Live: Jesus Lizard

When: 11/17
Where: Irving Ballroom

To be honest, I missed most of the Jesus Lizard set at Irving Ballroom for reasons I won't go into. That really sucks because I love Jesus Lizard and also because I bought a ticket and it wasn't cheap. And also because I saw the set list and I know they played a lot of my favorite songs from the first three albums before I arrived. Nevertheless, I caught enough of the show to have something to say (surprise!) so here goes...

Jesus Lizard has always been a nasty, ugly band. Their music epitomizes the best of the Midwest's golden era - that post-hardcore, pre-thrashy alt metal window where bands like Big Black, Naked Raygun, the Effigies and Killdozer mixed punk's DIY ethos and teenage-boy aggression with far more sophisticated musical ideas. Although the bands of this scene have vastly varied sounds, most of the best pushed the extremes of weight and volume while at the same time learning from the UK's post-punk grooves. The result was music simultaneously more caustic than most punk or metal and with more melodic and rhythmic flow.

Jesus Lizard certainly embraces this. Their noise rock influences make their sound jarring and asymmetrical. Over the distorted, two-ton bassy riffs, David Yow crafts equally bilious, hateful vocals.

So what of their live show now? Even the best reunited bands seem to lose a little excitement when they reach a certain age. But not Jesus Lizard. Apologies to average-looking 50-year-olds everywhere, but having a half-naked, pale, slightly flabby, sweat-drenched one repeatedly screaming "MOTHERFUCKER" at you is even more disturbing than having a sweaty 27-year-old repeatedly screaming "MOTHERFUCKER" at you. Jesus Lizard is about making people uncomfortable, and though Yow and company aren't inherently ugly, they embrace ugliness as an ultimate unsettling aesthetic. Sonically and visually, they'll send most people running for the door, and those people are running faster than ever. And that's why we love this band.

[MySpace]

Upcoming Shows: Jesus Lizard, Shilpa Ray + more

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
Thursday, November 12

Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers + Soft Black @ Death By Audio | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Shilpa Ray has more balls than all the men in Williamsburg put together. She's a badass lady who plays a handpowered harmonium without making that gimmicky. She plays slick rock and roll and yells a lot of obscenities. [RFR Review] [MySpace]


Friday, November 13

Pterodactyl @ Death By Audio | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Pterodactyl are one of the only bands around doing something new. They don't sound like anyone else, and somehow they still rock hard and have amazing melodies. Their audience usually alternates dancing around nicely and crashing into each other, because their music makes you want to do both. Plus, this is a Showpaper benefit, and things with "benefit" in them are usually extra good, be they charitable concerts or hot friends. [RFR Review] [MySpace]


Saturday, November 14

Slumberland anniversary show: Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, Frankie Rose + more @ Bell House | Gowanus, Brooklyn | $15
At first, Slumberland billed this show as having a secret "special guest" headliner. But then the rest of the bill listed most of their roster, at least on the east coast. I guess they realized anyone with half a brain would be able to figure out who was headlining, so they added the Pains to the list. The Pains are fuzzy indie pop with sheets of distorted guitar and saccharine melodies, adored the world round. The Crystal Stilts are gloomy, disaffected, poppy post-punk with a lot of bass and reverb and bouncy, baritone melodies. The rest of the bands are pretty much somewhere between these two ends of the post-punk-indie-pop spectrum. With such an extensive bill of mostly good bands, $15 is a deal. [Pains RFR Review] [Pains MySpace] [CS RFR Review] [CS MySpace]


Monday, November 16

Jesus Lizard @ Fillmore at Irving Plaza | Gramercy-ish, Manhattan | SOLD OUT
The Jesus Lizard are one of the best post-hardcore bands ever. They came out of that era when that shit was good - people were playing really loud, angry, metal-influenced indie music with great musicianship and a punk rock attitude.


Tuesday, November 17

Jesus Lizard @ Fillmore at Irving Plaza | Gramercy-ish, Manhattan | $25
Same deal, only not yet sold out.

Dinowalrus @ Glasslands | Williamsubrg, Brooklyn
If you go to see Jesus Lizard on Monday or the Tuesday show sells out before you get tickets or you don't have $25 + Live Nation fees (firstborn child or equivalent in gold), go see Dinowalrus at Glasslands. Dinowalrus are an experimental rock band based on doing a lot of drugs (or sounding like it). They drone and groove and make loud noises. It's hard to explain. Like Sonic Youth doing acid and trying to play Krautrock...or something. [RFR Review] [MySpace]

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]