All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

concert review, Music, Natural Child, SKIMASK

Concert Review: Natural Child, Liquor Store, SKIMASK @ Great Scott (7/30/12)

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Bands: Natural Child, Liquor Store, Skimask
Venue: Great Scott
Date: Monday, July 30, 2012


Act One: SKIMASK – SKIMASK is a band that I think everyone should have at least checked out by now and by checked out, I’m talking LIVE. They now have a website (HERE) but you still got to do some digging for recordings so for right now, at this very moment, you need to see them. Upcoming shows (Boston area) are on their website. I find myself gaining more appreciation for SKIMASK each time I see them. On this night, vocalist Prof$t Mohamed isn’t as spontaneous and incendiary as I’ve seen him in the past, but he seems more in-tune with the music. Whatever he is saying is as forceful as the drums and effects behind and to the side of him. The chemistry amongst the trio and the sounds they emit is baffling. It doesn’t take too long to realize how good the drummer is at drumming and how good the effects man is at effects. Stuffing the face with three microphones is not something you see at shows these days. The other thing I’d like to say is that even though SKIMASK is not your typical rock and roll band – stylistically and so forth – they set the tone for a night of balls out RnR. They can fit in on any bill really and just pump up the audience for what’s to come (or finish things off right…if they are headliners).


Act Two: Liquor Store – Liquor Store fit in perfectly as openers to Natural Child. While Natural Child is a bit more stripped down and to the point, Liquor Store is more expansive on this night. They build their tracks up, making grand use of the old guitar. This isn’t always the case (“Manchild In Paradise” is a short, sweet, and twisted take on classic rock), but their performance makes it seem like they’ve been around for longer than they probably have. Judging from their set-list, they’ve been playing some of these songs for a while now and a good chunk is from Yeah Buddy, their 2011 2X LP. I’ve got to listen to that record. From what I’ve read, it’s killer. I guess some cynical person could come along and say they are reinventing the late ’70s punk wheel, but with Liquor Store’s passion and sloppy New Jersey precision…that cynical person would be guilty of oversimplification. I’ve taken note and really wanna hear some Yeah Buddy and drink some Narragansett, a beer previously unheard of to one of the guitarists in Liquor Store. But like that guy, you just gotta try it out even if you can’t pronounce it and you play in none other than a band called Liquor Store. Yeah, buddy.

Set-List:
1. Proud To Be An American Man
2. Kiss
3. Manchild In Paradise
4. Vodka
5. Big Wheels
6. Gas Station
7. Pile of Dirt
8. In The Garden


Act Three: Natural Child – The last time I saw Natural Child (abbreviated Natti Child for whatever reason in a lot of KLYAM postings) was in August 2010 on a packed yacht cruising up Hudson River near the Statue of Liberty. They were opening for Black Lips so needless to say my excitement for the show was through the roof. The members of Natural Child recall that show fondly, describing it as a lot of fun and quite memorable. The other day at Great Scott wasn’t a close replica to that event, we weren’t anywhere near water, there weren’t as many transvestites, and the show wasn’t close to sell-out capacity. Natural Child themselves though – the band, the myth, and the legend – treated the crowd with plenty of spirited numbers, ranging from 1971‘s “White People” to For The Love‘s “8 AM Blues” and “DTV” to 7″ classics “Crack Mountain” and “Dogbite”. It was these last two songs that came toward the end of their set and brought the most willies for me. The crowd was into Natti, but not on the scale as that NY show that finished off with guitarist/vocalist Seth crowd-surfing his way up to the boat’s balcony. There weren’t any moments like that at GS, but I think I was spoiled for that NY gig. Either way, it’s great to see these guys rising through the ranks and chugging out quality records every few months or so. I’ll make every effort to see them next time around and who knows what that show might bring. This was a fun night, but I surmise the most fun is yet to come!

Music, Thee Oh Sees

Read John Dwyer Discuss Experiences/Other Bands

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Image: theheatlightning.com

Featured in Pitchfork‘s 5-10-15-20 series: http://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/8895-thee-oh-sees-john-dwyer/?utm_medium=site&utm_source=ticker&utm_name=ticker

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Also, check out Thee Oh Sees performing “Enemy Destruct” at the 2012 P-Fork Fest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CycwR8yqqJ4&feature=channel&list=UL

Black Lips, Ian St. Pe, interviews, Jared Swilley

Black Lips Interview @ Lors De Plage/ Chick-Fil-A Protest

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Once again, many inspirational quotations from the brains of Ian and Jared.

Meanwhile, Jared and Cole stage a humorous protest against Chick-Fil-A’s recent homophobic media uproar.


“Can’t decide what’s gonna taste better, A chicken sandwich,or Jared’s tongue shoved down my throat”- Cole

Music, Ty Segall, Ty Segall Band

Watch Ty Segall’s Pitchfork Set

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Ty’s set begins at 1:19:25. Click play on the video below and then the ‘Ty Segall’ button or just skip to the time.

Set-List:
“Death”
“I Bought My Eyes”
“Slaughterhouse”
“Finger”
“Imaginary Person”
“Standing at the Station”
“Doctor Doctor”
“You Make The Sun Fry”
–Cover–
“Skin”
“The Floor”
“Girlfriend”
“Wave Goodbye”

Music

Fancytramp’s EP Streaming/ Video For “Loaded Gun”

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Fancytramp! That’s right, the name must sound a bit familiar. They are headlining the Freak Flag/Fat Creeps EP release show on August 10 at Radio.

They have an EP out right now called Singing Tower At Sunset – it’s 6 songs that are way psychedelic and way fuzzy — but mainly catchy. Recommended. Listen at Bandcamp: http://fancytramp.bandcamp.com/

And look right below. A video for one of those songs, “Loaded Gun” :

Art, concert review, Gentleman Jesse and His Men, Honorary KLAYMERS, King Khan, King Khan and the Shrines, Music, pictures, Punk, reviews, Video

Concert Review: King Khan & The Shrines & Hector’s Pets @ Brighton Music Hall (7/23/12)

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Bands: King Khan & The Shrines, Hector’s Pets
Venue: Brighton Music Hall (Brighton, MA)
Date: Monday, July 23, 2012

Act One:Hector’s Pets – Hector’s Pets is an exciting five piece rock and roll band. Excitement comes in many forms, but with Hector’s Pets, my major source comes from the oddity of the group. They are an interesting visual: a front-man singing and clapping with a tambourine, a surfer-type dude on vocals and guitar, a Ty Segall look-a-like on bass, a ’70s glam rocker on lead guitar, and a cool as an autumn breeze drummer with sunglasses. Those are rough descriptions; I am not trying to aesthetically diss the guys. Musically, I recognize one song towards the end of their set. I am surprised that I recall it, because I only saw a few clips of the band weeks before the show. The song is “Station Wagon“. It’s good. The rest of the songs — I couldn’t quite get into them as much as I wanted to. I’m not incredibly hard to please so this was surprising, but they seemed in a bit of a rock and roll middle ground; heavier than stand-still groups like Real Estate, but considerably slower than an all-out blitz a la Jay Reatard. On an optimistic front, maybe they will become a 2012 Brighton Music Hall version of 2009’s Box Elders at the old Harpers Ferry. By that I mean to say I found myself more curious about the band’s on-stage persona than the music itself. I came around to the Elders and I was hooked by the time I saw them for a second time opening for Black Lips at Middle East Downstairs in March 2010. I keenly anticipate listening to more of Hector’s Pets.

The Final Act: King Khan and the Shrines – It sure is humorous to recall the mysticism surrounding the first time I saw King Khan and the Shrines. Reading about Jared Swilley’s premier experience was a bit like cracking open Fear and Loathing — there’s a bunch of vivid imagery about wild times, but it’s hard to make sense of them until they’ve happened to you. Needless to say, Khan and crew clicked on all levels that very May night at the Paradise Rock Club – their biggest Boston gig by far at that time. The sound was superb, the crowd went extra crazy, and the Shrines still had Bamboorella as their lead dancer. Fast forward a little more than a year to October 2010. The Shrines are back in Boston, this time at the Royale. The event is undersold, but features a fantastic opening line-up of Red Mass and Gentleman Jesse and His Men. The show is a great one, but it’s a toned down event, in sound and in performance. Now, it’s July 2012 at the Brighton Music Hall. Upon announcement, the choice of venue is surprising given the past two much larger locales, but with a lot of college kids gone for summer, it makes more sense for the Shrines to play Brighton. As the days draw closer to the event, I smirk as I do before all shows involving my favorite bands. An incredible time is ahead! And it was quite the show! No Bamboorella, one less man on horns, one less man on guitar. These are just some minor things I noticed. The sound wasn’t quite as solid as it was during the previous two shows. Opener “(How Can I Keep You)” felt less ‘complete’ this time around for sure. But what suffered in sound was made up for in practically every facet of the performance. You could tell King Khan was especially grateful for the audience’s reaction of singing along, dancing crazy, jumping up and down, etc. He did his part as well, especially in the encore as he wrapped the front-row in his cape and high-fived several people. Others in the band leaped into the crowd at various junctures, sometimes playing their instruments, sometimes just soaking in the fun. I remember thinking to myself, “wow, they keep playing hit after hit,” at one point and then thinking the same thing a couple of songs later. Great. A good chunk of the band’s live material was taken from Supreme Genius and What Is?!, but there was a nice bit of new and old — the old being “Stoned Soup” (for example) and the new being “So Wild” (a tribute to Jay Reatard) and “Bite My Tongue,” both of which will be released on an upcoming LP. The classics for me (and for others..judging by reaction) were “Took My Lady To Dinner,” “Welfare Bread,” and “I Wanna Be A Girl”. It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces having loads of fun. A moment of weirdness came after the band finished playing. An older gentleman with a saxophone in his hand climbed on stage and started playing solo. Most people were confused, but we seemed to embrace this peculiar occurrence. His performance lasted five or so minutes longer than I would have liked if I had a choice, but I did not. He kept playing. Eventually and fortunately, the Shrines made their way back on stage (thanks to percussionist Ron Streeter, who is a master of bringing the band out of the green room) and ripped into a few more tunes. There was hope for a second encore after several moments of silence and darkness and pleas from Streeter, but the PA music came back on and the show was officially over. The Shrines will be back soon. I was assured of this after the show by Shrines trumpet player Simon Says. Just when… we’ll see!

All Photos courtesy of KLYAM’s soul brother Glenn Delrossi. Thanks buddy!