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The Cave Girls are our June Artist of the Month!

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The Cave Girls are our June artist of the month! Robin Campbell and Stone Age Sara have gotten down the art of creating simple, upbeat, fun Neanderthal garage rock. With bassist Lizz Weiler as the band’s newest addition, the trio is returning to the KC music scene with a primordial vengeance. 
 
The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?
 
Stone Age Sara: Stripped-down rock ‘n roll with a prehistoric punch.
 
The Deli: Give us some background on the band. How long have you had this particular lineup?
 
Sara: Liz Lightning (Weiler) joined us on bass in the summer of 2013. Before Liz, Stephanie Williams (Katy Guillen & The Girls, Claire and the Crowded Stage) played bass with us for a couple years, and is on our first CD. Our original bass player was Nikki Love. Liz and Robin have played music together for years, so Liz is a natural fit. We are really grateful to have her!
 
We have worked with a couple really cool lead guitarists: Meredith McGrade (Wick and the Tricks, Morningglories) and most recently Kelly Nightengale (The Spook Lights). Kelly recorded with us on a song we’re about to release called “Let’s Go!”
 
The Deli: What do you have coming up?
 
Sara: This summer is pretty busy! We are playing at the Free State Film Festival in Lawrence. Our music is featured in the film Replay by Marlo Angell with WOLF (Women of Lawrence Film), which is showing at the festival, and our set will be at The Granada on Sunday, June 29.
 
We’ll also be featured on a CD compilation of The Pandoras’ covers by garage rock bands from all over the world. It’ll be released sometime this year for the 30th anniversary of their It’s About Time record. We’re excited to be a part of something so global!
 
And we’re releasing a 3 song EP this summer too. Can’t wait!
 
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?
 
Sara: As musicians, keeping up with what fellow musicians are up to and being sincere and encouraging of each other. Everyone knows how good it can feel when someone acknowledges your work in a positive way. That can go a long way for a musician. We put a lot of ourselves out there.
 
Liz: I would say supporting the local scene, supporting fellow musicians, friends, etc.
 
The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now?
 
Robin: Whichever I am watching at a given time… I am blown away at how good the local bands are around here. This must be what Detroit felt like in the ‘70s. I’m really impressed with Expo 70’s meditative heavy rock with no lyrics. Also, recently I caught The Big Iron and The Philistines at recordBar; both were excellent! The Big Iron’s new record is 4 stars!!
 
Sara: Too many to list, so many I need to catch up on.
 
 
The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now?
 
Robin: Those Darlins. They’re playing recordBar in August… GO! Their show is great! I am also really digging some instrumental music from an artist called Bonobo.
 
Sara: I freakin LOVE Dinero out of Fort Collins.
 
 
The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?
 
Robin: I would love to play a festival with other KC/Lawrence bands/musicians for 3 days and camp out! I’ve always wanted to try playing a big multiple-day music festival.

Sara: I don’t have one… But I sometimes think it would have been fun to be a back-up singer for the Kinks… except for the fighting.

 
Liz: The Runaways.
 
The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there? 
 
Robin: Hmm. I always try not to choose artists over each other, they all bring their own special gifts, but I guess I’d say John Lennon, George Harrison, Aretha Franklin & Loretta Lynn. John & George for their sincere love preaching and spiritual awareness. Aretha for her empowering woman essence. Loretta Lynn for her authenticity, and her courageous and sincere songwriting.
 
Sara: Chuck Berry, Ray Davies, Harry Nilsson, Tiny Tim. All dudes and no drummers, I know, but that’s who comes to mind. They’re personal favorites, and I find them to be largely undervalued.
 
Liz: Lemmy, Joan Jett, King Buzzo (just to see if they could get his hair right), and Dimebag Darrell.
 
The Deli: What other goals do The Cave Girls have for 2014?
 
Sara: We talk sometimes at practice about just having made it through another crazy week. There’s so much everyone is up against these days: personally, locally, globally. Liz put it really well at our last practice. She said “I just wanna rock!” and we were all like “YEAH!”, so that sounds like a good goal!
 
The Deli: Where can we find you on the web?
 
Girls:We’re most up to date on Facebook, though we’d sure love to find a better way! Like a lot of bands, we feel pretty bummed when we post something on our page and less than 10% of our fans even see it. We’re also on Bandcamp.
 
The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience?
 
The Cave Girls: Ooga ooga Ug!Ug!
 
The Cave Girls are:
Robin Campbell: vocals, guitar
Stone Age Sara: vocals, drums
Lizz Weiler: bass, vocals
 
–Michelle Bacon
 
Michelle Bacon is editor of The Deli KC and plays in a bunch of bands.
 
 

Take in a movie and catch The Cave Girls at The Granada on Sunday, June 29 for the Free State Film Festival. Their set will follow the Nick Cave film 20,000 Days on Earth. Kirsten Paludan & the Key Party will also play. The film starts at 7:30 pm. 

 

 

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Upcoming: Soul Revival 1.0 at Green Lady Lounge, 6.20.14

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It’s a movement fueled by one musician’s passion to see soul and R&B come alive in Kansas City.
 
While attending the recent Ledisi / Robert Glasper Experiment double bill at The Midland, Derick Cunigan was taken aback by the size—or lack thereof—of the gathered crowd.
 
“I was watching such great talent on the stage, and couldn’t believe more people didn’t show up,” he said. “That’s when I knew I had to do something for the music. I had to do my part for the genre.”
 
Cunigan wants to introduce KC music aficionados to the sounds and styles he was raised with, while highlighting how the genre continues to evolve and flourish. The revolution begins Friday, June 20 when, backed by a stacked eight-piece band, Cunigan will weave his way through a series of modern-day classics from John Legend, Maxwell Anthony Hamilton, Robert Glasper, and more.
 
Cunigan aside, here’s the lineup for Soul Revival 1.0:
Keys: Desmond Mason (Shades of Jade, Groove 101)
Keys: Robert Tribitt III (Those Trib Boys Music)
Bass: Kevin Payton (Bill Crain Quartet, Will Crain Trio, New Vintage Big Band) 
Guitar: Kirk Scott (Elaine McMilian, Scott Hrabko, Kirk Scott and Trio, JFK)
Drums: Jerod Rivers (Claire and The Crowded Stage, Ashley Jones Band, Vi Tran Band)
Vocals: Ashley Jones (Ashley Jones Band, Ragtime at Theatre in the Park)
Vocals: Bryan Woodson (Mark Hubbard & The Voices, Timothy Wright)
 
This will be a gathering of some of our area’s most talented vocalists and musicians, making it one of this summer’s “can’t miss” events.
 
–Miguel Caraballo
 
Miguel Caraballo is a Puerto Rican who can’t speak Spanish, and the frontman of Kansas City-based rock-soul band, Run With It. He believes the arts can change the world, and loves meeting people who believe the same. If you want to contact him about your world-changing ideas, or simply want to purchase the Rosetta Stone Spanish Edition for him, email Miguel at info@gottarunwithit.com.
  

Soul Revival 1.0 is today, June 20, in The Orion Room (downstairs at Green Lady Lounge). Doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:30. $5 cover. Facebook event page. 

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Album review: The Blessed Broke – Ladders Out of Purgatory

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Kansas City’s Blessed Broke has a beautifully crafted American Gothic sound. Ladders Out of Purgatory is the band’s second album. This is music at once dark and lovely. Singer and songwriter Brian Frame is something of a sad bastard—not of the sparkling pop Elliott Smith variety—but more from the Woven Hand, or Bill Callahan school of glum. But his songs, while all characterized by a mid-tempo andante, are nonetheless appealing, and the band’s playing is at once sanguine and austere.
 
Frame’s lyrics are not as detailed as Townes Van Zandt’s (a clear inspiration), nor is his singing as enunciated, but in mood and tone he’s clearly taken succor from Townes. And like a Jay Farrar without the faux Walker Evans sepia tone sound, his world-weary vocals suit the resignation of his lyrics. “The Stain” opens Purgatory with these representative lines: “We were all waiting in line to get a little blood on our hands.” And in that line the listener remains.
 
Five of Purgatory’s nine songs feature the full band, while four are Frame’s solo vehicles. But rather than sounding like a half-finished record, Purgatory reminds of Mark Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon recordings; the full band tracks simply sound like expansions of Frame’s solo visions, expanding the songs’ musicality while sustaining the contained, melancholy moods, which rarely lift. From the “just a small shot to kill the pain” of “Black Spring,” to the slightly more eros-driven likes of “Moriah’s Eyes,” Frame’s songs are melancholy devils. After all, as the album’s closer expresses, Frames has a “Helpless Heart.”
 
Frame and guitarist Andrew Luker anchor the band, having worked together for several years. Luker’s dobro work is the band’s chief ornamentation; he gives Frame’s songs just the right high, lonesome embellishment. Betse Ellis joined on bass just before these sessions. She’s known from bands like The Wilders for her soaring violin work. Her bass playing fits perfectly with drummer Matt Richey; together they lock in like Charlie McCoy and Kenny Buttrey, respectively, on Dylan’s fabled John Wesley Harding.
 
The band’s vitality would be enhanced by a little more variety in tempo. Sometimes the melancholy thud of The Blessed Broke’s music can be relentless. But credit them for sustaining tension and mood. With quality material and beautiful playing, Brian Frame and The Blessed Broke engage us fully, however somber the fare they serve on Ladders Out of Purgatory.
 
—Steve Wilson
 

Be sure to catch The Blessed Broke this Saturday at The Ship, 1217 Union Ave, in the West Bottoms. Facebook event page.

 

 

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Album review: Leering Heathens – Leering Heathens (EP)

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You know, working at NPR as I do, I’m surrounded by the kind of music that one would expect to hear at an NPR studio: lots of jazz and classical, folk and traditional sounds from around the world, and once in a while when we feel really crazy and want to throw caution to the wind, we might even go for some Lawrence Welk or Barry Manilow or even … hang on to your hats, people … John Tesh!
 
HOLY SH*TBALLS! JOHN F*CKING TESH!!!
 
*ahem*
 
Those of you who know me know that my music palette is a little more diverse than that. Sometimes I like those kinds of music, sometimes I’m down for some blues, sometimes electronica is what I want to hear—and sometimes I just need to have guitars and drums and basses and vocals that will melt walls and leave paths of wreckage and destruction. This review is about such a band that is doing just that to unsuspecting listeners and venues in the Kansas City area.
 
Leering Heathens is a Kansas City four-piece consisting of Joshua Quint on vocals and guitar, Brett Southard on drums, Chad Toney on bass, and Josh Simcosky on lead guitar. The band has recently released its self-titled debut EP, and as far as introductions go, theirs is about as straightforward as it gets: We play rock music. We play hard rock music. We play loud hard rock music.
 
The EP opens with “Dry Country” and gives the listener a good dose of classic rock guitar with a chorus that lays a very heavy, driving groove. “Lurker” is more chunky, and Quint’s vocals on this track keep high focus and intensity without crossing the line into emo-scream. The instrumental “Muskstache” is a little quicker-paced but no less effective and riveting, and at this point I started to think this mini-album may have been conceived with the assistance of a few bottles of brown liquor – and as their cover photo on their Facebook page would indicate, I think I may be right. “Rodeo Macabre” highlights some definite Tool influence—very sinister and heavy, with exception of the auctioneer and the old-timey last few seconds, which are kinda cool, and “Hulls of Blood” closes out the record, the most melodic of the tracks but one that still has loads of hammer-and-tong guitar aggression.
 
Some bands play at maximum volume because that’s their one skill. They don’t have enough faith in their work so they think that if they burst your eardrums, that will be enough to punch their rock-n-roll card. Others play loud, but do so with enough control that you listen to them and realize that you’re listening to music—very, very loud music—and not just sound. Leering Heathens are solid members of the latter category. If you’ve been looking for serious, authentic, gut-wrenching, actual factual rock ‘n roll, this will be a very wise investment of twenty minutes of your life.
 
You know, I try to be a good guy as much as possible, but I guess being a Heathen isn’t always such a bad thing either.
 
—Michael Byars
 
Michael secretly loves the music of John Tesh, but we won’t tell if you won’t.
 
 
Be sure to get your dose of Leering Heathens’ gut-wrenching rock ‘n roll this Thursday, June 19, at Czar Bar. They’ll be opening up for Young Widows and White Reaper. Facebook event page.
 


 

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Album review: American Dischord – Songs for Sinners

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(Photo by Keith Johnson)
 
“I don’t need your forgiveness for my goddamned sins.”
 
American Dischord shoves its collective middle finger up your pretentious ass with a new LP entitled Songs for Sinners. Self-described as “hard-hitting rock ‘n roll straight for the bowels of Hell currently claiming Kansas City as our promised land,” this “punk and soul” trio blazes through seven tracks of cataclysmic punk rock in just under fifteen minutes.
 
AMDX runs the punk rock playbook to a high level, reminiscent of The Misfits, NOFX, and Rancid, amongst others. The lyrics are fuming, often political, and so far up your grill they’re ripping out molars. Urging you to “sing, sing, sing all you sinners!” in a song of the same name, the scream-sung vocals tow a perfect line of grating attitude and sing-along sensibility, not unlike the harder moments of The Offspring’s catalogue.
 
Musically, it is delightfully more than just your typical three-chord punk slop. AMDX plays with structure and whips out just enough song tricks to keep the two-minute punk anthems from sounding all the same. The trio of musicians makes the style of music they play work for them, with individual playing that gets spastic and free in all the right spots, but never seems superfluous.
 
The anchor of these two-minute pressure cookers is the epic-by-comparison three-and-a-half minute “Op Rev.” One of the more furious and politically themed songs on the record, AMDX parallels off the old tried-and-true Gunpowder Treason story, commanding anarchy and a rise against the bullshit that lives in our news feeds every day.

All put together, you listen over and over again as you pound your steering wheel or keyboard along with fervor. Of late, the band has been regionally playing all over the place. If bashing your pompous neighbor’s face open with a can of whatever beer was cheapest that day is your thing, check out American Dischord.
 
—Zach Hodson
  
Zach Hodson is a monster. He once stole a grilled cheese sandwich from a 4-year-old girl at her birthday party. He will only juggle if you pay him. I hear he punched Slimer right in his fat, green face. He knows the secrets to free energy, but refuses to release them until Saved by the Bell: Fortysomethings begins production. He is also in Dolls on Fire, Drew Black & Dirty Electric, and Riot Riot Riot, as well as contributing to various other Kansas City-based music, comedy, and art projects.
 
 

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Too Much Rock Singles Series Vol 3: Josh Berwanger Band – Oh Bis!

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Josh Berwanger Band gets us ready for summer with a new single release as part of the Too Much Rock Single Series. The series—curated by Sid Sowder—has local bands doing one side with an original song and one side with a cover song chosen by the band. Berwanger’s single is the third volume in the series (the first two by Schwervon! and Rev Gusto).
 
The A-side is a Berwanger song called "Oh Bis!" to which he helpfully adds a spoken word postscript explaining the origin of the song. The song itself hearkens back to ‘80s power pop and chugs along with some subtle changes in the rhythm. It’s a classic "Woe is me" teen angst song and sounds great in the car with the windows down. The B-side is a cover of an obscure 1979 single by The Jags, which sounds like a great lost early Elvis Costello rocker. Its infectious chorus of "I’ve got your number / written on the back of my hand" complete with handclaps is impossible not to like.
 
I’m a fan of their recent album Strange Stains. To my ears, this is the best local pure power pop band out there now. Get ’em while you can. These 45s are limited editions. 
 
—Barry Lee
 
Barry is host of Signal To Noise, which airs on KKFI 90.1 FM every Sunday at 8 pm. He spends his weekdays being station manager of KKFI.
 
 

You can see Josh Berwanger Band this weekend at Boulevardia, in the West Bottoms. They play at 6:15 p.m. on the Chipotle Homegrown stage. Facebook event page. They’ll also be playing Lawrence Field Day Fest on June 28 at The Bottleneck at 11:00 p.m. Also, watch for Too Much Rock’s fourth volume of the Single Series to come soon!

Here’s a video of an in-studio performance for 90.9 The Bridge of the song “Mary,” recorded at Weights & Measures Soundlab.

 

 

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Album review: Scruffy & the Janitors – Anglo

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(Photos by Jaime Russell, Anthem Photography)
 
I am, at my very core, a pessimist. Always have been, most likely will always be; it is a deep-rooted personality flaw that I cannot seem to shake. Now, I’m not one of those “the world is a shithole, what does it all mean?” people—I don’t care about that. We are all going to die; it is a fact, so let’s have a good time, I say.
 
No, my pessimism comes from my love of music and the decline in quality of what is being released into the world the last few years. This “music,” its lack of drive, power and imagination only feeds my negativity. However, I have noticed a shift of late, a move that brightens me. I smell a return of rock n roll and St. Joseph’s Scruffy & the Janitors have fired off the latest shot with Anglo, their sophomore (and most cohesive) effort to date.
 
It has indeed been a good time for local music. Red Kate, The Bad Ideas, Radkey, The Sluts, Josh Berwanger Band, Black on Black, Muscle Worship, The Big Iron, and many others have released top-notch rock n roll over the last 14 months, and Anglo is no exception. Powered by “Shake It Off” and the most recent single, “Dirtleg,” Anglo is a slice of bar rock that has been knocking at the door, just waiting to join the party; S&tJ want to play with the cool kids and now they are.
 
Compared to their lo-fi/zero budget debut, Pino, a couple years ago, Anglo is a giant leap ahead in sonic quality and level of song. Time spent onstage (Scruffy had standout sets as part of MidCoast Takeover, had a prime spot at Middle of the Map Fest, opened for Gringo Star and J. Roddy Walston & the Business, and are opening for Kongos at The Midland on June 30. All of this—before heading to Toronto for NXNE (the Canadian SXSW) and a mini-tour—has brought out confidence that has been lying just below the surface, ready to rear its head to the world and stomp on its throat.
 
S&tJ have found their groove. “Nehemiah” is the funkiest track they have laid down to tape and features Teriq Newton’s most Hendrix-inspired guitar shots. A solid, flying high, blues jam from outer space. The track “Ms. Crucio” comes on like The Hives, Benjamin Booker, and Foo Fighters locked in a room with wild dogs for a minute and a half. Quick call-out to a triflin’ woman, it’s fierce, in-your-face, and fun. The bowel shaking bass from Steven Foster and pounding courtesy of Trevin Newton on drums don’t hurt the situation.
 
“Dirtleg” is the best song Cage the Elephant wishes it wrote. Aggressive, self-deprecating, longing to be gone but just can’t move on. You see a theme here? Stuck somewhere you don’t want to be with a woman that drives you nuts is a common theme in blues-based music; the story is as old as time: I really hate this woman but she won’t go away.
 
“Shake it Off,” the current gem getting heavy play on 96.5 The Buzz, is the middle finger song of a record packed with screw you songs. It is a quick shot to the face. “Shake it off / cause it ain’t only me / no we were never friends / I wasn’t letting you slide,” a chorus that stops just short of calling someone out by name, spitting in their face. There is venom wrapped in top-notch drumming, rock steady bass lines, and some of the best local guitar work around. That’s where some of the best music comes from, doesn’t it? Hate, dissatisfaction, displeasure with your situation, life screwing you? Art comes from pain, pain comes from living, living is better than the alternative.
 
Scruffy & the Janitors do not hide their influences on Anglo. They do not try to get cute by disguising who they admire under layers of production to sound “new.” This is blues garage rock plain and simple: Son House, Skip James, Cage the Elephant, The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys and some punk touches are thrown in for good measure. Scruffy are one of those young bands that you know what you are getting when you put their record on: what you’ll get is rock n roll, no more no less. There is certainly nothing wrong with that.
 
—Danny R. Phillips
 
Danny has been reporting on music of all types and covering the St. Joseph music scene for well over a decade. He is a regular contributor to the nationally circulated BLURT Magazine and his work has appeared in The Pitch, The Omaha Reader, Missouri Life, The Regular Joe, Skyscraper Magazine, Popshifter, Hybrid Magazine, the websites Vocals on Top and Tuning Fork TV, Perfect Sound Forever, The Fader, and many others.
 
 

If you’re in St. Joe on Friday the 13th, you can catch Scruffy & the Janitors at the Anglo release party at First Ward House, with Cupcake and Rev Gusto. Facebook event page. They’ll be celebrating the release in Kansas City on Saturday, June 14 at recordBar with Heartfelt Anarchy, Domineko, and Rev Gusto. Facebook event page. 

 

 

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Album review: Outsides – Million

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(Photo by Todd Zimmer)

Though it isn’t actually summer yet, it’s not too late to start that summer playlist. You know, that one you blast when you’re cruising the highways, the back roads, side streets; when you’re headed to the neighborhood pool, the grocery store, so on and so on. Million, by electro-pop band Outsides is the best place to start.

 
A simple six tracks, Million will grab you by the ears and guide you deep into those wonderful summer vibes. Swelling synth sounds and ethereal “oh oh ohs” kickstart the album. “Just Curious” incorporates simplistic and poppy drum beats from Ryan Shank with delayed synthesizers from Bronson Kistler. A plucky guitar from frontman Tim Ellis creates a flow for the song to rise and fall seamlessly into the chorus and verses, none of which seem the same and create a sort of mini-symphony with several movements under the umbrella of an encompassing theme. The sheer catchiness of this song is a bit outrageous. Smooth vocals keep the song chill and put a smile on your face.
 
In fact, the whole album is similar to the opening track. Every song sounds like an ‘80s one-hit wonder dance-pop jam waiting to happen, but turns out to be completely different and so much more. The synths are always prominent. The guitars come second, building roads for the songs to travel. The drums aren’t overpowering and are only there to keep your foot tapping and your waist wiggling.
 
“When It’s Time” offers up a different arrangement with cool guitar work opening up, leading way for the classic piano tones that hide themselves in the crevasses of the otherwise slow jam. The album finishes off with the heavy-hitter, “It’s Gonna Be Alright,” which is by far the most upbeat, fast-paced, and layered track on Million.
 
Million is six songs that—throughout the duration of each—are ever evolving. No chorus is the same, no verse similar, no musical element static. Each song is dynamic and urges you to move, sing along, and delve deeper into the lyrics and sounds.
 
—Steven Ervay
 
Steven is an all-around awesome dude who works tirelessly for the KC music community.
 
 
 
 
Celebrate with Outsides tonight as they release Million at The Riot Room, with special guests White Girl and The Slowdown. Doors at 7:30 pm. Facebook event page. 
 

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Golden Sound Records presents 3rd annual Crossroads Summer Block Party

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Golden Sound Records will be hosting its third annual Crossroads Summer Block Party on June 6, at 19th and Wyandotte in the Crossroads Art District for First Friday. This year promises to be its biggest yet, with eight bands, as well as food trucks, live art, craft beer makers, and much more.
 
If you haven’t heard of Golden Sound Records, it’s a Kansas City-based record label with a roster of talented local and regional bands—among them, The Empty Spaces, The Caves, and Baby Teardrops. But co-founder Jerad Tomasino doesn’t think of Golden Sound as a traditional record label.
“Golden Sound started as more of a collective,” he remarks. Tomasino, who co-fronted Everyday/Everynight (which, at the time included Mat Shoare and Evan Ashby), said that the idea for the label materialized around 2009. “As E/E was getting its engine running, we started to play around with how we would collectively release our music. We wanted to create an entity that could withstand more than a single person or band.”
 
Tomasino started the label along with Shoare and Ross Brown in 2010. Since its inception, Golden Sound has not only helped bands release albums—it has helped showcase many musicians to audiences that might not otherwise be exposed to them.
 
One of the best culminations of this exposure is with Golden Sound’s annual Block Party. In addition to eight of Kansas City’s best bands, the Block Party will include food trucks from Indios Carbonsitos, Wilma’s Real Good Food, Jazzy B’s, and Nani’s Kitchen, as well as offerings from several other sponsors. Brown mentions that this allows the collective to involve more of the community. “We can’t give you all the support of a regular record label and we aren’t experts at every aspect, but we can help in some way.”
 
“Our process is creation-oriented, and we bring in super creative people in to flesh it out with their offerings,” says Tomasino.
 
But without argument, music is the forefront of the annual Block Party. The lineup starts off with a swift kick in the teeth by Jorge Arana Trio at 6:30, followed by the sweet pop stylings of Rev Gusto and Mat Shoare. Katelyn Conroy’s solo indie project La Guerre follows, and power trio Loose Park and The ACBs will bring the rock ‘n roll. The night will be rounded out by the otherworldly sounds of Metatone and the atmospheric instrumental mutiny of Forrester.
 
For Tomasino, one of the highlights of the Block Party is being able to put the performers on a large, professional stage in the middle of the Crossroads during First Friday. “You know your band’s music is good quality and worth putting on a big stage,” he says.
 
Golden Sound begins its push for the Block Party this Sunday, June 1, when it will celebrate the release of See Through Dresses’ self-titled LP at Mills Record Company. This is the second stop on the Omaha band’s tour. Matthew Carroll and Sara Bertuldo, of See Through Dresses, were two of the first artists that the label approached outside of its core group. Golden Sound released an EP from their previous project Honey & Darling in 2010, and Bertuldo’s punk project Millions of Boys is also a label artist. “We just want to get behind a really special album and band on its way to whatever is next,” says Tomasino, who feels that Mills will be a great place to expose See Through Dresses to a KC audience. “Mills plays a vital role in the musical makeup around here. We’re doing the in-store there so that people—specifically those actively engaged with KC music—can step into an easy environment to meet these guys, hear their music, and that’s it.”
 
“We want to take away the barriers and create a relaxed, fun environment for people to experience some amazing music,” Tomasino concludes. And Golden Sound is a collective, a label, whatever you want to call it, that does just that—facilitating contact between artist and audience, and at once helping increase the reach of Kansas City’s musical landscape.
 
 
If you’re milling about First Friday next weekend, be sure to hit up the Block Party. It’s free! Facebook event page. For more info on the Block Party, check out crossroadsblockparty.com. And be sure to check out the See Through Dresses’ release party at Mills. Show starts at 6:00 pm. The Author and the Illustrator will also play. Facebook event page.
 
—Michelle Bacon
  
Michelle is editor of The Deli KC and is also a member of The Philistines, Drew Black & Dirty Electric, Dolls on Fire, and Lucky Graves. She’s a staff member of Midwest Music Foundation. She is getting tired of inserting all of these hyperlinks.
 
 
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Album review: Carswell & Hope – A Hunger

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(Photo by Taffyfoto)
 
OK. I’ve got to admit this up front. I’m not terribly fond of piano-dominated albums. Sure, I like Randy Newman, I like Jimmy Webb when he was recording for Reprise Records, yeah, I’m a sucker for Mose Allison, and I guiltily admit to loving Elton John’s first five albums. But you have to understand; I’m a guitar guy. I cut my teeth and grew up with the sounds of electric guitars. I will say this: ever since Burt Bacharach left town, there haven’t been many folks around here writing sophisticated pop songs like those he wrote with Hal David. The new Carswell & Hope album, A Hunger, is a lovely return to the sound and feel of those sort of compositions.
 
Impeccably produced and well played by Dan Hines on bass, Jason Sloat on drums, Nick Carswell on guitar and vocals, and Austin Quick on keyboards, this is not some wimpy piano/crooner stuff; the music here has muscle. The opening song, “Before,” sets the tone. It starts out sounding like a Swell Season outtake: voice and piano only, and then moves into different musical terrain as the song unwinds. No verse/chorus/verse thing here; the song moves spinning through moods, tempos, and lyrics in a way reminiscent of a pop overture.
 
What especially caught my ear as the album flows on is the care taken with each song to make the music just as interesting as the lyrics. Little touches like the understated solo piece three-fourths of the way through the jaunty “Drinking At Crossroads” where the music and mood go somewhere else, (much like The Beatles did with “Fool On The Hill,”) throw the listener a nice little curve. One would expect a long guitar solo at that spot, but the song begs to differ. In their bio the band doesn’t cite Jimmy Webb as an influence, but I hear him in these cool little melodic inventions that are part of these songs.
 
Listen to how the album’s centerpiece “The Owning” starts out hard and fast then just after the verses end with an “oh well oh well oh well, ” the band takes over and guitar and piano duel for several bars as Quick explodes piano notes around Carswell’s guitar lines and the bass and drums lock in on a galloping groove. The song ends with an extended coda, once again changing the mood and tempo, with three stop-time parts and a vocal coda by Carswell to put the song to bed.
 
I’m a sucker for songs that flow organically and go places you don’t expect. These songs are full of invention. The album was funded by a successful Indiegogo fundraiser campaign and released on the band’s own label, Silly Goose Records. A Hunger is one of those albums you can listen to after a hard day’s work, sitting out on the screened porch in the early evening with a libation of your choice chilling your hand as this music plays out. Carswell is a native of Ireland. I hope he sticks around these parts for awhile. This band needs to make more music. This is an audacious debut.

–Barry Lee

Barry is host of Signal To Noise, which airs on KKFI 90.1 FM every Sunday at 8 pm. He spends his weekdays being station manager of KKFI.
 
 

If you’re in Lawrence tonight, head out to Jackpot Music Hall to see Carswell & Hope. Vik G. Trio and Heidi Lynne Gluck will be opening. Gluck is featured on Carswell & Hope’s album, on additional vocals for “Hunger.” Facebook event page. 

 

 

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NYC

The Few, The Proud, The Strange: An interview with Not A Planet

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Not A Planet is a band that has been heightening the KC music scene since 2010. The band’s devoted fans and passion for creating powerful music has allowed them to tour the United States and produce its first full-length album, The Few, The Proud, The Strange, in 2013. Not A Planet’s tour manager, Jodie Platz, coordinated and joined this interview, which took place in their practice room at her home. 
 
The Deli:  What conflicts in your life have inspired your lyrics?
 
Nathan Corsi: My experiences as a kid made me feel like I had a lot to prove. I have really supportive parents. I went to a conservatory for a year before I dropped out. A lot of great writers had troubled childhoods, and I think I had a more troubled adulthood that causes me to write the way I do. I got mugged when I lived out in New York City, a month and a half after I moved there. I’d gone out there with a bag and a guitar playing in subways and small venues. I ended up in KC because my family was here,and it was a chance for me to recoup until I found my home, and then I found my band here.
 
The Deli:  What could make the KC music scene better?
 
Nathan: Where are the people coming out to the shows? There are amazing bands here. It’s a tragedy that so few people are at the clubs Monday through Thursday. There are shows that don’t go too late for people who have to work and most places aren’t charging covers.
 
Bill Sturges: There are so many beautiful, amazing, crazy things going down every single night in Kansas City,and it just takes what one step out the door to find it.
 
Liam Sumnicht: I agree people need to come out more. I also think typically people don’t care about what’s happening in their own backyard unless other people care. It’s caddy of me to say, but people will pay attention when they know people in LA like [KC music]. It’s natural.
 
The Deli: Why should people see Not A Planet live?
 
Bill: We lay it down. We try to remove all barriers so [the audience] can enter into a different world. Because the reality you experience during the week doesn’t play into the show. There’s an energy that we try to put in, and we accomplish it. We put everything we have on the table. Come watch us crumble and rise again.
 
The Deli: How often are you are tour?
 
Liam: We do around 100 shows a year. We have been out for weeks at a time to Florida and the East Coast. And regionally we’re out almost every weekend.
 
Bill: Anywhere from St. Louis, to Manhattan, to Joplin, to Wichita, to Oklahoma.
 
Nathan: [Not a Planet] only plays in Kansas City about once a month, not including cover shows.
 
The Deli: Wait. What cover shows?
 
Nathan: We have a separate cover band with the same members. It’s called Ragged Heirs. We try to keep it upbeat and timely. We play…
 
Everyone: Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Foster the People, Kings of Leon, Bo Diddley, Robert Johnson, Tom Waits, all the stuff that grooves a little bit.
 
The Deli: Does touring hinder producing new material?
 
Nathan: It makes it hard.
 
Liam: But it also keeps you in good shape musically. It’s a double-edged sword. It keeps you on your toes, but takes away time from being able to write music.
 
Bill: In our lives we find things that we have to do, and the things that we love. In this room, we all understand that sometimes for the things we love, we have to carve out time. Two weeks [on tour] is beautiful because you get your feet wet. Three weeks is a marathon. We’ve talked to people like us who have been out for two months or longer. It gets treacherous at that point; it’s almost survival mode.
 
The Deli: What’s your favorite kind of audience?
 
Liam: The audience that gets it. When you can connect with people, that’s the most amazing and beautiful part of playing live.
 
Bill: I started playing music because I got the goose bumps sometimes in [high school] band and stuff. That’s the music reaching out and touching your soul. That’s why we continue to do it.
 
Nathan: Mostly I’m in it for the money and the women. [laughs]
 
The Deli: Speaking of money…
 
Bill: We make so much money.
 
Liam: Rollin! Sometimes at night we just pour our hundreds into a bathtub and all crawl in and take a bath.
 
Jodie: We go to McDonald’s and don’t order off the dollar menu.
 
Nathan: We get on a diving board to jump into our pool of money and swim around in it.
 
Bill: But in all seriousness, none of us have ever made money off of Not A Planet, but Not A Planet makes money; I’ve never had to pay [out of pocket] for gas, or vans; I’ve traveled across the US for free.
 
Nathan: Not A Planet is self-sustaining. It has paid for us to make records and go on tour, which costs thousands of dollars.
 
The Deli: Jodie, what’s your role in Not A Planet?
 
Jodie: Tour manager, director of media, photographer. I field the shows and make sure the band is on time. I do so much sometimes I can’t remember it all. It’s a full–time job. I came on about 2 years ago. I saw them open for another band I was working for at the time, and I was hooked. I was supposed to move to California, but I moved back to KC and wondered what I was going to do. I remembered [Not A Planet], and two weeks later I was with in the band and going to Florida.
 
Are you working on a second album?
 
Nathan: We’re working on music. A second album is a twinkle in our eyes right now.
 
Not A Planet is:
Nathan Corsi: guitarist, singer, wordsmith
Liam Sumnicht: drums, vocals
Bill Sturges: bass, vocals
Jodie Platz: tour manager
 
—Hannah Copeland
 
Hannah Copeland is a UMKC business student and self proclaimed "Fun Engineer". She books concerts for local bands every month, is working on an e-commerce music merchandise start-up, and is a lyricist and singer for her electronic band, Hunter Gatherer. She cannot wait to graduate next spring and work in radio broadcasting, music promotions, or bartending in South America. You can contact her at HeyHannahCopeland@gmail.com.
 
 
Not A Planet takes the stage again this Saturday at VooDoo Lounge, alongside St. Joseph’s Eyelit and Joplin’s Me Like Bees. Show starts at 9 p.m. Facebook event page.
 
 
NYC

Album review: The Big Iron – We Will Fall

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(Photo by Todd Zimmer)
 
The Big Iron has something to say, and you are going to listen. On its latest release We Will Fall, The Big Iron captures the aggression of ‘90s hardcore punk rock while peppering in surf and foot stompin’ southern rock. The 12-song release is well comprised of all the things I love about this genre: aggression with a message and catchy hooks.
 
Throughout the record I reminisce about the days of fighting "the man,” scoring a pint, and evading the fuzz on my skateboard. Straight ahead, The Big Iron rides while dragging everyone else behind them. "We all are gonna die / we don’t know how to live" sums up the the band’s message on the title track. Let’s burn this mother down and party while we do it!
 
The first track, "Climate Refuge," opens with a tremolo surf riff that entices the listener to play along. There’s more going on here than just a surf punk song, however. The message is dark and gloomy, accusing the human race of destroying its own environment. Pretty deep stuff for a punk band. 
 
"Trees Explode" is an epic, soaring track. Frontman Jeff Pendergraft yells and screams over a spacey groove with an intensity unmatched by most. 
 
"Atomic Acid Groove" is psychedelic punk rock song to the nth degree. Rise and fall, the pendulum swings until all the kinetic energy resolves. Anyone that has partaken in mind-altering substances can relate to this track. Traveling through time, leaving nothing behind, and all the while unaware that the oasis just ahead is slowly fading. 
 
Doesn’t everyone dream about absolutely crushing your opponent? Whether that opponent is a boss, friend, foe or stranger no one can be saved on "F.P.F.U.” Pendergraft screams, "Your God isn’t here! It’s just you and me!" Meanwhile, palm-muted guitars punch through and finish the job. There’s no pussy footin’ around on this track. 
 
While there are some softer tunes like "Letter to a Grave" "Saturated" and "This is the End", the message remains the same; through fire and flame, with reckless abandonment, The Big Iron screams, “FUCK YOU!”
 
I’m personally thankful for bands like The Big Iron. We all need a voice that says what we really want to say, and on We Will Fall, that voice is loud and clear. You won’t need to keep your eyes and ears open for The Big Iron. They will find you, and you will see and listen. 
 
—Josh Simcosky
 
Josh is a KC native that loves anything meat- or tube-driven related. He also plays guitar for Leering Heathens and Sharp Weapons.
 
 

Head over to recordBar on Friday, May 30, for an evening of loud, heavy rock ‘n roll, as The Big Iron celebrates the release of We Will Fall. The Death Scene and The Philistines will open. Starts at 10 p.m. Facebook event page. 

 

 

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