Makeovers & make-out tunes

Hey local clubs, get together and decide: you gonna be on regular time, rock time or The End time? When we rolled into Exit/In Saturday night at 9:45, we were shocked—and a tad disgruntled—to discover that opener ANNUALS had long ago finished their short set. If this had been The Basement, we would have been right on time. If we’d been across the street, we would have been early. And had we known about the literalness of the 9 p.m. start time, we could have wrenched ourselves from Titanic on TNT a little easier. But two things brightened our spirits. First, post-face-lift, Exit/In looks 10 years younger—the new balcony is sturdy and accessible, the temperature was moderate, the P.A. sounded great and the whole place felt fresh and new. Second, THE DEARS are a really sweet rock band. Frontman MURRAY LIGHTBURN and his moody charisma just kept getting better as the set went on. At first, Lightman, dressed like his bandmates in crisp black, didn’t seem to know what to do with the Nashville crowd, with their crossed arms and too-cool-for-school attitudes. But he refused to give up on the relatively full house, even admitting, “I would be one of you—I would be too cool too.” His enthusiasm and the band’s rich, insistent rock eventually enlivened the crowd to head-nodding and mid-range wooo’s (practically a mosh pit for a local indie-rock show). But the element that took this band to the next level was kinetic guitarist PATRICK KRIEF and his lush, angular guitar tone. And as Lightburn warmed, he grew more talkative. “This is track 11 on our record,” he said during “I Fell Deep.” “Go home and make love to that shit.” During the encore, bassist MARTIN PELLAND rocked a Grimey’s T-shirt, and Lightburn told the crowd, “This has been the most different show of the tour.” We’re pretty sure he meant it in a good way.

Even rock gives you second chances

Even rock gives you second chances

Good thing ANNUALS were playing an in-store the next day at Grimey’s. Redemption! We’ve been to quite a few in-stores on Eighth Avenue, but we’re gonna go ahead and say that this was our favorite. The six members, two drum kits, keyboards and a fair number of stray drums packed the small space, but Annuals still managed to craft a dynamic cacophony of rhythm and sound. For certain sections of songs, most members took up sticks and banged in unison, creating an almost tribal backdrop to their idiosyncratic indie rock. They could have used a drum machine, but this device manufactured energy, movement and interaction, making the songs swell and the packed house catch their breath. The drums, along with singer ADAM BAKER’s angsty wail, also created a loudness that made our swimming, Sunday-afternoon heads cry for help—in a good way.

At least no one played ‘Free Bird’

The Spin walked into a crowded Springwater Saturday night with openers HANDS DOWN EUGENE already in mid-set. The audience packed into the bar’s small back room, and somebody stood close to the front of the stage, lighter thrust into the air. That sort of thing stopped being even ironically funny like five years ago, but we knew what he meant—the band was spot on, and crowd dude was feeling it. Fronted by OLE MOSSY FACE bassist MATT MOODY and backed by a slew of members of other East Nashville bands, HDE hit the high points on last year’s fantastic record, Madison, tempering the album’s more psychedelic moments with equal parts Southern and indie rock. Then LONE OFFICIAL delivered perhaps the liveliest set we’ve seen from the quintet. While they have no shortage of great songs, sometimes the quieter nuances don’t hit the mark as well live as they do on record. That wasn’t the case here. One superfan hugged the stage, sang along when he knew the words and hand-gestured when he didn’t, and, when he felt the time was appropriate, he too hoisted his lighter into the air. And it wasn’t ironic—the guy meant it. Finnish oddball THE MATTOID closed out the night with a stand-up comedy routine peppered with a handful of songs. The banter was raunchy enough to make Lenny Bruce blush—in other words, hilarious. Highlights included a stirring rendition of Abba’s “Dancing Queen” featuring guest vocals from DAVE CLOUD, and a cover of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” that managed to elicit the evening’s last raised lighter.

Cave dwellers

A capacity crowd crammed into the Nashville Jazz Workshop’s intimate Jazz Cave last Friday night for the LARRY GOLDINGS show, and they got more than their money’s worth as the internationally acclaimed jazz organist played two generous sets, backed by a couple of local players who had no problem keeping up. Guitarist PAT BERGESON—who’s worked with Lyle Lovett, Bill Evans, Bill Frisell and Dolly Parton—was outstanding, and even took a show-stopping turn on harmonica. (Goldings marveled at Bergeson’s ability to blow over complex jazz changes with a single-key blues harp.) Drummer MARCUS FINNIE was solid all night, and really shone on the funkier numbers, and on one of the evening’s highlights, “The Acrobat,” whose first few notes had us thinking we were heading into “Afro Blue.” (Goldings was quite the comedian between songs, tossing of self-deprecating remarks or dry, ironic comments, such as this introduction to “The Acrobat”—“There’s an interesting story about this song. It’s in 3/4.”) The performance drew quite a few local luminaries, including big-time producer KYLE LEHNING, jazz singer ANNIE SELLICK (Bergeson is her beau) and bassist BYRON HOUSE, who had spent the day recording with Goldings for ANDREA ZONN’s new record. (Zonn and Goldings are both members of James Taylor’s touring band.)

Give ’em some money, so they can get high

Last Monday’s 8 off 8th at Mercy Lounge, booked expertly by STALKING THE MUSE’s PABLO JUAREZ, offered a little something for everyone. COWBOY DYNAMITE, who made a rare appearance on Nashville’s over-18 circuit, looked all fresh and sounded super tight, far from the dirty glow of their frequent hang The Muse. RICHIE KIRKPATRICK offered a sneak peak of the new Ghostfinger record in his own Richie-Kirkpatrick way—karaoking along to the finished tracks in a red leisure suit. It was part Mick Jagger, part Van Morrison and part Weird Al. Glossary showcased some tunes from their upcoming album (set for an October release), including a surprise turn by pedal steel player TODD BEENE on lead vocals. CHRIS SLACK debuted his post-Slack project BLACK MAGIC MARKERS, bringing the same intensity and dark wit (which was much easier to decipher without the usual punk-rock din) to a three-song set of acoustic tunes. VELCRO STARS and TURNCOATS added further spicy ’Boro flavor to the evening—and just so you know, it tastes like Chick-fil-A, Pabst and beards, in a good way. Closing out the evening were ZOMBIE BAZOOKA PATROL, a kitschy, poppy, surf-a-billy outfit who just happened to dress like Zombies and perform choreographed dance moves. We told you there was something for everyone...

Give ’em some money, so they can get high

Last Monday’s 8 off 8th at Mercy Lounge, booked expertly by STALKING THE MUSE’s PABLO JUAREZ, offered a little something for everyone. COWBOY DYNAMITE, who made a rare appearance on Nashville’s over-18 circuit, looked all fresh and sounded super tight, far from the dirty glow of their frequent hang The Muse. RICHIE KIRKPATRICK offered a sneak peak of the new Ghostfinger record in his own Richie-Kirkpatrick way—karaoking along to the finished tracks in a red leisure suit. It was part Mick Jagger, part Van Morrison and part Weird Al. Glossary showcased some tunes from their upcoming album (set for an October release), including a surprise turn by pedal steel player TODD BEENE on lead vocals. CHRIS SLACK debuted his post-Slack project BLACK MAGIC MARKERS, bringing the same intensity and dark wit (which was much easier to decipher without the usual punk-rock din) to a three-song set of acoustic tunes. VELCRO STARS and TURNCOATS added further spicy ’Boro flavor to the evening—and just so you know, it tastes like Chick-fil-A, Pabst and beards, in a good way. Closing out the evening were ZOMBIE BAZOOKA PATROL, a kitschy, poppy, surf-a-billy outfit who just happened to dress like Zombies and perform choreographed dance moves. We told you there was something for everyone...

Send your thoughts on what “Nashville flavor” tastes like, tips on lighter etiquette at rock shows and reactions to Exit/In’s makeover to thespin@nashvillescene.com.