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Tuesday, January 8, 2008
In the clubs with The Roller
To give an exact name to the sound made by the Austin band the Roller requires ears versed in the subtleties and complexities of heavy metal.
In other words, it’s really slow and really loud.
And it is certainly metal. Massively distorted guitar, plodding bass and drums and a singer who sounds like all 20 feet of his small intestine are being slowly removed from his body with a fork.
But beyond that, well, that’s where the hair-splitting comes in between “doom” and “sludge.” “Sludge metal” has a tendency to moved from ultra-slow tempos (think tarpit) to fast tempos (think galloping war horse covered in armor) at the drop of a pick. Prototypical sludge metal includes the genuinely scary New Orleans band Eyehategod and the less scary West Coast punk lifers the Melvins.
“Doom metal” is usually all slow, all the time — think of a 45 rpm single of one of the slower Black Sabbath songs played at 33. The Roller certainly started out as a doom band. Seeing them in June 2006 at the late, lamented East Side venue the Tillery was an exercise in endurance.
“We’re a little bit of both doom and sludge,” says Roller bassist Ed Davis.
Sigh. That doesn’t help, dude.
Yet, it’s kind of true. The band also includes singer Mike Morowitz, drummer Jeremy Jenkins and guitarist Theron Rheton. Davis and Jenkins are fairly new to the “real band” scene, but Rheton used to be in a Nebraska band called Axes to the Sky. “They were an epic thrash metal band,” Davis says, which explains how Roller songs got a little bit faster after Rheton joined about six months ago. Now they really do sound like a bit of both.
This recombinant urge even extends to the band’s name, which embodies a whole host of metal references. “There’s a Man is the Bastard song called ‘The Roller,’ Davis said, referring to an influential punk/metal band from the 1990s.
“The first Goblin album is called ‘Roller,’ ” he adds; they were an Italian progressive rock outfit. “The drummer and I were also skaters.”
Perfect.
In the clubs: The Roller plays Saturday with the Sword and Trigger Renegade at Emo’s.
(Pictured top: (l to r) Ed Davis, Jeremy Jenkins, Mike Morowitz, and Theron Rhoten. All photos by Tammy Perez FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Waterloo’s Top 100 for 2007
Here’s the top 10:
1. Various - KGSR Broadcasts Volume 15 15,443
2. Patty Griffin - Children Running Through 2968
3. Ruthie Foster - The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster 2910
4. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 2806
5. Lucinda Williams - West 2619
6. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black 2607
7. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible 2187
8. Various - KGSR Broadcasts Volume 14 2180
9. Storyville - Live at Antone’s 2015
10. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand 1917
11 through 100 after the jump.
11. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away 1833
12. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog 1810
13. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela 1640
14. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky 1638
15. Ghostland Observatory - Paparazzi Lightning 1453
16. Lyle Lovett - It’s Not Big It’s Large 1447
17. The White Stripes - Icky Thump 1362
18. Norah Jones - Not Too Late 1201
19. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden… 1195
20. Kelly Willis - Translated from Love 1159
21. O. Dykes & J. Vaughan - On the Jimmy Reed… 1152
22. Feist - The Reminder 1150
23. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer’s Block 1072
24. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship… 1035
25. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger 1016
26. Jimmy LaFave - Cimarron Manifesto 978
27. Bruce Springsteen - Magic 908
28. Soundtrack - Once 819
29. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times 814
30. Toni Price - Talk Memphis 726
31. Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope 721
32. Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer 715
33. Ghostland Observatory - Delete Delete I Eat Meat 713
34. Raul Malo - After Hours 712
35. Okkervil River - Stage Names 710
36. Nelson/Haggard/Price - Last of the Breed 682
37. Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 675
38. Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae 668
39. M.I.A. - Kala 655
40. Ian Moore - To Be Loved 649
41. Elliott Smith - New Moon 641
42. Joe Ely - Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch 639
43. Ben Harper - Lifeline 625
44. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha 619
45. Bjork - Volta 613
46. Voxtrot - Voxtrot 604
47. Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade 599
48. Grupo Fantasma - Comes Alive 588
49. The Greencards - Viridian 578
50. The National - Boxer 569
51. Soundtrack/R. Erickson - You’re Gonna Miss Me 562
52. Interpol - Our Love to Admire 562
53. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver 552
54. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero 542
55. Blonde Redhead - 23 540
56. The Gourds - Noble Creatures 538
57. The New Pornographers - Challengers 532
58. The Beatles - Love 527
59. Paolo Nutini - These Streets 521
60. Cat Power - The Greatest 519
61. Bob Schneider - Lonelyland TX Edition 515
62. Rilo Kiley - Under the Black Light 515
63. Manu Chao - La Radiolina 515
64. The Octopus Project - Hello, Avalanche 509
65. Joss Stone - Introducing 502
66. Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden 491
67. Son Volt - The Search 473
68. Bloc Party - Weekend in the City 472
69. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? 471
70. Dale Watson - From the Cradle to the Grave 468
71. John Mayer - The Village Sessions 468
72. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga 468
73. Lily Allen - Alright Still 465
74. Flight of the Conchords - The Distant Future 463
75. The Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way 461
76. Bob Dylan - Modern Times 456
77. The Subdudes - Street Symphony 455
78. Dwight Yoakam - Dwight Sings Buck 449
79. J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido 446
80. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin 430
81. Li’l Cap’n Travis - Twilight on Sometimes Island 424
82. Kanye West - Graduation 413
83. The John Butler Trio - Grand National 412
84. Bob Schneider - The Californian 411
85. The Good, the Bad & the Queen - The Good the Bad… 411
86. Guy Clark - Workbench Songs 410
87. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Solos, Sessions & Encores 409
88. Menomena - Friend and Foe 401
89. Muse - Black Holes & Revelations 399
90. Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards 394
91. Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris 393
92. Ray Lamontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black 386
93. Brett Dennen - So Much More 380
94. Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim 378
95. Beirut - The Flying Cup Club 376
96. David Grissom - Loud Music 373
97. Battle - Mirrored 373
98. Gotan Project - Lunatico 370
90. Papa Mali - Do Your Thing 366
100. The Traveling Wilburys - Collection 364
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Austinite up for Super Bowl contest
New Austin resident Kina Grannis, who moved here after graduating from the University of Southern California in May, is one of three finalists in the “Crash the Super Bowl” contest hosted by Doritos. If Grannis wins the online voting, she will be featured for 60 seconds on the Super Bowl telecast, which will feature the Dallas Cowboys against the New England Patriots on Feb. 3. The winner will also receive a record deal with Interscope. Grannis has already won $10,000 and a trip to the big game in Phoenix by being a finalist.
Click here to see Grannis’ video of “Message From Your Heart” and to vote. The other two finalists are Landon Austin of Dallas and Nivla featuring P. Oberoi from New York.
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Black Crowes, more bands announced SXSW sets
Pollstar notes that The Black Crowes will headline Stubb’s on March 15 as part of South by Southwest. Most of the time, bands of veterans show up at SXSW to push a new album (R.E.M., for example). The Crowes are no exception. Expect a new album March 4 on the band’s own Silver Arrow Records.
Signal to Noise Magazine, which covers avant-garde and improvisational music, is sponsoring a showcase, also on March 15, at Austin’s Central Presbyterian Church. Looks for sets from Jandek, Christina Carter and Shawn McMillen, Space City Gamelan, Weird Weeds and more.
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KOOP fire intentionally set
The fire that knocked radio station 91.7 FM KOOP off the air over the weekend was intentionally set, fire officials said this morning. The Austin Fire Department is asking anyone with information about the fire that broke out Saturday night or Sunday morning to contact arson investigators at 974-0240. More details here.
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Justice, James McMurtry and more
Tickets go on sale tomorrow for French electronic duo Justice, which kicks off its tour March 3 at Stubb’s as part of the Spring 2008 MySpace Music Tour. Diplo, DJ Mehdi and Fancy join them. …
Lightning Rod Records will release “Just Us Kids,” James McMurtry’s new album, on April 15. It’s his first album since 2005’s “Childish Things.” Ian McLagan and Jon Dee Graham and C.C. Adcock join McMurtry’s rhythm section Daren Hess and Ronnie Johnson on various tracks. This is the first release for Nashville-based Lightning Rod Records, which is run by Logan Rogers, formerly of McMurtry’s old label Compadre. …
Band of Heathens celebrated the release of their new albums “Live at Antone’s” with a set at Momo’s Jan 19. … Will Taylor’s Strings Attached will perform “Songs of Leonard Cohen” or its first show of the new 2008 season at the Uptown Marble Theater at 2 p.m. Jan. 13. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 1:15 p.m. …
A staged reading of Austin musician Jesse Sublett’s new play, “Marathon,” with original, live music by Darden Smith and band, will take place at the Continental Club Gallery Jan. 13 and 20 and Feb. 10 and 17. These readings are free. Check out www.marathon-utpac.org for more details.
