone else!
FEATURE
MUSIC
AKRON FAMILY WANTS TO SAVE YOUR SOUL
by shai rosenfeld
photo by erica stavis
G
oing to an Akron/Family show is like going to church: it’s
not for everyone. You might feel like an outsider at first
but you’re encouraged to get involved and the music can
be pretty transcendent. If you can connect with the energy that’s
flying around the room, brother, you won’t be able to wait until
next Sunday. After guitarist/lead vocalist Ryan Vanderhoof left
the band, guitarist Seth Olinsky, bassist Miles Seaton and drummer
Dana Janssen regrouped as a threesome. They toured relentlessly
and released their most focused and intense record to date. Set
’em Wild, Set ’em Free was a critical success; it seamlessly blends
African rhythms, noise rock and country twang to create a unique
tableau of ecstatic delirium. It has the unmistakable quality of a
fever dream. The group has just returned from a whirlwind tour
of Europe and Australia, and they head back out on the road next
month with new tunes. To be sure, Akron/Family’s music and
energy can be liberating. After the show is over, though, the aura
gradually fades and I slip back into routine. But just knowing that
Akron/Family is out there somewhere, being true to themselves,
exploring the universe through their music and tuning their
antennas to transduce an interstellar signal… Well, I sleep better at
night. ANTIGRAVITY sat down with Seaton to talk Albert Ayler,
Black Flag and, of course, Jesus.
ANTIGRAVITY: Your ’08-’09 New Year’s Eve show that
closed the storied Knitting Factory in New York was so out of
control. I totally lost my mind there. What do you do with all the
little bits of mind that people are always leaving at your shows?
Miles Seaton: [Laughs] Ideally, I think we can do a pretty good job
of sweeping that stuff up and collecting it in little jars, and then it sits
around in the space that we’re playing in. Occasionally, we pick it
up and check it out; it looks pretty cool. Maybe we shake a little bit
onto our food and then drink in the will and the hopes and the beliefs
of the people it came from, and then speak for them at the shows.
Do you have to pump yourself up before you play? I mean, the
crowd kind of expects a lot from you. Is there a lot of pressure to
be spontaneous and energetic on stage? Do you feel like people
are just waiting for you to start freaking out?
Yes and no. We’re reconciling that, and the older I get the more I
couldn’t give a shit. I want to be myself and be creative, and be in
the moment and be present. I want to deliver too, and there is that
pressure, but I think that the more we work on our music, the more
that gets reconciled. A lot of times we’re more sensitive, and the
crowd can push us in different directions, but I think that there’s a
level of us becoming more confident in whatever way we’re starting
to express ourselves, you know?
Right, it’ll just follow naturally. Like, you do what you do.
Yeah, you’ll be you and we’ll be us and then at some point we’ll be
us; we’ll be all together.
Is it as therapeutic for you, then, as it seems to be for the people
that come and are really feeling it?
I mean, if we can connect with people on a certain level, and they
feel something while they’re there, and we can feel something
while we’re there, that’s as good as it gets. I don’t really know what
everybody feels, but I can definitely taste when it gets to that place
and goes beyond whether or not someone is being blown away by
the bassline or the fucking sick guitar ripping or how well we nailed
or didn’t nail the vocal harmonies, and there’s a level of exploding
into something else. I mean, people letting go is therapeutic,
whether it’s our music that has anything to do with it, if our sort of
demeanor or our positive intentions can create a place where people
feel safe to do that, then we’re doing a great job, but it’s not going
to be because we’re awesome, it’s going to be because people have
given themselves permission to let go.
They have to be open to it.
I’m psyched to be there when I know it’s happening and I’m able
to do it, because it’s a wonderful experience, but that’s it. It’s less
of a desire, and I try to continually put that as my intention and
have that be where I’m coming from and nurture my altruistic side
and not worry about whether or not people like it, because that
doesn’t matter. It’s more like whether or not people can connect
to it. You know, I don’t know if I “like” free jazz, but the energy
in Albert Ayler is something that makes me cry, and I’m totally
blown away and rapt, and I want to listen to it all the time…. But
I don’t think about whether I like it or not. It just has that energy;
it feels like love.
Love?
We get called hippies because we use that word a lot, but the
reality is that shit is pretty radical; it’s punk. There’s this Kanye
West song, and he’s talking about Jesus, and he’s like, “I say
this shit that nobody else says, I can talk about shooting people
and selling drugs, but if I talk about Jesus, my records won’t be
played.” That shit’s radical! So when you go in that direction…I
mean, it’s worked for Kanye West because of a whole other thing.
My point is, saying and doing things that other people don’t do is
not always the easy road, but when you say and do what’s in your
heart, wherever it takes you, you’re able to be in the company of
someone you respect. I want to encourage people in that direction
in their lives, I want that to be what my music is provoking in
people.
I know you have some personal connection to Buddhism. Does
that come from that place?
I think that my desire to look into Buddhism came from that place,
and so Buddhism gave voice to a lot of those things in my life.
From a Buddhist perspective, those inclinations and that altruism
and that love… that’s what I’m made of, and it’s all the other bad
habits and misconceptions and fear and everything that gets in the
way of that shining.
So, you’re working on writing some new songs. How has your
process changed since Ryan left the band?
I think Ryan leaving really put a lot into perspective…it put us in
perspective. Our process has changed a lot; it’s really based around
our relationship. We’re trying to focus on our friendship and our
music being reflections of one another in a really specific way.
Whereas before, when we were working with Ryan, we got in the
habit of moving so quickly and fiercely that we weren’t able to focus
on the human side of making stuff together. I think that’s a huge
change in the process. How it changes the music still remains to
be seen.
Do your live performances help flesh out the new songs?
They feed into each other. I think that’s the coolest thing about the
way we make music; we continually discover nuance that we never
would have when we’re recording. When we’re in the heat of battle,
when we’re on stage and every second of silence, every moment
seems to be so immediate...trimming the fat doesn’t make so much
sense. As you start to crack open these things and you start to feel
the energy of performing something, and then inevitably, especially
with the last two records, we felt like we’d made this whole record
and now we’ve performed these songs, and… I would just love to
go and tear that record apart. It would take no time at all, and it
would sound awesome.
I know Seth grew up listening to the Grateful Dead… but
your initial influences were in punk rock. Do you still listen to
hardcore music?
Yeah, I definitely listened to a lot more Minor Threat or Black Flag,
or kind of weird micro-scenes of noisy thrash/grime core music a
lot. That’s what I was playing when I first started making music. I
always really liked the Boredoms. But I also really liked a lot of ‘60s
music, ‘cause I was really into acid; my dad had a few records that
I listened to a lot, but it was always the more fierce, weirder darker
sides of those that I bonded to.
Like Black Sabbath?
Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, but the edges… it was
the feedback that I responded to. I love harmony, but when I started
making music, it was to express angst more so than it was to get
out ideas… I was also 17, and if you like yourself at 17 then there’s
something wrong with you!
Your opening acts have often shared the stage with you, especially
since Ryan left the band. Are you going to play with Warpaint?
We haven’t talked with them about that yet. We’ll see what
happens when we get out there. Their stuff is cool. They’ve been
interested in trying to find the more experimental side of what they
do. When we first put out our records, there was this hype level
where people were really showing up. There’s this metaphorical
show we played in Asheville. It was packed, there were five or
six hundred people there, and the first thirty minutes of the show
it was like a frothy mess, and at two hours there were like fifty
people there, and the last thirty minutes there were like fifteen
people, but those fifteen people were sold. You know, those are
the people we’re playing to. Our audience has started to become
people interested in what we’re doing and interested in following
and interested in us changing and growing and surprising them,
and expecting the unexpected, and I think that’s really cool. We’re
really lucky, we’ve taken so many bands on tour with us, and
they’re usually able to bring themselves at that moment and just
be who they are. They don’t need to present a polished, scene-y
version of their music. I think that Warpaint was really excited
about that opportunity and excited to explore their sound in a cool
way.
One last question: my neck really hurts the day after your shows.
What should I do?
First of all, try to stretch it out before you come. Stretch it out real
good. And honestly, I take Advil before the show. I believe very
much in Advil. Lots of water. Maybe a hot bath after.
Akron/Family will play One Eyed Jack’s on Sunday, February
21st with Warpaint. For more information, go to akronfamily.
com.
15
FEATURE
MUSIC
THE ANATOMY OF EVOLUTION: ROCK PROPER
AIMS FOR MIDDLE-MAN-FREE MUSIC DISTRIBUTION
by erin hall
W
hat is the future of the recording industry? In these
rapidly changing technological times, traditional
record labels are struggling to stay afloat. The
old process of recording and producing glossy
studio albums backed with truckloads of PR money isn’t working
anymore. Illegal downloads are at an all time high. Every day, a
new service or website pops up. What’s a fledging record company
to do? What’s an artist to do?
Radiohead made quite a stir when they chose to release their
last album, In Rainbows, online. Even more dizzying, they allowed
fans to “pay what you want” for the album, forever shifting
the paradigm of the consumer-artist relationship. Since then,
“net labels” have popped up all over the place. Eschewing the
traditional operations of a record label, net labels offer a sliding
scale of accessibility for the artist and consumer at a fraction of
the cost and risk of being signed to a major label. How they are
presenting content varies wildly, with some offering “pay what
you want” systems while others charge a nominal subscription fee
and some even offer content for free. Rock Proper is one of the
latter. It offers full-length albums for stream and download free of
charge and, in some ways, is more of a curator than a label in the
classical sense of the word.
How to Rock Properly
Started in December 2008 by former New Orleanian and Loyola
graduate Casey Meehan, Chicago-based website Rock Proper
grew out of the Tense Forms Art Collective. Tense Forms was
comprised of artists including musicians, writers, visual artists
and more who produced everything from stage plays to full-length
albums. The camaraderie that grew out of the collective forged a
tight bond amongst the musicians in the group. And one thing
they realized they had in common was a sense of frustration.
It was ultimately this frustration that led to the creation of Rock
Proper. Having many friends who were sitting on what he calls
“dead albums,” Meehan looked for a way to put the music out
there without having to endure the headache and cost of shopping
the albums to labels. “Traditionally there were two options: you
could produce copies and sell them at your shows or you could go
out and shop it to a label,” he said. “Both sort of have their pluses
and minuses. With self-release, you’re in complete control, but
you have a limited audience—sometimes really limited,” he said.
“With independent or major label release you have less control
but a larger potential audience—and I stress potential.” Meehan
strived to look beyond that system with the creation of Rock
Proper.
While the idea was a solid one, it’s not something new. Sites
offering free music for download and mixing have been around
for a while now, but have remained relegated mostly to electronic
genres such as jungle and trance. “We knew those kind of sites
existed and we definitely took some hints from them on what not
to do,” he said. “I think the one thing we really try to focus on
is professionally recorded rock music and sort of narrowing that
in a way that hopefully most of the music is relatively accessible
for most people.” Another difference, Meehan pointed out, is the
order in which the site developed. “We had the music first and
then we figured out the distribution channel later,” he said. “A
lot of these electronic musicians were computer programmers, so
they knew how to build the site first and a lot of them just created
music so they could have something to put on their website. For
us it was the other way around.”
The Jay Bennett Effect
When it came time to launch the site, Meehan was ready to
take one for the team. “I was going to be first,” Meehan said.
“I was gonna be the guinea pig because I didn’t want any of my
friends to have to walk down that dark alley alone.” Instead,
the site’s first posted album came from a surprising source. The
late Jay Bennett, formerly of Wilco, was a friend of Meehan’s.
“We had done some recording at his studio (Pieholden Suite
Sound) when it was in Chicago,” Meehan said. “Pieholden is
sort of a big music clubhouse and it’s a really cool place to jam,
seeing that it has 90% of the equipment that made Yankee Hotel
Foxtrot.”
Bennett heard of the project and had an album (Whatever
Happened I Apologize) ready to go. It would end up being the last
full-length recording he would produce. Bennett died in his sleep
in May 2009. It was later concluded that an accidental overdose
of painkillers from a patch he wore for back pain was the cause
of his death. Meehan said he feels honored to have been a part
of getting the last of Jay’s music to the public. “I feel wonderful
about it. It really was a major turning point in the life of this
project, in the life of Rock Proper. It really put us on the map,”
he said. “And people have written about it, saying that Jay could
have easily gotten a record deal, but decided not to. So that lent a
lot of credibility and legitimacy to what we’re all trying to do. And
we’re totally grateful and forever in debt to the man.”
Of the twenty-some-odd records currently on the site, most
of them have a connecting thread. Amongst the friends of the
founders exist multiple bands and the foundation of the site
is their albums. One of the newest records, however, is from
established indie band The Sun. They had previously been signed
to a contract with Warner Brothers, but allegedly had a negative
experience with the label (which ended up costing them two
band members) and were on the hunt for a better environment.
Jay Bennett recommended Rock Proper to them. They followed
his lead and their newest album, Don’t Let Your Baby Have All The
Fun, a jaunty mix of candy-coated pop and sizzling guitar, is now
available free on Rock Proper. “It was produced by the guy who
did the three Spoon records before Transference,” Meehan said.
“So it’s got some really interesting sonic touches to it.”
Meehan said he and right-hand-man Joshua Dumas have been
inundated with requests from people wanting to put their albums
up on the site. “Before we didn’t really have a system to process the
submissions, but we’re putting one into place now to streamline
everything,” he said. While he is considering developing an
area of the site later for live cuts and lo-fi demos, right now his
focus is on finished albums. “This is a venue for the records that
“We got a huge write-up in Macedonia, “ he said. “We got tons
of links and downloads from there. And there’s no translator tool
for Macedonian, so I have no idea what it says. And today I got
a facebook message from someone who is obviously not a native
English speaker, talking about how much they love the site.”
While the widespread attention is flattering, Meehan hopes to see
more downloads in his own backyard. “It’s awesome. It’s cool.
But the hard part is that it doesn’t really change our immediate
lives,” he said. “It would be nice to be able to tour the U.S. and get
a lot of folks at every venue. So we’re trying to do things to focus
on the places that have the most impact. But, we’ll take what we
can get,” he said. “Hey, Macedonians need rock’n’roll too.”
The second pro, Meehan said, is the environmental impact.
“It’s simple,” he said. “Just look at the amount of money that
goes into the creation of the plastic casing and printing the
booklets. And then add the shipping from the manufacturer to the
distributor and from the distributor to the stores. Then tack on the
customer driving it home from the store, where they will put it on
their computer and then throw away or basically lose the plastic
piece.” “It just seems to be absurd if you look at it that way,” he
concluded.
But the biggest pro, Meehan pointed out, is the freedom this
system allows the artist. “The reason that records are the length
they are, for the most part, is because of the length of the medium
itself – the cassette or the LP or the CD,” he said. “With this we
can experiment with all different types of lengths and formats. We
have one album on the site right now (Where The Moon Came
From’s Psychedelic Saturday) that is just a 20-minute song,” he said.
“And maybe the world isn’t ready for that right now, but this gives
bands the freedom to do what they want with their material.”
And on the topic of bands being ahead of their time, Meehan
sees great value in the shelf life of the albums on the site.
“Traditionally everything about making an album is tied to a
release date,” he said. “The band will write ten songs and they’ll
put these ten songs on a record and then they try and do as much
as they can to get that cd in stores and selling in the very, very off
chance that it will be a hit and can remain on the shelves there for
longer than a month.” He expounds that, “keeping it on shelves
for longer than six months is even harder. But now we can look
at putting out a ten-minute song every two months, instead of a
record a year or every two years. So it really just frees the whole
creative process up.”
Where Do We Go From Here?
people have worked their asses off making,” he said. “A lot of
great albums are made in home studios, so I’m not saying that
a professional studio is a requirement. The one word that we
just keep coming back to is music made with a lot of integrity.
It’s not just something somebody threw together, but something
that these musicians take really seriously. I think within the first
minute of hearing something, you sort of know if it’s been made
with integrity.” This is not to say, Meehan clarified, that lo-fi
music isn’t a good fit for the site. “I think Brother Truck is a good
example of sort of lo-fi music we have on the site,” he said. “It’s
all about it being purposefully and artfully done in a lo-fi way as
opposed to lazily or cheaply.”
Seeing as Bennett’s submission brought media attention to
the project, one has to wonder if Rock Proper will be reaching
out to other established bands in an effort to drive traffic to the
site. “I’ve thought about it and right now there’s just so many
folks coming to us and a lot of them are sounding pretty good, so
for the immediate time, we’ve got our hands full,” Meehan said.
“I would encourage folks to reach out and shoot us an email if
they’re interested in joining forces with us, but I don’t know that
I’ll be making cold calls to any bands. It seems like the word is
getting out, so hopefully people will hear about it.”
The Pros Have It
While Meehan definitely sees cons to releasing an album for free
online (“the most obvious is that you’re not making any profit
from record sales”), he tends towards the thinking that the pros
more than make up for it. “First is the speed angle,” he said.
“Doing this, you can have your record available internationally
in a matter of hours.” In fact, the site currently boasts over 20,000
full album downloads from over 200 different countries. Meehan
mentioned that he’s noticed some strange geographical patterns.
In talking about the evolution of the site, Meehan does not rule
out the possibility of charging in the future. “We made that
clear when we started the site,” he said “We didn’t want to back
ourselves into a corner by calling it a ‘free site,’ and then years
down the road have listeners angry if we began charging.” And
while the concept of charging for the content is definitely on the
table, Meehan doesn’t see it happening in the immediate future.
“If we do begin charging that’s a while down the road,” he said.
“And we’re not talking $15 an album either – maybe $1 per
album.”
For Meehan, the plan is simply to keep doing what they’re doing
now. “The plan for the immediate future is just to keep putting out
really good music on a regular schedule, “he said. “ We want to
release ten records this year at least.” He also expressed interest
in creating a backend “members only” portion of the website that
would contain exclusive content for members of their mailing list.
“It’s got a lot of good stuff in there that doesn’t really appear on
the website,” Meehan said.” “So our main goal is to get people to
sign up for our every-other-month newsletter and grow that base.
That’ll be your first access to some live music and lo-fi recordings
from the bands that will be accessible only through membership
in the newsletter,” he said. “I think it’s really pretty feasible that
we can, in the next year, make sure every release immediately
gets 1,000 downloads. That’s our goal for 2010 and the main
way that’s gonna happen is if we can get people to sign up for the
newsletter. We don’t bombard people with emails or anything like
that. It’s quite the opposite really.”
In terms of physically releasing the albums on the site, Meehan
is torn. “We’d love to do vinyl, but as far as that being a costeffective thing for us, that’s sort of gonna have to happen whenever
the time is right,” he said. “There have been a few people who
are sort of interested in funding that and we have some lines in
FEATURE
MUSIC
the water with some of our favorite indie labels as far as doing the distro for
that.” Other ideas for operating capital for the site have come in the form of
merch and exclusive livestreams. “There’s some ideas about doing a t-shirt
series and working on some merch as well as some thoughts about doing online
partnerships with people and generating some revenue that way,” he said. “I’ve
also thought about putting on a live concert at Pieholden that we would stream
on the site in conjunction with a donation drive. That could be fun.”
Obviously artistry and exposure have a higher value than profits to the guys
at Rock Proper right now, but as the recording industry (hopefully) evolves to
meet the changing demands of the consumer and current technology, we may
see this type of setup become increasingly popular, allowing more freedom for
both the artists and the fans. “Really, when you look at all the pretty large
websites out there, they all started for free and offered a free service for quite a
long time before they started charging people,” Meehan said. “And even then
they didn’t really charge people in a traditional manner. Our main focus is to
grow and keep on doing what we’ve been doing.”
Songs in the Key of Eck
Many of the artists on the site honed their musical skills in New Orleans while
in college, but only a few still call it home. One of those is Steve Eck. After
graduating from Loyola in 2002, he spent a brief stint living in Chicago. “Our
band moved after college to try and ‘make it in the big city,’” he said, “and the
drummer never even left Slidell.” Eventually people moved on and Eck was
left in the windy city on his own. “I knew a lot of people there, but they all had
day jobs and were mostly set up, so I was kind of lonesome,” he said. “That’s
really when I started writing solo music.” He returned to the city in October
2005, taking up residence in the shattered hull of post-Katrina New Orleans.
“Every time the wind blew, the power went out in the Bywater,” he said.
His second solo release, Syrup Song, was one of the first albums to debut on
Rock Proper. His style is defined on the site as “cemetery love triangle songs,”
and common threads of loneliness, drunkenness and chaos run throughout his
work. Having heard only this, I expected that he would -- to be honest -- be a
bit of an asshole. You know, the type in a pearl button shirt who will talk your
ear off about his love of Tennessee whiskey and the genius of Johnny Cash
(not that I’d argue the value of either of those things, but you get my drift).
I, instead, found him to be refreshingly humble. He’s the kind of guy who
would take lengthy measures, utilizing his print making skills, to handcraft his
album covers by personally silk-screening cake boxes with simple yet striking
designs.
Sporting a mop of messy hair and a black zip-up hoodie speckled with pizza
stains, Eck is the very picture of down-to-earth. And all the while, he is truly a
musician coming into his own. He talked of his penchant for self-deprecation
at the beginning of his solo career. “I couldn’t believe I was writing solo
music,” he said. “It just felt so pretentious, so I named my first EP Songs
in the Key of Eck.” The lampooning continued with the first incarnation of
his backing band, which he dubbed Steve Eck and the Ladyfriends. “It was
just me and my friend Matt Martin on drums,” he said. “So Matt was my
ladyfriend.”
He has spent the last year solidifying a lineup of impressive musicians to
play his solo material alongside. And his efforts paid off richly on his latest
album. “I gotta give a lot of credit to the guys in this incarnation of the band,”
he said. “They’ve definitely moved the songs to a different place.” He cites the
inspiration for all his work as simply the people and places that surround him
here in New Orleans every day.
His latest release, Drag it Out, Burn it Down, continues in the same lyrical
vein as Syrup Song but possesses a much richer sound due to his new band
packing a seriously powerful sonic punch (see the full review of Drag it Out, Burn
it Down on page 25).
You can see Steve Eck and the Midnight Still with The Kitty Lynn band at the HiHo lounge on Saturday, February 6th. Eck’s album and dozens more are available
in their entirety on rockproper.com. Make sure to sign up for the mailing list to
have great new music from Rock Proper sent directly to your inbox every month.
17
FEATURE
MUSIC
BLOWING MINDS AND TAKING NAMES:
SCREAMING FEMALES RULE ON THEIR OWN TERMS
by andy gibbs
S
urely you’re familiar with rock and roll, the musical genre
that shot out of the American music scene in the 1950s and
took the culture-at-large by storm. And no doubt, as a loyal
ANTIGRAVITY reader with impeccable taste, you have
formed an appreciation for this music in one of its various forms.
And perhaps your inner purist tends to think that many bands today
claiming Rock Status have done so on false grounds and should be
put to death for their Crimes Against Rock. We have heard it from
all corners of the world; some group of hey-brahs thinks they’re this
generation’s answer to the Stooges or, worse, Led Zeppelin in all
their inimitable wankery. Screaming Females are not that group
of hey-brahs. In fact, only two-thirds (drummer Jarrett Dougherty
and bassist King Mike) can claim Brah Status, leaving singer/
guitarist Marissa Paternoster as the lone actual Screaming Female.
The truth about them is very simple: they write really good punkinflected rock songs and Paternoster wields her secret-weapon
shred skills like a black-belt judo master. These two basic facts have
yielded a choir of critical acclaim, have recently landed the band
on MTV and on a tour with Jack White’s
band the Dead Weather. On top of all that,
Paternoster and Dougherty were also nice
enough to take some time and answer some
questions for ANTIGRAVITY.
ANTIGRAVITY: First off, Power Move
has been on my turntable nonstop since I
picked it up last year. How did that album
come together? It seems to take influence
from a pretty varied mix of genres. Was
that a conscious effort?
Jarrett Doughtery: Since we formed we
have been pretty consistent with putting out
releases (three full-lengths and four 7”s in
four years). I’d like to think of Power Move
as just an extension of that. It was also a
new experience in many ways because
it was our first album with a label (Don
Giovanni Records), the first we did at the
Hunt Studio and the first with a full press
lead time. Most of the songs were written
when we went in. A few came together
last minute. We had just come off of a
six-week national tour, so we felt pretty
tight. One of the biggest factors with Power
Move was the engineer/ Hunt Studio owner,
Eric Bennett. Eric worked really hard to
capture the raw sound of the three of us
playing together in new and interesting
ways. Our music is definitely a mix of
genres. We didn’t go into this project with
a preconceived notion of what it should
sound like. So often bands decide what they
should sound like before they even play
together. The mixture of our three different
backgrounds makes something unique.
Sometimes we will start writing a song and
say something like, “Are we really writing
a pop-punk song?” to each other. But since
there is no preconceived sound as long as
it sounds good to us we can do whatever
we want! I think bands with easily definable
genres often suck. They are diluted derivations of something
someone has already done better.
How do you go about writing new stuff? Do all three of you
participate or does Marissa bring fully formed songs to practice?
Marissa Paternoster: We all write the songs together. I think Mike
brings the winning riffs in the most often.
Touring: painful necessity, labor of love, or both? Are you sick of
each other by the time you get home? Do you follow the popular
“driver picks the music” rule? This may seem like a trivial
question, but I know bands that have broken up over this stuff.
MP: Yes, the driver typically picks the music but that is not a rule
written in stone. Jarrett only loses his cool when we put Third Eye
Blind on. We’ve been listening to audio books lately.
JD: Touring is not for the lighthearted. It is a very strange and
often stressful lifestyle. We’ve gotten really good at talking out
problems with each other to make sure they don’t stew and come
to a head later. I feel at home on tour. The choosing of music
question is a good one! Whenever I help a new band go on their
first tour I always suggest doing two weeks or less. Even if you are
in a band with your best friends you might discover that they have a
disgusting habit that you would have never known about until you
are locked in a van for ten hours straight every day.
How has touring changed for you now that the band is getting
more national recognition, and has it changed the more DIYfocused work ethic that the band has employed over the years? Is
the band still handling the booking, press, etc. itself?
JD: On a very basic level touring hasn’t changed at all with
the recognition. We still sleep on friends’ floors and bring food
in the van so we don’t have to eat crap or spend a lot of money
on food. I also wouldn’t call it “national recognition,” because
we had played something like thirty-eight states before Spin or
Rolling Stone or BrooklynVegan ever wrote a word about us. After
handling our end of booking for our tour opening for the Dead
Weather, I decided that I couldn’t really do it anymore. We have
a booking agent now. For the Dead Weather booking I learned to
write contracts and how to deal with promoters and talent buyers
and contract managers and production managers and Canadian
Immigration and all the rest. Just like getting Don Giovanni to
help release Power Move, it got to the point were I wasn’t really
best utilizing my time spending it all on booking. I am still super
involved with our booking. I approve everything and do a lot of
the routing and ask to play with specific locals. We never really
did press for ourselves. It was one of the things that Don Giovanni
Records was able to offer us.
You were recently featured on MTV. What was that experience
like? Is participating in more mainstream ventures akin to
stepping into some kind of alternate dimension after years of
being involved in the punk underground?
JD: MTV was weird! It was super-awesome to be asked to do the
show. Alexa Chung, the host of the show, personally requested
that we be on the show after seeing us play live. The rest of MTV
couldn’t have cared less about us. Arranging our appearance on the
show was really funny as well. The head production person had told
me weeks before that the band had to be at the studio at 9am. Then
the day before the performance they told me that our “crew” had
to be there at 6am to load in and set up the equipment!!! I think we
totally blew MTV’s collective mind when we pulled up in my van,
unloaded our own equipment and set up our stuff ourselves. Then
we fell asleep on the floor of their greenroom for a few hours. I
think we made the place smell.
MP: I slept through the catered waffles. Marissa, you put out a tape of your solo stuff (Noun) that
I absolutely love. Were most of those songs written before
Screaming Females got together? How do you feel that the solo
material differs from the full bands’ songs? Any plans to do more
solo stuff or re-release that Noun tape in a
different format?
MP: I worked on Noun stuff in the
basement of my grandmother’s house for
about two years before Screaming Females
started playing out. Writing songs by
yourself can be a bit frustrating without
having other’s input, especially when you
get a bit of writer’s block. I find that making
music with Screaming Females is a lot more
satisfying and interesting than plucking
along by myself; but like I said, it’s a fun
way to fill up time and keep myself busy. A
Noun LP should be coming out in Spring
’10. Are any of you still involved in your local
scene? What are some other awesome
bands from New Brunswick/surrounding
areas?
JD: We are still totally involved in our local
scene. You will see one of us at a basement
show three or four times a week, buying
records and hanging out. We still play local
shows and set up shows for touring bands,
just not as often as a few years ago. A local
band called Mattress just released their first
7” and went on their first tour. I helped them
with getting the 7” released and with some
tour contacts. They will blow your mind. Unlike anything punk has seen before!!
Where do you see the band in five years?
Do you see the band in five years?
JD: I’ve always had forward-looking
visions for our band. I thought we would be
where we are in three years but it took four.
So I guess we are behind schedule. Every
decision we have ever made in regard
to the band has always been with the
project’s longevity in mind. We’ve been
offered thousands of dollars at this point to
participate in TV shows and sell our music
places. But those kinds of things really cheapen the art and kill the
life of its importance.
What are your plans for the next record and how is your sound
evolving?
MP: We’re going back to the Hunt Studio in New Jersey. I’m
psyched. JD: The sound is always evolving. We have some ’90s pop songs
ready for the new one.
What do you plan on eating for dinner tonight?
JD: Probably leftover Whole Wheat Pasta with kale, small white
beans, tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic.
You can observe more of Screaming Females’ eating habits at the Koenji
House (2608 Magazine at 3rd) on February 12th. For information on
the Screaming Females go to screamingfemales.com
FEATURE
MUSIC
GO TO DRIVERS ED. WITH KING LOUIE’S
MISSING MONUMENTS
by dan fox photos by eric martinez
S
urrounded by the shells of old cars, each one in a completely
different state of repair, it’s easy to feel like you’re in King
Louie Bankston’s head instead of the warehouse in the 9th
Ward where his newest band practices. With so many past
projects to his name, listing them just seems ridiculous (and you can
go to his Wikipedia page if you really want to know them all). There’s
the One Man Band (a tortured yet eerily beautiful multi-instrument
solo project), which is like this fully built hotrod missing its wheels—
stuck for now but ready to go at a moment’s notice. Then there’s
the Black Rose Band, which looks finished (glossy black paint job,
naturally) but then peering in the dusty window you see there’s no
seats inside. Its fate remains uncertain. These are only a few of the
projects, to say nothing of the various pieces and parts littered about
that hint at things to come; but what’s getting him around right now
is the Missing Monuments, a slightly slowed down, steady pop-driven
four piece. And like the Dodge Charger that guitarist Julien Fried
actually drives around in, this one is taking him places. With more gigs
booked outside New Orleans than in, King Louie is wasting no time,
invigorated perhaps by the two fresh recruits to his musical madness:
bassist Bennett Bartley and drummer Aaron Hill. ANTIGRAVITY
caught up with Louie and company just after their return from
Memphis, where a previously booked gig took an unfortunate turn
into paying their last respects to longtime friend and collaborator Jay
Reatard. Among all the hulking auto carcasses, we talked about Jay
and the huge network of friends and musicians King Louie has called
on, what it really means to be a punk and the many ways to make a
girl cry.
ANTIGRAVITY: You just came back from Memphis, where you attended Jay
Reatard’s funeral. What did Jay mean to you?
King Louie: Jay was a person that came into my life about thirteen years ago. When
I heard about him he was 14. My buddy Eric Friedl, [aka] Eric Oblivian [founder of
Goner Records, Jay’s longtime label] told me he was going to send me a tape of this kid
who was amazing. I got the tape; it was Jay Reatard. It was pretty much everything he
was recording in his house on a four-track, hitting buckets. It was just amazing. I met
him when he came down to New Orleans to see a show I was doing and he told me
that he kept a couple of 45s that I did under his dresser, because his mom kept throwing
out all of his punk records. So I was pretty impressed. And we became friends after that
and played in several bands. I got to know him pretty well... He never gave up on you if
you were his friend. He gave everything 100%—more than that, and if you were going
to do something with him, you’d have to give that much too; he could be vicious if you
didn’t... He was my little brother and I love him.
Julien Fried: I met Jay maybe ten years ago and played some shows with the Lost
Sounds. In the past two years I got to be his friend and got to record in his house. He had
an impressive stack of records; you’d think you were hanging out with Keith Richards or
something. Just boxes and boxes of records, and they’re all different. It was amazing just
to see how he operated and it was pretty amazing to watch how fast he moved.
KL: As busy as he was, he’d call to check up on you. And this is from a kid who put
out twenty-two albums. As of last week they were counting twenty-two albums, almost
ninety 45s and compilations, and now it’s over a hundred. And this is vinyl; this isn’t all
the stuff he did on CD-Rs and stuff in his bedroom. We’re talking records that actually
went to a pressing plant. Who else does that? Elvis?
You had a show booked for that weekend, anyway, right? Did you end up playing?
What was the feeling like?
KL: We had the show booked and we were going up there to play with Jack Oblivian
and the Tearjerkers. And then Jay passed away, so we went up there and I was a
pallbearer at Jay’s funeral. It was strange... they had a Flying V hanging on the church
wall, by the way, which was totally awesome…
Bennett Bartley: In place of a crucifix. And they buried him with it.
KL: We went to the venue and everybody was really sad after the wake. I got on stage
and it was like, “I’m going to plug in my Stratocaster and play an hour of pop stuff” and if there was
FEATURE
one time I just wanted to be the guitar player for Slayer, it was that
moment. But we got a bottle of whiskey and just turned it around,
turned it into everybody just having a party.
Aaron Hill: Everybody stopped crying and started smiling.
JF: It was a good thing there was a show booked because nobody
had anywhere to go. Everybody needed somewhere to talk about
what happened and drink together.
KL: There were three bands playing but, by the end of it, it was, for
lack of a better term, a “jam session” because one band would finish
and Jack would come out and go, “Hey, all the Oblivians happen
to be here” and they did a full set. And then we did some Loose
Diamonds stuff and a couple of Reatard songs and it just went on
and on. I don’t remember it ending... And then reality came back
and we had to go to the funeral. And we’ll leave [it] on this note:
Jay Reatard is buried directly next to Isaac Hayes. If you stand ten
feet away you’d think they were in the same family.
MUSIC
Tell me about the recording you just completed.
AH: It doesn’t sound like shit. We recorded it at Tom’s house over
two days; he lives right by the Banks Street bar.
KL: We just call it the Banks Street Studio. He did the first One
Man Band LP. We did Black Rose stuff there. He’s done a lot of
metal... We mixed the record over with Louis from Consortium of
Genius.
JF: A good friend of Morgus the Magnificent.
That’s a crazy union of people right there.
KL: Well, Louis comes in the hardware store that I work at and
he’s always in there. We did a gig last year (with COG and the
One Man Band). I was going to do a scene in one of his movies
about the souls that got buried alive when they built the Huey
P. Long Bridge. We were going to do something like that but we
never did it and he went and made another thing with Morgus,
and I lost my spot in the movie... But we’ve just been talking
Louie, what’s different about this band than the
previous projects you’ve been in?
KL: It seems like there’s a lot of different products
that come out record-wise that I do, but really for
the past three years I’ve steadily been playing in
one or two bands. For most of this decade what
I’ve done in New Orleans is blues rock and that
kind of thing, but there’s also a large part of what
I did when I was in Oregon, playing power pop
stuff, and Memphis was a little more greasy, soul
stuff. I just wanted to bring stuff that I hadn’t really
done here and give it more of a New Orleans street
feel: simple pop songs but loud, dirty lyrics, soulful
stuff. I thought that starting this band would take
the past and put it in perspective for myself and
move towards the future with a new lineup.
JF: Me and Louie have been in a few bands and we
finally got the right chemistry.
KL: We just waited. Usually, if a band breaks up you
get a couple more guys and you go on, change the
name... We were like “Fuck it.” After the Black Rose
Band broke up we tried to do another band briefly
and it totally didn’t work out. It was like “Let’s just
wait.... we’ll wait six months if we have to.” That
turned into a year and a half but still it was worth it. I
sat and wrote songs. We still hung out and did stuff.
Got to make a record with Gerry McGillicuddy.
How did you get hooked up with Douchemaster, the label that’s
putting out your 7”?
JF: Douchemaster is out of Atlanta and we have a few good friends
that are involved with that label. One of those friends is Gentleman
Jesse and his Men.
BB: Really awesome songwriter. They saw us play on New Year’s
in Atlanta. We opened up for the Black Lips. They were at the
show and maybe two days later we got an email asking if we were
interested in working with them.
KL: One thing that helped us come together as a group was our
Atlanta connections. I had been playing there since the ’90s. I did
a record on Die Slaughterhaus which, at the time, was doing Die
Rotzz records. So they were doing New Orleans
stuff... Black Lips were on the label at the time.
When Eric went to do the first Gonerfest it was
only, like, ten bands and it was basically New
Orleans, Atlanta and Memphis bands. So there was
that connection already and Aaron and Bennett do
a band with Ian from the Black Lips, so it seemed
to be a natural progression.
What do you have planned for the next couple
of months?
KL: By the time everyone’s reading this we’ll
probably be in Oregon and Seattle. We’re going
to play the Bender in Portland, Oregon at a club
called Slabtown. They put on a two-or-three-day
music festival out there. They’ve been bringing me
out the past few years. The Loose Diamonds went
and played last year.
JF: We’re playing South By Southwest with the
Spits and Tokyo Electron.
KL: It’s a Beerland day show. Famous for the Frito
pie.
JF: We’re going to play Mardi Gras at the
Spellcaster Lodge. Friday show.
BB: I don’t know who else is booked for that.
Who would you want to play with?
JF: Iron Maiden.
BB: Tom Petty, Roky Erickson...
KL: I want to play with a Joe Pestilence band.
That guy fuckin’ rules. Joe Pestilence could fart in
a microphone and you should still buy it.
BB: Super Destroyers fucking rule.
JF: Yeah, we’d like to say that Super Destroyers
are a great band. Joe Pestilence needs the utmost
respect. He is a veteran of the scene. He needs a
shout-out!
BB: Genius of a punk rocker!
KL: Joe was already a veteran when I came around
and joined a band with him and that was twenty
years ago. When I joined the Clickems, a band
that Joe had, he was already 86’ed for putting chili
stains in a diaper and going crazy. By that time, he
was already a legend and nobody would book any
of his shows.
This band does feel a little bit more mellow—
relatively speaking, of course—than your
previous work. Is that a reflection of where you
might be in your life, overall, right now?
KL: I’m taking more time to do things in my life
and not spaz out and just turn into this ball that
finally explodes somewhere. I guess that’s being
reflected into my songs. We’re still punks, we’re
just not punk rockers.
Explain the difference.
KL: We’re punk kids; we’re losers, you know?
AH: You’re definitely, a loser, for sure. [Laughs]
KL: We are! We’re not a type of musical person or
that brand. We could be playing whatever.
BB: Punk rock is ruined by stamps, dude. It doesn’t
even matter what the difference is. There’s so
many different types of punk. You’ve got every
dickhead and his brother that can’t really play
music screaming into a microphone and making
the noisiest crap and calling it punk rock but it’s
not. It’s shit.
KL: We’re doing stuff that sounds like drippy
bubblegum pop stuff but then when you listen
to the lyrics it’s like, “Wow, the guy’s in a jar of
formaldehyde and he’s drowning?”
JF: Salty-sweet!
Louie, you told me earlier you were interested in
quality control with this band. What did you mean by that?
KL: I want to sound good; I don’t want to purposefully make my
records sound like shit. The aggression and electricity is in the
writing and it’s in our personalities so we don’t have to go and
make a lo-fi, shitty record to have it kick ass. I also don’t believe
in promoting our music into obscurity. Why put out a record and
make a hundred if you can sell a couple thousand of them? I have
stacks of records out that I don’t even have copies of.
JF: When we decided to make this kind of music we were hopping
footbridges in Berlin and listening to ELO. And then we wanted to
be in a pop band.
KL: We were on tour with the Black Rose Band. We stole a car in
the middle of the night and listened to ELO because this girl kept
crying about something, so I thought if we keep driving 90 miles an
hour and keep playing ELO and jumping these little bridges, she
would stop crying. And she did! By sunup she stopped crying and
we returned the car.
KL: I promised him last weekend that if he gets famous and lets us
ride his coattails to stardom I would consider changing the name of
the band to King Louie’s Missing Monuments (featuring Bennett
Bartley).
forever about something and I was like, “Look, I’ve got this
record. I want to mix it; why don’t you have a shot at it?” And
literally—kabam—right there. One, two passes and it sounded
great; he knew what I was talking about. He said he hadn’t done
a pop record so he was interested in it. And this is his first vinyl
record.
BB: I think the TK421 High-Fidelity upgrade helped as well. You
know what I’m talking about, Aaron? These are technical things
you don’t need to know about.
AH: More quads per channel.
KL: I don’t know what they’re talking about.
BB: Some people will, I promise. It’s from that movie!
KL: By the way, we have a movie star here!
BB: You don’t need to mention that at all.
KL: Mr. Bennett has been cast in Treme. I think he’s a drug dealer.
BB: I did one part in Treme. I was a drug dealer in Texas. I told
some dude “Let’s go get fucked up, bro.”
Can you elaborate on that?
KL: This was 1985 or ’86; he was in a band
called the Legion of Decency and he drove in
from Hattiesburg or “Gothport” or whatever it
was. But anyway, Joe comes in, he was about
a half-hour late for the show and the girl who
was booking the show is just screaming at him.
It’s just a show at a VFW hall for $3 for a bunch
of punks and she’s making a big deal about it.
So Joe goes to the store and buys diapers and
chili and he wedgies himself with it and goes on
stage. It was disgusting and he didn’t get gigs for a long time
after that!
Aaron and Bennett—this is your first band with Louie. And I
know he’s sitting right here, but still: any apprehension joining
his band?
AH: I thought it could end at any moment. Everybody knows
Louie, so you know what you’re getting into. But it’s been fine so
far, so... Love ya, Louie!
BB: Everybody who knows Louie has heard a couple of train-wreck
stories here and there. We just hoped for the best and it’s working
out really fucking awesome.
JF: We just made him sign a release in case he kills us, our families
will be taken care of. It’s all very legal.
King Louie’s Missing Monuments play the Spellcaster Lodge on Tuesday,
February 12th. For more info, go to myspace.com/missingmonuments.
21
REVIEWS
BEACH HOUSE
BEAR IN HEAVEN
CLIPD BEAKS
(SUB POP)
(HOMETAPES)
(LOVEPUMP UNITED)
BEAST REST FORTH MOUTH
TEEN DREAM
B
each House, the Baltimore
dream-pop duo composed of
Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand, is
back with a brand new full-length,
the third LP in their catalogue. Their
first effort showcased a band with
much promise and introduced us to
the enchanting, ethereal vocals of Legrand, a singer whose pipes
lived comfortably underneath the twilight waltz of Scally’s drum
machine and guitar combo. But the eponymous debut, as solid as
it was, only hinted towards the majesty attained on their gorgeous
sophomore outing, Devotion, an album that proved to be one of the
highlights of 2008. Where their debut felt restrained and somewhat
understated, Devotion opened the floodgates for them and poured
emotion onto the listener in a way few bands are capable of. And
it was largely Legrand emerging in the forefront of the sound as a
confident and affecting vocalist that took them to new heights. Now
here we are, almost exactly two years after Devotion, and we are
met with Teen Dream, their third effort (and the second released on
Seattle’s Sub Pop label).
The album picks up almost exactly where Devotion left off. On
“Zebra,” the opening track, Scally’s trademark guitar slink opens
and when coupled with subdued organs and hushed, precious
vocals, you can’t help but feel at home with this sound. Yet there is
a new element that intrigues, and that is the use of live (and human)
drumming. This new feature remains present throughout, while not
on every single track, and not so oddly gives Beach House a warmth
and personality that completes their sound this time around. Perhaps
producer, engineer and mixer Chris Coady, who has worked with
the likes of TV on the Radio, Blonde Redhead, Grizzly Bear, Gang
Gang Dance, Cass McCombs and Junior Kimbough, had impact
on the band’s recording process; but regardless, Beach House come
into their own on Teen Dream. “Norway,” the first single off the
album, rivals “Gila” (and is strangely also the third cut of Teen just
as “Gila” was the third off Devotion), as the best song the band has
ever put to record. Full of suggestion and anticipation, “Norway”
possesses an edge largely as a result of the pulsating bass line that is
new to the Beach House sound. A band that has grown with each
release, in leaps and bounds at that, now shows us that they are not
done flowering forth.
Issues of lovers past and feelings of being left behind haunt the
lyrical transcript on Teen as they have on past statements, but it is
the added optimism throughout this new record that color the sonic
landscape away from desolation and towards “Real Love” that was
always hinted at, but never fully embraced. A certain reticence has
always run deep in this duo’s sound, both in their musical restraint
and their lyrical longing, but tracks like “10 Mile Stereo” break
through this barrier, with Legrand convincing, “They say we can
throw far / But they don’t know how far we throw / With our
legs on the edge / And our feet on the horizon...” The track is the
most uplifting and poignant number on the album. If anything
nods to the poignancy and optimism present here outside of the
music itself, it might be the presentation of the album in the flesh;
a double gate-fold, art-laden beauty of a package on vinyl or a twodisc, CD/DVD combo complete with music videos, some of which
were actually directed by Legrand and Scally. Beach House go for
broke on Teen Dream and we are all the luckier for it. What is life
without its’ lessons and what is music outside of the expression and
understanding of those lessons learned? Beach House understand
their powers of locution and have something to say that is worthy
of our time and headspace. So do yourself a favor and let this one
grow on you—for after all, growth, as this album evidences, is so
much more celebratory than decay. —Dan Mitchell
B
ear in Heaven is a dense beast.
While not extremely accessible
upon the first few listens, patience
and attentiveness—this album is
complex and free flowing musically
and abstract yet oddly personal
lyrically—will ultimately reward the
listener in the long run. Throughout the first few tries, this album
comes across as somewhat humdrum and feels like music that
would work perfectly as background sound and nothing more, but
give them a chance and Jon Philpot and crew will slowly seep into
your consciousness and refuse to leave. Bear in Heaven has a sound
that is quite unlike many contemporary artists that receive critical
acclaim nowadays and this is their strongest selling point. Beast Rest
Forth Mouth is an amoebic shape-shifter, restless and awash with
kraut-y and hypnotic rhythms, undercurrent synth lines and airy,
ethereal vocals—think Can meets Sunny Day Real Estate, if that
is even possible. They have an atmospheric sound, but to say that
Bear is entirely in the clouds on this debut offering would sell them
short, because “Wholehearted Mess” and “Lovesick Teenagers”
both work as engaging and triumphant numbers, as catchy as they
are dizzy. The real success here is that Bear in Heaven offer a bit for
everyone—the rocker, the trip-hopper, the jam-y freedom seeker or
the sad-sappy sucker—they will all find solace and enjoyment in this
record. Perhaps Bear in Heaven point toward a trend for this new
decade where music has finally engulfed itself in both influence and
possibility and can now truly move forward without the constraints
of the past, away from irony and towards sincerity. One thing is to
be sure with concern to this album. Once it penetrates and befriends
your sonic space, there is no turning your back on this Beast. —Dan
Mitchell
BLAKROC
BLAKROC
(V2)
F
or as simple as it sounds,
combining rap with rock has
been an all too perilous proposition.
Either a tepid stew of whiny voiced
nu-metallers crying in rhyme over
chunky riffs or tone-deaf rappers
bleating over pre-programmed rawk,
the results have been typically underwhelming. Leave it then to
Damon Dash (businessman supreme of glossy hip-hop) and The
Black Keys (curators of garage blues) to find the sweet spot between
rhythm and riff. The secret is simple really—the blues. Blakroc’s
formula is obvious from the start, when Ludacris adds his sideshow
barker flow to an ODB vocal track while Pat Carney smashes a
clanging drum kit and Dan Auerbach spins a shimmering guitar
siren. The MC list is stacked with heavy hitters, from Raekwon’s
crack-smoke-laced free associative flow on “Stay Off the Fuckin’
Flowers” to the Jay-Z dead ringer NOE’s meat and potatoes rap
over “Hard Times.” The only real stinker is RZA’s so-off-the-beatthey’re-laughable bars on “Tellin’ Me Things,” which is a shame
because that track’s up-tempo, train-whistle-versus-buzz-saw backup
is among the record’s most interesting. The Black Keys’ part in all
this stays on the money, snapping up a 4x4 rocker one minute then
slipping into a slinky slow jam the next. Blakroc’s biggest strength is
its off-the-cuff energy, like the musicians entered the studio and just
jammed, looking for those peanut butter meets chocolate moments
that the record is full of. —Mike Rodgers
TO REALIZE
T
he newest music from the
relatively unknown, Oaklandbased Clipd Beaks manifests itself
on an eleven-track album entitled To
Realize on LovePump Records. Equal
parts My Bloody Valentine, Velvet
Underground, Jane’s Addiction, and
featuring some spooked, electronic elements, this release is full of
swelling sounds and otherworldly majesties. Following two obscure
releases, Preyers EP (2006) and Hoarse Lords (2007), the band reveals
some maturity and focuses a bit more on song structure and lyrics.
However, fans need not worry about a planned California-pop
transformation. Drenched in reverb, Clipd Beaks still have more in
common with the Black Angels or Deerhunter than San Francisco’s
Girls. Allowing their previous drone influences to permeate their
recent evolution, Clipd Beaks have created a well-tempered musical
movement, complete with rhythmic chanting, drone, percussive
repetitions, and a varied pallet of experimental noises. Lose your
mind with this one. —Emily Elhaj
THE FLAMING LIPS
AND STARDEATH
AND WHITE DWARFS
THE DARK SIDE OF THE
MOON
(WARNER BROS.)
erecording a seminal classic rock
record is a winless exercise, even
for a band as unimpeachable as The
Flaming Lips. What can you add to
something like Dark Side of the Moon that won’t either alienate fans
of the original or come across as redundant and without a point?
Oddly enough, The Flaming Lips manage just that, and yet the
record feels more like a project on a whim for it. Tracks are left
mostly unchanged at their genetic core—they’re looser by far than
the Pink Floyd that recorded them, with the Lips and Stardeath
playing more like a Syd Barret-era band, all childlike energy and
queasy psychedelia. There are some great moments: the monolithic
doom careen of “Time” and the squeaky cascade of the record’s
climax in “Eclipse.” The only real loser of the bunch is their digidub dirge version of “Money,” which ditches the classic slink of the
original for analog lethargy. Admittedly, the record played much
better live as their flavor of overpowering, bassy acid rock benefited
from the extra muscle a stack of amps and a laser-firing pair of faux
hands provides, but a record can only live or die on how it sounds
blaring from your speakers. As far as covers of seminal records
go, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath have done an admirable job,
but no amount of neo-psych magic can replace the power of the
original for those inclined to listen to a version of Dark Side of the
Moon. —Mike Rodgers
R
haarp / thou
reincarnation prayer
(mirror universe / one eye)
lifetime’s fill of hard lessons in
two songs under ten minutes, the
post-Katrina reality continues to ebb
through our dark arts. Such pained
re-invigoration is nowhere on display
more than dripping from the sharp,
filthy axes of the Deep’s southern
sludge undercore, new charge and depth brought by our lowly
currents. Haarp’s wail sets the tone, the groove a loose, driving
gallop to push past the horror we thought was over. Leading the
A
MUSIC REVIEWS SPONSORED BY THE OFFICIAL RECORD STORE OF ANTIGRAVITY
REVIEWS
charge, chains of rage fueled by woe and lightning, spirit full ahead
even if the rest of our meat rides haggard from the fight behind
us, everything slick with blood and fat. The tempo changes alone,
like the torrent pouring blood off that lost battlefield. Metal is
heavier wet, the road long and the dead laying alongside it chant
with dissonant guitar, welcoming us past their doom, pushing us
with shadowed guitar riffs muddled by the storm to lift our tired
wrists, bleed with our swords in hand, stare down the Inquisition’s
soul-less eyes and not to falter in bringing down the hammer on the
lifeless empty wherever it stands to oppress us. On the flip we find
somehow suddenly seasoned, hardened veterans Thou screaming
the same themes in cigarette-blackened back rooms and legion
halls filled with the scars of the oppressed. They preach with the
same desperate ache as their first-side comrades but with a more
pointed politick. They teach with black steel a hurtful strange, an
end to chaos and a fresh key. A seven-inched speech for the fallen
long beyond them, and the ones packed into all those tiny rooms;
the dark is not the end of days but the desolate marker of a new
beginning. —Zachary Anderson
GALACTIC
YA-KA-MAY
(ANTI-)
ike anything else straddling
two disparate worlds (ghosts,
Canadians, bisexuals) New Orleans’
own Galactic eludes easy definition
and might leave you a little
frightened, a touch confused but also
very, very curious. In the past several
years, Galactic has embarked on an ambitious mission to bring the
traditions of New Orleans music into the present by weaving other
worldly sounds into the rhythms and grooves that have sprung from
this city for centuries—an approach that lends itself so naturally to
hip-hop. It’s no surprise, then, that the tracks on Ya-Ka-May that
stand out the most feature several of New Orleans’ sissy bounce
all stars. “Double It” with Big Freedia and “Katey vs. Nobby”
(Katey Red and Sissy Nobby) just pop with all kinds of electricity
and eccentricity and perfectly showcase Galactic’s potential as New
Orleans’ true sound pioneers. Not to slight the jaw-dropping lineup
that the rest of the album brings in (Rebirth, Irma Thomas, Allen
Toussaint, to name just a few) but these collaborations find Galactic
losing themselves in well-tread territory; though with the focus on
artists native to New Orleans, Ya-Ka-May is a more cohesive album
than their previous effort, 1997’s From the Corner to the Block, which
drew on hip-hop artists from all over. This is the perfect album
for anyone looking to shake up their Mardi Gras party while still
keeping the tradition intact. —Dan Fox
L
SPOON
TRANSFERENCE
(MERGE)
F
amous for their mixing of
intricate, robust instrumentation
and spunky, hum-along lyrics, Austin
indie outfit Spoon has been in the
business for over a decade now. Their
growing willingness to experiment
with the formula is evident on
their newest release, Transference. Blending lush, contemplative
soundscapes with punchy lyricism, the album takes chances
without sacrificing listenability. “Is Love Forever,” starts like your
standard Spoon song, be-bopping its way along like any other twominute ditty. But halfway through it veers off the tracks, playing
with echo and distortion and resulting in a bombastically sonic
twist on a classic pop song. The single, “Written in Reverse,” leans
heavily on the funky keys of Eric Harvey while lead singer Britt
Daniel wryly croons the verses before breaking into a near-bark
at the chorus. “Who Makes Your Money” is a clever, beautifully
structured commentary on capitalism powered by fuzzy vocals and
plucky synth. “Trouble Comes Running” is the most traditionally
structured selection on the album, but still manages to never feel
boring or stale. “Goodnight Laura” is a simplistic, tender ballad,
as open-ended and vague as any of their love songs, closing
with the line “don’t you know love / you’re alright.” There are
some inconsistencies, however. The abrupt, nearly non-existent
transitions between songs can be jarring and while each song has its
strengths, the album lacks somewhat in cohesion. Dedicated Spoon
fans will eat this album up, as it reflects the best of the quirky band’s
offerings. But casual fans that started following the band after they
flirted with mainstream success on 2007’s Ga Ga Ga (or perhaps
once heard a Spoon song on the O.C. or Gossip Girl) will probably
be both confused and disappointed. —Erin Hall
STEVE ECK AND THE
MIDNIGHT STILL
DRAG IT OUT, BURN IT
DOWN
(INDEPENDENT)
n this, his third solo release, local
musician Steve Eck is finding
his footing. Recorded at Ground
Room Recording Services (engineer
Adam Waller’s 9th St. home studio)
on an 8-track reel to reel, Drag it Out, Burn it Down is a huge sonic
leap forward from his last album, Syrup Song. Eck’s new band has
fleshed out his already strong lyrical and vocal skills, resulting in a
truly lush product. Album opener “Boll Weevil” is robust with a
delightfully sloshy, carnival-esque feel that features an infectiously
plucky banjo. “Drag it Out” is the soundtrack to a Bywater love
affair, with its spooky clarinet and its sparse, chunky guitar. It
evokes the image of a near-empty dive where grizzled men drink
alone as a disheveled woman twirls near the jukebox to the music
in her head. I propose it as a background track for David Lynch’s
next film. “Yeah Though,” an inspired take on Psalm 23 that finds
Eck shuffling through the valley of death, is so elegiac that you
can practically see the tumbleweeds rolling. “Friends and Family,”
one of the standouts from Syrup Song is given the full treatment
here, transforming it from an acoustic ditty into a dynamic anthem.
The perfectly situated closing track, “From the Gutters to the Stars
Above,” is sprawling at nearly six minutes (the first two minutes of
which are distorted fuzz and spasmodic percussion). It wanders in
and out of consciousness, constantly surrounded in fog, illustrating
perfectly what an inebriated brain sounds like on a 3am walk down
St. Claude. —Erin Hall
O
Catch Steve Eck and the Midnight Still with the lovely Miss Kitty Lynn
at the Hi-Ho Lounge on Saturday February 6th. Drag it Out, Burn it
Down can be downloaded in its entirety for free at rockproper.com. See
page _ to learn more about Rock Proper.
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
CONTRA
(XL)
T
here are many reasons to
hate Vampire Weekend: their
relentlessly preppy image, upbeat
sound seemingly built on pretension,
their rise to indie darling status, etc…
If Contra had been simply a rehash
of their eponymous debut, I might
have started leaning towards that viewpoint. Instead, Contra is that
rare bird, a sophomore homerun that could just as likely bring the
band to new heights as it could erode their fan base with its musical
expansion. Only a handful of Contra’s tracks would feel at home
on their previous record. The frazzled jangle of “Cousins” recalls
the guitar-driven simplicity of earlier songs, though looser and with
less self control. The widened sound of Contra can be partly traced
to Rostam Batmanglij’s Discovery side project and Ezra Koenig’s
involvement with The Very Best’s record; those albums’ electro
rhythms and afro-beats are all over Contra. The shining “Giving Up
the Gun” is perhaps the record’s most perfect synthesis of old and
new, with Ezra Koenig’s whispery vocals and pop melody skirting
over a dense pillow of chugging guitar, slinky bass and steam
engine drum pops. The afro-beat elements that previously bounced
around the fringes take center stage on much of this record, with
tracks like “Diplomat’s Son” hopping easily on an analog computer
bump or the schizo “California English,” replete with stuttered
percussion, trickling guitar plucks and even auto-tune. Contra takes
all of the elements that make the bend enjoyable and expands on
each of them, the harmonies and rhythms are fleshed out, the
electro dabblings are more complex and the melodies are sweeter.
Contra is less cohesive than Vampire Weekend, but its success lies in
its breadth, its expansion of what Vampire Weekend the band is
capable of while retaining its essence. —Mike Rodgers
YOUNG MONEY
WE ARE YOUNG MONEY
(YOUNG MONEY)
A
hh the posse album, a
deliciously decadent holdover
from debutante balls and almost
always certain to annoy rather than
entertain. After the sonic turd that
was Lil Wayne’s Tha Dedication 3, a
record dominated by these Young
Money performers, I expected nothing but the worst. Instead
I found We Are Young Money to be fun, well-produced and more
enjoyable overall than it had any right to be. Lil Wayne pops up
on each track, sometimes just to spew more of his auto-tuned singspeak hooks; other times he actually raps with some fire, laying
down some of his livelier verses in a while. The rest of the crew hold
up pretty well, from Nick Minaj’s Barbie Doll sex raps coming off
weird and sexy rather than overdone and bored, to Gudda Gudda
and Mack Maine holding down the fort with their competent if not
flashy rhymes (shitty stage names notwithstanding). If nothing else,
the album pulls off some of the more laugh-out-loud moments of
my early 2010, with hook-up lines about dwarves and so-sincereit’s-hilarious hooks like, “Call me Mr. Flintstone / cuz I will make
your bed rock.” Taken for what it is, We Are Young Money provides
just enough fun-loving, worry-free car bounce to hold us over until
Wayne’s undoubtedly awful pop rock record arrives. —Mike Rodgers
COMING UP IN
MARCH:
SPOON
BIG ROCK CANDY
MOUNTAIN TOUR DIARY
CITIZEN COPE
AND MORE!
23
EVENTS
NEW ORLEANS VENUES
NEW ORLEANS (Cont.)
45 Tchoup, 4529 Tchoupitoulas (504) 891-9066
Marlene’s Place, 3715 Tchoupitoulas, (504)
897-3415, www.myspace.com/marlenesplace
Banks St. Bar And Grill, 4401 Banks St., (504)
486-0258, www.banksstreetbar.com
Barrister’s Art Gallery, 2331 St. Claude Ave.
McKeown’s Books, 4737 Tchoupitoulas, (504)
895-1954, http://mckeownsbooks.net
MONDAY 2/1
Buffie Roseanne w/ Calico and The Off-Brand
Band, Circle Bar
Terrence McManus, James Singleton, Rick
Trolsen, Zeitgeist, 9:30pm
Melvin’s, 2112 St. Claude Ave.
TUESDAY 2/2
The Big Top, 1638 Clio St., (504) 569-2700,
www.3ringcircusproductions.com
MVC, 9800 Westbank Expressway, (504) 2342331, www.themvc.net
The Blue Nile, 534 Frenchmen St., (504) 948-2583
Neutral Ground Coffee House, 5110 Danneel St.,
(504) 891-3381, www.neutralground.org
Aquarium Drunkard Presents: Girls, Magic Kids,
The Smith Westerns, One Eyed Jacks
Liquid Peace, Dragon’s Den (Downstairs)
MC Trachiotomy, Dragon’s Den (Upstairs)
The Way, Lawrence Benjamin and The
Messengers, Circle Bar
Bayou Park Bar, 542 S. Jeff. Davis Pkwy.,
Broadmoor House, 4127 Walmsley, (504) 8212434
Carrollton Station, 8140 Willow St., (504) 8659190, www.carrolltonstation.com
Checkpoint Charlie’s, 501 Esplanade Ave.,
(504) 947-0979
Nowe Miasto, 223 Jane Pl., (504) 821-6721
Ogden Museum, 925 Camp St., (504) 539-9600
One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St., (504) 5698361, www.oneeyedjacks.net
Chickie Wah Wah, 2828 Canal Street (504)
304-4714, www.chickiewahwah.com
Outer Banks, 2401 Palmyra (at S. Tonti),
(504) 628-5976, www.myspace.com/
outerbanksmidcity
Circle Bar, 1032 St. Charles Ave., (504) 5882616, www.circlebar.net
Republic, 828 S. Peters St., (504) 528-8282,
www.republicnola.com
Club 300, 300 Decatur Street, www.
neworleansjazzbistro.com
Rusty Nail, 1100 Constance Street (504) 5255515, www.therustynail.org/
Coach’s Haus, 616 N. Solomon
The Saturn Bar, 3067 St. Claude Ave., www.
myspace.com/saturnbar
The Country Club, 634 Louisa St., (504) 9450742, www.countryclubneworleans.com
d.b.a., 618 Frenchmen St., (504) 942-373, www.
drinkgoodstuff.com/no
Der Rathskeller (Tulane’s Campus), McAlister
Dr., http://wtul.fm
Side Arm Gallery, 1122 St. Roch Ave., (504)
218-8379, www.sidearmgallery.org
Southport Hall, 200 Monticello Ave., (504) 8352903, www.newsouthport.com
Dragon’s Den, 435 Esplanade Ave., http://
myspace.com/dragonsdennola
The Spellcaster Lodge, 3052 St. Claude
Avenue, www.quintonandmisspussycat.com/
tourdates.html
Eldon’s House, 3055 Royal Street,
[email protected]
St. Roch Taverne, 1200 St. Roch Ave., (504)
945-0194
Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-in-Law Lounge, 1500
N. Claiborne Ave.
Tipitina’s, (Uptown) 501 Napoleon Ave., (504)
895-8477 (Downtown) 233 N. Peters, www.
tipitinas.com
Fair Grinds Coffee House, 3133 Ponce de
Leon, (504) 913-9072, www.fairgrinds.com
Fuel Coffee House, 4807 Magazine St. (504)
895-5757
Goldmine Saloon, 701 Dauphine St., (504) 5860745, www.goldminesaloon.net
The Green Space, 2831 Marais Street (504) 9450240, www.thegreenproject.org
Handsome Willy’s, 218 S. Robertson St., (504)
525-0377, http://handsomewillys.com
The Zeitgeist, 1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.,
(504) 827-5858, www.zeitgeistinc.net
Vintage Uptown, 4523 Magazine St.,
[email protected]
METAIRIE VENUES
Airline Lion’s Home, 3110 Division St.
Badabing’s, 3515 Hessmer, (504) 454-1120
The Hangar, 1511 S. Rendon. (504) 827-7419
The Bar, 3224 Edenborn, myspace.com/
thebarrocks
Hi-Ho Lounge, 2239 St. Claude Ave. (504) 9454446, www.myspace.com/hiholounge
Hammerhead’s, 1300 N Causeway Blvd, (504)
834-6474
The Hookah, 309 Decatur St. (504-943-1101),
hookah-club.com
The High Ground, 3612 Hessmer
Ave., Metairie, (504) 525-0377, www.
thehighgroundvenue.com
Hostel, 329 Decatur St. (504-587-0036),
hostelnola.com
Hot Iron Press Plant, 1420 Kentucky Ave.,
[email protected]
House Of Blues / The Parish, 225 Decatur,
(504)310-4999, www.hob.com/neworleans
The Howlin’ Wolf, 907 S. Peters, (504) 522WOLF, www.thehowlinwolf.com
Kajun’s Pub, 2256 St. Claude Avenue (504) 9473735, www.myspace.com/kajunspub
Kim’s 940, 940 Elysian Fields, (504) 844-4888
The Kingpin, 1307 Lyons St., (504) 891-2373
Le Bon Temps Roule, 4801 Magazine St., (504)
895-8117
Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., (504) 5815812, www.cabaretlechatnoir.com
Lyceum Central, 618 City Park Ave., (410) 5234182, http://lyceumproject.com
Lyon’s Club, 2920 Arlington St.
The Maison, 508 Frenchmen St.
BATON ROUGE VENUES
The Caterie, 3617 Perkins Rd., www.thecaterie.com
Chelsea’s Café, 2857 Perkins Rd., (225) 3873679, www.chelseascafe.com
The Darkroom, 10450 Florida Blvd., (225) 2741111, www.darkroombatonrouge.com
Government St., 3864 Government St., www.
myspace.com/rcpzine
North Gate Tavern, 136 W. Chimes St.
(225)346-6784, www.northgatetavern.com
Red Star Bar, 222 Laurel St., (225) 346-8454,
www.redstarbar.com
Rotolos, 1125 Bob Pettit Blvd. (225) 761-1999,
www.myspace.com/rotolosallages
The Spanish Moon, 1109 Highland Rd., (225)
383-MOON, www.thespanishmoon.com
The Varsity, 3353 Highland Rd., (225)383-7018,
www.varsitytheatre.com
Mama’s Blues, 616 N. Rampart St., (504) 453-9290
Maple Leaf, 8316 Oak St., (504) 866-9359
WEDNESDAY 2/3
Alec Ounsworth, One Eyed Jacks
The Honeysuckles, Circle Bar
Terrence McManus, Simon Lott, Will Thompson,
Jesse Morrow, All-Ways Lounge
THURSDAY 2/4
Caprice f/ Jimbo Mathus and Derrick Freeman,
d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Daniel Higgs, Stellar Om Source, Evil Twin, AllWays Lounge, 10pm
G. Love & Special Sauce, Redeye Empire, House
Of Blues, 8:30pm
Groundation’s Bob Marley Tribute Tour, Howlin’
Wolf
Jon Cleart, d.b.a., 7pm
The Kinky Tuscaderos, Carrollton Station
The Tangle, One Wolf, Circle Bar
FRIDAY 2/5
ActionActionReaction Indie Dance Party, Circle Bar
Aquaforce, Alkatraz Out Patient, Howlin’ Wolf
Autotomii, Dragon’s Den (Downstairs)
Dirty Bourbon River Show Album Release Party
w/ New Grass Country Club, Booty Trove Brass
Band, Tipitina’s, 10pm, $8
DJ Bees Knees, Hi-Ho Lounge, 1am
Electric Waste Band f/ Jeremy Lyons w/ Dana and
Jarome, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Eyehategod, Flesh Parade, High Priest, The Bar, 9pm
Frontiers: A Tribute to Journey, House Of Blues, 8pm
Hot Club of New Orleans, d.b.a., 6pm
Life Without Elvis, The Unnaturals, Banks Street
Bar & Grill, 11pm
Michael Hurtt and His Haunted Hearts, Bayou
Park Bar, 10pm
New Orleans Bingo Show, One Eyed Jacks
Panorama Brass Band, Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
Soul Rebels, Dragon’s Den (Upstairs)
Susan Cowsill Band, Carrollton Station
SATURDAY 2/6
Debauche w/ Stix Da Clown, Circle Bar
John Boutte, d.b.a., 7pm
Johnny J. and The Hitmen, Bayou Park Bar, 10pm
Little Freddie King, d.b.a., 11pm, $5
Luke Starkiller, Meta the Man, The Bar, 9pm
Mardi Gras Pep Rally w/ 101 Runners, Tipitina’s,
10pm, $10
Microshards, Stress Ape, Statutory Triangle,
Dragon’s Den (Upstairs)
Sondre Lerche, JBM, The Parish @ House Of
Blues, 8pm
Soul Project, Banks Street Bar & Grill,
Steve Eck Album Release Party, Kitty Lynn Band,
Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
Strange Bedfellows f/ A Living Soundtrack,
Glorybee, One Eyed Jacks
That One Guy, Howlin’ Wolf
Thinkenstein, Kris Royal and Dark Matter,
Carrollton Station
Truth Universal, Dragon’s Den (Downstairs)
SUNDAY 2/7
Jeremy Lyons and The Deltabilly Boys, d.b.a., 10pm
The Panorama Brass Band, Circle Bar
St. Dad, The Schreds, Nervous Juvenile, Dragon’s
Den (Downstairs)
MONDAY 2/8
2.2 Marching Club w/ O.L.D., Circle Bar
Fuzzy and The Shopping Carts, Dragon’s Den
(Upstairs)
TUESDAY 2/9
Alex Pena, Dragon’s Den (Upstairs)
I Octopus, Smiley With a Knife, Circle Bar
WEDNESDAY 2/10
The B52s, House Of Blues, 8pm
The Local Skank, Kings of Happy Hour, Circle Bar
Papa Mali’s 3rd Annual Supernatural Ball,
Tipitina’s, 10pm, $15
THURSDAY 2/11
Death by Arrow, JP Harris and The Tough
Choices, Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
The Expendables, Iration, Passafire, The Parish @
House Of Blues, 7pm
Grayson Capps, d.b.a., 11pm, $5
Rebirth Brass Band, Howlin’ Wolf, FREE
RJD2, Kenan Bell, Happy Chichester, Tipitina’s,
10pm, $15
Silent Cinema, Big Blue Marble, Circle Bar
FRIDAY 2/12
Better Than Ezra, House Of Blues, 10pm
DJ Musa w/ ActionActionReaction Indie Dance
Party, Circle Bar
Honey Island Swamp Band, Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
House of Fallen Trees, Carrollton Station
Ingrid Lucia, d.b.a., 6pm
LAX, Slow Burn Burlesque, Dragon’s Den
The Local Skank’s Valentine’s Kissing Party,
Banks Street Bar & Grill,
Metal Gras 2010 w/ Exhorder, Crowbar, Flesh
Parade, The Hangar, 9pm
Mojo Method, The 94s, The Bar, 9pm
Monotonix, One Eyed Jacks
New Orleans Social Club f/ Ivan Neville, George
Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli, Henry Butler, Raymond
Weber, w/ DJ Soul Sister, Tipitina’s, 10pm, $20
The Screaming Females, Jeff the Brotherhood,
Lovey Dovies, Koenji House, 7pm
Pine Leaf Boys, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Soul Rebels Brass Band, Howlin’ Wolf, FREE
SATURDAY 2/13
8th Annual Not So Super Superhero Party f/
Rotary Downs, The Brian Coogan Band, d.b.a.,
10pm, $15
Better Than Ezra, House Of Blues, 10pm
Debauch, New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, Hi-Ho
Lounge, 10pm
DJ Swamp, Dragon’s Den
Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Tipitina’s,
10pm, $30
Hostile Apostle, Spickle, Dresden, The Bar, 9pm
Juice, Banks Street Bar & Grill
Louis Moholo, Dennis Gonzalez’ Yells at Eels,
Tim Green, Zeitgeist, 9pm
Krewe of Elysius Mystery Ball, One Eyed Jacks
Mike Hurtt and His Haunted Hearts, The Happy
Talk Band, Circle Bar
Rebirth Brass Band, Hot 8 Brass Band, Howlin’
Wolf, FREE
Strawberry, The Box 100s, Bayou Park Bar, 10pm
SUNDAY 2/14
Dash Rip Rock, The Waste of Times, Courtland
Burke, Carrollton Station
Eris Ball Afterparty w/ DJ Bees Knees, Hi-Ho
Lounge, 10pm
EVENTS
Fleur de Tease, One Eyed Jacks, 7pm
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Howlin’ Wolf,
FREE
Sweetheart’s Ball w/ Big Freedia, Katy Red, Sissy
Nobby, DJs Rusty Lazer, Lefty Parker, w/ Vockah
Redu, The Hookah, 10pm
Trombone Shorty’s 4th Annual Bacchus Blowout
w/ Rebirth Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins and The
Barbecue Swingers, Tipitina’s, 10pm, $22
Papa Grows Funk w/ Big Chief Monk Boudreaux,
d.b.a., 11pm
Rik Slave and The Phantoms, Circle Bar
Simon Lott, One Man Machine, The Other
Planets, Dragon’s Den
Winter Circle Productions Presents QUEENS over
KINGS: A Valentine’s Evening w/ King Britt,
Fleur de Tease, Quickie Mart, One Eyed Jacks,
11pm
MONDAY 2/15
Alex McMurray, Circle Bar
Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Tipitina’s,
10pm, $30
George Porter Jr. and His Runnin Pardners,
Howlin’ Wolf, FREE
Gravity A’s Lundi Gras Bash f/ Bionica, Dragon’s
Den
Jenn Howard, Crazy McGee, Carrollton Station
Quintron and Miss Pussycat, One Eyed Jacks
R. Scully, The Unnaturals, Checkpoint Charlie’s,
10pm, FREE
Vockah Redu, The Hookah, 10pm
THURSDAY 2/18
Alex McMurray, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
DJ Rusty Lazer, Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
Kristin Diable, Circle Bar
FRIDAY 2/19
Appetite for Destruction, House Of Blues, 8pm
Hot Club of New Orleans, d.b.a., 6pm
Jimmy Robinson, Spencer Bohren, Carrollton
Station
Joe Krown, Walter Wolfman Washington, Russell
Batiste Trio, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
PJ Morton Album Release Party, Howlin’ Wolf
Reverend Spooky LeStrange’s Church of
Burlesque, Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
Rich’s Birthday Bash w/ Clockwork Elvis, Banks
Street Bar & Grill
Seraphim, Dragon’s Den
This is the Enemy, The Bar, 9pm
SATURDAY 2/20
Brass Bed, ‘Til We’re Blue or Destroy, Circle Bar
Headspill, Channel of Release, The Bar, 9pm
Lucy’s Walk, Skeet Hanks, Carrollton Station
Otra, d.b.a., 11pm, $5
Sevendust, Drowning Pool, House Of Blues, 7pm
We Landed on the Moon!, Glasgow, Elsinore, Sun
Hotel, One Eyed Jacks
Wreckage Revival, The Converts, Banks Street Bar
& Grill
TUESDAY 2/16
SUNDAY 2/21
DJ Matty, d.b.a., 7pm, $5
Mardi Gras Celebration f/ No Small Money Brass
Band, Dragon’s Den
Papa Mali’s Mardi Gras Indian Orchestra, Hi-Ho
Lounge, 3pm
Akron Family, Warpaint, One Eyed Jacks
One Night of Queen (An Evening With), House
Of Blues
The Pallbearers, The Unnaturals, Toxic Rott,
Terranova, Secret Assholes, Test Subjects,
Checkpoint Charlie’s, Noon
Robbers, The City Lives, Circle Bar
Sissy Sundays w/ Sissy Nobby and Rusty Lazer,
Dragon’s Den
Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, d.b.a., 10pm
MONDAY 2/22
The Alexis Marceaux Band, Circle Bar
TUESDAY 2/23
The Hellbenders, Circle Bar
WEDNESDAY 2/24
Over Under Yonder, Natalie Mae Palms, Putnam
Smith, Circle Bar
Rebelution, Soja, Zion I, House Of Blues
Tegan and Sara, Steel Train, Holly Miranda,
Tipitina’s, 8pm, $35
THURSDAY 2/25
Ernie Vincent and The Top Notes, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Jon Cleary, d.b.a., 7pm
Reverend Horton Heat, Dash Rip Rock, The
Parish @ House Of Blues, 8pm
Sun Hotel, Chicken Whiskey, Circle Bar
Yes, House Of Blues, 8pm
FRIDAY 2/26
61 South, Carrollton Station, 9pm
Anton Gussoni Presents: Pink Floyd’s The Wall,
Circle Bar
Big Fat & Delicious Kickball Kickoff, Banks
Street Bar & Grill
Bridge House Recycled Fashion Show, Howlin’
Wolf
Henry Rollins, Frequent Flyer Tour, House Of
Blues, 8pm
Honey Island Swamp Band, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Ingrid Lucia, d.b.a., 6pm
25
EVENTS
Glen David Andrews, d.b.a., 9pm
Jak Locke, The Box Office, 8pm
Over Under Yonder, Sweet Olive String Band,
Mad Mike, Checkpoint Charlie’s, 8pm
Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
Missy Meatlocker, Circle Bar, 5pm
Reverend Horton Heat, Lost Bayou Ramblers, The Noxious Noize’s Punk and Metal Night, Dragon’s
Parish @ House Of Blues, 9pm
Den (Downstairs)
Roky Erickson, Rock City Morgue, One Eyed Jacks Smooth Jazz Combo, Banks Street Bar & Grill, 9pm
Soul Rebels Album Release Party, Tipitina’s, 10pm, $10 Trivia Night, Circle Bar, 8pm
FRIDAY 2/26 (Cont.)
SATURDAY 2/27
Coolzey, Rasshan, Truth Universal, Twen Bombs,
Private Pile, MC Jay, Caliobzvr, Skrachmo, DJ
Dbl A, Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
The Groovocrats, Riverlift, Tipitina’s, 10pm, $7
Jon Cleary, d.b.a., 11pm, $5
Keb’ Mo’, House Of Blues, 8pm
Live in the Den: Nina Storey, Max Goldberg,
Howlin’ Wolf
Matt Hires, Jason Castro, Caitlin Crosby, One Eyed Jacks
Metronome the City, High in One Eye, Big
Bertha, Circle Bar
New Orleans Guitar Masters in the Round w/
Jimmy Robinson, John Rankin, Phil DeGruy,
Carrollton Station
Smiley With a Knife, Banks Street Bar & Grill
The Unnaturals, Bayou Park Bar, 10pm, FREE
SUNDAY 2/28
Helen Gillet Showcase w/ Wazozo, Belgian Fries,
King Gong, Circle Bar
Mas Mamones, d.b.a., 10pm
P.O.S., Dessa, Astronautilas, The Parish @ House
Of Blues, 8pm
WEEKLIES & DANCE NIGHTS
MONDAYS
Blue Grass Pickin’ Party, Hi-Ho Lounge, 8pm
THURSDAYS
Big Freedia’s Hookah Bounce, The Hookah, 10pm
Billy Iuso, The Box Office, 7pm
Come Drink with Matt Vaughn, R Bar
Dave Jordan and Guests Acoustic Showcase, Banks
Street Bar & Grill, 9pm
DJ Frenzi, DJ Daniel Steel, Dragon’s Den
(Downstairs), 10pm
DJ Kemistry, LePhare
TUESDAYS
DJ Matic, Hostel
Fast Times ‘80s Dance Night, One Eyed Jacks
The Abney Effect, Hostel
The Fens w/ Sneaky Pete, Checkpoint Charlie’s,
Acoustic Open Mic, Carrollton Station, 9pm
10pm
Acoustic Open Mic w/ Jim Smith, Checkpoint
Hap Pardo Jazz Trio, All-Ways Lounge
Charlie’s, 10pm
Jeremy Davenport, The Davenport Lounge @ RitzCottenmouth Kings of New Orleans, d.b.a., 9pm
Carlton New Orleans
Open Jam w/ Fat Sweat, Hi-Ho Lounge, 10pm
Karaoke Fury, La Nuit Comedy Theater, 10pm
Open Mic w/ Whiskey T., Rusty Nail, 8pm
Reggae Nite w/ Big, Fat & Delicious, Banks Street Mixture, Republic, 10pm, $7
Ovis, The Box Office, 10pm
Bar & Grill
Pure Soul, House Of Blues, Midnight
The Tom Paines, Circle Bar, 6pm
Rabbit Hole, La Nuit Comedy Theater, 8:30
Sam and Boone, Circle Bar, 6pm
WEDNESDAYS
Soul Rebels, Les Bon Temps Roule, 11pm
Stinging Caterpillar Soundsystem, All-Ways Lounge
Dan Wallace Quartet, The Box Office, 7pm
DJ Lefty Parker, R Bar
FRIDAYS
DJ T-Roy Presents: Dancehall Classics, Dragon’s
Den, 10pm, $5
Brown Comedy Improv, Banks Street Bar & Grill
Gravity A, Banks St. Bar and Grill, 10pm
Jim O. and The No Shows w/ Mama Go-Go, Circle DJ Bees Knees, Hi-Ho Lounge
DJ Digital Presents: Get Famous Fridays, The
Bar, 6pm
Hookah, 10pm
Kenny Holiday and the Rolling Blackouts,
DJ Kemistry, Metro
Checkpoint Charlie’s, 9pm
God’s Been Drinking, La Nuit Comedy Theater,
Marygoround & The Tiptoe Stampede, All-Ways
8:30pm, $10
Lounge
Mojotoro Tango Trio, Yuki (525 Frenchmen St.), 8pm Jeremy Davenport, The Davenport Lounge @ RitzCarlton New Orleans
Musician Appreciation Night, The Bar, 7pm
Standup Comedy Open Mic, Carrollton Station, 9pm Jim O. and The Sporadic Fanatics, Circle, 6pm
Olga, The Box Office, 6pm
Tin Men, d.b.a., 7pm
Open Mic Stand-Up, La Nuit Comedy Theater,
Walter Wolfman Washington and The
10pm, $5
Roadmasters, d.b.a., 10pm, $5
Ratty Scurvics Lounge, All-Ways Lounge
Rites of Swing, The Box Office, 9pm
Throwback, Republic
Tipitina’s Foundation Free Friday!, Tipitina’s,
10pm
SATURDAYS
DJ Damion Yancy, Republic, 11pm
DJ Jive, LePhare
DJ Kemistry, Metro
The Drive In w/ DJ Pasta, R Bar
Hookah Hip-Hop w/ DJ EF Cuttin, The Hookah, 10pm
Javier Drada, Hostel
The Jazzholes (1st & 3rd Saturdays), Circle Bar, 6pm
Jeremy Davenport, The Davenport Lounge @ RitzCarlton New Orleans
John Boutte’, d.b.a., 7pm
Ladies Night, The Hangar
Louisiana Hellbenders, The Box Office, 7pm
SUNDAYS
Acoustic Open Mic w/ Jim Smith, Checkpoint
Charlie’s, 7pm
Attrition, Dragon’s Den (Upstairs), 10pm
Cajun Fais Do Do f/ Bruce Danigerpoint,
Tipitina’s, 5:30pm, $7
Cocktails & Crafts, Circle Bar, 3pm
Ear Candy w/ DJ Rik Ducci, The Hookah, 10pm
Free Swing Dance Lessons w/ Amy Chance,
d.b.a., 4:30pm
Mambomundo Latin Dance Party, Banks Street Bar
& Grill, 9pm
Micah McKee and Friends w/ Food by Bryan,
Circle Bar, 6pm
Mojo Triage Jam, Banks Street Bar & Grill, After
Saints Game
Music Workshop Series, Tipitina’s, 12:30pm
The Palmetto Bug Stompers, d.b.a., 6pm
The Sunday Gospel Brunch, House Of Blues
27
COMICS
29
PHOTOS
YOUTH FRONT
When I was 19 and full of socialist fervor, I went to the Soviet Union to
see the workers’ paradise. I spent most of the year on bread lines. And
flour lines. And butter lines. My disillusionment was total. The Russian
army was withdrawing from a ruinous war in Afghanistan. The economy was
nearing collapse. The core beliefs that had served as a foundation for the
society were daily being exposed as transparent lies. Drug addiction was
rampant, something I couldn’t miss, living as I did across from the city
drunk tank; screams filled the Krasnodar night. Bad as it was, no one dared
recognize how bad it actually was: the country would shortly cease to exist.
It was 1988.
Parallels to the U.S. of 2010 are hard to miss. Our economic system has
been revealed as a teetering house of cards. We are deepening our commitment to permanent war in the same region, one known as the graveyard of
empires. The nation’s debt is now so large it can never be repaid, and a
sovereign default, while not imminent, is nevertheless inevitable. The
obviousness of this fact panics everyone, forcing the power holders to send
spooky numerologists to utter magical numbers—to the delighted gasps of
an audience that thrills at the setting aside of its own rational experience.
More ominous, the beliefs that for sixty years have formed the ideological
basis for the society are failing to cohere. The new reality—the reality of
failure—cannot be integrated into the old symbolic order. Just as the
nation’s new program reveals itself as an unmythical, unmagical struggle for
brute survival, its past doctrine sharpens in the rear-view mirror: expropriation of natural resources. That has been our real program. It is a game we
will never win again, and in fact must lose if we are to survive.
In a Ponzi scheme, early investors reap rewards while later investors are
shafted. Western economies, fueled by debt and unlimited consumption of
limited resources, are Ponzi economies and will sooner or later collapse
under their own weight. The victims of this scheme are the young. That this
is perfectly foreseeable has not made it preventable. The collapse of the
system is far outpacing the thought or work of any of the interested parties.
We acknowledge on the one hand the inevitability of the fall of the current
economic model, and on the other hand the apparent impossibility of
collective revolutionary action. As a result of this contradiction, the main
characteristic at all levels of society is confusion and an acutely felt need
for unconsciousness.
Some look to electoral politics for a way forward, but there, too, the
leadership is failing. Lost in imagery and the critique of imagery, we have
failed to notice that no party has acknowledged the real threats to our
security—rising seas, permanent war, depleted resources, and a bankrupt
central government—let alone put forward any strategy for addressing them.
Politics is pretend. A magazine depicts the President in a cape. But
Superman is a fictional character. And if Barack Obama is Superman, then
Barack Obama is also a fictional character, as will become clear. He ran on
a platform of hope, the cheapest liniment in the medicine show, one that is
now part of our palliative care. It does work at one thing: keeping people
pathetically waiting for help from above. Show me a fighter who went into
the ring with hope, and I’ll show you the loser on that particular card. No
winner ever took hope into the ring.
We live in a state of permanent falsification, our starkest fear that we
will collectively awaken to reality as it is. To speak the truth is to sound
insane. George Orwell once imagined a government that would (ludicrously)
claim that ignorance is strength, yet my friends and family now say this to
my face.
RISE OF THE YOUTH FRONT
Paris
Throughout the industrialized world
young people are having sharply
violent reactions to the world
described above
Moscow
And to the horrifying prospect
of occupying their assigned place in it
Bangkok
For them, the pain is real and the
illusions, counterfeit emotions and
empty promises that satisfy the others
don’t make it go away—
they intensify it
The truth is that our leaders’ every action worsens these conditions in a
mendacious, murderous betrayal of the next generation. They have
suggested no end game, leaving it up to the people, specifically to the
young, who have one.
When the next generation is handed the keys to a broken, bankrupt
nation sinking into a fishless sea, when they realize they’ve been ripped off,
when they take to the streets—and they will—they will flood society with a
mass of desires that cannot be realized by the current system, and they will
call for a revolution in every aspect of human life. No one has succeeded at
superseding capitalism, but they may. They will have little choice but to try.
Humanity’s future will depend on it.
What is the role of the artist at a moment like this? Should artists play
the role of jester, preening in garish costumes and fright wigs, doing any
dance, no matter how debased, that flatters the shrinking base of highpaying customers? Should we do new riffs on the triangle, on the color
orange, make our brushstrokes go up instead of down? Stage mock sea
battles between salt and pepper, making a mockery of real struggle (while
of course coyly sneaking in ambiguous non-meanings as our “shocking”
statements)? For examples of art’s irrelevance, you won’t have to look far;
flipping through this magazine may be enough. Art’s high value will not
save it from being worthless.
It’s time for artists to reopen an old program: to see what is before us
and to describe it pitilessly. Art must combat permanent falsification and
seek to tell the truth of past, present and future events. And we must
banish our false feelings of guilt for doing so. Art will become relevant only
when it again becomes a threat to the established order. Art without threat
is decor.
Ultimately this empty art will perish only with the society that created it.
This day isn’t far off. Five years ago I watched my city sink into the sea.
Here is what happened to the government: it disappeared. No police, no
ambulances, no mail delivery. In its place came paramilitary units that
operated under nebulous terms and killed civilians with impunity. Look to
the future: look south. As coastal cities flood mid-century, governments
everywhere will destabilize. Many will fall overnight. Most will experiment
with authoritarian measures. All over the world, young people are gathering,
talking, planning for this day. We are developing a politics without lies,
without bribes and without false dreams. You see us on the news (our aims
falsified, our beliefs trivialized). Generations Y and Z are preparing the
ground for the greatest generation: Generation A. Let’s bury as much
ammunition as we can, familiarize ourselves with the terrain, form
columns—and live our lives with all the qualities of rage and disgust which
we value.
This is my first, flawed attempt to describe a situation. Level your best
arguments at it; if the ideas are bad, they should fall. But keep the vast
drugstore of calmatives, along with the dusty tinsel and tattered flags of
your broken world. This is not a phase but a new age. You can keep the
past. We’ll take the future.
In the wasteland of a destroyed city, I and all my friends were handed
our lives. And there remains a chance, however small, that in a potlatch
of destruction we will discover the elusive national soul. While you hope
and pray for a new world, we will be in the streets answering those
prayers. And who answers prayers, but gods? BECOME A GOD. FIGHT
FOR THE YOUTH FRONT.
Skylar Fein
Athens
More and more are resolving not to
drown their feelings in the
unconsciousness of passive
consumption and spectating
UCLA
And to bring the truth of human
struggle to an emotionally bankrupt
production
Sao Paulo
For when a revolutionary group
arises, it will not be as consumers of
some new product, but as terrifying
shapers of their world
31

February 2010 - Antigravity Magazine

Transcription

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