Jasper’s Music Picks of the Week (1/21/2013-1/27/2013)

As usual, Columbia is hopping with some great music to see this week. Here our are picks for some of the best: Thursday Night, 1/24 – Can’t Kids & Cusses at New Brookland Tavern

The thrash and crash indie rock of the Can’t Kids is always difficult to pass up (see our review of their debut LP, Brushes Touches Tongues, here), but add to the bargain the Savannah-based Cusses, a muscular post-punk duo whose bass-less lineup recalls the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and it easily becomes a pick of the week.

Cusses - Don't Give In

Friday Night, 1/25 – Josh Roberts & the Hinges, Danielle Howle & the Firework Show at 5 Points Pub

They don’t come much bigger in the South Carolina roots-rock world than Josh Roberts and Danielle Howle. If you aren’t familiar with Howle’s latest backing band the Firework Show, check out the full-length they did together, New Years’ Revolutions, here. It’s a bit lo-fi, but the jazzy, eclectic vibe and inventive arrangements they bring to the songs on that record matches the wild, vibrant swoops of Howle’s artistic muse to a T. Mr. Roberts and company, if you’ve forgotten, was a Jasper 2012 Artist of the Year nominee, largely on the basis of his quite-excellent latest full-length, Mighty Old Distance and Murky Old Time. Below is a cool little promotional video for that record.

Might Old Distance & Murky Old Time Promo

Saturday Night, 1/26 –  Jon Dee Graham OR The Mazloom Empire (CD Release) OR Burnt Books (CD Release)

This one depends on what kind of mood you are in – we have the roots-rock legend Jon Dee Graham playing a house show at The Little Yellow Music House (call 309-0214 or email littleyellowmusichouse@yahoo.com for reservations), alt. pop powerhouse Mazloom Empire dropping their debut EP at the Art Bar, and experimental hardcore band Burnt Books are celebrating their January 29^th release of their first full-length on At A Loss Records at New Brookland Tavern. For a vast catalog of top-notch tunes and the venerable growl of one of America’s great troubadours, Graham is your best bet. If you want an eclectic collection of catchy, diverse takes on rock and roll, the Mazloom Empire show also has blues rockers Mason Jar Menagerie (Fountain Inn), Gritty singer/songwriter Rachel Kate (Charleston), and the atmospheric indie pop of The Lovely Few (Columbia).  Or, if you want to the kind of heavy, earsplitting punk and metal that Columbia does so well, Burnt Books is joined by Whores (Atlanta), Carolyn (Columbia), and Darkentries. Three very different but thoroughly excellent shows.

Jon Dee Graham - Faithless

The Mazloom Empire EP Teaser

Burnt Books Demo

Album Review: Can't Kids - Brushes Touches Tongues

Full disclosure: I’ve always sort of been a fan boy of Can’t Kids co-founder Adam Cullum. From his heart-on-sleeve solo recordings in Falling off a Building to his multi-instrumental prowess and role as the energetic center of the literary-folk/pop group Magnetic Flowers, I’ve always considered him one of the scene’s finest assets. Whether you love or hate what he is doing on stage, it’s hard to deny the passion and instrumental power of his performances. And now, we have Can’t Kids.

The band was born as a duo, with Cullum and Jessica Oliver bashing out poppy tunes at deafening levels in the house they shared. The two frequently shared vocals and seem to (at least initially) take turns playing drums or guitar. White Stripes comparisons quickly followed, which is something the two found puzzling when I talked to Cullum back in July. At first I shared their confusion, but the more I’ve listened to this debut, though, I think there might be some logic behind the linkage, and it gets to the heart of what makes both groups tick.

We tend to think of The White Stripes as this primal blues-based monster, with the high octane riffs of songs like “Seven Nation Army” or “Fell in Love with a Girl” being exemplars of their muscular ferociousness. But this is also a group who made the largely marimba-based Get Behind Me Satan and featured such twee pop ballads as “We’re Going to be Friends” and “I Want to be the Boy to Warm Your Mother’s Heart.” These odd contradictions—of Son House and Burt Bacharach, The Sex Pistols and Belle & Sebastian—are actually what seem to capture the group the best.

Similarly with Can’t Kids, the initial reaction always seems to come from their loudest, most heavy-edged moments. The group’s sound seems frequently inspired by the pounding and propulsive electric guitars of 90s indie rockers like Modest Mouse or Pavement, with pounding drums and meandering, electric guitar riffs that often seem nearly unhinged. Correspondingly, there are maniacal shouts and misanthropic observations that also mark the best of Modest Mouse: see Oliver’s inflamed howl of “I wanna see this city burn/I wanna be Sheeeer-man!” on “Stab/Grab”  or  Cullum’s snarling, irony-tinged pronouncement that “If I had a nickel for every person that I hate/I could buy a fancy rifle and blow us all away” on “Dimes,” a line that’s a pretty direct rip from MM’s “Cowboy Dan.” They also, albeit less frequently, employ the sardonic non-sequesters of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus (“Stab/Grab” is probably the best example).

But the group is also pulling from another set of less fearsome indie rock traditions—the literary grandiose-ness of something like “Ghost Killah” seems more Neutral Milk Hotel or Decemberists than anything else, and the frequent borrowing of commercial hooks (“maybe it’s Maybelline,” “line in shambles?/Try Campbell’s!”) or pointedly high-octane pop song structures (“It’s Yrs” or “Happy Hippie Songs”) seem to create similar sorts of contradictions that allowed The White Stripes to thrive.

The two members that Oliver and Cullum chose to add to the group emphasizes this odd dichotomy. (Formerly?) hardcore bassist Henry Thomas was brought into the fold to add a pummeling low end which frequently adds to the menace and mania of the sound, while cellist Amy Cuthbertson brings an obvious beauty and chamber-pop vibe to the proceedings. Of course, in a fitting irony, often times Thomas’ bass line propels a poppy tune like “It’s Yrs” and Cuthbertson provides a strong sense of foreboding with her dark string parts. So, either way, a sense of difference and discontinuity seems to be emphasized.

Still, for all that comparison does in fleshing out the conceptual appeal of the band, what really sells it is the obvious chemistry between Oliver and Cullum. The sense of friendship and community apparent from much of the lyrics, from inside jokes and a shared past to a sense of honesty and love among true partners, is evident from even a cursory experience with these tunes. In addition, their shared vocals, equal parts hooky melodies and shouted glee, have an infectious power that is one of the best illustrations of a band enjoying making music so much that you have no choice but to like it too.

If you can’t tell, this record gets two pretty damn big thumbs up from Jasper!

Can't Kids - Brushes Touches Tongues is available at Fork & Spoon records, here.

The Columbi-Arts & Music Show launches on WUSC 90.5 FM!

Hello Jasper Fans,

I just wanted to let you know about a new weekly radio show I'm launching this fall on our town's wonderful college radio station, WUSC 90.5 FM. The show is called The Columbi-Arts & Music Show (check us out on Facebook here) and will be broadcasting on Thursdays from 2-4pm each week. Each week I plan to talk about (and play music from) upcoming music shows as well as promote upcoming art gallery happenings, film screenings, dance performances, theater productions, etc. We'll be having special guests and DJs, live (mostly acoustic) performances in the studio, and will do our best to show off all this city has to offer.

So, if you like, please tune in, contact me with any arts-related events you have coming up, and enjoy having an anything-goes college radio station that dedicates 2 hours each week to talking about what's going on in the arts community.

Tomorrow will be our first show--tune in at 2 if you can!

Thanks,

-K. Petersen kpetersen@jaspercolumbia.com