“Let the sun burn my eyes/ Let it burn my back/ Let it sear through my thighs/ I’ll feel wide wide open/ Let the sun burn my eyes/ Let it burn my back/ At the beach/ In my dreams/ But you still/ You’re never gonna stop me/ You’re never gonna stop me/ You’re never gonna stop me/ You’re never gonna stop me/ King of the beach!” – “King of the Beach” by Wavves.With the October days drifting away from the sun and dreams of summertime antics taking hold against the coming cold, what could be better than the beachy-preachy proclamations of one of our nation’s best après-Dececendents rock outfits? Well, I’ll tell you, but you better damn well listen as closely as one would a seashell on the ear. It’s this week’s music line-up, which continues to be sunny in spite of any pre-winter warnings. Make sure you grab some grub before you go, though. For more information on that, check out our Best of Burque Restaurants feature on the pages that precede this ramble. After indulging in those offerings, you’re never going to stop jamming.
Show Up!: Thursday
The warm, swinging jazz emanations of the Warren Vaché Quartet will fill the air at the Outpost Performance Space (210 Yale SE) on Thursday, Oct. 8, for a concert to be defined by musical sensibilities both traditional and innovative. Vaché, accompanied by a small ensemble that includes pianist Tardo Hammer, bassist Earl Sauls and New Mexico prime mover and percussionist John Trentacosta, will perform in a variety of settings and genres influenced by swing and post-bop. A horn player of sublime ferocity, Vaché has mastered a variety of brass instruments (cornet, trumpet, flugelhorn) in his journey through the medium of jazz, performing with such luminaries as diverse as clarinetist Benny Goodman, chanteuse Rosemary Clooney, postmodern multi-instrumentalist Bill Charlap and Jazz Renegades founder Alan Barnes. The music made here is deeply resonant with improvisation affixed to knowing classicism. This all ages event costs $20-25 and begins at 7:30 in the evening.
Show Up!: Friday
The early autumn weather in Oklahoma City is bound to be a bit colder than here in Burque—where we are still encountering hot days and warm nights. If you’re not sure of that presumption, then ask the fellows from Kirra, a rock and roll outfit outta OKC that will be playing at Duke City Sound Stage (2013 Ridgecrest SE) on Friday, Oct. 9. Kirra specializes in diggably raw, straight ahead rock that—while the antithesis of fellow OKC travelers Flaming Lips—maintains the mid-American predilection for terrifically tough tones that have defined the middle-spaces of this nation. It’s the home of pure rocanrol. Their latest recording, Run Away, is filled with guitar-based shocks to the system augmented by seething bass lines and naturally thunderific drumming. Albuquerque lo-fi, mathrock masterminds Bella Amore join in on this wholesome action, while youthful up and comers Drink Me, Modus Operandi and the mysterious Swylt open up a night of cacophonic causation. Tickets will run interested listeners $8. All ages (13+) are permitted at this electric hoe-down. It begins at 7:00pm, though the doors to the joint open at 6:30pm.
Show Up!: Saturday
Forget all about summer, fall or any season to come when Suicidal Tendencies perform their peculiar, albeit non-institutionalized thrash ritual at Sunshine Theater (120 Central SW) on Saturday, Oct. 10. Mike Muir founded the formidable thrashers back in the ‘80s and is the only original member of the lineup, yet the band continues to produce a type of music that is unabashedly berserk in timing and execution. If the term “multi-genre” could be blackly and lugubriously applied to Suicidal Tendencies, then let it be known that their music is derived from the organic violence of skating and surfing with the hardcore aesthetics of Germs and TSOL thrown in for sauce. The result will have you bouncing viciously and viscously off the walls for days afterwards. Besides Muir, current members include masterfully destructive guitarist Dean Pleasants, who did a stint with hard rockers Ugly Kid Joe before finding his funkified self sitting in with Infectious Grooves. Retox, Suspended and Rock Jong Il begin the night’s tendency toward self-immolation. Hey, we’ve been noticing you’ve been having a lot of problems lately, but if you show up for this gig, you might just get a Pepsi from your mom. Just kidding. The show costs $20, is open to those 13+ and will no doubt rock the hell outta this town. Doors are 7pm and the freaky frolic commences at 8pm.
Show Up!: Sunday
If however, you survive all of the above and are left pondering what autumn genuinely sounds like, then take in a performance by post-rock instrumentalists Caspian. They’ll bring their trunk full of wistful, densely shiny yet slowly faltering seasonal sounds to Launchpad (618 Central SW) on Sunday, Oct. 11. This sextet of intense and committed musicians is known for a wandering, drifting assemblage of melodies and percussive moments that evoke human experience as a trip through time and across the multiverse contained right here on Earth. Expansive, trippy and just plain wondrous, Caspian’s latest album, released just a couple of weeks ago is titled Dust and Disquiet. The record is notable for its ability to contain metal conceits within ambient harmonic structures. Beautifully tremulous guitars, heavy-handed, heart-like drumming and bird-sounds contribute to these sonic journeys through the world without and within. Ironically, Circle Takes the Square, a screamo band with experimental tendencies and grindcore foundations (from Savannah, Ga.) starts the evening with an electric roar. Their first album, Decompositions: Volume Number One is required listening for anyone interested in the intersection of emo and metal. Admission to this 13+ disquieting and decomposing autumnal scene is $10. Launchpad opens at 7pm and liftoff is at 8pm.
Show Up!:
Say this mantra as you head out to concert-land this week (after you have something decent to eat, of course): “You’re never gonna stop me. You’re never gonna stop me.” And remember, the beach can wait, will always be there, but music is another thing all together—ephemeral and entrancing, it awaits you like a wave rolling toward the shore.
