It's a steal

Zaphod's free showcase shows are occasionally victims of bizarre eclecticism - with availibility the only factor leading to band's sharing the stage. I have fairly diverse taste in music, as witness my last bit of music buying landing me the Scorpions' debut Lonesome Crow, Nadja's latest fuzzed out death-doom opus, an album of piano pop from a Comets on Fire member, Finnish folk by Islaja, a Wanda Jackson collection, another double-CD set from Australian glam-pop combo Skyhooks, Nick Cave's latest, a lost soul gem from Marie "Queenie" Lyons, Jackson C. Frank's classic Blues Ran the Game and some French prog. All part of the training for a bill featuring comedy, didjeridoo, punk, ska, lover's reggae, funk, electronica and country and western. Granted, not all in the same act. The punk and ska came with Clepto, a local quartet of ska punks who told the gathered audience they were playing a jammier set instead of their normal fast and furious numbers since their lead guitarist was off in Montreal. Bassist Freddie claimed that wasn't actually true ... I guess I'll have to see them again to discover the truth. They certainly didn't sound like the stuff on their Myspace.

Rhythm guitarist Alex.



Drummer Philip and the most ska set of traps ever.



Bassist Freddie.



Faceoff action!



Leaping action!



Mid-song microphone problem action!



And so on!





Their next show is at the Mercury Lounge on April 13.

• Show reminder: Grand Theft Bus and The Soiree perform at Zaphod's tonight. Over at Mavericks Hello Terror!, We, The Undersigned, Man With Target and maybe Of the First Born Son play loud and fast.

Mix and match

My one day off this week was last night, and since the only show I could find was at Zaphod's (I learned about the Sadie Hell/Eastborough gig at The Manx just minutes ago, alas) I decide to swing by and check out some bands of which I knew nothing. The show was a third birthday bash for local promo thingermajig Kimmy Rocks. The opener was Paul Hinger, about whom I still know very little since I was too late to catch his set.

I did catch all of Clepto, who played jammy punk-ska. I don't know if that's their regular sound - the band's lead guitarist is off in Montreal. The started things off with a rendition of Fuck the Police. Apparently rhythm guitarist Alex had a close encounter of the legal kind a couple of weeks ago.



Next up were Electronic and Western, who bill them selves as a duo who combine country-folk sounds with electronica. They did have a drum machine, some piano sounds and as you can see from the photo below, a few guests, including Hinger on didjeridoo. It's an offshoot (or something like that) of the Art Burn Project.



Finally there was Ty Hall and the EZ3. Pysiedius couldn't make it, I guess. Hall and Co. play blues-funk-reggae stuff - not really my cup of tea, but they're a pretty together unit. As far as I can tell from the band's songs, their interests break down to 95% romancing the ladies and 5% shooting sheriffs (but not deputies).



I'll post more (and frankly better) photos later on when time allows and I'm less sleepy.