[The Bad Things celebrate this week’s release of their new album, After the Inferno, with a release party at Columbia City Theater Friday evening, September 19. Doors at 8:00 p.m; show at 9:00 p.m. Tickets–$10 advance, $12 day of show–are still available here.]
It sounds strange to call a series of songs about death, alcoholism, thwarted love, larceny, and suicide inspiring. But After the Inferno, the latest full-length from Seattle underground cabaret stalwarts The Bad Things, always maintains a fighter’s spirit—and a brotherly bear hug of love—no matter how grave things get.
The Bad Things have always reveled in that dichotomy. Like most of the band’s output, the songs on After the Inferno stir traditional pre-rock-and-roll ingredients into songs that use unashamedly pretty (if sometimes raucous) melodies to leaven the lyrical darkness. Black humor and sentimentality go hand-in-hand in The Bad Things’ wonderful pocket universe: It’s the place where Tom Waits and The Pogues dance jigs together during the good times, and cry on each other’s shoulders during the bad.
The songs on After the Inferno don’t feel retro, so much as they feel like a heartfelt continuation of lots of traditional styles outside mainstream rock’s myopic lens (Brecht/Weil cabaret, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley pop, Tex-Mex, etc.). All of the dynamics on the record—from Steve Kamke’s kitchen-sink drums to Austin Quist’s swinging standup bass to Beau Hebert’s gently-plucked mandolin—sound completely organic, and there’s no attempt to gussy up things with retro-kitschy reverb or other studio tricks (The Bad Things produced After the Inferno themselves).
That warm but bare-bones production approach exists to showcase the songs, and After the Inferno sports several beauts, all band originals. The clattering “Grifter’s Life” paints a vivid portrait of dishonor and decay among con men, set to a jumping, saber-rattling polka, while “Careless Maria” lilts with a mariachi-country swing that’d do Marty Robbins proud. The sublime “Can’t Get Enough of Love” pulses like a great vintage ska ballad, with Brendan Hogan’s warm trumpet providing romantic counterpoint as band leader Jimmy Berg croons with the charming awkwardness of a pug-nosed 1930s Dead End Kid.
Fate’s hurtled plenty of misfortune at The Bad Things in the six years since their last proper band effort, 2008’s It’ll All Be Over Soon, and After the Inferno acknowledges all of that loss with clear eyes. Fire gutted the band’s longtime practice space (and a goodly share of their equipment) in 2012, several of their loved ones shuffled off this mortal coil over the last half-decade, and two of their closest pals (Joe Albanese and Drew Keriakedes of God’s Favorite Beefcake) perished in 2012’s Cafe Racer shootings. Even without all of that extra emotional heft, After the Inferno would be terrific. Knowing that backstory, however, renders The Bad Things’ newest effort nothing short of inspirational.
Jessica Dobson of Deep Sea Diver. (Photo: Tony Kay)
If you live in downtown Seattle and were hoping for Snowpocalypse 2013 this morning, my condolences as you kick the wimpy, simpering layer of faintly snow-dusted slush off your footwear this morning.
The upside: Getting around shouldn’t be too difficult (depending on where you live, natch), and you’ll be happy to know that an exceptionally-stacked three days of live music awaits. Seriously. You can’t throw a snowball without it landing on a venue hosting a terrific line-up this weekend.
Tonight (Friday, December 20):
Deep Sea Diver, Bryan John Appleby @ Neumos. 21+. $12 Advance/$14 Day of Show. Show at 8 p.m.
Jessica Dobson plays one hell of a guitar–just ask Beck, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or The Shins (all of whom have benefitted from her versatile axework as a touring session player). But for my money, Dobson shines brightest playing and singing with drummer/husband Peter Mansen in their band, Deep Sea Diver. DSD’s great 2012 debut History Speaks is all over the map in the best way: Stomping 60’s guitar pop and stuttering post-punk rub shoulders with piano balladry, sometimes in the space of a single song. It’s all unified wonderfully by the interplay between Dobson’s mournful wail of a voice, her pinging/chiming guitars, and Mansen’s inventive and melodic rhythms. Expect a few holiday tunes like the loverly original, “It’s Christmas Time (and I’m Still Alive),” too.
My Goodness, XVIII Eyes, Duke Evers Band @ The Crocodile. 21+. $15 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.
It’s been too long since two-headed Seattle rock monster My Goodness has put out new material, a void they’re rumored to be filling next year. In the meantime, the band’s pulverizing live show tonight (with bassist Mike Klay making it a trio) should more than scratch your primal rock itch. And if you don’t get there early enough to hear goth-math-rock quartet XVIII Eyes (formerly Eighteen Individual Eyes) weave their dark and narcotic magic, it’s resolutely your loss.
Xmas Maximus, Cathy Sorbo, The Candy Cane Dancers @ Darrell’s Tavern. 21+. $8 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.
Darrell’s in Shoreline has been quietly booking great live shows in the north end for quite a few years, and tonight they bust out what should be the weekend’s most fun live Christmas show. The merry rock and roll elves in Xmas Maximus include local musicians like Gavin Guss, Barbara Trentalange, and members of Jessamine and SUNN O))), all bashing out playful versions of holiday classics (love their spastic punk version of “Sleigh Ride”). Plus you get salty-tongued Seattle comic Cathy Sorbo, and burlesque from The Candy Cane Dancers, all for less than it usually costs to park downtown for two hours on a weekday.
X, The Blasters, The Bad Things @ El Corazon. 21+. $25 Advance, $30 Day of Show. Doors at 7 p.m, show at 8 p.m.
See Saturday, dude.
Saturday, December 21:
11th Annual Benefit for MUSICARES with Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme, Aaron Daniel, The Chasers, Jeff Fielder, Robb Benson, and Kim Virant @ The Tractor Tavern. 21+. $10 Advance. Show at 9pm.
Firstly, there’s no way you can fault the cause. It’s a fundraiser for MUSICARES, an organization that aids struggling musicians who can’t afford medical and dental insurance on their own. Secondly, this tribute show’s dedicated to an entire classic rock album–Pink Floyd’s The Wall–and the evening will showcase some ace local acts that don’t sound very much like Floyd in the first place. Hearing velour soul steamrollers Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme, West Seattle stoner-metal demons The Chasers, and a tassel of other great Northwest artists reinterpret Roger Waters’ paean to rock decadence should be pretty amazing.
The Physics, Tangerine, DJ Nick Beeba, guests @ The Crocodile. All Ages. $10 Advance. Show at 9 p.m.
South Seattle hip-hop crew The Physics can always be counted on to deliver a serious party live, and the release of their new full-length, Digital Wildlife, provides a great excuse for ‘em to do so. The record retains Thig’s and Monk’s easy wordplay, with just enough new wrinkles to keep things interesting: There’s as much singing there is rapping, and some pinches of electronic music even work their way into the band’s signature style. Right now, the Prince-in-a-robot’s-body groove of new track “Fix Me” is floating my boat in a major way, but it’s the organic nature of their shows (usually accompanied by a soulful and muscular live band) that make them one of this town’s best hip-hop collectives onstage.
X, The Blasters, Girl Trouble @ El Corazon. 21+. $25 Advance, $30 Day of Show. Doors at 7 p.m, show at 8 p.m.
X caught epic shit in the 1970’s and early ’80’s from some of their peers in the fertile LA punk scene for actually writing, you know, real songs (show-offs!) and employing Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek (a f@#king hippie!) to produce their early albums. Fortunately for the world, though, X were (and are) amazing on their own terms, influencing a couple of generations of punks, indie rockers, and roots-rock/Americana musicians in a major way. John Doe‘s and Exene Cervenka‘s vocals remain ragged yet gloriously right, and the band’s full original line-up can still kick up a shitstorm when they need to. Roots-rock legends The Blasters co-headline, and (repeat after me), get there early: Two great Northwest bands–goth-cabaret rapscallions The Bad Things and durable Tacoma garage-rock vets Girl Trouble–open up Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Sunday, December 22:
Evan Dando, Chris Brokaw, McDougall @ The Sunset Tavern. 21+. $15 advance. Doors at 8 p.m.
Evan Dando, mercurial singer-songwriter and frontman for beloved ’90s alt-rock band The Lemonheads, has always been a slacker troubadour at heart, capturing little moments of silliness, romance, and melancholy in a way that definitely presages today’s breed of singer/songwriters. He’s also a funny and engaging solo performer prone to sneaking in choice covers alongside his originals. Preceding Dando is another veteran of the Clinton-era underground rock scene, Codeine/Come guitarist/singer Chris Brokaw, and Americana musician McDougall.
The Bad Things' Jimmy the Pickpocket. (photo: Tony Kay)
Columbia City Theater’s trick-or-treat bowl runneth over tonight as the venue hosts the eighth annual Cabaret Macabre.
Most musical celebrations of Halloween lean towards goth and death metal, but The Cabaret spotlights outfits with a sense of style and showmanship that’s more Tom Waits than Rob Zombie. And like Waits, the bands on tonight’s bill know that tales of debauchery and oddball characters are as part and parcel of Halloween as conventional spooks, ghosts, and monsters.
Californians The Peculiar Pretzelmen parlay an odd and oddly wonderful amalgamation of traditional pre-rock pop and rattletrap insanity. Lead singer M Incroyable frequently barks his lyrics into a megaphone with the over-the-top, eye-rolling intensity of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and percussionist Deacon bashes away at everything from metal laundry tubs to washboards to (occasionally) the odd drum. The whole mix gallops along on spastic melodies carried by vintage guitars, banjos, and God knows what else, and they flat-out blew me away at the Columbia City Theater one-year anniversary show last summer.
Veteran steel guitar player Baby Gramps was born in Florida, but the Seattle-based musician’s eccentric, muttering delivery and raw guitar playing feel a world away from that sunny clime. If Tom Waits left the city to become a bearded hermit in the Appalacians, he’d sound something like this.
Any band with a lead singer who leans on a squeeze box and sings lyrics about (among other things) hard-luck cases viewing their lives through the bottom of a shotglass is all right by me; especially if the band’s as all-around wonderful as Seattle’s The Bad Things. With their top-flight musicianship and Jimmy the Pickpocket’s deceptively sweet voice at the center, the band always delivers live, leavening their brand of Pogues-style cry-in-your-pint sing-along ditties with a wry sense of humor and fun (I’m officially in love with their polka’ed-up cover of The Stones’ “Out of Time”). Make sure your liver’s ready for the alcohol onslaught, and get ready to dance.
Cabaret madmen The Bad Things will play in the sunshine at Summerfest Saturday. (Photo: Tony Kay)
The West Seattle Summerfest (taking over West Seattle’s Junction this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) has been kicking it every July for 29 years, and it’s easily one of the best free festivals in these parts.
This season, the ‘Fest showcases an embarassment of riches, event-wise. There’ll be a Sustainability and Garden Expo; an Art Dive, put on by the Twilight Artist Collective; HackCycle, a bike-frame re-jiggering project overseen by industrial arts madmen HazardFactory; a spiffy Super Fun Kids Area; and scores of wares being proffered by scores of local vendors.
But the big draw for a lot of folks in town (and this most emphatically includes me) is West Seattle Summerfest’s line-up of musical acts. Every year, the ‘Fest’s music programming gets better and better; and Summerfest 2011, in particular, boasts several astonishingly good Northwest bands and musicians. It’s like walking into one of this ‘burg’s best live venues on an extra-rich bill–only Summerfest offers free admission. Here’s a rundown of the must-see acts hitting Summerfest this weekend:
Friday, July 8
Whalebones (4:30-5:15 p.m.): Whalebones sound, to these ears at least, like the Northwest’s equivalent of the Black Angels. Like the Angels, they work the lysergic side of the street with a greasy, swaggering batch of tunes that pick up the mind-tripping torch passed from Satanic Majesties’ era Stones to the Brian Jonestown Massacre. This could be the weekend’s best sonic accompaniment to baking in the sun–in more ways than one.
Thee Sgt Major III (5:45-6:30 p.m.), Cali Giraffes (7-7:45pm), The Fastbacks (8-8:45 p.m.): Call it Fastbacks Friday. TSMIII, Fastback guitarist Kurt Bloch’s current power-pop outfit, deliver a great, toothy sugar buzz, topped by Leslie Beattie’s Debbie Harry drone-snarl and an all-star rhythm section comprised of bassist Jim Sangster and drummer Mike Musberger. And based on the one song I’ve heard, fellow ‘Back Kim Warnick’s new group Cali Giraffes will likewise deliver loud-and-fast tartness with the fizzy sweet. Best of all, The Fastbacks re-form for the first time in nine years to continue the party. Who’da thunk that an important branch of Seattle music history could also make you gyrate like a top?
Caspar Babypants (6:30-7:15 p.m.): The Presidents of the United States of America pretty much wrote and played great, funny, weird songs with kid-like exuberance anyway; so it should be no surprise that Presidents singer/guitarist Chris Ballew’s kiddie-song incarnation of Caspar Babypants consists of great, funny, weird songs brimming with kid-like exuberance. Shed your jaded hipster goggles and dance along with the small fry.
Michael Jaworski of Virgin Islands also moonlights as one of The Cops. Photo by Tony Kay.
The Cops (9-10 p.m.): Michael Jaworski takes time from one of Seattle’s best art-punk bands (Virgin Islands) to abuse his six-string and declaim for a formal re-union of one of Seattle’s other best art-punk bands. The Cops shred live, and they’re working on a new record. God, life is good.
Saturday, July 9
The Bad Things (1:15-2 p.m.): If the Pogues could hold their liquor better; shared tequila, German brews, and Scotch ales with Tom Waits; and jammed with a mariachi band; they’d sound kind of like the Bad Things. This awesome kitchen-sink cabaret ensemble comes fresh from the den of debauchery that was the Columbia City Theater’s One-Year Anniversary show (go here for details) to bring mordant humor, alcohol-sodden moping, and killer musicianship to the ‘Fest music stage.
Curtains for You (7:30-8:15 p.m.):Seattle’s best pure-pop band are genetically incapable of playing a bad live show; so go see ‘em for free before they become massive stars, already.
The Bend (8:45-9:30 p.m.): They may be from Seattle, but they wear their UK alt-rock influences (U2, Doves, Elbow, pre-OK Computer Radiohead) on their sleeves. Fortunately, The Bend tread that path really, really well; with chiming guitars, throaty vocals, and songs strong enough to stand confidently beside their idols.
The Staxx Brothers (10-10:45 p.m.): With their fusion of garage-rock, soul, and snarky wit, the Staxx Brothers would make a mean pairing with the Electric Six.
Sunday, July 10
Gunn and the Damage Done (3:45-4:30 p.m.): Springsteen/Mellencamp-style heartland rock isn’t a favorite genre of mine, but Tommy “Gunn” McMullin and company know how to do it right. McMullin possesses a great raspy growl of a rock voice that sounds like The Boss possessed by B.J. Thomas, and his backup band The Damage Done play with snap and polish.
The Fuzz (5-5:45 p.m.): Clumsy, shambling garage rock with sprinkles of ripsaw punk; and vocals so awkward they sound like they were recorded by a passing vagrant? I’m there. Bet it’ll sound great live.
