Quasi, the long running drums and organ power duo of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, have just released their first album in 10 years, the brilliantly sardonic and much needed Breaking the Balls of History. The band shares on their Bandcamp that this album might never have been, and that their 2013 album, Mole City, very well might have been their last had the harshness of life not come calling and quite literally careening into the band. First, Weiss was severely injured in a 2019 car crash. Then the following year, Covid came to (everyone’s) town and we all know what happened next. Given the gravity of everything she went through, Weiss realized “There’s no investing in the future anymore, the future is now. Do it now if you want to do it. Don’t put it off. All those things you only realize when it’s almost too late. It could be gone in a second.”
And so here we are in 2023, Weiss has healed from her injuries, the pandemic is…among us still but has abated from the worst times, and Quasi has blessed us with a new collection of songs, twelve in all, with all the hilarious social and political commentary, quirky organ, sunny pop drenched harmonies, and effortlessly awesome drum fills your heart desires thrown into the mix. There’s no doubt the pandemic influenced the making of the record, how could it not, and the band found themselves taking advantage of the situation by practicing and writing daily, almost mimicking the daily routine of being on tour. Coomes shares “When you’re younger and in a band, you make records because that’s what you do, but this time, the whole thing felt purposeful in a way that was unique to the circumstances.”
The album hits highs and lows along the way, there is a palpable feeling of anxiety in many if not most of the songs, and given all that happened in the world and to the band in the time since we last heard from them, that’s understandable. “Doomscrollers,” which was released as the second single, offers their take on the one thing everyone (justifiably) loves to hate (yet still does, myself included), doomscrolling. But is it really about the action or what we find on said scroll? Either way you slice it, the song certainly calls out our increasingly alarming inability to engage with reality—no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on—which leads to us scrolling through our days now instead. “Everybody baking bread, doomscrolling going out of their head.” The song is paired with a music video directed by B.A. Miale and features the band being driven around the various chaos of “the timeline,” (or is it “reality”) in a pickup truck (complete with “keep on truckin’” plates) by a grim reaper like character.
“Nowheresville” was the third single and exudes a cool 60s rock n roll party vibe, complete with a killer organ groove and shoop shoop vocal harmonies. But don’t let the groovy aesthetic fool you, or the bike riding Sasquatch starring in the music video make you think the song is a light hearted joke (and I do love a good Sasquatch cameo, I mean who doesn’t?!). The song doesn’t say it outright, but it’s not hard to read between the lines that it’s about the atrocious state of affairs when it comes to gun control and mass shootings in the US and how our elected “leaders” continuously throw their hands up in the air while offering “thoughts and prayers” as a means to justify the blood on their hands. “Here they come now thoughts and prayers, thoughts and prayers won’t get ya there but I guess they do make a pretty pair.” And thus the cryptozoology themed video does make a whole lot of sense in the full context, our hairy beast riding off to nowheresville with the empty words of politicians and their promises to do something tangible as much a myth as a real Sasquatch is.
Other highlights include the lower key “Gravity” which pulls back the curtain on the theater of the absurd that is the “post facts” era created by Trump and his fanatical followers where reality doesn’t matter so much as much as your ability to sell the lie. “You can walk on water if you so choose in your made-in-USA concrete shoes” Coomes croons, too world weary to sound exasperated about it, resigned to the fact that these are the times and the people we have to deal with now. As frustrating as that realization is, I can certainly understand it because it is exhausting and sometimes you just need to make it though the damn day. “Riots and Jokes” in particular sees Weiss in top form on the drum kit, hitting hard, powerful beats and nailing some absolutely killer fills, announcing she is not only back and better than ever, but so happy to be here; the delight is obvious and infectious: “I can hear in the music how happy I am to be there and to be playing at that level again” she shares.
Indeed, we are happy Weiss is back too, one of the best and most respected drummers of her generation, it is always an inspiring joy to hear her play. (I began playing drums not long before Weiss joined Sleater-Kinney in 1996 so I grew up, and learned to play, while listening to her.) This album comes at a unique point in history, where most days it feels like we are through the looking glass—up is down and down is up—which arguably could be said for many other eras too, it just feels even worse than ever before and like we can’t seem to ever get away (cue “Doomscrollers” again). But it also arrives just in time to say yeah we’re tired and resigned to deal with a lot of this shit, but we’re also laughing at it too because what the fuck else are you going to do? I can’t help but think of other masters of political and social sarcasm like Dead Kennedys and War On Women when I think of a band like Quasi too. Sonically all different, but connected in the unique ways they all call out and filter the bullshit that permeates human existence when you’re living anywhere outside the realm of right wing la la land.
Quasi has never failed to give me a wild ride, bumpy at times with the subjects they deal with, but worth it in the end to make sure I’m still challenging myself to do something about the ills of this world. They also provide one hell of a catchy soundtrack for the journey and Breaking the Balls of Historyis yet another awesome addition to their already strong legacy. I’m ready to keep on truckin’.
Breaking the Balls of History is out now via SubPop. The upcoming tour in support of the record hits NYC at TV Eye on 3/16.
Math metal greats, Botch (which features members who went on to be in Russian Circles, Minus the Bear, These Arms Are Snakes and others), have just announced a full reunion tour set for this fall. It will follow a trio of shows later this month in Seattle and Tacoma which are their first proper shows in over 20 years.
The band also played a surprise re-union show back in October and has been busy with re-issuing their classic albums, first 1999’s We Are The Romans which came with their first new song in over 20 years, “One Twenty Two,” and recently announcing a 25th anniversary edition of 1998’s American Nervoso. Both albums were reissued via Sargent House.
See below for all dates. Tickets go on sale Friday 2/17 at 10am local time for each city.
Botch 2023 Tour Dates
2/17- Tacoma, WA @
2/24- Seattle, WA @ Showbox
2/25- Seattle, WA @ Showbox
10/5- Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
10/6- Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
10/7- Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
10/13- Chicago, IL @ Metro
10/14- Chicago, IL @ Metro
10/19- Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10/21- Denver, CO @ Summit
11/11- New York, NY @ Webster Hall
11/14- Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
11/15- Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/17- Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
12/8- Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
12/9- Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
12/12- San Francisco, CA @ The Regency
El Ten Eleven, the long running instrumental post rock duo, are true masters of their craft, having consistently released strong and musically rich albums for going on twenty years now. And they only seem to get more prolific with time—in the last three years alone they have released a triple album,Tautology (2020) and its follow up, New Year’s Eve, which came out last year. Now they have started off 2023 with the release another album, Valley of Fire, an album that has very distinct themes tying it together, which their label, Joyful Noise, describes as “merging personal anedcotes with the larger ecosystem of the sound.” Bassist/composer Kristian Dunn further explains that the album was inspired by “visiting Valley Of Fire State Park in Nevada,” “Overwhelmed by the beauty and surreal nature of the place, I found myself in the rare state of actually living in the moment and feeling awash in true tranquility. There was a sense of not getting close to something transcendent but actually experiencing it, thus the title. It wasn’t almost transcendent, it WAS.”
The thing I have always loved about instrumental music is that, in the hands of the right artist, it can say so much without ever uttering a word. Vast feelings and emotions, thoughts and ideas, incredible highs and dark lows can wash over you with a power that even the best lyricists can’t seem to match and say things that words can be hard pressed to convey—this is something El Ten Eleven has always excelled at. The band echoed this sentiment, sharing on Instagram about the album: “It hopefully says everything I can’t quite articulate about the feeling of experiencing something bigger than yourself. It’s like having someone describe the Grand Canyon to you—you don’t really understand until you’re standing at the very edge. We hope you listen and love it.”
Regardless of the creators intention, the other gift of instrumental music is that you get to decide and apply it to your own experiences in a way that is much less restrictive than if there are the stricter boundaries of lyrics. I have been a fan of El Ten Eleven for a very long time now, what I have always found and loved in their music is the undercurrent of hope and a sense of calm that always seems to find me in the moments I need it most. Through thick and thin, through terrible loss and incredible triumph, I’ve always found comfort in putting on one of their albums to feel grounded.
And so Valley of Fire finds me and offers me a feeling of being grounded yet again, at the start of a new year and a new phase of myself. Now no longer the quirky twenty something that first discovered this band and fell in love with some of their bouncier older tracks like “Hot Cakes” or “Jumping Frenchmen of Maine,” the firmly middle aged me is here at the dawn of a new era of my life, exploring what that means, and the more somber and contemplative offerings on this latest record hit me in a much needed place.
Opening with the subdued and hopeful, “New Year’s Day,” we enter into the world of the Valley of Fire, full of introspection and reflection, a place to quietly contemplate and explore the meaning of things bigger than ourselves. This song is followed by the album’s lead single “Not Even Almost,” continuing in the vein of hope and hitting many of the sweeping signature aspects of Kristian Dunn’s impressive pedalboard wizardry. About the song he shares “If you listen closely, you’ll notice the melody repeating but the bass parts changing underneath. It’s a very Bach-inspired idea, but fits the metaphor perfectly (the anchor of your identity shifting under a truly moving circumstance).”
Other highlights for me are the short hit of “Volsens,” the darkly funky third track and the quietly majestic “Days of Our Lives” with laid back percussion from Dunn’s stalwart longtime musical companion, drummer Tim Fogarty, who plays perfectly subdued beats alongside the low-key guitar and bass loops. The title track closes the album, with a slow and cinematic build towards a triumphant conclusion, relying again on sparse percussion alongside gentler, circumspect loops to tell its tale.
Valley of Fire is a stirring addition to this duo’s already impressive body of work. It showcases everything that makes them such unique songwriters, and enforces why they are so beloved by the devoted fans who have followed their career for many years. They hit NYC twice in 2022, once for their own headline show and again opening for Peter Hook and the Light (both phenomenal shows for the record), so here’s hoping 2023 sees them grace the Big Apple once more.
“It’s been a bit of a weird week, anyone else having a weird week?” asked Angela Phillips, lead singer/bassist of A Deer A Horse (and also owner of the coolest bass in New York City). And you know what? Yeah, it was a bit of a weird week for me too. But as I always like to say, there is nothing a nice dose of rock n roll can’t solve, and boy was I in for a much needed head clearing at this show.
The show was kicked off by Shiverboard, who prior to this night I had never heard nor heard of before. But immediately upon walking into the venue (unfortunately when their set was already in progress), I found myself enthralled with them, turning to the members of Venus Twins between songs and asking “who are these guys?! They’re fucking sick!” All at once they are noise punk, grunge, metal, grind and hardcore, and they seriously knocked my socks off with their stage presence and catchy as hell tunes. Onstage they mentioned they have new album coming soon and after the show I went to the merch table and said “tell me more!” They said that while yes, it is coming, they have not yet recorded it though will be in the process of that soon. While I anxiously await that, I’ll be digging into their previous releases, which includes some recent live recordings on Bandcamp, and keeping an eye out for upcoming shows. (They will be playing 2/16 at Our Wicked Lady.)
Shiverboard at TV Eye
Next up was Trace Amount, a one man harsh industrial noise project who put on a feverish and spell binding set, playing many of the songs from the 2022 album, Anti Body Language.
The penultimate set of the night was played by the ever incredible Venus Twins, the killer experimental noise punk bass/drums duo of Jake and Matt Derting. I’ve seen them many times now and never once have they delivered anything less than 200% at a show. This was another one for the books, with all the potent noise and pummeling intensity I’ve come to expect from this band. Matt also traded his axe for a sax during a brief interlude, handing the bass to an audience member while it continued to feed back, the sax swirling over top as Jake wailed on the drum kit with wild speed and acumen, all of it converging into a beautiful cacophony radiating out from the stage. If you haven’t heard their most recent album, Raxis (which was one of our favorites of 2022), I suggest you get on that, post fuckin haste.
Heavy noise rockers, A Deer A Horse, closed out the night and incredibly, despite having followed them on social media for several years and loving their 2022 album, Grind (read our review), this was my first time actually making it out to a show. (Working nights is great and has always been my jam, but can also be a bitch sometimes when it means you can’t get to all the shows you want to because you’re busy working other shows!) Their set ripped and it raged and was everything I had been waiting for. I especially loved getting to hear the album opener, “Bitter,” which is a favorite of mine. They will soon embark on a European tour before heading back and playing dates in the US leading up to their appearance at Caterwaul Fest in May. I’m certainly going to make sure I don’t wait so long to see them again, my work schedule be damned! (I’m also contemplating a trip out to Caterwaul, my bank account be damned!)
A noise rock head clearing is exactly what the doctor ordered because, while feeling a bit weird and in the doldrums before the show, I was refreshed as ever and dipped back into the cold night air with a decidedly jaunty pep in my step. Proving definitively that sometimes, noise is all you need.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Gonerfest, which bills itself as “the best weekend of the year courtesy of Goner Records,” will hold the 20th iteration of the festival this year from 9/28-10/1/23 in Memphis, TN and have announced the initial lineup which features a rock solid offering of some of the best garage/garage punk acts currently going. Aside from the already stacked headlining slots— OSEES, The Mummies, The Gories—there are a load of heavy hitters on the undercard too like Chubby & the Gang, C.O.F.F.I.N., Alien Nose Job, Tee Vee Repairmann and plenty more with a plethora of international bands, Australian in particular. See below for full lineup and stay tuned for more announcements and full schedule coming from the fest. Passes are on sale now.
Gonerfest 20 (initial) Lineup
Headliners:
Thursday: OSEES (SF, CA)
Friday: The Gories (Detroit, MI)
Saturday: The Mummies (SF, CA)
Plus:
Marked Men (Denton, TX)
Chubby & The Gang (London, UK)
Sweeping Promises (Lawrence, KS)
Cheater Slicks (Columbus, OH)
Civic (Melbourne, Australia)
Bill Orcutt / Chris Corsano (SF, CA / Ithaca, NY)
Courettes (Aalborg, Denmark)
C.O.F.F.I.N. (Sydney, Australia)
Ibex Clone (Memphis, TN)
Alien Nosejob (Melbourne, Australia)
Laundry Bats (Memphis, TN)
Dippers (Brisbane, Australia)
Virvon Vavron (London, UK)
Lewsberg (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
1-800-MIKEY (Sydney, Australia)
Cool Jerks (Memphis, TN / Oxford, MS)
Tee Vee Repairmann (Sydney, Australia)
Turnt (Memphis, TN)
Vintage Crop (Melbourne, Australia)
The Smog (Osaka, Japan)
