Sister Machine Gun Mows Down Critics With Successful ‘Burn’
It’s like the old rock cliche: A small-town boy moves to the big city to chase a career in rock band.
Sister Machine Gun brainchild Chris Randall did the same thing.
Randall, originally from Pendleton, Ore., spent his high school years in St. Maries, Idaho. After completing high school, he fled to Boston.
“(Making music) is all I ever really wanted to do,” said Randall in a phone interview this week. “I did flirt briefly with being an architect, which is why I originally moved to Boston. Then I discovered I could make an extremely viable career in the music industry so I left it at that.
“Opportunities for any kind of performing or playing are rather lean in North Idaho. Once I got to the East Coast there were definitely opportunities aplenty.”
Randall formed Sister Machine Gun - which plays Outback Jack’s on Tuesday - in New York City in 1990 with guitarist Bill Muchado. That incarnation lasted into 1991, when Randall hit the road with industrial poo-bah KMFDM as a roadie.
KMFDM’s tour ended in Chicago and Randall ended up staying in the Windy City. He landed a job working in the mailroom at Wax Trax!, KMFDM’s record label.
After joining Die Warzau, Randall was fired by Wax Trax!, which has a policy of not hiring musicians. Both Jim Marcus and Van Christie of Die Warzau helped Randall record a demo in an effort to get him signed. Sascha of KMFDM mixed the demo and passed it on to Wax Trax! president Jim Nash.
Ironically, the same label that fired Randall was the one that signed him to a multi-album deal.
“I went from mailroom boy, to fired, to Wax Trax! artist in about a week and a half, and the same person that fired me was now telling me how good I would be to the company,” Randall noted in his press material.
For Wax Trax!, which merged a few years ago with another reputable industrial independent, TVT, Randall and Sister Machine Gun have recorded three albums - “Sins of the Flesh,” “Torture Technique” and the most recent “Burn,” whose title track also appeared on the Mortal Combat soundtrack.
Like fellow Chicagoan Ministry, Randall isn’t fond of the industrial tag.
“If people want to call me an industrial artist, whatever,” said Randall, 28, and a self-taught musician. “I don’t call myself industrial. Then again, what would you call it? We make hard-edged pop music.”
Even so, “Burn” is inflected with all of the trappings of industrial music - electronic soundbites, driving and mechanical grooves, tape loops and instrumental and vocal processing.
To a certain degree “Burn” isn’t a typical industrial album. That’s mainly because Randall has restructured Sister Machine Gun’s music to be more pop-minded, rather than sounding like unrelenting dissonance.
“Burn” has also helped Sister Machine Gun shed its Nine Inch Nails comparisons. Critics flogged the band on the past two records for being a NIN clone.
“I went way out of my way to avoid anything that sounded like Nine Inch Nails,” Randall said. “The irony of it is that I don’t really sound like Nine Inch Nails. Nine Inch Nails sounds like The The. And I sound like The The.”
Opening band 13 mg. features former Ministry programmer and editor H. Beno. Beno worked on Ministry’s platinum album, “Psalm 69.”
13 mg. released its debut in February called “Trust and Obey.” In addition, one of its songs was featured on the Strange Days soundtrack.
Music starts at 9:30 p.m. The cover is $5.
Citizen Swing bids farewell
By now, the news is out.
Citizen Swing has announced it will disband after its Outback Jack’s appearance on Saturday.
Drummer Mike Tschirgi has been enlisted as Shoveljerk’s new drummer, following the recent departure of Zia Uddin. Tschirgi made his debut with Shoveljerk two weeks ago at Mother’s Pub.
Instead of hiring a new drummer, the rest of Citizen Swing, which was already entertaining the idea of breaking up, decided it was time to split.
“I think we’ve taken it as far as we can,” says guitarist Craig Johnson. “It’s time to move on.”
“The timing was perfect because we had actually discussed around March, ‘Hey, let’s kind of think about ending things in about midsummer or at the end of summer,”’ says singer-guitarist Myles Kennedy of Tschirgi’s jump to Shoveljerk.
Citizen Swing - rounded out by bassist Dave Turner and trumpeter Geoff Miller - has been a local staple of original rock in Spokane for quite some time. During its run, the rock/jazz/blues combo released two albums, 1993’s “Cure Me With the Groove” and this year’s “Deep Down.”
Neither Johnson nor Kennedy are dropping out of the music scene, however. The two have already embarked on a new project, along with former Shoveljerk drummer Uddin and Give bassist Marty Meisner. The four are still working on a name for their band.
According to Johnson and Kennedy, don’t expect a slimmer, rehashed version of Citizen Swing from the new band, tentatively slated to play its maiden show in July.
“It’s hard-hitting; it’s got a punch to it,” says Johnson.
“It’s different than Citizen Swing because it’s more straightforward,” continues Kennedy. “There’s no more epic songs. It’s to the point.”
The audience for Saturday’s show will likely reach capacity, so get there early. Music starts at 9:30 p.m. Totem and Pajamazon open. The cover is $6.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Nightwatch picks Best bets at area clubs: SATURDAY: Citizen Swing, Totem and Pajamazon at Outback Jack’s TUESDAY: Sister Machine Gun and 13 mg. at Outback Jack’s