Keep it weird: Jason Sells and O Lendario Chucrobillyman pose at the Mothman statue en route to Morgantown Wednesday night for a show with Weird Paul at 123 Pleasant Street
Sells and Chucro, on his first trip to the U.S. from Brazil, have been staying busy, rocking out, or just hanging out, seeing the sites as they’ve played the Pops Resale Anniversary show this past weekend, and have toured West Virginia over the past few days.
Speaking over the phone from Nitro Wednesday night, the pair talked about the highlights of Chucro’s first trip to the U.S. -- shows, the sights, and oh yes, Tudor’s Biscuit World.
“We’re just hangin loose,” Sells said as the two spoke over speakerphone, something of a conference call of sorts. “The past few days have been pretty awesome. I’ve tried to take him to as many historic spots and sites of folklore and beautiful scenery here in southern West Virginia, and hopefully show him and his entourage a good time.”
Chucro, speaking better than expected English with his Brazilian accent, said his inaugural tour of the states has been pretty cool so far.
“Yeah this is my first time here in the United States. I’m enjoying the sights and the scenery here in West Virginia. The shows have been real cool and it’s awesome to be here playing my music, mixing Brazilian zeal with the blues. It’s been real cool for me.”
Sells and Chucro were joined by “friend of Slate Dump” J Marinelli at the Pops Resale anniversary show in Lexington over the weekend. And while Marinelli raved about Chucro’s set on the illustrious WVRockscene Facebook wall, Chucro said the admiration was indeed mutual.
“Oh it was awesome, yeah. James Marinelli is a very good player, and I liked his show. I’m enjoying everything and Jason is having a good sound too.”
During their stay in Nitro, it appears that Sells turned Chucro on to true West Virginia fare: Tudor’s Biscuit World.
“Yeah,” Chucro said laughing hard. “I’m liking very much mainly the biscuits and gravy. It’s perfect,” laughing some more.
Chucro said he’s looking forward to playing 123 Pleasant Street, then heading to New York for a few shows, then, traveling to Austin, Tejas for gig-related activity.
“We’re going to New York after Morgantown for a few shows. Then, going back to Austin. We’re driving down there. People are saying we are crazy. But it’s the cool way to do it.”
“You know, I’m gonna go off on one of my rants, as I always do. It seems like the system is set up to keep poor people ignorant, and keep them inundated with propaganda and keep people in a cycle of poverty. They’re doing nothing but destroying the air and the water and blowing up mountains and then dumping entire mountains into valleys and filling up the streams. I don’t want West Virginia to become a moonscape. I’m proud to be a Mountaineer, and part of being a Mountaineer is loving mountains. Montani Semper Liberi, and the whole nine. Anyone who calls themselves a Mountaineer and is pro-mountaintop removal is a fool, or worse.”
And Morgantown is in for a treat Wednesday night, with Chucro, Slate Dump and the appropriately named Weird Paul Petrosky.
‘They’re gonna see weird on an unprecedented level,” Sells said. “We’re gonna be pushing the envelope all the way, blowing minds and havin’ fun.”
The Whiskey Daredevils recently returned to Detroit to record their seventh record over the course of a weekend. Following singer Greg Miller’s studio status updates over Facebook regarding their Greatest Hits Vol. 2, we thought we’d check in with Miller and see how things went for the Cleveland-based cowpunkers. Below is his report...
The Whiskey Daredevils entered into Shiftmake Studios in Detroit last weekend to record their seventh full length CD. Now, Shiftmake Studios is no normal studio. Frankly, it’s not really a studio at all. John Smerek, long time band pal and recording whiz, took a bunch of vintage gear over to his wife’s small brick photo studio in a bombed out building not far from the MGM and Motor City Casinos. The idea was to capture the band doing what we do best, playing our songs live and capturing the energy and feel we have on a stage. See, the studio is a strange place. It’s very easy to get bogged down in headphone mixes, guys in separate rooms, and never ending overdubs. The problem is that recording a band in that environment is usually so completely opposite from what that band usually does, you get the expected result: a lifeless bland recording.
John is really good at what he does. If I wanted to, I could drop some impressive names of people he has recorded like Kid Rock, The Breeders, Reckless Kelly, the Detroit Cobras, the Deadstring Brothers, and a bunch of “cool” bands that you probably like. However, I won’t bore you with that. What I will tell you is that he knows what the fuck he is doing. That is good, because we don’t. Sure, we know how to play the songs we wrote, but we need someone that can make us sound like we normally sound. This is easier said than done. Recording is really tricky. You move a mic an inch one way or the other, move a guitar effect too far, don’t take the time to get a real drum sound, blah blah blah, and you have some real problems friend. The band should worry about giving their best performance, and the engineer should worry about capturing what is going on. That’s what John does better than anyone I know.
So here we are in Shiftmake with a case of beer, and standing in two rooms. One has John in a wooden chair leaning over the board. I am sitting about two feet behind him laying down a scratch vocal. A scratch vocal is when the singer goes through the song so the band knows where they are while they are playing it. It’s usually done into a cheap microphone, and you have no intention of keeping it. Meanwhile the band was set up with Krusty against the near door right next to Leo on drums. Gary had a guitar fort set up in the corner with his Marshall and Peavey set up to crank out his sound just the way he likes it. All the guys can hear each other’s amps, and reach out and touch Leo’s drums if they want to. This is great, as it will capture a warm sound with everyone bleeding a bit into each other’s mics. The downside is that there is no overdubbing. If it is a good take, and the bass player flubbed a note, that’s too bad. It got picked up on other mics, so you gotta live with it. You can’t ignore that mistake? Better get back in there for another take. Bottom line? You better know the songs and play them well with this set up.
I will tell you this. I have made 16 full-length records between the Whiskey Daredevils and The Cowslingers. I have never seen a band play as well in the studio as Ken/Leo/Gary did that first afternoon. These guys nailed 14 takes. Let me repeat this. We did 14 basic tracks in one afternoon. Most bands take 4 months to do that. Fuck those guys. They should learn how to play. These guys delivered the goods. I will also go on record and say Gary had the single best day in the studio of anyone I have ever seen. He did all 14 tracks, did 13 guitar solos and flourishes, and nothing took more than two takes. It was unbelievable. When you hear this CD, you will say “There is no fucking way that guy did that in one take”. I am here to tell you that he did. Deal with it.
We went over to Motor City Brew Works after the session and drank some of their pale ale and nut brown. This was a good idea. We had worked so fast that no one realized how hungry we were. They make a mean thin crust pizza there from the wood oven. Pizza highly recommended, and the beer is OK. We agreed to come back at 11am and get back to work the next day.
Saturday we stopped at a downtown Starbucks and fueled up on caffeine while dealing with more beggars than Downtown Calcutta. I especially liked the guy that spoke out of his throat hole. Made me want to get a couple yogurts and enjoy one with him. “Scuse me Sir! Sir! Can I axe you something?” Yikes.
I then went in and knocked out all of my vocals that day. Every single one of them. I won’t know if they are any good until the mix I suppose, but that was it. Gary did some acoustic guitar on some songs. Leo sang some backups. Then the record was done. It was 9:35pm. Two days in the studio. 14 tracks.
Sunday Gary and I went back to the studio to make sure everything was good. I discovered I missed a lead vocal, and did it. Gary did his last guitar solo. We listened to everything. We left an hour later. We’ll mix it this week.
It was easily the smoothest recording session I was ever a part of, and probably the best. If I were you, I would look forward to getting this into my music collection. Even John said, “the tracks are killer”, and he works with some actual big time musicians. I’ll let you know how this thing comes together. The plan is we release it here in that United States on Shake It Records in Cincinnati, and in Europe on Munster. We will take a couple of the songs and place it on a 12-inch vinyl only record with a career retrospective on Knock-Out from Germany. There are no clunkers on this thing. We took our best songs from 23 originals, and played them out live for a month. After road testing them, we went in and did this. I think it’s going to be really good.
Tuesday, May 17th at the V Club was a special night of amazing music. The pirate, gypsy, bluegrass, rockabilly, melting pot of all things good about rock and roll and the devil were unleashed live by the Goddamn Gallows.
Starting off the night were new look and sound Wine and Water.
Wine and Water started out as Cody Lynch of Down Goes Frazier’s acoustic side project, and have since grown into its own entity. Cody was the guitarist, vocalist, and frontman of the act, but for this show, he played drums and did vocals. Cody’s brainchild is rounded out by Dave Mistich on bass and back-up vocals, and guitarist and vocalist Barrett Lynch.
Wine and Water’s new electric sound was well-received by the sparse crowd, due to it being a Tuesday and rainy weather no doubt. Regardless of the situation, Wine and Water played a great set that brings to mind acts like Hot Water Music, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Steve Earle, and maybe a lil John Cougar Mellencamp with a indie punk edge.
They played a high energy set and despite their drummer being M.I.A. and Cody Lynch manning the kit and handling vocals, they pulled it off nicely. Don’t know what future configuration Wine and Water are going to go with, but I’m sure whatever it is, it will be good. If you haven’t checked out Wine and Water live, I suggest you do so.
Now onto the fantastic Goddamn Gallows set.
First of all let me tell you about these guys. Just imagine characters from the movie Gangs of New York mixed with some vagabond traveling gypsies, and barter town residents from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. These guys looked like men you wouldn’t want to run into in a back alley. Tattooed faces and necks.
A standup bass player with a handlebar mustache, a spoon wielding washboard player that resembled a snake oil salesman if he was in the film Lord of the Flies, a guitarist that looked like a member of the Sex Pistols time traveled to the 50’s and was from a Marlon Brando flick, and a Madolin/banjo/acoustic guitarist that would be right at home in the movie Predator.
These post-apocalyptic looking dudes have some major musical talent. Goddamn Gallows sound has a aforementioned melting pot of great sounds that comprise their genetic makeup; straight up rockabilly, gypsy travelin’, bluegrass and country, even, dare I say polka influences were erupting from the stage.
I’ve never seen a band spit so much in my life, lol. They were hootin’ and hollerin’, spittin’ out on the floor and on each other for their whole set (ed. note: you can catch Hepatitis like that). The two songs that really stuck out for me was the Townes Van Zant cover of “Waiting Around To Die” and a cover of the founding fathers of black metal, England’s Venom, in league with Satan.
In between these covers was one of the best sets of music I’ve seen woven into a tapestry of a concert I’ve seen in a long time. The sparse crowd of die-hards ate up every second of it and wanted more. Goddamn Gallows are really something special in a day and age of musical mediocrity. Check ‘em out on youtube, buy their albums, go see them live. Bands like this don’t come around that often so if you get the chance check ‘em out.
I left the V Club a satisfied man and look forward to seeing Don Duncan at the door and shootin the breeze with lil Pat about the upcoming acts coming to the V Club, which is turning out to be the best venue in Huntington since the Drop Shop was at 1318 4th Ave. Check out www.vclublive.com for the consistent acts that come through their doors.
Whether you’re more into cupcakewave, dark indie is more yer thing, or just like showing up at free shows where people are playing instruments, Friday is lookin pretty cool up in Magic Town.
Morgantown cupcakewave four-piece Bonfire (above) is set to pre-release their debut cassette “Triple Crown” (on Crash Symbols) at the Blue Moose Café with The Overcoat.
The show is not only all-ages, but, again, free, so you can go ahead and pre-order our copy of “Triple Crown” for us, and count it as some kind of charitable act. No money involved = no worries about cover charges and splitting the door money and having to cancel the show. Killer!
Of course, then you’d have to mail us the cassette, which will cost you extra, unless you work at an office where you can mail stuff out clandestine style. Or, you could film you playing it, upload it to youtube, and host it there for us to rock out (looking at you, Zach Francis). Talk about multi-media. Whatever.
If you have to work -- call in sick. And if yer in jail -- BREAK OUT!!!
So you’ve read this much, why not check out previous Bonfire-related posts here at WVRockscene? Oh and there’s also the live bootleg we got of Bonfire playing on U92’s Morgantown Sound from way back in April. Ripped straight off the ol’ internet for all our listening pleasure.
It’s always great finding out about cool new local bands. Bonfire is one of those bands. Despite not being able to please everyone with our posts, sometimes, we just aim to please ourselves. And no money is involved!
Wanna learn more about Bonfire before you show up and start asking the band ridiculous questions? Click here or here, and definitely check out Liz Toler and Dwight Pavlovic's art from their Tiny Scissors show...
Ten Carp Lie singer Kevin Brendler and Threefold Theory singer-guitarist Scott Niles talked about their bands over the phone like they make their music these days: together.
Their Huntington-area melodic hard rock bands have gigged out around Charleston and Huntington (and beyond) for years (since 2002 and 2004, respectively), a lot of times playing shows together. But after a herniated disc sidelined he and 3FT back in 2008, Niles has since joined his friends in Ten Carp Lie, and they’re three songs into their sophomore release, recording with Jason Mays of Ashland, Kentucky’s Split Nixon.
Niles described the process of getting into Ten Carp Lie after being a friend and fan for so many years.
“I was more or less not really actively playing with Threefold Theory, and whenever TCL would play a show, my wife and I would go see them play. And they’d invite me up to sing with them on one of their songs, and it was a good time for me. In 2009 they invited me to come jam with them, and it just clicked. After a couple of jam sessions they asked if I wanted to join full-time.”
Brendler said Ten Carp Lie’s sound these days is a little heavier than a few years back; “Fade,” “Ridiculous,” and “Mad” available on the band’s Facebook page, are the result of working with Mays in the studio, and for Brendler, a natural, exciting evolution in the band’s sound.
“We’ve got those three in the bag. Recording with Jason Mays is a dream. He knows what he’s doing in the studio. You can hear from the first three songs, he’s given us a product we haven’t had before. Everybody really seems to like the new material we’re doing.”
Over the phone, Niles conferred with his nearby wife, and was reminded just how big of a Ten Carp Lie fan he was, and still is.
“Oh yeah, that tells you how much I love these guys; I asked them to play my wedding reception,” he said laughing. “It was amazing. They made the reception, I’ll tell you that much.”
The feeling between the bands is mutual, Brendler said.
“It’s a blast,” the singer said of sharing a bill with Threefold Theory. “One of my favorite bands to go out and see was Threefold Theory. I love doing shows with them; we have the same kind of vibe, it meshes real well.”
While both bands seemed to have had their high points a few years back, with TCL opening for acts like Tantric and Saving Jane, and 3FT playing with Fuel and Seether, both Brendler and Niles still love making music and rocking out together. They both have everything in its proper perspective after a decade or so on and off in their bands.
“I consider the band thing my golf,” Brendler said. “I tell my wife I’d be gone longer if I played golf. It’s my only real hobby. It’s something I’ve done my entire life. I’ve been on hiatus before and hated it. It’s painful, physically. I’ll do it as long as people keep coming out and we keep getting shows.”
Niles said after his own literal physical pain in his neck, he’s stoked to be in Ten Carp Lie and Threefold Theory these days.
“For a while, I couldn’t physically play music, and like Kevin said about being on hiatus, it was painful for me. Being able to recover and make music again, I am so happy. It’s worked out for the best and I’m so lucky to be able to do it. I’m definitely blessed to be able to do it and for people to be able to enjoy it.
“It’s not always easy to be easy to be in two different bands,” Niles continued. “But the way our groups work, it’s been easy since 3FT doesn’t play that often. I’ve become close friends with them, and writing with these guys, everything seems to be built from the ground up, and the three new songs are just amazing, they’re great. For me it’s the best of both worlds musically.”
“They’re my best friends, they’re my buddies,” Brendler said of his musical cohorts. “We get together and go to a bar and play music. What more could you ask for?”
If you go:
Ten Carp Lie, Threefold Theory, Alexis Cunningham Where: The V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington (304) 781-0680 When: Saturday, May 14, 10 p.m. Cost: $5 Info: www.vclublive.com
In anticipation of their upcoming shows tonight and Tuesday night at the V Club, we caught up with the creative force behind Huntington’s Wine & Water, Cody Lynch. He talks with WVRockscene about starting the (until recently) solo acoustic project with his cousin Barrett Lynch, promising changes and developments in the group, new music, and the state of mainstream rock radio these days...
WVROCKSCENE: How did you start out and form Wine & Water? CODY LYNCH: I guess W&W started with me as pretty much a solo gig, as for years I had been writing songs, and playing them out here and there. One day on a whim, some years back I recorded a song with a friend of mine, wanted to post and release some of the stuff I had been working on, so I used a name I had come up with while on a camp/float trip in the mountains, and started a Myspace. Nothing came of it for the most part, just a few solo shows here and there.
Some years went by, I was busy doing other stuff and playing drums with Down Goes Frazier, when fairly recently (maybe a year or more ago) Barrett and I had been getting back together playing on some old jams we knew and things we had written in the previous years. I should mention, that for years, Barrett and I had written/played together and he would lay down leads to things I was writing or providing bass tracks, positive vibes etc., etc.
Anyway, we decided to start getting a little more serious about putting out some music and playing shows, and went with the Wine and Water thing, because basically I already had the Myspace page going, so we decided wed just go with that. Who knows, we may impulsively change it one day, but that’s neither here nor there. So yeah, we got to work, bought some gear, and recorded six songs in my basement, booked a few shows, put out a CD early last fall and got the ball rolling, at least nudged it anyway.
----- WVROCKSCENE: You’ve been in Florida right? What’s up down there? Are you back in Huntington yet? LYNCH: Ahhh sunny Florida. Yeah I spend quite a bit of time going back and fourth from there. A lot of the bands and musicians I’m into, and friends of mine live and play down there. I spend most of my time hanging around Gainesville (home of No Idea Records and a pile of great bands) Orlando, and Cocoa beach. I just enjoy the weather, the food, the friends, the drinks and the scenes down there. So I’ve been working on getting somewhat established and familiar with what’s going on down there. I’ve toyed with living there, and honestly may very would be residing down there if it weren’t for my bands and friends up here. I owe what’s goin on up here one more good shot at least right?
So for now, I’m just going back and forth. As a matter of fact I just got home this morning from a two week stint down there. Fun stuff.
----- WVROCKSCENE: How excited are you about the current lineup and writing songs and the state of Wine & Water these days? LYNCH: It’s just so hard to find like-minded dedicated musicians, at least in our neck of the woods. Of course things thing started with Barrett and I, then we decided to bring in a drummer (Dale Johnson) who came in and tore it up with us for a while, helping us shape what would be the new songs. But like i said, people have their own lives, and other things they want to do besides sell your soul to the hellish lifestyle of rock n roll, so no drummer to date has been set in stone, instead at the moment it has been more of a revolving door of whoever we can count on at the moment, still looking for that special somebody, but aren’t we all? ha.
Speaking of which, I hear we may have a surprise drummer joining us for now, to be unveiled in the coming days (Andrew Bowles of Sarasota), but I’m pretty sure people will be happy to see this kid back behind the kit. Dave [Mistich] and I had hung out here and there and it just kind of fell into place with mutual friends conversing back and fourth, until one night, he asked ‘So man, I hear you’re looking for some bass,’ or something like that. I shot back with a ‘yeah man,’ which later he came up to the bar and asked ‘So are you serious about that?’ ‘Yeah man.’
So we made plans to jam, did it up, and it was cool. It helps too that Dave is just an awesome dude and we have since formed a stellar friendship. He pretty much had a matter of days to learn the set list on the bass until our next show. Then literally as soon as he’s getting a little comfortable with all of that, we end up having a show with no drummer, which we did all acoustic and talked Dave into playing the mandolin on a few of our songs. I’m sure it stressed him to the max to learn all that in such a little time, but he should have never told me he owned a badass mando, lol. But we got through it and it turned out quite well. We got to play with Cutthroat Shamrock that night, it was rad.
-----
WVROCKSCENE: You guys gonna have electric guitars for Tuesday’s show with Goddamn Gallows? What’s different about arranging or playing your songs with electric? Not much? Big difference?
LYNCH: So yeah, the plan is to unveil our new “electrified” sound this coming Tuesday at the V Club with Goddamn Gallows. Keep your fingers crossed. It’s really not hard to arrange or rearrange songs for electric guitar, it’s the same song I wrote sitting in my bedroom on an acoustic guitar, just with amplifiers and electric guitars.
I write so that these songs can be versatile and simplistic yet hold their weight in any situation from a small intimate acoustic session to an all out rock show, or a punk rock party in the basement. I like both ends of the spectrum. Usually when I’m working on a song though I have a rock and roll band backing me up in my head and drums going off in my head, which happens naturally, me being a drummer and all. but we are all really digging the new sound.
----- WVROCKSCENE: Friday’s show with Smokestack and the Foothill Fury is gonna be acoustic, right? Would you rather have the full band, electric sound or keep it more acoustic-centered? LYNCH: Yeah the show with Smokestack on Friday is acoustic with just Barrett and I. It’s more out of necessity at the moment, but we don’t mind, as long as we are playing in some sort of fashion, somewhere. Like I said, it’s all about what the moment calls for, but we are really excited about the newer electric, heavier stuff and will move into that direction. But don’t worry, I wont forget about the acoustic guitars anytime soon. We’ll even it out for the best of both worlds. Just whatever is right for the song, or the moment.
----- WVROCKSCENE: You seem (judging from yer FB page) to be into a more progressive (you call it anarchist) political bent. Is that something that creeps into your lyrics or are you just a news junkie? What are your thoughts on bands lending their seemingly unrelated music to causes either left or right? LYNCH: Oh so you’ve noticed my political ramblings?? lol. Well, yeah, I guess you could say I’m a news junkie, and i follow what’s going on in American politics on a day to day basis a lot of the time. I just think it’s important to be informed, and factually, too many people don’t care or are completely misinformed. And yeah, my political beliefs do creep into they lyrics I guess you could say. But it’s whatever, it’s all open ended to the listener, you can think it (a song) means whatever you wanna think it means, I guess.
I don’t try to preach, I just try to bring some things to some peoples attention. We’re all in this together right? I don’t mind when bands get political, as long as its politics I can agree with, lol. I mean, I did grow up listening to political punk rock bands. For instance, I agree with the Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion or more recent even bands like Ninja Gun. But I don’t agree with people like Toby Keith, or whoever wants to put a boot up your non-American ass. OK next question.
----- WVROCKSCENE: What is up with Down Goes Frazier? LYNCH: On the subject of DGF, I may be a little vague on our situation, but we’ve been playing some shows recently. Nothing booked in the future for now. We’ve been around for a while doing what we do, it’s just hard to get everyone on the same page all of the time. None the less I love that band. We actually started recording some new material a few weeks ago which we have got about halfway finished, and I’ll just kinda leave it at that for now. But I’ll keep ya updated if anything else happens, one way or the other, hopefully you will hear some new music from the gang. Until then go download our discography for free at Soft Rock Renegade, or go to our Facebook page and follow the link to it.
----- WVROCKSCENE: On the info section of the W&W Facebook page you talk about the commercialization of rock. What are your own thoughts on the state of radio-rock these days? LYNCH: Oh don’t get me started on commercial rock and roll, if you can actually call any of it rock and roll. Radio for the most part just plain sucks. Either I just don’t get the new pop culture altogether, or I am one of the ones who just see right through it. I just wonder sometimes if anyone else notices the correlations between bad music, bad television, bad films, bad politics to the dumbing down of society as a whole...? Oh well, they can have it, most the cool stuff stays underground anyway.
But yeah you also can’t deny the impact of great bands before that were making their mark before things were so saturated. People/bands like Tom Petty, the boss, The Band, Cash, Dylan, the Animals, the Kinks, the JuJus, the Kegs, Steely Dan. I’d better stop, I’m just gonna start rambling off everything I listen to that’s pre-1985, but you catch my drift. I could go on and on about this topic, but for the sake of whoever reads this, I will just quit here. Haha.
----- WVROCKSCENE: You recently recorded some new songs, have those been uploaded to the Facebook page? Plans on recording more or releasing a W&W CD or EP anytime soon? What’s up with W&W you’re looking forward to the rest of 2011? LYNCH: Yeah, we recorded three new songs real quick in a makeshift studio before I headed out of town. I needed some new material to toss around down south. You can hear these songs now on our Facebook bandpage. Yay for free new music. Look for us to officially release a new EP in the near future which will be on 7” unless that turns into a 10” or 12”, but all that will be decided after the next studio sessions. And ya know, it should be on iTunes, and maybe even some free downloads will be available soon as well. We’ll have some new news on the new tunes and how exactly to access them super soon. We are just super excited to be putting out a lot of new music, as well as grabbing some stuff out of our back catalog, doing some releases, booking shows, and getting on the road.
Hopefully the rest of 2011 is nice to us and people wanna come hang out and party with us.
It's almost surprising how many shows there are in Huntington these days. Seemingly every night of the week offers something, be it a national tirelessly working the mid-sized venue circuit, or a local group cutting their teeth in the strange comfort of their own scene. Being the kickoff to the weekend, Friday at the V Club provided a bit of both, offering up a double serving of local talent warming up the crowd for Alive Records' Buffalo Killers.
Local complex indie rockers Sly Roosevelt kicked the night off with their strange yet inspired brew. Pinning down the band's sound proves to be an arduous task, even for the most seasoned audiophile, yet there are a string of elements that are simply undeniable.
There's a slight element of punk, led by a steady power chord-driven rhythm. There's also elements of jazz and funk in bass player Alex Durand's hypnotic lines. (If there's anything pressing about Sly Roosevelt's set that deserves constructive attention, it's the incredible need for Durand to be bumped up in the mix.) What's most noticeable is the fervor in Sean McDaniel's voice, which would certainly get a nod from Modest Mouse's Ian Brock.
Due to the fresh chaotic nature of their compositions, it's difficult for the band's tunes to seem familiar to a crowd yet (even despite being around since 2008), but with time and enough gigs, there's no doubt they'll become drilled into the heads of locals eventually.
And so Sly Roosevelt will remain an acquired taste for those adventurous enough to stumble upon them--a band not for passive listeners. But such a distinction might ultimately prove to end up working in the group's favor. Serious listeners crave being engaged and there's no one in town whose songwriting has that in their pocket quite like they do on the local scene.
After the sonic smorgasbord of Sly roosevelt, it was time for the hipster-approved rock of the local trio Universes. Led by the etherial craftwork of guitarist Justin Gardner, the band's keen pop sensibilities shine through song after song. On this night the group weaved together a set with material from their Yeah! We Did It! release along with new material yet to find it's way into the eternal security of a recording.
The songs from Yeah! We Did It! come across differently in a live setting; there's certainly no problem with recognition for those who know the songs, but they're working with very little on stage.
Sure, the group might benefit from the addition of a keyboardist to add texture in certain passing moments, but the songs and their arrangements take on a welcomed new life. There's no slick studio production to hide behind (or season), yet the band makes do nearly perfectly. In the spaces where they're needed most, bassist Josh Harshbarger and drummer Jason Reese fill things out effectively and give songs like "Life" and "Vanilla Sky" the kinetics necessary for them to soar in their raw potential sans additional instrumentation.
And it's not just the band's material that deserves noting, the fellas in Universes work the stage as if they're jockeying for the weekly crown on some variety show of yesteryear. Sure, it might have been that the crowd seemed familiar to the band, yet Gardner shouldn't ever let the comedic element of the show slip out of their routine. (Harshbarger and Reese follow suit in this area perfectly, egging their frontman on with a bouncy circus-themed bass and drum stomp.) By introducing songs with crude fake titles, Gardner and company provide a conscious relief from the depth of repeated "woe-is-me" reflections in their unrequited love-stricken anthems.
(Editor's note: Gardner's guitar was stolen from his car outside the venue following the set. Anyone with any information on the theft has been asked to contact him directly. Gardner and Universes--and the entire Huntington scene--would greatly appreciate the help.
Update 5.9.11: Gardner's guitar was recovered and all is well with Universes again.)
If the $10 cover was too steep for only a couple locals, Cincinnati's Buffalo Killers made the night worth the price of admission.
With their newest record, 2008's Let It Ride, having been produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbauch, the band digs deep into a gritty blues shuffle with a southern tinge. It's a sound that resembles some alternative version Neil Young's Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, arranged for a stoner-friendly three piece.
Guitarist Andrew Gabbard's tone mixed in faintly, but remains present--something deserving an attentive ear but not to the point of strain. Gabbard's brother and bassist for the group, Zachary Gabbard, brought a locked in groove driven furiously by the skyward-gazing Joseph Sebaali behind the kit.
Yet, strangely enough, a slow romantic swagger bled through the band's sound on Friday night. It wasn't obvious and maybe not even exactly necessary, but that aspect added a dimension sometimes lost in the raucous of gnarling fuzz rock. Even though the Gabbard's vocals stretch and bend around the tunes with a straining dissonance, there's a strange, visceral comfort left in their wake.
When a band is named after a iconic Vox guitar amplifier a prospective listener should have some idea of what they’re in for. It’s a rig whose tubes and speakers shaped rock history with a little help from a few guys like Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Peter Buck, and Brian May. Think crisp and clean, but able to conjure serious bite and raw power—an apt moniker (and metaphor) for the Huntington-based power-pop quintet, AC30.
Firing away by opening with one of the singles that’s been getting the band some local buzz, “I’m Free,” Ryan Weaver’s vocals matched the timbre of the band surrounding him—a sound somewhere between soothing and refined rowdiness; something even the most conservative, anti-rock grandmother might not only tolerate but thoroughly enjoy.
But it wasn’t just Weaver featured on vocals. The other front three members stepped up and handled leads, sometimes switching between verses and choruses. Bassist Ian Thornton, guitarist Doug Woodard, and the slick-fingered local hero Bud Carroll were all capable vocally. But it was drummer Alex McCoy, whose surprisingly high range on backing vocals, that deserved MVP on the mic.
Even though it was impossible for the crowd to be familiar with the songs (this was only the band’s third show), the response indicated that they will be welcomed time and again. There was a lot of dancing from the crowd; the kind that signals that rock and roll does fantastic things for people. There were also immediate howls and applause from the audience once the band finished a song.
There was only one flub the entire night, and it wasn’t even while the band was playing. Coming out of stellar version of Big Star’s “September Gurls,” Woodard had difficulties tuning, essentially killing the momentum built up by the set until then.
Carroll apologized to the crowd, stating that it was necessary to get things perfect, and confidently proclaimed their next song was “the best one we’ve got.” And he wasn’t lying. “She’s The One” epitomized the groups layered sound. Bluesy lead licks, vocal harmonies, and a driving rhythm—morphing into a collective of pop sweetness.
After finishing their set, the V Club’s crowd quickly demanded an encore and rightfully so. With a bit of conversation amongst the band, The Temptations' “I Can’t Get Next To You” was settled upon as a finale and the already dance-ready crowd got moving at a pace unmatched by prior tunes.
The choice of covers, an instrument switch (between Thornton and Woodard late in the set), and even the sonic shifts within their own material prove the group to be extremely versatile, a band capable of executing the most difficult pop arrangements with grace.
While Carroll and company’s playing is impeccable, what really grabs hold is how near perfect their own songs are. There’s an eerie feeling evoked by AC30’s material, making one wonder whether Lennon-McCartney were arranging songs by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers (or vice versa) but spiced with a fierce attention to the vocal harmonies, which in places might be suited for The Staple Singers or some legendary Motown session group. Throw in the fact that each member contributes to songwriting, and it's frivolous in trying to find a weak link anywhere within the group.
AC30 is a weird trip through pop music history, one with slight twists and turns but always staying inside the lines on a carefully built, meaningful road. These history lessons handed down from bands and musicians are increasingly necessary in a world where digital singles with short life spans somehow trump the power of classic records, let alone discographies that have formed the map that is the canon of lasting pop music. The gentlemen in AC30 would probably tell you that themselves.
And, so, one can only guess the mission of this band. However, it’d be hard not to believe it’s giving a nod to those who’ve held onto some strict ethic and obsessed with the smoothness and universal emotion that pop can bring.
Morgantown native and Lexington, Kentucky resident J Marinelli brings his angry-one man band to Shamrocks tonight
Looking back on the posts I’ve done on J Marinelli, it’s, well, frankly embarrassing.
Over the four or so plus years I’ve covered bands at this illustrious online destination, and before that at thegazz.com and in Graffiti, there hasn’t been any band I’ve listened to more than J Marinelli -- his angry one-man band.
It’s weird because first hearing his Pity the Party EP, several years back, the swingin’ songs were tough to get into originally because the vocals were on the whole just so loud and distorted. But “A Little Action” is still a favorite, what with its caveman guitar and cool lo-fi vocals, and “400 More Years” is still awesome to hear.
“A Little Action“
But you can’t talk about getting awesome talking about Marinelli without mentioning Keep It Fake, his February, 2007 16-song release. Arguably his best release, ably recorded by Mark Poole, who captures a fuller, pub rock (?) type garage rock sound than what was heard on Pity the Party.
It’s not that the songs are that much different, it’s just that they sound better. No other record has been played more on the WVRockscene home stereo and the various briefly lived mp3 players. Every song is a favorite, maybe none more so than Marinelli’s nostalgic look back to 1985, “Let’s Get Awesome,” with its huge rock band ending.
“Let’s Get Awesome”
Literally my favorite record; my hand-numbered copy is 103/1,000.
“Lying In State”
Marinelli’s two-volume cover cassette series Stone Age Kicks found Marinelli (in small parts) embracing a more folk-centered but no-less-angry one-man sound; banjo and harmonica flavor Marinelli’s versions of Neil Young’s “Winterlong,” the Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers,” and Pixies favorites “Head On” and “Wave of Mutilation,” and the near-overdriven vocals are replaced by bare, emotive singing. A great direction to take his sound, simultaneously keeping his angry one-man sound on other tunes.
Pre-emptive Skankery Sessions, Marinelli’s Fall 2010 release, really has more of a live feel than anything. Maybe it’s how the arrangement of the first few songs play like one of Marinelli’s live sets. “Rebel Without Applause” goes right into “Hey Pinkerton,” which segues into “She’s My Cheerwine,” Marinelli’s ode to the drink, or, more subtly (?) punk rock.
“Hey Pinkerton/She’s My Cheerwine”
While Marinelli’s sound on PSS is washed in more reverb and has a more experimental bent than on previous releases, that’s the point of all this -- seeing Marinelli live. You can spend all the time you can on his bandcamp page, you can hear fellow Morgantown natives cover their favorite Marinelli tunes on Morgantown Does Marinelli, or you can read long-winded posts by swooning bloggers, but you won’t have a chance to really fall in love with rock and roll all over again unless you catch Marinelli live.
It’s not like his minimalist sound loses anything at all between the studio and the stage, and you can witness the passion, attitude and one-man phenomena itself in front of your own very eyes. Then you can buy whatever CDs “the man” is selling (probably himself, in DIY fashion) at his merch table.
It’s tough to convey the rump-shaking appeal and deep-rooted passion and love for punk found in Marinelli’s music. Now living in Lexington, Marinelli doesn’t come to Huntington frequently -- Charleston, much to this blogger’s dismay, less often -- but you can catch the sensation tonight as Marinelli plays Shamrocks.
You won’t feel old again, that is for sure. And the dancing boys and dancing girls will tell you he has won.
photo: Andy Pickens
J Marinelli plays Shamrocks Irish Pub tonight with Dayton’s Gem City Saints.
In advance of Thursday’s This Ain’t No Disco show at The V Club in Huntington, WVRockscene caught up with AC30 members Bud Carroll and Ian Thornton to learn more about what’s up with the band, their studio progress, and Bud’s plans for his birthday on Cinco De Mayo...
WVRockscene: How did you guys meet/know each other and decide to start a band? How did [Ryan] Weaver get brought into the fold and what's the chemistry like just writing and arranging songs?
Bud Carroll: Well Ian and I have known each other since the American Minor/Love Coats things, doing gigs back in ‘05 and ‘06. I met Ryan hanging out at Shams when he was doing sound there in ‘08. I would hear great shit over the PA between bands and would always go bug him about what he was playing, so we kinda bonded over that.
Then I staggered into a Whirling Dervish show one night and was blown away that some guys here were doing good power pop stuff with vocal harmonies and then ended up working with them some after their original guitarist quit. I tried to produce some stuff for them but the band kind of imploded before anything came to fruition. So Ian, Ryan and I started putting together tunes on Monday nights, and we’ve been kicking it on Mondays ever since, missed very few actually.
Ryan and I, along with James Barker, “Deadbeats and Barkers,” are all partners in Trackside Studios. But originally Ryan and I came up with the idea of starting a studio while working together on the Dervish stuff. Ryan actually spent time engineering in pro studios in Nashville and has a degree from the conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Arizona.
Unlike other situations I’ve been involved with, putting together tunes is a blast, just people trying to make good music, no agendas, no egos, and no hassle. Everyone goes out of their way to make sure each others tunes come off well. It’s so much fun and so easy it ought to be a crime. It feels like what it used to feel like being in bands in high school. Except this time all of the people you’re hanging out with are killer songwriters and musicians.
Ian Thornton: Well I’ve been around the scene for a few years now and I’ve known Bud the longest. I think the first time we met it was an American Minor/Love Coats show. I played in a short lived band with Ryan Weaver called Whirling Dervish around 2007-2008. We only played a handful of shows but had an instant connection and I have been working with him in some fashion ever since. He’s a great guy and incredibly intelligent when it comes to writing and recording.
Bud actually helped us with some of our final shows after we lost our lead guitarist so that’s where the spark really began with the three of us. We just continued to hang out at Trackside and each of us had some songs we wanted to play so we’d meet up and lay them down. That’s pretty much where the band started.
I knew Alex [McCoy] from playing in the Good Fight and we brought him in because he’s an excellent drummer and another really good fella. Doug [Woodard] just moved back within the last year and Bud invited him over one night while we were playing and we found that he was the missing link we needed to create AC30. He fit in perfect and his presence added a lot to our sound. I don’t think you could find a better chemistry in a band.
We all get along great, and we all have different writing styles which I feel is one of the greatest attributes to this group. Everyone writes and everyone contributes with arrangements. It’s so much better than having to depend on one person to write everything for a band I feel.
We’re just taking things slow and enjoying the hell out of our Monday night sessions.
----- rockscene: You guys recently let people get free mp3 versions of “I’m Free” and “Sure to Win,” what’s the response been to the songs and your music in general since you guys started playing out?
Carroll: The response has been really positive. It always surprises me when someone mentions it because I don’t really think about it all that much. I was actually in Athens last week working on some stuff with Jeff Ellis and Eddie Ashworth said he had been rocking it on his MP3 player and really dug it. I was just like, ‘Oh shit, how’d you know about that?’ When you don't have any expectations except for making good music any kind of response is gratifying.
Thornton: We’ve actually had a really good response up to this point. We’ve only played two shows so far and they were both very well received. We wanted to give the single away so we could give people an idea of what’s to come from AC30.
----- rockscene: The liner info has you guys recording at Trackside over basically a year’s period, what’s the status of the full-length? Do you have any idea when you’ll release that and how excited are you for people to hear it?
Carroll: Yeah we’ve been working on it for over a year, just on Mondays mostly, and a few other days here or there. If I get a wild hair up my ass I’ll mess with stuff through the week. No idea when we’ll put it out. We’ve got nine songs now, that are almost completely finished. I’d really like to do a few more.
I’m really stoked for people to hear it. We used the sessions as an excuse to experiment quite a bit with production techniques. And since there was no clock, the whole thing sounds really relaxed and natural, especially considering there was no band when we started making the tracks. I played a bunch of stuff on it, but it’s really nothing like anything else that I’ve been involved with, and honestly a big step forward in a lot of ways.
As for a release, whenever, ya know? We’re having more fun doing the band thing right now and doing a few gigs. It’s nice to actually hear the tunes played by a proper band instead of piecemealing them in the studio. When the time is right, we’ll put it out. We’d actually like to do vinyl, but we’ll see.
Thornton: There will definitely be some more releases in the coming months, however we have not yet decided on the medium or size. We have just been working on writing, playing with each other and simply enjoying the start of the band. We do have more recordings pretty much finished and are very excited to get them out there for the masses.
----- rockscene: You guys have each been in no shortage of bands; what if anything is special for you about AC30? How good do you feel about the band as you prepare to get the full-length out?
Carroll: The AC30 feels like the first time I’ve been in a real band since the American Minor days. There’s something that happens with a real band that has nothing to do with your level of virtuosity on an instrument that is undeniable. It just sounds like a band, and sounds like Rock and Roll -- good rock and roll.
Thornton: I feel the special thing about the AC30 is the fact that it’s really just a good time for us. We’re not killing ourselves trying to get a record deal or anything. We’re just writing and trying to play some shows and make the best band possible.
A great thing, as I mentioned before, is the fact that everyone writes and sings and has different styles of doing each. As of now, no two songs sound alike. We’re just trying to produce good music and that’s been our only focus up to this point; make something that we’d listen to. I feel we’ve got a strong camaraderie with each other and that’s definitely a must for this kind of thing.
----- rockscene: Bud is your birthday Thursday? Got any awesome plans for (before, during or after) the This Ain’t No Disco show?
Carroll: Cinco De Mayo dawg. I’m already doing the most awesome thing that I know of that you can do: playing a show in an awesome band with my friends.
