The Cubs
w/ The Vulpines, Goodbye Donovan
Thursday, May 8 @ Caledonia Lounge
originally published May 7, 2008
Growing out of an Atlanta high school band called Chester, The Cubs got together while in Athens and made their debut at the tail end of 2006. The Cubs - bassist Ethan Payne, guitarist Ryan Saunders, guitarist Ben Tinsley and John Cable, who took over the band’s drummer seat last September - recently recorded tracks for an EP called Read!
“Ryan and I got together after growing up a little bit in Athens to write some more tunes,” says Tinsley via email. “We wanted music that was quick and fun because we both felt like that was more interesting than any other way to do it.”
Over the past year, the band has developed its sound, adding a little oomph to what started out as a group heavily influenced by early-decade rock like The Strokes. Tracks from Read! posted on the band’s MySpace page are a little more muscular than might be expected, and those who dig fellow guitary Athenians The Whigs and The Pendletons should find a lot to like in The Cubs.
Tinsley says that Cable joining the band last fall has allowed the group to focus on just, for now, being a band. “Since then we've just been playing around Athens, trying to give people something that's worth a high five,” says Tinsley. “We're all out of school, kind of in between the college world and the professional world, so this is a perfect outlet to help us continue livin' the dream.”
Plans right now include working out the live kinks and playing as many shows as possible - the past two months have seen the band play out almost every week. “We're still pretty new, so I think we'd be more comfortable spreading our stuff around to some other towns before making a full length album,” says Tinsley.
The Sensational Sounds of Motown
Friday, May 9 @ The Georgia Theatre
originally published May 7, 2008
The Sensational Sounds Of Motown
This show is dedicated to you, UGA grads-to-be. You've spent four (or more) years studying hard and drinking harder, and it's all finally paid off. It's almost graduation day, and your family is in town prepared to celebrate with you. That means the usual bar-hopping needs to be curbed a bit tonight - but how do you show the folks a good time while maintaining your wholesome facade? Georgia Theatre has you covered with a safe-for-parents bill of classic Motown. What better way to give thanks for tuition well spent?
If you enjoy sweating to the oldies, then you'll love The Sensational Sounds of Motown, a superb local cover band that tackles beach music, soul, funk, disco, and of course, classic Motown hits with boundless enthusiasm. The dynamic six-person lineup is something of a supergroup featuring Jason Fuller (Kinchafoonee Cowboys) on keyboards, Stephen Spivey (Tishamingo) on bass, Dan Roth (Little Green Chairs, The Work) on keys and vocals, plus Scott Moody on drums, Harry Lee Hopkins on guitar and lead vocalist Henry "Mr. Motown" Sanders.
These seasoned musicians have been performing as The Sensational Sounds of Motown for over 15 years, but local shows are actually quite rare. The group is based in Athens, but the band plays most of its shows out of town and/or privately. So, not only is this a great opportunity to entertain your family, this is one of the few times you can enjoy this band without having to sit through a wedding or Greek formal first.
The best part is the potential song list is a mile long. So, regardless of age or school standing, if you enjoy artists like James Brown, Chubby Checker, The Isley Brothers, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, etc., come out to dance and bring your requests!
Thrones
Tuesday, May 13 @ Caledonia Lounge
originally published May 7, 2008
Joe Preston
Much like Athens musicians, it's not unusual for our friends in the upper Northwest to participate in multiple outfits, sometimes simultaneously. But few here in town have managed to rack up a resume quite like 39-year-old bassist Joe Preston. Bands Preston has recorded, toured, or been a full-fledged member of include The Melvins, Earth, Sunn O))), High on Fire, Men's Recovery Project and The Whip. He also stopped into Athens in March as the touring guitarist for Athens' reunited sludge kings Harvey Milk. When not lending his bass talents to these metal massacres, Preston has been recording, since 1994, as a one-man band called Thrones.
Thrones is difficult to categorize, with multiple genres spewing out of Preston's brain and fingers at once, his songs a blend of the sludge- and doom-metal he played with his previous bands, but also including a taste of experimental noise interludes and classic heavy metal. He recorded vinyl singles for a variety of indie labels throughout the '90s, including the influential Olympia label, Kill Rock Stars. A 2005 collection of those vinyl singles, Day Late, Dollar Short released on the niche-metal label Southern Lord, included Thrones' abbreviated take on The Who's “A Quick One While He's Away,” complete with a thrashing drum machine outro.
Preston will bring Thrones back to Athens for its first show here since playing the Caledonia Lounge in the summer of 2004. He'll be accompanied by, well, just his drum machine. For fans of various metal subgenres, almost anything Preston gets involved with will turn to gold, and such is the case with Thrones. In this case, writing and performing the songs entirely himself, rather than performing what other bands have written, have proven exciting and mercurial.
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