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The title of this post sounds like it makes no sense, but it kind of does. I was actually thinking of the word "deriving", playing off the way that two of the four band that played Gooski's on September 3rd had names connected to some kind of food or medicine. That would not have worked with all of the band names though. However, as you will see, it all makes sense.



I got to the show early. Aloe had not set up yet, but they soon did. I liked their set, but there's not much to say about it. It was the same set, as far as I can tell, from the day before at RANT. That's fine; this is the price of seeing the same band many times. This one was a little more rocking than the set for RANT. They played the new songs from the other day, and the old songs sounded great too!



The second band was Derider, who I had somehow never seen before. I watched a video they made some time ago and was dulled by the high production values. This was the opposite of that. It was sheer excitement and cool rock moves. Derider is awesome! They should make an awesome video with them playing live! Cormac thrashed around especially, looking like Thurston Moore to semi-Sonic Youth sounds they were making. You could also hear the Replacements and Hüsker Dü in the feedback-drenched rocking. This was such a great set that surprised my zero expectations.



The third band was Blue Smiley from Philadelphia. It's such a strange name, but I kind of like it. I was not that impressed with the band, unfortunately. They sort of sounded like The Beets or a similar Velvets-inspired garage band, but there were no standout songs. I was talking to a friend, and they pointed that out to me. They said that it was important to them to remember some of the songs that were played, something that they would definitely recall with Aloe and Derider and not so much with the other two bands. I have to agree. Blue Smiley sounded pretty cool, but their set was just a long haul through goopy songs with somewhat indistinguishable parts. All of the instruments combined together and the vocals were buried. I was not impressed.



Honey was the last band, and I was excited to see them based on the record of theirs I had heard. Their live set was disappointing though. They were loud, they had the chorus/modulation tones of Nevermind, but the songs were indistinguishable again. It was a big lump of semi-solid sugar, the kind you buy at an Asian grocery store thinking it will be pretty cool but have no idea what to do with as a white American. Just like Blue Smiley, Honey had some nice tones to the guitars and whatnot, but every song had the same kind of sounds and structures. That watery chorus can't be used for everything or you lose the dramatic effect.

I went home in a strange mental state, thinking about lumps of sugar plum fairies and the sickly sweet haze of nightly longing that hadn't been fulfilled by this show. I would definitely give Honey and Blue Smiley a second chance; perhaps it was Gooski's questionable sound system or perhaps they were just kind of off that night. More importantly, this show has me thinking about my own songwriting. Am I writing the same song over and over again too?
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Bat Zuppel is a band from Pittsburgh that I never seem to catch and have tried to book a few times. I did actually catch them recently at RANT 2017. You could make a comparison to an eel or something, but, after listening to their new album, Dylar, it seems that they must dwell someplace that is not exactly of this Earth.


The album cover is way out there to start. It's colorless with a white, many-eyed creature being carried away in a wheel-barrow by a hooded figure in black. The cluttered cityscape behind sort of looks like Pittsburgh, hills and a trolley track and radio towers and smoke. The font on the cover looks nice, and the overall design recalls Peter Max's psychedelic worlds drained of their color.


Dylar starts strong with "Dylar VII". The production is muddy, but it works. The song has a heavy-psych vibe, heavy drums and sludgy guitars. It's an epic. Next is "Something Else", which is just as it says. This one is way faster and lighter, sort of; it has some angry vocals and then a spacey guitar part takes over, sending everything to some kind of orbit. It sounds like Nervosas mixed with Thee Oh Sees. I really like the guitar part at the end. "Dylar", the title track, has some scary vocals. I didn't know what Dylar was, so I looked it up and read a bit about it. It turns out to be a drug that is intended to inhibit the fear of death in the novel White Noise. These screams on here make a lot of sense. "Her Favorite Song" sounds like Dinosaur Jr. mixed with Pink Floyd. The band makes another space trip at the end, accompanied with really interesting drums and a good solo. "I swear she put a spell on me", begins "The Witch". The vocals are mighty and dramatic, and there should be more vocals and less instrumentals. This track really makes me wish the vocals were more prominent on the other tracks. "Away to Drown" opens with a guy talking about skating. It made me think of playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater with friends, and I laughed a little. It might have been a real story though. "Away to Drown" is again lighter and faster and angrier. Bat Zuppel moves like a machine in overdrive here, the lyrics are dark, at least the ones I can make out. At a little after the halfway mark, there is another space trip type like in the last few songs. "Living Without Blues" is something I never thought of; it's actually a really interesting idea, though I don't think I would like that world. It's about missing someone and feeling like you've lost it all, though again the lyrics are so reverb'd out at times. There are some really bluesy guitar solos here, mixed with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" chorus vocals, and it's great. "Sneaky Tack" is total garage rock, sped up and cleaned up. "See my girl, see my baby". The vocals make it sound a bit like Bowie on Pinups. I wish this track did not have the space-solo during the second half; the strong would have been stronger as something more compact. "Love" has a tough vocal to start things off, a descendant of Lou Reed or a version of Jet that isn't terrible. I like the cleaner production on this one and the simple imagery. The song ends on a space voyage, as you might expect.

Dylar was an interesting listen. The songs are decent, and the instruments are well played. The production is really muddy though, so it can be hard to make out what's going on. It kind of works with this band. I can't understand the vocals on most of these tracks, and I wish I could. They've gone into the world of reverberations. The songs are a little formulaic; Bat Zuppel's garagey guitars mix with the outer limits often. Most tracks seem to have a space rock outro or ending solo. They sound good, but this is such a dramatic effect that it becomes overdone when used this often. Even with these flaws, I do like this album; it's a solid rocker with some cool quirks. I give it a Good, though it just makes the pass. I had to think, "would I enjoy listening to this over and over?". The answer is, "yes".

Dylan launches on September 22nd on Wild Kindness Records, and there's a release show scheduled for September 15th at Spirit. Watch for it all overhead.

Marbled Eye is a band from Oakland, CA that I almost went to see when they were here in Pittsburgh on August 30th. I wasn't familiar with the band at all, but I liked the description, the quick listen I did, and the name of the band. Low on cash and feeling kinda down, I skipped out on it. I don't regret missing the show, but I figured I would review Marbled Eye's EP to get a better grasp on the band.


EP has a pretty cool cover, a monochromatic blue on white and looking like a Katsuhiro Otomo drawing. The textural image matches the sounds nicely. However, I don't like the text on the left. It looks almost good, but I have issues with the different thicknesses, angles, and the odd 'm'. It looks like there was not much of a plan to it. If they had taken some more time to give it a cohesive look, this would be a great cover image. Their previous release, the self-titled Marbled Eye, used the same style of text but made it the focus of the image, a mystery to untangle and sort out amidst puzzle pieces and dominoes.


The EP starts with "Former" with guitars like rays of light and monotone vocals. It's good, but I wish the vocals were more exciting; they seem to be going for something Gang of Four might have sang on Entertainment but not of the same caliber, the bass not as strong. I do like when the vocals are consumed by reverb at the end, and the lead guitar is great. Next is the more bass-heavy "Dirt" with rattling guitars that begin to sound like Murray Street Sonic Youth. This is a much more upbeat song in tone, and the production is much more open. When the vocals come in, things are a little more muddy, more negative. They sound like a mix of Syd Barret and Alan Vega. It continues to also sound like Sonic Youth. During this song, I began to think the production was a little off. Third is "Feast", not unlike the previous song. It still has that later-era Sonic Youth tone, but the vocals aren't as much Barrett/Vega. I actually really like the vocals on this one; they aren't too deadpan and the rhythm is cool. The guitars go into a mysterious zone, accompanied by uncertain drums, the bass driving them to their destination. This is my favorite song on the EP. This last one, "Objects" is a close second; it's also really good. It has the vocalist from the first song, who I don't find as exciting. However, the instrumentals parts are some of the most interesting on the whole release. The Morse code guitars lead the pulsing bass and the syncopated drums. It ends with a really cool drone tone that's probably just the last glimmer of one of the stringed instruments.

Marbled Eye's EP is a reasonable effort, but it is nowhere near a masterpiece. My main issue is with the production. Everything seems too tinny and thin. The bass can rumble but it lacks real power, and the drums are far too slight. It pains me a bit to listen to this, though the songs are pretty good. Despite the production, the instruments play some really interesting bits, but the vocals drag the songs down too. Finally, EP is not anything that hasn't been done before. The unwary might mistake this for an early-2000's post-punk revival record or even for one of the originals from the late 70's to 80's. I think Marbled Eye could have a lot to offer, but I cannot give their EP more than a Neutral.
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RANT, an acronym for Rock All Night Tour, is a big festival in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh that is in its sixth year. I have never gone to any of the previous years, as big events make me anxious with their obligations. Since I now live in Lawrenceville, it seemed silly not to go this year, which itself is kind of an obligation.

I decided to go to only two of the shows, both on the night of September 2nd. The first was at Spirit, and the second was at the Lawrenceville VFW, a place I had never been before. I wanted to see some of the bands at Roundabout Brewery, but the times conflicted with the bands I wanted to see at the other two shows.


I made it to Spirit a little after Swampwalk had started. Not many people were there, and no more than four were anywhere near the stage; many people were back near the bar. It was fairly empty, and that was disappointing to me. Swampwalk's set was pretty cool, though there were some little mistakes that she pointed out in a cute way that made them seem fun. I always like the song about street harassment. It's incredibly well-written and addresses a serious topic. She flipped off the crowd in a friendly sort of way during that one. I think she was also a little frustrated with the crowd's disconnect.



Next was Bat Zuppel. I actually took a short trip home, only a few blocks, due to anxiety and hunger/thirst. I saw about half of Bat Zueppel's set. They must have started late, because it seemed like they went on later than they were scheduled to. I've only seen Bat Zuppel play at the Ramones tribute show I did last year. This set was not as exciting as that one. It was good, but it lacked the intensity and fury. There were some really cool guitar leads and cool rock moves, though. I wonder if it was due to the separation of the band from the crowd; being high up on a stage is much different than playing at the same level as the audience right in front of you. The audience was still not paying attention either.



Thousandzz of Beez played an awesome set after Bat Zuppel left the stage. I was so impressed! The crowd seemed more impressed too (finally)! I have only seen Thousandzz of Beez once before, so this was almost entirely new to me. Of course I had seen Hunter play with Dani in Space Debacle recently; this was very different, though of course there were some similarities. This set reminded me of something Syd Barrett might have played had he been born to my generation instead of the acid-soaked 60's. Hunter's garb and the songs did remind me of the 60's though, accompanied with drum machine and a little harp in addition to the typical folkish guitar of Greenwich Village. Thousandzz of Beez is quiet musick, night musick, Pittsburgh's Colossal Youth. I was entranced by these songs, and I almost wanted to go home and think about what I had just seen.

I did go home for a short time. I did think about what I saw. On the way back to my house, I saw some friends outside Roundabout Brewery and got to see a little bit of The Long Hunt, a Sabbath-y instrumental group. On the way back out after my short stay at home, I also stopped there for a second and saw the shortest glimpse of Midge Cricket. I couldn't stay though.



The Lawrenceville VFW did not look like it was hosting a show. When I entered, there was a faint smell of smoke and numerous older men. However, there was a small area in the corner with some gear set up. Aloe was just getting ready when I came in. The sound person made them turn down a few times; they were awfully loud for such a small venue. It was kind of funny. Aloe played some new songs using some older poetry. These songs were really good! I liked them maybe a little more than the already existing songs.


I considered leaving after Aloe's set, but I hung out with some friends. There was one more band to play, LoFi Delphi. The name doesn't really fit the band. LoFi Delphi is a very polished band, almost like a very professional bar band, but not as boring. The audience seemed really into it; the VFW was way more packed than Spirit. I was still talking with friends, so I don't have a good recollection of their set. They did play a nice cover of "Psycho Killer" at the end. I feel like it's a played out song, but it worked well.

I stayed a bit longer and then went home. It was good to go out and finally see/hear what RANT was all about. It's not really a tour and does not go all night, but it was fun to see a few very different bands. I think it would be cool if it was like Art All Night and actually went all night at one or two venues where a person could pop in and out of at their leisure. Art All Night can't do musick all night though either. Next year, I hope that the RANT folks can get more people out to these shows, maybe reel it back a little. The performers were all fine, but it was weird to see the upstairs of Spirit so empty for such a big, advertised event. I plan on going next year again to see what they come up with.
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On August 31st, I almost missed a show I was set to play. I had signed up to play a cool improv set with other peeps opening for the legendary Tetsuya Nakatani. I had gotten a response back but forgot to respond myself until a few days before. The day of the performance, I was really engrossed in Trigun and wanted to finish watching the remainder of the series. When I got home, something bolted into my mind, "hey! it's the day of that show!". The show was kind of secret, being a house show, so there wasn't a lot of notice for it either. I was so tired that day, but I had made the commitment and thought it would be fun. After a short rest, I did gather up my strength and instruments, decided on somewhat last minute, and headed over.

I found my way to the house with assistance from a friend. I was just wandering around on the street outside, unsure of exactly where to go, until someone appeared out of a mysterious rift in the wall of houses. I felt great when I got into the courtyard; there was a calm semi-party atmosphere, and many of my friends were there. No one was that sure of who was playing as what; the consensus was that we were playing as a group. That's what we did. I think the improv group ended up being Micah Pacileo, Joey Molinaro, Dani Danger, Valerie Kuehne, Reid Magette, and myself. Instruments included theremin, piano, electric guitar, and my synthesizer, a microKORG. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didn't notice the trumpet(?) and vocals that I hear on the recording. It was fun and very disorganized. Though chaotic, I think that there was some sense to it, a gothic droney tone mixed with ragtime and jazz; it was not unlike Sun Ra's Arkestra. After listening to the recording, I was surprised that we only played for a little around 8 minutes. Sometimes, a short set is enough. I'd rather play shorter than go on for too long.


Right afterward, I hurried over to a much eerier house for the next performer. Arvid Tomayko was set up in the corner of an otherwise empty room. We turned out the lights to strange sounds filling that space. Electrical whirrs met with the deep reverberations of caverns under the Earth. At times there was a sense of a beat. Everything was performed on custom equipment and using custom software on a laptop; I'm not sure what all it entailed. Tomayko ended just on time, almost going too long. Being in that room with a few others, not talking, connected by the oneness of sonic somethings was a very special experience.


Then we went downstairs and watched as Tetsuya Nakatani set up his drumkit in a messy kitchen. Again, the room added to the ambiance of the performance. Nakatani played an apocalyptic piece of bowed gong and metal bowls. I was amazed at how nimble and precise he was with his improvisation. There were amazing sounds, very harsh and textural, the sounds of the roughness of metal objects along with an overarching doom of heavy drums. The eerie sounds of the gong worked with the stark lighting of that desolate place. This was the world and there was an outside of night time wonder where something, anything, might happen; we had entered the faerie realm.

All of a sudden, it was over. We had returned to the Earth, a world of corporate villains masked as heroic leaders. The magick still lasted a while longer while I remained in that place with friends, but this was the real world. I will remember that sense of camaraderie from that day for a long time.

I got the Shameover Demo tape from the band after the show with them at Dreamhouse. Shameover is a pop-punk band from Vancouver. Surprisingly, I was so happy with their set, that I bought a tape, and I was very excited to listen to the tape. It did not disappoint me, for the most part.

The first song on the tape, "Already Gone" is the song that stood out the most at the show. It is a poppy song of maybe like a failed relationship. The chorus and chord progression and lead parts create a nice hook. It reminds me of Hüsker Dü or the Replacements. I was going to try to connect the two by saying something like, "the Twin Cities aren't far from Vancouver", but they actually are very far away. The next track, "Cougar", is a little faster and also deals with some kind of relationship. It's a little more mysterious, though it does make me think of probably exactly what you are thinking of when you read that title, not the animal, but turned on its head a bit. "Bruise" has a really great melody to it; it actually reminds me a bit of a Tiger Army song. The song's lyrics make me feel unwell; it makes me think of how poorly people treat each other too often. Combined with my recent re-watching of Trigun, it makes me sad.

"Keremeos" is the start of the second half. It's another relationship song, and it's also catchy. The protagonist of the song seems to have a "fuck it" kind of strength to them. Keremeos is a mountain town in British Columbia, Canada. "It's Not Yrs" has a snotty sing-along chorus. The people have the power against the money lords, if they work together. It's great. "No Magic" creeps in at the end, an ending song for real. "There must be no such thing as magic". It reminds me of La Sera or Vivian Girls. This song is a sunset in sound.


The Shameover Demo tape is poppier than their live show; I suppose that's to be expected. The songs recall early Green Day, the Ramones, or previously-mentioned Minnesota bands combined with the more recent lo-fi fury of Vivian Girls or even The Beets. I enjoyed the songs, though they get a bit samey by the end. Thankfully, this is a fairly short release, clocking in at under 15 minutes. The production is adequate; I don't mind the demo sound, but the drums are a little too thumpy, the bass needs a small boost, and the rest has slightly too much treble; this is a demo after all. Overall, the tape works with the sum of its parts, so I'll give it a Good. I'm excited to see what the future hold for Shameover.

On August 27th, my band, Sorry I'm Dead, was supposed to play a matinee show at a place called Dreamhouse. I didn't know much about the show and had never been to that place before. I knew we were playing with Maenads, who I liked, and with another band that had been described as "pop-punk", a term that makes me frown a bit. It would probably be fun anyway.

The show got delayed. We were scheduled to be there at 5pm instead of 2pm, because of some confusion about when the touring band was told the show was starting. It wasn't a big deal, but I had been excited to play an early show. I should mention that we also did not know where the venue was and did not get a lot of info from anybody. This show was not the most organized event. It was probably still going to be fun anyway, right?

Okay, so we get to the venue. Now we have to cross a busy street and walk up approximately 1,987,464 stairs and then back down 5,491 more into a basement to get our gear loaded in. It was a pain, especially with Dan's cab. We were the first band there, and the person who booked it wasn't gonna be there. It was still gonna be a fun show though, right?

A bunch of people got there soon. I messaged some people, posted about the show on Facebook, and went to my friend's house that is only down the street from the venue. Here's where I screwed up - I was late to get back, and we were first.

Our set went over well. We all made some mistakes. Some of it was because the way the room was set up. It was hard to hear everybody else; Laura and I both had trouble hearing Dan's bass. I'm sure the vocals were not the most audible either for my bandmates since there were no monitors. Our set was still pretty good, and it was fun to do. The audience was really into the stuff we played and asked if Sorry I'm Dead had anything to buy. Unfortunately, we only have a live album on Bandcamp, maybe uploading that to Spotify and the like soon, and now we also have an EP in the works. We've been talking about this EP, formerly an album, for a few months now, and now we are finally doing it. We already have the songs recorded, so it shouldn't be too hard to get it done.

Shameover finally got there right when the next band, Maenads, was setting up. They had a long drive from Chicago. Shameover was concerned about a creepy sound from the trees, which was just the sound of cicadas. After doing some research, I found out that periodical cicadas, the ones that live in the underworld for 13 or 17 years and recently emerged like the souls of the dead, are focused here in the eastern United States, so I guess they don't have those in Vancouver where Shameover is from.


Maenads played a great set! They have some new equipment, it seems; the guitars sounded louder and the band sounded fuller overall! Everything was really tight, with cool, sludgy songs of doom and gloom mostly; there are some really cool spacey leads! Maenads sounds like Mars Red Sky, Causa Sui, and Yuri Gagarin. There's also another newer sludgy, stoner band that I can't think of that I think of every time I see Maenads; I can never remember the name of the band though. I hope they put out a cool release soon too.


Finally, Shameover set up. I was prepared for the worst since I usually hate when people describe things as pop-punk. This was great though! It was more like the Ramones, the Descendants, or ancient Pittsburgh punkers Da Shunts, not like Blink-182 or Fallout Boy with those sing-song vocals. That sounds goofy, considering I'm talking about people literally singing songs, but I want more of a growl and less of a total match pitch for pitch. That 2000s pop-punk stuff hurts my ears; it's too polished! Shameover was very poppy, with vocal harmonies, nice guitar interplay, a hearty bass sound, and thumpy drums with unique beats. The songs were well written and the vocals were on point; they weren't rough and out of tune, and they weren't too perfect either. This is how I want pop-punk to be.

It was actually a fun show! We still had to load all the gear out, up and down the stairs, and dodge cars, afterwards, but I went home feeling really positive. The bands were all super good; I bought a tape and t-shirt from Shameover, who were really cool peeps. I'll be reviewing the tape next time, and I hope to see you here for that!
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