Friday, December 2, 2011
Cream Calendar Rumble Rockin' 3 feat. Church of Cleanliness, Jocephus and More, Tonight at The Stadium Inn
Posted by Edd Hurt on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:46 AM
As musical concepts go — and I think music is nothing without a concept in tow — the marriage of wrestling and rock 'n' roll makes perfect sense. If rock is a kind of Theater of the Absurd that relies upon loud guitar noises to make its point, the Nashville band called Church of Cleanliness are first-rate absurdists and real rockers. Bandleader and rock theorist Matty Zarth grew up in Nashville as a fan of rock 'n' roll and wrestling, and he's put together a show that combines the aggression and craziness of both art forms.
Tonight's "Rumble Rockin' 3" show at The Stadium Inn features Church of Cleanliness along with USWO wrestler Jocephus, who bills himself as "The Shelby Street Brawler." In addition, the band — composed of Zarth and longtime musical associate Matt Glassmeyer — will be joined by guitarist and singer Larry Vaughn. I've known and admired Larry for several years, since he's one of the helpful and knowledgeable staff at Grimey's Records. More to the point, Vaughn is an accomplished guitarist who is not afraid to wear the amazing wrestling outfit Zarth has picked out for this equally amazing event.
"Well, this all stemmed from the time my old band was passing through Mississippi, and someone had spray-painted on all the bridges, 'Satin Rules,' " Vaughn says. "I told Matty about it, and he decided to create a character based on that."
As Zarth laughs, "The mentality of some kid wanting to spray-paint the most shocking thing, and he misspells it, that's interesting. And what happens? It all turns into this satiny kind of thing. Anyway, I showed Larry the uniform and he laughed. And I said, 'You're gonna thank me for this later.' "
Born in Murfreesboro and raised in Nashville ("Matt and I are both from Donelson, out by the airport, and we've always played music"), Zarth began formulating his wrestling-rock concept last year when Church of Cleanliness played a record-release show for their EP, The Dirt Is Near. "We wanted to have some kind of gag, and Jocephus came to the record-release party," Zarth remembers. "We said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest in the audience,' and had him stand up. Jocephus whips off his workout clothes, and he's got his boots on and his little underwear thing, and we play [Gary Glitter's] 'Rock and Roll Part 2.' "
The band made a video featuring Jocephus and some nicely grimy ringside ambiance. Playing an original song called "Tony," the Cleanliness rockers made it clear they had a grip on the sort of non-narrative, non-hooked rock tune that delved deeply into the psyche of a born loser. "On 'Tony,' the lyrics are three-quarters true, " Zarth says. "I actually wrote it about a guy I knew — Ann was in Chattanooga, she took the cat and the car, and Tony kept the TV. Tony was — is, I guess — this ne'er-do-well guy. I haven't talked to him in years, and he's either on the Appalachian Trail or God knows where."
It's a great song — a deadpan but somehow moving rocker. "I went to see Tony / Still livin' in the same place since the divorce / And I thought it funny / The shirt he had on said, 'San Diego,' " they sing. Like the rest of The Dirt Is Near, it transcends irony. As Zarth and Glassmeyer certainly know, it's a hard world out there.
"Larry is Satin, as in 'Satin Rules,' and we're the good guys," Zarth says. "Larry's the bad guy. Of course, with wrestling, you have good guys and bad guys. Plus, Larry has a [guitar] style that is kind of like that evil psychedelic sound. It goes hand-in-hand with what we're askin' him to do."
Tonight's show should be brisk and powerful, with Josephus making aggressive moves and the band alternately fending off and embracing Vaughn's bad-ass psychedelic sound. I really like the Dirt EP, too — the addition of organist Larry Van Loon and drummers Jano Rix and Tommy Perkinson make it a catchy little number from Music City's underbelly. And let's hope the show gives the talented Vaughn a chance to shine — Zarth praises the guitarist's ability to "thrive in an improvisational setting."
"In the musical fight between good and evil, Satin always leaves devastation in his wake," Vaughn says. Neither Vaughn nor Zarth would reveal exactly what evil twists and turns the event may take, but it should be absurdism at its most casual. As Vaughn says, "People who go to the show will find themselves caught somewhere between morbid curiosity and inexplicable fascination."
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