See & Do: Music: Noot ‘d Noot
Friday, July 11th, 2008
Sometimes it’s hard to tell where the joking ends and the true deep-space funk and electro psychedelia begins, but that’s the beauty of NOOT ‘D NOOT. It’s the ultimate Atlanta party band that channels expert musicianship into dance-floor party jams. The CD/LP release party Fri., JULY 11, for the Noot’s International Hits debut, Goofer Dust, will be an awesome display of seriously funky music that’s not meant to be taken seriously at all. A slew of like-minded local party starters including Judi Chicago, DJs Cozy Sean & Brett Electric, DJ Ching Dong and Vagina Jenkins are all on deck to perform as well. $7. 9:30 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Road. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com.
(Photo by Steve Pomberg)
The BLACK ANGELS‘ second full-length, Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic) is a psychedelic drone-rock masterpiece that flourishes with bright black rhythms and a sensory-slurring pulse. On stage the Austin, Texas, five-piece pours the darkest elements of the blues, Indian ragas and morphine pop into a mesmerizing whirl of drones and melodies that conjure an atmosphere of soul-bending grooves and enchantment. The Warlocks and Imaad Wasif with Two Part Beast open Tues., JULY 8. $12. 8 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950. 
Los Angeles duo NO AGE has taken the indie-rock world by storm, unleashing a wash of lo-fi noise that’s driven by infectious pop rhythms. Guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Spunt hammer out an overdriven punk/pop plod that’s guided by frayed vocals and fidelity that are bound by a hearty, art-rock bent. Nouns, the group’s Sub Pop debut, moves with hazy and catchy hooks that bounce around inside a haze of liberating, blown-speaker fuzz. Like-minded L.A. group Abe Vigoda blends chiming minimalism, tropicalia and angular punk jams into breezy and hard-hitting pop tones. Infinite Body and Bows and Arrows open the Thurs., JULY 3, show. $10-$12. 9 p.m. Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 8. 404-522-0655. 
SILVER APPLES emerged from New York in 1967 with a rhythmic sound that was too revolutionary for the times. Forty years later, the name still carries a lot of weight among music heads who have an ear for true genius. Silver Apples opted for oscillators rather than guitars. And with these futuristic tools the group surfs the sine waves, carving out deep, psychedelic grooves that are as addictive today as they were when Bob Dylan and the Beatles were young men. The show Mon., JUNE 30, offers a rare live performance from a group that changed the world of electronic music. $12. 9:30 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950. 
No, it’s not onomatopoeia. Middle Ohio trio PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT shrouds primitive but gorgeous melodies and pop hooks in a dense cloud of buzzing, lo-fi noise and seat-of-the-pants punk-pop slop that evokes everyone from Guided by Voices to Times New Viking. Australian duo and Siltbreeze Records labelmates Fabulous Diamonds switch gears from the din and distortion that is quickly becoming the new Siltbreeze fingerprint to deliver a set of ethereal and psychedelic gothic pop tones. Local experimental rock trio Suitcases opens the Wed., JUNE 25, show. $8. 9 p.m. Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 8. 404-522-0655. 
It’s appropriate that when Tel Aviv, Israel, power-rock trio MONOTONIX rolls through town, it’s playing an action-packed Whirlyball show. on Fri., June 20. For the uninitiated, Whirlyball is a merger of basketball, hockey and Jai-Alai played in a bumper car. It’s not your typical indie venue, but Monotonix unleashes just the kind of tornadic and riff-heavy rock that requires handle bars. Matt & Kim, the Death Set, Team Robespierre and Reggie Watts open. $10-$12. 8 p.m. WhirlyBall Atlanta, 608 Holcomb Bridge Road, Roswell. 770-998-6161. 
GENTLEMAN JESSE SMITH is heir to Atlanta’s power-pop throne. His songwriting is bound by a simple, driving Rickenbacker chug that channels heartbreak, wit and catharsis into rambunctious pop gems that culminate somewhere between Beatlesesque pop and punk/new-wave gems circa ’79. The Fri., JUNE 20, show is the record-release party for Smith’s debut full-length (Douche Master Records). But at press time, Smith stressed that he’s “holding his breath” and hoping he’ll actually have records to sell. Regardless, the show will be nothing short of a full-force exhibition of pure pop tunes not meant for the faint of heart. Nashville garage rockers Cheap Time open. $8. 9:30 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950. 
HARVEY MILK has earned a reputation for being the heaviest band to ever come out of Athens. With its latest release, Life … The Best Game in Town (Hydra Head), the group further hones the brittle art of crafting a sound so simultaneously fast and slow that it defies simple categorization as sludge or doom and gloom metal. Crushing and elegant minimalism is the calling card for the long-standing art-metal four-piece, performing Tues., JUNE 17. An oft unsung torchbearer in the realms of avant-garde metal, the group sounds more powerful than ever after 12 years of sporadic rumblings. $10. 9 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Road. 404-522-3950. 
The sort-of-annual UNDERSKATEMENT VOL. 4 film festival showcases several experimental shorts, documentaries, music videos and other films Thurs., JUNE 12, all of which are conceived, shot and directed by skateboarders. The festival places an emphasis not only on the art of skateboarding, but on the art of filmmaking as well, and the new dimensions of dangerous and debaucherous creativity that are born when these two worlds come crashing together. $5. 8 p.m. Eyedrum, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.
Ethan Miller is best-known for the droning art metal of his other band, Comets on Fire. But with HOWLIN RAIN, performing Fri., JUNE 6, Miller helms a show of baroque, psychedelic rock jams that are laced with nods to the avant-garde. But above all else, Howlin Rain is a rock band that’s rooted in the traditions of Jefferson Airplane in the ’60s, the Byrds and the good Grateful Dead records. The group’s second full-length, Magnificent Fiend, released under the wings of Rick Rubin’s American Recordings, is rife with big, gospel explosions of organ wash and harmonic riffage that glows with the kaleidoscopic aura of San Francisco circa ‘66. $8. 9 p.m. Drunken Unicorn, 736 Ponce de Leon Place. 