A Big Sad Whale - Demo

Yesterday, I picked up a free demo CD at Slackers from a St. Charles band called A Big Sad Whale. Having seen the group before at SCW's Open Mic Night, I thought I might give it a go. The group itself is a two-piece consisting of Alex Dabney on drums and Zach Petzel on guitar and vocals. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.

The demo has three songs: "21st Century Novelist," "Run," and "Stone Hard Stiletto." The songs, all originals, have a retro-rock kind of feel. Their song-writing could use some work, but they keep it interesting with unique guitar licks and drum fills.

The guitar, especially on "Stone Hard Stiletto," shows some blues influence. The drums, while a little sloppy, are very creative and chaotic. I think they probably could have been recorded better, but, hey, it's a demo. 

The vocals would definitely not win on any reality TV show, and I'm sure Petzel would admit that, but that's alright. Reality TV sucks anyway. The vocals seem to be tame in order to let the instruments and lyrics speak for the band.

I can't say it's perfect because that would be lying. But it's listenable, catchy, and it's homegrown. They get major props for even trying and even more props for giving it away for free. I believe they've given copies to most St. Charles record stores. Check it out.

Melancholia

Melancholia is a 2011 sci-fi drama directed and written by Lars von Trier. It's about a planet, Melancholia, colliding with Earth and the event's effect on the lives of two sisters. Starring Kirsten Dunst (Virgin Suicides), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Science of Sleep), and Kiefer Sutherland (24), you could say it has an all-star cast.

The first eight and a half minutes are imagery-filled slow-motion clips from the end of the story, the last of which is another planet crashing into Earth. It takes a lot of balls for a director to blow up our planet in the first eight minutes of the film. The slow start is not necessarily a bad thing. The orchestral score makes it quite an experience. It's reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The film is divided into two acts. The first follows Dunst's character, Justine, at her wedding reception. The second follows Gainsbourg's character, Claire, as the planet approaches, passes, and collides with Earth (I'm not spoiling anything, I swear. First eight minutes.) Both of their performances are flawless. I first heard of Charlotte Gainsbourg through her music career, but this movie proved to me that she is also a gifted actress.

The cinematography is almost entirely handheld. This unique approach gives the film a personal, candid feeling without looking like The Blair Witch Project. The camera is not a character.

With heavy themes of both depression and the end of everything, this is definitely a downer. I wouldn't advise watching it on your birthday. But really, when's the last time you saw a good tragedy? Our culture really celebrates comedy and happy endings, but that's only half of it. Tragedies make us thankful for what we have. Melancholia is a reminder that things can be sad and enjoyable at the same time.

Karate Bikini - Sauce Of The Applehorse

The St. Louis super group Karate Bikini just released their first full-length album this week. The album, Sauce Of The Applehorse, has been eagerly anticipated for quite some time. I had a chance to ask frontman Tim McAvin a few questions.

Anti-Formula: Where did the name of the album come from?
Tim McAvin: The name of the album came from a silly idea to have merchandise for our first show when we didn't have any recordings, so I made apple sauce and jarred it and made labels for it. In the process of making the labels, I recalled seeing labels at some international food stores where something went wrong in the translation, so I decided to purposely create an enigmatic translation for 'apple sauce.' The actual chinese translation of 'apple sauce' is 'sauce of the apple,' so I just threw a horse on the end, and decided right then and there that that would be the title of an album if we ever got to that point.

AF: How did the band come together?
TM: The very original version of the band came from me recording songs on my own and creating fake MySpace bands while I was a member of Tight Pants Syndrome. Tom Stephens (TPS) told me I should call one of the bands Karate Bikini, so I did. Shortly after that, Joe Scanlan and I had both parted ways with Tight Pants Syndrome and started playing together. Joe brought Jill Aboussie (drums) into the fold. Jill ran into Johnny Horton (Bottle Rockets) one night at work and told him she was playing with us. He called and asked if he could play. That was a no brainer. Jill knew Michelle Rae from their Ska days. Then I asked Mike Martin to join. And somewhere in all of that decided that Karate Bikini was a decent enough name. We've gone through some line-up changes since then and, as much as I loved the original line-up, the current line-up is the best that Karate Bikini has been.

AF: Are any of the songs on this album autobiographical?
TM: Yes, they are all to one extent or another autobiographical. At the same time, I take some liberties with the facts and use plenty of exaggeration to get the lyrics out. "Breaking Up With You" was written right after a break up. In that one, I'm talking to the old girlfriend and putting on a strong face. I'm definitely trying to hurt her with that, but then admitting that I'm kind of drowning in my hurt about the breakup with overindulgence of food and drink and women. The bridge part of that song is talking to a new girl, an in-between girl, and I'm confessing to her that I am broken, and that this is a temporary thing. I say to the new girl: "Welcome to the lion's den/ Is that tattoo real or pretend?/ Come over here/ It's getting near the end." I consider that pretty autobiographical, but not exactly storytelling.

AF: How did you pick the artwork?
TM: The artwork was kind of a no brainer. I worked on different album covers for months and had a lot of things that I liked, and Brian Mcclellan from TPS also did a few things that were great! But when I saw the photograph of the Asian girl with the makeup, I knew that that had to be the cover. Our first release had a painting of Asian girls, and I like the idea of keeping with the theme of Asian girls in bikinis. That's kind of a silly aspect of the band, and may not be politically correct, but it's also fun to have something that is so evocative. If we had gone with the name of one of my other fake bands, we would have pictures of something completely different: neon ameobas or flying pigs maybe. But we are Karate Bikini for better or worse, and that just screams Asian girls in bikinis to me. I consider it campy. Some people might think it's in poor taste. I just think it's funny.


AF: What inspired "Liar's Parade"?
TM: Hmmm? The inspiration for "Liar's Parade"? I usually have all the music recorded then just sing the first line off the top of my head. So "I don't know how to sing" just sort of came out. In this case, as in all cases, after the first line I step back and ask myself what I'm talking about. That way I can decide to either finish it or not. I was able to finish this one because I truly believe that I am a mediocre singer, and it doesn't really matter, and it's kind of an easy task to point out how artificial people, including myself, are. So many things that we act like are important just aren't. I'm not sure if that answers the question or not. The truth is, I don't really ever get too inspired. I just keep doing it for the sake of doing it, and sometimes I get lucky. I think with this song I got lucky.
 
AF: What's next for Karate Bikini?
TM: Karate Bikini plans on starting the next record. I have the material, and why not just get started on that? I would also love to do some good opening gigs around town and maybe do some out-of-town gigs in the near future. It would also be great to make a little money from this release, so we can have a proper CD release party and have our friends out for a fun night of music.


Sauce Of The Applehorse is out now on iTunes and will soon be available on CD.

Franz Nicolay, Kepi Ghoulie, Kevin Seconds @ The Firebird

Ghoulie. Not my photo and not from STL.

Franz Nicolay, Kepi Ghoulie, and Kevin Seconds have never been in a band together. They are three friends on a combined solo tour. This unique combination made for a very interesting show.

Riley James, a St. Louis local, was the opener. Armed with just his acoustic guitar and his voice, he had a classic, singer-songwriter quality about him. He played several originals as well as a wonderful cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Used Cars."

Playing in no particular order, Franz Nicolay (of The Hold Steady) was the first of the three to perform. He alternated between acoustic guitar, banjo, and accordion. His lyrics were very eloquent and carefully chosen. This attitude was reflected in his clothes: nice suit, no tie, black fedora. Nicolay made a point of talking about each song before he played it, giving the audience a better sense of its meaning.

Kepi Ghoulie (of The Groovie Ghoulies) is known for his style of acoustic punk and fun, simple lyrics. This provided a strong contrast from Nicolay's performance. Kevin Seconds also accompanied Kepi with a very small drum set of just one tom and snare. After a three song medley, Kepi let the audience decide the set list. "Come on, what do you guys wanna hear?" Being in St. Louis, he felt obligated to play tribute to Chuck Berry by playing "Memphis, Tennessee." Later on, he was joined by Franz on accordion. The whole set was fast, loud, and acoustic.

Kevin Seconds (of 7 Seconds) was somewhere in between Nicolay and Ghoulie in regards to complexity. He was accompanied by both of them; Ghoulie on drums and Nicolay on accordion and banjo. His big vocals filled the room. Like Kepi, he took many audience requests. Of the three of them, it seemed that Kevin's songs were able to emotionally connect with the audience the most.

A very enjoyable acoustic evening with three very different artists. Although the room was filled with about twenty-five people, they treated it like an arena rock show and gave it their very best.

Lost In The Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs

Lost In The Trees, one of my favorite bands from the past year, just made their third official release, A Church That Fits Our Needs. The band is known for combining folk and classical to create something truly unique. I frequently cite it as Bob Dylan meets Lord of the Rings. Which makes sense because singer/songwriter Ari Picker has a degree in film scores from Berkeley.

Their new album is a bit darker than 2010's All Alone In An Empty House. That's fine with me, however. They've continued to add more instruments to their library of sound, creating a sonic jungle of noise. This is the kind of music that lets you just close your eyes, and envision the story that's being told.

The soft vocals fit nicely with the orchestra as well as the guitar. All of this fits very nicely with the inventive drums. The creative beats remind me of more recent Radiohead material. Not because the two sound similar, but because they're both strange and unusual. 

Let's talk about album artwork. I like talking about album artwork. This artwork is very simple without feeling obvious. A close observer will also notice that the subject of this photo is the same woman from the cover of All Alone In An Empty House. This helps to tie the two albums together. It's a symbol that the band has changed without forgetting their sound.

Certain elements of "Golden Eyelids" remind me of the twister scene in The Wizard of Oz. "Icy River" is an incredibly dark and beautiful song with so many layers I get lost in it. "This Dead Bird Is Beautiful" is a slow song with a lovely piano, and falsetto, female vocals that scream into the distance.

This being their third release, Lost In The Trees has made it past the dreaded sophomore slump. Let's hope that this seals their place in the world of independent, interesting music.

Radiohead @ Scottrade Center

A photo taken earlier in the tour.

Other Lives delivered a solid opening performance. It wasn't stunning, but it was very good.  Their dark folk-rock sound is rather unique which made for a more interesting opener. They played about eight songs from their newest album, Tamer Animals, and then they were done. Because of the arrangement of their stage, I couldn't really see what most of them were doing. Like Radiohead, they had six members including two percussionists.

Finally, they took the stage. Radiohead. They opened with "Bloom" off their most recent album, The King of Limbs. Although they didn't always sound exactly like on the album, they did sound fantastic. Johnny, Ed, and Thom were changing guitars about every song to fit the unique feel of each tune. I had heard that Radiohead doesn't care to play many older songs and this is somewhat true. However, the third song was "Airbag" from 1997's hit album, OK Computer. When playing "Karma Police," a crowd favorite, Thom sang "this is what you get when you forget the words." They didn't play anything from before 1997 which meant no "Sulk" and no "Creep." They did play seven of the eight songs from The King of Limbs, "Codex" being the odd one out.

Halfway through the main set, the band played "an obscure song" called "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy." They also played "Identikit," a new unreleased track, and "The Daily Mail," a non-album single released in the past year. They played two encores. The first encore began with "Give Up The Ghost" played by just Thom and Johnny. The layered vocals and dark subject-matter made it one of the most beautiful performances of the evening. The second encore ended with "Idioteque," a stunning and somewhat unexpected choice for a closer song.

When bands are big enough to sell out stadiums like this, it's expected that they have some kind of a light show. In Radiohead fashion, they had something that was simple and complex at the same time. They had a wall of screen behind them and twelve floating square screens above them. The screens moved into different positions between songs and had live video of each band member.

In my mind, Radiohead is one of the best and most creative bands ever. They write songs that connect with us and move us. They write songs that don't sound like anything else. With all of these things as expectations, they didn't disappoint at all.

Jackknife Powerbomb @ The Firebird

The first thing you'll notice about Jackknife Powerbomb is their stage presence. As soon as they walk on stage, all members of the band take on a different, dangerous persona. Each musician approaches this differently either by a 'power stance', being visibly angry, or spitting frequently. The second thing you notice is the loud, furious sound coming out of their amps.

They're essentially a metal band but that doesn't really describe their sound. It's an epic, fast, tight, riff-driven breed of heavy rock.  The closest comparison would be Kyuss, the band that sort of evolved into Queens of the Stone Age. The vocals are mostly growly and rough. In the opening song, the vocals were shouted in one-syllable bursts. The singer, Paul, frequently reminded the audience that each song was called "Karate Bikini," the name of the band playing after them.

"Staring at the Face of God" built up until it seemed to fall apart and then came back even stronger. The closer, "Explosions in the Sky," was a complete anthem with several powerful riffs. The lead-guitarist, Mike, rolled out a few gritty jams.

Although they don't have any recorded material, there was some talk after the show about recording an album soon. Let's hope they do.