Live: forgetters, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer, Thought and Memory @ Lit Lounge 9.18.9

After the ridiculous punk rock scavenger hunt that the early Thorns Of Life shows ended up being, it was nice to find that Blake had: (1) got another band together in short order and (2) actually started letting people know about the shows. In typical fashion, the first show was a secret and in Crown Heights (see stolen pic at left), but show number two was announced and at Lit Lounge. To sweeten the pot, the show was headlined by Golden City, the newest franchise from ex-Christie Front Drive/The 101 mastermind Eric Richter. I figured it would be a bit of a madhouse, so Eric, Keri and I showed up early and staked out some real estate and libation.

Our early arrival allowed us to catch the full complement of openers, including the lead-off Brooklynites Thought and Memory. I'm glad we did. They had an Explosions In The Sky/This Will Destroy You thing going on that I'd like to hear a whole lot more of in this town. No singer, two guitars, bass and drums. I would definitely recommend checking them out. Hell, I hope So Hideous can play with them sometime soon. Solar Powered Sun Destroyer played next. They are from DC, but don't sound especially like the average band you've heard from The District. In fact, I'd say they are a little ballsy in that a lot of the vocals sounded a hell of a lot like Christie Front Drive. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be sounding that close to another band on the bill, but that really not this asshole's problem. I'll also keep my suggestion on the name change to myself.

forgetters were the reason for the season for me. Seven songs in just under a half-hour, with no retreads from the Thorns material. They all sounded like fast Blake Schwarzenbach songs, so if you've liked any of his musical projects, you will not find forgetters to be a drastic departure. I recorded the show. If you'd like it, and you're not going to sell it or otherwise rankle them, e-mail me and I'll send you a link. forgetters actually have a collective web presence, so keep track of their upcoming shows (and Blake's political leanings) here.

All props are due to Golden City, but Daddy had to get home to keep up false pretenses for the family. I hear the show was good. Keep track of when I'll see them next here.

R

Thorns of Life: Live @ Gilman 1.31.9 live download

What's more to say, really? Thorns Of Life have been playing some shows on the West Coast recently, and assumably recording a new record. They played Gilman on 1/31 and someone made a pretty good recording of it. My boy Eric hooked me up with it, but there's a link off the Blackball message board, too. It's a good show, better than the one I saw at Disgraceland, I'd say. There are some warts, but they are a new band and seem to be sounding better with every show. Now lets get some of those Thorns back in NYC already. The link for the Gilman St. show download is here, for the time being. Get it while you can. It rocks.

R

Live: Thorns Of Life at Disgraceland, Philly 11.29.8

I'm as excited, if not more, than the average guy when it comes to the return of a band fronted by Blake Schwarzenbach. I bailed on the Underground Railroad To Candyland show that ended up being first unannounced Thorns Of Life show and fell for the red herring that the show was cancelled about the second show, so when I saw a snippet on line about a TOL show in Philly and knew I'd be passing through town, I was determined to see the show if I could. Cue three days of phone calls and shenanigans that precipitated my getting the address 45 minutes before the show, through the luck of friendly punks on the street. I understand that they want to keep Disgraceland under the radar, but the level of subterfuge that is going on for these Thorns Of Life shows is bordering on the ridiculous. I'm sorry, but when you have Blake Schwarzenbach, Aaron Cometbus and an actress from The L Word in one band, its going to be hard to keep things a secret for long.

I ended up squeezing my way in to Disgraceland, but as the place was three or four times past capacity and I was wearing a bag, there was no way that I was going to be able to shed my outerwear, making for a sweaty, sweaty time for me. Most of the rest of the crowd were in the same boat, although there were the odd pre-emptive 40oz and Natty Bo's scattered through the space. The space seems to be well run and the sound was decent enough, so here's hoping that they are able to keep the place going for some time to come.

The first band was Philly's own Restorations. Despite playing to a full room of people that really wanted to see TOL, they played a really good set of stuff that sounded like The Weakerthans or early Hot Water Music without so much shouting. They are evidently also 3/4 of the band Jena Berlin, if you're familiar. I'm not sure whether this is a project thing or a full-time band, but they are well worth checking out. Do that here.

I passed Blake going the other way down the street from the venue and was pleased to see that he was actually coming back for the set. The room was so full that the drums had to be passed over the crowd but the band managed to take the stage in short order. Shows have to be over by 10pm at Disgraceland and I couldn't be more excited about that trend. May that trend move to NYC with the quickness. Thorns Of Life took the stage by 9 and played ten or so songs that were pretty decent. Two of them, especially the one about NYC were exceptional. It was good to see Blake and Aaron. Both look older, but Blake was quick to point out that he is 41, so I'd say they've held up ok. The stuff is raw, yet melodic, more Jawbreaker than Jets, save for the song about losing his virginity. I'm told they are recording in the early winter or late spring. I'm not sure when or if they are going to grace us with a web presence, but if you hear, holler at your boy.

Live: Lemuria, Gordon Gano's Army, Cheeky at Death By Audio 11.15.8

Let me derail this from the start and say how pissed I am that I missed the Thorns Of Life show. I heard it was pretty bananas. But really, what the fuck is deal with Hiesel posting info about their shows on the front page of the fucking Alternative Press site. I hope that this isn't some intentional anti-press promo stunt. 

In poking around on Jessica Hopper's blog for more dirt I found this curious post from 12/13 about a Lifter Puller project? Please forward all dirt to me immediately. The same for Thorns Of Life. I'll do the same unless the information is forwarded in confidence.

Ok, then. So I go to Death By Audio and finally blunder my way in. I'm not sure how above board the shows are there. They are pretty gung-ho about shooing people away from the front of the building and keeping things under the radar. I noticed a couple cruisers passing on my way home, so maybe there's a gentleperson's agreement between the two. Either way, they seem to start on time, as I got there at 9:30 and had already missed Get Bent and Slingshot Dakota, who evidently replaced the road-worn Bridge and Tunnel. Cheeky were setting up on the floor as I staked out real estate. I admire the Born Against aesthetic, but when you are a band mostly comprised of diminutive ladies, it does make for a bummer presentation-wise. 

So there was a pretty long wait before Cheeky jumped off. There sure was a lot of smoking (tobacco) in the back room. Like Carolina shows at the Brewery smoky. Yowza. When they did it was fun, but I wouldn't go so far as to say good. Granted there were PA issues and amps failing, so it wasn't all their fault. Either way, they seem to be decent folk and share Angie from Little Lungs, so maybe it was just a bad night.

There was also the small matter of none of the bands having Blake Schwarzenbach in their ranks, but Gordon Gano's Army were pretty damn great. I'm pretty sure Alex from Lemuria and Art Of The Underground was playing drums for them, but I'm not sure if that's a permanent thing. Either way, they did us the solid of actually using the stage and sounded like a slower UK Chixdiggit on the hookier stuff like First Song. That can't really be a bad thing. The crowd was pretty into them, especially an odd gang of young ladies who were hell-bent on attracting a lot of attention to themselves. If it was for the band's benefit, it seems like went unheeded, as GGA handled their business without a hint of distraction. You can get the full-length from Art Of The Underground here. When I get a copy, I'll get a review up stat. They are in the States for five more days. The dates are here. I'd see them if you could.

Lemuria closed out the night. Evidently Sheena's moved to Queens. We'll see how that works out, especially as they have been spending a hell of a lot of time on the road behind Get Better. It shows live, as the band brings it pretty seriously. Sheena's dual Music Man heads up the gear dork factor. She's a great guitar player, not in a Marnie Stern kind of way, but she drives that band with authority. Her rhythm section is no joke either. Alex and Jason are lock-tight and the band is authoritatively together to the point where various pieces of equipement crapped out over the course of the set and there wasn't a hiccup. It extended all the way to the lead vocals. Whenever Sheena had a mike crap out or her voice lagged in PA, the crowd was more than willing to take the reins and finish an entire verse or chorus as needed. The kids got kind of frisky towards the end of the set, which only asserts that pits at indie-rock shows are really the arena of amateurs and poseurs, but all in all a great evening, even if it wasn't the Thorns Of Life show.

R