Thursday, The Fall of Troy, The Dear Hunter
Boardwalk “¢ Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009
Words & Photos Russ Wonsley

Looking at the lineup for last Thursday night’s show at Boardwalk, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had heard of The Dear Hunter from close friends but had never taken the time to listen to them. With such a buzz surrounding them, I was interested to have the opportunity to see them live. When The Dear Hunter had finally finished setting up their equipment, I saw that I was in for a unique performance. Three keyboards littered the stage with dozens of effect pedals covering the floor around them. A tall, bearded man took the main microphone; and from the first note he sang, I knew that this band had a buzz for a reason. There was one point when all the members of The Dear Hunter were harmonizing with each other on stage. It was refreshing to hear vocals done without the aid of a tuning program.

Up next was The Fall of Troy, and their performance was everything I expected it to be. Thomas Erak (lead vocals, guitar) burst onstage with high energy and fast guitar riffs. He jumped up and down the stage and pulled the whole venue into the performance. It was thrilling to see a musician keep riffing while fully engulfed in a crowd of screaming fans. The set list ranged from familiar favorites to songs that had just been released on their newest album, In the Unlikely Event, on Equal Vision Records.

Then, the New Jersey post-hardcore group Thursday finished off the show with a solid performance. They started off their set with solid songs such as “Division Street” and “For the Workforce, Drowning,” and the crowd echoed Geoff Rickly’s (lead vocals) every word. It was apparent that Thursday still has a strangle hold on post-hardcore fans, even after being involved in the scene since 1997. With complimenting reviews backing up their newly released album Common Existence from Epitaph Records, it looks like we can expect Thursday to keep a strong grasp on the genre for many years to come.

Gift of Gab at Home in the Unknown

It is hard to believe it’s been nearly 20 years since rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel formed Blackalicious within the walls of Kennedy High School and later went on to form Soulsides Records after meeting DJ Shadow at Davis’ KDVS. That was 1992. Times have changed, but one ideal remains true: testing Gift of Gab on the mic will put MCs in trouble.

Soon the prolific wordsmith will be over the hill, and 2012 will be Blackalicious’s 20th year in hip-hop. “Hip-hop has grown up. Most of the dopest rappers on the planet, in my opinion, are over 30. If you never stop loving what you do and doing it with a passion, you can’t outgrow it. Unless you get caught into that box.”

Next week the self-proclaimed El Gifto Magnifico will release his second solo record away from Chief Xcel, entitled Escape 2 Mars. Furthermore, Gab says he has already finished his next album.

“I feel like I haven’t done half of the music I’m going to do yet,” he said. “It’s all about busting myths. Twenty years ago, you’d probably think you can’t rap at the age of 30. This is something you do when you’re a teenager.”

An important transition in Gab’s career is staying out of the dreaded box, but he seems content with his situation. He has been on both sides of the fence and has truly discovered which side has the greener grass. Although MCA folded beneath Blackalicious’ only major label record, he remains grounded in independent music. Gab started his own distribution company three years ago called Giftstribution releasing two mixtapes and a Mighty Underdogs EP. “Sometimes a big machine like that is needed to get to those outlets that may be more political based than culturally or artistically based,” he said.

Free to create, Gab is releasing Escape 2 Mars this week through Giftstribution. The title and Mayan calendar apocalypse artwork might be cause for alarm that Gift of Gab is buying into the end of the world theories. The imagery is not meant to be a direct translation, though, and he’s not suggesting he’s got reservations booked on the first alien spacecraft out of here come 2012. “I’m not promoting 2012 in any way,” he began, but then backtracked, “Well, I am subtly, but to say I believe in it would be going too far. It’s just interesting information.”

Intriguing information is the motivation behind the songwriting for Gift of Gab’s record. Gab weighs in as an environmentalist with songs like the title track and “Electric Waterfalls.” The escape to Mars for Gab is less of a prophecy and more of a result should we not take care of what’s left. “I’ve seen a couple movies and read some information, so it was something that was in my mind at the time I wrote some particular songs,” Gab explains.

Production is primarily handled by DNAE Beats with fellow Bay Area producer and Headnodic behind the boards for a few beats as well. DNAE Beats is heavily influenced by electronic music, giving his laser synth beats a futuristic bounce. Gift of Gab hooking up with DNAE Beats for his electronic style is all part of Gab’s predilection for forward thinking. As we speak on the phone, he relates on several occasions that with each record he has the responsibility to “lyrically explore new styles.” With such province comes a necessity to challenge his sonic surroundings in order to escape convention.

Prior to going into the studio to work on Escape 2 Mars, Gift of Gab, performing as Blackalicious, did several shows with San Francisco dance DJs Bassnectar. For Gab, these shows were an eye opening experience that took him back to his younger days as a shorty on the hip-hop scene. “In a lot of ways this is the new hip-hop, because it’s so underground,” he said regarding his experience with Bass Nectar. “It’s still kind of pure and hasn’t been commercialized. The energy of the crowd is that of a hip-hop crowd… on a little more ecstasy though.”

As we chatted on the phone, Gab asked for my honest opinion of his album, assuring me he would be cheating himself to not hear me out. It was a rare moment, as we discussed the lack of introspective songs on the record, an element I have always respected, and his necessity to challenge preconception. “I’m aware that people listen to me for those songs on personal growth and look to me for that,” he said. “But if I set down [to write] and thought, ‘I have to write songs like these because this is what people expect me to do,’ I can’t be free.”

In preparing for the interview, I had my reservations about Escape 2 Mars. It took me a while to appreciate “Cliffhanger” off NIA, but the frigid synths on his latest solo left me in the dead of space seeking the soulful side of Gab. The dual producers do lend opportunity to hear him in familiar territory. Listening to the leaked single “Dreamin’,” which features Del the Funky Homosapien and Brother Ali lessened my criticism, but I questioned the two formats clashing. Gab did not share my concern, chalking it up as an expression of working the angles. “In my mind it’s a full body of work with different elements and angles to it,” he said. “With every record I’m trying to go into ground that hasn’t been charted, or if it has been charted, I’m trying to chop it up in a new way.”

See Gift of Gab on The Deadliest Catch Tour with Chali 2na, Mr. Lif and Lyrics Born on Nov. 23, 8 p.m. at Harlow’s.

Our Hometown Disaster delivers the goods on full-length debut

Local punk outfit Our Hometown Disaster wants you to know that they aren’t fucking around on their full-length debut, The Good Life, out Oct. 10, 2009. “We’re not pussies, we’re not fakes, we’re real guys with real experiences and that comes out in the music we write,” vocalist Brad Edison recently told Submerge. “We put heart into writing our music; we have well thought out and provocative lyrics that actually mean something to us. We are proud of our music; we couldn’t respect ourselves if we weren’t.”

While somewhat new to the scene with this line-up, all of Our Hometown Disaster’s members, including Ted Rauenhorst (guitar, backing vocals), Clint Cargill (guitar, backing vocals), Jeremy Roberts (drums), Brian Lee (bass, backing vocals) and Edison (vocals), have been in well-established Sacramento bands over the years. The note-worthy list of past groups includes Losing All Pride, Drowning Adam, A Borrowed Life, The Revelry, Five Victims Four Graves, Hoods and Vomit. With a résumé like that, you’d expect Our Hometown Disaster to hit the ground running. And they have. They’ve got a new full-length record, The Good Life, set to be released on Oct. 10 at the Boardwalk, a tight sound and big plans for the future.

Submerge recently caught up with some of the guys to cover the basics.

How did Our Hometown Disaster form?
Ted Rauenhorst: It all started with Clint and I around July ’08. We both missed playing punk rock and decided to get together and start a side project just for shits. We started writing and really enjoyed it and started looking for members about a month later. Long story short, we found some kick ass dudes that we really meshed well with and really got going on it. All of our other bands were not doing too well and all pretty much fell apart at the same time. We liked what we started doing a lot and decided to take the band seriously. We played our first show with Authority Zero in February ’09 and knew right then we really wanted to do this band full-time, and here we are.

I got a good laugh out of your Myspace page where it says, “Their goal is to prove that Sacramento’s punk roots are still firmly planted in a land where pussy emo and cock rock are running rampant!” Can you elaborate on that?
Brad Edison: The fact is there is a massive abundance of shitty music. Brian and I were talking a while ago about the fact that we still listen to the same CDs we bought when we were kids. Only every once in a while can we welcome a new CD to the list of quality music.

How does the songwriting process work in OHD? Is there one main songwriter, or is it collaborative?
TR: It’s pretty collaborative. Clint, Brian or myself will come up with a riff or even a full song, and we all get together and throw ideas around. Brad and Brian write the lyrics for the most part. We all like to give input in everything we do.
BE: For lyrics, usually Brian and I take an idea from an experience in our life or one of the other guys and just build on that while listening to the riff over and over and over. Sometimes it’s fairly quick and sometimes it takes a while and a lot of different settings. Some of my favorite lines have come to me while I’m driving or in the middle of the night. And sometimes there are parts that get changed even after all that because I won’t sing something that doesn’t convey the message I want the way I want to convey it.

What does a typical OHD practice look like?
Brian Lee: We all show up late and pissed off from work. We make fun of each other the whole time and run through the set and then work on something new. We got the next two albums written already, but we’re still working on our set because this OHD thing is so new to us all being from metal, punk, rock and hardcore bands. The next shit is amazing.

The Good Life sounds great! When and where was it recorded?
TR: We recorded it a few months back at Pus Cavern.

Nice. How was it working with Joe Johnston?
BL: He doesn’t let shit slide and really pushed us to do the best we could. It was awesome and we are stoked!
BE: Definitely. Joe is a great guy, smart and easy to work with. He knows what he’s doing. The proof is in the pudding; the CD sounds amazing.

What’s the plan for releasing The Good Life? Any label interest? Do you even care about record labels anymore? Or are you going the DIY route?
BL: Labels are what they are. We are old school “work hard for what you want” kind of guys. Smaller labels are cool, because they have the same goal as we do: play hard.
TR: We are just going to put it out ourselves for now. We are talking with a few labels and are looking for someone to put it out. We want to be patient and wait for the right label to come along. We don’t want to jump on the first offer and get screwed. Some of us have had that happen and don’t want to have it happen again.

Any touring plans?
BL: We got some shit going on.
TR: We are planning on going out a lot early next year. We have so much we want to do. It’s hard to say right now where we are going to be going.

I’m sure most of you have done the DIY tour thing before. Do you think touring is important in an age where bands break overnight via the Internet?
BL: The Internet is rad; you can see bands or boobs or whatever you want. Emo pop kids love to be sad and take pictures of themselves all day and will find bands that will do the same. We want to appeal to the skaters and motocross kids that are out and about that actually have CDs rolling around their trucks and loan out to their friends. It’s a totally different crowd. Go out and live fast. How rad can you get staying in your room listening to some losers that dress up for the Internet?

If they say the music industry is in a bit of a bind, Coldplay wouldn’t know the first thing about it. The London-based alternative rock quartet has sold tens of millions of records worldwide and consistently draws enormous crowds wherever they perform. This night was no different; Sacramento and its surrounding areas had shown up in full force. As the blistering sun descended behind Sleeptrain Amphitheatre, a sea of Coldplay fans geared up for a performance they will not soon forget.

The smell of beer and “other substances” filled the packed amphitheatre. As segue music halted and the lights dimmed, it was finally show time. A couple flame twirlers briefly occupied the stage, mesmerizing the crowd as the band members took their positions behind a giant see-through curtain. Without any sort of introduction, they immediately went into the song “Life in Technicolor,” the first track off of 2008’s Viva La Vida. It’s mostly an instrumental track (it features a couple whoas from all four band members) and served as a great warm-up for the crowd. Fans swayed back and forth to the up-tempo beat as they watched Chris Martin, Coldplay’s bouncy frontman, dance around the stage. The second song, “Violet Hill,” really got the crowd into it. As the mass of fans sang back every word, it was hard not to get the goose bumps. You have a good voice, Sacramento! Martin did a fantastic job making the crowd feel appreciated by changing up the final line of the song that originally goes, “If you love me, won’t you let me know,” to, “If you love me, won’t you take me to Sacramento.“ Clever little bug.

For the next 30 minutes or so the band proceeded to bombard fans with hit song after hit song, including “Yellow,” off their 2000 debut Parachutes, in which dozens of giant yellow balloons were unleashed throughout the crowd. It was quite a sight to see, adding immensely to the awesome light show and videos projecting behind the stage. At the end of the song, Martin popped a couple of the confetti-filled balloons with the sharp, cut-off strings on the head of his guitar, coaxing laughs out of the crowd. The next highlight was when the band completely left the stage and ran into the audience, where there was a miniature stage set up in the upper lawn section, turning the nose bleed seats into the front row. Blankets and chairs were trampled as crazed fans rushed the mini-stage to get closer to the band. They played a few tunes, all acoustic, including a cover of the late Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean.” Although I will admit I knew the cover song was coming (someone on my Twitter feed spilled the beans the night before when Coldplay performed at Shoreline Amphitheatre—Twitter needs a spoiler alert), it was still a pleasant surprise and Martin sang the difficult melodies quite well.

After the band proceeded back down to the main stage, they played a few more tunes. Then came the obligatory leaving of the stage only to get cheered back on for an encore. After the entire crowd chanted, “Coldplay, Coldplay!” for a few minutes, the band came back out and Martin announced they had just two more songs left. The first of the two was “The Scientist,” the second single off their 2002 album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, and it again enticed the crowd to sing back every word. The final song of the night, “Life in Technicolor II,” is a different version of the set opener (it includes lyrics). It was a great way to bring everything full circle and wrap up an amazing show. Just before exiting the stage for good, Martin explained that they would be giving away CDs for “zero dollars and zero cents,” and thanked fans for “giving us our jobs.” It’s good to know they’re grateful. Everyone walked away satisfied and eager to pop their free CDs into their car stereos.

Middle Class Rut

Cesar Chavez Park – Friday, June 19, 2009

Last Friday’s Concert in the Park Series at Cesar Chavez saw the triumphant return of Middle Class Rut, another long-awaited addition to the short list of bands that have found mainstream success beyond our county lines. This success is partly due to the overwhelming response to their 2008 single, “New Low,” that was played almost nonstop on the now-defunct KWOD 106.5. The stoner-friendly, alternative radio station was a huge proponent of the band. In fact, one year ago on the same exact stage, KWOD DJ Andy Hawk announced them before they hit the stage to a much smaller crowd.

MC Rut, as they are referred to in short, consists of Zach Lopez on guitar and vocals and Sean Stockham on drums and back up vocals. That’s right, they’re a duo. But before you make up your mind based on all the preconceived notions of what a duo can and can’t do, hear me out. They aren’t the White Stripes and they sure as hell aren’t Hella. The energy that is harnessed by these two is stadium caliber, as was witnessed by a huge crowd at the Rock-am-Ring festival in Germany last June. Cesar Chavez Park isn’t exactly a stadium, but it isn’t The Press Club either, and I’ve seen the boys murder that tiny venue to a crowd of 20 on a Sunday night. The point? They’re a versatile band that owns any crowd, and Friday night was no different.

A chant of “MC Rut!” welcomed the two onto the stage; each of them casually settling in to their instruments. Lopez jabbed at his guitar like a child taunting a beehive, the feedback buzzing like angry bees. Stockham adjusted his well-worn orange drum kit and removed his shirt to reveal his “For Sale” tattoo that was inked across his chest in bold red letters. “What’s up, Sacramento?” said Lopez in a classic rock star moment. “How you guys doing?” A loving Sacramento crowd that was clearly there to support their hometown favorite answered back with an eruption of applause.

MC Rut opened their set with “Busy Being Born,” their most recent single that began with one of Stockham’s signature rim tap grooves that Lopez overlaid with slow melodic chords that scraped and dragged while he sang, “The days keep dragging on”¦“ Anticipation mounted until finally the chorus exploded wide open, Stockham punishing his cymbals on each downbeat. A cloud of dust from the stampeding mosh pit was carried toward the stage by a much-welcomed Delta breeze. This would continue for the whole length of their set that would only build in intensity as Lopez and Stockham galloped through song after well practiced song.

During what seemed like the crux of the set, a murder of crows flew overhead to the wafting soundtrack of Lopez’s guitar that melodramatically pulsed in synch with the beating of their wings. “Hold the person you love tight,” Lopez instructed the mesmerized crowd who were eating out of his hand at this point. “I like the way your shirt’s unbuttoned,” Stockham joked with Lopez. Their humor on stage is evidence alone that these two have been friends and bandmates for over a decade now. They seem to be enjoying every moment of their second chance at success after their previous band, Leisure, was signed to and then dropped from Dreamworks.

Before their final song, a white tank top was hucked onto the stage, landing at the feet of Lopez, who remarked that he’d rather they get some bras and panties. And, like clockwork, a black strapless bra made its way to the stage. Stockham was pleased and proceeded to strap the bra on himself with a little help from Lopez, who was all smiles at his bandmate’s cross-dressing showmanship. The familiar metallic percussion that opens “New Low” began, and at that point the whole crowd was in it. They sang every last word of the tune with fists pumping and heads nodding.

Sean Barfly Examines MindX’s Addictive Brew

In 1996, Sean Barfly arranged a jam session at Sacramento’s historic Golden Buddha. He didn’t know then, and seems to this day baffled, that the convergence of musicians would generate what is now a decade-long journey into the fluid annals of MindX. Having schmoozed with some of jam-rock’s most well-to-do performers through various grassroots connections, Barfly soon found himself at the nexus of a thriving chemistry of songwriting, one that boasts an Americana/bluegrass concoction, full of extended compositions and brimming with pop culture parody (“a sick, warped, demented, politically incorrect sense of humor,” hails their bio. And it’s true).

Barfly took time out of his schedule (which may or may not include preparing for a solo gig in Amsterdam this August) to discuss with Submerge the ins and outs of one of Sacramento’s most ballyhooed jam bands, as well as exactly what the hell is the Slapaho Nation. Here we go!

It seems you didn’t set out to do anything more than form a band you could jam with. How does it feel to have now been around for over 10 years and have created a sort of niche within the jam scene?
I really didn’t have a vision of putting “a band” together at the time. I had already played in bands and understood the concept of playing arranged songs, but wanted to really try to let go and see what could be created rhythmically and melodically, and wanted to see what could happen with various textures harmonically. What came out of that was just the opposite. The first six years with Gerry Pineda, David Vandusen and Eric Crownover was the first time I was in a real “band.” Sure, there was some jamming, but our strength was our complexity, arrangements and great chemistry for what we were doing at the time. MindX became a jam band after the original band was no longer playing together and Martin Holland, Peter Philis, Shaun King and Rick Zamora joined the band. As far as how it feels 10 years later, well I guess the best description is trying to reinvent what we do and keep it interesting for the band, as well as our fans.

Explain the Slapaho Nation to the novice of MindX.
Ah, the Slapaho Nation. The whole joke started out with our former bass player Gerry Pineda. He was already a busy working professional when we were fortunate enough to have him play with us, but he was unable to play all the gigs we threw at him. He was in demand for obvious reasons, and we affectionately called him a “ho.” We were booked to play the Trinity Tribal Stomp Music Festival, a festival that is a benefit for various Native American Indian tribes that was held in Trinity County for many years. On the way to the gig in our car, we came up with our own tribe called the Slapaho Tribe, mocking the nickname we had given to our Chief (Gerry Pineda), and it was born. The funny thing is, it has never been a gender thing, and it seems it can be taken out of context and turned into a whole other thing that we find ridiculous if you really know any of us personally.

Has being the only original member left in the band done anything drastic to the direction of the band from a thematic or chemistry standpoint?
Once the original quartet dissolved, MindX became more of the band I originally had conceptualized. We were much more of a jam band, and I think the band members had much more in common musically. The new band was open to far more ideas that I had than the previous lineup, but I think that was more because the band had run its course. The direction of the band at this point was directed by me, which were big shoes to fill as the former group was a total democracy creatively.

It’s difficult to pin down the tongue-in-cheek from the serious moments of your music. How much of it is parody, and how much of it is to be taken seriously?
My philosophy when making a studio record is the jam band thing simply does not work in the studio. My favorite parts of the former band are what works in the studio—complexity and comedy! It’s amazing; we will play a show and throw some complex material at the crowd and you’ll always hear someone scream, “White Trash Town” or “Salty Balls” and we have just finished some complex arrangement I have always dreamed of playing, and they want to hear one of my dumb songs about tweakers. But laughing is the most healing medicine in the world, so that’s cool.

Additional information?
A side story that is very important to the band is that we dedicated this record to the memories of Merl Saunders and our good friend Martin Fierro, but most importantly we dedicated this record to our good friend and brother Erik Klevin. He was one of the greatest musicians/people I’ve ever encountered and we (the music community) miss him every day!

Happy Mayfield, Righteous Movement

Old Ironsides was a rocking boat April 18. Old friends were conversing and new friends were connecting, and for those who were rusty at socializing, the bar was there to hug. Lee Bob fans spoke fluently with leftover Bucho fans as Happy Mayfield heartthrobs conversed in familiar circles with Righteous Movement aficionados. It was clear that everyone in attendance had gathered for the same reason: to have a good time.

If there are two styles of music that are all about having a good time, they are hip-hop and funk. Historically speaking, one came from the other and so it seems so natural that they cross-pollinate. With that said, you need look no further for one hell of a good time than a bill that includes the aforementioned Righteous Movement and Happy Mayfield. If you are from Sacramento, then you’ve most likely seen Righteous but might not be familiar with Happy Mayfield yet. Happy Mayfield, a funk band to be reckoned with, is a harmonious marriage between singer/songwriter Lee Bob Watson and The Park (ex-members of local favorites Bucho). To my delight, I discovered upon viewing the stage that The Park was set up to play with Righteous as well. Hip-hop shows take on a whole new life when live instruments are part of the equation, and the boys in The Park were nice and warmed up after a stint at SXSW where they backed artists Alice Russell, Keelay and Zaire in the buzzing city of Austin, Texas a few weeks back.

Righteous Movement’s set began with no introduction. Derek Taylor laid right in to the kit with Josh Lippi on bass, Ben Schwier on keys and Ross Grant on guitar following closely behind. Each backbeat groove was laid out with ease for the three (usually four) MCs to do what they do best: rap their asses off. The energy pouring from Old Ironsides’ small, dimly lit stage was almost overwhelming as the seven-player-deep ensemble blasted their way through a continuous set of funk-powered hip-hop tracks. Verses were traded back and forth, and each delivery had its own voice while still achieving that barbershop quartet harmony that Theek, Tais, Skurge and S.O.L. have carved out for themselves. The rhymes were well thought out, the hooks were fun and the gentlemen had a stage presence that exuded personality and experience. Righteous’ own DJ Tofu even made his way to the stage at one point, charismatically raising his poison of choice in a celebratory gesture. The audience, as thin as it had become at that point, needed no persuasion.

At the bar earlier that evening, The Park’s bassist Josh Lippi had told me that, “”¦Happy Mayfield is Lee Bob’s alter-ego.” We laughed and I didn’t think much of it until Lee Bob hopped up on stage wearing a pair of retro frames wrapped around his face, a faded T-shirt and a pair of bellbottoms to finish it off. Now don’t get confused, they weren’t all dressed up like a cheesy ’70s cover band. Happy just had a funky style, man.

On stage, Lee Bob became this alter-ego. He was some sort of a shaman, writhing and whipping his head back and forth as if possessed by the spirit that he sought to conjure. The defining song of the evening found him screaming, “Happyyy!” at the top of his falsetto lungs—the band behind him pumping away, yelling more and fueling his hysteria. “You can’t get this at no corner store,” he cautioned his congregation. Taylor’s machine gun snare fills stuttered through Lee Bob’s mantra all the while Schwier’s keyboard cried and moaned to the crowd, which hung on every last note, their eyes ablaze and wishing strangely for the song to end but not knowing how; sadistically enjoying the agony. Lee Bob expelled his guitar, sprang onto the dance floor and erupted into an involuntary dance that then sent the rest of the movers and shakers into like positions. Local guitar guru Mike Farell, who had been looming in the audience, made his way to Lee Bob’s guitar and struck up a solo that built as the band swelled, and heavy-washed cymbals filled the spaces in between. Lippi’s solid bass playing anchored it all down. This was funk music in its most raw form.

I finished my Pabst and walked the four blocks back to my apartment feeling”¦happyyy.

Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Agent Ribbons, Dog Party

Luigi’s Fun Garden “¢ Friday, April 24, 2009

By Blake Gillespie | Photos by Samantha Saturday

From the deck of Luigi’s Slices & Fun Garden, you could see over the security fence into the Wyclef concert on K St., but inside of the Fun Garden housed the most entertaining performances of the night. Besides, who wants to hear “Ready or Not” without Lauryn Hill? Yes, Pras can stay home.

The wall-to-wall capacity audience in the Fun Garden made it difficult to see the opening band, Dog Party. Granted, Dog Party is comprised of two Sacramento native 12- and 10-year-old sisters, so even working through the bodies to a closer position might not grant visibility.

It is about hearing Dog Party that matters most. Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles are too adorable and punk to be true. I am tempted to assume either they have a rad music teacher or even radder parents pushing good music on a future generation. Dog Party opened with covers of TV on the Radio’s “Young Liars” and followed it with Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen Rain?” Surprisingly, it flowed well. Even better, the girls presented a few original songs; mostly simple three cord post-punk about how it blows going back to school. Dog Party gets the nod of approval for sticking around the remainder of the night. There’s nothing more punk than staying out after the streetlights come on.

Agent Ribbons continues to prove they’re meant for attention larger than the Sacramento art galleries. In fact, it’s time Sacramento embrace the Ribbons girls as indie darlings poised for national notoriety before we lose them to some hip coastal city that will value their potential. Agent Ribbons is a delightful balance of blues and baroque—like hearing a set of songs inspired by The Velvet Underground’s “After Hours.” For every gentle nursery rhyme about the birds and the bees, there’s a naughty pun about the “sticky and sweet” side of love. Agent Ribbons tested out a new song, timid in presenting a song not yet mastered, but it played out without a kink. The ladies have the look, a treasure trove of songs, and a seasoned patience to draw the audience in for a shredding coda.

After a brilliant showing by local talent, it was time for the touring acts to seize the evening. Los Angeles’s Abe Vigoda got the gallery buzzing with its massive math dance sound. It’s always impressive to hear a band turn blistering finger chords into body moving rhythms. But, it’s bothersome to feel like it’s time to sway a little, only to be interrupted by a-rhythmic progressions. I gave up my inclinations to nod or move to Abe Vigoda simply because it required too much attention. In giving up, I heard chatter of appreciation in the Garden, so perhaps it was just me. It should also be noted that Abe Vigoda felt unwelcome amongst a bill of girl bands—as though the boys just had to break up babysitters club.

Vivian Girls can try their darnedest to not be dreamy, but even in their ambivalence, the ladies maintain an alternative sexiness. It’s in the reverb and harmonized vocals, but it’s mostly the bangs. Our mothers screamed uncontrollably for Beatles bowl cuts. Now their sons quietly long for the Brooklynite girls with tattoos and bangs.

Vivian Girls betrayed my reception of their self-titled debut. Live the Vivian Girls traded in the spiritless performance of songs like “I Believe in Nothing” for an untapped energy that was easily trapped within the Garden’s tight walls. The set felt like it was over before it even started, but it was tough to demand more from a band, barely 2 years old, with a 22-minute debut and limited B-sides.

The Devil You Know

Two nights in New York City have taken its toll on Jeremy DePoyster. America’s largest city is a lot to take in for new visitors and longtime residents alike, but for a member of a band whose star is on the rise, New York’s hectic pace can reach exhausting levels. DePoyster, guitarist/vocalist for Dayton, Ohio’s The Devil Wears Prada, has been shuffled from meet-and-greets to photo shoots to interviews, not to mention playing two shows at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, which he says were “probably the craziest New York shows we’ve had.” DePoyster doesn’t mind all the fuss, though.
“I’d still take this over any other job,” he says through intermittent yawns, early in the morning after the band’s second show.

Submerge rustled DePoyster out of bed for the following interview.

What did tuning lower do for your songwriting?
We could still write our same style and still do our same thing, but it had a different feel to it, just because we’re not used to playing in that tuning. Playing our same style of things and our same style of writing in a different tuning, it added a different feel to even the singing parts and everything like that. It was heavier.

Do you think it opened you up creatively?
Yeah, definitely.

Was there a particular song that was really benefited by using the lower tones?
There were two songs, I’d say, “Assistant to the Regional Manager” and “Wapakalypse,” that would have suffered if they weren’t in that lower tuning because of the style of the riffs and stuff like that. They were definitely helped by being in that lower tuning. There was this other song that we did that had this really epic singing part at the end of it that I thought was cool just because it was in a different tuning with different chords than we would normally play. I could do some different stuff with it, and if we had done 10 or 11 more songs in drop-D, it would have just been too monotonous. It would have been just like Plagues.

I read a quote by someone in the band that said the new album is “more mechanical” than what you’ve released before. Would you agree with that?
I don’t know who said that. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s more mechanical. Maybe they meant better structured because I think we’ve become better songwriters together than our last two records. Plagues was a big step forward in our songwriting, but I think this one even more so. The songs flow better through out. Other than going into some weird tempos and things like that. We’ve done that before, and that was cool, but it’s not really what we want to do now. We want to write better songs and not just breakdowns and big metal riffs and stuff like that. I think it [With Roots”¦] is easier to listen to and it’s more catchy because they flow so well all the way through. My favorite songs on the last record were songs like “HTML”¦” and “Hey John”¦” and stuff like that, because they flowed pretty fluidly throughout the song. We tried to do that with all the songs on this record.

So it’s less about seeing how much you could cram into one song than it is making the songs cleaner?
Yeah, exactly, and I think we were a lot more apt to, like, if it didn’t make sense in the context of the song, we would just scrap it. As opposed to before, we would be like, “What should we play here, this weird little thing? Yeah, let’s do that. Why not?” This time we were stricter on what made the cut and what didn’t.

I was reading the lyrics for “Dez Moines,” and one of the lines goes, “Profit zero, achievement zero.” I know the band’s name deals with materialism, and that seems to work into that song in particular, as well as being a recurring theme within the band. Do you see materialism as one of the biggest problems this generation has to overcome?
I don’t even know if it’s necessarily this generation. It’s just one of those things where”¦well, it’s hard to say. As a Christian band, we’re working for God first. I know myself, in my own personal life, it’s easy to get wrapped up in other things, whether it’s guitars or video games. I collect DVDs and stuff like that, but none of that stuff really matters in the end of it, by any perspective. It’s not important. It’s just something that’s always been important to us, and Mike [Hranica, vocals] really dove into that again lyrically.

Given what you just said, are any of the songs on the new record inspired by the current financial situation? What’s your take on that?
Reading through the lyrics, I wouldn’t say any of the songs are inspired by the financial situation. We haven’t really talked or thought about that whole business too much. I know we have one political song, but it’s a little bit different than that. It’s obviously a scary time for everybody. Even before all this crap happened, it’s been really hard to sell records, because everyone downloads, and the labels are suffering, and the bands aren’t selling as many records. Someone’s record just came out, I don’t know, Kelly Clarkson or something, and it only sold 250,000 copies the first week, which is insane that she would only do that many, where if it was three years ago, she would have done a million or something. It hasn’t really affected us, because we still have a lot of people coming to shows. We’re really lucky in that. Obviously, it sucks. Industries are crashing—the auto industry and all that stuff—and that’s not cool.

You’re headed out on the Warped Tour, and I guess it’s a nature of the beast, but there’s a lot of marketing that goes on during the tour, in the tents between the stages, does the commercial aspect of the tour bother you at all?
Not really. We’re not a punk rock band or anything. It doesn’t really matter to me, I guess. I come from a different background. I used to go to Warped Tour when it was in the new shape of things—Fall Out Boy and all those bands—and I was really into it. I was telling someone the other day that Kevin Lyman is a genius, and he’s done a really good job of keeping the tour current. He could have kept it all old punk bands just to please people and appease people, but he hasn’t really done that. He still brings back those bands every year, but he also brings in a lot of the new things. We didn’t know what to expect going into it. We thought it was either a pop-punk tour or a punk rock tour, but we went in on the first day and had a huge crowd and that happened the entire tour—the craziest shows we ever played. He does a really good job of building a broad package that still does really well.

You already mentioned that you and the members of the band have strong Christian beliefs, but many bands in the metal genre have a decidedly anti-Christian message. Did you listen to a lot of metal growing up, and why did you choose this form of expression?
Yeah, I definitely listened to a lot of metal growing up—and even more so now. I love Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Slayer, all that good stuff. Musically, I love those bands. I don’t necessarily agree with what they say, but I can appreciate the music. I think the same thing applies to us. I mean, obviously we’re a Christian band, but we’re not preaching. We’re not shoving things down people’s throats. If they do come from a metal background, and they’re really anti-Christian or whatever, I still think they can find something in the music that they like.


Also read The Devil Wears Prada at Club Retro in Orangevale on April 19