Blogging has been light as we anticipate the digital release of the new Strawberry Burns album, but we’ve been pretty busy making music, too.

• Dark Satellites has one more show in this run, next Friday in Omaha, and then probably a break until late March.  Drew is picking away at recording new stuff, song-by-song.
• Mars Lights – Drew’s main guitar tracks were finished in December, and now all of my bass and guitar is done, as of a couple nights ago.  We’re moving on to vocals, and a few more guitar overdubs for Drew on my songs.  Perhaps a fall release for the LP?  Plus, he’ll get Side 3 mixed before then.  I’ve written three or four new Mars Lights ideas lately, too.
• Sally M/S Ride – Ventura is on pause while the mic I need for acoustic guitars is occupied by the Mars Lights sessions.  I’ve written some more doom riffs for the doom experiment, and I’m tracking bass at home for an EP that will be sort of unofficial (but anyone who wants to will be able to hear it).
• Cory’s done guitars for his next solo joint, and will be doing vocals soon.  (He might be doing them right now.  I forget when that was planned to happen.)  Then he’ll send those to me to mix back into the main sessions, and I’ll record bass and background vocals.

That’s the bulk of it, though I’m sure I’m forgetting odds and ends.  I’m rrrrrrrl excited for Mars Lights, especially.  -h

The reliable Riot Room hosted a good show last Saturday night, featuring a band I’ve wanted to see for a long time; Ladyfinger (ne), whose third record, Errant Forms, is coming out in a few weeks. The sound was outstanding (clear and loud, but not uncomfortable), the stage changes were fast, and I enjoyed a Firestone Wookie Jack black IPA and a Boulevard Rye on Rye from their excellent beer selection. It only occurs to me as I type this, but I think the Riot Room has become my favorite club in town.

Ladyfinger hit pretty hard, mostly with new jams from Errant Forms. Being a long-time fan seeing them for the first time, the two older songs (“Over and Over,” “Little Things,” from Dusk) were my highlights, but the new record should be another great one, and more consistent with their previous work than the leaked “Dark Horse” indicates.

Chris’ vocals are more raw and punk live than on the albums, which revealed the band’s sonic roots in DC hardcore, which I hadn’t noticed before but are clear in retrospect. Pat’s drumming, on the other hand, is exactly as precise and hard-hitting in person as it is on their studio work. I’d see Ladyfinger (ne) again, any time.

All the way back at the beginning of the night, Back When, also from Omaha, opened the proceedings with a lead-heavy vibe that allowed melodic fragments to cut through only periodically. They’re in their second incarnation (the first was as a crushingly loud, slightly blackened doom band), which operates with more conventional tempos and arrangements than before, but is still plenty weird. Bass chords all over, on a Rickenbacker; that’s a win. I haven’t found Champion Hologram, which most of the set was pulled from, to be necessary listening, but I’d be happy to see them on another bill.

The second act, locals Everyday/Everynight, are still working through their influences (The Shins, The Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie). They had some nice vocal harmonies and played solid background-level indie music, but were a strange pick for a Ladyfinger show; lots of extended slow songs, and a overly long set for an opener.

Maps for Travelers played to the biggest crowd of the night. They’re fantastic at what they do, which is a strain of early-aughts emo-core. Enviously tight, great guitar tone (cleaner than you’d imagine, but it summed to a beautiful roar), big energy; the downside, for me, was that only one riff really transcended genre. Your mileage may vary.

Tim interviewed Cory recently about work, music, and getting things done.

I’m learning all the time how to use words with utility and to be as brief as possible. I think that carries over into storytelling when you’re writing lyrics.

-Cory

Also, Tim was the subject of a related video and interview.  (I’m a little late in posting this, but it’s still good.)  He’s leaving Dark Satellites for a great job in Portland, and we’re going to miss him.

This is Where I Rock from Forty Two on Vimeo.

Cory’s being weird and funny for the holidays, Jim made the AV Club’s annual list of band names, and Drew and I will see you in Lincoln on Saturday.

“There are two categories of great rock’n’roll performers: visceral and mysterious. Visceral musicians let it all hang out—their performances are cathartic, unwieldy, and intensely personal. Bob Seger is a visceral guy; when Eddie Vedder climbs the balcony during ‘Even Flow’, he is displaying his visceral tendencies. Mysterious musicians refuse access to their inner lives. They shield their work from direct interpretation, shy away from on-stage histrionics, and swap out identities as quickly as some people change outfits. Bob Dylan is mysterious.”

– Aaron Leitko, from “No Tomorrow,” his recent Pitchfork piece on Ty Segall

When I think of great performers, they are mostly the visceral type in Aaron’s schema: Elvis, James Brown, Zach de la Rocha.  I wish I could be, but I know I’m not.  I’m mysterious (in this, limited, sense).  Do you know which you are?  Do you wish you were the other?

Visceral or mysterious maps pretty straightforwardly onto extroverted/introverted, I think.  Do you find yourself with the crowd, or do you become vulnerable to the crowd?

Drew, while he can swing his guitar around and dance, is still mysterious.  He’s always inward-facing, toward the band, when he rocks out.  Tim, on the other hand, is completely visceral, of course!  Scottie’s mysterious.  Cory is visceral.

Being mysterious can work, though.  It can draw people in.  In Five Star Crush, I set my keyboard up far stage right, facing the rest of the band, turned ninety degrees away from the audience (i.e., my side was to the crowd).  It helped me lose myself in the set, it helped me communicate with the rhythm section, and it focused attention on Joel.  I’d play, stomp, jump, sometimes pound my chest, and sort of  do this two-step rocking motion that felt pretty good.  Regularly, after the show, someone would come up and say something like “You looked like you were really into the music, and it got me into it, too!”

Theatricality is as important to effective mystery as it is to being visceral effectively.