The Love Language with Zack Mexico and No Eyes (King's, Raleigh, NC, 3/14/15)

Saw just a down-home rock'n'roll show at King’s last weekend...  No Eyes, Zack Mexico, and the Love Language.  I'd never seen No Eyes before, and they aren’t really in my listening wheelhouse.  But they were tight, fast, loud… and not too metal for my taste.  Great stuff.  Then Zack Mexico played a stunning show as usual.  I don’t know how these guys can consistently play a 5- or 6-song set and you never feel cheated.  Maybe it’s because they’re long, intense, driving jams that never sound like they’re just jamming.  I often say, as I did after they played to my friend Iggy, that I think Zack Mexico is THE best band operating in NC today.  He seemed to agree save for the great Whatever Brains (which I can't really argue with).

Then the Love Language played.  I’m a big fan of theirs, but I’ve seen them a million times, so I’m usually not dying to see them play anymore.  Truth be told, I came for Zack.  But it’s interesting that frontman Stu McLamb posted after the show that he was feeling rejuvenated about the band again.  As a fan -- after that show -- so am I.  They played as a 4-piece for the first time… ever? (at least that I’ve seen; but then I wasn't watching'em in Greensville in 2008)  But they rocked so much I almost believed the onstage joke that guitarist Andy Holmes was playing remotely backstage (I even checked J).  By the time they lit into the stunner Pilot Light from their latest album Ruby Red, I was re-assessing my “Best Band in NC” opinion from just a few minutes earlier.

If you read this blog, you've probably run across the social media meme that's been making the rounds to the effect of “List Ten NC Bands” or “Your Favorite NC Bands”.  I weighed in with mine… Zack Mexico and Free Clinic were 1-2, I think.  Well, the Love Language, who were lower in myTop 10, just pulled up to a tie for the lead.  But then on the way home, a song (Tenements) from Gross Ghost popped up on my iPod, and I switched to their album Brer Rabbit, and thought “How the HELL did I not remember to put them on my list?!”  And I realized:  there are WAY too many great bands in this state to list the “10 Best”.  At most, you could say “these are my favorite bands that I’m listening to right now”.  For me, it’s a constant revolving door.  We have an embarrassment of riches here in NC… from Kill Devil Hills to Asheville, from Winston-Salem to Wilmington.  Too many fucking good bands to listen to right now. 

It’s sickening, really.

Some photos below, but I’ll try to post all the photos on myfacebook page soon.  See also videos here and here.

No Eyes...

Zack Mexico...

The Love Language...

NC is Melting, So You Should Too (a summer mixtape)

It being the height of the summer doldrums in North Carolina, here's a little summer playlist made up (mostly) newer stuff from (all) local/regional bands.  Listen, buy some if you like, or make your own playlist.  Below is just the base.  Here's the full recipe:

- Add other ingredients (Sly Stone, Brian Wilson, Animal Collective, The Shirelles, whatever)
- Chop finely

- Add libation of your choosing
- Blend until smooth
- Chill for 1 hour
- Burn/tape/save to your favorite medium
- Ingest
- Then ride/swim/cruise/float/surf/porch-sit/melt until the summer is over

Bottoms up!

Okay, maybe Spider Bags doesn't fit with the summery vibe so much.  But I was lookin' for something to segue into Lonnie Walker's Summertime.  And anyway, they just fuckin' rock.

Gross Ghost - Brer Rabbit (Grip Tapes)

Spring has sprung, and local releases are popping out like the ubiquitous tree pollen. So I'm gonna use the next few blog entries to give my humble opinion of a few of them.

Let's start with Carrboro's Gross Ghost. What started as Mike Dillon (Spader, Old Bricks), roommate Tre Acklen, and a tape machine, has grown into a full-fledged band. Their new album, Brer Rabbit (on Grip Tapes), lives up to its namesake. It hides a sharp edge behind a veneer of breeziness, luring us into a thorny patch that, thankfully, Gross Ghost has no problem navigating.

From the beginning, on Architect, Dillon's vocals darkly echo like a plugged-in Donovan in front of a wall of guitars. The feel from the get-go is one of summer, but in a contemplative, end-of-the-day kind of way. The second song, Leslie is a real highlight. It's very "beachy" the way he the name is wailed in a high 5 or 6 syllables... but then you hit the briars, when it's followed by "feels like I'm watching you but no one's watching me".

Up next is maybe the best cut on the album, Meltdown. It's a soaring melody that starts with "Giving up on you today" and proceeds through falling chords that sing of "every boy, every girl, having meltdowns". The song captures the feeling of a meltdown, but in an oh-so-sweet way. Right about now, the guitars are getting about as dense as a Built to Spill/Jesus and Mary Chain mash-up (see Hopscotch lineup!).

Rabbit gets even poppier with Lurker (is there a stalker theme going here?), complete with clap-clap-claps, before heading down a dark alley or two with the gutsy jazz/pop/zen meld of Lazy Little Walk, and the Hurdy-Gurdy-esque Soft Focus.

There are a couple of pop-punk "singles" -- driving bass, slightly snarly vocals -- on songs like Devious (which definitely owes a debt to the Descendents) and Sooner or Later, great songs on their own. That's how, to me, the band struck me live: garage-y fun punk. But that's normal for a band's live alter-ego. The strength the Gross Ghost, however, and of Brer Rabbit , comes when it merges that sense of pop with odder, darker elements... something it does very well.

WKNC Double Barrel Benefit - Day 2 (2/4/12)

Here's a brief review of Night 2 of the 9th annual WKNC Double Barrel Benefit.

Heads on Sticks: Most easily put, they're a dance band. But they're much darker, weirder, and harder than that implies. Snare-laden electronic drums with assorted other distorted noises (including, I think, the clip-clopping of horses), mix with guitars and David Mueller's Peter Murphy-ish vocals. Sometimes, when they pick up a second guitar in lieu of the electronics, the guitarists overdub each other live, while Mueller overdubs his vocals electronically. The heavy dance beat melding with more typical indie sound and tricks employed by certain collections of fauna (ie Animal, Panda...) make Heads on Sticks one of the more unique, uncategorizable bands around here.

Heads on Sticks...

Naked Gods: From Boone. These guys have a poppy, happy feel you'd expect from an indie band that lives in the mountains. I can hear some 70s in there... maybe in the guitar? Maybe early Doobie Brothers? (pre Michael McDonald, when they were still cool) Yeah, definitely a 70s vibe on one song they said was a brand new one. But they have a more punky edge, and complicated, edgy guitar. One the song "Hoods Up"(?), they said "this is where the the shit gets weird". They were right, kind of a trippy Gerry Rafferty.

Naked Gods...

Gross Ghost: Fast-paced, sharp indie-punk. Descendents of the Descendents, if you will, but maybe that's just because Mike Dillon's vocals sounded kinda like Milo at times. They have a beach-y, retro undercurrent that's more noticeable in their recordings, but definitely was there live. And the bass, Tre Acklen, is great! Gross Ghost had people dancing at the Pour House, too... but doing a very different dance than to Heads on Sticks.

Gross Ghost...

The Kingsbury Manx: They've got a pretty cool old school keyboard set up... a Wurlitzer electronic piano and a Nord Electro 2. This is key to their sound. The Kingsbury Manx had kind of a rolling, jangly, thing going, but the guitars aren't always jangly... they got rather crunchy at times. Overall, their set definitely got heavier towards the end.

The Kingsbury Manx...

The diversity of this 2nd night of DBB9 was as impressive as the first. In fact, not one of these four bands sounded anything like any of the bands on the first night of DBB9, much less like each other.