Monthly Archives: July 2010

Punk Rock Pancakes Review (La Iglesia Finale)

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So I was at La Iglesia Friday night for punk rock pancakes and some noisey tunes from some of the finest artists kickin’ it in this fair city of ours:

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Bronson Blvd kicked off the night, followed by Forget The Times. This First Band as well as Problems that Fix Themselves used synth to make noise, while the other two bands used drums and guitars(s), but all of the bands at La Iglesia that night made alot of noise, and seeing as how the show was “Punk Rock Pancakes” (which were made, lack of syrup be damned) I suppose that makes a whole lotta sense.

Before Forget The Times started, we had to set up a sophisticated police detection system in preparation. This included a look-out, and a text message. Fortunately for us and the police, they decided not to bug us. I don’t think anyone would’ve been surprised, however, because Forget the Times was loud…real loud. They smashed their way through songs, practically distorting the gravity in the room. Not for the faint of heart.

Problems that fix Themselves similarly warped the soundwaves in the room, with Josh Tabbia piloting his synth-craft from atop the Iglesia’s kitchen counter. I didn’t see much of this act, but I heard it, and it was warped in a good way. Check it out if you can.

And The Grow Fangs! well, they were loud too. The crowd cheered for random guitar ditties done between songs, as we were all amped up from all the rockin’, and The Grow Fangs! capitalized on this and put on a good show accordingly. There was a guy holding a boom box, face covered by a bandanna, creating some kind of distortion with his stereo but mostly adding to the overall aesthetic of the band, while James Duke was bottomless, and Ray Jackson was topless. Also Ray almost fell out of the window.

It was a good send off, and I think all parties involved had a great time. I suggest, if you see one of these bands playing somewhere in the future, you should go listen to their set. Word.

EDIT: I was having a good time Friday night and I got things a little mixed up in terms of order. I fixed it, though, and even if I said it in the wrong time line, everything I said was true.

The. Last. La. Iglesia. Show. Ever.

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Tonight, one of Kalamazoo’s most prominent DIY venues is celebrating it’s long, successful run, and ending it with a bang. Tonight, the Iglesians are coming together and jamming out the most delicious way they know how: Punk Rock Pancakes.

If you don’t know what Punk Rock Pancakes is, it’s a unique concert format. You come, you pay 2 dollars (to pay for batter and pay touring bands), and you bring your favorite pancake topping to pass. It was quite successful last summer, and quite delicious to boot.

The music is gonna be good too. Two new bands made up of current Iglesians and DIT members will be opening the show – This is the first ever show for the experimental electronic band Bronson Blvd, and the the third show ever for the experimental noise project Forget The Times. Neither of these bands have web presence yet, so suffice it to say it’s gonna be an excellent way to start the last Iglesia show ever.

The real party starts with Problems that Fix Themselves, a La Iglesia original featuring Joshua Tabbia wrecking the stratosphere with his experimental synthesizer. Every show is unique, and this one is the last one ever at La Iglesia. Detect a theme?

Closing the show is crowd favorites and Iglesia originals The Grow Fangs! Ray Jackson and James Duke will do their best to show you exactly what happens at 7o’clock on a Friday night. I don’t think much more needs to be said.

La Iglesia. 9pm (no punk rock time). Be there, or miss the last La Iglesia show ever.

Psych-Pop ‘n’ Skiffle madness at Strutt TONIGHT Thursday 07/15/2010!

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A whirlwind of psychedelic organ pop and down ‘n’ dirty rock ‘n’ roll is set to bring down the stage at The Strutt in downtown Kalamazoo tonight!

Hollows

Chicago’s Hollows bring giant female vocal harmonies layered over haunting, dark 60s-influenced organ pop.  It’s terrifyingly delicious, one listen to “Shadows in the Dark” on their MySpace should convince anyone with a soul.

YellowFever

YellowFever are traveling from Texas with a paranoid rock ‘n’ roll jitter that’ll get the kids shakin’ in their skivvies and spilling their coffee all over the floor (or perhaps beer for the particularly edgy).  The Austin-based band recently released their record on the Vivian Girls label Wild World label and have been receiving wider critical acclaim.  On her NPR blog, Carrie Brownstein described their sound as “haunted house surf music.”

Local support shall come from the high energy live bounce of Tiny Rhythm with their psycho-skiffle beat.  There’s a chance this will be a prehistoric set where Bo Diddley receives a visit from velociraptors.

Opening the night shortly after 9 p.m. will be the Vox-driven garage pop of The Philly Crawlers. Their sound is kinda like what might’ve happened if Pavement had been trying to imitate The Seeds and Strawberry Alarm Clock instead of The Fall.

For $5, just a little over a dollar per band, you can’t really find a better way to spend on a Thursday night in Kalamazoo.

The Strutt is located at 773 W. Michigan in Kalamazoo, MI.  The show is 18 yrs old and up, costs $5, and starts at 9 p.m.

La Iglesia and the Folk Punks

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Last night marked the third time that We’re Wolves were booked to play the No Fun House, but then something silly happened. Fortunately, last night’s catastrophe was not a deal-breaker, and We’re Wolves went on as a free show, opened by 3/4 of Forget The Times in an impromptu free 2-band No Fun extravaganza. We’re Wolves were excellent, and almost more importantly, excellent sports about the crazy luck that seems to follow them around at No Fun.

Tonight will be a bit different, but equally rockin’, what with a few great bands coming in from who-knows-where and playing acoustic guitars with attitude and gusto. Is there a better way to spend a hot summer night than rocking out to good music? The answer is ‘no’, so nobody has a reason to miss this one.

Trunks and Tales is a suburbs-of-Philly-based folk-punk outfit. They rock hard and get rowdy for a six-string wielding duo, and while I haven’t seen them live (yet), it sounds like they’re having a blast either howling about whatever makes ’em pissed, or calming down and veritably crooning about lost love.

Riding shotgun on the proverbial tour-bus T&T is the New Hampshirian Young Mountain, a high-energy folk-punk quartet. La Iglesia will be treated to a tight and well-rehearsed band jammin’ some catchy, hooky, folky, ‘I hope you die’ (or specifically, get eaten by a cannibal) sort of punk music. And we can all use a little more catchy, hooky, folky, ‘I hope you die’ sort of punk music in our lives.

Local support is coming in the form of Everyone & Their Empty Cups – I.E. a guy and a guitar telling good stories and occasionally screaming, with the potential for guest appearances always around the corner. It’ll be a good, solid open for what is sure to be an excellent show.

Make sure you slide through La Iglesia tonight, catch some good bands who are far from home, and throw ’em two bucks at the door. it’s a long way from the Illadelph, and I’m not even sure where New Hampshire is on the map. Plus, this is La Iglesia’s SECOND TO LAST SHOW EVER. Just saying. No pressure.

See you guys there!

Summertime Rock At The No Fun House

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Tomorrow night! No Fun House will be hosting two amazing ambient rock touring bands and one even more awesome local! What better way to spend a hot summer night then in a cool basement listening to some chilled out bands?

We’re Wolves – Jon Folet’s new indie rock band. Passionate vocals and groovy lo fi guitars. Think early Modest Mouse. Last time they were scheduled to play the house, the weather decided it couldn’t handle their awesomeness and shut our power off. That’s how good these guys are.

P. D. Wilder – Super droney ambient guitar layers that will make you feel like you’re drifting on a sea of music.

Summer Of Glaciers – Electronica meets Post Rock. As if Mogwai collaborated with M83. Totally rad. Check the video below for an idea of what you can expect.

9pm no punk rock time
$2 for the touring bands

Free show tonight @ The Strutt! Graham Parsons and the Go-Rounds!

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Tonight at The Strutt, Graham Parsons and the Go-Rounds will be performing a free show. This is the test-run for their live-album which they’ll be recording tomorrow, also at  The Strutt, also for free. It’s gonna be an excellent show, so if you got nothing going on tonight or tomorrow, and want to catch one of Kalamazoo’s best bands, check it out.

Good News!

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Our friends over at Kalamazoo Noise snagged some cool footage of local math rockers, Good News live at the Koffee Klutch. Dig.

If you like this, be sure to come see them at No Fun House on July 30th with And I Was Like, What? and Fox & The Law.

Show Review – Psyched Out at the Strutt 7/8/10

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On July 8, Ann Arbor’s Nathan K brought his signature honesty and precise finger-picking to a Kalamazoo audience at the Strutt. Nathan’s songs have a certain feel to them; kind of like driving away from someone you really love, and thinking about why you love them.

Fiona Dickinson made everyone stop in their tracks, beers half lifted to their lips, necks craned to to see where this sound could possibly be coming from. Accompanied by an all-star band of locals, Fiona’s spacey folk grew into a cloud of strange and unsettling emotion that was at once familiar and mysterious. All we knew was that it was beautiful, and we wanted to be close to it.

The Mind Death Quintet slowed things down a bit and turned each chord into a multi-layered wave of swirling sound. Jeremy Ruggles‘ voice floated over the top, like Gene Wilder in a room full of psychedelic candy, re-assuring listeners that it was all right to keep walking further into unknown parts and pleasures. I haven’t felt this way since I had that nervous breakdown at that Pink Floyd laser light show in 1999. Just kidding. But seriously.

p.s. I had the pleasure of making the flyer for this event. If anyone wants me to design flyers for their show, it’s only $10! Shoot me an email at james.r.duke@wmich.edu and tell me what you’re looking for.

When the whole house is rockin’, check your coat at the door, ‘cuz we certainly can’t hear you.

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No Fun House did it again.

Having personally worked the door, I can say without doubt that there were 50 people in that basement, rocking out and having an excellent time to two visiting bands, plus some wacked-out experimental quartet that I don’t know anything about. If you missed it, you missed out, so keep your eyes open for the next one.

I can’t say much about the quality of the opening act (on account of I was in it), but I can say that we’re called Forget The Times, we’re local (represen’in’), and we like weird noises. Sean Hartman, Peter Cook, and Benji Puppies (all DIT associates) are the three-guitar army of sorts, then there’s some punk-sissy on a drum kit. We’ll be around, so keep your ear to the ground if something like that interests you.

Next on the bill was Sohns, a most excellent high-octane super-charged rock group from San Antone, Texas. Fast guitars, technical drums, high-pitched vocals and -volume- made this group a sight to hear. From my seat in the back of the room at the doorman’s post, all I could see was a bunch of hot and sweaty bodies rockin’ to the sounds of what I can only assume was a class-A example of a Texan Friday night (except on a Wednesday, and in Michigan). What I heard, though, is best described as an unrelenting musical assault a-la rock-n-roll. If Sohns makes it back through the Zoo, you can bet good money I’ll be there to see it.

Third and finally, Northern Indiana put Analecta on loan for the night. They were fantastic. While not quite as spastic and sharp-edged as Sohns proved to be, they were just as loud, trading in the cut and scream of righteous electric guitars with strong melodic concepts and a pleasing aural resonance that had me, personally, leaning back with my eyes closed. The three-piece cites both Russian Circles and Explosions in the Sky as influences, and that is about as close to home as one can get. These post-rockers are another must-see, and with Indiana only being a short jaunt away (you gotta go down there for your cheap cigarettes and fireworks anydangway), it shouldn’t be too hard to catch ’em real soon.

Tonight there’s a few things happening, what with Emilio Festivez tearin’ down No Fun, and The Strutt playing host to Fiona Dickenson, Jeremy Ruggles (and the Mind-Death Quintet), and Nathan K. Slide by both if you get a chance. Or pick one. Either way, and whatever your flavor, you ain’t got no excuses to stay home tonight.