Dude! Where’s my flesh? The dudes in Deeds of Flesh, one of many bands playing the Colonial Theatre during Metal Meltdown 2003.
Unlike Milwaukee, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, which hold annual events with metal bands from all over the globe, the Sacramento Valley has yet to host a festival of metal bands. Until now, that is. Habeas Corpus singer and manager Don MacMillan has put together a two-day fest called Metal Meltdown 2003. On Friday, January 17, the lineup includes Sacrificial Slaughter, Deeds of Flesh, Brick Bath, Habeas Corpus, Psypheria, Irritant, Skribble, Solstice of Suffering, Bloodfed, Mask of Sanity, Tyrant, Soultorn and Zdeth. The show starts at 4 p.m. On Saturday, January 18, it’s Vile, Benumb, Uphill Battle, Severed Savior, Machine Called Man, Burial Ground, Sangre Amado, Zero Tolerance, Zyle, the New Plague, Sacrificial Slaughter, Face of the Enemy, Isolate, Spiritual Eclipse, Maelstrom, Disharmony and Hate Release Project. That day’s show starts at 1 p.m. It’s at the Colonial Theatre, 3522 Stockton Boulevard. For info and ticket inquiries, call (800) 594-8499. A single-day ticket is $15; a two-day pass is $25. Dust off that leather jacket and spray-paint an indecipherable band logo, and it’s on!
It’s easy to kick back in the confines of your La-Z-Boy and claim that the Sacramento scene sucks and that there’s no good music coming from the valley. It can be argued, however, that this area has produced more viable music per square mile in the last 10 years than San Francisco has in the last 20.
“The Subject of Us has been together for one year next week. That was the first time all four of us got together,” said Rob Myers, a schoolteacher by day and vocalist by night for Sacramento’s brightest entry into the hardcore-emo sweepstakes.
Myers is joined in the Subject of Us by a rhythm section that features drummer Andrew Simpson and bassist Nathan Castillo, along with Jason Garrett, who weaves swirling guitar riffs to create the band’s angular fusion of Fugazi-styled fare. With a median age of almost 27, these guys could teach a lot to the burgeoning hardcore scene. The band’s members came together starting with Myers’ initial trek to Sacramento. “I moved to Sac from Southern California in September 2001 and met Jason that November,” Myers said. “He was looking to start a new band and had also talked some to Nathan and Andy about it.”
The other members already had spent plenty of time on the local club circuit; Castillo, Garrett and Simpson had played together in Leisure Sports, a highly visible band from a few years back. “Jason and I spent some time hanging out and discovered, to our surprise, that we had some common influence and direction, and we decided to give it a go,” Myers recalled. After talking to Simpson and Castillo, whom Myers hadn’t met, in December 2001, the four made plans to get together after their holiday vacations to start writing songs.
Their band’s first and only release so far is a self-titled, four-song CD released in June 2002 on Reactivation Media, a bedroom label started by friends. Although the EP is less than 15 minutes long, such songs as the opening “Preclusion” and “Into Distress” showcase the band’s musicianship as well as its Fugazi-like focus. As it does for that Washington, D.C.-based band, ideology plays an important role in the Subject of Us’ focus, as the band remains steadfast on its all-ages show policy.
“We are fairly idealistic and determined that if we are going to do anything, it should be done on terms that we can stand behind. Otherwise, why put your name on something?” said Myers, who teaches fifth grade full time and plays, with the band, a regimen of three to five shows per month.
“We have been playing mostly on weekends, around Northern California and Nevada,” Myers said. In addition, the band plans to release a full-length CD next summer, release a new EP through local promoter Charles Twilling’s Anodyne Entertainment label in February and tour the Northwest in the interim. The recording for the EP will be done locally, and the full-length most likely will be recorded in Orange County by Paul Miner of Death by Stereo. He engineered the band’s self-titled release.
Although the Subject of Us vehemently opposes categorization—singer Myers compares genre classification to a marketing strategy—band members still are rooted heavily in elements of their childhood, which they can’t deny.
“We have actually been working on a cover of a mid-’80s Dischord release. The D.C. scene opened up a lot for me in terms of music and in ways of living your beliefs,” Myers confessed. “We don’t intentionally aspire to fit into any sort of the newer emo thing that has resurfaced over the past few years, but I can see where some of our songs have a bit of the emo feel.”
The band’s CD is available at local stores on consignment, or you can visit the reactivationmedia.com Web site. “If you can’t find it in the store,” said Myers, “e-mail us, and we’ll get one to you. Better yet, come by my house. I’ll get you a copy, make you some tea, and we’ll watch The Simpsons.”
With so much emphasis put on Christmas carols and choirs in the media, it was nice to hear a different, left-of-center take on the revered holiday repertoire. One more distilled version of “Silent Night” or “Auld Lang Syne,” and I might have been forced to sleep through the eve.
Choosing the “right” holiday event in which to take part is another issue. The Sacramento Ballet’s Nutcracker is usually a wise choice for the children. On the flip side, there is a plethora of Christmas-light festivals throughout the area.
For the last couple of years, the Christmas Jug Band, which features members of Those Darn Accordions and various Bay Area alumni, routed its West Coast tour to the beloved Palms Playhouse in Davis. Although the lineup has changed substantially since the band’s first incarnation, this 25th-anniversary tour did justice to its legacy. During some of the band’s early shows and on its current recording, the band even featured such talent as Dan Hicks, Angela Strehli and Maria Muldaur.
This year’s performance at the Winters Opera House, home of the new Palms, was the perfect setting, with its raised ceiling and high-school-auditorium-like stage.
Dressed up in red vests over T-shirts depicting a snowflake reading the word “Flake,” and some flannels, the ensemble played a loose set of standards and twists on traditional songs. From the opening “Winter Wonderland” to “Santa Lost a Ho,” the bulk of the set list was pure, slapstick comedy. Even when the between-song banter lost its spunk, such tunes as “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” and “Lonesome Reindeer Blues” made audience members feel fuzzy and warm all over. Members shared jugs, which supposedly were filled with various libations, and also indulged in a few pints of the Palms’ on-tap brews.
Certainly, some songs started off a little shaky, and band members had to be reminded of a song’s key. Miraculously, every song was working by its first verse. Like the Grateful Dead, the band meandered off during some tunes only to return with a resounding reprise. At one point, band members even walked through the audience while playing everything from washboard to kazoo.
The capacity crowd in attendance was treated to a lighthearted poke at St. Nick and was given the opportunity to join in on verses of “Hey Santa” and um, “Silent Night.” It’s no wonder why the Christmas Jug Band has returned to the Palms time and time again. After all, the holidays are about loosening that collared shirt and stepping out of work mode, aren’t they? What better way to start the festivities than by knocking back a little ale with a band that knows how to kick out the jams?
The Christmas Jug Band’s Uncorked CD is available on Globe Records. The band will return next year.
Florida-based Until the End—unlike the countless straight-edge hardcore bands that manage to clone themselves into their influences—has succeeded in producing a driving, believable listen. From the opening track, “Buried,” to the album’s live closer, “Nothing Between Us,” we’re treated to a healthy dose of Hatebreed/Death Threat hardcore with the groove of early Obituary and Machine Head. Vocalist Mean Pete couldn’t have chosen a better moniker, and drummer Wes Keely, guitarist John Wylie and bassist Dan Mazin keep the bulldozer rhythms coming. Although the band started in January 2000 and Let the World Burn is only its second release on Eulogy, it’s obvious these boys have grown and matured on the road. If Eulogy founder and guitarist Wylie can manage to run a label, tour and write songs like “The Bond to Breathe,” he must be doing something right. Let the hammer strike.
Mikael Akerfeldt has never rested on his laurels. As singer, songwriter and guitarist for the Swedish experimental band Opeth, he has upped the ante with each successive release. Fans of the now-legendary Blackwater Park will devour Deliverance on first listen. Five of the six songs on this full-length release are more than 10 minutes long. Unlike early Opeth releases, such as “Orchid,” songs on the new album, such as the album-opening “Wreath” and “Master’s Apprentice,” are effective on first listen. Along with his accomplished rhythm section—Martin Mendes on bass and Martin Lopez on drums—Akerfeldt and guitarist Peter Lindgren weave enormous soundscapes rooted heavily in 1970s progressive rock (Camel, Trapeze). Although songs like the 13-minute “By the Pain I See in Others” may not set radio stations on fire, they’ll have a place in the hearts of progressive-leaning metalheads for years to come. (SN&R)
Sonoma County’s 26mph, a four-piece band fronted by vocalist Airrick Nettleton and his guitar-playing brother Adam, would have to be the hardest working nu-metal band in the state. Its tour schedule has been relentless for the last two years, as the band has hit virtually every all-ages venue. It sounds like a mixture of early Papa Roach (Infest), Sevendust and Deftones. Its first-person lyrics can be a shortcoming, but not on the album’s high points—“Recognize,” “Pay Off” and “In Our Hearts.” Unlike Shortie, Tenfold and the countless bands that have played up and down the West Coast, 26mph has done everything itself—booking itself, promoting its own shows and going the extra mile for every show. In a market crowded by bands that would rather rest on their collective asses after just one capacity local show, 26mph shows its endurance on the live front and on this debut long player. Worth your listen.
Live! Saturday, December 28; at Capitol Garage, 1427 L Street; with Subject of Us, Thought Riot and Jim Jones Brigade; $6. Call venue for time.
The Ricky and Del Connection: “Rocket! I’m taking a rocket! I’m packing my suitcase! Hey, look out Moon!”
“Come see People magazine’s 51st and 52nd most beautiful people” said Ricky and Del Connection drummer Del Nelipez, better known as Neil Franklin. You might recognize the “connection” to his cohort, singer and guitarist Ricky Ranchero, aka Gene Smith; both men did time with the defunct Kai Kln, one of Sacramento’s biggest bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Connection formed a few years ago and has played locally, rarely traveling farther than Santa Rosa. Ranchero, Nelipez and alto saxophonist Flamp Sorvari perform without a bassist and fuse multiple styles, including jazz, rock, blues and folk. Their CD-release party is Saturday, December 14, at the Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Boulevard. Electric Flood, which features Chris Horton and ex-Kai Kln bassist Scott Anderson, will open. Rumor has it Anderson may join Ricky and Del for part of their set. Where’s Sherman Loper? Smells like a Kai Kln reunion. You can find MP3s and more info at www.therickyanddelconnection.com.
Like the Lambchop collective, the Reindeer Section features many players from different bands and backgrounds. Fortunately, the similarities end there. This recent CD finds members of Snow Patrol, Teenage Fanclub, Astrid, Mogwai, Alfie, Idlewild, Arab Strap and Belle & Sebastian, along with lesser-known acts Eva and Cadet, working together for one common cause—a great song. The music settles nicely somewhere between pop confection and slo-core, from the minor-key laden, narcotic effects of both “Grand Parade” and “Budapest,” to the genuine beauty of “Your Sweet Voice.” Such tunes as “I’ll Be Here When You Wake” leave no doubt that the talent pool represented on this effort is destined for bigger and better things. Although a Reindeer Section tour is logistically impossible, these recorded works should suffice. In a market filled with dubious “superstar” projects, this one stands out.
For the better part of 10 years, the talented and gifted Henry Frayne has released several recordings under the moniker Lanterna. The latest recordings of Frayne, who is from New York City originally, exude the expanse of large, open countrysides. From acoustic forays such as the lovely and aptly titled “Fields” to the album’s opener, “West Side Highway,” Frayne and Steve Day—who provided the rhythm tracks on Sands—have created a number of soundscapes. Hints of Bill Frisell sneak in alongside dashes of Chicago post-rock, à la the Sea & Cake. When Frayne plays, his music does much more than fill dead air; his soundscapes twist ever so gently like a cascade of tide pools moving and shimmering against the backdrop of a fading sunset. Some albums yearn for the outdoors and beckon to be heard in privacy. Such is the case with Sands. (SN&R)
East Massachusetts-based Unearth consciously has fused the stylings of European metal with American hardcore. Vocalist Trevor Phipps’ multiple vocal styles, the able rhythm section of drummer Mike Rudberg and bassist John Slo Maggard, and the dual guitar quandary of Ken Susi and Buz McGrath make some extremely effective and memorable songs on this short, four-song affair. This EP, a collection of three new songs and a rare demo of “My Desire,” makes a good introduction for those looking for hardcore that doesn’t sound retro or, like most new hardcore acts, haphazard and aimless. Comparisons to Swedish metal bands such as Soilwork, Hypocrisy and In Flames are inevitable. But, on further inspection, Unearth gives bands like Will Haven and Maharahj a run for the hardcore crown. It only took four years for Unearth to sound this good on record. Just wait till 2010.
Eddie
