14th May 2011

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Guitar Wolf / Cheap Time at the Kitting Factory

Huey Lewis was right you guys.

Let’s take this in order. Cheap Time opened up last night at the Knitting Factory, and they blazed through a set full of some bitchin’ tunes with roughly zero applause breaks. The three-piece combo of garage-thunder fucking killed it, loud as hell, but tight enough that the volume actually works in their favor, rather than masking a lack of skill as is so often the case. Cheap Time made me realize that I had forgotten that everyone else had forgotten how to fucking rock. And their drummer looks like Jack Black.

Then, Guitar Wolf. Drum and Bass Wolves appear first, and started things up, getting everyone all amped up for some nut-crushing rock. As soon as Guitar Wolf took the stage and yelled out “HEY NEW YAWKU!”, everything, as expected, exploded. Not literally, I should add, because that might not be unexpected at a Guitar Wolf performance. This one was pure rock, no pyro, no special effects. There was, however, a machine gun (which looked an awful lot like a guitar), and Seiji (Guitar Wolf) shot everyone. The best part was when he went over to U.G. (Bass Wolf) and pointed out a specific audience member to him. U.G. gave that guy the finger, and Seiji shot him. Well fucking done.

The World’s Greatest Jet Rock’n’Roll Band (sorry Joan) annihilated for about ninety minutes, including two encores, causing a tsunami river of sweat to pour from Seiji’s face in a manner that should have been absolutely revolting (and probably was, if you were closer to the front) but just came off as a symbol of pure Japanese punk spirit. Musical highlights of their set included their cover of the MC5’s “Kick out the Jams” (“KICK OUT JAMS, MAHFUCKAH!!!”), Link Wray’s “Rumble,” Guitar Wolf’s own “Can-Nana Fever,” and a Muddy Waters-influenced blues jam whose name I don’t know, but I will express some minor disappointment that they did not play their fucking insane cover of “Summertime Blues.” Who cares, though? They killed it.

Seiji was very into the crowd, and maybe the best part of the show was watching his interactions with Americans with seemingly little experience communicating with Japanese people who are into rockabilly dancing. He pulled up a fat dude to play guitar on one song, and he did surprisingly well; he left the stage a fucking rock star, and I was 100% jealous. Later on, he pulled a couple on stage to dance like Elvis with him, and they could not do it. The dude tried, but the girl just jumped up and down like a retarded retard. About ten minutes was spent trying to get them to dance right, and eventually they were sent back into the crowd.

The silliest crowd participation? Two words: human pyramid.

Guitar Wolf rock’n’roll number one!

Tagged: Guitar WolfjitteringCheap TimeKnitting Factoryrock'n'roll!loclock an lowl!stuck in thee garage

8th April 2011

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The 5.6.7.8’s - A new single, and a live album

Hey, Third Man’s put out a new 5.6.7.8’s single, and it fuckin’ rips. “SHO-JO-JI (The Hungry Raccoon)” makes good use of the Bo Diddley beat and a gong (like a lot of 5.6.7.8’s songs do) but the thing that really kills me is the vocal intro to the verse. The girls sing in a more traditional Japanese manner, and it really works for me. The B-side, “CHARUMERA SOBAYA (The Soba Song)” is straight-country music, with some crunchy slide-guitar sprinkled on top. Both tracks are great, and I’m just so happy to hear some new 5.6.7.8’s tracks.

Also, a few months back, they also put out a live record, recorded at Jack White’s house. I got a copy of that too, and if you’ve not heard it, you should. It’s great. Tons of amazing Engrish, some ever-so-slightly out-of-tune guitar, and, of course, rock’n’fuckin’roll. Their performance of “Bomb the Twist” annihilates my soul. (That’s good.)

Go pick ‘em up, y’asshole. And let’s get a 5.6.7.8’s show in New York, already! What’s the hold-up?

Tagged: 5.6.7.8'sSHO-JO-JIThird Man RecordsBlue Serieslock an lowl!

7th April 2011

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Wire and Madensuyu @ Bowery Ballroom

Caught Wire playing the Bowery Ballroom last night supported by Belgium’s Madensuyu, and while of course Wire killed it, I have to say, they attracted a bizarre and … unfortunate audience. Lots of drunk Euro-Club-Fucks running/”dancing” around embarrassing everyone, yelling shit the entire time.

Anyway, Madensuyu sound like Interpol and … Wire, I guess. Lots of repetitions, robotic drum rhythms, guitar strumming, and some synthesized bass-lines too. They put on a solid set, but I will also say that the drummer had a few moments of sloppiness, and in general they were a little dull for my tastes. Though, having said that, the drummer also did some things that were really cool, so, I guess it evens out. Too much of a “dance music” influence though.

Wire. I have never heard better tone from any of the instruments than I heard last night. The effects on the guitars were perfectly sharp and metallic, and though I could have used a touch more bass in the mix, they fucking ripped regardless. Of course, much of their set was pulled from the new record, Red Barked Tree, and though it’s probably not fair to favor one of their fifty records over the rest, I would have liked to hear more from Pink Flag, but, this being Wire, it’s not really disappointing to hear a bunch of stuff from the rest of their amazing catalog. The guys played two encores, and, of course, bassist Graham Lewis was wearing his awesome black Donald Duck hat you saw him rockin’ on Wednesday’s Jimmy Fallon show.

I never really noticed this before, but Wire sounds a whole bunch like Mission of Burma to me right now. Anyone else feel that way?

Tagged: WireMadensuyuBowery BallroomEuro-goofs