Puzzle Quest – Remnants of the Orb, HYAH! – Vol. 1

Despite the fact that I have less and less time to review albums these days, I seem to be getting more and more sent to me.  Much of what I hear is not bad, even good, but doesn’t inspire me to set aside time to write a review.   In some cases, it just might be a genre I don’t feel knowledgeable enough to weigh in on.  In others, I was just way to busy with real life (see missed opportunities to write about the excellent semi-recent releases from Lonnie Walker and Jenny Besetzt).  Okay, maybe I’ve had a little writer’s block lately, too. :)

But recently, I’ve gotten a couple of releases that are pretty close to my musical sweet spots.  And they both just happen to come from within my own family.  The first is Remnants from the Orb by PuzzleQuest, from Champaign-Urbana, IL.  Look, whether or not my nephew was their drummer, any band that comes from the same town as Poster Children would have made my ears perk up. 

Remnants opens with a Minutemen-esque spiel (The New Flesh), a Pavement-slacker lament (Rick’s Gone), and a mellow stoner groove (Sequential Friends).   It hits on these styles throughout.  Fun pop-punk ditties are interspersed with jazzy jams, and Dale is just a pure pop gem. 

I read another review that said Puzzle Quest couldn’t decide on what they wanted to sound like on Remnants.  There’s some truth to that in that there’s a diversity of styles.  But to me, that’s part of the appeal.  I like not knowing what to expect next.  Wowee Zowee and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain jumped around so much – from wide-open twanginess to punk grinders to nightclub jitters – they gave you whiplash.  But those Pavement classics still worked as a cohesive units.  Likewise, Remnants of the Orb still “sounds” like Puzzle Quest throughout, and that sounds pretty good.

The second release is Vol. 1 from College Station, Texas band HYAH!  Another nephew (Eliot, keys), another college band.  Vol. 1 jumps around between funky grooves and indie-punk (their fb page appropriately describes their genre as “punkfunk”).  Annie is a little of both, with crunchy guitars merging with jazzy vocals and pop melodies.  Alaska is a really cool ‘60s party vibe (think more Peter Sellars The Party than Woodstock).  Dimples and Teeth’s fun punk reminds me of Wilmington’s late-great Free Clinic.  Angry Fish takes you on a 2-minute noise-weirdness-fest, before Vol. 1 closes with a couple of almost pure funk jams.  These guys might even be more schizophrenic than Puzzle Quest!  Did I already say that's a good thing?

Were it not for the family connections, I probably would never have heard of Puzzle Quest or HYAH!  But I gotta say, relatives or not, if they were locals, I’d definitely be hitting up their shows. 

Oh, did I say my niece is in a band, too?  Rally Owls.  Keep an ear out.  (I think musical talent must skip generations in my family)

Hopscotch Music Festival - Saturday Night (9/9/17)

Okay readers, I'm gonna knock this one out so these photos don't wait until December to be seen!  Last night of a great Hopscotch.  After the Pour House day party, I went to City Plaza to see Body Games. Downed my second shish kabab of the fest at, well, Shish Kabob, then gathered with the crowd stage front.  Though it was early and a large venue, quite a few Body Games fans showed up.  They got to use the gi-NOR-mous TV screen behind the stage (it was a large LED screen, NOT projection).  Thanks, Big Boi!  This made it possible to incorporate their always great visuals into the set, which you wouldn't have expected possible on a bright day outside.  Of course, the music was good too!

Body Games...

Took a short break before the night shows.  I was going to take a longer one, but I heard a rumor that Andre 3000 was gonna hop on stage with Big Boi at some point during his set... or at minimum, that his show would feature a lot of Outkast material.  So I head back to City Plaza.  No Andre, but yes, Ms. Jackson was apologized to yet again.  Fun show with or without Andre (I'm sure that rumor goes around before every Big Boi show).

Big Boi...

Due to me taking the bait, I missed locals Naked Naps and most of Advance Base at Lincoln.  Caught just the last couple of songs of the latter.  While I'm not too familiar with his music other than generally, I like what I've heard (as Advance Base and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone).  It was very downbeat and unfortunately not very crowded.  He would have worked well at Neptune's, given the general vibe of that venue for the fest (see later).

Advance Base...

So speaking of Neptune's, my Plan A was to close out the fest seeing Japanese Breakfast there (Plans B & C were Slim's & Pour House in no particular order).  The two acts before her/them looked good, too.  And my past Hopscotch experience told me this would be one I'd need to get into well before the show (thus the Plans B & C).  But I still had a few minutes before Truth Club started there, so I popped back into the HUGE "Basement", the new festival venue at the Convention Center.

In the wide open space of the Basement, Alessandro Cortini was "playing".  I say that in quotes not because he's a producer/experimentalist (I learned a long time ago that a good DJ/producer "plays" their instruments, too).  I say "playing" because all you saw when you walked in was a very large screen projecting what looked like old home movies, an empty table on the stage, and experimental music seeming to come only from the speakers.  Okay, maybe he's a recluse.  He's played with Nine Inch Nails, his own band, and various others.  He's paid some dues.  Stepping to the back to get the wide view, an older guy (probably a festival hire) was working the projections.  But in the dark, in front of him, was Cortini... tweaking knobs and controlling the music, unbeknownst to most of the crowd lounging on the floor taking in the atmosphere.  It was a pretty good atmosphere to take in.  One of those unexpected little side-jaunts that Hopscotch always provides, if you're open to them.

Alessandro Cortini...

On to Neptune's.  I had recently been pleasantly surprised to find that this new-ish Raleigh band Truth Club featured Travis from Wilmington's late-great Astro Cowboy.  Similar sound, maybe a little poppier (but I never saw Astro enough live to really compare); another great drummer!

Truth Club...

Staying in the (much smaller) "basement" of Neptune's, I prepped to close out my Hopscotch with a pair of Brooklyn bands.  I know, imagine that! 😄  Cende kicked out a restless pop that very much brought me back to my days of first discovering Cali pop punk when it was new:  Lag Wagon, Descendents, early Green Day... yeah, I'm old.  But these guys aren't just completely re-hashing.  They do it with a fresh take, good songwriting, and ample skills.

Cende...

Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, who's been touring with Cende, popped up to sing the last number with them before her set...

I had heard a lot from Japanese  Breakfast, mostly on 'KNC.  Frankly, they were overplaying them there for a while (as I'm sure other college stations were).  So much so that I thought they were local for a bit.  But every time I heard them, I liked what I heard... "Oh, it's that Japanese Breakfast band again!"  Unlike a lot of bands that generate such buzz, they deserve it

Japanese Breakfast is the solo project of Michelle Zauner (who is of Korean ancestry and not Japanese, thankyouverymuch... the name is meant to juxtapose Asian and European values, or something).  Though her own thing, she's touring with what is a great band.  But Zauner is the unequivocal focus, a stage presence that calls to mind Annie Clark or Sam Herring.  A little warmer than the former, not as ferocious as the latter, but like them, she puts it all out there and leaves it.  It was a tiny setting, but I think she'll be taking over (and taking to) much larger stages soon.  And the music... I thought it would be a mellower show given the bedroom pop feel of the records.  But live, Japanese Breakfast lean more towards the indie of indie-pop.  Very fun, energetic show.  As I posted the night they played, Michelle Zauner is a punk rocker with a lounge singer trying to get out, or vice versa.  Amazing show.  Amazing end to Hopscotch 2017.

Japanese Breakfast...

That's it for my photos.  One day I'll get around to going through my Hopscotch 2017 videos.  Stay tuned...

Hopscotch Music Festival - Saturday Day Parties (9/9/17)

Saturday was my first chance to catch day parties, most of which would be part of Big Ed's Bloody Brunch at the Pour House.  However, I started with a quick stop at Kings for the OCSC/Merge Records day party, and Skylar Gudasz.  Skylar's excellent debut, Oleander, has been a calming soundtrack to what has been a tumultuous last year for me--politically and personally.  This early afternoon (although I only caught a few tunes at the end), she played what sounded like mostly new stuff.  Just as good, as I'm sure her next release will be.

Skylar Gudasz...

Next, it was over to Pour House for the rest of the afternoon (although I missed some great shows at the Merge gig... gotta get around to seeing Bat Fangs!).  Wailin' Storms provided, shall we say, a slightly different experience than Gudasz.  Once I recovered from the whiplash, I enjoyed their  metallic brand of punk.  Despite the early hour, it still worked.  Woke me up, that's for sure.

Wailin' Storms...

The great thing about the Pour House day party the last couple of years is that there are non-stop shows, alternating between upstairs and downstairs.  So it was a quick jaunt to the second floor to see Albert Adams, a drum-bass duo of Jordan Adams and Thomas (Albert) McNeely, the latter of whom has been lighting fires with the sticks as Jenny Besetzt's drummer lately.  Hyper-energetic, complex rhythms crashed non-stop in the bright daylight.  I'll say though, urging for people to get up and move was maybe a little too early... most of yer audience was still getting over their Hopscotch Friday hangovers!

Albert Adams...

Then back downstairs, my faves from down Columbia way, ET Anderson, showed off their new line-up.  As good as the Thursday day show.  If you haven't yet, go see this band!  Plus, the new line-up has definitely upped their hair game. :)

ET Anderson...

Back up the steps, for another (this time guitar-bass) duo:  Reese McHenry and the Fox.  Another scorching drummer, and in McHenry, one of the strongest, most soulful rock voices in the Triangle today.  Heard she had an incredible set singing with Spider Bags at Slim's the day before.

Reese McHenry and the Fox...

Next up (downstairs) was Acid Chaperone.  I missed their nighttime set at the Lincoln on Thursday, but yet another good thing about Hopscotch is:  miss one show, catch their later show.  Been a while since seeing them... maybe Halloween almost a year ago.  Noticed the keyboards a lot more this time (prob 'cuz they were right in front of me, and I wasn't wearing a wolf mask).  Great great set.

Acid Chaperone...

I can't really write more about Zack Mexico than I've written already on this blog.  Always fun, always good songs, crowd loves them more and more each time.  Hopefully they're about to earn a few thousand new European fans as they tour the Continent with Future Islands in October.

The surf's always up at a Zack Mexico show..

Tommy and Brett hang twenty...

Next (last) up, Saturday night.  Oh, and quite a few videos I haven't even looked at yet!