Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk

ON DECK

Melvins unapologetically unplugged. Way back in 2014, the mighty King Buzzo made his NYC solo debut with an acoustic set at Santos Party House, and it was even more epic than the album (This Machine Kills Artists) he was supporting. The guy is a solid rock star, from the hair to the unaffected vocals to the measured perfection of his guitar playing, but what proved the point was when he’d stand at the side of the stage, beating a four count on the low strings, stressing the 1 and the 3 with head thrusts, as if someone else was at the front taking a solo. No one was, he was just rocking, alone with his battle axe. It’s in that way that Five Legged Dog—out Oct. 15 as download and double-CD, and a multi-colored, 4-LP set early next year—is so magnificent. The trio pillages its back catalog, all the way back to their first album, 1987’s Gluey Porch Treatments with “Eye Flys,” tastefully paired with a cover of Free’s “Woman.” That track is a good indication of what makes Dog great. There’s no lighter-side-of-Melvins going on here, no finger-picking or stool-sitting, and no fudging, either. Steve McDonald plays acoustic bass guitar and Dale Crover bashes away with brushes, and the vocals are spot-on with close harmonies in Black Sabbath melodies, like they’re circled around a dumpster fire. They also cover Brainiac, Alice Cooper, Buck Owens, the Rolling Stones, the Turtles and Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talking” from Midnight Cowboy, but their covers of themselves (“Oven,” “Night Goat,” “Civilized Worm”) are what nails it. Five-Legged Dog is heavy and unflourished, no electricity but no fancy filigrees, just big, massive, rock.

Deerhoof Actually Does. It’s hard to imagine how a band might follow up something as grandly and hilariously epic as Love-Lore, Deerhoof’s mad mashing of 40 some odd covers and interpretations—from Ornette Coleman and Pauline Oliveros to Voivod and the Velvet Underground to TV show themes and commercial jingles—into barely over a half an hour, but in barely a year later managed to do so. Actually, You Can (out on CD, cassette and download October 22 from Joyful Noise Recordings, with green vinyl coming soon) isn’t quite as long and isn’t quite as nuts but it’s every bit as joyous, meticulous and voracious. The influences aren’t on their sleeves this time, but they’re drawing from Handel and Maya Angelou, metal and rancheros, and the many fancies of each of the four members. Home recordings from each of them were arranged into miniature masterpieces by drummer Greg Saunier but, at the insistence of bassist/singer Satomi Matsuzaki, the constructions were all songs that could be played live—in the hopes that that would happen again. Actually, You Can is actually the band’s third record in 18 months, and its disparate, tight-fitting parts puts them in league with the taut mania of Talking Heads and US Maple, but happily they lack the cold, impersonality of those bands. It’s a charming record that flies by fast enough that repeat listens are pretty much guaranteed.

ON STAGE

I’ve written about the last couple albums by Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog albums in these pages, and they’re good records, but they’re a great live band (with at least as many legs as the Melvins). They’re finally getting the chance to go out and support those albums with a quick, three-stop tour starting at the Bell House (in a Le Poisson Rouge showcase) on Oct. 7. The following night, they’re at Creative Alliance in Baltimore and ending up at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia on the 9th.

Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog with The Messthetics

Liturgy is also getting out to support their two recent records (also covered in these pages), hitting the same cities in a different order. They’ll be at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore on the 13th and Milkboy in Philadelphia on the 14th, ending up at the Knitting Factory on the 15th.
https://www.knittingfactory.com/event/tw-eventinfo/Liturgy/11147805/

And way back in 2019, I interviewed Blake Sandberg about the return of his band, Aliens. He’s been working with different line-ups recording new songs and pulling new things together, and will play at The Kingsland on Oct. 10, sharing a bill with none other than H.R. of Bad Brains. Public Nature round out the bill.
http://kingslandbk.com

Meanwhile, back home in Red Hook, Pioneer Works will be firing on all cylinders when Black Midi visits from London. If you have any doubt what the Brits mean when they call a track a “total banger” check out the video for “John L,” the lead-off track for their last album Cavalcade (released in May and keeping the Rough Trade sound alive). Their particular post-punk prog pounding will rattle Pioneer Works to the rafters on Oct. 20.
https://pioneerworks.org