hello it's 2012

photo by Armin C. Antonio

dear jigsaw readers,

hello. it's 2012, I know! I know you know. I messed up. Amy Yao contributed a Best of 2011 list and it was supposed to go up on January 22, which was Chinese New Year...but it didn't happen. Human error. So I will get that up (maybe as a January 22 post, so look backwards if you are reading this in the future!) soon and then move on to the next thing.

Just briefly, the first show I saw in 2012 was The Corin Tucker Band at The Midnight Sun. This event was put on by The Olympia All Ages Project, the folks who brought you The Northern. It was a pretty killer show. Western Hymn opened up. Then Broken Water Played. The Corin Tucker Band headlined and they played all new songs. I have now seen two of their shows. The first one, I think, was a huge show in a giant theater in Portland and it was their first show ever (pretty sure?). This show was kind of the opposite, in the sense that it was a tiny show and didn't sell out but in a way it was similar because they played all new songs, pretty sure they are still learning them/writing them. I thought that was a bold move, because, as someone who is working on new songs, I hesitate to play shows until they are totally finished these days. Why? youtube of course. As a fan I love youtube. As a person-in-a-band, not so much. The songs have to be done when you play a show (ANY SHOW) or else you have to be willing to record a live record at EVERY show to the point to where you are like, ok fuck it. I guess this is an example of how the authority of the author is being challenged by technology (see The Art of Immersion by Frank Rose for more on this idea, review by me forthcoming) ...which ok...if I'm playing drums, what do I care? But if I'm the SINGER SONGWRITER I want to just shoot lasers out of my eyes when I see people recording the shows! Like ok, just stop! Please? Or better yet, don't start.

Anyhow, I digress. The show was cool. Ok I will be honest. I missed the first part of Western Hymn, the first part of Broken Water AND the last part of The Corin Tucker band but that is because part of what we do at shows is hang out right? I mean, there was a lot of walking around and going back to the apartment to meet people and hurrying back to the show to hang out and then my mom txted and was like "when is Corin playing, is it sold out? I am coming to the show" and a friend wanted to know if it was "the real Corin Tucker" or maybe something like "Courtney Love" the band, which is actually Lois and not the singer of Hole. Anyhow, the new songs seem to be shaping up, I look forward to hearing the record and maybe next time I see them play live they will be playing songs they've toured on for awhile so it won't be so hesitant and reserved.

Then Olympia had insane weather so I missed a few shows I was meaning to go see...Hysterics...Crude Thought...Wolves in the Throne Room/Broken Water...oh well, there will be other times to see those same bands. OH. I did also miss going to see Craig Extine's first solo show with Sedan opening up but I do recommend checking out his new album, which is available on CD or tape if you like the acoustic songs on that last Old Haunts Record. I think there was another show that night. Oh yeah, Nudity and maybe Dead Head? Cool bands, will try harder to see them next time. For reals.

On Sunday I did manage to go see Hey Girl, Blues Druid and Pierced Arrows at The Brotherhood. The guy from Hey Girl is like a cross between riot grrl era Allison Wolfe and Will Shatter from Flipper. Totally amazing. They actually remind me of Flowers For Funerals, an early 80's pre-Bratmobile percussive ensemble that did death rock post punk versions of John Waters movies in song form. (But I bet nobody reading this has ever heard that band.) When the girl from Hey Girl sings, they sound kind of like The Pixies or Blood on the Wall maybe. I felt like I was in Arcata when they were playing. I don't know what that means. During the show I was standing in line for the bathroom. A woman said "do you know the band?" I said, which group? She was talking about Hey Girl. She knew the band. She was stoked. I asked about her connection. She said she works with the singer, the guy singer. I said, "oh, where at?" and she said "Brewery City Pizza". Then she paused..."You, know, Pizza Girl??" I didn't know if that meant SHE was THE Pizza Girl or what, but I thought it was a pretty cool interaction. Blues Druid has Dave Harvey on drums and a good bass player. The guitarist kid was skilled but not super soulful in my opinion. It was a groovy groove, that's for sure. Pierced Arrows were ok, not super great. James said it was their best show yet. I don't know because I haven't seen them that many times. I did hear a rumor that Fred and Toody will be playing a set of country ballads somewhere in Portland sometime soon.

Ok that's it so far. I recently was hanging out at Dumpster Values/ Phantom City and everyone was working on stuff -- Perrenial was busy assembling new releases, Broken Water were working on sleeve art for an upcoming 12" and Mary Jane from Polly Darton was laying out a tape cover while she was working the counter at Phantom City. What was I doing? Waiting to use the printer so I could edit some interviews for Sham Pants.

Stay Tuned. 2012 is gonna be a good year.

Love,

Tobi

Back to the Year 2010...Son Skull Birth Scene/Rewind EP

So you might not know it by my recent posts, but The Jigsaw Underground is vehemently anti-nostalgia. Documenting history is cool, but that is different than creating a sentimental picture of the past to wallow in. The purpose of history is to help us actively create the future. But while we are so caught up in the future and the past, sometimes we forget about the present. Jigsaw Fanzine Headquarters is overflowing with records and tapes and zines that are just waiting to be reviewed. So here's one I've been meaning to get to for awhile now....



Son Skull Birth Scene/Rewind EP (Perreninial P.O. Box 2084 Olympia, WA 98507)

Son Skull are a pretty straight forward hardcore punk band from Olympia. I've seen them transform a male-dominated punk house show into an inclusive pit of ecstatic rage. Going to see them has been pretty consistently rewarding over the past few years. For awhile they were my favorite local band, the only group that had the ability to transmit punk energy straight into my bloodstream. I'd go see other groups and it didn't hit me. Maybe I'd appreciate a guitar tone, a drum beat or a friend's new take on the 60's or the 90's… but I wasn't getting the fuel I need. But when I walk into a room and Son Skull is playing--depleted from the work week, socially awkward, beaten down by the sexist creeps in the room-- the sheer sound of Mary's voice and Hayes' epic guitar playing never fails to renew me.

Their self-released Birth Scene/Rewind EP captures some of that energy and allows the listener to establish a deeper, more contemplative connection with the songs. A fury of guitar feedback/punk noise, rad female punk vocals, flailing yet focused beats & good solid rhythms/melody provided by the bass…it's cool to be able to hear the words. Contemplative lyrics about alienation, depression, economics, personal/political power dynamics, family and friendship.

A few stick out:

The chorus of Cement Mixer sounds cool surrounded by grinding/repetitive bass and drums creating the sound of a machine about to come unhinged. Then the lyrics: Cement Mixer/ In My Chest/ Cement Mixer/ In My Chest…the robotic detachment of suppressed emotion with no outlet physically threatening to break free…the song expresses a familiar modern state of being: Sinking sick pit feeling/looking for something/to hold on to/or hit you with. A vivid articulation of the alienated individual in society…. a child at school, a worker at her job, or someone in a messed up family situation...the struggle for self-control in a dead end, hopeless situation.

I also like the feminist hoes-before-bros motif of Boston Girls with the awesome line What's better than your girlfriends/true love that calls you out. My favorite might be the class war anthem Housing, which nicely uses a personal example of a family who gets kicked out of their home by their landlord to illustrate the injustice of private property: It starts off with This is my fucking house/I had my baby in this living room and ends with You say you need if for your family/Well fuck you/Because that used to mean me. You can also view the landlord as a father figure in this story, making it a nice critique of patriarchy but maybe that's a stretch.

Perennial Death explores the nature of existence itself. This theme might sound murky and dirge-like when examined by a different group. Son Skull are determined to plow through in the face of stark truths. The song itself sounds like breathing after you've been running for a few miles, the exhilaration of serotonin or whatever that chemical feeling is called, the sensation of your body being able to go further than seemed possible a few minutes earlier, the pounding of blood inside your brain…an evolutionary mechanism that kicks in when we don't think we can go on…the chorus sounds like a cry of resistance, a pained plea. Perennial! Perennial Death! We are always dying. But we are still alive. This is the kind of thing I need to hear on a regular basis.

Son Skull are still one of the only bands that will get me to leave my apartment full of books and records and walk across town to go to a house party, because their music still feels more real to me than most of the other groups around right now. I don't mean any disrespect by saying that. It's just that nothing else really hits me this hard and most of the time I'd rather be reading books or going to a movie with my boyfriend than hanging out in a drunk punk environment. Son Skull are the kind of stark, vibrant punk band that make everything else sound like easy listening music. I hope they stick around for awhile.