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

In celebration of Gross Ghost’s newest release, Public Housing, they threw a party with a solid lineup on Friday, November 22. The show was at Cat’s Cradle’s newly opened “back room,” located in the same building as the Cradle in Carrboro but a separate space entirely. This was my first time there and I really enjoyed the set up. You can find it by walking behind the Arts Center or the Cradle depending on where you parked. Pro tip: there’s a new parking deck that’s usable for show overflow parking, which came in handy considering the main room also had a show going on that night. Immediately when you walk in you have the bar to your left and the stage on the right. I watched the show from the upstairs area, a bit compact but great vantage point with both seated and standing room available without feeling a disconnect from the downstairs crowd.

Simply put, Schooner gets you pumped. They were a great choice to kick off the night. Bouncing around and switching off instruments between members depending on the song, they played old and new tunes. Juan Huevos joined them on stage to rap during “Still in Love,” a pretty chill track off of their newest album Neighborhood Veins. It added a different flavor from the album version and really complimented the vibe of the song.  The new songs translated well to a live performance, and as usual, the band didn’t disappoint.

Last Year’s Men followed, rocking out with a few scattered dance moves and head bangs.  It’s absolutely impossible to stand still during their shows. Within a few strums you’re inevitably going to be tapping your foot, drumming on your bottle with your free hand or dancing. A vivacious band with fast guitar riffs, they cracked some jokes between songs and easily impressed the people in the crowd who were unfamiliar with them before.

Gross Ghost, hosting the night, looked overjoyed to hop onstage and share their new songs. While most of the show focused on Public Housing tracks, they still hit all the favorites from Brer Rabbit, including “Leslie” and “Architect.” The new songs were equally as catchy, offering stomps and hooks that became earworms. Some of my favorites of the night were “You Will” and “Seeds.” The album as a whole has been getting significant play on the local college radio stations and good reviews across the board. The band brought the energy that solidified this. Vocals followed the guitar melody that came to life with Mike Dillon’s stage presence. Thankful and appreciative of the crowd, they had a hell of a set, including cameo appearances from local artists, too. Christy Smith of the Tender Fruit joined for supplementary vocals on “They Say,” and Stu McLamb of The Love Language took over bass at the end of the night. 

Album Review: "Public Housing" by Gross Ghost

"Public Housing" was released on Oct. 29 on
Odessa Records. Gross Ghost will be celebrating
their album release this Friday, Nov. 22 at Cat's Cradle's
new Back Room w/ Last Year's Men and Schooner.

“It starts this way/nothing to do nothing to say,” Mike Dillon desperately sings out as the opening track to Gross Ghost’s latest full-length Public Housing kicks in. A brisk drum beat and bouncing bass line drive along until the electric guitar frenetically bursts through the mix, setting the tone for what’s to come on this enthralling sophomore release from Gross Ghost.

While their debut Brer Rabbit relished in playful poignancy, Dillon and company go straight for the throat on Public Housing, an album the chronicles a hectic period of couch surfing during the post-break up wake. Tracks like the album’s opener “Seeds” display a lot of the sentiments that can be found on Public Housing, Dillon wears his emotions on his sleeve as he runs the gamut of reactionary tales. While the overarching themes delve into looking back on loves lost, their sonic foundation is strongly geared towards the future.

Public Housing is a crisp record that was recorded at The Pinhook in Durham, one of the attributing factors to the unequivocal energy that oozes out of these tracks. The addition of longtime collaborator Christopher Hutcherson-Riddle has allowed the drums to serve as a powerful driving force for these rhythmically focused songs. Vocal melodies will frequently mirror the guitar riffs, making for wonderful interplay between all of the various textures in place. Public Housing finds Gross Ghost putting together all of the pieces that make for a tight, cohesive band with a strong drive to succeed.

Whether it be the unforgettable hooks on tracks like “You Will” or the unshakeable grooves on “Howlin,” Dillon’s songwriting is the strongest it’s been to date on Public Housing. While Brer Rabbit was a wonderful album that I still find myself drawn to, it very much just tackled the surface of this band’s potential. Public Housing plunges deeper into the rabbit hole, allowing for intimate connections with these tracks. The album’s lone acoustic excursion, “Dissolve” is filled with insatiable longings of “wanting it all,” and manages to fit in perfectly with the distorted anthems it’s surrounded by. This can easily be attributed to that constant sense of connectivity with these songs, Dillon has poured himself into these tracks and it’s paid off immensely.

Whether you’re hulled up in the house or barreling down the interstate, Public Housing’s versatility lends itself to plenty of listening situations. The introspection allows for listeners to entrench themselves in these tunes while the upbeat, jangling instrumentation makes these songs capable of filling you with uncontainable energy, driving you to shake, sway and shout along to these infectious songs. Public Housing gives Gross Ghost a powerful foundation to build upon, with two fantastic releases behind them there’s an undeniable spotlight shone upon this group. It’s clear that Public Housing is only the beginning for this newly cemented lineup of Gross Ghost, and there’s nowhere but up to go from here.

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.

Art of Cool Festival Announces Lineup

The Art of Cool Festival will take place in Durham, NC
on April 25 & 26. Tickets are available now at $120 for a
2-day pass or $275 for VIP

Earlier this year The Art of Cool popped up on my radar due to an incredibly promising Kickstarter campaign. The project, led by Cicely Mitchell and Al Strong has been helping to increase the presence of our local jazz scene throughout the past few years. The local non-profit has been organizing events that showcase local artists along with internationally acclaimed acts at a variety of high-profile and low-key venues throughout the area.

The project got its starts at the LabourLove Gallery in Durham when trumpeter Al Strong was looking for a low-pressure, intimate venue to perform at. However, throughout the past two years it has blossomed into something that's capable of re-igniting the once vibrant North Carolina jazz scene.

While there's always been handfuls of dedicated jazz listeners and performers in the area, Art of Cool is helping to bring the rich local scene back to life with their massive festival set to take place next April in Durham. Their aforementioned Kickstarter campaign raised over $25,000 and this past Friday the festival announced their long-awaited lineup. With high hopes set, Cicely and Al certainly didn't disappoint, combining some of the most revered local acts with a Grammy Award-winning artists and internationally acclaimed icons. The festival's marquee headliner, Maceo Parker (saxophonist for James Brown and Parliament) just so happens to hail from Kinston while the five-time Grammy nominee Nnena Freelon (mother of The Beast's Pierce Freelon), has called Durham home for decades.

While acts like Nnena and Maceo feel like givens for a high-profile jazz festival, the standouts amongst the lineup are those that provide the biggest surprises. Seeing acts like Thundercat and Cody Chesnutt on the lineup beside names like Robert Glasper, The Foreign Exchange and a special arrangement by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Though the Atwood-Ferguson piece has been public knowledge since this summer, it doesn't make it any less exciting. For those that aren't aware, Atwood-Ferguson is a widely renown multi-instrumentalist/composer who has worked with a breathtaking lineup of musicians ranging from Ray Charles to Dr. Dre to Hall and Oates and pretty much everywhere in between. For the Art of Cool festival, Atwood-Ferguson has been commissioned to create a staggering tribute to North Carolina's most renown jazz musicians. An 11-person ensemble will perform Atwood-Ferguson's composition paying tribute to John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Thelonius Monk and Roberta Flack with promised special guests to join the already staggering array of musicians on stage.

For jazz aficionados this is an absolute dream come true. It's a Hopscotch-level festival that touches on an entirely different area of our state's great scene. On April 25 and 26, Durham will be filled with the entrancing sounds of some of the world's most talented musicians. The festival's headliners will perform at the gorgeous Carolina Theater while the other acts will perform amongst some of Durham's finest venues like Motorco Music Hall, The Pinhook, Beyu Cafe, Heyti Heritage Center and the Durham Arts Council. Among all of the awe-inspiring jazz, soul and experimental music on display, artists will be taking part in panel discussions and master classes throughout the area, making for a unique and immersive experience for everyone involved. Check out the full lineup below:

Art of Cool Lineup:
Maceo Parker | Robert Glasper Experiment | Miguel Atwood-Ferguson | Cody ChesnuTT | Amel Lerriux | Alice Smith | The Clayton Brothers | The Foreign Exchange | Thundercat | Mark de Clive-Lowe | Revive Big Band | Russel Gunn | The Beast | Kneebody | Nnena Freelon & Maya Freelon Asante | Lois Deloatch-Gomes | NCCU Big Band | Rafiq Bhatia | Butcher Brown | NCCU Jazz Vocal Ensemble | The Hot at Nights | Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz | Shana Tucker | Akua Alrich & Kris Funn

Show Preview: Os Mutantes w/ Capsula

I have seen amazing things in the Triangle. I've seen Beach House open for Vampire Weekend, Akron/Family bring their sense of weird to the Oak City, The Flaming Lips shoot lasers at the capital building; hell, man, I've seen our state's capital grind to a halt and erupt into a blocks wide and miles long music festival (on more than one occasion). That being said, I am always flabbergasted by the things that happen here. A close friend mentioned Os Mutantes were going to be at the Pour House and I thought that, for sure, he must have read something wrong. I had to check the Pour House's schedule AND the Stagger to be absolutely certain. Yes, Os Mutantes will actually be at the Pour House on November 22nd.

Os Mutantes, 2013.
Denise Truscello/NPR First Listen

Being active for 50 years, give or take a few hiatuses, Os Mutantes have had plenty of time to gather around themselves a pretty large following. Beck, Flea, and Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes all count Os Mutantes among their influences. The Talking Heads' David Byrne and his world music label Luaka Bop have made a career-cum-hobby of preserving and re-releasing their music.

Os Mutantes emerged at an interesting point in Brazilian history, to be certain. As the world became hip to Brazilian bossa novas and its antecedent sambas, Brazil became hip to the psychedelia and avant-gardism that was gaining popularity the world over. Thus, the tropicália movement was born, a fusion of the external influences and traditional Brazilian culture. Squarely in the middle of the movement, nearly from its onset, Os Mutantes stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Now, the sole consistent member of the band, Sérgio Dias, brings Os Mutantes to the Triangle after the April release of Fool Metal Jacket. Jacket is first Mutantes release since 2006's Haih Or Amortecedor, which signaled the end of a 35-year absence from the studio and the second album with the new lineup. NPR's Jasmine Garsd voiced her hesitance, "Like many fans, I braced myself for Mutantes 2.0, but was pleasantly surprised to see their madness has aged well. These are the weirdos who survived every Latin American apocalypse..."

Capsula in a press photo.

The Mutants (as we'd say in 'Merica) bring with them Capsula, also hailing from Brazil. To purport myself as a Capsula scholar and profess fanaticism would be disingenuous, to say the least. However, in doing research about them for this very article (yes, the one you're reading (wow such meta)), I have become intrigued by their music and excited to see them perform. Described as garage-glam, the band took their indie credibility and released a song-for-song cover of Bowie's seminal Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, aptly named Ziggy Stardust, in 2012. Crushing through classic tunes with steady beats, fuzzy guitar, and an attitude reminiscent of the Thin White Duke himself, the band proves their point fairly early on. They're good, they're really good, and certainly deserving of your attention.

Rolling Stone magazine's senior editor David Fricke chose to highlight Capsula's latest release Solar Secrets in his "Fricke's Picks" column. Calling it a "dynamic compression of the Who, the Cramps and Sonic Youth in a high tide of psychedelia" seems to cement them as an obvious choice to open for Os Mutantes, as they've done on many dates of their latest tour.

With tickets going for $20 pre-sale and $25 at the door, you'd be remiss, even with all of the other opportunities in the Triangle, to neglect attending this performance. How often does the good fortune of seeing a legendary Brazilian psychedelic band and their glam-rock progeny inside our very own beltline for a mere Andy Jackson turn its head? Exactly. I will see you there.

Show Review: Manchester Orchestra w/ The Front Bottoms and O'Brother

Manchester Orchestra

As I've grown older and older, I kind of come to dread sold out shows. There's bound to be a lot of densely packed people, probably acting like assholes, elbowing and excusing their way through the crowd to fit into a minuscule spot that's physically impossible for one person to fill. However, despite the shoulder to shoulder standing room and gawking pre-teens definitely breaking the rules of their after-9, Saturday's show at Cat's Cradle was a warmly welcomed trip down Nostalgia Blvd. This marked the sixth time I've seen Manchester Orchestra live, I've got lyrics from the band tattooed on my chest and they pretty much got me through my formative high school years. Plus, I've booked numerous shows for O'Brother back in my hometown and have shared late nights eating day old donuts and pizza that a friend acquired from a Dunkin Donuts and Little Caesers dumpster. Needless to say, these bands have a very special place in my heart.

O'Brother

As O'Brother took the stage and Cat's Cradle began to gradually fill in, I was filled with a sense of elation...followed by a bit of laughter. While I love O'Brother, the way they've grown as a band couldn't be further from what a Manchester Orchestra crowd would expect from an opening act. Those that were privy to these ambient metal upstarts were head banging and mouthing the words to O'Brothers standout track "Lo." However, lots of the fans seemed a bit perplexed by the swiftly gathering fog and moody lights that turned O'Bro into a group of hair swinging silhouettes. It seemed like right as the crowd was really warming up to O'Brother's industrial brand of post-rock, they were announcing their last song. It was a treat to hear some of the new songs from Disillusion, an album I've yet to dig into at this point. However, judging by the intensity of this live show the band has delved deeper into riff-driven amped up stoner metal while retaining all of their gripping melodic nuances that drove me to the band in the first place.

Album Review: You're On The Wrong Drugs by The Lollipops

“I’m over the bah bah bahs,” Iggy Cosky says. And the gritty garage of October’s You’re On The Wrong Drugs demos has his band, The Lollipops, pushing in different directions for sure. Since The Lollipops broke into the Triangle music scene last year, they’ve been known for their melodramatic pop dazzlers with catchy choruses about love.

But on the opening track “Call the Doctor,” Cosky proves that The Lollipops are capable of so much more. “Call the Doctor” is a fuzzed out, frantic two minute rager. There’s a dizzy guitar riff that holds down the track while Cosky screams over it. This is not a dreamy love song. “Some people might think I’m losing it,” Cosky says. But he insists that You’re On The Wrong Drugs shows a natural evolution into something that he says is “not as polite or tame” as the old Lollipops.

This past summer Cosky listened to a lot of Jay Retard and Fela Kuti, with the former influence showing up in the demo’s interludes. The terse interludes are Cosky’s interpretation of what he calls “sex funk.” “I took an Afro-beat approach,” Cosky explains, “The grooves are syncopated. The bass is locked in with the drums.” “There’s a riot going on” is just shy of a minute, closing out the demo, lingering with the listener, leaving them wanting more.

And more is to be expected with the ever prolific Cosky. He’s already in the works on a side project called Julius Ransome, which he self describes as “RnB/Funk that may take a Kraut Rock/Jazz direction.” More Lollipops demos will be released soon as well, one will be folky and the other will be more electronic. But if You’re On The Wrong Drugs is a preview of the new Lollipops, where ever Cosky leads them next will be exciting to see. 

Listen to You're On The Wrong Drugs here.

Listen to new music from Julius Ransome below: