Let's start off with a salute to Erin & Charlie at Hal & Mal's. They've been really accommodating with the rock n' roll. Give them a slap on the back (or the backside) the next time you're there. And tip well. Robin, Laura, and Shannon always laugh at your jokes. That's some tough work.
And one more salute to Ronbot Rodenmeyer, who dusted off the Farfisa to help Buddies murder other peoples' songs for a change. Good times. And my apologies for any chocolate still stuck to the floor.
Now on to Harlem (from TX). Most of their self-released LP played on repeat in my head throughout the year. Jingle, jangle, woowoo. Instant hootenanny. And that's exactly what happened when they hit the stage armed with the biggest kick drum I've ever seen. I think I sang along to songs I've never even heard before. I definitely drank along. New record soon from Matador, so you can play along at home.
I've been locked in an iron lung for the past several days. So please bear with any incoherence. But I'm happy to report on thee awesomest JXN show in years. I mean like since Nick Deathray used to dance on tables with his cuban heels (or were they pumps?) at Martin's.
It was the last weekend of the State Fair. The scent of corndogs and carnies filled the crisp air of the Hal & Mal's patio bar. Perfect. The patio bar is also the smallest of Hal & Mal's venues. So by the time Vivian Girls took the stage, 100+ kids were piled on top of each other and dancing on tables. Greasy Chip, doorman extraordinaire, reported that carloads came in from as far as Louisiana. Let's hear it for 18+ shows. And let's hear it for Schooler's sweet cornblade poster.
New/revised Jackson band, Cursed Branches opened with a LOUDDDD set of Superchunky tunes. Good stuffs. Closed with The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait." Yes. ¡Los Buddies! played next and we turned in a pretty good set. Even the stuff that broke managed to break appropriately, if that makes any sense. I had a blast, at least. Cassie challenged us to play our Urinals cover with the promise Vivian Girls would play their Wipers cover. Unfortunately, we didn't quite remember how to play it. Fortunately, the Vivs were great sports and played "Telepathic Love" anyway.
Which brings me to the VIVIAN GIRLS. Wowza. They were awesome last time they stopped in Jackson - which was sometime between them instantly selling out of their Mauled By Tigers debut and the In The Red repress. They were selling CDRs of the album as fast as they could burn them on the MacBook. Everyone at 121 Millsaps that night became an instant fan. And I bought a Holy Grail reverb pedal.
But now they had a new album, a handful of new singles and, of course, new drummer Aly. Somehow they were even awesomer than the last show. I think maybe they backed off the trance-inducing reverb a little bit and dialed up the rocks and rolls. They were on fire from the first note and never let up. Every face in the crowd was beaming, even the ones crammed in someone else's armpit. I managed to squeeze my way up front next to KC, and everything else is a blur of beers and hollers. "Out For The Sun" was particularly amazing. I like that tune on the record, but when Cassie's belting that out right in front of your face it's 1000x intense. By the end, the Vivian Girls launched into a noise jam where they seamlessly switched instruments and fell back into "My Baby Wants Me Dead." Nice.
Bobby Tacos had cleaned his apartment and cooked a batch of jambalaya, so the ladies headed their after the show. After a thoroughly surreal encounter with an "urban shaman" at the Shell station (ask Murph), I stopped by Bob's for one last beer. The jambalaya was great and Kickball Katy introduced us to the marvels of Maru The Cat. Good night.
