Zoroaster
Dog Magic
Battle Kommand
originally published September 19, 2007
On the debut full-length Dog Magic, Atlanta trio Zoroaster collects its heaviest influences into an amalgamated five-course meal of epic, gloomy and always heavy metal. Those influences are obvious but carefully executed in the six tracks that thunder and drone and thunder some more over an ambling 60 minutes. The band is never shy about slithering around in a track from the Southern sludge that metal masters Eyehategod and the Melvins perfected, into the bottom-heavy repetition of Sleep, followed by a dip into drone, before dwindling out with a little psychedelic synthesizer noodling. Zoroaster is all over the place stylistically, but it's not a problem.
Several of Dog Magic's songs are serious headbangers. For a more gratuitous homage, vocalist Will Fiore sings on "Terminally Charged" as if Cronos of Venom and other early black metal misanthropes were fronting Black Sabbath. The main riff in "Tualatin" veers close to yesteryear's nü-metal, but Zoroaster keeps it all in good fun, unlike those self-serious MTV guys now probably working in fast food. The last couple of minutes drone out thanks to some unusual instrumentation (theremin anyone?).
Dog Magic could stand to be rawer. The production by Atlanta's Living Room is sometimes too clean; snare hits pop too hard, guitars sound too flat, too digitized. Metal is raw. Metal needs raw. Regardless, it's exciting that Georgia has constant proponents of the metal subgenres, and Zoroaster is a welcome addition. The gauntlet hath been throwneth downeth.
Sweet Teeth
From the Fourth Hand of the Buddha the Lotus Was Born For the Seventh Time
Thor's Rubber Hammer
originally published September 19, 2007
Finally, Athens' at-times-prolific experimental scene is making its way to recorded formats! Or so I've gotten my hopes up with the release of Sweet Teeth's debut EP. Just a few months ago, Long Legged Woman dropped the Newtown Nights EP, and its delay-pedal-ridden fog was captivating. Both Justin Flowers and Gabe Vodicka of LLW also trip in Sweet Teeth alongside some of the core members of Dark Meat. The expansively titled From the Fourth Hand of the Buddha the Lotus Was Born For the Seventh Time consists of one nearly 23-minute piece, titled "Morning Raga" and recorded live at the 40 Watt - it sure tries hard to live up to its demanding name.
This is, for the most part, full-on tribal jamming with a little Greg Davis-style psych-drone thrown in. Things start off slowly with a disembodied documentary voice reporting and ranting on corporations, profits, etc. I'm typically not a big fan of dialogue field recordings in music, particularly when they're used to anchor much of a long track. Here the voice rambles on for more than half the duration, eventually fading into true background texture, where it rightfully belongs. It's not until the 17-minute mark when the bordering-on-spiritual vocals of Page Campbell (Hope For Agoldensummer, Dark Meat) burst into the jam. Before this, it's down to the trance of the drums, the high-frequency noodling, and the eastern droning ring of guitars to carry the vibe.
Sure, it all works, but at the same time, the jam's one step away from collapsing. The drums are just missing a little oomph, a little of the control necessary for a mostly locked groove. As a show and therefore a live document, it's highly enjoyable. But as a release, it merely shows a promising group of people with wonderful, much-needed ideas. It's more than enough, however, to pique interest in what Sweet Teeth does - or more to the point, tries - next.
Sweet Teeth is playing at the Secret Squirrel on Thursday, Oct. 25.
Timber
For Never and Always
Independent Release
originally published September 19, 2007
For Never and Always, the latest release from Daniel Aaron’s Timber, is an album chronicling one night stands, nights out and laments for love both ill-used and lost. Timber’s guitar, pedal steel and banjo provide twang, but the xylophone, accordion and keys carry the tracks into the alt-country genre, providing embellishment that takes the often minimalist singles to the next level as on "Said and Done," where horns briefly punctuating the tune resonate.
With its quick cadence, driving bass line and harmonica accentuating the bridge, "Next to You," a stand-out track, attests to Aaron’s love of the chase with the refrain “and darling keep me guessing when I wake up next to you in your room.” "Train," another fast-paced number, is propelled by a driving guitar solo that makes you feel as though you were traveling down the tracks. "South," with its reliance on clichés, sometimes using state mottos for the various women populating the tune, is the weakest song, but perhaps delivered live has the potential to woo many a Georgia girl into the sack. And "Damn I Love the Bar," a traditional rock refrain, captures a bleary night with the image “Spent all my cash on strippers and liquor / convincing myself I don’t miss her.”
At first listen, For Never and Always doesn't grab you, but with repeated plays, it’s one of those local albums that grows on you.
Timber is playing at SchoolKids Records on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 4 p.m.
Ham1
The Captain's Table
Orange Twin
originally published September 19, 2007
If someone who'd never been to Athens asked me what the city sounded like, no longer would I reach for good ol' trusty R.E.M.; I would hand this hypothetical stranger a copy of The Captain's Table, the second album from local band Ham1. And I mean that in all the good - and bad - ways possible.
Ham1 is the brainchild of schoolteacher Jim Willingham, and its permanent personnel includes former Olivia Tremor Control members Eric Harris and Pete Erchick. The sound is largely straightahead rock and roll, with trombone, cello and keys adding color. Whenever Chris Sugiuchi's trombone pipes up, the listener might detect a whiff of Neutral Milk Hotel, but Ham1's music owes as much to R.E.M. and Pavement as it does to the Elephant 6 collective that provided much of its membership. The surf-guitar instrumental "Saluki," with sleeker production, could even have fit comfortably on the Pixies' Bossanova. As a frontman, Willingham recedes into the background a bit; the lyrics don't stick in the listener's mind, except for a few references to 9-to-5 drudgery on "White Rat" and "How Can You Watch TV With a Dead Person?" and the purposefully inane back-and-forth on "Methmouth." His vocals are amateurish, alternately endearingly and annoyingly so. Dozens, if not hundreds, of singers have turned vocal limitations into assets, and Ham1 would only benefit from Willingham figuring out how best to use his distinctly Athenian voice - the voice of an educated Southerner, where the accent leaks through only occasionally.
And so it's no surprise that The Captain's Table sounds like Athens. This is music for drinking PBR under Christmas lights on a collapsing porch. It's music for standing around on a chilly fall night on Washington Street, wondering how you're going to get home. It's music for hanging around, clearing your head, figuring out what you want to do. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's good enough.
Ham1 is playing at the 40 Watt Club on Friday, Sept. 21.
Red Legs
The Iceberg Theory EP
Independent Release
originally published September 19, 2007
For a green studio band, local group Red Legs makes its debut batch of recordings sound graceful and second nature, but this isn't dense foliage. The poison ivy thicket Red Legs likes to play around in is smack dab between the forest canopies of Southern rock and the grassy meadow of power-pop. Uncomplicated melodies, joyful strumming, some orchestration, a little balladry… you'll find you've stumbled into a smoky (and strange-smelling) backstage room with the Violent Femmes and the Lemonheads.
The EP flies by quickly with only six songs, but memorable tunes "Shall We Dance?" and "The Captain Always Goes Down With The Ship" come handily pre-manufactured with sing-along choruses. (Neutral Milk Hotel pokes its head out in the latter's outro.) "Static Relief" would make a fine slow-dancer at spring indie-rock proms.
The Iceberg Theory is a pleasant little EP with some pleasant little songs, but that doesn't get many bands noticed, really. Red Legs doesn't play out much, though an EP release show last weekend at Little Kings was enthusiastic. These songs have to be amped up for the live setting. If the band throws a high-volume conniption, the kids will dance with the fury of a thousand Zeuses, because the songs have the potential to be contagious on contact.
Red Legs is playing at Farm 255 on Saturday, Sept. 29.
Wilma
Pieces of the Album Pieces EP
Independent Release
originally published September 19, 2007
After years of rarely appearing onstage, Wilma Pittard lately seems to be everywhere: performing (both musically and as an actor) in the play Sordid Lives in the UGA Cellar Theatre (see Out There! for details), playing in the Heart of Georgia Singer/ Songwriters Tour in November, working on a full album with producer Matt Yelton (who's collaborated with the Pixies and Frank Black) and having her song "Winterville" proclaimed the official ditty of that little burg. That's quite an achievement for a woman who used to suffer from serious stage fright, but she worked her way up by singing backup for anyone around, getting used to looking out at those scary faces in the audience.
There's nothing on this Pieces of the Album Pieces EP that sounds less than fully self-confident, nor should there be. Pittard has a lovely, assured voice that neither overpowers nor is overwhelmed by the simple, acoustic arrangements. Titles like "Peace" and "Moody Forest," the latter recorded for the Nature Conservancy, imply a slight hippie bent, but there's not much meandering or musing on the power of sunshine and love. It's more about some delicately picked guitar work accented with an occasional bit of steel that demonstrates the glittering of nature rather than talking about it.
Wilma knows her dicta of creative writing classes well: show, don't tell.
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