Warehouse Next Door

[snailhook]

any chance of booking saturday looks good to me? or are they black cat league?

hmmm...i'm not really into that band, and i do shows with their booking agency, and they've never asked about doing a show at the warehouse. i'd rather book them at DC9 where i don't have to be there to manage a show, but they probably have a lot of under-age fans.

[snailhook]

Is hafler trio still confirmed for the 21st of august?

nope, hafler trio canceled on me on monday. the reason why is really lame, too. i'll tell you more later. i still may do something for colin potter and andrew liles.
 
   

hey dude how was the show last night i couldnt make it!! Noose was tired after practice and decided not to go so i just said fuggit and saw war of the worlds.

rope were fantastic...reminded me of caspar brotzmann massaker, oxbow, and sleepytime gorilla museum. it was really inspiring to see what three men could do in a "rock" trio format. the music was really spacious and tense, with never much catharsis or release. the drummer augmented his four-piece set with electronic drums and an assortment of pots, pans, and various metals. the vocals were menacing and sinister. i got their full-length album.
 
 tape rape were surprisingly good, too. those facemat dudes are always interesting. for this show, they put four reel-to-reel machines on the stage and built up a wall-of-drone with crazy instrumentation over it. daniel has also gotten really good at exploring sound with the electric guitar, using bows and clips and such.

[snailhook]

FRIDAY JULY 1
 9:00 DOORS
 WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
 
 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 FRENCH TOAST (Dischord)
 THE NEIN (x-The White Octave, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Milk Cult)
 VERBAL
 
 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 FRENCH TOAST:
 Engaging new duo comprised of JAMES CANTY (NATION OF ULYSSES, CUPID CAR CLUB, MAKE-UP) and JERRY BUSHER (ALL SCARS, FUGAZI, FIDELITY JONES). A blend of guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion,
 samplers, sequencers, and haunting vocals that have earned comparisons to Mission of Burma, Savage Republic, Captain Beefheart, Wipers, and
 Wire.
 
 THE NEIN:
 The Nein's debut full-length, Wrath of Circuits (May 17, 2005), is an album that reveals more with every listen. With substance and creativity, melodies shine through a mass of artful discord, capturing the listener's attention. The Nein formed in early 2003 after the demise of Cohen and Biggers' former band, The White Octave. Based in Durham, NC, The Nein
 self-released two CDRs before becoming one of the first American bands on Canadian label Sonic Unyon. Their label debut, a self-titled six-song EP, was released in October 2004, eliciting praise from both sides of the border and helping set the stage for what was to follow. The band incorporated sound manipulator Dale Flattum after recording the EP. With a setup of sampler and tape decks, Flattum (Steel Pole Bath Tub, Milk Cult) brings an entirely different element to their overall sound. His noises and found sounds are grafted upon THE NEIN's pop-song framework, revealing their innate melodicism through repetition. In 2004, the band headed into
 Pontchartrain Studios in Chapel Hill, NC, with producer Jay Murphy for their first studio experience as a quartet. Taking time out of recording for their first Canadian tour, the band wrapped up the album at the end of December. The results are massive. Lyrically, much of the album
 addresses a fear of technology. The title originates from an activity known as circuit bending: a process that entails randomly connecting different circuits together on a keyboard's or toy's circuit board, manipulating the original sound until a new one is created. "It's a pretty amazing subversion of technology," says Cohen, "but it's also kind of scary to think of one of those machines coming to life randomly" -- hence the 'Wrath of Circuits.' Cohen also recognizes inspiration for the record in the talents of the late Randy Ward, friend to the band and fellow Raleigh/Durham Triangle musician, who built a machine that mechanically played live drums while Ward improvised on circuit-bent instruments. According to Cohen, Ward "inspired a lot of people to experiment more with circuit bending, which has provided the music scene here with a lot of really cool artists." Not a casual
 listening experience, Wrath of Circuits forces you to take notice of the interplay between instruments and before you know it, the combination of grin and head-nod is uncontrollable. Dissonant, creative, a danceable
 cacophony: Wrath of Circuits solidifies THE NEIN's position as one of the most interesting and exciting new bands of 2005.
    
 VERBAL:
 Verbal is the antidote to a word-led world. In shutting up and making noise, Verbal seeks to reinterpret familiar musical forms, challenging their audience to dance and consider the possibilities of a loud tomorrow devoid of the words. The danceable breakbeats, the pounding drum 'n' bass, the swirling melodies, the assertive riffs and DIY spirit combined with the openness owing to Verbal's early days as an improvisational trio take the band beyond genre-cation. Too rock for post-rock, Verbal embraces the grand tradition of instrumental rock without alienating those in the audience with little exposure to the lyric-less rock. The layered hook-laden melodies enmeshed with the relentless attack of the rhythm section make memories of lyricists short-lived.

[godsshoeshine]

Originally posted by snailhook:
   

any chance of booking saturday looks good to me? or are they black cat league?

hmmm...i'm not really into that band, and i do shows with their booking agency, and they've never asked about doing a show at the warehouse. i'd rather book them at DC9 where i don't have to be there to manage a show, but they probably have a lot of under-age fans. [/b]

book em, people will come

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by snailhook:
  FRIDAY JULY 1
 9:00 DOORS
 WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
 
 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 FRENCH TOAST (Dischord)
 THE NEIN (x-The White Octave, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Milk Cult)
 VERBAL
 
 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 

Any idea what time French Toast might come on?

[snailhook]

probably at midnight, no earlier than 11:30.

[Bombay Chutney]

Thanks!

[snailhook]

Clavius Productions presents a Sunday night of experimental folk and noise...Warmer Milks are one of the best unheard bands doing this type of thing right now. Check them out before Devendra says they're cool!
 
 Sunday, July 10
 Warehouse Next Door
 1021 7th St NW WDC
 $5, all ages
 doors at 8:30, show at 9
 
 Warmer Milks (acid folk from Lexington, KY)
 Wax & Wane (folk-psych from Baltimore)
 Ca$h $lave Clique (DC improv noise)
 
 Warmer Milks
 http://sweb.uky.edu/~mjlaug2/death/themilks.html
 
 Nevermind Chinaboise, THIS is my pick of the issue. From Lexington, Kentucky, consider Warmer Milks a real "band to watch." I really thought this was going to be a jam-noise album, with its John Olson/American Tapes-style artwork, right down to the cubist lettering. With two of the Hair Police playing on here, I figured it would be the October Faction to Hair Police's Black Flag...but oh my GOD. This is not a jam-noise album. Not at all. This is an album of songs, and they are golden electric-guitar folk-rock dreams. I was definitely digging the first three songs right away, but it was during the fourth and fifth, both recorded live, that the jaw went ahead and dropped. The fourth track "Dogs All Slain," without really sounding like My Bloody Valentine, features some of the best glide guitar playing I've heard since that band gave us Loveless. After the first 2 or 3 minutes (the part with the words and vocals), it settles on a lovely circular guitar-chord cycle and just goes and goes, until it ends over ten minutes later to small-crowd whoops of applause and a "hell yeah!" But that's nothing compared to the goes-and-goes you get with "Penetration Initials," the last track on here, a 30-minute epic that winds its way through soft uninterrupted moods and golden-slow-chord folk forms, beautifully progged-out with occasional soft-yelp vocals. On first listen, about 10 minutes in, I realized something special was happening, so I stopped the work I was doing and just laid on the floor like I was on a blanket in the grass at an outdoor concert. Everybody who is alive or has ever lived was there. Neil Young finally stopped staring out at the ocean, looked back over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Keiji Haino and Jandek strolled by, Jandek eating an ice cream cone, dressed up just like he was onstage in Scotland. They stopped and listened, closing their eyes and nodding their heads. After the song/set ended, they went over to the merch table and Jandek bought Keiji a Warmer Milks CDR. The 24-year-old Tim Buckley was there listening, deciding that he should stick it out with the whole Starsailor vibe after all, even though it wasn't selling too well. Even the controversial but ticket-selling headliners Simon & Garfunkel, who had been confidently having a pre-party in the backstage tent with an entourage that included Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, got a little quiet and pensive during the last half of this epic song, quietly realizing that the folk-world winds were changing direction. (Blastitude)
 
 Wax & Wane
 http://www.humanconduct.org/wax&wane/
 
 We're a little over two years old now. When we started we were younger, more beautiful, and more or less sadder -- methinks, anyhows. We had boils, drugs, vodka, and plenty of personal relationships to avoid writing any music about. Anyways, fast forward two years and here we are writing happy songs about flowers, love, and peace. Well, no not really, but regardless of subject matter we sound like a soundtrack to a left-wing thinktank deliberating over the fine points of ecology as it relates to humans and their bedrooms. We're bigger now as well -- we play as a four-piece (mostly) which includes Sine as violin and guitar, Justin as percussion and guitar, Ari as guitar, piano, organ, and Danny as guitar and percussion. We all sing. We're not at all difficult to listen to, no crazy experimental antics from projects past (members of Organ Donors, Telesma) and no wild rock and roll numbers either (members of Wail Sounds, Emily Fox). We're quiet as folk, and folk as love is hate. Please come see us and talk to us sometime...this might make more sense if you do.
 
 Ca$h $lave Clique
 http://www.cashslaveclique.com
 http://www.myspace.com/cashslaveclique
 
 Dynamic DC duo of insane electronics, percussion, and fevered imaginations features former member of Osaka, Japan's Nimrod, current member of 36, who has performed with Spaceships Panic Orbit, Steve McKay (sax dude on The Stooges' Fun House), Nik Turner, NoFi, etc. CDs on the Sounds from the Pocket label. Let there be cash!

[snailhook]

Memphis garage at the Warehouse! If you're into In the Red, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and Hasil Adkins, you should check out this show...DC doesn't get too many bands like this.
 
 Tuesday, July 19
 $7, all ages
 doors at 8:30, show at 9
 
 The Rat Traps (Memphis)
 Jeffrey Novak One Man Band (Memphis)
 The Blast of Valour (DC)
 
 Check out this interview on Terminal Boredom with Jeffrey for more info: http://www.terminal-boredom.com/jeffnovak.html
 
 The Blast of Valour
 
 This instrumental rock onslaught of epic proportions specializes in melting faces. They can most easily be compared to The Fucking Champs with healthy doses of pop melodicism, punk and rock 'n' roll drive, and Deerhoof-esque quirkiness. Jeff was always a rock drummer but is also an electronic composer. Tom started out with jazz saxophone as his concentration among a dozen other instruments. Nick was a jazz guitarist and rockabilly fan, and Ben was a young history teacher at their high school in DC, pining for a band that took rock as seriously as he wanted. Both now play guitar and bass for The Blast of Valour. Tom started writing songs last year, which turned into a portfolio and a kickass band. Together now for more than a year, they have performed at small, rockin' clubs around DC and recorded a demo.

[snailhook]

Clavius Productions presents:
 
 Thursday, July 21
 $7, all ages
 doors at 8:30, show at 9
 
 Castanets (Asthmatic Kitty Records, from San Diego)
 I Heart Lung (guitar/drums experimental rock duo from CA)
 Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice (improv folk/psych on Troubleman/Time Lag/5RC)
 Portions Toll (DC folk/noise/improv duo)
 
 Castanets
 
 The core of the Castanets is the lyrical and musical talent of Raymond Raposa. The son of expatriate journalists, Raposa tested out of high school at the age of 15 and traveled the U.S. via Greyhound bus off and on for the next four years. This unusual educational experience spawned a musical vision that reflects a disquieting sub-strata of American life.
 
 Castanets create music that is epic and inspiring. From somber love ballads to haunted tales of frustrated redemption, the delivery is potent and devoid of cliche or sentimentalism. Echoes of the The Velvet Underground, No Neck Blues Band, and the delta harness a strain of ancient Americana that even today pulses through a subdivided and paved landscape; the result is avant-country.
 
 A favorite of the San Diego underground scene, Castanets have shared bills with the likes of Six Organs of Admittance, Hella, Acid Mother's Temple, and The Dirty Three.  
 
 I Heart Lung
 
 I Heart Lung grew up in California. It is the child of drummer Tom Steck and guitarist Chris Schlarb. They feed it back and beat it freely. An organized/open duet of choke-like intensity and sometimes raging quiet. Solemnity in space and seraphim, I Heart Lung recorded their first album in two hours in what is now an abandoned building. They were supposed to do Africa but were sent north. Their first performance was a headlining affair (that LA Weekly pronounced as, "one of those legendary gigs you only hear about 10 years later") at which the Pink Mountaintops' Stephen McBean bespoke of drummer Steck as a �??force of nature.�?� Others agreed. I Heart Lung exists within a textural dimension between drone rock and free jazz.
 
 "I Heart Lung have created a space where songs compose themselves, avoid the ping-pong of forced resolve, and rock courts jazz in a precariously delicious harlequin drama. Beneath all of this is the anonymous orator who faintly ghost laces the entire spread with an off-key counterpoint whisper, a passionate hum only caught on a full volume playback." (Foxy Digitalis)
 
 Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice
 
 Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice were assembled from the ashes of the Golden Calves, who were one of the finest psych/improv outfits around. Led by James Toth, WWVV have started to carve out their own niche. This year they reissued their vinyl debut, the brilliant Xiao. It has cemented their place as one of the most exciting and original bands in the spiritual, improv underground. Using a variety of acoustic and electric instruments, this group of musicians channel sounds that come from a higher plane. If you don't feel inspired after hearing WWVV, then you likely won't ever feel it.
 
 "Over the course of their recording career, Wooden Wand And The Vanishing Voice have proven to be multi-faceted and difficult to define. They have successfully allowed the body of their work to be cryptic, proto-spiritual, emotionally bare, brashly exuberant and, throughout it all, completely entrancing. Their discography, which contains numerous cassettes, CDRs and a little bit of vinyl -- all of which display their twisted and droning take on psychedelic folk -- has been constantly evolving and has seen each of their superb releases build upon the strengths of its immediate predecessor. L'un Marquer Contre la Moissonneuse is an exploration of the goodness inherent in the human heart and how that decency can help transform the world into a better place. Sound grandiose? Well, revolutions do begin with ambition. Long-held beliefs state that every morning that one rises from bed they have cheated Death once more through the grace of God. Through the extension of this theme, every good deed a person performs during those waking hours may very likely stand as a mark against the Reaper on the great cosmic score sheet. Wooden Wand And The Vanishing Voice have collected these four tracks recorded in various locations over the fall of 2004 to act as a sonic testament to this principal." (Forced Exposure)
 
 Portions Toll
 
 John Masters & Marc Masters (of Metropolitan and The Plums) playing folk/noise/improv rock.
 
 Upcoming Clavius events:
 
 at 611 Florida
 
 8/5: Double Leopards (Eclipse Records)/The Skaters/Earthen Sea (Jacob from Black Eyes)/Insect Factory/Daniel Martin-McCormick
 
 8/19: Rake (reunion show!)/Jana Hunter (has upcoming split LP with Devendra Banhart)/Mouth of Leaves/Meadows/Lights
 
 9/24: The 2nd Free Folk Phantasmagory w/ Nisennenmondai (Japanese no-wave/noise/psych all-female trio)/Stone Breath/Forgotten Works (Erik Wivinus of Salamander)/Paul Metzger (avant-banjo on Chairkicker's)/Sunwards (ex-Rake) and more TBA
 
 10/14: Nautical Almanac (Load/Heresee Rec.)/Life Partners (Twisted Village)
 
 at Warehouse Next Door
 
 7/24: The Mirrors (Birdman Rec., mem. of The Gris Gris)/The Factory Incident (ex-Government Issue)/The Trust Riots (mem. of Accelera Deck)
 7/28: Love As Laughter (Sub Pop, ex-Lync)/TK Webb (The Social Registry)
 7/29: John Wilkes Booze (Kill Rock Stars)/Newagehillbilly
 8/22: Jim Yoshii Pile Up (Absolutely Kosher)/The Fake Accents/Get Him Eat Him (Absolutely Kosher)
 8/24: Caution Curves/Others/Telepathy (mem. of Bloodlines)/Jesse Kudler
 8/26: Kinski (Sub Pop)/Ostinato (ex-Hidden Hand)/Kohoutek
 8/27: October 31 (mem. of Deceased)/Beaten Back To Pure/Withered (ex-Leechmilk/Social Infestation)/Ecliptic/Magrudergrind
 9/2: Easy Action (ex-Negative Approach/Laughing Hyenas)/The Old Haunts (Kill Rock Stars)
 9/9: The Wayward/The Dream Is Dead (Escape Artists)/Wetnurse/The Expanded Form
 9/15: The Mass (Crucial Blast)/So I Had To Shoot Him
 9/16: 302 Acid/Gel-Sol
 9/30: Phosphorescent (Misra Rec.)

[snailhook]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES (GSL Records)
 MESS UP THE MESS
 THE AMOEBA MEN
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 Friday, July 22, 2005
 Warehouse Next Door
 Doors are at 9pm. Bring your six bucks.
 
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES
 www.veronicalipglossandtheevileyes.com
 
 San Francisco quartet VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES have been described as "like an outtake from Downtown 81," the Basquiat film inspired by New York's eclectic funk-punk/art scene of the early 1980s. The half-male, half-female group have been playing up and down the west coast since 2003, amassing a growing cult of sweaty devotees hungry for their urgent postpunk dance beat and stage theatrics. Bringing to mind the sax-driven likes of PSYCHEDELIC FURS, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR/early BIRTHDAY PARTY, ROMEO VOID, NINA HAGEN, and others...VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES will release their debut album on GSL in summer 2005.
 
 
 MESS UP THE MESS
 The members of Mess up the Mess first came together at a far-flung dojo where each had come to devote herself/himself to the mastery of the martial arts technique known as the quivering palm -- aka "the touch of death." During their down time they decided to form an upbeat musical combo
 through which they could channel their rage and frustration -- for one must never use the ancient arts in anger. Interestingly enough, at one time or another the members have applied the quivering
 palm to each other -- so it's anyone's guess when they will all drop dead. It adds an element of
 excitment to the shows -- will today be the day one of their hearts explodes? Could be, could be not. You'll have to come and see. In the meantime enjoy their brand of jangly messcore -- the musical equivalent of the touch of death -- and just see if your own heart doesn't explode.
 
 Who needs Seattle when Washington DC just won the feminist sweepstakes? This year's most energetic new band is comprised of four girls and one boy who prove that politics, punk-rock and a party attitude aren't mutually exclusive. Having just completed their self-titled EP, part riot grrl and part new wave, this politically minded dance outfit is ready to take 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by storm. In their own words, "imagine if the Algonquin Roundtable has put out 7"s instead of writing for the New Yorker". That's the sentiment of Mess Up The Mess! Led by the energetic Cricket McLeod (yes, that is really what her parents named her), this is one mess worth getting into. (ON TAP MAGAZINE)

[shoot ur shot]

monster show tonight.....wooden wand blew minds

[snailhook]

Texas garage-psych and John Stabb together. One night only!
 
 Sunday, July 24
 $7, all ages
 doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
 
 The Mirrors (Birdman Rec., mem. of The Gris Gris)
 The Factory Incident (ex-Government Issue)
 The Trust Riots (mem. of Accelera Deck, Scarcelight)
 
 The Mirrors
  http://www.birdmanrecords.com/
 
 Welcome to the first recorded dream of modern psychedelic poster child Greg Ashley. Before the dream became Medicinally Fucked, before the rise of The Gris Gris, before young master Ashley was even close to drinking age, before he left the confines of Houston for the ghetto in Oakland, there was the legendary Mirrors -- school buddies with a zest for the melting paisleys. Greenhorns making green swirling music, recorded when all those involved were still in their mid-teens. Released on vinyl back in the day and long since out of print, Green Dream is available for the first time on CD, completely remastered with a new cover and new liner notes. For fans of true psychedelic music à la The Electric Prunes, The 13th Floor Elevators, and Syd Barrett.
 
 "A Green Dream is an eclectic album about art, poetry, dark, light, and gray tones...It's a music lover's record; a lover of sounds record." (Blank Generation)
 
 The Factory Incident
  http://www.factoryincident.com
  http://www.postfact.com
 
 The Factory Incident are a Washinton DC-based quintet that formed in early 2000 featuring John (Stabb) Schroeder of Government Issue fame on vocals.
 
 The six tracks on their new recording (Redtape) expand on the broad range hinted at on their debut: dissonant melodies and intricate, compelling songs. The guitars vary from  textured to minimalist, yet with a conscious restraint. Schroeder's vocals provide a rare dramatic bent that takes the uninitiated by surprise. The songs overall are epic and emotional like the best of their post-punk influences of the '80s, but concise with minimal filler.
 
 "The much-admired Schroeder's smart, matter-of-fact, deadpan-croon talk-singing sounds fresh and unlike any of the ubiquitous emo bands that followed in his footsteps in the 1990s. Plenty of older (P.I.L, The Sound) and contemporary Brit influences can be heard, too, especially fierce first-two LPs Swervedriver in the floor tom shredding (by Stephen Brown) and harsh ringing guitars (courtesy of Karl Hill and Aimee Soubier) of the standout "Said and Won." The band has coalesced tremendously, and their range is invigorating, from the vaguely funky basslines (from Shaun Wright) on "Argument," to the Gang of Four-ish stutter-beats of "In the Vile," to the odd-dirge-chord opening smasher "Rail." This is primo stuff that breaks out like hives with more listens. Will they garner acknowledgment outside of the nation's capital?" (Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover)
 
 The Trust Riots
  http://www.scarcelight.org
 
 Mike Karadimos - bass/guitar/feedback/tapes
 Chris Jeely - guitar/feedback/drums/tapes
 
 The musical partnership of Chris Jeely and Mike Karadimos began in 1994 in the basement of Mike's parents' house, when Chris asked Mike to learn how to play bass. Over the last eleven years their individual paths have seen Mike play in a handful of bands (Trading Shirts, The Ashley Tremolo, [both w/ Chris] and Cherry Valence), while Chris later went on to record solo guitar work as Accelera Deck. A few attempts over the last five years have been made to record some of Mike's solo work, and recently Mike began engineering and producing the forthcoming Skulllike album, Wide Awake.
 
 From this fertile background has sprung The Trust Riots, which is a meeting point for both artists based on a mutual love of guitar feedback, and a desire to capture the spirit of early punk rock. Their sound revolves around the use of live processed guitars, laptop, and multiple tape players creating an atmosphere that is equal parts drone, noise, and found sound.

[snailhook]

Thursday, July 28
 $8, all ages
 doors at 8:30, show at 9
 
 Love As Laughter (Sub Pop, ex-Lync)
 TK Webb (Social Registry, from NYC))
 Revival (ex-Canyon, now a duo!)
 
 Love As Laughter
 
 Following the 1994 dissolution of indie-pop cult faves Lync, singer/guitarist Sam Jayne formed the lo-fi solo project Love as Laughter, self-releasing a pair of cassettes (an eponymous effort and Clear Sky Blue Dye) before issuing The Greks Bring Gifts on K in 1996. #1 USA followed in 1998, heralding the additions of guitarist Jessica Espeleta and ex-Lync drummer Dave Schneider; Destination 2000, Love as Laughter's Sub Pop debut, appeared a year later.
 
 Love as Laughter kind of meandered to a pause after 2001's fabulous Sea to Shining Sea. But that's not the same thing as being inactive. Sam Jayne put together a solo album and moved to New York City, where he got to performing troubadour-like quite regularly. While LAL were away, a lot of people started noticing the Shins -- another Sub Pop band making literate, charmingly weary little songs -- and those same listeners will love Laughter's Fifth. (Naturally, the veteran Jayne aficionados don't need to be cajoled.) Fifth isn't as loud as Sea. It has those moments -- the rich, ringing-out chords of "I Won't Hurt You," for example. But "In Amber" and "Idol Worship! Idol Worship!" are instead shaggy pop songs tweaked with knowing bents toward gettin' older and bein' cynical. The latter starts out with just Jayne and his acoustic before he's joined by chirping organ and some great layers of electric guitar. By the time the drums kick in, the song's transformed itself into a loose, good-naturedly stomping rocker of the sort Ryan Adams might never write again. Jayne doesn't wow you with grand lyrical imagery. He doesn't even have that great of a singing voice. But his skills work wonders nevertheless, letting him mask a song's gravity behind tousled, self-cut bangs or an easygoing pat on the back. "Every Midnight Song" is like that. It sneaks up on you, and not only because it starts with just the gentlest of notes. "Every midnight song," Jayne begins with a breath, "I'm gonna wait 'til that song comes on/Because after that nothing can go wrong." He continues on, sketching a picture, and the track rises to a frantic high point of crashing cymbals before falling once again to the original lyric. It's the sort of song you get lost in live, or place in the center of a mixtape as a bridge to the quiet stuff. Laughter's Fifth continues with a little copping of Malkmus ("Dirty Lives"), name-checking of 50 Cent (the NYC tribute "Canal Street"), and buoyant reminders of past LAL records ("I'm a Ghost"). Jayne sounds like one of Elmore Leonard's trashy antiheroes on the lazily drunk "Corona Extra" (it has kazoo solos, seagulls, surf), and the meandering "Pulsar Radio" taps a vintage drum-machine beat over raw organ tones like the remnants of a new wave love ballad. This is an album for pop fans as well as guys who just dig the instrumentation. It's personal, it's cryptic, it's hilarious -- it's Laughter's Fifth, and Sam Jayne is definitely some kind of genius. (Johnny Loftus, AMG)
 
 TK Webb
 http://www.thesocialregistry.com/_mp3/artistmp3menus/tkwebb/tkwebb.htm
 
 Every once in a while someone will see something in their life which has such a profound impact on their psyche that they are never able to fully shake it; it leaves them with the equivalent of phantom pains that they can never quite shake from the rafters of their mind. TK Webb describes seeing the shanty towns of Kansas City, Kansas when he was a boy much this way: small houses built out of tin and cardboard, the kind of place you file away in your mind as a place you hope to never see. TK wrote and recorded KCK drawing from these memories, attempting to exhume not the sad narrative tied to KCK, but the emotional landscape it left imprinted on him.
 
 Born Thomas Kelley Webb in rural Missouri, TK took to the guitar at a very young age and we mean that in the most prodigious sense possible. It is said that by age 9 he had mastered the entire Zeppelin catalog, and by 13 he was applying his skills to bands spearheaded by people almost twice his age. In his mid-teens TK inherited a stack of delta blues records and found himself at home. This led him away from the by the books style of indie rock that so many of his contemporaries were getting into. When TK eventually moved to NYC he found no shortage of people anxious to have him sit in, whether it be lending his harmonic skills to bands like the Witnesses and label mates Blood On the Wall or being recruited to lend a slow hand to the boys of the Anniversary for their first tour with their new outfit The Only Children. TK though has always been more at home doing his own music, stamping out the rhythm by thumping his foot onto a broken down old suitcase loaded with a tambourine, beating on his resonator with the kind of fluid control most players aspire for, and howling into a microphone or harmonica like a madman let loose on the audience. This latest record, his second, was recorded over a weekend/sixpack of sour mash at Junkyard Audio Salvage into the wee hours of the morning. With Sean Maffucci at the board, this record brings to light TK Webb's inherent vision-talent-musicianship as well as all those memories. You can hear them dancing in the tape delay like some audible sense of utter desolation, as TK howls back at them in the rafters.

[snailhook]

This eclectic bill of relatively unknown talent might just be graced by the presence of Chicago outsider blues legend Little Howlin Holf. Check it out:  http://white-rose.net/mystere12.html.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Friday night!
 
 Thursday, July 29
 $7, all ages
 doors at 9, show at 9:30
 
 John Wilkes Booze (Kill Rock Stars/Family Vineyard, playing in rare duo format!)
 The Pages (NYC country/folk/psych-rock)
 Newagehillbilly (one-man band from Baltimore)
 Jane Herships (dark epic folk from NYC, mem. of Spider)
 
 John Wilkes Booze
 
 These are troubled times. Troubled enough, that you don�??t need us to talk about it. But if there was ever a time to make a break, or to find a way out, it is now. That is why we, John Wilkes Booze, are here with five stories of honest life scorching Soul, a starter plan if you will, that should set the fire in your feet to get up and move in all directions. First off, John Wilkes Booze are six spirit-fueled, R&B players from South Central Indiana -- Bloomington to be exact. And by rhythm and blues, we are talking about Hoosier R&B: warbly and frantic falsetto vocals backed by electric bass, organ, drums, and dual guitars with the frequent ecstatic spurts of trumpet, saxophone and electronics. We come from the very soil that birthed JJ Johnson, MX-80 Sound, Phil Niblock, Dancing Cigarettes, and the Gizmos. Add it up, and we�??re there. As obsessive collectors of the raw and esoteric, we�??ve taken our flotsam of films, books, and vinyl collections and transfused them into a sound not far from the orbits of our garage or El Saturn, nor from intellectual dissections and analysis of these modern times.
 
 While this is purportedly a tribute to soul music, the soul music seems to be mostly implied here, like "soul" in spirit, in concept, in intention, but not in execution. Which is not a bad thing. This IS soul music, but the way it can only be played by middle-class, white, mid-western boys. All shrieking, skronking, sweaty, pounding, rocking, and GROOVING. You can catch glimpses of the Make Up, the Blues Explosion, the White Stripes, New York Dolls, as well as Alice Donut (especially in the vocals). Weird and pretty wonderful. Spazzy, soulful, glammy ROCK AND ROLL. There are 5 volumes (we have the first four). Short and sweet (almost too short, clocking in at 10-15 minutes) and all in honor of JWB's peculiar ideas of the pillars of soul: Melvin Van Peebles, Tania Hearst (Patty Hearst with her SLA name), Albert Ayler, Marc Bolan and the as yet to be announced 5th pillar. (Aquarius Records)
 
 The Pages
 
 "The Pages = Incredible String Band + The Kinks + Neutral Milk Hotel. What would happen if Ray Davies got together with Phil Lesh in Phil Spector�??s grandma�??s basement, with no money, and decided to record an album right next to a shelf of granny�??s homemade peach spread? Well, you�??d have an album called Creatures of the Earth, and that band might call themselves The Pages. Man, this album is great! It�??s the kind of album that will impress ironic hipsters and stodgy traditionalists alike. You know who you are! This is like a smoky '60s dance-club band with a slight weirdo bent. With shades of country, folk, psychedelia, funk, and quick random solos that space out just enough before returning to the task at hand, The Pages are definitely on my list of bands that I will be recommending and raving about to my friends. Will you be one of the lucky winners?" (Jamila Roehrig, Slugmag)
 
 Newagehillbilly
 
 A one-man generator of noise, grooves, and moods created on guitar, vocals, drum machines, synths, old cassette walkmans, samplers, mini-discs, and other assorted noise-makers. Newagehillbilly played more "traditional rock" music in bands like Operation Huss and Charcoal in the late '90s, mainly playing bass and guitar. Other bands followed and Newagehillbilly began to explore new sounds and experimentation such as Rot Guts and Pillage of the Glass City. As a solo project and performer, different levels are searched for musically and sonically, usually resulting in textural soundscapes that vary from relaxing
 to chaotic.  
 
 Jane Herships
 
 Epic folk rock in the vein of Cat Power and Neil Young.