“It’s like I never had to see it in your eyes or feel it/ I could tell when you smile/ It’s like I didn’t need to say anything or do much, I could tell/ When you smile/ All of the subatomic pieces come together and/ Unfold themselves in a second/ Every single molecule is right, when /All of the subatomic pieces come together and unfold/ Themselves in a second.”—“When You Smile,”a song by The Flaming Lips from the album Clouds Taste Metallic.Just so you know, this is my heartfelt attempt to make you smile. They pay me to be witty, but I can’t help but sometimes feel like a particularly indecisive Hamlet confronting a particularly petulant Ophelia in some big lonely castle that doubles as a kickass rocanrol venue. Whether you know me or not you oughta laugh at that and then hopefully think to yourself, “you know, Mr. March is right, I should be rocking the fuck out right at this very moment!” That’s how my reasoning goes. Anyway, I’ll see you all out there in the world.
Show Up!: Friday
The Talking Hours
Courtesy of the artist
Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW) proprietor and local impressario Joe Anderson has got to be smiling this week as his venue is carrying the weight of the more than decent Albuquerque shows this week. It all starts with wide, conversationally nuanced awakening on Friday, Jan. 26, when The Coma Recovery and The Talking Hours headline a gloriously local show at Burque’s legendary gateway to the rocanrol stars. As you may recall, the former sonic ensemble makes thunderously epic excusions into the dark heart of musical expression, with tuneage like “Red Lightning Child, Great Emptiness” and “Beneath One Silent Orchestra.” I wanna say they have a complex, fast-beating post-rock heart made from one of the heavier metals on the periodic table, but that might get me in trouble because of their propulsive beats. I’ve already told you about The Talking Hours; they’re golden, dude. Shoe-gazy drifters and ear-damagers Soliloquist and Pacenotes open this trip into guitar-glazed eternity. $5 • 9pm • 21+.
Show Up!: Saturday
The Lillingtons
Martin Blondeau
If you haven’t had the chance to get a load of what the rocanrol from the great state of Wyoming is all about, then have I got some news to make you smile, fellow lovers of rock music. The Lillingtons are a quartet from Newcastle, a town of about three thousand smiling souls in the northeast corner of the state. They will be coming to our humble burg to rock the fuck out with local luminaries Rock Jong Il on Saturday, Jan. 27, at, wait for it, Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW). The band’s followed fortune’s call for the past 20 odd years, releasing albums like Shit Out of Luck, Death By Television and last year’s Stella Sapiente along the way. Founder Kody Templeton also fronts Teenage Bottlerocket, in case you want to know. As for Rock Jong Il, lets just say that band members Jeff Cohen, Johhny Huchmala, Jay Collins, Bob Beckley and Brandon Davis are one of Burque’s best representatives of a tradition that includes notables like Hüsker Dü as well as local outfits like Russian Girlfriends. I’m still digging “Planet X” and “Wasted Life” from 2016’s Dictators of Rock LP, and you can to, if you only go to this awesome show! Shadow Creeps creep out to open up this night of for realz pop-laced punk. $10 • 9pm • 21+.
Show Up!: Sunday
Sammus
Courtesy of the artist
A thing that really makes me smile is knowing that hip-hop nation is currently being filled up with talented, totally hep young women whose work outshines just about anything else currently being produced in a male-dominated music scene. Such is the case with Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, better known by her nom de rap as Sammus. An educated, literate flowmaster who incorporates elements of nerdcore and video game music into her abstract compostitions, she’ll be joined on stage on Sunday, Jan. 28 at Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW) by New York harbinger of hardcore, Heron whose new work includes the anthemic “How Low,” and the collaborative work of progressive, conceptual rappers Ceschi and Factor Chandelier. Most interestingly though, local rappers K. Benally and LetsJus B are also on this killer bill which begins with a ritual performance of a dude who is considered to be one of the oddest, dankest and most provacative of Burque rappers, Summon The Wulf. Man, this one’s gonna get crazy good with a stellar array like that, so go, dang it, go. Bliss and the abyss await. $10 to $12 • 8pm • 21+.
Show Up!: Monday
T-Pain and 24hrs share a moment backstage
Courtesy of the artist
Smilingly take a break from the 600 block of downtown Burque on Monday night—and really the East Coast flava too— by checking out Cali’s latest hip-hop sensation 24hrs. This new made master of microphone mastery, mystery and anonymity (he told interruptedblogs.com back in 2016 that he felt like his enigmatic persona was key to his success) will be performing at The Jam Spot (415 Central Ave. NW) on Monday, Jan. 29. The recordist behind hits like “What You Like,” a collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign and Wiz Khalifa, tells the press that “I lost excitement for my music for a while—now, I’m excited about the whole transformation of 24hrs and not just being a new artist, but being a new artist with the knowledge of someone that’s been through it. Not, just the success of being a new artist, but my brother—okay, now, I know. Instead of looking 1 car up, I’m looking 10 cars up, and 3 blocks over at what I’m going to be doing this time next year, the same day.” Listener, it sounds like you should be there to hear the rest. $21.25 to $37.25 • 8:30pm • All-ages (13+).
