Tag Archives: Sacramento Concert

Café Tacvba Bring Their Niu Güeis Tour to Crest Theatre • Sept. 2, 2018

The New York Times once called Café Tacvba “Mexico’s most visionary rock band,” and it would be difficult to argue otherwise. The band formed way back in 1989, and the Grammy-winning group has staked their lengthy career in constantly reinventing themselves; notably, Café Tacvba frontman Rubén Isaac Albarrán Ortega often changes his name and identity from tour to tour. The band’s music runs the gamut of post-punk soundscapes, incorporating elements of folk, electronica and new wave. Opening will be The Marias, a dreamy pop rock outfit from Los Angeles featuring the swoon-worthy vocals of Maria Zardoya. For a taste of what they have to offer, check out the sumptuously romantic clip for their song “I Don’t Know You” on YouTube. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for this Sunday performance at the Crest (1017 K St., Sacramento). Tickets can be purchased through Crestsacramento.com.

{The Marias}

**This write-up first appeared in print on page 8 of issue #273 (Aug. 29 – Sept. 12, 2018)**

Contently Corrupt • Deafheaven frontman George Clarke on latest LP’s strange, hopeful new path

Listening to Ordinary Corrupt Human Love on a packed light rail car, scraping along through the wreckage of the workweek under the full weight of afternoon midsummer heat, in close quarters with inscrutable humanity—anonymous lives in the thick of their separate mortal coils—might be the ideal context in which to slip into the most recent offering by Deafheaven. Eschewing the frozen wastes and infernal abysses of metal hyperbole, and mostly foregoing the introspective dread and purgation of the band’s previous albums Sunbather and New Bermuda, Ordinary Corrupt Human Love allows breathing room in which to enjoy Deafheaven’s ever more sophisticated sonics and passages of understated beauty in between the cinematic, pulse-pounding peaks. Such moments still abound, but a new focus on earthbound visions and the beauty in day-to-day existence has altered the emotional timbre this time around.

If this is a wistful look back, then it is well-earned, and perhaps the first opportunity they’ve had to do so in the seven breathless years since their debut, Roads to Judah, was released. The shadows of their twenties grow long. After breaking out of Modesto, a decade of hard party life and turmoil ensued as they ventured from San Francisco to Los Angeles, their stars rising almost immediately. Early commercial success and critical hype supplied by tastemaking blogs and publications unleashed a wave of interest in indie circles and an equally thunderous wave of spite among black metal genre cultists more concerned with face paint and cover art than great production, technical chops and originality. The comment-section-level discourse, once fierce, has since died down, blown away with the chaff by a continuous gust of quality releases and a determination to follow their instincts into whatever stylistic territory they may lead.

Ordinary Corrupt Human Love begins with a subdued spoken word piece describing a flock of geese passing overhead in the Oakland dusk. Even during the flintiest moments that come afterward, the main current of the album is a collection of fragmented observations of poetic happenstance amidst natural and intimately human surroundings. It feels quintessentially Californian in some sense, the feeling of perfection escaping in the corner of one’s eye, a consistently frustrated yearning for utopia, an unrequited romance with life in a nonexistent universe, and the stark specter of reality coming into full bloom while tugged at on all sides by the perpetual call of the dream. It ranges from blazing on “Honeycomb” to haunting on the Chelsea Wolfe duet “Night People,” both tendencies converging on the beautiful closing track “Worthless Animal.”

However you parse out the influences that have made up their sound, from black metal to post-hardcore and shoegaze, Deafheaven is less “about” any of those styles and more about empathy and reflection, sentiments that today have almost become as extreme as their musical expression, which may play some part in their wider success. The new record is the sound of a band content in its manifestation, calmly embracing the inherent faults of earthbound life.

We had the opportunity for a brief chat with vocalist George Clarke on some of the ideas floating around Deafheaven’s fourth LP ahead of their Sacramento appearance next month alongside the post-industrial wrath of Uniform and the sepulchral grace of Drab Majesty.

Ordinary Corrupt Human Love sounds comparatively subdued and less emotionally raw than the last few records. What took you in this direction?
Basically, for our first three records, they were so heavily introspective that I wanted to get away from that a little bit and start fresh with this album. I consider the first three almost as a trilogy of sorts that summarized our twenties. I found my twenties to be tumultuous in a lot of ways, and I wrote a lot about that. Being 29 now, on my way to 30, it just felt like I needed to mature a little bit, and I needed to not just think about my own personal journey. There was no big catalyst or anything, just a sense of maturity, a sense of growing up; and I wanted this to be a fresh start. It is a bit more outward looking.

The title of the record comes from a line in a novel [The End of the Affair] by Graham Greene. What should that line or the book tell us about the music here?
The book itself doesn’t have anything to do with the record necessarily, but I just came across that passage while reading it, and I felt that those four words summarized what I was trying to say, in terms of appreciating life for what it is—ordinary, and mundane, and that’s cool, it doesn’t need to be anything else. It was a striking combination of words, so I decided to take it. In part I wanted to talk about the lives of people that I observed, I wanted to create a different narrative. I think that people can often feel bogged down by the weight of the world or our current affairs, and I think there’s a lot of negativity that gets pushed around, and I wanted to offer something different, even for a moment, to step back a little bit and see these lives and how they intersect with each other, and how the process of living is in a lot of ways a gift. So yeah, that was the mood for the record. I would say that all the lyrics stem from literally just sitting in a park, or walking around neighborhoods, observing people.

Genre cults, especially within metal, can feel like heavily policed prisons at times. Does it feel like the manufactured controversy about what genre Deafheaven is has finally been left behind?
I‘d like to leave it behind. It’s something that’s been mentioned for a lot of years now, and it very much is a tired conversation. I would rather people just check out what we do and listen without pretense, and if you like it, you like it; and if you don’t, you don’t. But yeah, this idea of metal credibility or that genres can be bastardized, it’s a little played by this point.

I’ve heard there’s been more of a commitment to sobriety in the band in the last six months or so. Did this have an impact on the outlook on Ordinary Corrupt Human Love?
I’d would be lying to call it a “sober” album, because that wasn’t happening during a lot of the writing of it, but certainly during the process and thereafter, I found that in order to continue this, we had to make some changes. When you don’t die at 27, and life continues, and you still want to make music a career, I’ve found that for me it’s a good idea to take a break from the things that come with the lifestyle. And so far it’s been great. Touring has been nice. It hasn’t been a huge, scary adjustment by any means, and I find that we’re all in a very good place.

A big part of listening to Deafheaven is getting a sense of purgation—of negative energy and inward torment. Is this fundamental to your creative process, and does it still play a part on the new record?
Every album is very emotionally driven. I think it’s our intent to make emotional music, so every record does deal with catharsis and purging, but certainly the first three were heavier on that end. I consider this to be our celebration record; the “we survived, and are somehow thriving” kind of record. That’s really the mindset where we’re at now.

I found the lyrics on “Worthless Animal” to be the most puzzling and compelling. Is there a story behind it?
Long story short, I saw a homeless man being attacked in Downtown L.A. for holding up traffic. A man got out of his car and accosted him for no reason. This guy was clearly mentally unstable, and I felt this rush of emotion about it, a helplessness and confusion as to why this man was being treated with cruelty, and I wanted to compare him to a deer, eating flowers. I wrote a good bit of it in my car that day, but the track is meant to emphasize empathy and remind people to be good to one another.

Eight years in, would you send back any advice for yourself or the band at the start of your career?
Just enjoy it, and keep going. I wouldn’t change anything. We’ve had a really great run. We’re really lucky and fortunate to be able to do what we do, and I’ve had a lot of fun throughout the years. I would just tell myself to always remember to enjoy it.

With the band’s ability to draw crowds from inside and outside the metal crowd, how would you recommend your live set to newcomers?
I would just tell people that what we offer is an honest show, and one that has a heavy emphasis on emotion, but it’s also fun and loud. There’s speed and heaviness, and they should hopefully just take it in. It’s an experience, and I hope that’s what we can create for them.

Deafheaven will perform live in Sacramento on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, at Goldfield Trading Post (1630 J St.) at 7 p.m. Also on the bill are Uniform and Drab Majesty. For more info and to buy tickets, go to Goldfieldtradingpost.com.

**This piece first appeared in print on pages 14 – 15 of issue #271 (Aug. 1 – 15, 2018)**

HEAR: More Than Two Dozen DJs and Bands at Splash Music Festival • July 13 & 14, 2013

SplashMusicFest2013
After a heat wave as intense as the one we just had, we’re looking forward to enjoying more than two dozen DJs and live bands over two days along the Sacramento River at the first-ever Splash Music Festival, taking place at Rio Ramaza Marina and Events Center (10000 Garden Hwy), on Saturday, July 13 and Sunday, July 14. Splash will not only feature international headliners mixed with regional talent, but there will also be a gigantic wading pool, slip ‘n’ slides, misting systems, water cannons and plenty of other ways to keep cool while the following DJs and bands blast through a world-class sound system: Darth & Vader (all the way from Brazil), Krafty Kuts (from England), Luminox, NiT GriT, DJ Dan, Trevor Simpson, Dyloot, DJ Billy Lane, Diamond Dez, Who Cares, The Frail, Element of Soul, G.A.M.M.A., DJ Whores, Atom One and so many others. Considering the level of talent, tickets are a steal at just $40 for a two-day pass. Single-day passes will put you back $30, so we say go for the two-day and make a weekend of it (limited camping and RV spaces are available, too). There are also backstage and VIP packages available; visit Splashmusicfestival.com for more information. Bust out your board shorts, bathing suits, tank tops and flip flops, because Splash Music Festival is sure to be a wet and wild time. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

HEAR: An Evening with Yo La Tengo • May 12, 2013

ylt_jesper_eklow-web

Even though their sound generally fits the bill, to call Yo La Tengo an “indie band” would be a great disservice to the legacy they’ve built over their nearly 30-year career amongst their cult-like following. Members Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew have forged their own path, landing on critics’ best-of lists countless times, playing the world’s best concert halls and festivals as well as the diviest of dives. Earlier this year the group released their 13th album, Fade, and it is being hailed as one of their best albums in years. See Yo La Tengo live on Sunday, May 12, 2013 at Harlow’s (2708 J Street). Tickets are just $20 in advance, available at Harlows.com. Show starts at 9 p.m. and is 21-and-over. For more information on the band and to sample some tunes off of Fade, visit Yolatengo.com.

LE BUTCHERETTES WILL MELT FACES AT HARLOW’S ON SEPT. 14

Local promoter Brian McKenna recently confirmed the much-hyped garage-punk trio Le Butcherettes for a Sept. 14 gig at Harlow’s, and we here at Submerge could not be more stoked. This in your face, rowdy-as-fuck band had one of the most blogged-about sets at this year’s Lollapalooza, recently toured with Sacramento’s own Deftones, and will soon embark on separate stints with Iggy and the Stooges and The Flaming Lips. You don’t score gigs like those unless you’re doing something right. The Los Angeles-based group has local ties in bassist Jonathan Hischke (pictured on left), who has played with and/or toured/recorded with such local-ish bands as Hella, Agent Ribbons, Casual Fog and a ton of others as well as national acts like The Mars Volta and Broken Bells. If you’re a fan of spastic, energetic, borderline obscene live performances, you’re going to want to mark your calendars for this one, as lead singer Teri Gender Bender is known to throw shoes into the crowd, spit a lot and douse herself in fake blood–you know, the whole nine. Hischke and drummer Gabe Serbian (formerly of The Locust) get down too, which creates a sort of chaotic, yet somehow controlled vibe. It ought to be interesting seeing a (hopefully) primed and drunken Sacramento crowd react to their onstage energy. I’m forecasting much spilled beer, intermittent mosh pits and a high possibility of stage diving in Harlow’s near future. Show is $8 in advance, 21-and-over only and doors open at 8 p.m. Opening the show will be locals I’m Dirty Too and Diciembre Gris. For more information, visit Harlows.com, Abstractsacramento.com or hit up The Beat or Dimple Records to score tickets.

Respect in Taste

The Detroit Cobras Scour the Archives and Revitalize Long-Lost Hits

The Detroit Cobras are good at what they do. So good, they kept the critical media scratching their collective temple as to why the band struck a familiar chord, but the origins were not quite traceable. Four albums and a gang of singles deep, the Cobras’ garage and R&B nostalgia earned them the company of their most-beloved songwriters and a friendship with a particularly notable Grammy Award-winning, Detroit-raised producer.

It is old hat to fuss with clever ways of calling the Cobras a cover band. The Detroit Cobras are a cover band. Don’t let them tell it with a fine slant. The good news is, they’re a band with exceptional taste rooted in the vaults of lesser known Ronettes, Irma Thomas and Otis Redding hits. Guitarist Maribel Ramirez sums it up with, “To me it’s not important whether you write or you don’t write, it’s that you come up with great songs.” The Cobras are far too rad to play your cul-de-sac soirée, Fire Department barbecue fundraiser or wedding reception. It leaves the covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” to the animatronic band in Chucky Cheese restaurants.

“We’ve never reported ourselves to be a cover band. It’s not like we’re doing Motown review and I’m coming out with my hair in a beehive doing Supremes songs,” lead singer Rachel Nagy said. “Once one critic found out, other critics started raving, but we never said we wrote them. It’s not a hidden issue.”

It’s been four years since Tried & True, making my first inquiry quite obvious–what’s the haps on a new record? Turns out, the Cobras are waiting on fellow Detroit native Don Was, a man whose production is well worth the delay. If the name is not ringing a bell, perhaps these will: Lyle Lovett, Iggy Pop, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Garth Brooks and The Rolling Stones.

“The whole Don Was thing is kind of nebulous right now. He’s a very busy man.” Nagy said. “We’re talking about maybe mid- to end of summer to start recording. We may even do it backwards now that all the hip kids are putting out singles. Just start putting stuff out as we record it.”

While the Cobras wait for Mr. Was to grace them with his time and expertise, we took to discussing the meat and potatoes of the Cobras’ next step in being the best darned (cover) band around. With the cat out of the bag and old songwriters coming forward at their shows, it’s an exciting new time for the band, in which perhaps an original or two might sneak into the tracklisting.

It’s been a while since the last Detroit Cobras record. What’s the motivation going into the new record?
Maribel Ramirez: Being able to record a little better. We make decent records, but we’d like to take it a little further than we already have–make it more powerful. We’ve done a decent job by ourselves. In talking to Don [Was], it’s something we both want to do.

Will there be a shift in the bands that influence the music?
MR: It’s digging deeper. It’s almost attitude-wise, you know what I mean. We’re a little more grown up and we still want to make a dance record, but dance by our definition.
Rachel Nagy: Was said to us, “Look, I won’t do this if I don’t know what to do. If I don’t understand this and don’t know what I can bring to you guys, I won’t try to fake through it or turn you into something you’re not.” And that’s what we needed to hear.

Does the band feel pressure of possible misrepresentation, considering the songwriting process is built upon previous works? Do you ever get approached by disgruntled fans or the original songwriters?
MR: You’d think we would have, but to tell you the truth, most people don’t know the records. People aren’t really going to come up to you and tell you negative things anyway. When we cover a song people go looking for it. Most don’t say, “Hey, I know that.” When we were in Europe, it was cool to see the effects of having done this. People come out and say, “Let me show you what I’ve got.”

In Los Angeles a person came to the side of the stage and said, “There’s a person here who says you covered one of their songs.” I remember thinking, “I thought most of them were dead?’ Who the fuck is standing at the door.” It was Jackie DeShannon [one of the first female singer/songwriters in rock ‘n’ roll]. We went to a little studio and wrote a couple of songs with her. One of the songs we wrote during that session I want to use on the next record. I at least want to give it a shot.

Have you ever had someone try to pull the wool over you and pretend to be related to one of the deceased musicians to get paid in some form?
RN: The closest thing that ever happened to that was Mickey Lee Lane’s brother. I don’t think we met him, but I think he sent us a letter. It was cool, but then died. The next thing you know we’re getting these long e-mails from his brother. He started on the whole, “Yeah, I actually wrote that and here’s some other stuff I wrote that I’d love if you guys would do.” It was very obvious that he hadn’t written anything.

The other music he was sending us was terrible. It was really bizarre shit like I don’t think we’ll be doing a dance remix of the blues anytime soon. Other than that, we’ve never really had anyone try and play us.

Considering many of these songs are obscure hits that are either out of print or impossible to find, has there ever been an interest to do more for the originals beyond the band’s interpretations of them? For example, a label that focuses on reissues or a compilation?
RN: We absolutely have the utmost respect, it’s one of the reasons we do what we do. But this is our personal jukebox. We get together, share each other’s weird records, drink some beer and play the songs we love and find fun. Other than that it was not supposed to be anything deeper.

I wouldn’t really call us collectors. I’ve lost so many records. It comes down to the difference between boys and girls. The girls run around, dance and have a good time, while the boys are the librarians discussing who begat who.

We’ll leave all the reissuing to those boys that are great at cataloging and remembering and not losing their records and not moving from a house and forgetting two boxes in the attic.

Detroit Cobras will perform The Blue Lamp on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 9 p.m. Also appearing will be Girl in a Coma. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be purchased at Eventbrite.com.

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) Live at Grimey Tuesday, April 12

Grimey Tuesday, in case you don’t know, is a biweekly dubstep and bass heavy night at Townhouse featuring residents DJ Whores, Crescendo, Jaytwo, X GVNR, emcee Skurge and emcee Bru Lei. Basically, every other Tuesday these residents and special guests from all over the place turn Townhouse into a full-on sweaty dance party and much fun is had. April 12 will surely be no different when Grimey and Concerts 4 Charity team up to bring Sacramento’s favorite dance-punks !!! back to Townhouse to headline a quick stop on their way to Coachella. If you’ve never seen !!! live, you’re missing out big time; they deliver the goods. And by “goods” we mean about an hour or so of non-stop groovy jams and funny dance moves from frontman Nic Offer. Also performing upstairs that night is hip-hop-meets-jazz-meets-funk band Who Cares. Downstairs will feature performances from Man Machine, Billy the Robot and Ellis Rush. Get $7 presale tickets at Sacramento.ticketleap.com/chkchkchk. Show will be $10 at the door, 21-and-over only and everything kicks off at 9 p.m.

The Batusis feat. Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls and Cheetah Chrome of Dead Boys will perform at the Blue Lamp!


Calling The Batusis a “punk rock supergroup” seems cliché, but it’s accurate. Sylvain Sylvain is the wildly charismatic New York Dolls guitarist and Cheetah Chrome has wielded the axe for Cleveland icons Rocket From the Tombs and Dead Boys. Both of these guys have heavily influenced the direction of punk rock throughout their lengthy careers, but this is the first-ever collaboration between the two longtime friends. In Batusis, the two share guitar duties and take turns on lead vocals. Their self-titled EP, released by Smog Veil Records, is four tracks of loud, brash and fun punk rock, just the way they like it. On the EP Chrome and Sylvain are backed by the rhythm section of Joan Jett’s band, The Blackhearts, but when they hit Sacramento on Oct. 23, 2010 at the Blue Lamp the two will have Lez Warner of The Cult on drums and Sean Koos (who also lends his abilities to The Blackhearts) on bass. Opening this epic night as local punk heroes The Secretions, further solidifying that this is a must-see show. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

On to the Next

Chris Shiflett puts his time off from Foo Fighters to Good Use

Over the past decade, the Foo Fighters have risen to become one of the most prominent bands in rock ‘n’ roll, and guitarist Chris Shiflett has been a big part of that. Becoming a full-fledged Foo right before the end of the last millennium, Shiflett already had quite a resume as guitarist for No Use for a Name and also a member of Fat Mike’s punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. In September 2008, Foo frontman Dave Grohl announced that his group would be taking an extended hiatus, a statement that has held true despite the release of a greatest hits comp at the end of 2009. The announcement didn’t seem to rattle Shiflett all that much. He just kept doing what he’s done the better part of his life: create music.

When Submerge spoke with Shiflett, he was just wrapping up recording for a new record he hopes to be finished tracking shortly. In the past, Shiflett has spent his time away from the Foo Fighters fronting another rock band called Jackson United, but the music he’s working on now will appear on a solo effort—well, sort of.

“I’m working on kind of a solo record, though it’s kind of silly to call it a solo record, because I’ve got a lot of other people playing on it,” Shiflett says. “It’s a solo record with a lot of my friends.”

Shiflett has no shortage of talented friends. One such friend is his old NUFAN cohort Tony Sly, with whom Shiflett will be touring the Western United States in February. Shiflett says that a show the two played together last year in Santa Barbara served as an impetus for the tour.

“We both have kids and wives, and we don’t really get to see each other so much anymore,” Shiflett says of reuniting with Sly on stage. “It was so much fun. We did a song together, and afterwards, we were hanging out, and we were like, ‘We should do a tour.’ So we started talking about it, and it just kind of came together. He’s actually got an album coming out in a week or so, I think. He’ll have product; I won’t.”

Shiflett may not have anything to hawk at his upcoming shows, but he will be trying out some of his new material. A departure from what his fans may expect, Shiflett’s solo record will feature “roots-y leanings.”

“It’s got more acoustic bass and keyboards and pedal steel and more instrumentation on it,” he explains. “It’s definitely not as rock ‘n’ roll as the Jackson United stuff, but it’s still me, and it’s still my songs, so I’m sure there’s a common thread there.”

It may sound like a serious downshift—both in sound and scope—from what Shiflett is used to, and it is. But it’s a challenge he seems pretty excited about. He says “it’s a trip” to go out on the road, on his own, to play a bunch of songs that many people may not have heard, but he acknowledges there’s also a certain amount of freedom involved as well.

“I like going out and doing the acoustic shows, because it’s so easy,” Shiflett says. “You just throw your acoustic guitar in your car, and there’s no corralling a bunch of people. It’s just fun. You kind of sink or swim on your own strengths and weaknesses. There’s nowhere to hide, which makes it pretty exciting to do that.”

In addition to playing new material, Shiflett says he will also throw some Jackson United songs and a few covers into the mix. And don’t be surprised if Shiflett and Sly play a song or two together.

How has it been playing music with Tony again? Do you revisit old stuff, or are you looking to do something new together?
It’s funny, because the song we ended up playing together, I just kind of surprised him. I said, “Hey, do you want to do that ‘Moonshiner’ song?” He used to bring an acoustic guitar on tour, so when we’d be on a long drive in a van, he’d play guitar and sing songs. It was a song that he used to sing. It’s an Uncle Tupelo version of some old standard. So I was like, “Do you want to sing that song with me?” and he came up and did it, so that took me right back to being in a van in the middle of nowhere with those guys. Me and Tony have known each other for a long time now, and he’s one of those guys that even if I don’t see him for a couple years, it just takes a few minutes”¦

You’re like fast friends all over again”¦
Yeah, he’s just a good, old friend of mine. We have a lot of love for each other.

Will he make a guest appearance on your own album?
You know that’s not a bad idea [laughs]. We haven’t talked about it, but maybe I’ll corral him into the studio when I have him down here.

You’ve played in bands like No Use for a Name and Foo Fighters, which are both on the louder side of rock music. Is the stuff you’re doing now something you’ve always had a penchant for?
Without a doubt. Of course I love loud rock ‘n’ roll music. That will always be my first love, but ever since I was a little kid, I was listening to Elvis and Johnny Cash and a little later on, I dug back into that older stuff—Willie Nelson and things like that. It’s always something I’ve been into and have had an appreciation for. It’s nice to take a break from screaming loud music and do something a little mellower. That’s the fun thing about doing these acoustic shows. I do some of the Jackson United songs, and they’re sort of a little closer to the way they sounded when I made them up in my bedroom, just sitting there strumming on an acoustic guitar.

Before you said you enjoyed just hopping in the car with your guitar and just going to a gig. Spending about 10 years with the Foo Fighters, and they’re a huge rock band, I’m sure that’s a lot of people and a lot of equipment. Is it refreshing for you to get on the road and do your own thing and not have to worry about all that?
Yeah, it’s just an easy thing. You just jump in your car, and it’s like a road trip with a couple of your friends. Touring with a band is great. Especially with the Foo Fighters, I’m not the one corralling people. We’ve got a guy that we pay to do that.

[Laughs] A corraller?
Yeah, we have a professional corraller [laughs]. It’s not very labor intensive for me, personally, but it’s still like a 50-person, 50-headed monster sort of thing. There is a kind of solitude in just getting out in your car and driving. The first show is in Seattle, so I’ll be driving all the way up to Seattle and then just heading down the coast. It’ll be nice. I’d like to say it’s a return to what it was like when I was younger, but I never really did this when I was younger. When I was driving to a gig in the car, that was like in the ’80s or early ’90s, and it was louder then.

Has this stripped down approach played into going into a more roots-y feel with your music?
Without a doubt. And that’s one of the things that I’ve really tried to do with this record that I’m recording—keep it sparse. When you’re doing a rock record, there’s a lot of doubling of everything, and all of a sudden, you’ve got 18 guitar tracks, and it’s become this unruly beast. I’ve really been trying to pare it down. Playing acoustic, it really makes you commit to parts. You really have to keep it simple—or at least I have to keep it simple, because I can’t go up there and play something really complicated and sing. It boils it down to the root of what the song is. I think it’s good for your songwriting.

Before you said that when you took the songs into the studio, they began changing. How did they change, keeping in mind that you said you were trying to keep them simple? Was there a conflict between the songs growing and your intent to keep them low-key?
For me, until I go in and actually record a song, I don’t commit to things until then. I don’t really work out the vocal melody exactly the way I want it to be until I get into the studio, and then you can’t hide from it. You can sort of hide live, you can fake it a little bit live, but when you get into the studio, you can’t fake it any more. That’s when you have to start making decisions.

You’ve been busy since the Foo Fighters went on hiatus. When the hiatus was announced, was that a welcome thing for you?
For sure. I think everyone was ready to take a break. We’d been pretty strong for a few years in a row without any real time off between records and tours and stuff. I didn’t think—I don’t know if anyone really thought—I sort of didn’t really believe that we’d take a hiatus. We sort of said that before, and then a couple months goes by and things start popping up, but we really have. Right now, there’s no real plan for anything, and I can’t imagine that we’re even going to start working on a new record until later into the year, because Dave’s doing the [Them Crooked] Vultures, and they’re going to be going for a while. It’s going to turn into a big, long break. “¦ It’s always good when we go out and do other things, that way when we go back to doing Foo Fighters, it’s fresh and everyone’s excited to do it. We’ve all got kids and stuff now, and I know for me, this last year being home has been unbelievable—just to be home with my kids. That’s one of the biggest upsides of doing what I do for a living. I don’t have to go to an office every day; I get to watch my kids grow up a lot. It’s been good. It’s been a healthy thing.

Chris Shiflett interview

Chris Shiflett and Tony Sly will play The Boardwalk in Orangevale on Feb. 9.

Living Room Scientists

Bows & Arrows secondhand hipster apparel boutique is not known for its live entertainment, but the dozen or so hip enough to be in the know got a brief, but aurally excitable performance from Placerville’s Pregnant Dec. 3.

Formerly grid kids, Pregnant moved out to the sticks, possibly to their greatest benefit. Their album, Liquidation on Swans, is a complicated experience. Bountiful in picturesque collages, the record will rack your brain in wonderment as to where Daniel Trudeau found these sultry sounds—which is why seeing Pregnant perform is such an enlightening delight.

The Bows & Arrows atmosphere complemented Trudeau and his guitar-strumming assistant, Michael Saalman. The lights were turned off except in the small floor space, cleared for their instruments. The band played in the lighting of kitschy lamps for sale, while onlookers sat on the floor, giving these living room scientists a fitting workspace to kneel among their array of pedals and build each song from scratch.

Pregnant

The joy of watching Pregnant comes precisely from that. Saalman noodled at his guitar endlessly, while Trudeau methodically looped each piece of his instrumentation into the fold. Trudeau beatboxed, pitch shifted his voice into kooky layers and strummed a wooden lizard to complete the steps of “Do That.” He created bass from rhythmically breathing heavily into the microphone, tweaked a kazoo into a swarm-of-bees buzz, and skronked on a saxophone, proving his talents beyond the junkyard noise. The scatter of percussion tools on the floor and the effects pedals were all utilized to steadily bring each song to fruition. The sound was reminiscent of Brooklyn-based noise bands like Say No! To Architecture, GDFX and Zs. However, Pregnant is inherently California freak folk. Those Brooklyn kids are all harsh noise from buzz saw reverb and nose bleeds, while Pregnant is countrified and tender. Birds chirp, wind chimes made of bones jingle and the warmth is candid.

There’s nothing to fear in a Pregnant record and that kindness is present in their performance. The duo never acknowledged the audience, far too engulfed in their process, but once they finished, they thanked us, awkwardly bowed, locked hands and dry humped a lamp.

Pregnant plays traditional venues, but if you have the chance, see them in a living room, a boutique or a basement. Make sure there’s carpet and a place to kneel. It’s best to be as comfortable as the musicians, which means removing your shoes and letting those toes wiggle a little.