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Feb 2nd, 2010 - 13:42:13 |
Aural Allure
Niagara & the Hitmen
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Steel Cage Records
If you’re a chick, you want to be "enigmatic." Guys love that. For many women, being cool and mysterious doesn’t come naturally and they have to work at it. And when they do, it's actually not even mysterious or cool at all, it's just obnoxious.
But for Niagara, sex appeal, mystery and allure are truly just second nature. It's in her every pore. That’s why, after more than 20 years as a Detroit icon, she’s still got it going on.
These days you know her primarily as a powerful force in the visual arts. An honest visionary, Niagara's sexy, bold work has appeared in countless galleries all over the world, vivid depictions of alluring-but-dangerous femme fatales in a colorful blend of film noir sleek and Roger Corman sleaze. But back in the day, before she made her mark as the uniquely stylish pop artist that many people have since tried to imitate, Niagara was the driving force behind two of Detroit’s most influential bands — Destroy All Monsters and Dark Carnival.
Now, after who knows how many years, the fishnetted art queen of Detroit has returned to her noisy roots. All it took was a trip to Australia to get it moving.
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was recorded live in Sydney, back in 2008, while Niagara was in town there during an art exhibition. By all indications, the reunion with old playmates The Hitmen happened unexpectedly — the set feels impromptu as they bludgeon their way through a handful of old Destroy All Monsters tunes and a few Stooges classics as well.
Doing St. Valentine’s Day Massacre live was a good call — the modern hijinks of a recording studio probably couldn’t have captured the heat and immediacy that Niagara and The Hitmen brought to that little stage. Sound-wise, it's as stripped down as you could imagine — and it should be.
The liner notes make it sound like an epic in the making, a performance that took 20 years to come to fruition — apparently all these cats know each other from back in the day, when Destroy All Monsters played in Sydney and The Hitmen opened for them. It was an emotional rivalry then; now it’s a kick-ass partnership.
It’s a good mix; most of the D.A.M. songs were co-written by Niagara and the late great Ron Asheton, so segueing directly into the Stooges' "T.V. Eye" or "Little Doll" or "Real Cool Time" feels entirely natural. Hitmen guitarist Tony Jukic doesn’t really crunch the guitar the way Asheton did, but come on, no one else does either. Instead, Jukic pulls off a high-octane skronk of his own, and while it never reaches Stooges heights — and isn't expected to — it certainly gets the job done.
I’ve never heard Tura Satana sing (did she?) but I suspect she’d sound something like Niagara — a sort of throaty, husky purr, still full of the same atonal challenge she offered up with Destroy All Monsters. The woman’s got style. And, you know, she’s enigmatic as all hell. — Heath Lowrance
Coming of Age
Spiral Stairs
The Real Feel
Matador
On The Real Feel, Scott Kannenberg, (former guitarist/singer for indie-sanctities Pavement) seems to have a self-revelation; after two full-lengths and an EP under the Preston School of Industry moniker (a name taken from a Pavement B-side that would initially seem a misfit to longtime Pavement fans who already knew that Spiral Stairs was in fact his long-held nickname/pseudonym), he puts PSOI on the shelf, dusts himself off and says, "Here I am, sorry I'm late." PSOI's recordings were sort of schizophrenic records tinged with capricious flings into space-rock and weird, fuzzy, bass-booming southern rock, only providing flashes of those dizzyingly delicious pop ballads Kannenberg would occasionally lead on with Pavement; but it wasn't enough to just re-hash new "Date With Ikeas" and "Painted Soldiers," listeners still weren't getting to know the man who was often shadowed by the more flamboyant/more-lead-writer of their previous band (Stephen Malkmus). With The Real Feel, Kannenberg matches Malkmus not only on intricately woven indie-pop, but surpasses his former/currently-reunited-collaborator's respective solo work on levels of emotional, pensive and melancholy lyrics and gives us, finally, the most intimate look into Kannenberg, as a songwriter and as a man. — Jeff Milo
The Fiery Furnaces
I’m Going Away
Thrill Jockey Records
I’m Going Away, the eighth album release by The Fiery Furnaces, is nothing shy of genius. Composed with comparable style to their past releases, The Fiery Furnaces triumphantly mix noise music with complex tempo changes and time signatures relative to traditional jazz. The imaginative duo utilizes this genre mix to keep their listeners constantly surprised, and continually searching for a sound label. Some consider this new music indie or rock or pop or experimental or psychedelic ... I will call it original. — David Hall
The Laundronauts
Come Clean
Spin Cycle Records
Maybe it’s because I don’t do my own laundry — what are moms for? — but the Laundronauts debut album Come Clean doesn’t make much sense to me. The album has a laundry motif. Campy, much? After developing their mod-pop sound, the trio flew to Detroit from Canada to record with legendary Jim Diamond. The band finds success in the mellow pop song “Launder-Annette,” but they don’t stick to it and turn the kitsch dial to hot. The Laundronauts found a great producer and good recording studio, but, the result is just an extra large load. — Gary Bartle
in my ear
7 Million Jigawatts
Get electrified by 7 Million Jigawatts! Their unique fusion of rock 'n’ soul has been channeled into their upcoming album. Their CD release party will take place at the Next Step Studio art gallery in fabulous Ferndale on Thursday, November 19th.
What the band’s been listening to:
Jon Vidal: Drums
Monsters of Folk — Monsters of Folk
David Gray — Draw the Line
Nate Montgomery: Keyboards & Guitar
John Mayer — Room for Squares
John Scofield — Hand Jive
Melissa Behring: Lead Vocals
The Orbitsuns — Dollars and Dice
Sam Roberts — Love at the End of the World
Marvin Gaye — What’s Goin’ On
Jake Tobias: Vocals and Bass
The Beatles — Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin — In Through the Out Door
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