Slayer’s first full-length record, Show No Mercy, was released 27 years ago. Yet even more astounding, the same original lineup will be returning to the Sacramento Valley for its first headlining gig in an arena setting. For the uninitiated, Slayer has been pushing the satanic—err, Slaytanic—envelope to extremes with album-cover art that would make even a heretic blush. For example, 2001’s God Hates Us All was coincidentally released the same day as the 9/11 tragedy proving, yet again, that evil knows a street date. If you need a reason to don a black shirt and go ballistic, this is the ticket. 1 Sports Parkway, www.slayer.net. (SN&R)
Although brick-and-mortar bookstores seem to be going by the wayside, the folks at the Avid Reader have persevered, thanks in part to great local events. This Friday, the Davis shop will host Val Brelinski, a recent Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Brelinksi will read from her latest offering, The Girl Who Slept with God (Viking, $27.95), which tells the story of how religion altered the course of three girls’ lives. 7:30 p.m., Friday, August 21; free. 617 2nd Street, Davis; www.avidreaderbooks.com.
The Boardwalk9426 Greenback Ln. Orangevale, CA 95662
(916) 988-9247
Those who don’t believe there’s a higher power need only attend a Michael Schenker Group show. Sure, there are many guitar shredders who know their way around the fret board, but few can match the unabashed brilliance of Schenker’s calisthenics. After cutting his teeth as a youngster in the Scorpions, he later became the focal point of one of rock’s greatest exports, UFO. Of course, you can expect a full-on sausage fest at his upcoming gig. Most of his fans are males older than 30 who do their best to ape Schenker by playing air guitar and screaming along to his classics. Sound like fun? It is. And Schenker is God. 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale; www.michaelschenkerhimself.com. (SN&R)
For as long as concertgoers can remember, Jerry Perry has hosted tribute shows. Whether at Old Ironsides or the now-defunct Cattle Club, his shows always feature a veritable who’s who of the Sacramento music scene honoring Prince, David Bowie, Dolly Parton or dead rock stars. Now, it’s time for the Beach Boys tribute show featuring Baby Grand, Dog Party (pictured), Life in 24 Frames and more. While some sets by our beloved, local bands often seem unrehearsed or unnecessarily hurried, there are always a few that manage to turn heads with their interpretation. Any guesses as to which band will attempt “The Warmth of the Sun”? 1901 10th Street, www.myspace.com/alivekicking. (SN&R)
Point of origin shouldn’t be an issue when talking about the origins of thrash metal. After all, any music aficionado knows it all started in the Bay Area and Southern California.
Get Thrashed, a two-disc set replete with crappy graphics and interspersed commentary from Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Bobby Blitz (Overkill), Mark Osegueda (Death Angel) and others, is a nice yet incomplete addition to anyone’s metal catalog—perfect if you’re looking to simply scratch the surface of the genre.
Although much credit has been given to mega superstars Metallica, its inception can be traced back even further to bands like Exodus, Legacy (the first incarnation of Testament), the almighty Slayer, Megadeth and Possessed. While the East Coast had its fare of long-haired, amphetamine-challenged bands like Overkill, Anthrax and the like, the scene didn’t have the camaraderie and, more importantly, the raw talent that its West Coast brothers had.
And as if we didn’t see his ugly mug enough on various VH1 specials, hearing Anthrax’s Scott Ian wax nostalgic about the late ’80s is just one of the many totally unnecessary moments. However, major props are in order for the inclusion of lesser-known bands, such as Hirax, Sacrifice, Voivod and Exciter, and for making an effort to identify important international bands, like Venom, Celtic Frost, Destruction, Coroner, Destruction and Sodom.
In a scene marred by drug addictions, countless band reconfigurations and playing at tempos faster than humanly possible, the thrash underground has survived to some extent today. The older bands just need to a little more crank to keep up with the new breed. (SN&R)
We Prick You frontman practices flagrant cell-phone abuse
Marcus Cortez can’t even concentrate on shredding when there are fliers for next week’s show to be distributed!
Check out We Prick You with Iguanadon and White Wizzard Saturday, January 12 at 9 p.m., $7. Old Ironsides, 1901 10th Street; (916) 443-9751; www.theoldironsides.com.
I should never have given Marcus Cortez my phone number.
But I thought, as someone who writes about music, why not make myself available to the lead singer and guitarist for the hard-driving, Bowie-allusive local rock trio We Prick You? Really, what harm could come from it?
We first met outside the entrance to Old Ironsides, one of the many locales at which Cortez and his band like to wreak havoc. By then, I’d already heard them—serious rockers in the great tradition of early Local H and Queens of the Stone Age. So far, so good in my book.
And as he madly papered cars outside the venue with his show fliers, Cortez seemed like a nice enough guy. He was having an unusually bad hair day, but that’s a common occurrence when you wear a curly, shoulder-length mop. Somehow, though, he seemed permanently disheveled. Plus, he was hell-bent on distributing several thousand fliers at a time.
“I usually dice up 1,000 to 2,000 fliers for myself,” the fast-talking frontman said. He was beaming. “I’ve fliered a ton of strangers. Some become really good friends and we share lots of good times.”
Others, not so much.
“I was threatened once,” he said. “Only once, by some cat who said, ‘You don’t ever talk to this woman ever again and don’t you ever let me catch you talking to my girlfriend.’ I got the feeling he was serious. He wouldn’t shake my hand or smile or anything.
“I left one of my own shows early and ran out right when I was done playing so that I could promote during the headliner at another show across town,” the spastic self-promoter went on (with a certain amount of glee). “That’s the show where I ran into that gentleman and his girlfriend. A bit of a hassle, but it made for a pleasant turnout.”
Without missing a beat, Cortez then asked, “Can I get your number?”
Carelessly, I obliged. First mistake, last mistake. Since that first chance meeting more than a year ago, I’ve received somewhere near 1,000 We Prick You-related text messages.
I’ve now grown so accustomed to his wanton acts of cellular abuse that I can accurately guess it’s him by the awkward timing alone. The messages are unrelenting, often coming at rapid-fire speed, and usually when I least expect them.
One time I woke up to a text about a Blue Lamp show at 1:30 a.m. and just about threw my phone out the window. Another time, my girlfriend and I were enjoying a movie and my cell phone registered five texts before the end credits rolled. I even received a phone call directly after a text from Cortez after already receiving a flier on my car, an e-mail and a MySpace bulletin.
And I know I’m not alone.
Although Cortez isn’t willing to give out the total number of contacts now forever trapped in his cell-phone, he does mention there are “at least a baker’s dozen.”
So what on Earth gave him this seemingly limitless energy to promote? “Substances may or may not be involved,” he said vaguely, “but I meet a lot of really cool people, catch a lot of good music and support a lot of my friends in doing so.”
For better or for worse, the publicity blitz will be stepped up for the next recording, a follow-up to the self-released Two Face Mona Lisa CD. With a solid lineup now featuring Joe Bryant (keyboards, vocals, guitar) and Scott Michael Quam (drums), We Prick You fans can look forward to thousands upon thousands more notifications in the months to come.
Of course, in the interim, I’ve changed from my previous number to an undisclosed one. And Cortez’s number will, indeed, be blocked. Yet somehow, the crafty frontman still got an article out of me. That son of a bitch.
“We’re playing Messiah again? What about my arrangement of ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer’?”
Christmas is here and so is the inevitable run of interpretations of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. Fortunately, the American Bach Soloists more than do justice to the piece; they’ve even released a CD of their Mondavi Center performance from 2004. The group, under the direction of UC Davis music professor Jeffrey Thomas, will perform Messiah at the Mondavi Center’s lovely Jackson Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday. The two-hour live show is sure to please both the aficionado and the seasonal concertgoer. This year’s production features a staggering 32-member orchestra and 33-member choir. Ticket prices range from $29 to $39, with discounts for UC Davis students. The ultimate Christmas carol couldn’t be any more welcome to the Sacramento Valley. (SN&R)
Unfortunately, the overwhelming glut of new releases tends to overshadow the finer offerings by more obscure, experimental musicians. But Liars, the Berlin-via-New-York-based noise outfit, has proven itself a formidable sub-genre force in the international scene. On the evidence of the album’s cymbal-crashing opener, “Plaster Casts of Everything,” and its closer, “Protection,” and, actually, everything in between, the Liars’ latest sounds like an essential collectible. Whether it’s misguided genius or simply dumb luck, this energetic trio has stumbled upon a sound that lies somewhere between raucous punk and introspective rock. They’re just now finishing up a tour with fellow New Yorkers Interpol, and one can only wonder how the pairing has worked. Not that the Liars would even give a damn. (SN&R)
Jesu plays with These Arms Are Snakes at 8 p.m. on Monday, November 5 at Harlow’s, 2708 J Street; (916) 441-4693; www.harlows.com. Tickets are $12.50 in advance and $15 at the door.
Justin Broadrick, former leader of the sadly defunct, industrial doom machine known as Godflesh, has never been one to rest on his laurels. Lifeline, his third release for Hydra Head Records, is a short but sweet offering with heaping piles of electronics. Like most of his projects, Broadrick’s voice is buried beneath a backdrop of melancholy and behind walls of despair. Like early Treponem Pal, the title track is magnificent in scope—and about as somber as they come. For the uninitiated, a well-focused listen to any Jesu release demands your intelligence and, more importantly, some musical fortitude. While “Storm Comin’ On” isn’t likely to break any Billboard records, it’ll easily make people turn their attention away from the drivel that incited Broadrick to write the way he does in the first place. (SN&R)
The Nevada City trio isn’t looking for greener pastures, just more space
See, kids, it’s only safe to stand in the middle of the road when you’re not actually there.
9 p.m. Saturday with Red Tape, $7. Old Ironsides, 1902 10th Street; (916) 443-9751; www.myspace.com/themhills.
Several years ago, the thought of Nevada City being home to a “formidable” music scene would have been met with skepticism and, perhaps, a little laughter. While there were indeed some great bands from up in the hills that frequented Sacramento’s downtown venues, their ventures were few and far between. More recently, however, thanks to Nevada City’s own Grass Roots Record Company, many bands and solo artists from around “the N.C.” have made considerable headway into the NorCal and greater Bay Area music scenes.
One act in particular, Them Hills—Dan Elkan (vocals/guitar), David Torch (drums), and Thaddeus Stoenner (bass)—has upped the ante not only for bands from their own high elevation town, but also for bands from around the entire Sacramento Valley, as well.
While many Sacramentans will know Elkan and Stoenner from their previous group, Pocket For Corduroy, drummer Torch is a relative newcomer to the local scene and a recent transplant from Reno.
Notes Torch: “I had recently moved to Nevada City for a job at the local newspaper, where I met Thad and began to play with him in one of his projects. Up until then, I had sort of quit playing for a while to focus on photography. To be honest, I’d grown tired of what I was working on and needed a change.”
Elkan had an idea of the sound he wanted and a clear reason for forming the band—he wanted a trio that was something larger than the sum of its parts. “[Thad and I] were into the idea of a trio as a means to approach music in a simpler way, one that would allow for more musical space. When I returned home from two months as a touring musician with Hella, I got together with Thad and David and we began to work on some of the demos that I had put down on the four-track. I left for tour again for another three months and when I returned around Christmas 2005, we dubbed ourselves Them Hills and began to focus.”
Though Them Hills had a song featured on Grass Roots Record Co.’s excellent Family Album compilation, this time ’round the band chose to keep its business closer to the vest, putting out the latest record independently.
“We have no distribution and no label,” explains Elkan. “This first pressing is small, so for now we’ll get it in some local record stores and have it available at shows, and it’ll be available through cdbaby.com and digitally through iTunes.”
Additionally, the band recorded the full-length album in two different studios: Brighton Sound and the newer Station To Station, both owned by the multitalented producer/musician Dana Gumbiner. Aided by Gumbiner and Hella’s Zach Hill, the band launched into the sessions that would make up this new album, Greener Grassing.
While the band’s influences are many, they agree that groups like Wire, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine and Brian Eno share a place in their collective hearts. Adds Torch, “We all love Soundgarden and we’re making our best effort to convince Thad to give reggae and dub a chance. I love John Fahey and hip-hop.”
One listen to the many intricate layers of sound and spatial placement of the overdubs on Greener Grassing is enough to grab anyone’s attention. While Them Hills’ brand of music may be hastily categorized as “emo” or “indie,” it relies solely on the listener to partake in their experience. Songs like “All Aboard” and “Grow Down” nearly dumbfound the senses with alarming melodies and keen arrangements.
With the release of its first full-length CD pending, the band will be celebrating the glorious event with two special shows: Saturday, August 11, at Old Ironsides, 1901 10th Street; and Friday, August 17, at the Miner’s Foundry in (where else?) Nevada City.
If you’ve been forced to prioritize your concert viewing, the Them Hills CD release show should be high on your list. Visit the band’s lovely MySpace page for music samples and you’ll see why.
Eddie
