The Spin
Drum duel
Saturday night was a good night for the almighty riff, as the heavy one-two punch of Big Business and The Melvins barreled into town. When we walked into the sold-out Exit/In, we didn’t know exactly who constituted the three-piece on stage: Big Business have added the occasional guitar flourish to past recordings, but the drums-and-bass tag-team have maintained their power-duo status each time we’ve seen them on tour previously. Either the band added a new member or adopted a touring sideman, but Big Business were a guitar band on this night. With the newfound wiggle room, singer/bassist Jared Warren trimmed back the distorto-bass to make room for shrill guitar leads. Whenever the power chords synched up into one monolithic beast, Big Business sounded much more like the band they were opening for—Melvins drummer Dale Crover even joined the Biz on guitar for the last song of their set. Since Big Business also make up half of the most recent Melvins lineup, there were no equipment changes between sets, just a short breather. (Undoubtedly necessary for Biz drummer Coady Willis, whose relentless bashing would have to endure a second round as half of the Melvins’ dueling-drums backbone.) When singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne finally took the stage—decked out in a one-piece camouflaged something-or-other, his grayed Sideshow Bob hair looking as sideshowy as ever—not a word was spoken. And after some noodling and tuning, the band launched into an hour-long assault with barely a pause between songs. The audience sang along with every number the Melvins cherry-picked from their massive catalog, and the band bridged each with jaw-dropping drum interludes courtesy of Crover and Willis. The second half of the show was largely culled from the band’s latest offering, (A) Senile Animal, which is the first record to include the Big Business boys in the fold, and one of the Melvins’ strongest albums in years. Live, the new songs didn’t disappoint, with the heaviest parts sounding even more massive and climactic than on record. Then it was over, just as inauspiciously as it began. Hopefully they’ll be back next year, and we’ll do it all over again.Palace party
This month makes two years since local DIY conglomerate Grand Palace set up shop in Murfreesboro’s historic downtown square, where this record store, label and screen printing shop has been faithfully serving the local public ever since. In honor of this milestone, the Palace threw itself an official birthday bash Saturday night, where an invite-only cavalcade of ’Boro regulars and veterans came together to enjoy what they love best: cheap beer and local bands. We arrived with enough to time to catch the latter half of the Velcro Stars as the Murfreesboro jangle-pop outfit was breaking in a new rhythm section. The room was packed, fists were pumped and all clapped in perfect drunken sync to the band’s signature anthem “Just Where My Time Goes.” We milled about the crowd for a bit between bands while the ’Boro’s default DJ, Bawston Sean, spun a deafening mix of soul and R&B classics. Before the stroke of midnight, former Slack bassist Ben Wilkinson’s new project The Northridge Rangers kicked into a reverb-drenched collection of surf standards and originals that once again got partygoers in motion. Drinking, dancing, more drinking and less dancing (and we seem to recall eating some cake) continued through the wee hours of the morning, until every last inebriated hipster, musician and aging college student walked, crawled, drove or biked home. It was a fitting tribute to Grand Palace’s two years of laid-back, devoted service, and hopefully a sign of many more.
Have mercy
We hadn’t made it to an 8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge in quite a while, so when we heard that our pick for best new band, Eureka Gold, was hosting, we decided to make the trek to Cannery Row and check out the latest hot shit. Turns out our boys have got their ears to the ground ’cause the first band, The Cable Company, opened the night with a solid performance of ’90s-influenced rawk. Save Macaulay’s Caitlin Rose proved all by her lonesome that her county-tinged folk tunes are worthy of all the buzz. The Glib’s unruly brand of barroom-brawlin’ jams caught us off guard—definitely the standout performance of the night. The Hannah Barbarians were another band who caught our attention, channeling all the good stuff about Hot Hot Heat minus the good band name. Hotpipes continue their slow and steady ascent as one of the city’s most notable acts, while Vermicious K’nids proved that their clunky nomenclature is worth remembering. Eureka Gold debuted new material that follows in the same Kinksy trajectory set forth by their fantastic debut album. Unfortunately we missed songwriter Ben Sures’ closing set—Monday night’s a school night after all.
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