Magnetic Morning at the Roxy Theatre

The reunion of Swervedriver at the Henry Fonda back in June was one of the top shows of the year. As an admirer of Adam Franklin's guitar playing, I was very intrigued when his collaboration with Sam Fogarino from Interpol was introduced as Magnetic Morning. The addition of Jimmy Lavelle on keyboards from The Album Leaf sealed my interest in the project as I ventured out to the Roxy to see Magnetic Morning's Los Angeles debut.







My ipod had worn out Magnetic Morning's debut self-titled EP that was released back in October 2007. Adam Franklin's sonically precise guitar washes combined with Sam Fogarino's steady backbeats quickly revealed a strong chemistry. Their full-length album A.M. was available at the show and shows a broader range of musical influences that nicely tie together.

The quiet guitar chords of "At A Crossroads, Passive" may lull you to sleep but soon jar your senses as Adam unleashed squalls of feedback before reigning in his guitar tone back to normal. Jimmy Lavelle had an assortment of Nord keyboards to layer their sound as Josh Stoddard (Bass) and Blasco (Guitars) completed the line up. "Indian Summer" may seem like a simple tune but upon closer inspection the floating keyboards and discreetly played rhythm guitars reveal so much more as all members are integral parts to the song. I did recognize the hypnotic translucence of "Don't Go To Dream State" that lives up to its song title with its dreamy tremolo guitars.

Adam's characteristic guitar jangle turned propulsive during for "The Way Love Used To Be". The bouncing keyboards of "The Wrong Turning" perfectly framed Adam's whispered vocals. Blasco used an Electro Harmonix Pog pedal on his guitar for the metallic overtones of "And I Wonder". If you are a fan of The Album Leaf, Interpol or Swervedriver, then I can't recommend their new album any higher as it blends elements of all three bands into a true super group.

Shudder To Think and Jubilee at the El Rey Theatre

After venturing out to Chino to see Jubilee rock the Meeting of the Minds Art and Music Festival, I wanted to see their official Los Angeles debut at the El Rey Theatre as they opened for the recently reunited Shudder To Think.

Jubilee






I ended up dropping some coinage at the Jubilee merch booth. I couldn't resist the clear/red vinyl copy of "In With The Out Crowd". I should probably go ahead and pull the trigger on getting a subscription of Jubilee's music over at Topspin Media where you can get the vinyl, cd's and a bunch of exclusive stuff. "I Don't Have An Excuse, I Just Need A Little Help" kicked off Jubilee's set as Michael Shuman (Vocals/Bass) and Aaron North (Vocals/Guitars) harmonized on the vocals.

Aaron had his assortment of Hagstrom and Fender guitars in his arsenal as well as a fully functional pedal system that allowed him to focus on causing havoc on stage. Michael Shuman introduced a Jack Casady Epiphone Hollowbody bass into his growing arsenal of Gibson basses. The hazy smoke guitar notes of "Fool On The Pill" lingered at the El Rey as the song benefitted by the synergy of Jeff Lynn's guitar washes and Aaron's textural playing. Aaron did thank the crowd for coming out to their "Frown Town" debut. The hard driving "Pioneers Get Shot With Arrows" was a great segway into "Those Poor Devils". The gut rumbling frequencies of "Fuzz Are Down" knocked me off my feet as Jubilee closed out their set. I will be looking out for their full length album when it comes out.

Shudder To Think






It took me awhile to dust off the cobwebs, but I do remember seeing Shudder To Think in 1994 at Lollapalooza in San Diego. It was a crazy show as I remember the crowd going insane for The Beastie Boys, the Breeders left the stage after two songs because people started to throw mud and the Smashing Pumpkins were at their fiery best.

Craig Wedren (Vocals/Guitars) sounded just like I remembered as he hit every note for "Red House". Nathan Larson (Guitars) had his trademark white Gibson Les Paul starting and stopping for the dissonant classic tune "Hit Liquor". My original exposure to Shudder to Think was the song "Gang Of $" featured on Tonnage compilation. "Gang of $" sounded very nineties which is a good thing but moderately retooled in the live format. "X-French Tee Shirt" was a minor hit for Shudder To Think which is intriguing due to its unique time signature. Craig had some problems with his guitar before tackling the "Ballad of Maxwell Demon" which made him quip he felt like Lil Wayne on Saturday Night Live. Shudder To Think ended their short reunion tour but it seems they have more tricks up their sleeves.

Helmet at the Viper Room

“Driving Nowhere Fast” was my theme song as I braved an insane amount of traffic to see Helmet and Totimoshi at the Viper Room on Halloween night. My show count for Helmet is rapidly climbing as this will be my tenth show reviewed let alone the countless times I have seen them dating back to 1992. I previously caught Helmet at the Viper Room in January of 2007 which was the main reason why I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands up close.

Totimoshi





Talk about déjà vu. Totimoshi was in the Halloween spirit as Tony Aguilar (Guitars, Vocals) was sporting the frizzy fro of Buzz Osborne from the Melvins. I remember seeing the Melvins open for Helmet during the Aftertaste tour. Totimoshi has a new album Milagrosa which was produced by Page Hamilton from Helmet.

Tony had a shiny new Fender Stratocaster that may have been a baritone judging by heaviness of his riffs. “The Drunken Sun Forever Watching” from the album Ladron got the costumed crowd going with its sludgy feel. Meg Castellanos (Bass) had a Rickenbacker bass adorned with a Viva Totimoshi sticker that hummed along during “Sound The Horn”. It was hilarious to see Tony’s hair bounce around during the pounding of “Viva Zapata”. Totimoshi sufficiently warmed up the crowd for the ensuing onslaught by Helmet.

Helmet






It has been quite the year for Helmet. Instead of playing greatest hits styled set lists, Page and company have been tackling whole albums during their performances. I heard the entire album Aftertaste in San Diego at Canes. Meantime was performed from start to finish just up the street at the Key Club.

It seemed like a normal set as Helmet tackled “Swallowing Everything” from the album Monochrome. A blistering double set of “Renovation” and “See You Dead” made me realize I made the right decision of sitting in traffic as Helmet was sounding razor sharp. “Iron Head” was unreal as some pushing near the front of the stage started to break out. The guitar riff from “Crashing Foreign Cars” is a top ten Helmet riff as Page screamed “Crash this car!” I couldn’t even remember the last time I heard “Clean” from Betty. Page later stated that they hadn’t played the song live since 1997.

The gauntlet was thrown down when Page then announced they were going to play Strap It On in its entirety. My mind was officially blown at this point. The staccato riff to “Repetition” was insane. Page dug deep to accomplish the screams for “Rude”. The breakdown riff of “Sinatra” was flawlessly pulled off as one of the audience members commented on the sharpness of the band. Page usually declines requests to play “Sinatra” by stating it is a Deftones song since they covered it as a B-side. The crushing encore consisted of "Milquetoast" and "Role Model" which had me already counting the days till their show at the House of Blues Anaheim on November 12th with Fu Manchu.

The Dears and The Secret Machines at the Key Club

Two bands with significant member changes appeared at The Key Club while promoting their new albums. The Dears recently released Missiles on Dangerbird Records, while The Secret Machines put out their third album Secret Machines.

The Bathroom Murders





The Bathroom Murders seemed to be a little out of place on the bill. I wasn't expecting screaming lyrics, distorted bass lines and glitchy keyboards. They label their music as grime, but it was more of a damaged art electro punk vibe. I was listening to The Dears on the way to the show, so my frame of mind was decidedly not ready for their confrontational set.

The Dears






A lush cascade of guitar swirls very reminiscent of the Doves filled the Key Club as The Dears took the stage. Murray Lightburn (Vocals/Guitars) strummed the translucent guitar chords to "Disclaimer" backed by ensemble of new band members. Murray and Natalia Yanchak (Keyboards) are the only remaining original members of The Dears.

The lyrics to "Money Babies" resonated as strongly meshed with its accompanying music as Murray emphatically sang "Our money is elastic". Murray's voice is definitely the centerpiece of all of their songs. In the live setting, Murray's voice shines brighter while being backed by bandmates. Laura Wills (Keyboards) and Natalia both had a Roland Fantom X6 keyboard in their setup but Natalia had a Nord Electro underneath the Roland keyboard. "Lost In The Plot" sounded as intricate as the recorded version while Murray had a death grip on the microphone stand as he sang.

The slow quiet intro to "Demons" later would ignite into a fiery guitar solo as the band exonerated the audience of their demons. Murray would later don the keytar for the bass notes of "Meltdown In A Major" to close out their set. Murray and the band were shaking hands with signing a few autographs as the cheers for an encore was silenced by the DJ spinning some more tunes. The new line up seemed to reinvigorate Murray and Natalia as evidenced by their gripping set.


The Secret Machines





The Secret Machines had their minute share of member changes as Ben Curtis (Guitars) moved on to form the School of Seven Bells. Ben has been replaced by Phil Karnats (Guitars). A large metal skeleton was setup to hold the elastic bands while creating their visually intriguing stark lines. The Secret Machines merch table had a bunch 3d glasses that were distributed to the audience.

My expertise in playing the drums is limited to Rock Band but must say that Josh Garza (Drums) was worth the price of admission as he throttled his drum kit with drum sticks that looked like miniature scale baseball bats. Brandon Curtis (Bass,Keyboards,Vocals) had an 8 string Hagstrom bass that sounded evil. It was so dark that couldn't see what effects he had over in his corner.

Phil had an assortment of guitars including a Fender Jazzmaster as he sliced out the guitar octaves for "Nowhere Again". The Secret Machines tend to stretch out their already epic songs into extended jams which can be good or bad depending if you like the particular song. "Have I Run Out" was one of the new songs they played that the audience seemed to be into as I noticed people rocking out behind me. "The Fire Is Waiting" morphed beyond a jam into opus territory as they stretched the song as tight as the elastic bands on stage. "Alone, Jealous, and Stoned" from their second album Ten Silver Drops garnered a number of howls from the appreciative fans. The closer was rightfully placed in the form of "First Wave Intact" as Josh was still pounding away with limitless energy. I would have attended Spaceland the next night if I hadn't already committed myself to seeing Helmet at the Viper Room.

Valient Thorr and Tweak Bird at the Detroit Bar

My ears are still ringing from the Motorhead and Valient Thorr show at the House of Blues Anaheim back in September. I was looking forward to checking them out again at the cozy Detroit Bar with Tweak Bird.

Nihilist



Nihilist proudly wave the flag of the early '80s thrash metal sound. A double bass drum setup accompanied with blazing guitar solos and lightening fast bass riffs. Nihilist got credit for lugging around a double bass drum kit but looks are only part of it. I heard some razor sharp riffs but it seemed a little incongruent at points. I will have to check them out again to get a better opinion.

Tweak Bird





Tweak Bird is a must see live act. Caleb Bird (Guitars) summoned the demons with his phenomenal Fender Jaguar Baritone guitar face ripping riffs. Ashton Bird (Drums) rounds out the brotherly dynamic duo with his octopus like drumming while screeching out the occasional round of vocals. Reservations is their latest EP which serves as the ultimate teaser in hopes of a full length album.

Tweak Bird methodically got the crowd involved in their set with the slow primordial sludge of "Spaceships". Hell quickly broke lose with the spastic engulfing fuzz of "Whorses". Caleb completely had me sold when I heard some Theremin squawks of sound as he tweaked his homemade Theremin. In the live setting, Tweak Bird enhances and expands the grooves they have recorded making the songs even richer. Eidan Thorr (Guitars) did momentarily jump onstage to add some fancy guitar fretwork only to have Caleb accidentally knock over into his Mesa Boogie stack. It was sad to see amps fall over but also made for a cool concert moment of madness.

Valient Thorr






I had flashbacks of watching the Hold Steady at the Detroit Bar when the crowd pushed their way to the front for Valient Thorr. A lot of jean jacket clad thorriors frantically threw their fists in the air while hoisting a cold beer to cheer on their favorite band. Valient Thorr could easily call Costa Mesa a second home as their label Volcom is just down the street.

Valient Himself (Vocals) was unabated by the lack of room on the stage as he would step out into the crowd to sing their songs. Dr. Professor Nitewolf Strangees (Bass) seemed to be inspired by Valient as he also went deep into the center of the mosh pit while rocking out on his bass. Valient Thorr crushed the audience with "I Hope the Ghosts of the Dead Haunt Yr Soul Forever" which was dedicated to Senator Jessie Helms. Eidan Thorr and Voiden Thorr should be aligned with such guitar duos as Tipton/Downing and Murray/Smith with their virtuoso harmonious guitar solos. I particularly enjoyed the frenzied anthem of "Birdhead Looking @ Goldenhands" from their IMMORTALIZER album. Valient Thorr just released a DVD titled IN HEAT which chronicles their exploits. I imagine it will be just as entertaining as their live shows.