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March 1st, 2008 — Events
Los Angeles, CA - February 28, 2008 - Nebraska’s BRIMSTONE HOWL is heading back on the road in support of their debut Alive Records‘ release “Guts of Steel” - co-produced and engineered by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The band will wrap their U.S. tour after performing several SXSW showcases then begin a month long European tour. Alive Records is currently offering an exclusive MP3 “Cyclone Boy,” available for download on their website (see link below).
With a furious mix of ’60s-influenced garage and old-school punk, Brimstone Howl’s Alive Records debut has been described as “cranked lo-fi blues rock” by Uncut magazine, “razor sharp snake rock” by NME and “lo-fi, loose punk wallowing in the blues” by Kerrang. Delivering in-your-face live performances, they describe themselves as “Guitar sluts and hook thieves with hearts of chrome, but with pretty good lyrics,” and their music as “burnt blues, steady tom beats, and looooooowwwwwd fuzz.”
Brimstone Howl is rounded out by John Ziegler (guitar/vocals), Nick Waggoner (guitar), Austin Ulmer (bass) and Calvin Retzlaff (drums).
“If retro-styled garage rock gave you an icky feeling in 2007, take two listens to Guts of Steel and burn your red-and-white clothes in the morning. Production by Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach give Brimstone Howl some requisite vintage-sounding reverb, but there’s nothing reverent about these Nebraskans’ unholy hot-wiring of the Sonics, the Damned and the Blues Explosion.” - MAGNET Magazine
Brimstone Howl - Cyclone Boy MP3
In St. Louis:
Tuesday, March 11 at the Billiken Club.
The perfect local band to open for the Bimstone Howl would be Kentucky Knife Fight. Or Left Arm. Or the Vultures, Blind Eyes, Nevermores, or any of our great local crop of rock’n'roll acts. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Instead, you get some acoustic alt-country band called Theodore as well as a jam band from New England called Deer Tick (are they headlining???). Excuse me while I go bang my head on the fucking wall yet again. Oh well, at least this show is free (that’s right… FREE!).
February 29th, 2008 — Events, News
I don’t really know much about this band… Joe from Euclid Records e-mailed me recently and told me about this show. I checked out the band’s Myspace page and I will admit that they sound somewhat interesting. There’s definitely some good, hard-nosed, distortion-heavy rock’n'roll going on there at times (check out their tune “Go Die” if ya don’t believe me), mixed in with a bit more indie rock shoegazerness (is that a word?) than I usually like to swallow, but still, not bad by any means. I’m detecting plenty of a soul and R&B influence for them to be able to keep my raw-boned attention live, I’d say (check out “Don’t Shake My Tree” for a prime example of that), and the organ reminds me a bit of Stereo Total, who I’ve always kinda liked in that ’60s-pop-meets-new-wave vein. Just don’t give me too much shit if you catch me at the bar chatting it up with friends and tossing back a coupla shots of Wild Turkey during the happy indie rocker “See and Be Scene” or the sappy “I Like Your Hair Long” (to quote Jason Potter, “indie rock is the new soft rock”). It’s just that, to me, they definitely have a sound that would lean more towards the Kill Rock Stars or Sub Pop crowds than, say, the In The Red, Sympathy, or even Bomp/Alive crowds. But I know there are plenty of you out there that can dip your ladles into both brew kettles with equal thirsts.
One of the really cool things about this show, though, is it’s happening at (what appears to me, anyway) as a relatively new venue for raw, “underground” rock’n'roll in River City. The Highway 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen was once the location of the old Webster Streetside Records that closed shop about a decade ago (and good riddance to that sorry old chain, I say). According to Joe, the venue is usually home to more of a blues-based musical variety, but those people tend to clear out by 10:30, so they’re looking to book more rock acts, presumably in an effort to attract a younger audience that’s not afraid to stay out past the bewitching hour.
The show is Friday, March 7. St. Louis garage/psych rock veterans The Nevermores open, who are perfectly adept at gettin’ your gears greased for what comes after. Cover is $5, by the way, and this one’s a late show: 10pm doors.
February 28th, 2008 — Events, Video
Well, this should be interesting! It’s not every day a traveling marching band rolls (marches?) through town. Mucca Pazza was conceived by composer Mark Messing and the band has been performing in and around the Chicago area, in bars, parks, parades and theaters for over three years. The lineup includes St. Louis expatriate Jeff Thomas, aka Jeffrey Positive, of The Honkeys, on guitar. The following is from their press kit:
30 people in a band? No problem. At every rehearsal, BBQ, and party, everyone loves one another like one big family. Until a gig comes along, and then… The trombones rumble with team saxophone, who fight for stage space with the clarinet and the fiddle, who don’t notice because they are busy vying for the attentions of the accordions, who could care less because the drum corps are a bunch of bullies, who are constantly melting at the sight of the glockenspiel, who has an eye for the cymbals, who keeps falling over the sousaphone, who is busy avoiding flying pom poms, who are chasing after the trombones, who are rumbling… Mucca Pazza are marching misfits. They play everything from Gainesbourg to Le Tigre, Bar-Kays to Ali Hassan Kuban and lotsa original compositions (including one commissioned by a queen from a distant planet - long story). One would think that only in Dr. Seuss’ imagination could a marching band perform in 10 canoes going down the Chicago River, but Mucca Pazza was there! They play everywhere: from punk venues to orchestral halls, from public parks to private extravaganzas, from diva palaces to dive bars, from TV shows (did you see them on Conan O’Brien?) to Lollapalooza. Your town is next! Watch out!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The Bluebird
2706 Olive St.
St. Louis, MO 63103
Featuring: Mucca Pazza (Chicago, IL), Ether Project, Super Fun Yeah Yeah Rocketship, & TBA
Doors: 8:00PM
Cover: $10.00 21+/$13.00 minors
Videos for your pleasure:
Mucca Pazza in NYC
Mucca Pazza at LollapaloozaFrom the Chicago Reader:
“The band’s raucous and giddy live shows are so unabashedly dorky that by the end every member of the 30-strong lineup winds up coming off cooler than you’ll ever be.”
From The Chicago Sun-Times: “Sometimes a group of musicians comes up with an idea that is so unique, so whimsically charming, so dynamically charged that all you can do is stand back and watch in wonder. Such is the case with Mucca Pazza.”
From the Chicago Daily Herald:
“Mark this name down on your must-see music list, folks; they’re exploding faster than marshmallow Peeps in the microwave.”
TIRC List (St. Louis)