Crib Notes

SMOKE ONE: Decatur's own Bobby Ray gets lit Friday at Smith's Olde Bar.

(Photos courtesy Dustin Chambers. More after the break.)

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By B. Knight

It’s always great to capture the grind of a band that shows serious promise before they get gelled-to-perfection hair, a publicist and a Crackberry, because you can truly get a sense of who they are versus the image created for them. (Did someone say Maroon 5?) The Brightsides Suicides would certainly qualify as that gem. The five-member band from Dothan, Alabama has come to Atlanta in search of big music dreams and we’re catching them right in the middle of their REM cycle. You may have seen them at local venues such as Sweetwater, XI in Decatur or Uptown Loft as their following continues to grow. Their eclectic sound includes musical influences such as Radiohead, Modest Mouse, Marvin Gaye, the Beatles and Okkervil River to name a few. You’re definitely in for some dope instrumentation.

The Brightside Suicides have only been in existence for a short time, but have created quite an underground buzz both in Atlanta and their home state with the EP entitled Starring in a New Diary. The bandmates gave us the scoop on why we should care and why others already do.

I’m sure you get this all the time, but how did you all come up with the name, the Brightside Suicides? (more…)

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PSYCHE ORIGAMI and COLLECTIVE EFFORTS are the last men standing after their former label Arc the Finger Records collapsed in 2007, and this show marks the first time they’ve played together since. Both groups have expanded their repertoires to full-band lineups to explore stylistic, post-jazz strains of progressive hip-hop. Psyche Origami opens with a set of songs from its forthcoming full-length, The Flagship. Collective Efforts shuts it down. [Full Disclosure CE emcee Jeremy Fuerst is Art Director at Creative Loafing]

Psyche Origami “Cool Drink” mp3

Collective Efforts “Crazy Things” mp3

$10. 8 p.m. Sat., Sept. 5. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522.

(Photo by Chad Hess)

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Accordionist Stanley Dural never has felt shackled by the constraints of zydeco, even though he’s been acknowledged as the one who brought the genre out of the bayous of southwest Louisiana and into the mainstream. Lay Your Burden Down, which marks Buckwheat Zydeco’s 30th year on the scene, is no less innovative and is a testament to Dural’s innate, iPod-shuffle ear for other forms of roots music. Blessed with gifted guests and intriguing covers, the album almost feels like a tour de force, especially the bouncy take on Jimmy Cliff’s “Let Your Yeah Be Yeah” with Dural’s fizzy accordion riffs blending right in with the rhythm.

Fellow southwest Louisiana resident Sonny Landreth’s shredding guitar licks lend an urgency to the opener “When the Levees Break,” but listeners shouldn’t mistake the song about the 1927 Louisiana flood as a foreshadowing of Katrina angst to come. Instead, we get a bluesy groove on the JJ Grey tune “The Wrong Side,” and the gospel-blues collaboration with Warren Haynes on the title track.

In fact, Lay Your Burden Down only feels like an incidentally zydeco album, and Stanley Dural wouldn’t have it any other way. (Alligator)

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For today’s Roll Call, we call out Jessica Tonder, whose new album The Robot and the Little Girl, debuts this month.

Who are you?
Jessica Tonder and many things, but mostly my dreams, my family, my adventures, my fortunes, my misfortunes, my flaws, my heart….

Describe yourself in three words.
Today? Emotional, bewildered, and belligerent. Typically: thrifty, nutritious, dashing.

Who — dead or alive — would you most like to meet?
Thomas Edison, Lee Morgan, Ella Fitzgerald

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
Why slap someone? It’s not really in my character. It looks really satisfying and dramatic in movies though … something to think about.

What song do you wish you had written?
Usually I just appreciate songs instead of wishing I had written them.

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
That’s kind of a tough one. Elvis Costello had the Attractions. Elvis Presley was pretty, attractive; he had moves.

LP, CD or MP3?
All the same, as long as they play music. We need all of it.

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
Comfort

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
Discomfort

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
Thom Yorke

Jessica Tonder plays with Alla, and Like Trains and Taxis. $8 advance. $10 door. 7 p.m. Mon., Jan. 19. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave.  404-875-1522.

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PAULA NELSON, SHANE BRIDGES Yeah, she’s Willie’s daughter, and her thing is very typical Texas country-blues. The girl can sing, but we’ve heard most of this before. If you dig the blues, be there. Macon’s Americana guy Shane Bridges opens. $6, 8PM. Smith’s Olde Bar. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com. – James Kelly

GRAILS Portland, Ore.’s purveyors of avant-garde metal return in support of their darkest and dirtiest offering yet, Doomsdayer’s Holiday. The latest release details epic, instrumental riffage and atmospheres that find sludgy, metal drums intertwining with washes of Middle Eastern textures and a white-hot tussle between harmony and distortion. For their Fri. Nov. 14th show, electronic music pioneers the Silver Apples surf the sine waves, carving out deep, psychedelic grooves. Led by the mysterious Simeon Coxe III, Silver Apples craft songs that are as addictive today as they were when the group emerged from the New York art-rock scene circa 1967. Athens’ instrumental math rockers A.Armada open. $10. 9 p.m. Drunken Unicorn, 736 Ponce de Leon Place. www.thedrunkenunicorn.net. — Chad Radford

(Photo Credit: Todd V. Wolfson)

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BLUE MOUNTAIN Despite nearly a decade of hard touring and raw, rollicking shows, Mississippi alt-country trio Blue Mountain tossed in the greasy, sweat-soaked towel in 2001. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Cary Hudson made a stab at a solo career, but despite their quality his albums never connected, so it’s reformation time. Touring to support two new discs — one of original music and a rerecorded “hits” set — Mountain combines backwoods, slinky picking with amped-up energy. At its best, the threesome’s energetic, sizzling gigs left newcomers raving and existing fans wondering why they weren’t stars. Andy Friedman & the Other Failures and Amy Speace & the Tearjerks get the party started. $12. 7 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com. — HH

PIERCED ARROWS Rural Oregon outsiders Dead Moon called it quits in 2006. But after decades spent crafting rugged, outlaw garage rock as a lifestyle choice, retirement just wasn’t their style. In the downtime, the husband-and-wife team of Fred and Toody Cole recharged their batteries to return as PIERCED ARROWS. Their debut full-length, Straight to the Heart, is a dark, groove-driven nod to the power of loud and lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll. Gentleman Jesse and Coffin Bound open. $8-$10. 9 p.m. The Earl. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com – CR

(Photo by Brad Hodge)

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They come from Utah, Texas, South Carolina, Alabama and Decatur, but The DejaBlue Grass Band has blended the roots from their regions to bring something new to the Atlanta bluegrass scene.

Friends, family, former band members and even in-laws crowded into Red Light Café Thursday night for the band’s CD release party for their first album, Bucket Full of Rain.
The burgundy, cinderblock walls of Red Light Café aren’t ideal for acoustics, but this 5-piece lit up the dingy room with sharp vocals, crisp chords and one hell-of-a fiddler.

The night was filled with The DejaBlue Grass Band’s unique sound — bluegrass twang meets country lyrics sauced with a whole ‘lotta soul. It was spun into mostly covers, but they did toss in a few originals: the title track “Bucket Full of Rain” by lead vocals and guitarist Joey Bowers and about three new songs from mandolin player and harmonies Rutland “Rut” Walker.

“It’s nerve-wracking as hell playing a song you wrote in front of people,” Walker confessed to the crowd

Obviously, this band is in unfamiliar territory.
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By Lee Valentine Smith

Clever, funny, often profane and never boring, singer/songwriter BOB SCHNEIDER is back in town Mon., DEC. 17, with copies of his recent double-live album on Shockorama, Songs Sung and Played at the Same Time on Guitar with People in the Room. The discs, recorded in Austin, Texas, in front of a vocal group of die-hard fans, presents the laid-back entertainer in fine form, playing audience favorites. Be ready for a few selections from his “rock opera,” Fuck All You Motherfuckers. AM shares the bill. $15 plus two cans of food. 8 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com.

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(Photo courtesy Shockorama)

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(photo courtesy www.graysoncapps.com)

GRAYSON CAPPS is the epitome of a young-yet-weathered New Orleans folksy singer/songwriter, and not just because he appeared in the Crescent City-based flick A Love Song for Bobby Long. Capps’ old band Stavin’ Chain never made much noise outside of N.O., but recent solo albums that feature his emotionally gnarled voice singing compelling story songs about those with no place to go and little left to lose have justifiably attracted reams of critical praise. Although the troubadour often tours solo, his current group joins him Thurs., NOV. 8, to further heat things up. $8. 7 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com.

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