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Monday, December 8, 2008
For Uglysuit, a pretty good indie life
Three years after four of the six childhood friends in the Uglysuit dropped their experimental hardcore outfit to pursue sweeping, hook-laden pop, the band is beginning to live what pianist Jonathan Martin aptly describes as “an indie dream come true.” In August, the early twentysomething Oklahoma City natives released their expertly crafted self-titled debut on Touch and Go, and have since toured internationally with some of their favorite bands, including the Sea and Cake. Martin took a few minutes to talk by phone about the band’s progression and what concert-goers can expect from Tuesday night’s gig at the Mohawk.
American-Statesman: What’s the response been like to your album?
Jonathan Martin: It’s been amazing. We just got back from Europe and we weren’t sure what the response would be over there. We played a couple of shows in really nice, sit-down theaters. It’s really more mature audiences going to sit down with their kids to watch. We were a little nervous because we’re a pretty noisy band, but the response was really good. We sold a bunch of albums and people seemed to enjoy it. It’s been better than we really could have hoped for.
How did you get connected with Touch and Go? We recorded an EP about three years ago in our lead singer’s bedroom. A friend of a friend from Chicago knew a guy who worked for Touch and Go, and we gave him our album and he really liked it. He had his own record label that he was putting bands out on, and he asked us to come up and record a full-length in a studio, which is the album we have now. It took us about a year to record it, because we had to make a bunch of trips up there. But after it was done, he started passing it out up at Touch and Go, and the two main guys at Touch and Go offices in Chicago picked it up and really liked it.
How have things changed since? The biggest thing that I think has changed is that we’re touring a lot more, which is good to be out doing what we love to do and making a little bit of money. Other than actually being out touring and trying to build a name for ourselves, things haven’t changed that much. We still work when we come back to Oklahoma City, we just get to make music a little more now. We get to tour with bands that we really like, which is a lot of fun.
What can people expect from your live show? Anybody that’s going to come watch us should expect a very energetic, completely different from the album spectacle. We like to jam, and we make sure everybody who watches us knows that we like to jam and that we love what we’re doing.
The Uglysuit plays at 10 Tuesday night at Mohawk with Til We’re Blue or Destroy. 912 Red River St. 482-8404, www.mohawkaustin.com.
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CDs in stores this week
Noteworthy CDs released this week:
“Twilight: the Score” (Atlantic): Composed by the excellent Carter Burwell, this score, as one might imagine based of the popularity of the books and movie racked up insane presale numbers on Amazon, where it was #54 overall as of Dec. 4.
Brandy, “Human” (Epic): Breaking a four-year recording hiatus, Brandy returns with this album, allegedly her most personal to date. Does this mean songs about that car crash she was in where the other driver died?
Common, “Universal Mind Control” (Geffen): Producers include the Neptunes, Mr. DJ and Common’s fellow Chicago native Kanye West. Word has it this is a party record, which means more club bangers and fewer jazzy tracks. Because sometimes you just have to get your mack on.
Pavement, “Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition” two-CD set (Matador): The fourth in Matador’s on-going series of tricked-out Pavement reissues. Not their best studio record, but the second CD of B-sides and extras is shcokingly strong and includes their brilliant cover of Echo and the Bunnymen’s “the Killing Moon.”
Various artists, “Revolutions in Sound: Warner Bros. Records — The First Fifty Years” 10-CD box set (Warner): Also available as a hardback book and USB drive set with twice as much music. Is this the future of box sets?
Selected releases
Rock/pop: Thrice, “Live at the House of Blues” (Vagrant); Maroon 5, “Call and Response” (Octone)
Country/roots/singer-songwriter: Charlie Louvin, “Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs” (Tompkins Square)
R&B/hip-hop/reggae: Void Union, “Void Union” (Megalith / Jump Up)
From the vaults: Various artists, “Motown: The Complete No. 1’s” 10-CD box set (Motown/UME); The Brian Jonestown Massacre, “And This Is Our Music,” “Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective” (A Records/Redeye); Bullet for My Valentine, “Scream Aim Fire: Deluxe Edition” (Zomba/Sony BMG); Collective Soul, “Afterwords” (El Music Group); the Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Electric Ladyland: Collector’s Edition” (Experience Hendrix); Diana Ross, “Surrender: Expanded Edition” (Hip-O Select); Flipper; “Generic Flipper,” “Sex Bomb Baby,” “Gone Fishin’” (Water)
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Stephen King likes us. He really, really likes us. (Or, rather, he really likes guys who play the Continental Club.)
Horror author and pop culture columnist Stephen King has two Austin albums on his 2008 best-of list in the Dec. 5 issue of Entertainment Weekly.
Alejandro Escovedo’s “Real Animal” comes in at No. 5, while King’s beloved James McMurtry, with his “Just Us Kids,” comes in at No. 3.
Then again, Buckcherry’s “Black Butterfly” and the Pretenders’ “Break Up the Concrete” tie for No. 1, so take all of this as you will.
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Emo’s beefs up sound; public (well, I) thank(s) them
So you know how I mentioned in the Deerhunter review that Times New Viking sounded really good outside? (I didn’t happen to mention that Deerhunter did as well, but I chalked that up to being mixed by Parish sound goddess Chris Payuer, whom Deerhunter asked to work the boards for this show.)
Turns out that Emo’s has beefed up both the inside and outside sound using the system from the now-sold Emo’s Lounge. They even replaced the urinal trough in the men’s bathroom, something most folks figured would happen around the turn of the next millennium.
This is the first real sign that Emo’s is taking seriously the threat posed by Transmission Entertainment - which was co-founded by former Emo’s booker Graham Williams and is currently getting a whole mess of shows (booked at other clubs) that would once have gone to Emo’s.
Well done, guys. It sounds worlds better.
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Review: Anthony Hamilton at Austin Music Hall
Anthony Hamilton, R&B’s certified country boy/soul singer/preacher, was earnest, affable and intense Saturday night at Austin Music Hall. In a soul environment where his contemporaries are pretty young things like Ne-Yo or Chris Brown, who sing about independent women and hot girls, Hamilton is a proudly Christian family man who sings about love, self-empowerment, health, God and joy.
Where pure sexuality and romance infuse the soul game, Hamilton offers stamina, verve and a voice that belongs in the company of legends like Donny Hathaway and Luther Vandross. Saturday, he combined offerings from his first album, “Coming From Where I’m From,” with “The Point of It All” his latest release out this month, but he also added a stirring rendition of the Sam Cooke classic “A Change is Gonna Come” to a show that felt more like a church service.
His playful demeanor and rich voice were off-set by his boundless dancing — like that of a teenager hyped up on caffeine — which he maintained for more than an hour straight. Those other guys might have legions of squealing women tossing undies onto their stages, but Hamilton is content to inspire a call-and-response kind of adoration, the kind of “Sing it, Anthony!” reverence that he earned from the audience.
The highlights of the show were the beautifully rendered performance of “Pass Me Over” and the athletic “Soul’s on Fire.” Until the very last song, “Cool,” he claimed the stage with his b-boy swagger and eventually danced and sang his way through the aisles. By then, everyone else had caught the spirit, too, and the dancing continued as the crowd sang along.
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The Oaks music venue closes
Steve Dean and Deb Fleming had wanted to create a music venue that harked back to the old Soap Creek of the 1970s, when a bit of a drive couldn’t keep away music lovers. But their club near Manor, the Oaks, closed Nov. 30, after less than three years of operation. “Rising costs and declining sales all contributed to (the) decision to close the doors for good on November 30th,” it said in a press release, which goes on to detail a messy closing night.
Noise complaints from the nearest residents a mile away, “prompted citations by Travis County deputies, accompanied by TABC, who literally plugged the plug on the event and required all patrons to vacate premises before the event was over.”
The Oaks was best known for its event the Sunday of South By Southwest, which attracted fans from overseas to hear authentic Texas and Louisiana roots music.
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Case, Morlix to play with heavy hearts
Tomorrow’s show at the Cactus Cafe with Peter Case and Gurf Morlix will take on the air of a wake for Case’s former drummer and spiritual brother Michael Bannister, who was found dead of an apparent suicide in his van in the Arizona desert Nov. 23. Bannister had been suffering from untreated depression, friends say, heightened when gigs in L.A. dried up for the once in-demand drummer (Lucinda Williams, Burning Sky, Victoria Williams, Plimsouls, Doug Sahm, etc.) He was 58.
The Cactus gig provides an opportunity for friends and fans of Bannister to reminisce about this great soul and, perhaps, hear Case’s “The Ballad of Michael Bannister,” written years ago in jest.
“His death is a great tragedy for the people he’s left behind, that’s for sure,” Case wrote on his blog the day Bannister’s body was found. “I can hardly believe the news, yet I know it’s true. My prayers are with you, and your family, Mike. You’ll be missed.
He was like a brother to me, with all that can entail.”
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Dixie Chicks hit with defamation suit
A story in Arkansas Business lays out the details in the suit filed by the stepfather of one of the three 8-year-old boys murdered in 1993.
Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines has been an outspoken crusader for the imprisoned West Memphis Three, who are trying to get a retrial in the case. The two “Paradise Lost” documentaries explore inconsistencies in the prosecution of the WM3, whose case has also drawn the support of Eddie Vedder, Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Henry Rollins and others.
To read more about the case, go here.
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Teddy, Talltops to reunite at Ginny’s
Those 1980s/ 1990s country rockers Teddy & the Talltops are getting back together to play Ginny’s Little Longhorn this Saturday. Featuring Ted Roddy on vocals and harp, the great classic-styled guitarist Joe Dickens, Speedy Sparks on bass, Marty Muse on steel and Mike Buck on drums, the Talltops were equally well-versed in honky tonk and garage, making for some raucous good times.
Also, the Talltops were key in establishing Henry’s Bar & Grill on Burnet Road as a hip venue. They kept the doors open for Don Walser, Junior Brown, High Noon and others.
Ginny’s it at 5434 Burnet Road (ph: 458-1813). Admission is free, so get there before the 9 p.m. show time if you want to get inside the joint.
