The Boardwalk is one of the only local venues that consistently features national death-metal acts. The genre is making a much-needed comeback, and New York’s Suffocation, a band that practically coined the term “death metal” with its groundbreaking Effigy of the Forgotten in 1991, is living proof that this music has staying power. Although the band’s latest release, 2004’s Souls To Deny, is anything but new, this is the band’s first trek to the Sacramento Valley. Also on the bill are Canada’s progressive-leaning death-metal kings Cryptopsy, who release their new platter of splatter, Once Was Not, just a few days later. Both bands feature the core of their original lineups, a rarity these days, and both have live shows that bludgeon like a hundred-pound anvil. Catch these acts with Despised Icon, Aborted and On Broken Wings on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at The Boardwalk, located at 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale. Tickets are $22 for this all-ages show. Visit www.boardwalkrocks.com for info.
We’re still trying to decipher the gang signs Wonder Bread 5 is throwing.
Everyone’s got a few skeletons lurking in their closet. For example, the members of Wonder Bread 5—the Bay Area’s largest-drawing cover band, which uses (and abuses) the back catalogs of the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson and the Commodores—previously played in various rock ’n’ roll hair bands before moving on to their current vocations. Change has been a good thing for the quintet, who not only make good money playing the club circuit, but often get even better paying gigs for such heavyweight clients as Microsoft, Infinity Broadcasting, Yahoo, Chevrolet and, of course, the Active 20/30 clubs. Many cover bands playing the circuit draw capacity crowds, but few have the sheer musicianship of Wonder Bread 5. Not only can the band play for hours on end, but also the sets get better upon repeated listen. Whether it’s the Powerhouse Pub or the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco, these boys know how to bring a party wherever they roam. Wonder Bread 5 plays Harlow’s, located at 2708 J Street, at 10 p.m. on Friday. Tickets are $12 for this 21-and-over show. Bring your best dancing shoes; it’s going to be a long night.
Just when you thought you understood every musical sub-genre, along comes a band that defies categorization. Los Angeles’ Dengue Fever, which blends a wicked concoction of Cambodian pop with not-so-traditional psychedelic fare, is currently on a short West Coast tour in support of the album Escape From Dragon House. The band plays both original songs and Cambodian songs from the 1960s sung in the native Khmer language by vocalist Chhom Nimol. She is backed by a bevy of well-known musicians: Senon Williams from the Radar Bros., David Ralicke from Beck’s band, Zac Holtzman from Dieselhed, Holtzman’s brother Ethan on Farfisa organ, and drummer Paul Smith. Dengue Fever plays the G Street Pub, located at 228 G Street in Davis, on Tuesday with Eat the People as part of KDVS’s weekly music series. DJ Brendan from KDVS will spin modern Southeast Asian music in between. The show starts at 9 p.m., and the cover is $4. If you’re curious about how the band will go over in Davis (as I am), make the sojourn to Yolo County. For the price of an order of num cha gio pale, you can’t beat it. (SN&R)
Being a working musician of any sort can seem daunting these days. Not only are there a finite number of venues to play, but also fewer and fewer are willing to take a risk on bringing in new talent. Pianist Lara Downes, the Mondavi Center’s current artist in residence, doesn’t seem to have any problem finding gigs. Although Downes enjoys interpreting the works of newer, younger composers, she’ll return Sunday (at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.) to the center’s smaller-capacity Studio Theatre to explore the works of Mozart, as part of the appropriately dubbed “Sundays with Mozart” series. If you haven’t checked out her American Ballads release or her first record, Invitation to the Dance, it might be time to revisit the ol’ classical sections in your local Borders stores. If you’re looking for a player who isn’t afraid to stray from the ever-so-confining boundaries of classical repertoire, Downes’ upcoming performance should be a good starter. Call (530) 754-ARTS or visit www.mondaviarts.org for information.
If you think 12-string guitars are impressive, try playing Mamadou Diabate’s 21-string kora.
Sometimes inheritance can be a good thing. Take the talented Mali-born Mamadou Diabate, son of legendary kora player Djelimory Diabate. Like his father, he has mastered the art of the kora, a 21-stringed West African harp. Mamadou’s latest release, Behmanka, on the tiny World Village boutique label, is as much a homage to traditional 19th-century music as it is a storybook for the present. His delivery is highlighted by his awkward tunings—he prefers to play in the key of D major—and his stellar musicianship. His current West Coast tour brings him to Grass Valley, Chico and, thankfully, Winters. He is accompanied by Walter Strauss, a gifted guitarist from Wyoming who is supporting his new album, Pulling Shadows. The Palms Playhouse schedule seems to be all over the map these days, but that may be the venue’s greatest attribute. Mamadou and Strauss play the Palms, located at 13 Main Street in Winters, on Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Visit www.palmsplayhouse.com for more information.
This four-song EP came out virtually unnoticed in late May, a testament to the music industry’s overpopulation. Unlike many Gothenburg, Sweden, exports, Cut City is anything but an At the Gates rip-off. From the bass-driven “Postcard,” with its 16th-note disco beat, to the brisk, fantastic “Blank Calls,” this effort dares you to categorize it. Imagine the early works of the Fall colliding with Sub Pop-era Rapture, and you’re getting close. Guitarist and lead vocalist Max Hansson recalls early Joy Division in one breath and angular ’80s U.S. pop in the next. The rhythm section—Oskar Andersson on bass and David Hagberg on drums—weaves an intricate spell, with the players bouncing off one another as if in defiance of the downbeat. The Interpol-worshipping masses finally have something cooler to buy. Visit www.goldstandardlabs.com for samples if you don’t trust your intuition.
It’s odd how the touring circuit has worked for the past 50 years. Record an album, release an album, play the primary markets (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.), go back and play them again, hit the secondary and tertiary markets (at last, Sacramento) and then start writing and recording another opus. New York’s Interpol, while maintaining the same regimen, has remained the anomaly in the indie-rock consortium solely for its live shows, which rely less on stage antics and more on an inherent shared vibe. If you’re a fan of Turn on the Bright Lights or the brilliant “sophomore” album, Antics, you’ll be tickled pink to see how well the music reproduces in a live setting—like UC Davis’ Freeborn Hall this Wednesday, September 14, at 8 p.m. Of course, Matador Records, the band’s current label, has just released a timely special edition of Antics, including bonuses. Coincidence? I think not. (SN&R)
The ascendancy of rock acts to multi-platinum superstardom in the 1980s must have taken bands like Journey, Loverboy and Night Ranger by surprise. After all, those acts filled arenas and stadiums across the United States practically overnight. However, Night Ranger was an anomaly. Not only could the band’s drummer, Kelly Keagy, carry a tune, but also the other members—including Brad Gillis, Jeff Watson and Jack Blades—knew their way around a fret board and could sing their asses off. These days, we can enjoy the great hair explosion of the ’80s for what it was: a damned good party. Unfortunately, the descent of these acts in mainstream popularity has created smaller, less-appropriate venues for their music. It’s now 2005, and Night Ranger is headlining this year’s Sacramento Art & Wine Festival, alongside myriad food and wine vendors and children’s activities. The gig in Boston must have been canceled. It’s not a big college town anyway, right? Night Ranger plays Stage 1 on the Capitol Mall (between Third and Seventh streets) on Saturday at 5 p.m. The show is free and open to all ages. Visit www.metrochamber.org/artandwine for details. (SN&R)
Abominable Iron Sloth specializes in slow-paced mayhem
No calculated bed-head hairstyles for these lads.
9 p.m. Friday, August 19; with Supermodel Suicide and Bright Light Fever; $7. Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Boulevard.
There are more than a few reasons not to like today’s metal scene. Just ask Cayle Hunter, founding member of Sacramento (via Chico) band Abominable Iron Sloth. “Every band insists on looking half-ass and glammed-out, wearing their girls’ jeans and youth-large T-shirts, wearing makeup with their absolutely ridiculous scene haircuts that they will never admit they had two years from now,” said the disgusted guitarist. “It seems like music is dead last on a lot of these bands’ minds.”
Upon further inspection, Hunter’s analysis appears to be dead on. While most bands around these parts barely dare to tune below D (a nauseating frequency sure to cause irrational fits, abnormal rashes and dizzying spells of sickness) to push boundaries, Abominable Iron Sloth insists on smashing the mold entirely. The band’s sound, a cross between early doom-metal fare and Bloodlet colliding with Today Is The Day, is anything but pretty.
Abominable Iron Sloth evokes behavior that could come only from such a hideous beast. While the band gets more attention than most due to its ridiculous moniker, there’s a greater story lurking in the shadows. “The band is basically a soundtrack for this character the Abominable Iron Sloth’s life,” Hunter explained. “The music sounds exactly like a giant sloth that goes around killing everything in its sight because that’s what it was born to do and can’t do anything else.”
Although the band’s current formation (Hunter, Jeff Irwin and Justin Godfrey on guitar; Mitch Wheeler on drums; and Mike Martin on bass) has been playing together for about six months, Abominable Iron Sloth is actually about two years old. “Justin and I were in a band called Oddman together,” Hunter said, recalling the band’s origins. “After that band broke up, Justin had been writing these super-heavy riffs, and I thought they needed to be recorded. We put some songs together and recorded them.”
Eventually, the two musicians found themselves in demand in Chico, the Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley region—much to Hunter’s surprise. “[The recordings] turned out so well, however, that people wanted us to start playing shows, which we wanted to do, but we didn’t have any other members,” Hunter explained. “We said, ‘Fuck it. We’ll play as a two-piece.’ Justin played guitar and sang, while I played drums. We must have played 50 or 60 shows together.”
Although two-piece bands work for the obvious reasons—fewer people to pay, fewer people to recruit for regular practice sessions and fewer squabbles—Hunter and Godfrey decided to add members of the (sadly) defunct Will Haven, who already were playing with Hunter in a project dubbed Ghostride.
“From the first practice, with the three guitars and the tones, it sounded immense,” Hunter recalled. “We’ve been doing the full band ever since and just finished re-recording the old songs and recording five new ones. It’s being mixed now, and we will probably put it out on our own Distruktor Records label, unless somebody else steps up between now and then.”
Unfortunately, an overseas tour is harder to finance alone. “Since we are totally DIY, traveling abroad seems a little unrealistic,” Hunter admitted. “Ghostride was lucky enough to be able to go to the U.K. for a while this year, but we had a label over there that was helping us. Unless another band or another label was willing to finance us, I don’t see it happening in the immediate future.”
Abominable Iron Sloth might currently be without outside label support, but the boys are anything but sedentary in their touring schedule. “As far as our upcoming U.S. dates, they are all shows that Justin got just by networking with other people that happen to like the band and were willing to put in some work to get us to their town. It’s very nice, very flattering and very low-budget. But, I guarantee it will be a great time,” Hunter said.
Visit www.myspace.com/theironsloth for a list of upcoming shows or catch the Sloth this Friday at the Blue Lamp.
Playing the fair circuit seems like the kiss of death. After all, 4-H events and carnival attractions don’t make the most apropos setting for live music. This year, however, the California State Fair has made great strides to bring the best in live entertainment. From comedians like Paul Rodriguez and Bill Engvall to today’s and yesterday’s pop sensations, 2005’s concert schedule is reason enough to fork over the $10 fair-admission charge. Alan Parsons, producer extraordinaire (Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon) and leader of his namesake project, is one of the fair’s most intriguing and perplexing choices. His earlier albums, such as 1977’s I Robot and 1979’s Eve, were arguably some of the most forward-thinking releases of the era. Today, he’s touring in support of his latest release, A Valid Path, which not-so-coincidentally features Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. The Alan Parsons Project plays at the Golden 1 Stage at Cal Expo on Wednesday at 8 p.m. The show is free with fair admission, or $10 for Golden Circle reserved seats. Visit www.bigfun.org for info.
Eddie
