A band at the forefront of Albuquerque’s best indie-pop projects is calling it quits. Maury Crandall, The Giranimals’ drummer and principal songwriter, says the split is amicable. It’s just that all involved have their fingers in one-too-many pies to, you know, practice and perform other important band-related tasks. The word he uses is "pooped."Is it any wonder? In a little more than three years, vocalist Connie Crandall learned to play guitar and had two babies with Maury (they’re married), the band released a lovely album ( Imperfectly Timed Words ) and opened for The Shins twice. (Tangent: The Shins are coming through Albuquerque again to play Popejoy Hall on Oct. 10. Check www.unmtickets.com for availability, and expect to pay in the neighborhood of $30-$40 a seat.)The Giranimals’ last show ever will be this Wednesday, Oct. 3, at The Tavern (4007 Menaul NE). They’ll open for Zookeeper, which features ex-Mineral vocalist Chris Simpson. Also playing are The Cherry Tempo and Keyboard, a one-man synthpop show from Santa Fe.Maury says he and Connie will continue to write music together and hope to someday start a new project with just the two of them. Busy as they must be, Giranimals bassist Jamie Rushad and guitarist Fox Fletcher are too talented sit idly by … I hope to see something from each of them, in some capacity, before too long. Good luck to them all.
I Now Pronounce You Band And Wife
Musicians sometimes grumble about feeling married to their bands, but two local groups took the sentiment to new and substantially more joyous heights in September.Unit 7 Drain’s Ella (vocals, bass) and Harry (vocals, guitar smashing) got hitched at the Quarai Ruins of Punta De Aqua last weekend. They followed it up with an amplified reception at Burt’s that Sunday evening.The weekend before that, The Hollis Wake’s rhythm section, Sarah (bass) and Micah (drums), tied the knot at a gorgeous outdoor ceremony at the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens. That means The Hollis Wake is now 100 percent committed to each other–guitarists Krysty and Malcolm are married as well. Likewise, Sarah and Micah had a private, if noisy, reception at Burt’s (which is normally closed on Sundays). Like the motley crew of guests invited, Burt’s cleaned up surprisingly well for both occasions.Congratulations to the beautiful brides and lucky grooms. To borrow a line from the the Shangri-Las: Love live your love!
