Threats & Promises

Music News And Gossip

originally published September 27, 2006

Take your seats, get out your notebooks and get ready for class. After reviewing the information here, feel free to talk among yourselves. Pencils ready?

Looking Up: Polemic is going to bring another multi-band lineup to the Oasis out on Highway 441 on Saturday, Sept. 30. It’s an all-ages, free show, so take the kids along with grandma and check out Polemic, Arete, Rat Babies, Commander Chameleon, Drove, IndieAdam Jones and The Grand Facade, along with Montgomery, AL group Marcellus and Asheville, NC band The Poles. Polemic is also looking forward to a great future gig on Tuesday, Oct. 19 when the band will share the bill with the Dexter Romweber Duo over at the fabulous 40 Watt. One of these days, something big is gonna happen to Polemic; God knows McKenna Mackie, the band's fearless leader, has been at this long enough.

Dam It Up: The folks over at Illinois-based Polyvinyl Records were working fast and furious two weeks ago to stop the Internet leak of Of Montreal's upcoming full-length album Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?. In an effort to drum up interest and press coverage for the album, the label sent out promo copies to media sources last month, even though the album won't be released until January of 2007; last week, however, someone - rumors are the leak originated from a college radio station up north - uploaded it to several sites, making the entire album available for download. The label has so far plugged the leak, but it remains to be seen exactly how this will affect album sales come January.

Southbound: Just a reminder since it's been mentioned in earlier columns, but the Macon Bragg Jam festival is this weekend, and a good number of Athens-based (Modern Skirts, Pam Blanchard, Southern Bitch, Don Chambers, etc.) and Athens-friendly acts (Zac Brown, The Swear, Psyche Origami, etc.) will perform at the Saturday, Sept. 30, multi-venue event. Get all the specifics over at www.braggjam.org.

First Steps: Although they’ve been around for several months now, and I’ve meant like a Boy Scout to mention them before, I’d like to try to turn some of you on to Titans of Filth. The irony of the name reminds me of the old Teen Beat Records band Vomit Launch, which also had a really tough-sounding name, but produced very sweet-sounding music. At any rate, this band is tops. It has an EP out that was recorded with Jason NeSmith over at his Bel-Air Studio earlier this year. I’ve not yet been able to catch these folks live, but they just played their first club show a couple of weeks ago over at the fabulous 40 Watt, so maybe that gig will lead to more and so on and so on. Just go give Titans a listen at www.myspace.com/titansoffilth, and read a review of the EP [here].

Breaking My Own Rule: Okay, normally I'm not into simply telling you where you can go to download something. I figure that people enjoy hunting things down, and the thrill is all in the discovery, right? But in this case, local act Mouser has made available its live set from this past summer's Athens PopFest. Recorded by Sloan Simpson, the man who will be known in the future as “Athens Audio Archivist Sloan Simpson," the set is linked to on the band's site at www.myspace.com/mousermouser. It sounds pretty sweet.

The Definition Of Working Musician: Local bassist Bryan J. Howard of Slackdaddy has spent some time out on the road recently with legendary band Violent Femmes. Although Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie is still with the group, Howard fills in when Ritchie is playing other instruments or when the band wants a fat, double-bass sound. Although folks over, say, 35 or so most likely only remember the Femmes from years ago, the group has enjoyed a recent surge of popularity among the younger crowd due to its song “Gone Daddy Gone” being covered quite faithfully by Gnarls Barkley. In other news, Howard will continue to work with Kevn Kinney, so don’t sweat that. He is also looking to start a new project in coming months, so watch this page for more information.

Plan Your Month Around This: There are several events taking place in October as part of MusickFest. Named for its beneficiary, Southern Bitch guitarist and 40 Watt Club sound engineer Wendy Musick, the ongoing event will raise money to cover medical costs associated with removal of a pancreatic tumor that was discovered earlier this year when Musick underwent an appendectomy. An art show/ auction will have its opening reception Monday, Oct. 2 at the Flicker Theatre & Bar at 5:30 p.m. and the auction will take place Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Flicker. Concert benefits have been planned for Thursday, Oct. 5 at the 40 Watt and Friday, Oct. 6 at Nuçi’s Space. Featured performers will include Patterson Hood, Don Chambers + GOAT, Dave Marr, Will Johnson and more. Please visit www.myspace.com/musickfest, and we'll have more in next week's Flagpole.

Hell Yeah. Just, Hell Yeah: Atlanta band Deerhunter, recently signed to Kranky Records, has taken the noise overseas. Currently the band is jetting around Europe hitting Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and France before returning to the United States. Catch Deerhunter at Atlanta’s Tabernacle with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Imaad Wasif on Saturday, Oct. 14. Keep up to date over at www.notownsound.net.

Comin' Home: Several local artists and promoters are putting together Hip-Hop Homecoming Week, an event set to coincide with the University of Georgia's Homecoming. From Monday, Oct. 9 to Friday, Oct. 13, the festival will feature performances from local acts like BadKat, The Renegadez, Ishues and the T-Neb crew, and will also incorporate events like seminars, a fashion show, a deejay battle, a spoken-word poetry performance and more. The organizers are looking for help, so to get involved or volunteer, contact Kathryn Roberts at 850-294-0666 or email her at info@mastermindzmedia.com.

With that, rock on, peoples. Be sure to keep your news coming in and always mention either Threats & Promises or my name in the subject line of all emails. Ain’t no water in the well via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 706-549-9523, ext. 203, or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb