Music with Jameson & Lone Star: Part II - Sharks and Sailors, Ume, & The Jonx @ Walter's 01 August 2008

My pulling up to Walter's couldn't have been less graceful. Upon exiting my car, my cellphone fell out of my pocket and right into the gutter. Thankfully, Team Science mastermind Aaron Danger and Amy's Ice Cream slinger Peter Lee were able to rescue my cell phone with a tire wrench and a discarded fountain drink cup. Coolness! If I loved the Team Science label before now I really really love it! Thanks Guys.

Inside, The Jonx were just about to launch into their set which was par for the course of a Jonx set. For those of you not familiar with this band, it's a trio that combines sharp proggy skills with a punk energy and droll melodic lines. It's a great combination and one that always kills. Much like everyone playing on Friday, what you had was sharp players employing their skills to deadly efficiency. I suffered a worse mix by being at the front of the stage than a few feet back where I could hear the room mix but it's too much of a kick to see Trey's bass runs, Stuart's guitar work, and Danny's drum assault up-close. Closing with Highway at Night was particularly smart as you got a full helping of the fat bass, the post punk guitars and the unrelenting drums pulsing around one groove to great effect. Right afterwards some joe I'd never seen before at the bar was commenting to his friend, "Hey you having a good time? Yeah, I guess I picked a good night. That was pretty good not like that band the Guilloteens I saw at Christmas. They just broke their instruments. That was their talent breaking shit. What kind of kiddie crap is that?" This discussion was hilarious as across the way on the other side of the bar was the FFG's own Roy Mata. Ha Ha Roy, you suck!*

Ume also falls into the category of bands whom I've seen doing what they do so well and without equal for so long now that it's easy to take their brilliance for granted. Lauren and Eric told me that the finishing touches are being put on their new album which is great to hear. The newer material they play live has some lovely pop hooks without sacrificing the elements that made this band so mind blowing on their first release so bring it on. So what did you get if you saw them Friday? On the drums, a straight and powerful beat from Jeff and, on the bass, Eric swaying away as he held down the melodic bottom and then there was Lauren. I think every time I see this band I have to go on about Lauren's incomparable marriage of impeccable technique and jaw dropping performance. It's really easy to mock performance as a distraction from the music but Lauren's thrashing and posturing never feels put-on and act as a focal point for the music's energy. Let's face it - it looks cool as shit but it also never detracts from her guitar playing which is as impressive for its skill and ingenuity as it is for running the gamut of melodic hooks and pure wild-abandon noise. I put her up there as one of my favorite guitarists. Cody Swann of the Wild Moccasins, someone who'd never seen Ume before, said that it made him want to reevaluate what he does. Yeah, that was my initial reaction too.

Last but not least, closing the trio of trios, was Sharks and Sailors who were celebrating their new album Builds Brand New. Like everyone else here, Sharks and Sailors are a band whose skills I think are top-notch as musicians and writers who can deliver the goods with seeming ease. The nice thing about Sharks and Sailors is how they've evolved over the years and brought along a lot more space into their songs and incorporated a fresh melodic sense with the addition of Melissa on lead vocals. The new album doesn't pull any punches when they get brutal on the show-stopping heavy Rickshaw but it also takes time to get a little spacey with a song like Condor. Friday's performance ran that gamut with grace and skill by taking a mathematical aesthetic and backing it up with power and emotion. Mike's guitar playing is sonic goodness, Melissa's bass always has this wonderful fat tone that fills the room, and Phil's drumming can be powerful and brutal but he knows how to hold back and not overplay when the song calls for it. With each person bringing their unique talents to the whole, they are the A-Team band. Hmm, lemme see, that would make Mike Hannibal, Melissa would be Face, which leaves Phil to be BA Baracus and Murdock rolled up into one. That may be about right as, during the set, one person shouted out "Your drummer scares me!" As one whose seen his expert skills outside the drum kit (e.g. his awesome dance moves and rapping) I will second that.

Team Science cell phone rescue Squad!
Peter Lee (l) and Aaron Danger (r)

The Jonx at battle stations

Drummer Face #1 - Danny Mee

DJ Under Warranty shows off his wares.

Ume
The Three Amigos of ass whoopin'

Lauren makes even
Jimmy Page's guitar moves look lame!

Lauren belting it out!

Sharks and Sailors before the show
Note that Phil is already sweating
from just the soundcheck.

Bassist Melissa in mid-flight.

Drummer Face #2
Phil "Your Drummer Scares Me" Woodward

Mike dodging yet another
blast from the paparazzi
(OK actually it was his very proud dad.)

The crowd "Oh here here! Jolly Good that!"

LINKS:
More pictures on my Flickr (Link)

The Jonx on Myspace (Link)
Ume on Mypsace (Link)
Sharks and Sailors (Link)


* I kid of course.

Sharks and Sailors

Photography by John Van

On stage, Mike Rollin releases a soft cascade of notes that shimmer from his guitar. Unexpectedly, the notes segue into a blast of syncopated chords that churn an ugly black bile. Melissa Lonchanbon’s bass meets his guitar with a harmonic, perhaps a fraction of a frequency off, and the dissonant oscillations discharge fury into the air like St. Elmo’s Fire demanding everyone’s attention. Suddenly, at the front of the stage, a tide of metal dudes has rolled in - a sweaty dark clothed wave of men called forth by the riptide of Phil Woodward’s pounding drums and the dissonant amplified strings. Fists are clenched - thrusting the Dio devil sign. The crowd is screaming at the top of their lungs while their veins burst from their necks from the force of their voices. The song being played is instrumental but that doesn’t stop one blonde haired kid from reaching up with an arm dripping in the slick salty humidity of the atmosphere. He grabs the microphone on the stage and emits a guttural growl that would summon Cthulu. The black gang, though smiling, keeps to the task at hand and feeds the boilers through to the end of “Rickshaw” where they are met with wild cheers from over the gunnel of the stage.

Sharks and Sailors may, from this description of a recent show at Rudyard’s, sound like the most metal of metal bands - the darkest of the dark things to rise from the depths – but that would be misleading. The band is actually one of the most odd and original constructs to arise from Houston’s music scene - combining elements of metal, indie rock, and prog into a sophisticated machine like no other. Beyond the brutal pounding described above, their new album, Builds Brand New, employs smooth melodic pop elements (Thrill), jarring time signatures (Fix Your Radar), and lovely psychedelic shoegaze (Condor).

The band went for a quartet (with Allen Hendrix) to a trio during the making of the new album. When I ask them what differences they experienced, I’m met with a wry “Fewer strings!”

“There is also less volume,” says Phil. “We’ve already proven we can play louder than a 747. With a three-piece there is more space and we pay more attention to the vocals.”

Melissa, whose vocals are one of the wow elements of the album, says, “I’d never sung before, so singing was odd for me particularly because I’m not a very loud person to begin with but, when I go to a show, I want to hear people belt it out.”

That’s pretty typical of the band that never seems to want to take the easy route. “We push each other hard,” says Mike. “There are tapes of us tossing Fs at each other.”

Melissa explains the dynamic, “What happens is we hit this friction point where 98% of a song is written then we spew venom.”

“That just comes from the excitement and passion of almost having it done,” says Mike. “’Rickshaw’ was a song I wrote on this shitty Peavy Rage amp. It never had a pretty quality to it. While writing it, Phil and I got into an epic argument and Melissa got it all on video tape.”

As if on cue, Phil burst out a re-enactment, “Fucking help me here!!!”

“That’s not my responsibility!!” shouts back Mike.

“Just Point!” laughs Phil.

“What the fuck is that pointing thing?!!!” retorts Mike

“Just Fucking Point!” screams Phil.

After some composure is restored, I explain how I’m always surprised that despite their lack of theatrics people always give them their full attention. Mike attributes that partly to how their shows are structured. "It's a drag when bands play then stop to tune or ask for a beer; all the momentum is lost. I never take the audience for granted or want to waste their time. That's why we'll have samples going off between the songs - to keep it seamless."

I suggest that odd time signatures are normally a turn-off for non-musicians but Mike counters, “We were just listening to ‘Master of Puppets’ and it’s in 15 but you don’t really notice it because it’s done so well.”

“We make odd grooves but we don’t want to shove it in people’s faces.” explains Phil, “I’ll use a bass drum pattern against a guitar’s odd time signature where my beat smoothes it out. I can geek out on stuff like that but we’re not forcing it - that just comes naturally.”

While Phil elucidates on the matter, I point to two odd music notations on the dry erase board. “What does this mean?” I ask.

“Oh, that? See, there are two kinds of songs.” says Mike.

“Trucker,” explains Phil, “that’s a song that keeps your head bobbin’ - where you’re driving 80 in the middle of downtown with your rig and nothin’ is stopping you! And Alabama? That’s a song where you can substitute the lyrics with the word Alabama!”

Suddenly, the band that I previously described as sophisticated is laughing and shouting “AL-U-BAH-MUH!” at the top of their lungs.



Sharks and Sailors will celebrate the release of their newest album Builds Brand New at Walters with Ume and the Jonx on August 1st. The album will be available for digital download and as a limited edition CD.