Due to an incredible amount of booking prowess and sheer coincidence, the folks at Phoenix Hill are bringing us five straight weeks with at least one Touch and Go (or 1/4 Stick/Touch and Go) band each week. The Chicago-based label has been most supportive of the Louisville scene for years, releasing and/or distributing albums by: Slint, King Kong, The Palace Brothers, Rodan, and most recently, Palace.
It all begins on Friday, March 4th with The Didjits (from Champaign, IL) headlining up in the Roof Garden with special guests Babe the Blue Ox, who are on Homestead Records. The Didjits' new release is entitled "Que Sirhan, Sirhan," and sometimes you can hear it played on Cary B's shows on WDJX 1080 AM, or see the video on MTV's 120 Minutes. Or, you can shell out the whole three bucks and see them live.
The next week there's a Touch and Go triple bill. Still in the Roof Garden on Saturday, March 12th there will be Laughing Hyenas, Rodan, and Din Caballero. That's three bands, three bucks. Rumor has it that representatives from the two premier British music magazines, New Music Express (NME) and Melody Maker, will be in town for the show. Rodan just released their debut, Rusty, (named after their recording engineer) which is the main reason for the British press interest.
On Sunday, March 20th in the Saloon, The Jesus Lizard returns! It's been years since they've been in town, and during their absence the band released a split single with Nirvana (Nirvana was on the B side). Words don't represent the band's live shows very well, but the phrase "potentially dangerous" could apply. Louisville's next most-likely-to-be-a-Touch and Go signing, Evergreen, will play right before the Jesus Lizard. Evergreen now features Brit Walford of the legendary Slint (and also once of The Breeders) on drums. Wig, on Polydor Recs and from Detroit, will play first at about 9:30pm.
On Saturday, March 26th, Mule visits us again from Detroit. They're on Quarterstick Records (part of Touch and Go) like our own Rodan. Chicago's answer to Love Jones, The Coctails (not on T&G) will also be on that bill. Lastly, Seam will be coming to the Roof Garden on Saturday, April 2nd.
Matador/Atlantic scary band Unsane starts March's Tuesday night noise showcase at Butchertown Pub on the 1st. Bring your earplugs, and two bucks for the cover charge. Sharing the bill is California's Trumans Water, on tour supporting their debut release on Homestead Recs.
The rest of the shows are back to the usual "free" status. Dumpster Juice debuts in Louisville on Mar. 8th. They are on Spanish Fly/Twin Tone Records out of Minneapolis, the label founded by Lori, the drummer in Babes in Toyland. Local loud ones Eleven-Eleven will open.
Columbus' New Bomb Turks have been kicking up a buzz in their revival of the 80's punk rock spirit. They share the 15th with a new band on Trance Records, Johnboy, labelmates with the Pain Teens. Homestead's Pony along with friends Pacer will drop by on the 22nd, en route back to New York after performing at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin.
March Tuesdays will end as loudly as they began at the Pub. On the 29th, Amphetamine-Reptile artists Today Is The Day introduce themselves to Louisville, after a performance by Jesus Christ Superfly. Today Is The Day hail from Nashville...it's really amazing that AmRep found them down there, since so much of the Nashville rock scene is geared towards mainstream fluff.
Peter Searcy has found his mark again! His new band, Starbilly, is his most promising effort since Squirrel Bait. Their first gig at Phoenix Hill for David Ernspiker's benefit was absolutely exciting for the first three songs, then slipped back into Big Wheel land for a few songs, and came back out on top at the end of the set. Starbilly is more energetic and rocks harder than Big Wheel, hands down. All this potential, and one of the members had only been in the band two weeks! You may watch this band to watch at Tewligans on Friday, Mar. 4, or also at Butchertown Pub on Mar. 5.
In the next issue, we'll answer all the great questions, like, "What is UP with Uncle Pleasant's," "What is going on with local radio," and "Which one of the guys in Slint did the Jesus Lizard write the song `Mouthbreather' about?" If anyone is interested in submitting ideas or news, it may be faxed to 239-6097 during daytime hours. Maybe somebody from Tewligans would like to return my phone calls or actually fax me info about upcoming shows there sometime.