Show Preview: Brackett & Co., Real Estate
J. Tillman at the Mohawk - Giveaway
What’s the Deal: You know those album covers that look too interesting to pass up. The ones where you pretty much know that you’re not going to like the music within, but you just have to listen to it because the cover art is just so enticing. Well, Alexander’s Dark Band wrote the book... or at least co-authored it or was the inspiration behind the story. The image on the cover of Music To Stand By The Fireplace To is classic. There the band is having a ball laughing it up sipping liquor drinks wearing bad sweaters in a very '70s-esque fireplace scene while listening to records. And what’s that? They are listening to the very same record of which they are in the picture for at that very same moment. But how you ask? Is it some super-secret experiment in the bending of time and space?
The music’s not bad either. The indie pop of this Austin symphonic sextet is often quite charming, like on “Tarzan” where the strings and flute weave brightly and an echoey, Band of Horses-esque vocal track sings over a slightly somber number about a forlorn stuntman having trouble giving up on an old role. Jeff Luna sings, “He used to be Tarzan, now he’s just Steve.” The disc is at times funny, at others really pretty, sometimes lightly clever and occasionally a little unpolished.
Something Interesting: The music strays pretty far from anything dark. But, maybe they’re dark in the same way that those little hand puppets on Mister Roger’s Neighborhood are supposed to be really docile but give everyone the willies. Maybe it’s kind of like Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (which everyone should watch). But no, it’s actually a reference to the optical phenomenon associated with rainbows.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “Pico” and “Unicorns”
Alexander's Dark Band Official
Alexander's Dark Band MySpace
What’s the Deal: A threesome of punk, garage and fuzzy noise, but oh what a good time. Cheap Time opened for Jay Reatard Sunday night at Red 7, and they almost stole the show from the fuzzy-headed Memphis rocker. Energy radiated from these guys as they slung about the stage and put everything they had into each garbled vocal and guitar stab until they had several people in the audience mouthing along even though they had no idea what the words were. The band – also from Tennessee – note GG Allin, The Germs and T. Rex among others as influences, who were all about grabbing the attention of the audience. And, that’s exactly what Cheap Time did. Thank God they kept the defecation to a minimum though (see GG Allin).
“People Talk” off their self-titled album released this year makes itself memorable largely due to the chorus. It’s repetitive and has that quality that seems to strike the right chord somewhere. The guitar whines in tune with the vocals and it sucks everything it can out of the gritty, hazy sound while forcing everyone to have a good time.
Something Interesting: They must have taken a lesson from Jay with the powering through twelve or so songs in 25 minutes.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “Back To School” and “Glitter and Gold”
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