Show Preview: Gross Ghost w/ Last Year’s Men, Schooner

Gross Ghost at Kings Barcade at Hopscotch 2013

Gross Ghost are having their record release party at Cat’s Cradle’s newly constructed back room on Friday, November 22. The night will be stacked with local rockers Last Year’s Men and Schooner opening.

Schooner celebrated their much awaited first national release Neighborhood Veins (PotLuck, 2013) at the end of September.  The album got high reviews from outlets such as Pop Matters and BLURT magazine, which isn’t surprising considering the local love they’ve seen over the years. It showcases a good balance between fast and slow paced “pop-indie-psych-soul” with echoing low vocals from Reid Johnson. A good handful of the songs you’ll find yourself not being able to get out of your head, or at the least get caught dancing to at stop lights in the car.

Chapel Hill’s Last Year’s Men are some of the most fun guys to watch or just have general banter with. Expect garage rock reminiscent of The Stooges and Spider Bags with the energy of someone who just shotgunned a PBR then set the can on fire. Currently on Churchkey Records, the band has one full length out, Sunny Down Snuff that’s packed full of solid tracks that translate well to a live show.

Gross Ghost’s second full length LP Public Housing came on Odessa Records on October 29. This record marks a follow up to their debut Brer Rabbit (Grip Tapes, 2012), that was so well-received that the band snagged a main stage slot at this year’s Hopscotch Music Festival, opening for Future Islands, Holy Ghost!, and A-Trak. Public Housing follows the Gross Ghost sound consistently accomplished on the first album, and continues with ten tracks of fuzz, hooks, and catchy melodies. Seeing the band perform is always a treat, and with new material to share it will have a fresh spin of energy.

Doors are at 8:30 pm and the show starts at 9:30 pm. Tickets are $8.00 in advance and $10.00 day-of. Gross Ghost is also offering half off the price of CD or vinyl purchases with admission. For more information about the show, visit www.catscradle.com.

Album Review: "Singles" by Spider Bags

Singles by Spider Bags was released on Churchkey
Records on June 25, 2013

Spider Bags have become one of North Carolina's most beloved bands in what feels like no time at all. Although the band released their first full length in 2007, it wasn't until their 2009 release Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World that they truly began to pick up steam. Since then the band has only become tighter, finding themselves far more focused on honing their frenetic bursts of energy and razor-sharp lyricism.

The three years between Goodbye Cruel World... and their highly acclaimed follow-up Shake My Head was peppered with 7" singles released on various local labels, serving as a scrapbook that chronicles the natural progression of this garage rock outfit. But naturally, singles don't get as much attention as full lengths and many of these Spider Bags songs probably went unheard by quite a few folks if they weren't regularly attending the group's live shows. Thankfully, Church Key has relieved us of that ailment and on Tuesday the label released a collection simply titled Singles that packs all ten of these tracks into one extremely pleasing package.