this one

Scene Report
By Duncan Barlow

As the tired month grows to a close and the leaves dance the season's minuet before littering the Earth, I chain myself to my computer and bring hungry readers more news from Louisville's underground, all-age music scene.

The biggest event to happen this past month was the return of Insomniacathon, a Louisville tradition for two years. R.A.N.T., a local literary publisher, once again opened the stage for local heroes and unknowns to perform and help aid R.A.N.T. The highlight of the event was Saturday night when Snapcase came from Buffalo to perform. I have to admit that when I was sent a promo copy of their record Looking Glass Self, I did not care for it too much. I am glad I was able to witness the band live. Snapcase was incredible. Tight hard-core with a metal influence, lyrics that deal with personal ideals and enough movement on stage to keep even the most skeptical people attentive added up to create a solid package that left the crowd in a wonder.

Other bands that played that night were Rayse, who put forth an enjoyable first show. They had a style that I see quite frequently these days, drawing on various influences that come from anywhere like Jawbreaker to Rodan and swing back to The Jesus Lizard. I see this band playing for quite a while as long as they stick to it.

Solid State was the first band I actually had time to watch that afternoon. This group draws on folk influences and personal lyrics. Kyle Blust from Bush League was playing bass, which I found oddly respectful.

Eleven-eleven played a very nice set. This band doesn't receive much respect from their audience, but I honestly think that they do not care. Eleven-eleven is a band simply because they like playing together; that is music.

Guilt played around 11 o'clock that night. Considering that I sing for Guilt, I believe it would be difficult to judge our performance. So I will instead mention a few of the incidents that made our set difficult.

The biggest problem was that we dressed two men in clown costumes and they kept tripping over and unplugging, our guitar cords because they had clown feet on and could not stop adequately. The second biggest problem in our set was that we requested that the stage lights be dimmed because we had stage torches. The torches actually didn't provide the band with enough light, so we found it very difficult to play our songs comfortably. And I guess the moral to this story is: one gimmick at a time.

Okay, those are the only bands from the concert that I could actually review, for they were the only bands I could watch.

The next concert that took place was Split Lip at the Highland Grounds. I did not watch Colossus of the Fall, which Dirk from DogHouse Records sings for, but I stopped in to catch Split Lip. They have grown progressively softer each month but that is all right by me, because they do it with style. I have noticed a great Samiam influence in the vocals and a slight Eric Clapton influence in the guitar styles.

Hole came through town with Veruca Salt and Madder Rose. Overall this show was done perfectly, as most of Spotlight Productions shows are. Anyway, since Louisville has not offered many shows containing local acts, I get a great chance to talk about national talent. Or, in this case, national non-talent. Hole was perhaps one of the worst bands I have ever had the displeasure to sit through. I was working as part of the crew, so I was able to see through the whole facade. Okay, Courtney Cobain, or whatever she might call herself, did not even bother to show up until about five minutes before Hole played. And even then she did nothing but talk about how worthless men were. I guess I could not help but think how wonderful it must have been for this woman to profit off her husband Kurt Cobain's suicide. The last unpleasant incident of the evening was when Courtney ran into a group of teens outside and when the fans approached her the security moved in. This, of course, gave her the opportunity to yell about the security, who were only doing their jobs. I also saw her manager smack a small teen-age boy in his face for being too close to her. I do think that the opening bands were great. Especially Veruca Salt, who simply amazed me.

On the local release list this month we have the new Metroschifter record, which is naturally a good record.

Apollo Strain has just released a new tape on a brand new label, Shakin' Sheila Productions. Apollo Strain is a band that has a heavy rock influence, but maintains enough hard core to keep the tape reels rolling. Nonetheless, a great first attempt. Shakin' Sheila is looking for new bands, so write them at this address: 2202 Nocturne Drive, Louisville, KY 40272.

Blangk and Hedge released a single together that is definitely worth a listen. I will admit that I do prefer the Blangk side, but that is because I enjoy the heavy aspect of the band. I am not saying that the Hedge side is bad, because it too is very good.

Endpoint will be playing their final show on December 30, with an original Sunspring reunion, Crain and Shift, at the Grand in New Albany.

There is a new local guitar show on public access Channel 9 at 9 p.m. Fridays. You might want to watch it and see local bands such as Endpoint, Starbilly and Guilt get intervieWednesday

Well I guess that is all for this month. Please send me any material to review at: P.O. Box 5159, Louisville, KY 40205.