St. Louis Music Blog

REVIEW BY KELSEY WHIPPLE

From the looks of things last night at the Gargoyle, Dearland seems like a nice place to be. Transformed by the beards and spirits of upstate New York's Elvis Perkins in Dearland, the midsized crowd experienced what that place sounds like, at the very least -- like the O Brother, Where Art You? soundtrack met Rufus Wainwright and the two got along swimmingly. There might just be hope yet in Elvis's jokes that the band's "dear land" is real.

(AA Bondy, last night at the Gargoyle)

The quiet (and often quaint) night started with, floated around and quietly ended with. folk influences -- a comforting common denominator between Elvis and his easygoing opener, A.A. Bondy. Bondy, backed by two musicians, opened the evening with a bit of a lull -- albeit a soothing, sway-inducing one, with gentle melodies about life's ifs sung in a gusty, lilting singsong. A few choice curse word merited enough humor for Bondy to joke that the venue "is not a church," a sarcastic and rather foreboding warning of events to come. Near its end, Bondy's set devolved into somewhat of a musical wild rumpus, with both Elvis and the "in Dearland" part of his band flocking to the stage to add layer upon layer to a final instrument solo that sounded as fun as it looked.

Jason Stoff

Japandroids at the Billiken Club, last night. Entire slideshow here.

​Japandroids do a lot with a little. Last night at the Billiken Club, singer/guitarist Brian King and singer/drummer David Prowse--just two affable fellas, neither equipped with show-off skills--para-tagged lo-fi pop and fuzzy punk in a way that muscled up their likeable debut, Post-Nothing. The pair played fast and it played with vigor. Most important, of course, Japandroids played - its songs beg to be performed by musicians who can do slam-bang all evening without once lapsing in energy. To see Prowse's spastic womps and King's air-guitar heroics (and he was playing guitar) is to understand why the music was made in the first place. This was an understanding made intelligible, too, by the small, but dedicated, band of mosh-pitters who materialized during "Rockers East Vancouver" and every song thereafter.

Saint Louis University's Billiken Club finished this semester's concert series last night with Vancouver's the Japandroids and Florida's Surfer Blood. Photographer Jason Stoff was in the sweaty mess of bodies during the Japandroids set and brought back 40 photos from the show: The slideshow is titled Japandroids, Surfer Blood at the Billiken Club, 11/20/09; view ten of them below:

Photo: Jason Stoff

Brian King of Japandroids. See more photos from last night's show in our slideshow.

​

The mere existence of this documentary should send post-punk fans, synth dorks and music historians into spasms of ectasy. The BBC's Synth Britannia examines the rise of the UK's early '80s synthpop movement. More specifically, it's a 90-minute, thorough examination of the genre's roots, major players and nascent bands -- all placed into historical, economic and pop-culture context. Musicians and labels featured are first-rate: OMD, Fad Gadget, Visage, Mute Records, Throbbing Gristle, Human League, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode...

Eight of the doc's nine parts are on YouTube. Below is part four, which features a small bit about the Silicon Teens, a fake band dreamed up by Mute founder Daniel Miller. The act's shtick was synthed-up versions of classic rock & roll songs, a roster of songs which included Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee." Check it below in the middle of the clip. (But keep watching: Right after this segment ends, Gary Numan gives make-up tips.) Hat tip to the awesome retro '80s blog Slicing Up Eyeballs for blogging about this.

​
The Daily RFT linked a video from last night's KSDK broadcast about the apparently dangers of the "emo lifestyle." The story's tied to the case of Alyssa Bustamante, a 15-year-old from outside of Jefferson City charged with killing her 9-year-old neighbor:

Reporter: "For young people, the world 'emo' might be nothing new."

Sadly (and hilariously enough), these stories about the dangers of emo are rather common... ZOMG!! EMOS ARE EVERYWHERE!

(Videos below selected by Annie Zaleski; commentary by Nick Lucchesi)

From 2007:

Reporter: "This fad is turning dangerous in some schools. Emo is a type of fashion that has gone to extremes in various schools."

Emo Kid: "I see it as people who are expressing their pain through their actions."

Sheriff Guy: "It's hair that covers half your face, it covers one eye. The point of that is to only see the world in half-view."

Sheriff Guy: "The acting out of the fashion, it is where the more depressed you look, the more points you earn. There's a point system with this fashion -- an 'emo scale' is what they call it."

Reporter: "You can earn a point or two for wearing tight-worn sweaters, more points if you cry a lot and a few more if you cut yourself. And you hit the jackpot if you attempt suicide."

It just gets better from there. Kudos Lacey Crisip of WDAZ.

Two locally produced documentaries about St. Louis music are premiering tonight as part of SLIFF. The Pride of St. Louis chronicles the rise and fall of Mama's Pride, in the words of brothers Danny and Pat Liston, while Old Dog, New Trick throws the spotlight on Steve Scorfina, a founding member of REO Speedwagon and member of Pavlov's Dog. The 7 p.m. Tivoli screening will be followed at 9:30 p.m. by a show at the Duck Room with Danny Liston and the Scorfina band. Tickets are $10 to the movies, $10 to the concert, or $18 for both, available at the Tivoli's box office. Christian Schaeffer reviewed both movies this week in the RFT; view a trailer for Old Dog, New Trick below.

OLD DOG NEW TRICK trailer from Mike Steinberg on Vimeo.

Last night, Harper Simon wasn't received as the lauded prodigal son of a folk-rock and songwriting legend. He was another unknown, paying his dues in an empty room. Although he played to an indifferent audience, Simon led a group of top-notch players in extended rock breakdowns of his recent debut album's folk- and alt-country-tinged songs. With unhurried confidence, Simon displayed solid songwriting skills and musicianship--as well as the ability to place the right people around him, ones who can expand your vision and make you more than you were alone.

Thank goodness for hometown openers the Pernikoff Brothers, as there was a good chance that without them, Simon would have played only for those getting paid to be there: the bartenders and me. The three-piece makes appealing, acoustic-based blue-eyed soul with muted harmonies. The two brothers take turns on instruments and lead vocals, but Tom Pernikoff's light-sandpaper voice provides the basis for "sounds-like" comparisons with national acts: Jamie Cullum without the piano or Ray LaMontagne with human contact. Rick and Tom Pernikoff, who attended elite Boston universities before starting up a company in Silicon Valley, seem to bring bona-fide business smarts to building their band's name, as evidenced by the crowd showing. It'll be interesting to watch as they make plans for sonic expansion (adding horns) and local domination.

So says a press release received from his publicist, with a list of 2010 solo tour dates. February 16 is the St. Louis one listed for the Lemonheads frontman, although the Old Rock House's website doesn't list it yet. The tour is this, says the email:

Evan will be performing an intimate set featuring songs from his solo album and plenty of classic Lemonheads tunes along with several inspired covers, including some from his most recent covers album, Varshons (06/09, The End Records).

The Lemonheads played at the Voodoo Lounge a few years ago, btw. Show info as it's announced.

​On Saturday night at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, '90s pop band the Boorays is playing a show to commemorate its twentieth anniversary. A good history of the band can be found here, although Roy Kasten neatly summed up the band in this week's paper like this:

Like few bands from the early '90s rock scene in St. Louis, the Boorays sounds timeless -- or as timeless as its obvious R.E.M. and dB's influence permit. You could say the quartet got lucky with sources, or you could just recognize the talent of principal singer and songwriter Mark Stephens, who has never sounded quite as comfortable, confident or free as when aided by the precise rhythm section of Andy Thomson and Bob Kaemmerlen, the garage guitar of Mike Hellebusch and the whole band's keen, airy harmonies.

The band goes on at 10 p.m. (The Helium Tapes are headlining, Tight Pants Syndrome is opening.) Three of its members kindly took the time to answer some queries about what they're up to and how to snag their remastered music. View these quotes -- and snag some tunes -- below!

MP3: The Boorays, "Somethin' Sweet"

MP3: The Boorays, "Girl Repellent"

MP3: The Boorays, "Stop Drop-N-Roll"

Why are the Boorays doing a reunion show now?
Andrew Thomson, bassist/vocalist: Well.... we are kind of downplaying this aspect because it puts an exclamation point on how, um, experienced we are, but it does happen to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the first time we played out.
Mike Hellebusch, guitarist/vocalist: After all these years, the band still loves its music and our friends and families continue to talk about the influence of the band on them and how much they enjoyed attending our concerts and listening to our music.
Bob Kaemmerlen, drummer/vocalist: We really miss the music. As the years roll forward, we forget about sleeping on people's floors out of town and spending all day in a van together. The music is still pretty important to us.

​

From television to the radio to the internet, indie-folk newcomer A.A. Bondy has been popping up everywhere lately. In addition to touring with Bon Iver, the Felice Brothers and Conor Oberst, he's appeared at Bonnaroo, recorded a session for Daytrotter.com and performed for Conan O'Brien (to name a few). Furthermore, his music has been roundly praised by influential tastemakers such as Brooklynvegan, Pitchfork, Stereogum and-- ahem-- the Riverfront Times.

Yep, Bondy seems to be steadily climbing the ladder of success, but it's not for nothin'. His debut album, 2007's American Hearts, was so warm, so hauntingly beautiful, that audiences immediately took notice. His glowing arrangements carry just the right amount of magic to induce fuzzy, slow-motion Winnie-Cooper-standing-in-the-sunshine Wonder Years-type moments.

Critics frequently describe him as "the next Bob Dylan," but this weighty comparison doesn't seem to have gone to his head. For all of his musical intensity, Bondy comes off like a normal dude. We caught up with him on the road last week while he was en route to an Atlanta gig and he was both humble and humorous. (Bondy is currently on the road with Elvis Perkins in support of his sophomore release, When the Devil's Loose.)