Liam and the Ladies Tour it Up for Tour EP

Photo by Gabriel King Radley

Ska music can be a hard genre to develop in but, while Liam and the Ladies might not be the most popular ska band in town, they are certainly one hell of a hard-working act that are making a name for themselves. Their latest album released last summer, Tour EP, while still clinging to the group’s 2-Tone ska/new wave roots, has expanded through broader territories into some heavy doses of pop, garage rock and even reggae.

The first half of the record really centers around ska, especially on opening track “Vengeance”, while blending pop and/or reggae into the other three songs. The bass, sax and organ really deliver on “Vengeance”, although Alex, on bass, rides a delightful melody. Their saxophonist Aaron really shows his skill level throughout the entire album with the occasional solo. Latest addition Claire, on drums, stands out well on “Never Get Along”, along with the guitar. If you like sing-alongs, “Better” steps it up and leaves you shaking it between the bass and organ. After all that, the sax on “Tonight” serenades you in a smoother, mellower rhythm.

The second half picks you right back up with another sing-along: “Get to Your Head”. The bass and guitar offer a fantastic pick-me-up. If you didn’t get enough of a break from their more energetic tunes, “Sights Too High” soothes the soul between the drums and sax. “End of Wave” brings the energy up slightly through the organ and sax with its garage pop melody and a slight reggae feel. The album is closed out with sing-along “Working Week”, which will leave you wanting to tear it up on the nearest dancefloor between the organ and bass. In all, this EP is a fantastic addition to Liam and the Ladies’ catalog.

Liam and the Ladies are hosting a killer evening of ska, blues, and Americana at The Wilshire Marsh located at 2139 W. Wilshire Dr. in Phoenix on June 30th at 8 PM. They will be hosting Jersey blues act Sammy Kay, Americana noir from Blood Feud Family Singers, Americana blues folk from The Prison Ships and a special acoustic performance from none other than Liam and the Ladies. They’re asking for a $5 donation for the touring act.

~ Garyn Klasek

Dirty Bourbon River Show(stoppers)

Courtesy of Dirty Bourbon River Show

Last summer, a New Orleans circus brass band called Dirty Bourbon River Show rolled through town and I had the privilege of interviewing them before catching their jubilant performance. A year later found me discovering their return with only a day or two’s notice yet I had the fortunate circumstance of catching them again. I learned a little while back that the band had taken on the new addition of vocalist Sandra Love so I expected something new being brought to Dirty Bourbon although I wasn’t quite sure what it would be.

Photo by Edie Miller

 

Early into their set, the band kicked it off with their fusillade of brass circus rock to get the crowd movin’. The crowd was larger than I expected, especially for a show I didn’t know was happening until a couple days prior. The venue seemed to feed off the band’s exuberance. Closer to the stage, there was a bit more rambunctiousness from the audience that can only be expected through some heavy inebriation. “2 AM drunk at 9 PM” was one description I heard among the turnout. While there might have been a tad more brash dancing than one would expect for a show that wasn’t exactly punk, at least the house wasn’t lackluster.

"Animal" Important Things Humans Should Know

Partway into their set, Dirty Bourbon River Show went more of a funk direction led by Love before bringing it back around towards their N’Orleans circus level passion with a song off their latest album Important Things Humans Should Know called “Animal.” She also stepped up for a sick rendition of a Nina Simone tune. Throught the night, Matt Thomas rotated between his saxes and clarinet, far more than I recall last time, showing off his amazing talents while soloing like crazy. As well, sousaphone player/bassist Jimmy Williams alternated between his instruments, pressing against the throng for a sousaphone solo. Even drummer Dane Schindler went nuts on a couple solos, at one point, pulling out a long, thin tube that he blew into, altering the tone of his floor tom. While guitarist/accordion player/trumpet player/frontman Noah Adams brought his typical A-game ferocity and party vibes, hyping everyone up, I was shocked to see how long he focused on guitar, albeit, busting out the trumpet a handful of times. An interesting treat for anyone who’s seen them before was that they had a guest on tour with them, trombonist Adam Lessnau, who tore it up, blasting out melodies as well as muting with a rubber plunger. At one point, he and Williams ran offstage to the back of the venue to carry a barricade up by the stage, reminiscent of the last time they came through and brought a ladder onstage for some musical circus antics. Unfortunately, it was never pulled onstage, I’m guessing out of fear of endangering the audience. Instead, they closed out their set with a song that morphed into the ending of their classic song “Wolfman,” when Adams finally busted out his accordion.

"Wolfman" Volume Three

Overall, Dirty Bourbon River Show knows how to rock it and played a fantastic set. It might not have been as long as when they last came out and they might not have gotten as zany but the band certainly gave a mesmerizing performance, pulling out all the stops. Dirty Bourbon River Show proves, time and time again, that they’ll work it for us and leave us walking on air.

~ Garyn Klasek

No Slackin' for The Slackers

Photo by Joelle Andres

Despite the fact that there wasn’t much of a market left after the collapse of the nineties ska craze, a small number of ska bands have continued to deliver to the public. The Slackers, in particular, have managed to not only survive but remain successful. Much of this is because of their love of Jamaican music over any love of money or fame. Yet, this same love, on top of incredible songwriting skills and elocution, has this band broadening it’s stomping grounds and audience all over the globe. Skamp Zine had the fortunate opportunity to interview their saxophone player, David Hillyard:

The Slackers are going on 25 years of existence. Has this surprised the band on any level?

When I joined the band in 1993, I didn’t think it was going to be a serious thing. I just thought it was for fun.  I wasn’t even sure I was gonna want to do this full time.

But then, I remember being impressed by Vic’s [Ruggiero] musicality at rehearsal.  I realized that “hey, we could do something here!”  And the band began to take up more and more of my time.  

What acts and/or music has inspired y’all over the years?

Just speaking for myself, The English Beat was my first inspiration. They made me want to play music not just listen to it.

From The Beat, I got into 2 Tone. 2 Tone got me into The Skatalites, old ska, old rocksteady, old reggae. When I was in high school, I became friends with the Studio One distributor for San Diego (where I was growing up).  So I have a big collection of Studio One 45s.

So in high school, I mostly listened to Jamaican music. Then Jamaican music made me aware of a lot of other music that was coming from America: soul music, blues, R&B, and jazz.  So I started to listen to that too.

Nowadays, I listen to a lot of Brazilian stuff, Afrobeat, old blues,...but I always come back to old reggae, rocksteady, and ska which is my first love.

Sometimes I’ll hear a tune and become obsessed with it.  It doesn’t matter the genre. Most recently it has been, “Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty, “Caminho do Bem” by Tim Maia.... A couple years ago it was “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed and “Wanted Man” by Johnny Cash.

I can only imagine how crazy NYC was in the early nineties. How did people initially react to The Slackers?

It was a fun time to be young and in the city.  Most stuff was happening on the Lower East Side and downtown.  Brooklyn was a cheap place to live.  I had a lot of fun in retrospect.

You know what though? People always claim there was some “Golden Age” that is always a couple years before you got there. I played my first NYC gig in 1988 at CBGB's.  It was a lot of fun but people told me “it was cooler in the 70s.” Then I moved to NYC in 1992.  When I moved there it was a lot of fun but people kept telling me “oh it was cooler in the late 80s.”

I think the main reaction the band’s shows got when I first joined it was indifference.  We were one of a bunch of bands messing around. Partying. Playing little local gigs.  It took a while to get a crowd at shows.

The band self-released their only two demo tapes on Special Potato. Were you guys surprised that Moon Ska Records wanted to put out Better Late Than Never?

Nah. We were starting to get our sound defined and were starting to draw little crowds by the mid-90s. Moon put out a lot of albums per year.  It wasn’t like an exclusive label that only put out a few things. I was surprised we had a recording budget!

How shocked were y’all that Hellcat Records was going to release Redlight?  

Well, me and Vic had met Rancid in 1995 and they had hired us through The Stubborn All-stars to play the Lollapalooza tour with them. So we made sure to get lots of Slackers music to them.  

Tim told us he wanted to start a label and then Vic's girlfriend was with us on tour and Tim/her started brainstorming and that label was Hellcat and Vic’s girl became the label president.

Of course, when they started signing bands, they signed Hepcat, The Pietasters, Dropkick Murphys, and U.S. Bombs first. We were like what about us?' And then we got the call.....

From my understanding, The Nods (Before There Were The Slackers...) weren’t a precursor to The Slackers but a way to release material independent of Hellcat. How much would you say that early material helped pull the punk crowd towards your music?

Not much.  I wouldn’t say The Nods’ album was exactly a top seller.

I think our real breakthrough with the punk scene were the tunes on the first two Give ‘em the Boot comps that included “Watch This” and “Have the Time.” Having a band like Rancid say, “hey… these guys are cool… take a listen” helped a lot.  

I would say that most people who like punk also listen to other kinds of music; they just want to feel its honesty and intensity from the heart.  That is more important than the little bits of punk influence that end up in our music.

Over the years, the band has gone through some lineup changes. How has that impacted y’all collectively?

Well, it’s hard to keep a steady lineup together.  We have been lucky that we haven’t had a change in membership in 11 years. Knock on wood.

But it’s tough. Some people are flaky and don’t want to rehearse. Some people don’t like being on the road.  Some people have a crisis in their life outside the band that they have to deal with.

I think for us, right now, we have a versatile band in that everyone is a good songwriter and everyone is good on their instrument.  But we value playing as a team most of all.  That’s what keeps us going.

From what I’ve gathered over the years, y’all have members with jazz, ska, punk, etc.. roots. Would you say that has helped as far as diversifying your sound and audience?

We don’t sit around going, “hey, lets write a tune” to appeal to this group or that group.  We try to have the band’s influences come out organically.

My favorite moments are when different influences mash together, like Marcus' tune, “TV Dinner” is very country and very rocksteady at the same time.

I dont know if it helps us get country fans. I think punks and ska fans are more likely to relate to old country while today’s country fans are somewhere else.

Festival wise, The Slackers have played fests like Punk Rock Bowling and Fest in Florida. What was it like to not only be invited but to perform at festivals like these?

They were both fun.  Punk Rock Bowling, when I saw we were on a bill with Anti-Nowhere League and Cocksparrer and The Business… I thought “oh man”... but it ended up being one of our best sets! I think we are a punk rocker’s favorite mellow out and make out music. Hehehehe.

The band has toured all over North America, throughout Europe, Japan, South America and probably a million other places. What was your favorite place to play?

Thats not a fair question.  When I go to different places I try to appreciate what is positive about each place, find things about local food or architecture and vibes that I enjoy.

And separate from that, even if the town isn’t my favorite, our crowd is very cool. We are very lucky to have such good fans. So the show can be great even if it’s bleak outside. Sometimes those are the best music towns: the ones that are down on their heels a bit.

That being said, Brazil is a pretty fucking cool place to tour.

If y’all could share the stage with any act, wanted dead or alive, who would it be?

Fela Kuti.

What can you tell me about The Slackers’ upcoming future endeavors?

We just came out with a new 45 of 2 fan written tunes. One of them is a real boogaloo summer party tune.  Good times!

Then we are working on a 12 song new album. We should have a fundraiser/presale available over the summer. So keep your eyes and ears out for it.

https://www.facebook.com/theslackers

http://www.theslackers.com/

@theslackersband

Photo by Imelda Malaczyck

Their new summer boogaloo party track, "Diskambobulated," as well as the other new track off of their new 45, "Year 2013," can be checked out here, along with other amazing Slackers’ tunes: https://soundcloud.com/the-slackers. The Slackers are playing with locals Liam & the Ladies and Alvin Bitsue at 7 PM on Sunday, June 21st at Crescent Ballroom. The show is 16+.

~ Garyn Klasek

Riot Ghoul

Photo by Tim Callaway

Every now and then, I hear about a band that I “have to see.” Most of the time, it isn’t a metal band, although there are exceptions. Ghoul is just such an exception. One look at a band like this and one might expect something along the lines of Gwar. Regardless of if there’s much, if any, influence coming from Gwar as far as Ghoul is concerned might strictly be limited to their stage presence for the most part. Once you get past that, Ghoul’s more thrash driven brand of death metal stands apart, making them a punk metal band not to be trifled with.

Photo by Garyn Klasek

After missing the opening act, I had the opportunity to see a little of what the punk metal crowd has been up to lately in Mesa’s Saintbreaker. It took a moment to succumb to the fact that this is a talented and entertaining band. The thrashcore they play is a glorious mix of old school death metal brought at breakneck punk speeds. The melodic barrage that bassist Sebastian delivered was on point but almost vanquished their guitarist, Jacob. Drummer Paul was meticulous, dropping d-beats with excellent precision. Vocalist Nick even brought his A-game altering his vocal styles throughout. The times when you could hear Jacob’s riffs were shreddingly captivating. About the only area of the band that could use some work is his singing. It didn’t seem to work with the ferocious vocals that Nick was throwing down, which might’ve been better met with shrieking. Nonetheless, if this is the level of metal that local bands are bringing these days, and I’ve been listening to much of it on recording, it appears that I have some more metal shows to hit in the near future.

Photo by Tim Callaway

Few grindcore bands need an introduction and such is the case with Orange County’s Phobia. Amazingly, and I might be embarrassing myself here, this is a band that I’ve heard about for a long time and simply never got into, that is, until I saw them live, obliterating it at this show and blowing me away. While being known to have crust influence as well, one word comes to mind when I think back on their performance: brutal. I’m gonna start with drummer Bryan Fajardo who there are no words for but I’ll try. His intense, supersonic skills were mind-blowingly ruthless and chock full of blast beats. Keeping up with the pace was bassist Calum MacKenzie with his audacious euphony. Matching that was guitarist Cece Grind, raining down fury through her frenzied performance. Ringleading this marvelous onslaught was Shane MacLachlan, laying all to waste with his ghastly merciless vocals. After taking their set in, it’s gonna be hard to pass up any future shows of theirs.

Photo by Tim Callaway

Closing out an already incredible show was Ghoul, straight out of Oakland (or as they refer to it, Creepsylvania). Highly enthralling from the get go, this band doesn’t need the masks, costumes and stage props incorporated in order to rock the house but they do add to the fun significantly. They play what they call splatterthrash, which in my mind is an alluring blend of thrash and goregrind. Guitarist Dissector not only stood out to me by leaping atop a monitor near me while playing but also through his intricate execution. As well, Cremator had the crowd rippin’ it up by way of his resonance-heavy bass. Digestor brought the pain with his cutthroat vocals and his relentless attack on guitar. At one point, they all lined up to rampage the crowd, reminiscent of back when locals Rapid Fire would kill it. Drummer Fermentor left the place in ruins as we headbanged and tore it up in the pit, giving in to his assault. I left a tad early but much to my chagrin, as Ghoul was fucking unbelievable. Overall, this was a phantasmically wicked show that leaves me wanting more.

~ Garyn Klasek

Agent Orange Living in Brightness

Only a handful of punk bands, like The Adicts, The Damned, The Toy Dolls and The Dickies, have stood the test of time, surviving without a break. Among them is Southern California’s Agent Orange. This was one of the few punk bands that my friends and I would listen to repeatedly throughout high school. Not only has this energetic skate/surf punk band lasted but they have the same drive and power as they had back in the eighties, if they haven’t improved. I was lucky enough to get to see them for the first time on their latest tour.

I arrived at Yucca Tap Room after the opening act, Heavy Breather, finished their set. The following band, The Earlygrabs, were setting up. I was pleasantly surprised by their brand of skate punk, which I’m not even necessarily into. What I definitely noticed was their enthusiasm, especially from their guitarist but even their drummer lit a spark underneath the crowd.

On tour with Agent Orange was an impressive act that’s hard to classify. In The Whale, out of Denver, is a rock band with a heavy blues influence and hella punk attitude. I only just recently heard of these cats and am glad I have. Their hyperactive stage presence leads them to some rather robust metal tendencies. Guitarist Nate Valdez would often thrash around the stage, jumping onto drummer Eric Riley’s kit from time to time. I even saw a metalhead in the front row, headbanging and throwing up devil horns. Overall, their recordings are really good but it was thrilling to catch this amazing band live.

Closing out the show was veteran punk band Agent Orange. And did they ever leave the crowd in a wipeout. Frontman Mike Palm led us by the hand through an epic set ranging from their frenzied skate and surf punk to some more manic rock material. Even their latest addition on bass, Perry Gx, gave off more of a Motorhead/ACDC vibe in both appearance and performance. As well, drummer Dave Klein enthralled us with his rapid rhythms. From what I could tell, they played all of their classic tunes with the crowd shouting the lyrics along with the band. The massive crowd even opened up a pit, chock full of chaos, with an unfortunate instance or two of a bottle being broken on the ground and someone getting kicked out. After their set, if that wasn’t enough, and some random shouts from the audience, Agent Orange took to the stage again for an encore of a couple covers. All in all, I was grateful for the opportunity to finally see this band and even shake Mike’s hand. I think he summed up their set well that night: better to have seen them now than when they were younger.

~ Garyn Klasek 
   Photos courtesy of Joe Maier

The Cause of The Effects

Time is tough on a lot of bands, especially after calling it quits over two decades ago. That hasn’t stopped The Effects, local eighties 2 Tone ska and reggae band, from reforming to play again. For a genre of music that was struggling to find its place in this country back then, I was shocked to learn that Phoenix had a ska band that far back. I was lucky enough to find some time to interview Shadrach Powell, bassist and vocalist of The Effects as well as a guest vocalist of nineties ska band Kongo Shock:

I understand that y’all started in the eighties. When exactly did The Effects start?

The Effects started in 1982.

What did the scene look like back then?

The scene was awesome. [There was] lots of local music: Meat Puppets, Killer Pussy, Billy Clone and the same good clubs. [There was] also a local station that played lots of local music.

What kind of music did y’all start out playing?

I was in a couple of reggae bands and a punk band called Nigger Charlie. My keyboard player and guitar player were in a band together; that's how we all met.

As I’ve heard The Effects recently, I’d say that y’all play more of a cross between 2 Tone ska and reggae. How have y’all evolved over the years?

Yes, we all came from that 2Tone ska era. Over the years I would say we still held on to our roots of ska reggae rudeboy style. So now we use those influences to write songs.

What acts/music influenced The Effects back in the day?

The bands that influenced us back in the day were The Specials, Selecter, Toots and the Maytals,and Desmond Dekker.

How have your influences changed over the years?

Well as you know ska has changed over the years so I started listening to more progressive bands like Operation Ivy, Skankin Pickle and Mustard Plug.

What’s your take on the scene in the nineties compared to back in the eighties?

I feel the nineties people actually knew more about ska, rudeboy and blue beat music. Sometimes even now someone will come up to me and say “Hey I remember when you opened for The Skatalites” and will name an obscure Skatalites song which still surprises me.

What do you think of the scene today?

The scene today is getting better. I have been to a couple of ska shows here and I see more and more people that actually know the music.

What would your dream lineup be (living or dead) for an Effects show?

My dream lineup for a show would be Hepcat, The Specials, Operation Ivy and The Skatalites. Woop woop good and rude.

What does the future hold for The Effects?

We are currently working on a 14 song CD and are looking for a ball rude sax player and trumpet player. We plan on some regional touring and trying to book ska shows here to widen the scene. We just want to play and perform and put on great shows. We will be playing this First Friday at Rips Bar on 16th St & Earll on June 5 from 9:30 PM till close.

~ Garyn Klasek