PUT ME IN, COACH: Athletic Automaton. |
The parade of local noisemeisters continues this week with releases from one of the city’s fiercest duos and one of local history’s best punk bands, sandwiching the unassuming strains of one of the year’s prettiest acoustic albums.
ATHLETIC AUTOMATON | A JOURNEY THROUGH ROMAN’S EMPIRE | Skin Graft
The primo noise folks at Chicago’s Skin Graft label have a pipeline going from Providence. Since the early ’90s, the imprint has spewed out an array of the damaged chaos spawned in our town. Athletic Automaton’s A Journey Through Roman’s Empire is the band’s second full-length release, a pin-your-ears-back blitzkrieg of barrelhouse bluster. The vintage gym rat boys Steve and Pat, on guitar and drums, flat out burn. It’s frightening stuff, half psyche-trance, half big rock power, that’s more scripted than expected, with enough familiar repetition to bang your head and enough surprises to make you wince. There are even a few wry hooks, emphasized beautifully in incredible hi-fi, thanks to Keith Souza at Machines with Magnets. Massive noise, massive feat.
ALLYSEN CALLERY | HOPEY | Self-released
There’s something magical about Allysen Callery’s new album. It has a dreamy quality that feels mysterious and bewitching. The opening tune, “Feathercap,” sounds somewhat like Sandy Denny, with a subtle soprano sweetness. In fact, a British folk influence permeates Hopey. Allysen’s acoustic guitar sits in a pocket well behind her vocals with muted tones, and the delicate accompaniment is haunting in the frailest way, as if Allysen is afraid that any noise might disrupt the mood.
But it’s the ambient nature of this recording that distinguishes it from others in the genre and it’s the only acoustic album since I started writing this column that invokes such haunting British spirits.
ALLYSEN CALLERY + HEATHER ROSE + KIM LAMOTHE | September 29 | Church Street Coffeehouse, 25 Church St, Warren | 8 pm | $10 [free CD for first 25 people] | 401.247.3004
MIDNIGHT CREEPS | GIVE THE NIGHT A BLACK EYE | Red Car
Is this the record the Creeps were born to make? Better recorded and more (choke!) polished than anything the band has ever done, it’s a ton more accessible than their past work, with cleaner guitar tracks and more discernible vocals from Jenny. The great thing about Black Eye is that it doesn’t lose an ounce of power in its quest for accessibility. The disc fuses their patented, ramped-up punk barrage with some badass ’70s rock hooks, especially on the blasting “Blue-Eyed Sinner” and the undeniable “Barracoochie Lucy,” both of which crank out a barrage of triumphant metallic punk. The record eases up on the accelerator as it winds down, with the too-basic shout “Never Got Better” and the bluesy, harp dirge “Inside Rain,” but it’s not enough to defuse the rest of this bruising 30-minute bomb.
Around and about
POORLY DRAWN PEOPLE’s Nothing Stays Gold free sampler features 25 previously unreleased tracks from STORM DAVIS, REASON, DOX, and ENTITY, PROLYPHIC, Labeless Illtelligence’s CASUNO & ESH, DJ AL BUMS, AMSUNO, JON HOPE, RADIX, FALSIDE, JUSTIN CATONI, and more. The initial run of 100 limited edition Sterbyrock-scripted CD-Rs is gone, but another batch of 500 (non-scripted) is on the way for those who would like a physical copy.
It looks like KEN LYON & TOMBSTONE is now a real band. After their ballyhooed reunion, they had so many offers that they decided to give it another shot. The band now includes two of Kenny’s sons, Josh and Justin, both formally of the local band Triton. Don Culp and Rick Bellaire are also in the fold. The next show is on Saturday, September 29, at Effin’s, 353 Farnum Pike, Smithfield. Call 401.349.3500.
In late October, 75 Or Less will release a compilation to promote local music. It’s free for the bands, who retain the rights to their music,and each get a copy. It will be limited to 100 numbered copies. A bunch of great acts are already on board, but it’s likely going to be a double-disc set, so if you’re interested in submitting music, contact info@75orless.com.
Wandering eye
On Friday, September 28, Chan’s presents SUGAR RAY AND THE BLUETONES, with Mudcat Ward on bass, Neil Gouvin on drums, and Paul Size on guitar. Call 401.765.1900. On Saturday Chan’s presents 20-year old Cumberland native CORY PESATURO AND THE FRINGE. Pesaturo is in his senior year at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and is the only accordionist enrolled at the school. He has won the New England Cup Accordion Competition three times, and the National Accordion Competition four times. Pesaturo is celebrating the release of his first jazz album, Change In the Weather, featuring saxophonist George Garzone.
On Saturday, the Blackstone River Theatre serves up THE BOHEMIAN QUARTET, a four-piece that performs gypsy music as well as traditional Eastern-European folk. Call 401.725.9272. SHARKS COME CRUISIN’ will moor in the port of the Penalty Box on Saturday for two sets of shanties. Call 401.331.8545. Also on Saturday, you can catch THE STUMBLEWEEDS at Jake’s for threet big sets and a heaping helping of homestyle, rootsabilly entertainment. Call 401.453.5253. The Newport Yachting Center will host the 19th Annual Taste of Rhode Island, with loads of music to accompany all those delectable edibles. Three stages of live performers will include the FAT CITY BAND on Saturday at 6 pm and SOULSHOT on Sunday at 3 pm. Newport native BOBBY COWSILL will perform on Saturday and Sunday. Other musical entertainment throughout the weekend includes the NIGHT LIFE ORCHESTRA, DIANE BLUE & THE STELLAR DWELLERS, KING HUEY, PAT COTTRELL, WHAT IT IS, 29 PINE, DUNEGRASS BOYS, THE HITMEN, and THREE-LEGGED DOG. Call 401.846.1600.
E-mail me at bobgulla@verizon.net.
