Stagestruck

GEARFEST
@Emo's, Austin, TX, August 30-September 1, 2002
Hot rod/rock & roll rag Gearhead has been putting on its annual Gearfests for the past few years, but only in Europe, with a particular focus on Scandinavia. (In fact, current media darlings the Hives made their rep headlining Gearfest a couple of times.) After years of begging, the Gearheads finally brought the nonstop dragstrip rock party to the United States, screeching up to the doors of Emo's, Austin's premier punk club. Three days of tattoos, chrome, power chords and cleavage later, Emo's still stands and rockers from all over the country have had a headbangin' good time. Slam that sucker into high gear and follow me.

Friday 8/30:

Scheduling snafus meant I missed the first band on Friday night's bill; I've heard Frigg-a-Go-Go is an excellent band, so go see them for me. I also missed most of the following set by Austin's Ritchie Whites, but what little I did catch was impressive. The Whites (who have an album out on punk loyalist label TKO) played straightforward, traditionalist punk; their songs were fast (but not too fast), loud and short, with yelping vocals and singalong choruses. There was a certain nostalgia factor at work, but the band obviously loves what it does, and that affection came through in its aggressive performance. The Ritchie Whites are already being tipped as Austin's Great Punk Hope, and after the few songs I managed to witness, it's easy to see why.

Next up on the outside stage (Emo's has two stages and staggered the performance schedule so the bands weren't competing with each other) was the Lords of Altamont, an even more aggressive quintet from, well, somewhere (didn't catch the exact location, sorry). Led by a lanky, black-clad bundle of tattoos with a sneering growl and a penchant for serious Farfisa abuse, the band ripped through a set of hard-hitting garage punk (including a wonderfully devolved take on Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love") with an enthusiasm bordering on maniacal. Performing in front of a liquid lightshow (which brought a few derisive comments about the Grateful Dead from members of the crowd—little did they know what was coming), the Lords careened across the stage with enough energy to light up a small city. The frontman mercilessly flung his organ (the Farfisa, that is) about the stage the way a guitarist slings his axe, finally spraying the top with lighter fluid and setting it on fire—and continuing to play it. The Lords ended their well-received set with a clobbering version of the Chambers Brothers' "Time Has Come Today" that easily surpassed the turgid original and left the crowd screaming for more.

While the sweating Emo's patrons couldn't have any more trips to Altamont, they could wander back to the inside stage to see Austin's Applicators, who have the rep of being one of the River City's best punk bands. An all-female (for whatever that's worth) quartet, the Apps are one of those rare bands that have a riveting stage presence without having any gimmicks at all. The bassist, drummer and guitarist knocked out slightly thrashy, powerhouse punk rock like they were having the time of their lives—the four-stringer and tub-thumper never sat still for more than a few seconds, while the picker couldn't keep a smile off her face. The singer, meanwhile, relied on an unconscious, short little hop between vocal exhortations; she had an intriguing air of aloofness, rarely speaking to the crowd or moving much beyond her hopscotch routine. She simply saved all her emotional energy for her powerful wails. The crowd really dug the Applicators, and justifiably so.

Back to the outside stage and the first of the festival's legends. Akron, Ohio's Rubber City Rebels released their first album in 1977, during the first wave of Anglo-American punk. The bandmembers had clearly aged in 25 years, but were still young enough at heart to pound out a solid if unspectacular set of tongue-in-cheek punk rock. The band's clear spiritual ancestors would be the Dictators, not only because most of their songs were more revved-up hard rock than what traditionalists would call punk, but also because of the group's twisted sense of humor. The latter came through in particular after frontman Rod Firestone put down his guitar and handled the mike unencumbered. As the band's energy rose dramatically, Firestone snarled out the gruesome ode to cannibalism "Child Eaters," complete with monologue from a talking cat, as well as "Pinhead," "Kidnapped" and the group's theme song, "Rubber City Rebel." Just as the band finally hits its stride and made steps toward justifying its legendary status, it ended its set with a cavalcade of wanton guitar destruction. The Rebels couldn't match the power of their progeny the Lords of Altamont (whose drummer gave the band an adoring introduction), but at least they caught fire towards the end. (more)

Album reviews of new music by:

Choo Choo La Rouge

Boston's Choo Choo La Rouge makes indie pop the old-fashioned way on its EP Wall to Wall: with a few chords, a low budget and a sense of humor. (more)

Annbjorg Lien

Lien is a forward-thinker, a relentless synthesizer who adapts the centuries-old folk tradition she loves to the technology and sensibility of the modern era. (more)

The Mummydogs

Ten years after Thin White Rope's swan song, former Rope frontman Guy Kyser returns to the ranks of indie rock with the debut album from his new quartet the Mummydogs. (more)

Planet X

The third album in as many years from Planet X is more of the technically advanced progressive metal fusion one comes to expect from this particular collective. (more)

Rollins Band

Backed, as he has been the past few years, by the members of Mother Superior, the Big Ugly Mouth rips through a healthy selection of his back catalog with precision and gusto. (more)

The Superbees

Guitarist Dave James has the prerequisite yell like a tomcat in heat, and the group puts out enough effort to burn up all the calories of its last meal in two and a half minutes. (more)

UHF

Frontman Jeremy Leff and his bandmates simply write sterling pop songs, with rich melodies and vibrant production topped off by Leff's distinctive whiskey sour vocals. (more)

And explore the refreshed sounds of Chad & Jeremy.