Thu Feb 11 (Doors open at 9pm; free) Stew! (FREE SHOW!!!!!) Drink To Victory Captain Incredible
Free for over 21 and $5 for under 21
Fri Feb 12 (Doors open at 9pm; $5) Joe Jack Talcum (The Dead Milkmen) Lord Grunge (Grand Buffet) The Bassturd Dj Jester The Filipino Fist Joe Jack Talcum Joe Jack Talcum co-founded the Dead Milkmen in 1983, performing guitar and some vocal duties until they broke up in 1995. During that period, and still today, Joe makes solo home-recordings of songs that could only come from the mind of a slightly warped genius.
An edited list of projects that Joe has been involved in over the years (besides the Milkmen) would look something like this: Ornamental Wigwam, Touch Me Zoo, Jiffy Squid, We're Not From Idaho, Sock, The Town Managers, The Big Mess Orchestra, Butterfly Joe (the band), Consumer 925 and The Headaches.
Currently, he plays in The Low Budgets and The Cheesies, while also continuing to record and perform solo.
Sat Feb 13 (Doors open at 9pm; $5) Broadcast Sea Swedish Teens Stymie Last Of The Interceptors Kanganomicon
$5 for 21 and over and $7 for under 21 Broadcast Sea is a Texas-based rock band that began in June of 2005. Featuring the talents of vocalist/guitarist Sterling Cash, guitarist Calvin Sprague, bassist Scott Addison, and drummer Ryan Sprague, the band has carved out their own niche with music that doesn't always fall into an easily classifiable genre. With a punk rock ethic and influences as varied as June of '44 and Shiner to Isis, this quartet takes you on a journey from aggressive and epic to catchy and melodic. Sometimes drawing comparisons to such bands as Hot Snakes, Bear vs. Shark, and Young Widows, Broadcast Sea roll their own brand of powerful and energetic rock music.
Wounded Soldier is the first album from Broadcast Sea. Produced and recorded by John Congleton of The Paper Chase and mastered by Alan Douches, the album is set for release on March 18, 2008 from Pluto Records.
Thu Feb 18 (Doors open at 9pm; free) Brute Force Mechanized Audio Command
free for 21 and up and $5 for under 21
Fri Feb 19 (Doors open at 9pm; $5) True Widow On After Dark Kijoto Oh Lewis True Widow
As Dan Phillips' previous band Slowride (moderately well known in punk and "emo" circles for their pummeling onslaught and lyrical wit) dissolved, the songwriter was slowly taking a different turn. He moved away from his native Texas to Massachusetts to be trained in the old ways of woodworking and for a while there was a question of if he would ever craft another tune. While the cold and solitude certainly had their effect they allowed him to reflect and turn inwards to build something new. Songs started to emerge, but they were not what was expected. The songs that would become the first True Widow material were extremely personal, heavy, melodic, and surprisingly not at breakneck speeds. They left room for the notes and melodies to breathe as the depth of the lyrics slowly seeped in over time. After a year or two Phillips returned to Dallas, Texas where True Widow first formed. The band which now also consists of co-vocalist and bassist Nicole Estill and drummer Timothy Starks were aiming to do something entirely different from their peers. What you have before you is the outcome of their work and their first album outing. It's something that may be hard to define and not all together familiar, but ultimately rewarding for those who take the journey alongside the haunting and morphine drip vocals.
$5 for 21 and up and $7 for minors
Mon Feb 22 (Doors open at 9pm; $8) Jucifer Jucifer Jucifer have been defying the limits and expectations of the term 'duo' since their formation in 1993 in Athens, GA.
Jucifer's G. Edgar Livengood and G. Amber Valentine are known for their brutal beauty and fiery intensity on stage and have enjoyed the fruits of their labor as they garner an ever-increasing buzz and the most loyal of fan basses.
Jucifer's first foray in the studio back in 1995 produced songs that would be released on a fan-funded, independently released 7", Superman B/W Licorice.
1996 saw the duo embarking on their first tour and completing work on their first full-length, Calling All Cars on the Vegas Strip, which didn't see a release until a friend helped fund another independent release in 1998. Calling All Cars… and the radio singles it produced caught the attention of Capricorn Records who signed the band 1999 and who would later re-issue Calling All Cars….
The band spent most of '99 writing and recording their Capricorn debut, I Name You Destroyer, and hit the road touring throughout most of 2000 and 2001 in anticipation for its release which wouldn't come for almost two years after its completion. The release of what was to be a 'tour-only' EP, Lambs, did see its release in 2001 but was available in stores as well.
2002 saw the over-due release of I Name You Destroyer. In its wake was a frenzy of critical acclaim and back-breaking touring with Jucifer taking only two months off the entire year.
Jucifer recorded another EP, War Bird, in July of 2003. War Bird would see its release in March of the following year as the band began to compile material for their next full-length. 2004 also saw the release of the band's first home video / DVD, A Partridge In A Pear Tree via AmberVillain Films. The band continued to work on their next full-length, If Thine Enemy Hunger in between performing regularly throughout 2005.
In April of 2006, Jucifer inked a deal with Relapse Records with If Thine Enemy Hunger being their debut release for the label.
In 2007, Jucifer finally realized their desire to write and record a double LP worth’s of songs based on the French Revolution. This album, L’autrichienne, focuses mainly on French Queen Marie Antoinette, who was executed by guillotine at the height of the revolution, and her relationship with Louis XVI. L’autrichienne, Jucifer’s sophomore release for Relapse, will see a March 18th 2008 North American release date, March 24th internationally.
Livengood and Valentine have domesticated the term road-warriors by becoming road-homemakers. In 2001, the two purchased a Winnebago that would later replace their stick-n-mortar home allowing them to play shows consistently and consecutively throughout North America. They've played with such diverse artists as VIC CHESNUTT, THE MELVINS, CHIMAIRA, HIGH ON FIRE, MASTODON, MIKE WATT, MAN OR ASTROMAN, DYSRHTHMIA, ROYAL TUX, BURIED INSIDE and many, many more over the course of their 10+ year touring career.
The list of bands they have been compared to reads with similar diversity; MINOR THREAT meets THE CARPENTERS, SLAYER to SLEEP, VERUCA SALT to MY BLOODY VALENTINE, sprinkled with a little PIXIES, PORTISHEAD, PANTERA, NIRVANA and NAPALM DEATH.
Chosen by Alternative Press in 2004 as one of the top 100 bands to watch, Jucifer has a rare ability to bring together fans of almost every genre. Their devotion to intensity and disdain for stylistic rules tends to inspire strong reactions. The dichotomy between Jucifer's lulling, melodic passages, high-volume sludge and brutal machine gun off-time (not to mention the contrast of female vocals alternately siren and banshee) may not appeal to those who like hearing the same old rock music recycled again and again. Amber and Edgar bleed doom, pop, noise and majesty.
Jucifer - Live to Play, Play to Live.
Tue Feb 23 (Doors open at 9pm; $8) Pretty & Nice Title Tracks Pretty & Nice Tucked away in a basement somewhere on the outskirts of Boston, there is a secret lair filled with motley recording equipment, and a neatly organized cache of guitars, synths and other flashing electronics. The stockpile of gadgetry is owned and operated by two young gentlemen who call themselves Pretty & Nice.
Pretty & Nice is Holden Lewis and Jeremy Mendicino. The band sprouted from the mind of Lewis in 2004 while he was living in Burlington, VT. There Lewis met Mendicino, a master knob twiddler and pop music masher who recorded Pretty & Nice’s first record, Pink & Blue. After about a year of touring the country, playing the songs, sharing vocal duties, and buying each other flowers, the decision was finally made to set sail to the south, and a new base of operation was established in Boston.
The tidy and fractious Pink & Blue, an album of disjointed riffs and rubbery falsetto, gave way to Blue & Blue, a remix EP of unstoppable drive. Then, this past spring, with the basement studio complete, Pretty & Nice bunkered down to record Get Young, their most cohesive effort to date.
Get Young is ten tracks of sharp-toothed, heavily armed, snappish pop songs. Nearly a year of studio work has produced lush and mysteriously layered songs that burst in your mouth as often as they seek to bust you in the eardrum, or cast the floodlights of introspection back upon the gnarled brain of the listener. Not unlike the sensations brought on by biting into a York Peppermint Patty (or perhaps the worm of a tequila bottle), one is tempted to quickly binge away the whole stash of strong flavor, but watch out! Get Young is a collection of jagged pills worth savoring.
"Piranha" is a ravenous number that recalls the blistered pop audacity of early XTC, repeating its hooks like a mechanical hound relentlessly tickling your feet with its animal tongue. "Tora Tora Tora" has the last laugh in pop, jerking it's listener around by the neck while they cackle hysterically; like Devo at 11 with the rafters rattling. This is the giddy nature which characterizes most of Get Young. Imagine Elvis Costello genetically spliced with an Andy Kaufman type of prankster... Perhaps Giddy & Nice might seem a better name for this group (though once you see them in swimwear, the word “pretty” starts to make a strange kind of sense).
And just when you think you have this record pegged, they throw you a curve ball like "Solar Energy." Equally boundless in its ambitions and unpredictable in its rewards, the song braves its electronic drum sound to reveal an emotional interior which passes by in a flash. That's just their style—a band with hooks too clever to hang, and a future too bright for its own tan. Take your time with this record - hang from those hooks, allow yourself the indulgence, and while you dangle there, make an investigation of the goop and glitch that bubbles up from the bottom. If you 're looking for a match, gluttony will get you nowhere fast with one who is pretty and nice.
As relentless as it is irreverent, Get Young is a one-two punch, a collection of brashly anthemic pop songs without an aural snag to be found, and something much stranger... something with a battery of sputtering machines tucked deep in the underbelly. Listen in and wait as the pop walls begin to crumble.....
A Storm of Light is a band from Brooklyn, New York, United States which is sometimes referred to as post-metal. Critic Leech has described them as “doom metal / post-rock”. A Storm of Light, was started in 2007 by Josh Graham, who has been a longtime visual collaborator of the band Neurosis. Josh left the group Red Sparowes, of which he was a founding member to focus on Storm.
The end of times is a concept that’s been with mankind since he first began daubing blood and ash on cave walls, and now Brooklyn’s heaviest of hitters A Storm of Light are picking up the baton with their latest masterpiece, “Forgive Us Our Trespasses.”
The band have already proven themselves master storytellers, their acclaimed 2008 debut “And We Wept the Black Ocean Within” sending shockwaves through the avant metal underground with its bracken-draped tales of seafaring woe and this year’s “Primitive North” collaboration with Nadja cementing their status as leading lights in the ever-shifting realms of metal’s experimental fringes.
“Forgive Us Our Trespasses” showcases a more refined sound and a significant broadening of scope, the band leading the listener on a millennial journey that sees the modest curls of smoke rising from nomadic campsites gradually replaced by the billowing smokestacks of industry before being cast down and consigned to the soil once more as the planet rouses from its aeon-long slumber.
“All you really have to do is look around you to see where things are headed,” muses guitarist, vocalist and in-house artist Josh Graham, “the album basically charts humankind’s journey toward oblivion as the planet awakens and tips the scales back in its own favour. Needless to say, the outlook for humanity in all of this isn’t exactly too bright.”
Thu Feb 25 (Doors open at 9pm; $8) Tweakbird Hawk Vs Dove Tweakbird Despite their lack of physical similarity, this Los Angeles by-the-way of Carbondale, IL duo are brothers, and it is that kinship that plays an integral part of the music that Caleb and Ashton Bird create together as Tweak Bird.
Performing together for a better part of a decade in various incarnations, it wasn't until these two early twenty somethings moved to Los Angeles that they decided to embrace the notion that any new musical endeavors would consist solely of themselves. It's this bona fide kinship - the perfectly tempestuous older brother/younger brother symbiosis—and their not-so-typical dual vocal delivery that sets Tweak Bird apart from their peers and allows them the ability to craft expansive jams despite their lack of members. It also means that no two Tweak Bird shows are the same, songs may begin and end based on their mood at any particular moment.
Produced under the helm of the impressive production team, Deaf Nephews (Melvins’ Dale Crover and Altamont's Toshi Kasai), Tweak Bird's debut album, “Reservations”, is a sweeping seven song introduction to a band exploring the depths of heavy experimental, progressive and psych-infused rock. Songs like "Whorses" and "Spaceships" emanate a powerful brooding air—foreboding, almost threateningly so—of some new sonic assault about to be heaved upon the listener. “Reservations” is an introduction of sorts, one that leaves a musical Armageddon looming on the horizon in an unabated swirl of fuzz that begs for a resolution.
Fri Feb 26 (Doors open at 9pm; free) Bs Art Fusion: Details to come...
Sat Mar 6 (Doors open at 9pm; $6) Mount Righteous cd release party Zlam Dunk Boogie Nazis The County Lines Mount Righteous Mount Righteous is an entirely acoustic band from Grapevine, Texas. They play a vibrant and ecletic indie-pop with a heavy emphasis on varied instrumentation. Their sound has been described as an "acoustic-punk marching band,"[1] and compared to bands including large collectives including I'm From Barcelona, Architecture In Helsinki, and fellow North Texas-based band The Polyphonic Spree[2]. Their debut album, When The Music Starts, was released in 2008. Mount Righteous toured throughout the United States in support of the release of their album. As of winter 2009, they are said to be working on their upcoming sophomore release with producer John Congleton. Mount Righteous performed multiple sets at the 2009 South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. Their debut album "When the Music Starts" was awarded the 'Big Album' trophy at the 2009 Big Thing Awards, hosted by Quick, a Dallas alternative weekly.
Mon Mar 15 (Doors open at 9pm; $10) Jaguar Love Jaguar Love
Blood Brothers may have betrayed their blood oath by breaking up last fall, and Pretty Girls may now inhabit those Graves they made, but the spirit of both those raucous Seattle acts lives on in Jaguar Love.
A trio, J-Love is comprised of ex-Brothers Johnny Whitney (vocals, piano) and Cody Votolato (guitar, bass), along with ex-Pretty Girl J Clark (drums, bass, keyboards). Having already caught the eye of Queens of the Stone Age, who took them on tour for a spell last year, Jaguar Love have since inspired the folks at Matador Records to sign them for a long-term, worldwide deal.
Jaguar Love join another act borne of the ashes (bones?) of Pretty Girls Make Graves on the Matador roster, the Cave Singers.
Look for the Clark-produced Jaguar Love debut full-length to arrive as soon as this summer. And while there are no finalized plans for Jaguar Love to stalk music-loving prey on the road right now, the band promises "Endless Amounts of Touring".
Tue Mar 16 (Doors open at 9pm; $8) Pierced Arrows Lullabye Arkestra
Pierced Arrows After the demise of underground legends DEAD MOON in fall 2006, nobody was surprised to hear that founders Fred and Toody Cole had lost little time in starting a new band. They recruited drummer Kelly Halliburton in April 2007, and soon the PIERCED ARROWS were up and running, playing live shows in the Northwest and recording songs for upcoming releases. PIERCED ARROWS picks up, musically, where DEAD MOON left off - a lo-fi assault on the senses played with the sincerity and feeling that made DM such a special band for all of their fans around the world. Stay tuned to this site for information about upcoming shows, releases, and tours.
Sat Mar 20 (Doors open at 9pm; $8) The Giving Tree Band The Giving Tree Band If you ask Todd and Eric Fink of The Giving Tree Band how much time they spend making music, your voice will not be heard above the din of their banjo and guitar, respectively. For the Brothers Fink, there is no distinction between playing music and just plain living. No two days are ever the same, as every new moment is their most creative. Their bodies and instruments become a singularity that is just trying to get in tune, stay in tune, and add a little harmony to the grand symphony of life.
When asked to cite influences, they will rarely speak of musical figures. They will proudly recite their genealogy, and celebrate the direct bloodline flowing from Mike Fink, the legendary folk hero known for his exploits on the Mighty Mississippi River. On their mother’s side, the sol smiles down on the path that connects them to Hernando de Soto, the Spanish conquistador who first discovered the aforementioned Mississippi. And so, the Finks grew up with a sacred reverence for nature, one that often collided with a reckless passion for adventure. It is only natural that their musical vision includes a plan to canoe the entire Mississippi River while touring cities along the massive waterway.
Following their lifelong desire for a band, the Finks have extended their brotherhood into an epic collective of like-minded souls, known throughout the world as The Giving Tree Band. Further inspired by extraordinary adventurers who led impressive supporting casts, the GTB has become a modern musical version of such historical outfits as Ben Franklin and The Honest Whigs, Frank and Jesse and The James Gang, and Theodore Roosevelt and The Rough Riders.
Though the story of The Giving Tree Band is still being written, it can already be said that these musical frontiersmen are redefining “virtuosity,” which is traditionally understood as dizzying displays of technical wizardry. But what is missing from this definition is the root word--Virtue. And it is upon this foundation of Virtue that The Giving Tree Band weaves their musical tapestry--by playing every single note with integrity in order to purposefully craft each part, by playing every single part with humility in order to serve the song, by playing every single song with honesty in order to resonate with the listeners at the show, by playing every single show with gratitude in order to appreciate this special privilege in life, and by playing life with a heart full of love in order to realize that it is all music, and it is all beautiful.
Sat Apr 3 (Doors open at 9pm; $8) Peelander-Z Peelander-Z
PEELANDER-Z, the Japanese Action Comic Punk Band based in NYC, was originally formed in 1998 by Peelander-Yellow, Peelander-Red, and Peelander-Blue, after meeting in New York City (although they'll tell you they're all from the Z area on the planet Peelander). Peelander-Green was welcomed in July 2008 after Blue left the band.
Peelander-Z has appeared at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, CMJ and SXSW, and played with artists such as Buckethead, Electric SIx, Particles, The Vibrators, and Guitar Wolf. Peelander-Z has also been featured on TV programs like VH1's Best Week Ever, Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade, Spike TV's MXC: Most Extreme Challenge, and Anime Network. They also often perform at Anime conventions and festivals all over the US, as well as at Kaiju Big Battel.
At their live show, you'll see the band in colorful costumes reminiscent of Japanese Animation, though they describe their outfit as their skin. Their shows guarantee intense audience participation and chance to exercise with the band. "Do human bowling with us. Do limbo dancing with us. Do karaoke competition with us. Hit our cowbell with us," says Yellow. " Don't be shy, give us your smile! We can beat your stress! See you at our show!" One experience would capture you. Jsut pay attention to their coming activities.
Sat May 29 (Doors open at 9pm; $10) X (austraila) The A-Frames(sub-pop) Video X X (Australian band)
X is an Australian punk rock band with a cult following, formed in Sydney in 1977 and led by the versatile and gifted Ian Rilen. The band has split and reformed several times.
Although X has had several members, its sound has been defined by two distinctive elements: Rilen's loud, powerful basslines and Steve Lucas's guitar floating on top of the mix. Drummer Cathy Green has also been a frequent member of the band since 1984.
Rilen was also a founder member of bluesy hard rockers Rose Tattoo. During X's first hiatus (1980-83), he formed the hard-working post punk outfit Sardine v, with his then wife, Stephanie Rilen.As of 2004, Rilen had settled on a fairly stable line up of his current project, Ian Rilen & the Love Addicts, who include Cathy Green on bass. The band have also issued a CD, "Passion Boots & Bruises. At the age of 58, Rilen shows no signs of slowing down his workload or abandoning his rock & roll lifestyle.
Mon May 31 (Doors open at 9pm; $8) Marked Men Underground Road To Candy Land Young Offenders Marked Men The Marked Men are a punk rock band from Denton, Texas composed of guitarists/vocalists Mark Ryan and Jeff Burke, bassist Joe Ayoub, and drummer Mike Throneberry. They have released four albums through Rip Off Records, Dirtnap Records, and Swami Records. Their most recent album, Ghosts, was released in 2009 through Dirtnap. Prior to joining The Marked Men, the members had all performed in other Denton-area punk rock bands. Burke was a member of The Vomit Punx, The Rolemodels, and E-Class. Burke, Ryan, and Throneberry all performed together in the Reds. When their bassist Chris Pulliam moved to Japan, they added Ayoub to form The Marked Men. Each member is also concurrently active in other bands. Burke plays in The Chopsakis and The Potential Johns, Ryan and Throneberry play in High Tension Wires with former Reds bassist Pulliam and Riverboat Gamblers frontman Mike Wiebe, and Ayoub plays in The Gash.
Thu Feb 11
Stew! (FREE SHOW!!!!!)
Drink To Victory
Captain Incredible
Fri Feb 12
Joe Jack Talcum (The Dead Milkmen)
Lord Grunge (Grand Buffet)
The Bassturd
Dj Jester The Filipino Fist
Sat Feb 13
Broadcast Sea
Swedish Teens
Stymie
Last Of The Interceptors
Kanganomicon
Preview upcoming shows on our cool little MP3 playing jukebox.
