Posted by Pat on 6/2/2005, 7:06 pm Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (San Francisco Bay Area prog-metal with a whole lot of art rock) www.sleepytimegorillamuseum.com Imagine King Crimson, Mr. Bungle, The Residents, Zappa, Fantomas, and a healthy dose of everything metal set to 11 (dang, this blender goes up to 11) all blended together. æThis begins to explain the majesty of the prog-metal meets performance art of San FranÍs Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. æMany prog-metal bands seem to be a combination of heavy metal, symphonic prog and fusion. SGM is more like where heavy metal meets avant prog and dada. They use a large collection of homemade instruments in addition to drums, bass, violin, keyboards and (occasionally blisteringly loud) guitar. Though not without humor, their often wide-ranging musical and theatrical choices are rarely ironic. This sincerity extends to a passionate craftsmanship, as evidenced by: 1. The LIVE SHOW, a costumed festival of hyperventilating self-derangement, which has yet to include much of a puppet show, but has included human performers of varying stiffness (see Ink Boat). 2. The ALBUMS- Grand Opening and Closing (2001 Seeland/Chaosophy), a collection of boisterous laments for the failure of the millennial apocalypse; Live (2003 Sickroom), a collage of mishaps and singularities from various stages; and Of Natural History (2004 Mimicry), a setting, in part, of a debate between two contradictory pillars of 20th C. Anti-Humanism: The Futurists versus the Unabomber. 3. The INSTRUMENTS, many of which are homemade creations of bassist/producer/mechanic Dan Rathbun: The Slide-piano Log, the Percussion Guitar, the Electric Pancreas, the Vatican, & the Pedal-action Wiggler; or rare: Autoharp, Glockenspiel, Toy Piano, & Viking Rowboat. 4. The ROAD approached as (A) a place of potential learning: the bloody history of our doomed nation, its warm and varied current inhabitants- our hosts and their regional splendors, and (B) a scar which conducts us in our lumbering Green Bus into the temples of Nature: Forests, swamps, deserts, mountains, and coasts, with national parks and rest stops alike as places of reverence and study, sources of sound and vision, many of which appear on Of Natural History. 5. The FOOD, prepared on the bus kitchen in large pots, in quantities befitting a seven+ person crew, mixing local ingredients with reliable spices, beans, and the "other black meat"- coffee. The Museum are unified in these various crafts by the simplicity of their opposition to rock music. In the words of John Kane, "Nothing should be left undone which might contribute to its demise." With Cheer-Accident from Chicago (Skin Graft Records) Cheer-Accident is clearly the underdog of Chicago. Always unpredictable, always entertaining, but darn hard to pigeonhole. Imagine an indie prog band, an emo band that can laugh at itself, or a band that might get compared to Trans Am or the Champs (but has probably never heard either), or maybe the best bet is to set that blender on "10" and dream about Steely Dan, Chicago (the band) and U.S Maple. Cheer-Accident thrills in dissonance and odd chord changes, yet are undeniably a pop band. Chicago has had its share of indie giants, like Tortoise, Joan Of Arc, Shellac, The Sea And Cake, Seam, and Don Cab to name a few. Cheer-Accident fits right in among the crevices. But they sneak in the back door, taking things to another level, with songwriting that will make you cry, musicianship that will make you tremble, and the hooks and the looks needed to go down in musical history. Local Opener TBA- either Meth and Goats or Leg Up Cut Up 7PM doors $7 All Ages For more info visit www.eatordieshows.cjb.net or www.qcbrewandview.com .
Link: Eat or Die Shows
Monday, June 13th @ QC Brew and View
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