Hooray For Earth crashes earthside

New York City’s Hooray For Earth popped into town the other night at Kilby Court and blew the spot up, as the hip hoppers would say.

As I reported in SLUG a few months ago this quartet of former Boston musicians is getting better and better. Though I haven’t seen any other shows of theirs’ I can say the one I captured on my brain cellophane is one for the books—or EPs in this case. They did a flawless job of recreating their last release, the Momo EP, live, skipping only one song from that 6 song vinyl.

Hooray for Earth is a new brand of old ideas based on synth sounds from the 80s that incorporate modern song phrasings, lyrical styling and attitude. The result is an infectious beat machine combined with great vocal choruses and genuine joy-inducing structure.

Once again I was shocked by the city’s disregard for quality and insistence on whatever the fuck other bullshit was happening that night. I think Kilby never gets enough cred for the constant amount of good music it pumps out. Fortunately, the crowd really enjoyed Hooray For Earth and the gents were very gentlemanly afterwards. Humble and very open, they informed me that the group is working on new material and should have it out and ready for touring by spring of 2011.

Check out something from the Momo EP here and enjoy a take on this up-and-coming New York quartet.

—JP

4.10.10

The Spins, Max Pain & The Groovies || Kilby Court 4.10.10

The Groovies

Kilby Court is a genuine staple and treasure to Salt Lake City residents. The all-ages venue tucked into a corner off 7th South and 300 West still impresses after all this time. April 10th saw local cats The Spins and Max Pain & The Groovies literally bringing the house down⎯people were falling into heaps from erratic mid-dance collisions. The crowd response to Max Pain and his Grooviness (whatever the hell that means) was the most aggressive I’ve ever seen in a place I’ve been visiting for at least a decade⎯especially for the type of music being played. One doesn’t expect “slam dancing” to music that isn’t punk or metal but these younger Utah fans seem to ooze this kind of energy.


The Groovies

Two guitarists, a bassist, drummer and bespectacled lead singer made some excellent neo-psychedelia inspired rock with touches of southern grit and steady roll. One of the only critical bits to offer would be some better mic control work from lead singer Slave (or Slavid), and a bit more work on large stages, which these gents will be getting more experience with April 17th along with CWMA 2010 winners The Naked Eyes at Snowbasin.

The Spins

Talk about The Spins has been floating around City Weekly’s offices for some time⎯and for good reason. This trio is solid and a bit more polished than the Groovies were. Their set had some amazing straight rock moments, sans vocals and pretensions. Guitarist Mike Sayer really rips and does it consistently and convincingly⎯someone has been practicing scales.
The Spins


These young bands are a challenge to the older folk in their genre. The kids have energy and really great social networking skills that some of their older teachers lack. The next few years will see these bands coming of age and playing in 21+ venues. Start practicing more, longtooths⎯you’re going to need it to compete with these young bucks.

See this band at another all-ages venue, Mojos in Ogden, on April 24th.

⎯Jon Paxton

CWMA picks 2010/a moment with Mike Brown

JP's CWMA2010 Staff Picks

YOU CAN'T SAY THAT ON TELEVISION

Action-sports cable channel Fuel TV came to Utah in 2009 to profile local snowboarder Laura Hadar. The resulting segment features a performance by local punks, The Fucktards. Front man Mike Brown said this about the Fuel TV experience: “They kept acting like The Fucktards were doing them a huge favor. So, if getting blackout-wasted on national TV is a favor, well then, I wouldn’t mind doing more favors for people.” Check out the blackout at Fuel.tv/Firsthand. Read more about Mike's thoughts on this experience below.

NO JOKE

When Sen. Orrin Hatch released a Hanukkah song in December, his involvement provoked attention far and wide—including from The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien (RIP), which responded with a Mormon jingle. Though Hatch´s tune sparked parodies and jokes, the senator maintains his status as a serious songwriter in the LDS Church community, noting that, “As a Mormon, I have always been a supporter of … the Jewish community.”

IT'S NOTEWORTHY. NO, SERIOUSLY-THAT'S THEIR NAME

NBC jumped on the Glee-inspired train recently with its a cappela competition The Sing-Off, which featured local all-female group Noteworthy racing to win $100,000 in December 2009. Unfortunately, the group from Brigham Young University did not win, but sang to rave reviews regardless. Panel member Ben Folds even gave them props, saying they had “loads of charisma ... loads of energy.” NoteworthyLadies.com

 

LONGER LIFELINE THAN THAT VAMPIRE FRANCHISE
Calm down—you know all those vicious rumors about the Twilight Concert Series meeting a grisly, premature end? So false. Yes, downtown Salt Lake City’s biggest weekly music festival will not take place in its longstanding home at the Gallivan Center, which is scheduled to undergo some major renovations this spring. But fans who raved about 2009 headliners Bon Iver, M. Ward, Sonic Youth (above, not my photo credit) and others can rest easy knowing that founder Casey Jarman says, “Twilight will happen [in 2010]. It will just be in a different form than it has been in past years.” Stay tuned. And in the meantime, toast Jarman and the SLC Arts Council for making this town a cooler place to live.

Mike Brown (of the Fucktards and SLUG magazine) had more to say about the Laura Hadar episode than fit into the paper, but his answers were interesting enough I've included our whole email interview, yes, the WHOLE thing, below.

JP: How did it feel to have your performance broadcast all over the world?

MB: Pretty good, I kind of felt like a sellout changing the name from the Fucktards to the Fun Tarts, but I understand. Fuel is owned by Fox and as of yet f-bombs can't get dropped. although there is lots of Man-butt and side-boob on the FX station.

JP: How are the Fuel TV guys?

MB: They were really cool and nice. They kept acting like The Fucktards were doing them a huge favor. So if getting blackout wasted on national TV is a favor, well then I wouldn't mind doing more favors for people.

JP: What do you think about Laura Hadar?

MB: In a world where so much is wrong with snowboarding and snowboarders Laura is everything that's right with snowboarding and snowboarders. There's not enough space in this interview to let everyone know how awesome she is.

JP: When is your next appearance on Fuel TV?

MB: I did a little spot for FUEL when they were here for the Dew Tour. I told them why I thought Salt Lake was cool. But as of yet I have no plans for extreme TV any time soon.

JP: What's the next step in the Fucktard domination plan?

MB: Everyone seems to want us to record. But that sounds boring to me. the next step for the Fucktards might have to turn into 12 steps for our guitarist Dan Rose if you know what I mean.

JP: If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

MB: I would have toured before we all got too old and busy and drunk to do so successfully. I guess there is still time.

JP: What is your fondest memory of your childhood?

MB: When I was 7 my oldest sister ran me over with a snowmobile. And when I was nine her horse trampled me. and when I was eight my parents got divorced. Fond means shitty, right?

Naked Eyes/PlazticFurs CWMA 2010

The Friday night CWMA showcase with The Naked Eyes, Plastic Furs and Tolchock Trio went very well. The Naked Eyes had the crowd going immediately with sing-alongs and some really fuzzed out psychedalia-infused blues/old school rock. The crowd was very exuberant and loudly proclaimed appreciation during and after every song in a very infectious way.



The four-piece played songs from their album and their recent EP, Spell Talk, as well as some unrecorded new material about beloved, dead trucks and things that make you want to sing the blues. Congrats to this band for being one of the top three local acts of the year chosen to play the CWMA Finals February 20th at The Depot.

The next group of the night, The Plastic Furs, formerly known as The Furs (yes, a band that played the 2009 CWMA finals) fit right in after openers The Naked Eyes. Their last few releases have been heavily psychedelic but some of their newer material, as I heard it, seems to be an interesting take on their previous formula. This group has a lot of fans who came to observe their CWMA performance and they were not disappointed.



The Fur’s previous studio engineer, Justin Langford, recently joined the group as a new bassist and fit seamlessly in with Stephanie and Brian Holbrook’s drumming and singing—respectively. His style is a welcome addition to the group.

Though The Plastic Furs didn’t make it to the Finals this year their good friends and consistent show buddies, The Naked Eyes, did carrying on the tradition of the roots rock revival Salt Lake City is currently experiencing. Look forward to a new release from The Plastic Furs within the year, hopefully by summertime.

By all accounts Tolchock Trio did very well and didn’t disappoint their groupies, either. Unfortunately, I missed them this time, but it is almost a sure thing that one of Salt Lake City’s most consistent bands will be playing the CWMAs next year, so catch them with me then, for The CWMA 2011.