She don't love me, she loves my automobile

ZZ Top in the pre-"Sharp Dressed Man" days

"With my New York brim and my gold tooth displayed, no one will give me trouble because they know I've got it made."-I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
During my 14th summer, my parents made the wise choice to ship this precocious Greek/Italian lad off to the podunk town of Lincoln, California. The gig was to go wash dishes at a restaurant owned by some Greek friends. Being from the sticks myself, I quickly acquainted myself with Main Street. Not much there to do or see. Lots of pick-ups being driven with one arm crooked at a sun-baked 90 degree angle out the window.
It was on one such ride, with the son of the couple who owned the restaurant, that I became acquainted with ZZ Top. At the time, the band had been together for almost a dozen years.Currently, they are the longest touring group with the same line-up, followed by Golden Earring and Rush. This summer will be their 44th together as a trio.
Back in the early 80's, rock radio actually rocked and Sacramento's KZAP was a great example of that. Naturally, it was just out of range in Tracy, where I had originally embarked on this Greyhound journey. Or at least it wouldn't come through on my dad's radio dial, which was always stuck on sports talk. Anyways, here I was, riding in this root beer brown Chevy step-side and suddenly "Party on the patio" comes blaring out of the speakers and cracks me across the head with it's guitar and whips hook. I had never heard anything quite like it.
The basic premise of the song was that these locals would find a vacant house with a hot tub, proceed to have an impromptu party where anyone was welcome-as long as they brought booze or a bikini, and raise hell.The only standing rule was to jump the fence and run for it if the cops showed up. The song blazes with infectious bearded boogie- vocalist/guitarist Billy Gibbons vocals an urgent staccato cadence. The whole thing races by in under 3 minutes. But what a ride!
I had to find out more for myself about this Texas barroom band and immediately immersed myself in the album from which the song had come- El Loco. A little while later, I was introduced to it's predecessor Deguello, on my friend Frosty's Hi-Fi. I was immediately smitten and it remains a top ten favorite to this day.
Those of you familiar with El Loco, know it contains such lascivious gems as "Tube Snake Boogie" and "Pearl Necklace," both considered modern day double-entendre standards. Overall, it's a solid record with some fine bluesy gems like "I wanna drive you home" and the synth experimentation on the trippy stomper "Groovy little hippy pad" is kinda cool too. However, the defining moment of utter weirdness on this record is "Ten foot pole." The song starts off with a shuffling, mumbling scat of a vocal, then the breakdown section switches gears to a bluesy vocal rasp and a guitar part that is kind of a jagged blues meltdown. Great song. Someday I'll figure out what the hell they are singing about on that one.
Deguello, on the other hand, is the nadir,* or high point of the band's career.  Prior to the making of the album, the band had been on a damn fine roll with early albums that were rooted in the dirty blues like Rio Grande Mud and Tres Hombres. Those records had spawned gems like "Francine," "Waiting at the bus stop/Jesus just left Chicago" and "La Grange." But the group went on a three year hiatus due to the after effects of their Worldwide Texas Tour that had followed.This excursion had featured live animals onstage-including a longhorn steer, a buffalo, rattlesnakes and two vultures. Also traveling with the band were a saguaro and prickly pear cactus or two. This two year undertaking had driven them to the point of exhaustion and insanity. The buffalo needed a rest as well. They took three years off before going back to the studio.
When the group gathered in the studio again, recharged and full of life, they kicked-off Deguello with the beautiful "I thank you," a soul classic that Isaac Hayes had penned for Sam and Dave in the late 60's. In fact, Deguello teeters wonderously between blues power and freak power like no one ever has heard before or since.There's a cover of bluesman Elmore James' "Dust my broom" and "leopard skin tights" and a call and response in "Lowdown in the street." There's the great funky soloing on "Cheap sunglasses," one of the band's most identifiable tracks, that demonstrates a fuller sound for the groovin' thump of bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard.
 But the powerhouse of this record is the back to back pairing of "I'm bad, I'm nationwide" and "Fool for your stockings."  The former summarizes the ZZ Top philosophy: Hot rods, hot broads and bad-ass attitude.Gibbons plays a wicked guitar on the track as his phalanges effortlessly slide up and down the neck, dripping with emotive finger grease.
On "Fool for your stockings," a slow, steamy number, Gibson makes his intentions clear, in a subtle way. The jazzy blues licks that propel the solo on this song, are some of the finest he's put on record. In fact, the whole record is tracked almost perfectly, moving seamlessly blending between sounds from different eras that are all fused together by a vision to make a great rockin' record that pushes the boundaries of blues and strange, funky weirdness.

Rocking out on the World Wide Texas Tour

*We all know that the band's history doesn't end with those two albums. Eliminator, which followed El Loco, made them MTV darlings. With it's catchy hooks and slick outlaw imagery, the band saw success like never before. After continuing to veer further into pop territory, they steered back to their bluesy roots about fifteen years ago.
This summer ZZ Top will be opening for Kid Rock. I could stop there but I won't.
 I continue to be mystified by Kid Rock's appeal. I just can't find anything all that interesting or worthy in the guy's music.His biggest hit is a straight-up rip-off of two extremely recognizable songs with a few words changed?
But then that horror was topped when I saw the concert flyer for the show, and Uncle Kracker, the third band on the bill, was given nearly the same font size as the second seeded bearded bunch.Uncle Kracker?! It's amazing what passes for southern-fried groove with suburban white folk and other light beer drinkers these days. Rodney Dangerfield rolls in his grave at the lack of respect.

So for now, when the weather is heating up and the feeling is just right, the Beet Seeking Missile will open a beer, put on his sunglasses and some ZZ Top on the hi-fi will more than likely get his mojo correct.

"And the choice is up to you 'cause they come in two classes/Rhinestone shades or cheap sunglasses."
Cheap Sunglasses


*Example of the Beet Seeking Missile going a little haywire with the thesaurus.

Coachella Smoachella!

Over the past weekend, hipsters have been flocking in droves to the high desert to see the latest electronic dance crazes, college radio chart toppers and countless others. There's no mistaking it, there are always lots of really great bands at Coachella, but lately the big festival has been angling towards becoming the music industry's top itunes sales tool.

But there was no need to travel all that distance and sleep in the dirt-plenty of time for that later. You could have just ventured out to the Blue Lamp on Alhambra last Saturday night and had your world rocked all kinds of ways.We had a double-dose of madness and magic all in one little room last night.

First, the highly anticipated debut of Brubaker, named for the 1980 Robert Redford film. To describe the show, I'll attempt an analogy from another 80's movie-"Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Do you remember the scene where the kids leave Cameron's dad's babied 61 Ferrari 250 GT Spider with the dubious looking valet, who says "You guys have nothing to worry about, I'm a professional?" Then, instead of parking it, he proceeds to go for a roaring joyride through the streets of Chicago. Brubaker was the sound of that car and the attitude of the valet. There was no pussy-futting around. They took that thing out on the road, punched it up to high speeds and drove it like it was supposed to be driven. Brubaker nailed it! Fasten your Goddamn seatbelts and hope they play near you soon!!


Ironically, headliners Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, had just played Coachella the previous day and were in fine form as well. They blasted through a great set, sounding punk as hell, with Jello occassionally indicting everyone from Ba"Rock"Star" Obama to the greedy money addicts running the Wall Street. Wonder if the eletctro dance kids in the desert knew that "California Uber Alles" was originally written about Governor Jerry Brown??

See what a finski can do to a guy's attitude?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVACbEHkV2Q

Brubaker

One band against a cruel system.

Years ago, the Sacramento band Kai Kln were playing a show in the Bay Area with Victim's Family, the legendary hardcore band on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. Biafra, the former Dead Kennedy's singer was in attendance that night. After Kai Kln finished their set, he approached drummer Neil Franklin and complimented his drumming. After a pause, the punk provocateur wryly added, "But, your music is a little too Woodstock-ish for me."

Flash forward and ironically, the two are on the same bill at the Blue Lamp in Sacramento this Saturday night. Or maybe not so ironic. Franklin is playing as part of a supergroup that features his old Kai Kln band mate Gene Smith along with Victim's Family/Triclops bass monster Larry Boothroyd and the gifted guitarist Christian Riley of Blu Chunks/Walrus fame.

Meanwhile, headliners Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine feature Victim's Family guitarist Ralph Spight and the amazing bassist Andrew Weiss of Ween/Rollins band fame. The rest of the band includes drummer Paul Della Pelle, formerly of  Helios Creed and guitarist Kimo Ball. Given Biafra's agitprop bent, the group's music is about many things political-including torture policies and austerity. Their album titles include-"The audacity of hype," "Advanced methods of questioning" and their latest"White people & the damage done."

 The Brubaker bandmates, along with Spight,  have been close friends for quite awhile. Riley has most recently played with Franklin and Smith in the Ricky and Del Connection, a bluesier infusion of Kai Kln.

Smith, who wrote and sang most of both Kai Kln's and Ricky and Del's music, is doing the same with Brubaker. Smith is a natural writer, with a proclivity towards the bombast of 70's power chords and melodies, albeit revved up to a tempo that some have called "Cream on 78 rpm. "Gene has been on a writing tear lately," said Franklin of the singer/guitarist. "We have five new songs that we would love to record." It will be interesting to hear the contributions of Boothroyd and Riley, considering their combined jazz, punk, funk and metal influences. Propelling it all will be Franklin, who in addition to being one helluva drummer, is also the band's onstage spokesman, wise cracker and all-around talent at keeping things loose. If he were a baseball player, you'd want him in your clubhouse.

Since both Boothroyd and Riley reside in the Bay Area, the group has been going between practcing in Franklin's Sacramento garage and Smith and Franklin heading over to Emeryville. Franklin feels that things are getting tighter and better with every practice. "We're getting back to really crushing it with electric guitars!" he chirped."Hopefully, we're a little heavier than Woodstock these days."

As the famous line from Brubaker goes-"Mess with me now, you're gonna regret it later."

Come out and see for yourself. It's going to be a night of beautiful madness at The Blue Lamp.And if you're on your best behavior, you just might hear a little Dead Kennedy's too.

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
w/ Brubaker
@ The Blue Lamp, Saturday, April 13
9pm   21 and over

                                                     The cast and crew of Brubaker:

 Kai Kln rocking in Cesar Chavez Park in 2007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrneFRpSHYM

New venue, new headliners

Last Friday night brought The California Honeydrops to Sacramento's newest venue-The Assembly. The Honeydrops are an up and coming band from the Oakland, while the Assembly is a new space near K and 10th.

The Honeydrops started slowly, but once they got it going they drew the crowd on the dance floor with their accessible sound, a funky blend of blues, R & B, and most notably Second Line New Orleans jazz. The five piece group is led by vocalist/guitarist/trumpateer Lech Wierzyski. Wierzyski is a versatile talent, with a great singing voice and advanced skills on the trumpet. The apex of the band's performance was when all five members left the stage and hit the floor Second Line style, with drummer Ben Malament shining on the cowbell. Malament also plays a mean washboard.

The band have great potential as a live act, but need to figure out a way to consistently boost their sound a bit, particularly with the great variety of instruments that they play. If they plan on headlining medium venues like this, they need to play closer attention to this factor. Their sound was much crisper when they recently opened for ALO at the Fillmore and also at Harlow's. Look for them to have a breakout summer though, after their new album "Like you mean it" hits the streets. From there, they go on to play big festivals like the High Sierra Music Festival, where their "hit the floor" approach will go over big .

The Assembly is the size of a small school cafeteria. There is a spacious floor, a very large stage and a small section of two-tiered lounge seating in the balcony. High utilization is the key word here. The space doubles as a stage for the B Street Theater, which does 7pm improv shows on Friday and Saturday and clears out prior to the music starting. The venue has good sight lines and an impressive looking  lighting rig mounted to the ceiling. The stage is backlit and the curtain is set far to the rear of the stage, giving bands an immense space in which to set up their equipment.

While the facility is nicely set up, it could use a few tweaks over time. Their needs to be more color added to the side walls and the area near the front of the stage to create more warmth in the room. The bar service was pretty slow, so one or two bartenders would be a welcome addition as well. There didn't seem to be much utilization of the big lighting rig on the ceiling, it would be nice to see what that can do. However, the biggest tweak needs to be figuring out how to fill the room more completely with sound. All of these things can be improved over time. And just like the aforementioned band, this venue has big potential. 

The California Honeydrops doing their thing in Sacramento

 And for some live sounds, check out The California Honeydrops recent live performance at the Fillmore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Os8JOx6WxJY#!

Merle, Motorhead and a great new Clutch album

One of the great things to happen on the latest season of the great zombie series "The Walking Dead" was a scene where Merle, the redneck everyone loves to hate, is trapped in a car drinking whiskey and cranking up some Motorhead. It just so happens that he is jamming to "Fast and Loose," a fine cut from the group's landmark album Ace of Spades. The perfect tune for a Merle to enjoy whiskey straight out of the bottle as zombies drool, paw and claw all over the car.

Last season, there was an episode of the show called "Nebraska," that featured a great Clutch song called "The Regulator." Some great music is making it's way onto this show. The new Clutch disc needs to make it onto your CD player.  

Earth Mover is a volatile beast of an album. Brimming with attitude and sheer power, it starts strong and keeps building momentum that never stops building until the final track, "The Wolfman kindly requests." And by that point, the urge to play whole thing over again is undeniable. Go get this album.

Here is the audio track to a great cut called-"DC sound attack"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXIzmM1DaW8

Ladies and Gentlemen....your credit card please!

I want to personally thank the Rolling Stones for the obscene ticket prices on their upcoming tour. By relinquishing their cheapest seats for a mere $250 each, they have helped validate what I am trying to do with this blog. Did you know that same total you can see about 16 shows (at an average $15) in the Beet Seeking Missile price range.

As a lifelong Stones fan, I continue to have a strong affinity for the band. I think their influence is especially prevalent in today's music. But it's sheer madness to fork over that much dough to see any band, regardless of the fact they haven't put out a good album in over 20 years. That's not the point. We all know these guys are icons and long ago achieved their deserved place in the Pantheon of Rock Gods.
But to pay that price is to feed into the mentality that has driven up concert ticket prices over the past two decades, ever since the Eagles started routinely charging over $100 per ticket. And don't get me started on the Eagles.
Why not instead check out a bunch of new groups? None may become the next Rolling Stones, but you may end up with a substantial amount more satisfaction than you would have by blowing that hard-earned cash and you just might find an up and coming band that you really, really like. Don't spend your music budget in vain.


 

Heartless Bastards-Mini Review

I could hear the voice a block away. As I walked towards Harlow's Nightclub on J. Street in Sacramento on this rainy night, I could hear this deep, booming, husky female voice permeating the walls of the club and resonating onto the wet streets. This voice could have come from ancient times. The deep, perhaps ancient soul behind the voice was almost unsettling as it penetrated through the walls.
At first I thought it may have been a recording, but as I got closer and heard the sound of live drums and the thrum of the crowd, I knew it was the golden voice of Erika Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards.

Upon entering the usually noisy club, it blew me away how quiet and reverent the crowd had suddenly become, a hush fallen across them as the band started a quiet number. They were taking it all in on this Easter night. Eventually the band changed course, as they are apt to do, breaking through the intimacy with their raw, blues based rock and amazing cohesiveness.
At one point someone in the crowd shouted "Thanks!" to the band for playing here and Erika thanked him back, then paused, "We thought it was a little strange to play on Easter Sunday, but being here with all of you sure beats sitting in a hotel room" said the road worn singer. With that, the fun commenced again and the Heartless Bastards rocked the room some more.