The Albuquerque music scene is a nostalgic place. Inevitably its participants will all find themselves with broken hearts, yearning for a defunct band. On a local level, it’s not just about the music—it’s a phase in your life, the people you shared it with and the places where you spent it. That said, the stars have aligned and brought forth a special, Alibi -sponsored show at Low Spirits on Saturday. A Reunion For those that toss and turn at night mouthing " the Ant Farmers" in hushed murmurs, your rock ‘n’ roll fantasy … or dune buggy, has arrived. On Saturday, the Ant Farmers, beloved Albuquerque purveyor of lo-fi alternative folk rock / power pop-type songsmithery, reunites to perform for the first time since the pigmy sasquatch walked the Earth."This time around, we’ve decided that everything starts on A, goes four times and only has one verse," says Ant Farmer and Alibi publisher Carl Petersen. "I’m anxious to incorporate our experiments with ‘talk-singing,’ verbal repetition and a guitar technique I call ‘Johnny-One-Note.’” The Ant Farmers last performed in 2005, but the band hasn’t been active in a decade. "People used to complain that we didn’t look all old and weird,” Petersen says. “Problem solved!" A Farewell Saturday night gets even more bittersweet. Also on the bill at Low Spirits is The Giranimals which, after more than five years, bids farewell to Albuquerque stages in order to raise baby Giranimals. “Who knows—maybe after a few years and our kids are a little older, then we can start thinking about playing shows again,” says drummer Maury Crandall. “We’re all going to be involved in other musical projects. Jav and I play in Cherry Tempo, and Chris and Connie will be doing other projects as well.”In the meantime, the band released its second, self-titled album this year. Evoking as much of a DIY, handmade effect as possible, Giranimal members recorded the album themselves and created artwork without the aid of a computer. Pick up a copy and witness the band’s last live hurrah in one fell swoop. An Anniversary On top of the aforementioned hoo-ha, Low Spirits—the North Valley music venue painstakingly brought to life a year ago by live music patron saint Joe Anderson—is celebrating its first anniversary. Rounding out the party with the Ant Farmers and The Giranimals is Lousy Robot (which has a fancy new album that will be released in January) and Sad Baby Wolf (made of ex-Starsky Jason Ward and ex-Shins Marty Crandall and Neal Langford—a nostalgia fest on its own). Happy birthday, Low Spirits! May the love between you and music fans be steadfast and true.
Low Spirits Anniversary Partywith Ant Farmers, The Giranimals, Lousy Robot and Sad Baby WolfSaturday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m. Low Spirits 2923 Second Street NWTickets: $5 advance/$8 door, 21-and-overlowspiritslive.com
