LIVE REVIEW: DEAR GOD

MUTATING MELTDOWN

//TENSE//

COP WARMTH

HOW I QUIT CRACK

@ mangos houston tx 8-14-09

it has been said this has been the hottest summer south texas has ever seen and this was another hot night. my usual parking space was taken so i had to find another spot. i went to half-priced books and bought a copy of jack kerouac's long lost and recently issued wake up: a life of the buddha which includes an introduction by preeminent religious scholar robert a.f. thurman who is the father of the actress uma thurman. this relates to the 423 gallery as jen FSKD went to boarding school in massachusetts with uma. also, professor thurman's wife is judith thurman who writes fashion articles for the new yorker. the 423 gallery/FISKADORO prides itself on being fashion forward.

i walked over to mangos and officially met bobby from //TENSE//, a band that has been captivating our living/working space in the past couple weeks. also spent some time with jon read from THE WIGGINS who were originally scheduled to play this show until he broke his arm. i hope he gets better soon since i was really looking forward to seeing him perform.

HOW I QUIT CRACK opened the proceedings with a short, woozy, epic (yes short and epic can go together if the performance is that good) and utterly mesmerizing set. tina kneeled on the stage, sang, played a korg synth, used a guitar for feedback and a drum machine played simple beats that stayed out of the way. it was really interesting watching the audience gather around as well, it was as if tina was leading a chorus of delay pedals that drew everyone to her. it was like she was playing sigils or something. the chaos is the magick. i spoke to her afterwards and apparently she's doing a lot of recording lately (check her youtube account for evidence of this - you won't be sorry). the 423 gallery looks forward to a record from her soon.

after HIQC performed, i spent time with phil of A THOUSAND CRANES talking about australia and being shocked at his unfamiliarity with legendary australian punk bands CELIBATE RIFLES & THE SAINTS. i'll need to correct that for him one of these days (note to self). as we were talking the next band - COP WARMTH - were setting up/tuning up off of the stage and on the dance floor and we kept moving back and back.. as they were setting up they kept playing (and we marveled at the number of guitar pedals they had. kevin shields would be envious) and making all sorts of noise and walking back and forth and around marking their territory.. finally they were all set up and as the drummer kicked into their first song the rest of the band went flying into the drum kit knocking it all over the floor - the drummer chased drums and hit everything in sight - people held the drums for him and this san diego gravity records style hardcore raged for the length of the set finally ending in a long section of bass feedback and more pounding on scattered broken drums... i heard someone wonder if they buy a new drum kit for each show. the music was raw and uncompromising and i enjoyed it immensely.

next up was the mighty //TENSE// filling in for THE WIGGINS. we've been obsessing over //TENSE// lately and they did not disappoint. they took back the stage and turned it into a dance party for the last days until the end of the world. the wax traxisms seemed more apparent now that i know the songs well but they are no mere copyists either. they have their own thing going and seem to be living in their own world (and you can say the same for HOW I QUIT CRACK) which is so important if you're going to be doing art. there is that old gospel song that washington dc's BEEFEATER covered on their house burning down album that goes "i'm going to live the life that i'm singing about in my song". this really seems to apply in the songs/presentations of //TENSE// & HOW I QUIT CRACK. this is the place every artist needs to be if they take their art seriously. this is what is meant by 'not selling out'. this is punk rock.

the last band was a trio from austin called MUTATING MELTDOWN. they consisted of a boy keyboard player, and girls on bass & drums. they played a innocent sort of new wave that would fit in well on k records (back when i lived in nj we referred to this as puppycore). they were really good and had an awesome stage presence. what was most fascinating about them is their tour schedule. they played thursday in mexico, friday in houston, tomorrow in little rock arkansas and sunday in iowa city ia before continuing on in minnesota and wisconsin.. it sounds like quite the adventure.

hey jon - get well soon!

-rich kimball