Living The It List Part I: Thursday 2/15/07

Writing about what's going on everyday and sifting through countless Myspace pages, band websites and Youtube clips is often a mind numbing task. This isn't to say that it compares to hard labor or anything, but it can be an abstract exercise and a real guessing game when one considers the typical disparity between a trashy 4-track to streaming player sound and that of an actual performer sweating and breathing on stage, or on the floor in front of a stage, or in a living room in Denton. Usually the results are far from what you would expect, and depending on your first digital impression of an act, the surprises can range from pleasant to embarrassing. Last Thursday's show at Rubber Gloves, featuring MC Router, Koji Kondo, The Heartrapers, and Eat Avery's Bones presented various levels of surprise, from good to, um, not-so-good. But even that's better than no surprise at all.

As people were still trickling in to Rubber Gloves in true dragged feet fashion, MC Router was beginning what was obviously the evening's anomalous set, which is a status that is to be expected when one raps about being an "8-bit Bitch" with a superior emulator. Or so you'd think. There was a disturbing number of references to other "Nerdcore" rappers and how Router was one of the first in the genre, meaning that all those other "newbies" should back the fuck up. Young local rappers 1-800 Zombie were on the receiving end of having an entire song dedicated to them, and Router also made several remarks about being featured in Wired magazine and the tech-friendly hipster site, Boing Boing. I know that narcissistic self-serving boastfulness is key with hip hop and rap lyrics whether it's sold out of a trunk in Waco or performed with extreme irony in a predominantly milquetoast indie rock environment and that braggart element is a selling point for many people, myself included. But I felt that the level of self-consciousnness during Router's set threatened to usurp the humor of what was mostly a fairly fun, enjoyable performance. I'm not going to pretend that I'm a Nerdcore aficionado and I honestly wasn't expecting to like this act, but Router is undeniably good at what she does, somehow managing to keep a string of tongue-twisting tech terms spilling out of her raspy throat without losing the hints of melody found on her recorded tracks. That's no easy feat either, especially in a live rap performance.

The next set took the show in the complete opposite direction, away from the well lit stage to the dungeon-like darkness of the RGRS floor. There was very little "floor banter" from Koji Kondo, who could obviously care less whether you knew who they were or not. They ripped through a scalpel-sharp set of tight and efficient skronk punk with complex guitar parts complicatedly ping-ponging around early 80's hardcore beats. The band was a perfect marriage of later Beefheart or Fred Frith free-guitar, pummeling punk rhythm and shout/speak smart-ass vocals. They seemed almost frightening as a practically invisible force (line of sight: not so good) that was somehow spewing an incredibly focused cacophony to a stunned crowd that just sort of vibrated in place, floor level with the band. Occasionally you'd get a glimpse of a wiry shirtless drummer firing away between snare and tom rolls, a brawny singer pacing the floor, and a guitarist that somehow kept getting direct hits with his fretwork even though he seemed to catapult from one wall to another. Koji Kondo were definitely impressive and seemed refreshingly humble with a head-down attitude. Too bad their set only lasted about four minutes, but that's pretty much the standard for frantic art punk bands that play 1919 Hemphill on a regular basis.

Decidedly less humble were Denton's Heartrapers, whose attitude towards the music and even the audience was much more attention starved and playfully confrontational. Depending on your opinion of this age-old Rock aesthetic, it was either great entertainment or gratingly annoying. There was an almost West Coast screamo feeling to their music, with The Blood Brothers more than likely an influence in addition to a handful of bands who peaked along with the rise and eventual decline of Buddyhead records earlier this decade. While watching their set, it occurred to me that DFW has had relatively few bands that would fit any of these descriptions, giving Heartrapers more of an advantage than they would have if they lived in, say, San Diego, the birthplace of much of this screaming style of hardcore. I expected a few more twists and turns in some of the playing, and though it was well executed, the rockisms in the band's demeanor were echoed by some of the standard riffing. None of what this obviously talented group did was bad and there were certainly some solid moments, but I left not being able to recall their music as much as I could probably imitate their various struts, stances and poses.

Finally, the group that goes beyond merely posing but instead transforms stages and clubs into their own personal carnival show finished things off beautifully. And I don't mean carnival show as in what the public sees, but rather the part that only the kids know about, complete with carnies doing meth behind the porta-johns after everyone goes home. Eat Avery's Bones has become a local icon, one of the few bands that brings a smile to your face whenever they take the stage. In this case the group was wearing its usual yet constantly revolving assortment of everything from a rastafarian cap (complete with fake dreads) to a brightly colored raincoat while continuing their lovely tradition of having an audience member don a wizard costume and hold the microphone in place for the group's drummer/singer. EAB's balanced mix of humor, energy, and chops is one of the best local live experiences and has yet to grow thin after witnessing their it several times over the past year. A couple of new songs (including one cover, I believe) were also nice surprises. Eat Avery's Bones will be releasing a split seven inch with Koji Kondo and I'm sure it will beat whatever over-hyped full length gets force fed to us all by publicist mafias, local and national alike. And to clarify, this was Eat Avery's Bones and not Midlake, which the band introduced themselves as early in the evening. I hope no one was confused.

I expected a pretty good show on Thursday (which isn't always the case), but this was surprisingly better than I expected. Even if some acts were more enjoyable than others, I respected the diversity in the well-rounded bill, providing further evidence that it's always best to take chances and book acts that don't necessarily fit together. It's something I wish more show organizers would do, especially in Dallas. At this point, nobody can afford not to take risks, artistically and commercially, lest we all drown in a sea of abandoned clubs, broken up bands, and apathetic audiences. People have to have a reason to care about local music, and let's face it: at this point, a lot of local venues and booking agents don't have a hell of a lot to lose.