Kansas City Blog

Once a week, Wayward Blog brings to you an MP3 of music from the area's musical past.

Since Danger Bob has decided to grace Lawrence with their first show in over six years this fall, they seemed to be the logical choice for this week's Throwback MP3.

Danger Bob holds a special place in my heart, because they were the first "big" local band I ever saw (the second was the Nuclear Family). I saw them play a "welcome back" show in the gym at St. Mary's in Leavenworth, KS, my senior year of high school. I'd heard the band on the Lazer--"The Hook" was in mad rotation at the time--and was absolutely amazed that this band that was on the radio was playing a five minute drive from my house. And they were hanging out front of the gym, and I could smoke and talk with them! Holy shit!

Keep in mind I was 17, from a small town in Kansas, and the idea of a band that played actual clubs, as opposed to the 4-H Building over by the car wash, was pretty much a mind-blowing concept at that time. I'd been to exactly two concerts that weren't at Sandstone at that point.

Danger Bob immediately became my favorite band ever because of various reasons, but I'd say it was most likely a combination of glitter cannon, lead singer in pajamas, and they played "Church 'Em Danno" at a private Catholic college. I'd go on to see the band play the Bottleneck innumerable times, as well as exotic locales like a Mexican restaurant and produce company BBQ cook-off next the railroad tracks, but that show in a gym was the show that would most stick in my mind.

The MP3 below is a little hissy, because it was ripped from a cassette that'd been sitting in my closet for the better part of a decade, and that cassette was a recording off the radio. A valuable piece of local music history, this is Danger Bob playing live on the Lazer 105.9 on April 13, 1997. The appearance on the program was to promote the CD release of their Le Pop Shoppe album on CD, as I recall. The Lazer's Local Music Show ran for a while, even after Jeff Petterson left, even after Elena Abatgis left, even after the station had switched formats twice. Chuck Newman soldiered on with it for a good couple of years, but the show finally bit the dust a couple of years ago, not quite making it ten years on the air.

MP3: Danger Bob, "Just Call Me Ninny" (live)

Adam Wagner of the bands the Good Foot and Fairbanks and Gnarly Dan of gonzo film and promotions co. Gnarly Enterprises have built a cozy, little living room and, beginning tomorrow night, Wednesday, July 1, they'll be inviting local musicians to come play in it.

The Shadowbox @ the Sidecar from Gnarly Enterprises on Vimeo.

The wee parlor, officially dubbed the Shadowbox, will be located in the Beaumont Club. Dan and his boys will film the musicians as they perform stripped-down versions of their bands' (or their own) songs in the small space. The proceedings will be projected onto the wall inside the Sidecar bar, which is located on the other side of the recently renovated Beaumont's south wall. Yeah ... it's kind of hard to explain -- and that's what makes it all the more intriguing. "I'm excited to have bands with these high-production-value live shows come and kind of dumb it down," Gnarly Dan tells me, adding that the video results can be posted online to give local bands "viral equity." Viral equity ... he may be on to something.

The series is set to go down on a monthly basis. In the promo trailer above, the two guys at the end of the video getting jacked up on High Life? The shirtless one is Gnarly Dan and the bearded guy in the cutoffs is Wagner. The video was shot by Pitch freelancer Forester Michael, who set up his still camera to shoot six frames per second that were stitched together in "Sledgehammer"-like fashion.

The Shadowbox lights up tomorrow in the Sidecar at 10 p.m. Locals Tommy Hoskins (the Buffalo Saints), Andrew Ashby (the Caves) and Brent Windler (Sons of Great Dane) will take turns singing in the box. Cover is $3. Viral equity is free for the taking.

Terrorizer Magazine talks with Coalesce frontman Sean Ingram at Hellfest Open Air (in France, not to be confused with the New York state festival that ran from 1998-2005) regarding the band's return to the world, their new album OX, and assorted other things.

Seriously, though--go buy OX. It is immense, which is like being monster, but bigger. "In My Wake, For My Own" is one of those songs that reminds you of what the band used to be known for; i.e., explosive breakdowns and gutteral yowlps, and mixes it with a cleaner guitar sound and more experimental time shifts. To top it all off, it's actually somewhat catchy, as well. You're not going to find yourself humming it anytime soon, but it's more melodic than what you're expecting. The whole album is just stellar.

Album Stream: Coalesce, OX

Lions from Austin are not to be confused with The LIONS, who are from Los Angeles. The former is a hard rock powerhouse who released No Generation last year and the latter is a reggae/dub group.

Lions (the former) play around here often enough that, despite hailing from the great state of Texas, they could almost claim regional--if not local--status. Their shows are crazy energetic, and if you're a fan of local acts like the Federation of Horsepower or the Old Black (with whom they shared the stage at the Replay last night), you've got yourself a band right here worth checking out. Plus, they just covered Bob Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" for FX's Sons of Anarchy program. They're doing well for themselves.

Lions play the Record Bar tonight with Kansas City's Hipshot Killer, which features Mike Alexander (late of the Architects) and Chris Wagner (who served time alongside Mike in the Revolvers), along with Brad Wicklander (of Dark Circles / Anvil Chorus).

MP3: Lions, "Girl From the North Country" (Bob Dylan cover)

Las Cruces' Shang-A-Lang is one of the best bands bubbling up in the punk underground right now. They've got a sound that appeals to fans of garage bands like the Black Lips, with some seriously lo-fi production, but the punk kids like 'em too, because they play hella fast. They're one of those band that are timeless in the way they play. They could fit in on college radio circa 1985, or playing with the Vivian Girls at some bar a week from now.

Shang-A-Lang's put out half a dozen splits with assorted bands, the two most recent being their split with God Equals Genocide on Razorcake and one with Brickfight on Mitch Clem's Facepalm Records. However, they have yet to put out a full-length.

That will change with the upcoming release of their LP Sad Magic on Fast Crowd Records. The label describes the album as "punk that's pop with nothing but good times and happy songs about being sad," which is just about an accurate a summation of Shang-A-Lang's sound as I've ever heard. Fast Crowd was kind enough to hook up Wayward Blog with an MP3 off the record, entitled "Best Intentions." You can stream it on the label's MySpace, but we're the only place you can take it with you. Grab it below.

MP3: Shang-A-Lang, "Best intentions"

Backpack hip-hopper Sage Francis just posted his newest mixtape, Sick of Wasting, and you can download that sucker for free. It's the fifth installment in the "Sick Of" mixtape series.

This kind of sprung up out of the blue, considering it's been two years since his Human the Death Dance release. Still, it's totally worth grabbing. It features several tracks with Buck 65, and demos going all the way back to 1996.

The man offers a track-by-track breakdown over at his MySpace blog. You can also buy a real, physical copy (and autographed, to boot) from Strange Famous Records.

The rugged, Texas songwriter-performer Tom Russell prepares to release his new album Blood and Candle Smoke. Featuring some of his most intimate, insightful material, Russell ventured from his home in El Paso (where he moved from New York 10 years ago), to Tucson' s Wave Lab Studios. Studio owner Craig Schumacher (Neko Case, Iron & Wine) co-produced the album with Russell and Joey Burns, John Convertino, Jacob Valenzuela of local heroes Calexico provided the bulk of the instrumental support.

The Tucson connection came about after Russell heard the soundtrack to the Bob Dylan film I'm Not There, which featured several younger artists interpreting Dylan songs. "The ones that really stood out to me were the ones backed by Calexico," Russell tells the press. "I thought, how great is that--you' ve got a new kind of world/mariachi sound but the great writing of Bob Dylan....So I did more research and I found that a lot of the records Calexico, Neko Case and others were making came out of this one studio in Tucson called Wave Lab. I went in there for two weeks and sat on a stool and sang everything live with my guitar, and they built it around that."

The album as a whole falls somewhere between a country-tinged Tom Waits and Porter Wagoner's farewell record, Wagonmaster, strong on longing, with a world-weary voice. The songs that feature Valenzuela's trumpet, like opening track "East Of Woodstock, West Of Viet Nam," are stellar, and the rest of Blood And Candle Smoke is a welcome addition to the singer-songwriter genre.

Set for a September 15 release on Shout! Factory, Russell will promote the album with a national tour throughout the U.S. beginning in September., playing the area twice in October. He plays October 13 in Columbia at The Blue Note, and in KC the next night at Knuckleheads.

Take a listen to two new tracks at his MySpace.

Pinback just announced the dates for their fall tour, and they're coming to Lawrence. Specifically, the ethereal indie rock act will be playing the Granada on November 5.

Yes, I know that's a good long way off. I'm all excited, though, and wanted to get other people giddy and happy, too. The weather's horrible, so let's all dream about seeing shows when it's cold out, and we'll need to wear jackets--maybe even coats.

MP3: Pinback, "From Nothing To Nowhere"
MP3: Pinback, "Manchuria"
MP3: Pinback, "Lyon"

San Francisco Bay Area-based Lujo Records is happy to announce the release of their new Spring 2009 Sampler. This sampler is totally free and available for immediate download.

Lujo Records' Spring 2009 Sampler includes songs from their current roster: The Dark Romantics, Pomegranates, Death House Chaplain, Mouse Fire and Baby Teeth. It also includes tunes from new-to-the-Lujo-lineup: A Lull, Enlou, Firs, Nayonets and Summerbirds in the Cellar. For many of you, these songs will be your first taste of these artists and they think you're going to like what you hear. The big deal is that each new artist has a record out in the coming year!

Honestly, I'm plugging this for one reason, and one reason only: Look Mexico's "You're Not Afraid of the Dark, Are You?" Look Mexico recently signed to Suburban Home Records, and has put out two stellar 7"s in the past year: Gasp Asp on Tiny Engines, as well as their Under the Influences split with Fake Problems, on which they covered Looking Glass's "Brandy, You're A Fine Girl."

I saw Look Mexico play at the Knitting Factory during CMJ last year, and they managed to get the entire basement full of folks to go from standing around and gossiping while they played to sitting quietly on the floor while the band sat down on stage and played a couple of quieter numbers. It was one of those moments where you look around, giddy, with a grin on your face, wondering, "Is this really happening? 'Cause this is awesome."

They come through regularly, and played the Replay just last month. Check them out the next time they mosey through. When that new record comes out this fall, they're bound to come through.

The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound is one of my favorite records to come out this year. I fought and fought and fought against buying into them, but once I had my come to Jesus moment regarding their punk meets Bruce Springsteen sound, I was a much happier man. Seriously, just watch the damned video. You'll watch, you'll start to sing along, you'll understand.