The guys in Shakedown aren’t afraid of a little high voltage.
Many bands change their style and image to keep up with current trends, but Shakedown hasn’t denied its roots in reggae, hip-hop and dub. Formed in the mid-’90s, Shakedown flies the flag for those who enjoy the sounds of Sublime, Filibuster, and Slightly Stoopid. If you like music that recalls sunny beaches, a bucketful of Coronas and the warmth of good friends, Shakedown is your ticket. Judging by the band’s latest long-player, New Sound Delivery, 2007 should be a great year for the Sacramento natives. Before touring around the West Coast, the band will play a hometown show this Friday at the Blue Lamp, located at 1400 Alhambra Boulevard. Also on the bill are Radioactive and the Down Low. Tickets are $8 and the 21-and-over show starts at 10 p.m. (SN&R)
Perhaps Eek-A-Mouse spent his hiatus at Tres Hermanas?
It’s February, the month of Bob Marley’s birth, and that puts us in the mood for some reggae and dancehall music. Co-headliners Eek-A-Mouse and Steel Pulse are paired up for a Sacramento stop that is sure to please. Catch reggae’s oddest (and tallest) crooner, fresh from a two-year musical hiatus, along with one of Britain’s favorite bands for the price of one ticket. The show takes place on Wednesday, February 21, at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom, located at 500 Leisure Lane. The all-ages event starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are just $30. Visit www.renegadeshows.com for more info. (SN&R)
Why must the mere mention of Valentine’s Day send chills up and down our spines? Perhaps Americans have put too much emphasis on the pseudo-holiday in an effort to bolster the spirits of those in love, thereby messing with the collective psyches of those who’ve yet to find their partners in crime. Whatever the reason, the annual Crooning Couples Valentine’s Day soiree is one of the best ways to get through what could be a difficult day. This year’s lineup represents the cream of the crop of Sacramento’s music talent pool. Members of Two Sheds, Spider Silk Dress, the Skirts, Daycare, Baby Grand, the Devastates and many more will play songs until last call. Catch all the action on Wednesday at Old Ironsides, located at 1901 10th Street. Tickets are $8 and the show starts at 9 p.m. Sorry teenagers in love, the show is 21 and over. (SN&R)
Hella has three new members, one new album and an international tour schedule. Too bad Sacramento’s not on it.
When the Beatles posed with raw meat and doll heads for 1966’s Yesterday and Today, the album cover was recalled. Can Hella succeed where the Fab Four failed?
Hella couldn’t be a more ridiculous yet apropos moniker for the duo featuring drummer Zach Hill and guitarist Spencer Seim. When something is really cool, it’s hella cool, and Hella’s songs, an indescribable hodgepodge of musical calisthenics juxtaposed by memorable melodic sequences, exude everything that could be considered cool in experimental music and then some.
On its new album, There’s No 666 in Outer Space, out this week on Ipecac Recordings, Hella actively de-categorizes music with head-scratching tunes like “Anarchists Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Friends Don’t Let Friends Win.” If we have to label it, let’s call it “ritalin rock” for its multiple time signatures and over-the-top arrangements. Although the music has changed drastically since Hella’s initial, self-released demo CD—which came crudely packaged in duct tape—the progression has been for the better.
Uninhibited by binding, long-term contracts and record-label intervention, Hella has done things its own way. The band has left a trail of releases on indie-boutique labels such as Suicide Squeeze, the 5 Rue Christine imprint on the Kill Rock Stars label, and its current home at Ipecac—Mike Patton’s self-indulgent yet highly successful label. Hill and Seim also have collaborated, separately and together, with other projects, including Tough Guy Fantasy, Team Sleep, the Holy Smokes, the Advantage, and Orthrelm guitarist Mick Barr.
Hella already has started promoting the new record. A preliminary run of shows included Visalia and Los Angeles, but the tour grind really starts in late February and will last for the better part of 2007.
After years of touring as a duo, the band has morphed into a quintet. Hella integrated three new faces into the fold and holed up at Retrofit Studios writing and recording the new album for the better part of 2006. Josh Hill, Zach’s cousin and former leader of Playing to the Grandstand, has assumed guitar and various other musical duties. Grass Valley native Aaron Ross joins the fray as the band’s first full-time vocalist. Carson McWhirter, former member of Ent and current bassist for the Advantage also makes his presence known.
“We always had this manifestation in our mind for a long time, but the timing was never right until now,” Seim said.
While the members of Hella have managed to revel in semi-obscurity in their native Sacramento, the band already has developed a fan base in countries as far-reaching as Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Holland and even Slovenia.
“It would be nice to play Germany and Australia this year,” Seim said.
Sure, but what about local gigs?
“We actually play here [in Sacramento] all the time … four days a week to be exact, just not in front of people,” Seim said. “It hasn’t seemed like the hometown really gives a shit. The last few times we have, it seems like we are the afterthought. It’s weird to go to Oklahoma or Florida, the East Coast or random cities all over the world and people are fucking psyched you’re there. Then you play back home and people just yawn and would rather be on Myspace or some silly shit. Maybe we’re not good enough for this place anymore.”
As yet, there’s no Sacramento stop on Hella’s tour, although word has it a guerilla-style show may happen before the end of February.
Not a band to sit idle, Hella already has “a stockpile of songs and parts that we will be saving for the next record,” according to Seim. “We all love [our] songs equally and kind of think the [current] record is one entire song.”
Whether you believe the new album is hella cool is your decision. As for there being no 666 in outer space, that’s thoroughly debatable.
When peak oil hits, the demand for Spiritual Octane will skyrocket.
It pays to have allegiance to your favorite nightclub if you’re a local band. Spiritual Octane has made the Boardwalk its club of choice and, in doing so, has been afforded the opportunity to share the stage with such notable acts as Dick Dale, Santana, King’s X, Dave Meniketti and George Lynch. This weekend’s show is no exception; the group is supporting the legendary Pat Travers. Fronted by the talented Gary Durant, Spiritual Octane already has released two independent records. The third effort, Fuel For The Soul, is due this summer. If you like classic rock and aren’t afraid to show appreciation with a few fist-in-the-air motions, this band is for you. Spiritual Octane plays Saturday at (where else?) the Boardwalk, located at 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale, with local band STD and the man who made “Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)” a rock ’n’ roll staple, Pat Travers. Tickets are $20 and more info is available at www.boardwalkrocks.com. (SN&R)
Eddie
