TQuad Muth at Know Name Records, March 13
he three members of Quad Muth took to a small stage set up in a Dinkytown record store wearing outrageous masks. One member looked as if he had just put a wicker basket over his head. But the most amazing thing was the wonderful sounds Quad Muth produced from hitting things, their drum machine and distorted vocals. The band’s glitchy beats are so commanding you can’t help but pound your fists along to the rhythms booming out of the speakers.
“The Sargasso Sea” By The Great Depression
Don’t let this local group’s name fool you. The Great Depression is not a sappy, whiney emo band for 14-year-old boys. Rather the band creates hazy atmospheric sounds that fog a distant slow melody. But their song “The Sargasso Sea” is a burst of sunlight, or at least a pause in the drizzle. Delightful horns in Burt Bacharach fashion frolic over rolling acoustic guitars. The perfect hit for spring.
Carina Round “The Disconnection”
Carina Round looks blankly at the camera with an “I don’t have to try to look cute, I just am,” face on her album cover. But flip it over and Round does not seem so cute anymore. Her eyes are darkened by charcoal shadows, her mouth changed to bloody lips with horse teeth and looks like she will devour you. It’s a good foreshadowing of what you’ll hear on Round’s album. “The Disconnection,” ranges wildly; within a single song sounds fly from sweet singer-songwriter melodies, turning disastrous and winding up loaded with heavy guitars while the pixyish Round turns into a dragon and lets out mighty screams. “The Disconnection” is a good appetizer before the arrival of the new PJ Harvey album.
Mates of State at the Triple Rock Social Club, March 20
The married duo Mates of State (now expecting a baby) sound just as charming live as they do on their record. Their harmonies were always perfect as they made googly eyes at each other during their set, and they almost reached the point of being too perfect and cute. That is until they covered Jackson Browne’s beautifully mournful “These Days.” The happy couple should stick to what they know. The cover sounded like the Muppets cheerfully impersonating Nico. All the pain and sadness of the song was lost.
Rivethead “The Cheap Wine of Youth”
Finally, these Minneapolis punk rockers have a follow-up to their 2001 7-inch. “The Cheap Wine of Youth” is short and anything but sweet. The wait though was certainly worth it and rocks just as hard as Rivethead fans could hope. The line, “I love you just as much as I hate the man,” is reason enough to buy the album.
Dave Blood, rest in peace
Dave Blood, bassist for the Dead Milkmen died this month. The quirky sarcastic geek rocker will be greatly missed. So pump “Punk Rock Girl” and think of Dave.
