The Back Room, the premier Austin venue for heavy metal acts for the last three decades, closed its doors for good after this past Saturday’s performance. The official statement from the club is that owner Ronnie Roark is ready for retirement, but several sources in Austin attribute it to the rising rate of urban development in the city (evidently this tract of land will soon be another sparkling new condominium complex.) No matter the reason, it’s a somber time for live music fans, as this marks yet another loss for the local music scene.

The Back Room played host to many touring acts over time - from Pearl Jam, Tool and Soundgarden to the Ramones and Public Enemy. This low-key location and no frills bar became the hangout for metalheads and the prime performance spot for aspiring heavy metal bands from the Austin area, including Quartershackle, Rainsliver, and Meyvn. With only a couple venues willing to book heavier acts (most of which are situated along downtown’s Red River District,) metal fans and local bands will be the hardest impacted by this closing.

Somehow, it’s been five years since I last saw The Weakerthans live.  No excuse, they’ve been through town lots of times.  I’ve just never gone.  Which is weird, since I really do like them and think John K Samson is one of the top songwriters this country has to offer right now - the fact that his band also rocks out is gravy.  But as their headlining show at the “From The Peg” festival at Harbourfront (celebrating the city of Winnipeg) showed, it has been far far too long.

Fittingly, Samson opened the show solo with the affectionate and ironic ode to his hometown, “One Great City!”.  But once joined onstage by the rest of the band the Weakerthans ratcheted up the tempo for the next hour fifteen with selections from all three of their records and a handful of new songs which will hopefully see the light of day sooner than later - it’s already been three years since Reconstruction Site.  While the grinning Samson mostly played the shy boy frontman, his bandmates were a whirling rock machine, striking poses, doing windmills, the whole bit.  I know it’d been half a decade since I’d seen them last, but I really don’t remember them being such… extroverts.  Samson did step up on a riser for his one guitar solo but for the most part, was content to let his words speak for him.

It’s amazing that a band that at first listen sounds so straightforward can actually possess so much depth.  You could call them emo-punk, power-pop or indie-rock and they’d be all reasonably accurate descriptors but at the core of it all, Samson is really a folk singer and poet of the people.  Maybe because he grafts them to music so simple, energetic and melodic they can get overlooked but Samson’s lyrics are some of the most splendid in contemporary music.  Whether channelling a cat concerned for its owner or an Antarctic explorer, his words are never less than literate, wry and warm but never come off as overly-earnest, pretentious or cloying.  He’s got an almost unnatural gift in his ability to capture in words the frailty, poignancy and very essence of the human heart.  I know how high-faluting that probably sounds but it’s true.  I don’t know if the show necessarily convinced me to book my next vacation for Winnipeg, but it did remind me that The Weakerthans are a band I always forget how much I love until I hear them.  Almost without fail, if I listen to one album I need to hear the other two straight after before I can move on.  It surely won’t be five years before I see them live again.

See gig photos here and read the The Globe & Mail piece where talk to Weakerthans guitarist Stephen Carroll about being Winnipeg icons.

MP3: The Weakerthans - “Plea From A Cat Named Virtue”
MP3: The Weakerthans - “Aside”
MP3: The Weakerthans - “The Last Last One”
Video: The Weakerthans - “The Reasons”
Video: The Weakerthans - “Psalm For The Elks Lodge”
MySpace: The Weakerthans

Originally published at chromewaves.net.

My appreciation for Venus Hum began nearly six years ago when I caught their SXSW performance in a hole-in-the-wall bar on Sixth Street. Not normally a fan of electronic type music, I was immediately captivated by their musical creativity. A laptop, a projector, and a few other doodads that I’m still unfamiliar with were all it took for this modest-looking trio to put on a successful, fun performance. Very impressive. I walked away from that show a proud owner of their fresh-off-the-press self-titled album - the one that is now out of print and fairly difficult to find. (If you MUST have one, there are a couple used on Amazon.com for just over $100!)

After six years, six subsequent albums and a stint where each focused on individual projects (and poor Annette Strean dealt with some scary vocal issues,) these quirky musicians have reunited to create and finally release their latest work just a couple weeks ago. The Colors in the Wheel is a bold statement of electronic pop—Annette Strean’s strong yet feminine vocals icing on the musical cake. Standout tracks include the opening one, “Turn Me Around,” where the group used simply one instrument - an accoustic guitar - in a very focused, manipulative way, and “Pink Champagne,” a poppier song (one that could easily turn the MTV generation on to this threesome) that just makes you want to bounce to the bassy synth sounds.

With each album, Venus Hum becomes more and more developed and engaging. The Colors in the Wheel is their best yet.

Venus Hum on MySpace
mp3 of JJ Abrams’ “Alias” theme recreated per his request—Fighting For Love
Music video for Pink Champagne

Clarence Greenwood (aka Citizen Cope) has got a good thing going. Between his catchy rhythms and reggae-ish vocals, it’s no surprise that his fall season is booked solid with an expansive U.S. tour. 

Continue reading "Citizen Cope Prepares for Tour"

It really sucks to stumble across an interesting band, one whose lone full-length album you just can’t get enough of, only to find out that they’ve since disbanded and gone their separate ways. This is my current dilemma with Hurts to Purr—once a local act here in Austin. 

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Bringing along a so-called buzz band along to open for you on tour can be a two-edged sword.  On one hand, it makes your show that much more attractive to the hipster crowd and surely helps attendance but on the other hand, you run the risk of half the crowd leaving before your set or even worse, being upstaged by the support (assuming the buzz is well-founded).  That was a risk that Sunderland, UK’s Futureheads seemed willing to take when they invited Minneapolis blog darlings Tapes’N’Tapes along to open a leg of their North American tour in support of sophomore effort News And Tributes.

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For those of you who missed the bus on Austin City Limits Festival’s 3-day pass, your next best option is a one-day ticket. These too are selling like hotcakes so be quick about getting them. As this year’s festival promises to be just as hot, humid and possibly just as dusty, catching the aftershows might be the best bet for those who prefer to bypass Zilker Park. Here are your options while tickets last.

Continue reading "ACL Festival Aftershows"