Mom, Dad I know I'm not covered by your insurance, but I can borrow the car?

Recommended shows to check out:
Feb 4 - Luke's Angels @ Turf
- Tapes n' Tapes/ The Nina The Pinta/ Poison Control Center -
Feb 12- Black Flood Diseal @ First Ave
Feb 19 - Liars Club/The Payback @ Triple Rock
Feb 24- Halloween, Alaksa @ Triple Rock
- The Umbrella Sequence / Islero / The Gilded Age / The Nina, The Pinta! @ Uptown Bar
- Down and Above/Throw the Fight/ The Payback/Right Side Impact @ The Rock

I'll be at the Uptown and Triple Rock on the 24...I'd like to make it to the Rock because I really want to check out Throw The Fight but somehow I don't think my bike will get me there in time. Times like these I miss having a car...just for show attending purposes. If only there was something on my parents insurance for your children who do not live at home but need to use the car for random shows rate....that would be awesome. Or if all the bands I want to see were not playing on the same night. Tonight, I dedicate my time to merch for Skoro at the Triple Rock. See you there!

Friday January 20 @ the 7th Street Entry, Broken Trust/ Simplicia/The Payback/American Vendetta

A little after 9:00 the rock/hardcore trio Broken Trust, of St.Paul, MN, started off a very loud night of hard rock at the Entry. I wasn’t able to catch most of their set as I was interviewing The Payback downstairs—watch for an upcoming short in Rift Magazine—but for the band’s young age, they seem off to a good start. Kade, on lead vocals and guitar, slammed his way around stage, often keeping a tight grip on the microphone as he violently shook it back and forth. Kyle, on bass and backup vocals, matched the same high, aggressive energy and found his own space on stage. The drummer, Chris, provided the screaming and raw backup vocals while the other two band members headbanged their way across the stage. If Chris was trying to repeat any refrain, there were no words I could make out.

As for anyone’s last names, no clue. I checked out their MySpace page but nothing. Also, if you’re looking to hear any of their songs, you’ll have to wait a little longer. The band is still in the process of recording their first E.P., so check back in later February and early March for updates. While the band did not particularly stand out to me as a newer band to watch out for in 2006, they still delivered a solid show.

Moving towards a more distinct darker sound was the second act of the night, Simplicia, of St. Cloud, MN. They were also the only band to have any merch for sale or signup sheets available. Members include Brandt Fulton on lead vocals and guitar, Michael Loren on drums and backup vocals, Nathan David on guitar and backup vocals, and Todd Solomon Denison Renninger on bass.

Learning from their Myspace page that their influences are “pain, loss, desire, mental illness, books, false realities, damage, lies, trust, the supernatural, the universe, [and] the inner conflict of humanity,” I was skeptical at first of how authentic the band’s connection to their songs would be—could I trust their anger? Or was this just another band that manufactured lyrical stories about the dark side of humanity to appeal to angst listeners?

To the band’s credit, I didn’t feel mislead. If you like the band Staind, you’ll easily find yourself drawn to the sound of Simplicia. Perhaps, I’m the only one in the audience who thought this but at times the softness of Fulton’s voice reminded a bit of Ville Valo, the vocalist of “love metal” band HIM. (Hey, this is only my second non happy-pop show; I’m still learning my new RIYL name drops.)

The song that drew me in the most was Dichotomy, which is the title of their first full-length album.

You say that I'm not close enough to jesus
and how I paralyze your faith
Some hypocrite taught you to leave us
For pennies you're clean
Well, throw a dollar in for me

cause I will never be your shadow
and follow you inside four walls
where sacred is sold
or write a check to those whose hallowed
ground I grovel on is owned

Even though they were not headlining, the hard rock/post-hardcore band The Payback, of St. Paul, MN, drew the largest crowd of the night and I even overheard several people comment that American Vendetta, of Minneapolis, MN—the actual headliner—would have a hard act to follow. That “everyone came to see The Payback.”

I had the fortunate chance to catch The Payback's first show on Saturday, January 14, 2006 at the Uptown Bar. Had I not known that was their first time performing as The Payback—the band features former members of the recently departed Liars Club, The Fighting Tongs, and 2 Ton Crutch—I never would have guessed it from watching their performance. Despite some minor sound problems, I actually stopped reviewing the show after the first song, put away my notebook, and made my way up to the front of the crowd to secure a prime viewing spot. I was hooked.

The band didn’t let the lack of stage space at the Uptown Bar interfere with rocking out. Vocalist James Clark frequently jumped high in the air, fiercely kicking his feet out as the other members, Josh Hoglund (bass), Kris Weiser (guitar), Moose Hitchcock (guitar) and Corey Frazee (drums), thrashed along to piercing power chords and hammering drum beats.

Did I leave just as impressed by the band at their second show? You bet. I actually ended up missing most of American Vendetta’s set because I wanted to congratulate The Payback on their performance and learn more about their future plans. Fans will be pleased to know the band is hoping to release an EP early this spring. My apologies to those wanting to know more about American Vendetta, but I didn’t hear enough to be able to give an honest review. I'll try to catch them again another time.

With more room for dancing around—Yes, I count headbanging and jumping in the air as forms of dance—this set definitely seemed livelier than their first show. Hoglund, Weiser, and Hitchcock were able to show off their own moves better this time. I love the Uptown Bar, but it’s nice when an animated band such as The Payback has the space to “complete” their sound. The stage doesn’t just belong to the vocalist anymore; everyone gets a section of the limelight. Plus, you actually got a view of Frazee.

Warning to those who like to stand right in front of the speakers, you might get hit by a falling microphone stand or even by the acrobatic Clark who would grab onto the ceiling pipes and swing himself toward the audience.
Overall, the show was great. Energy levels were high. Vocals were crisp and you could actually make out the melodies to the songs this time, which was one of the problems at the first show. I’d like to tell you the name of the songs to pay attention to the next time they play, which is an early show on Sunday, February 19, 2006 at the Triple Rock, but not even the band has figured out the titles yet.

Once again, another hard rock band has one this Decemberists diehard over.

Review of the Payback and other bands from 1/20 coming soon....I suppose not spilling water on my notes would make life easier.

Don't forget this Saturday Robbie Skoro at The Triple Rock! I'll be there!

Calling All Faux Angel and Faux Wayne Fans

If you miss the sweet voice of former "Jean Angel" and the rockin' bass of "Faux Wayne" who shared the stage with Faux Jean a little while back, check out the new Luke's Angels lineup. As of 1/19/06, Nicole Kalodrich has joined on vocals and Cody Horton on bass. The next Luke's Angels show is Feb. 4, 06 at the Turf Club in St. Paul

Source: http://www.lukesangels.com/index.html

Update on the lastest Faux Jean lineup coming soon.

Gingerjake '"Get It Get Off Live" CD Release Party, The Rock, Maplewood, January 13, 2006

Wanting to put the news of Colin Meloy’s girlfriend's pregnancy behind me, this indie-pop diehard hipster girl decided to check out the Twin Cities metal/hard rock scene on Friday, January 13, at The Rock in Maplewood for a change of scenery. Do I own any hard rock albums? Uhhh…about 3 out of 250. Have I ever gone to a concert in the suburbs? No. Did I know if I’d enjoy myself? No. I was completely unprepared—similar to the feeling of when I took the GRE test I didn’t plan on taking. (Note to readers: the GRE cancellation policy is 3 days prior to the test, not two days.)

Arriving halfway into the first band’s act, Profuse, I noticed a few things about The Rock. One: the smoking ban doesn’t apply. Two: The club is very clean. No seediness like The Entry. Three: I feel like I’m in someone’s basement with a very large game room. Four: There are no hipsters here. I sway alone tonight.

Profuse is a trio hard rock/metal band with Ben Blue on vocals and his brother, Mike Blue, on guitar. The shirtless drummer is Ryan, a mutual friend to the sibling duo. Pumping his fist in the air as he swaggered and jumped around stage, Ben shouted to the crowd, “I want to see all you fuckers get on the floor here.” Happy to oblige, the small but growing crowd in the front continued their jumping around.

The vocals could have been turned up a bit more as the drums and guitar tended to drowned them out. While the band’s energy was high throughout their act, their stage movements seemed a bit force at times and came off as if they still weren’t sure about their “image.” I checked out the lyrics later online and while they carry a strong “fuck off” message, they surprisingly have almost an emo-like quality.
It’s Not Fair
"Everythings fading away even my memories
why can’t i just get better insted i bleed."

Silent Kill
"all the things that you’d do all the pain that
you put me through i’m not blind anymore i can see
that this is war."

Next up on stage was Valhalla Drive with Mike Yerxa on vocals, Jeff Peterson on percssion, Tony Flick on bass, and Chris Johnson on guitar. Sporting shoulder-length dreads and a ripped green sports coat Yerxa sang softly into the microphone about “how your eyes will be the last thing in my mind,” from the song TMLS as the music slowly got louder and louder, opening up to a swelling intensity of jump-up-and-down vocals. Yerxa described their sound as “dirty rock n’ roll” and he couldn’t be more right on. At times, his voice shared the throaty-scratchy sound of Craig Fin from the Hold Steady.

A hybrid of blues, classic rock, and metal, Valhalla Drive is band that is fully confident in their sound and you could see it in their faces on stage. Johnson was often making funny faces at the audiences and the band members easily played off of each other’s energy, confident in each step they took.

Taking the sound in a completely different direction to hard rock and hip-hop was the third act, 3 Pill Morning, featuring Jeff Stebbins on vocals, Jay Hanson on vocals and guitar, Dan Schroeder on guitar, Tony Bremer on bass, and Dave Ackley on drums.

Until recently the band had taken a break but decided to step back into the limelight because they “missed playing shows too much," shares Stebbins. Several of the songs started out with a slight electronic feel before breaking out into crushing hard rock with Stebbins commanding the stage as he effortlessly executed every song. Hesitate tells the story of a relationship gone wrong and the pain of realizing one’s mistakes.

"I’d love to make you cry to see if you still have a soul.
The look is in your eyes. I know you’d love to let me go.”

The song Doll tackles a much darker issue about a guy who slips date rape drugs into young girls’ drinks at shows. The story-telling sound brought me back to the days I listened to Linkin Park and then I quickly realized how Linkin Park should be taking their cues from 3 Pill Morning. The highlight of the act though was when St. Paul hip-hop/rap artist, Infinity, of Oddballer Records, joined Stebbins and Hanson in vocals on stage. I couldn’t make out if the title of song was Turn Up or Stand Up, but I do rememeber my favorite verse:
“You can’t ignore this poetic technique I spin.”

By the time the band, Gingerjake took stage, the headliners of the night, the crowd had grown to around 400 people. As soon as they were announced to come on stage, everyone starting chanting, “GINGERJAKE! GINGERJAKE.” It was pretty clear who the audience came to see that evening. Between every song—seriously, every song—the audience would start to chant again.

The dark and throaty voice of powerhouse Amanda Harris filled the room against the band’s aggressive melodic hard rock sound. Her moves were somewhat of a cross between “rocking out”, head banging, and a catwalk strut. Ian Severson, on lead guitar, and Eric Rotter, on bass, provided the loud in-your-face, mouth-wide-open, metal screaming backup vocals. Eric’s twin brother, Joe Rotter, slamed away on the drums. While Eric joined Harris in rocking out on stage, Severson adopted the classic rock stance of locking your feet in place and starring intensely off into space.

When the band apologized about the cancellation of their New Year’s Eve CD Release Party due the Quest’s closing, the crowd starting chanting “Fuck the Quest! Fuck the Quest!” until the next song, Concrete soothed their riled up souls over. The song Angel was clearly a crowd favorite as they burst into a frenzy uproar that their request was met and a few girls around me squealed in delight just upon hearing the first few lines.
“The day the angel came, the sky poured rain. I didn’t know how to feel before the 7th bell rand. She took my hand. To a far away place.”

Bleed in Stereo and Get It Get Off were my favorite tracks of the evening. I'm hoping they're featured on their MySpace page soon for when I'm too lazy to push play on my stereo. While I prefer the dark corners of The Entry or leaning up against the rails at the Triple Rock for shows, I have found a few bands outside of 89.3 The Current style worthy of checking out. I also picked a copy of Gingerjake's debut EP Paralysis. Now I have like 5 hard rock albums! I'm moving on up, cats. So fellow hipsters, are you ready to cross over? The other sidejust might surprise you.