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Monday, November 1, 2010

Last Night

Grisly Hand, Tut Tut, and New Riddim dress up for Halloween at RecordBar

Posted by David Hudnall on Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 1:39 PM

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Ah, but we are not here to report on sartorial matters. On Wayward, as at RecordBar, the music reigns. And last night was a fine evening for local music. As we mentioned last week, three very good local bands were performing sets from their musical heroes: New Riddim as the Slackers, Grisly Hand as Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris, and Tut Tut as Violent Femmes. 

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Onto Grisly Hand, one of my favorite bands in the city. I love their old-time Americana vibe, which is vintage without being hacky or tacky. You feel like you're watching the real deal, because you are. I tend to vaguely associate their sound with Sun Records, but seeing them cover Gram and Emmylou songs was a different experience: a little faster, with more swaggering jangle on the guitars and verve on the violin. I wrote down "Whiskeytown" in my notes at one point, if that gives you a better idea. 

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​Not to pile on the plaudits too much here, but Lauren Krum is a bona fide star. The band is terrific, but ultimately it's too hard to focus on much else besides her, and why bother trying otherwise? She has the best voice in the city, and onstage she's warm, funny, smiling, and inviting -- everything you want from a girl singing you songs. She led the band through a finely curated set: Gram's "You're Still On My Mind," Emmylou's "Juanita," and a Louvin Bros song that's either called "Satan is Real" or is on the album Satan is Real, I'm not sure. (Emmylou recorded it at some point, Krum informed us, so it technically fit into the covers theme.) Another Harris cover, of the Oak Ridge Boys' "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight," was the high point of the night for me. Just an ordinary story about the way things go, Krum sang, channelling Emmylou as the band worked into a gorgeous country groove. I looked over at my friend, and he just nodded back knowingly. The whole thing was just so obviously great.

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Confession time: I kind of hate Violent Femmes. I think at some point I liked "Blister in the Sun" -- although that might just be because it was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar -- and "Gone Daddy Gone" is okay, but most of the other songs I've ever heard from them annoy the fuck out of me. "Add It Up" -- the Why can't I get just one kiss song -- makes me almost physically angry. 

I didn't mention any of this to Alexander Abnos when I interviewed him last week because he seemed like a genuine fan and I didn't want to poop his party, and since I like Tut Tut, I went in with as open a mind as possible. Here's what I'll say: I like Tut Tut doing Violent Femmes better than Violent Femmes doing Violent Femmes. Abnos played an electric ukelele, his collaborator Charlie Gokey handled bass, and the rest of the sounds came from machines. They also brought along a friend to fake-play the drums. He pounded at a little snare covered in pillows, adding some extra meat to the stage. 

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The crowd, impressive for a Sunday, was friendly, fun, dancing, and dressed in strange clothing, and what else can you really ask for from a Halloween party?

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Love the Grisly Hand as well--for the record, I hear more X in them than Whiskeytown (X in their Knitters or Under the Big Black Sun phases--their sort of country-plus-punk phase). Which is good, because X is a lot better than Whiskeytown.

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Posted by Ben1 on 11/09/2010 at 3:53 PM

For the record, The New Riddim killed it. Really tight grooves, killer horn section, and infectious energy. I'm not familiar with the Slackers' music, but this show certainly made me want to check out some records - there were some really, really solid songs in there.

Glad I could treat David to a set of terrible songs. :)

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Posted by Alex Abnos on 11/02/2010 at 9:52 AM

We covered "If I Could Only Win Your Love" which is from Emmylou Harris's album "Pieces of the Sky" but was written and first performed by The Louvin Brothers. "Satan is Real" was brought up to describe their earnest old fashioned style. Thanks so much for your kind words. Oh and, "Juanita" is a Flying Burrito Bros. song. But who cares!? We had so much fun!

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Posted by Lauren Krum on 11/01/2010 at 3:58 PM

"Satan Is Real" is both a song and an album on which the song appears. My wife and I sing along to it on car trips.

I also missed this show due to stupidity-induced food poisoning.

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Posted by Nick4 on 11/01/2010 at 1:29 PM
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