Get Ready For Newest Wave Of New Music From The Northwest
Clubgoers complaining about the shortage of good rock shows in the area should not miss the Teen Angels, Skiploader and Lemons show at Outback Jack’s Wednesday night.
All three bands are the next wave of Northwest combos, primed to give dull mainstream rock (generally what MTV currently considers alternative) a massive jolt.
Skiploader’s first album for Geffen, “From Can Through String,” will be in stores Feb. 13. Singer, guitarist and chief songwriter for the Portland unit, Tom Ackerman, feels a bit weary now that the album is on its way.
“It’s been ready for a long time,” Ackerman said this week. “We’ve had way too much time to think about everything … which is always a bad thing.
“I think any time you’re left with something you’ve done long enough, you allow yourself to be hypercritical of it. You can’t do anything creative without always second-guessing yourself or overworking it to the point where you lose all objectivity.”
On top of the creative struggle, Skiploader must also shoulder the pressure of finding an audience with its new album, the band’s fourth release.
“There’s definitely expectations for any band that puts out a record on a major label to do something with it,” said Ackerman. “In that respect, I think there’s always that (pressure). I don’t think we’ve increased it … we didn’t get signed to a huge contract. So there’s not an exorbitant amount of pressure. But there’s always pressure. It’s the big leagues, you know.”
Being signed to Sub Pop, which is owned partly by major label Elektra, Seattle’s Teen Angels is not quite faced with as much stress as Skiploader.
Sub Pop struck it rich by being a place of refuge for left-of-center bands. So don’t expect the brand new LP, “Daddy,” to be the last from Teen Angels.
The only concern for the band at this point is playing to more than a half-dozen people. Last Sunday in San Antonio, only six fans showed up.
“You know San Antonio on Sunday nights,” said guitarist-vocalist Kelly Canary this week during a phone interview from New Mexico.
“We’re winning our fans one by one across America,” joked bassist-vocalist The Family Jules, a.k.a. Julie.
“We went out (on tour) the day after the record came out,” continued Julie, “and Sub Pop told us not to expect anything. They were like, ‘Don’t be bummed out or anything because nobody knows about you yet.”’
People expecting the all-female Teen Angels to be a whimpy-girl pop band will be in for a huge surprise.
With “Daddy,” which guests Supersuckers singer-bassist Eddie Spaghetti on guitar and backup vocals on a couple of songs, the Teen Angels sandblast the listener with an onslaught of brute force and primal rage. The band describes “Daddy” as being a “postmenstrual syndrome, pre-caffeine wake-up call with a dash of nicotine.”
Tacoma’s Lemons, otherwise known as the Ramones Jr., has a selftitled EP on Mercury Records.
Showtime’s at 9:30 p.m. The cover is $5. Bring ID.
Elsewhere in the night
Too Slim and the Taildraggers is back in town after a brief tour. The band plays Fort Spokane Brewery tonight and Saturday. Music at 9:30 p.m.; cover’s $5.
Following the weekend’s dates, the blues rocker hits the road for the entire month, touring the West and Midwest.
The Flies will duke it out with the Crudlers, Sissies (featuring members of the Flies and Velvet Pelvis) and Kate Poapdin tonight at Ichabod’s North. Showtime’s at 9:30 p.m. Cover’s $3.
The Flies will have a new, four-song, 7-inch EP out on Seattle’s eMpTy Records any month now. The three-year-old punk band is the fourth Spokane band to have a release on the highly reputed underground label.
Missoula’s blossoming Squinting Bin eludes having its music pigeonholed. The quartet churns out a compelling and moody mix of jazz, folk and rock. Catch the band at Ichabod’s North on Thursday.
, DataTimes