Tonight, three bands with records released by our friends over at SHDWPLY swoop into town to blow your mind, or at least hold your head under water until you see stars.
I’ve been kind of obsessively listening to the Gary War myspace recently. Gurgling late-night bedroom pop. Its kind of quiet, like trying not to wake the folks, and sounds like its being broadcast from the rings of Saturn — you know, where you’d rather be instead of home (trying not to wake the folks). I thought the Legendary Pink Dots were on ok reference point but the people I’ve talked to about it have been all ‘Ariel Ariel Ariel’! Now that I have the LP (a split release between SDWPLY and Disaro) I can hear a little of that, but maybe its just that he (Ariel) mastered it.
I’m told The Super Vacations is Gary War’s rock band. I’ve only briefly listened to the myspace but sounds accurate. 60’s Hash Rock or something. I don’t know!
Finally, Teeth Mountain… after drinking this tea or smoking that bush a teeth mountain is probably what this group were seeing after they droned on whatever instruments they could find and grooved on that drum circle for twenty hours straight communing with whatever higher being they’re into (please please please don’t let it be as banal as ‘the universe’).
This week its a band out of Houston, TX called Wicked Poseur. How can they be World Famous in SF?? Well, for starters there’s this guy in town who not only released their first 7 but will walk it to your house (http://romanmealsf.blogspot.com/2008/06/wicked-poseur-7.html) and secondly they invited Hard Place down to Houston so the two bands could show that town how it is done. I went with them and we had a blast!!
One day we had a pool party at the hotel and Wicked Poseur mastermind, Arthur Bates, got a little… uh, sea sick. When he showed up to play the show later that evening he was still looking a bit green but when he stepped behind the microphone and switched on the backing tracks he found his sea legs and the color returned to his face.
Along with his cohort, these two pluck poison darts from their guitar strings, filled wiith something they call “Shampoo #2″; it’ll “get the shit out of your hair” and turn you into a rabid fan screaming for more after every song, we sure were. Thank the stars for those backing tracks, providing the blips, the bleeps, the new wave fuzzy keyboard melodies, the danceable beats you wish more of the current crop of psyched out weirdos were investigating and which kept these two from taking us too far out into the outer reaches of the paranoid psyched out sprawl of the Houston night, otherwise we might not have returned to tell you about it!
Why aren’t more bands coming out and grabbing you by the neck like this?? For that, they are our myspace of the week!
Even with all the revivalism going on these days, I’ve been able to get some much needed distance from all that C86 stuff and its starting to sound listen-able again. I liked the June Brides, so I’ll check out Phil Wilson solo (I’m enjoying his cover of Subway Sects “Nobody’s Scared”). I like that Mantles seven inch. I dont’ know much about Magic Bullets (except that his voice does not defy comparison, what do you think?). And Mr Slumberland is a fun dj. Sure, why not?
Partner, leave your irony meter at home. It’ll just done get broke anyway. We told you Hard Place just got back from Texas and tonight its a show down, Mission Creek Music Festival style:
Hard Place have been out there making a mess of things! Makeup stains on the sheets, beer on the floor, vomit in the pool, glitter everywhere — it must mean they’ve rolled through town. The band have been taking their new album, Get Your Hopes Up, out into the Wildness of LA, flirting with disaster on its busiest corners, down the tranny lined avenues of San Francisco leading to Club Feral, and deep into the heart of Texas with Wicked Poseur on a journey to find out just who, exactly, this JR guy was.
Doesn’t that look like a hoot?? Here’s a few of our favorite album and live reviews so far:
“This is the kind of album you put on full blast in the car” — review in the LA Record
“this LA/SF glitchy disco tinged glam throwback act is pretty close to their debut EP from ‘04. Think The Cars meets CSS or Bonde do Rolê” review in Now Hear This
“Of course I know it’s supposed to be tongue in cheek but to pull that off requires some wit and Hard Place displayed none though they clearly seemed to think they possessed it in spades.” — Clearly this guy didn’t notice Freddy rolled out of a minivan in flip flops and rocked the party. OUCH!!! live review from the Houston Free Press
And don’t worry you guys! Hard Place are recalculating their route even as we speak to hit more towns across the US this fall!
Have you seen the headlines??? “BELGIAN GOVERNMENT FALLS…not many hurt”. Could Belgium be coming to an end? Those of you in the know must suspect it has something to do with Mon Cousin Belge’s new album, Quelle Horreur and their most recent show at Thee Parkside.
Emile has started to find his way back into the hearts, imaginations, and deepest fears of his American public and attention is starting to focus on this Belgian and his band of San Francisco back alley players. They’ve been heard mingling with other San Francisco talent in a recent Bay Bridgedpodcast, the San Francisco Bay Guardian pointed them out as one of the highlights of San Francisco’s world renowned pride festivities, and gay.com somehow got the idea that Emile would be a good spokes person for the gays:
“Are you involved with any LGBT community organizations in San Francisco? Which ones? What do you like about those groups?”
“I spend a great deal of your American dollars on cocktails. Is that what you mean?”
The paparazzi and press were out in force for this momentous occasion, the first show by Mon Cousin Belge since Emile found his way back into the US. Did you see?
Also, be sure to keep your calendar clear for Wednesday August 27th, MCB returns to the stage at Cafe du Nord for their record release party with Girls, BRIDEZ, and The Passionistas. The night will be nothing short of World Famous.
Alright, so now that I have officialy become a weekend warrior. I have been on the lookout for awesome things to do, on days that I can do awesome things. Saturday!
-Lemonade & Glazer W/ Cliped Beaks… @ Gray Area Beacon 1515 Folsom Lemonade are incredible, you have to go see them, give up, do it! The other people are probably rad too.
Ferrari Party – Deco Lounge @ Larkin and Turk – Primo, Connor, Jordan, Chris, and Nick- Summer Of Acid 2008! See you there!
