A LIST/LIST ABOUT IS/IS AND THEIR TRIUMPHANT RETURN/TURN TO T... YOU GET THE IDEA

Always eager to prove my ability to host a late night talk show, I have decided to forgo the traditional Total Blog format--where the reader is both thrilled and delighted by our informative and transcendental prose--and expedite all the hottest info on TF XII alums IS/IS to our dear readers in the form of a top ten list.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU:

1) TWICE AS MANY PUNS

2) EASY MLA CITATIONS (no idea if this is true or not, sorey)

3) AN ABUNDANCE OF ONE SENTENCE CONVERSATION STARTERS

4) THE EASE AND COMFORT OF REFERRING TO IS/IS AS "THE BAND THAT HAD THE BLOG WRITE UP ABOUT THEM THAT WAS A LIST--WHICH, TO BE TOTALLY HONEST, SEEMED REALLY, REALLY LAZY AT THE TIME," RATHER THAN THEIR EXTREMELY SUCCINCT NAME

5) YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ ANYTHING LIKE THIS AGAIN (and yeah, of course you never had to, but let's continue to operate under the assumption that even the mayor himself reads this thing in order to fulfill his civic duty #KEEPITLOCALBRAH #DONTBEADINK)

6) MORE HASHTAGS (recently, a friend told me about how he heard some teenagers laughing about some "old ass phone" that had a hashtag button #SOOLD #ENDTIMES)

7) THE ASSUMPTION THAT, BECAUSE IT'S A LIST, THIS BLOG WILL BE A QUICKER-THAN-NORMAL READ #JOKESONYOUBUTREALLYTHEJOKEHASALWAYSBEENANDREMAINSFIRMLYONME

8) REALLY, ONLY TWO MORE TO GO UNTIL THE REAL THING STARTS #TAI #UHOH

9) THE UNFORTUNATE REALIZATION THAT, THOUGH THIS PRE-LIST IS HELPFULLY LINEAR, THIS AUTHOR IS TRV KVLT AND--FROM THIS POINT ONWARD--HAS DECIDED TO REJECT ALL NUMERICAL SYSTEMS BECAUSE SHE OR HE FEELS THAT NUMBERS ARE LIKE JUST A TOOL OF POWER STRUCTURES, MAN 

•SO FAR, NOT ONE PUN WASTED #NOPUNCHLINESLEFTBEHIND #NOTWITHOUTMYPUN

So without any further ado--and with hell of hashtags already--Total Fest presents our HASHTAGGED LIST OF POSITIVE QUALITIES AND GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE BAND IS/IS:

# To my knowledge, I don't think that band has ever used a hashtag in a facebook post.

# Recently, the band relocated from Minneapolis to Portland--two wonderful, bike friendly cities. My narc-understranding of subcultures consists entirely of the assumption that musicians ride bikes.

# Their relocation was, however, after they lived in the desert for a month after last year's Total Fest (to which they did not bike, leaving me--and the rest of my narc-buddies--stunned and confused). You can read all about their pun in the sun (GET IT?) here.

# Is/Is often gets compared to Mazzy Star--which is not inaccurate, but there's definitely a heavier influence there as well: 70s stoner stomp by way of Pac-NW 90s, Spiritualized sans bombast, droney but not amelodic or monotonous. With hooks for miles, This Stuff Rocks™.

#  In a year of loud, rockin' bands, Is/Is absolutely dominated the Palace stage last year--not only with volume, but with an attitude that said, "Yeah, we ride bikes, but we also shred."

# For a certain kind of rock-fan (the author included), there are few things more enjoyable than the oft fabled Power Trio. Is/Is follows in the storied tradition of rippers such as The Clean, ZZ Top, Nirvana, James Gang and Spacemen 3 (who had four members in their best incarnation #sorrynotsorry).

# The band is constantly working on new material, but if you haven't picked up their most recent, self-titled full length or their excellent single from last year--both issued by Manimal Vinyl--I highly recommend doing so immediately. 

# Is/Is has always been a band capable of sounding dark without an unfortunate "woe-is-me" sentimentality--which is a lot harder than it sounds (especially because Is/Is does such a great job of making it sound so natural and effortless). 

# Making their second appearance at Total Fest, Is/Is should have all the erstwhile reluctant-tweeters of Missoula hashtagging the shit out of #feelingblessed and #ready2rock.

# Though this list is coming to a close, you should definitely stick around to listen to the tracks posted below or stream the entire new record at their Bandcamp page ;) #emoticonsrock

MEOW-WOW, KITTEN FOREVER.

The first time I saw , Kitten Forever at the Palace in 2008. I loved every minute of their set. The entire show people kept confusing Liz and I, which I took as a compliment, because girl can rock. They have fuzzed out rock beats that will keep you pumped, coupled perfectly with the type of bratty vocals I love to sing along with. Loudly.

This 3 piece hard-pop-fem-punk band from Minneapolis continues to excite me every time I see them. Last summer, they somehow perfected the often awkward task of switching instruments. The amount of practice they put in, to make it look easy boggles the mind. Whatever the trick is, it keeps the energy of their set way up.

Kitten Forever was formed in 2006 by Liz Elton, Laura Larson and Corrie Harigan.
   
--Mikki"internet"Lunda

HOT IN HERRE WITH AL SCORCH

lol'ing it up

Al effin' Scorch is playing Total Fest this year, y'all. In case you haven't been introduced to this ebullient* Chicago fella, this songwriter plays classic, rootsy type songs with a wry twist. With a full band, he suits late-night whiskey-drinking good-times; by his lonesome, his solo tunes tend to be appropriate for afternoon easing of one's hangover.

*Ebullient is a cool word, you should look it up and use it sometime. (I had to.)

Anyway, Al Scorch is no stranger to Missoula and we're pleased to have him on the roster at TF this year.


-KW.

YES WE 'MUURICAN WITH AMERICAN LIES

We hereby welcome Glendora, California's American Lies to Total Fest XIII!

This quartet delivers heartfelt tunes of a melodic and/or punk nature. Folks might remember being stoked when they played Missoula around the spring of 2012, which seemed fairly recent 'til I realized that was about two years ago. Anyway, American Lies provides an excellent soundtrack for jumping around like a dork at their live show, or for hanging out at home with a PBR and feeling some feels.

(The dudes also play some rad Saves the Day acoustic covers when the right mood strikes, as I vaguely recall.)

Stream American Lies on Bandcamp. (KW)

VAZ TO BRING VAZ, VAZNESS AND VAZOCITY TO TOTAL FEST

Paul Erickson, Vaz

Vaz .

We've written all about Vaz here, here, and Weird Missoula Tom wrote about them here.

We love 'em like few other bands. Jeff and Paul used to be in Hammerhead. They are orginally from eastern North Dakota/western Minnesota and nearby a nuclear arsenal.

Who knows if that had any effect on their music, exactly, but I like to think it did. Something about the cold war, nuclear arms races, Air Force controlled stockpiles of ICBMs buried in wheat fields can't help but give you something to consider. If you haven't listened to a Vaz record in its entirety start with last year's Visiting Hours on the Sleeping Giant Glossolalia label and move backwards. Second guitar player Tyler Nolan's played on the last couple and brings a great depth and heaviness to the band, whose twin Telecaster assault is more like Tar's and maybe Jehu's deal, rather than Bruce Springsteen. It's real nice, sonically speaking. It's steeped, or fermented for about fifteen years, and is a pretty mind-meld kind of thing to witness, if you dig it heavy and weird.

 

MEMBERS ONLY: THE SEDIMENT CLUB

No wave, noise band The Sediment Club is as amorphous as where they call home. From the "general North East area," they are one of the happiest things I've stumbled upon in a while. Appropriating a host of influences, The Sediment Club maneuvers through a seeming time warp of uneasy, tenuous, distorted tunes that bring to mind the avant-garde caterwaul of joy that is the No NewYork compilation. That said, it's not some tired Weekend at Bernie's retooling of what's come before them. Jackie, Austin, and Lazar find a way to make it new and relevant, leaping from part to part, restructuring and reconfiguring the sonic landscape while never feeling presumptuous or unnecessary.  

Missoula is a long way from the general North East, but I shot Austin an email on a whim, thinking we'd receive the usual response from bands east of the Mississippi: "that sounds awesome, but that's too far of a trek for us. maybe next year." I was tickled to find out that they were planning a tour out west and that Total Fest fit perfectly into their travels. To my mind, we don't get enough of the weird or the off center here. There's a running joke among those who listen to noise music in Missoula that involves the ratio of attendees to band members. If you want to hear the joke, you'll have to come out to the next noise show.

Back to The Sediment Club. The mayhem of their songs is jazz fueled elation combined with enough anticipatory abrasiveness and innovation that remind me of Robert Rauschenberg's combines. Structures fall apart. Processes reveal themselves into cohesive rhythms that are far greater than the sum of their parts. It's a personal journey through subjective thought experiments, hurdling with anxious energy and strained expectations. The Sediment Club possesses compelling dexterity that is sobering in its efficacy. They're attentive to every detail, to every orchestrated deconstruction. It's flat out slippery and disorienting. Each song feels as if you're forced to scratch out another path, lurching forward in vain attempts to reconcile the no longer with the not yet. Ever present and bordering on subconscious conversations, The Sediment Club is infectious with their energy and intensity. At times mournful but always challenging and explosive, their recordings are a testament to their tireless, hard work in crafting a sound that attempts to mimic the primal ooze of feelings that sit at our core.

B and the Electric Kill - The Sediment Club from Alessandra Hoshor on Vimeo.

ON SEATTLE'S CHASTITY BELT: A BLOG POST DISCUSSING THE DIFFICULTY OF WRITING ABOUT BANDS YOU LOVE IN A BLOG POST ABOUT A BAND YOU (I) LOVE

Full disclosure (because I think I said something like this in years prior, but I'm not sure and so I'm saying it again): writing about bands is hard and most of the time really dumb. Maybe not dumb as in dumb dumb, but pretty dumb--like, have your eyes ever fallen out of your head from rolling so hard when reading a review or write-up about a band you really like? Mine have. Seriously. I'm typing this on a braille keyboard. Namaste.

But really, the big problem is that writing about bands requires you to zero in on aspects of the band that could potentially trivialize what the band represents or what they do--you know, play music. And I'm not even going to get into that thing (I am now getting into that thing) about how "writing about music is like going to Lowe's when you really need to go to Home Depot" because that discussion can be had elsewhere. There's always the chance that you'll overlook what later seems to be a necessary detail, which is because the actual sound a band produces will do the best job of representing the actual sound a band produces, and not the work of some overly cautious, amateur blogger. We all know this, but I have a job a to do. I just want to make sure we're all on the same page (for clarity: we are on this page).

Here is my roundabout way of writing about one of may favorite bands going right now, Chastity Belt. 

Chastity Belt is great, and their album No Regerts--yes, an intentionally hilarious misspelling--is one of the best records I've heard in recent memory. Wonderfully restrained, it's the kind of record that makes you stop and reconsider all of the over-the-top aggression present in a lot of punk--even if punk is an inadequate genre designation in the same way that punk is an inadequate genre designation for bands like Wire or The Raincoats. There's something else going on--more precision, more nuance, more attention to the little things that make records or bands special to a listener. 

However, let's not confuse being special with being precious. The lyrics on No Regerts scrutinize how our experiences when young risk becoming overly sentimentalized the older we get, and Chastity Belt takes on themes of youth and sexuality and partying in a frank, non-judgemental way. This is a rare--and, I think--valuable perspective that more often than not becomes muddled by overly serious chin-rubbers musing on the delicacy of the past. Complimentary to this is the band's inclination towards bright, chiming guitars and upbeat, direct rhythms with the occasional somber-sounding melodic turn--you know, sunny music for people who live in cloudy cities. 

Best of all, Chastity Belt absolutely rules live, which is excellent news for this year's Total Fest crowd. If you haven't caught them live before, here's your chance.

AMERICAN CREAM: SPONTANEOUS CONSTRUCTION

                                                        A recent version of American Cream; photo by Adam Bubolz.

In the English language, there is but one word that should--and often does--strike fear and sadness into the minds and hearts of both music and comedy fans: improv. Usually, that word carries the icky baggage of performers who are underprepared, or worse, so cocksure of themselves that they perform with a gusto that resembles an utter disdain for their audience. Why even discuss best case scenarios when so many times a night has been ruined by an ill-timed "joke" or an unintentionally hilarious saxophone solo? Even though this blog post is about a band that utilizes many of improv's most basic, musical tenets--I'd rather throw the term out the window altogether than apply it to Minneapolis, Minnesota's American Cream. Instead, let's talk about spontaneous construction. 

I use that phrase not only because it will undoubtedly resonate with my fellow fans of the annual Home Resource building competition, but because I feel a similar spirit is invoked on American Cream's recent double lp, Nathan. Certainly, one isn't immediately struck by the sense that these songs are portions of extended, improvised jamming, because--much like Can's Tago Mago or Ege Bamyasi--the songs on Nathan follow a kind of spontaneous logic that often resembles more traditional compositional techniques. Instead of featuring individual instruments or soloists, the "band" operates as a singular entity, producing a song out of spontaneous textures and harmonies. More simply put, the improvised element becomes invisible, and the record only seems that much more impressive because of how the individual pieces were "composed." This spontaneity is even more apparent in a live setting, when the line-up on any given night can be totally different from the prior performance--yet always something compelling, interesting, and of its moment.

Another fascinating Nathan factoid is that the eleven tracks on the lp all feature different iterations of American Cream--the one constant member being Nathan Nelson (also of STNNNG and Private Dancer). In total, twenty-four musicians play on the record, and--despite the large cast--its consistency indicates an attention to nuance and subtlety that separates Nathan from the ever increasing pack of records carrying the improv banner. But don't wait until Total Fest XIII to hear American Cream. Check out the track "Don't Buy It," or stream the entirety of Nathan here.

ED SHRADER'S MUSIC BEAT PROTHELYTIZES THE BEGINNING

Let's be honest, Ed Shrader's MusicBeat is awesome. Part performance art, part ground razing minimalism, part resurrection, part anarcho-aggression, Ed and Devlin induce some of the most bristling, sweat-inducing, drum driven songs that strip everything down to their most malleable and fluid parts.

Yeah, adjectives.

Bear with me: I like to envision ESMB as some psycho-revivalist who eschews tents in the middle of the bible belt for any legitimate PA they can find. Once plugged in, Ed and Devlin proceed to perform miracle after miracle, offer you the face of whatever being you think exists beyond you, and then drench it in chaos. It's palpable but insufferably indescribable. The chanting rhythms, uninhibited angst, and wonderfully tongue-in-cheek subtlety challenge you to let go of what you hold dear. Guitars? Who needs them? It's a crazy construction that threatens to devolve into unrelated, illusory corollaries, but somehow retains its center and discharges something close to 1980 Mt. St. Helens or the immanent event of the Yellowstone caldera.

Shit is crazy, heavy is what I'm saying.

I like music that challenges me, that pushes me to new places, that forces me to question what's what in the sacred ground of DIY punk, but also makes me feel alive, strips me of complacency, and shoulders me with anxiety. Additionally, I want music to reciprocally challenge itself and the ground it rests on at the same time. Disappointment only exists when we have expectations; things that strip away our ability to frame it and to define it allow us to roll with it and to enjoy the odd juxtapositions it erects: a sublime proliferation of sonic matter.

So there. Ed Shrader's Music Beat brings their feverish, echoes to Missoula this year. You know that scene in the Sorcerer's Apprentice when syncopated chaos is arrested by salvation? Not here. There's no nostalgia, no reckoning force, no powerful overseer to shepherd you into tranquility. And that's how we like it: raw, driving, experimenting, maneuvering relentless fun. Beyond definition.

Ed Schrader's Music Beat from GONZO CHICAGO on Vimeo.

(THE) DREAMSALON.... THEY LIVE INSIDE OF MY HEAD

Thankfully Dreamsalon are nothing like Cheap Trick. What they are like is one great-ass band with three dudes who've been in some of our favorite bands of the past ten or so years. Min Yee was in A-Frames, and also Le Sang Song, I think. Matt Ford was in Factums and some version of the Intelligence. Craig Chambers was in the Lights, who for years did there thing pretty quietly from Seattle, while touring with Oneida, the Obits and regularly charting on KEXP and cetera.

Dreamsalon is, in my mind at least, a continuation of Craig's post-Lights output (Le Sang Song, Love Tan and this, I think) and their 2013 LP "Thirteen Nights" made our end of year list for being so goddamn good. Dane Hansen, from whom I know about Dreamsalon, wrote a good piece for the Montana Kaimin, we're gonna include it here verbatim, because I think he captures it:

"Gothic script, gold lettering, dim lighting and tired eyes: the cover of the debut from Dreamsalon hints at some of the truisms of life in the Pacific Northwest: the winters are long, cloudy and either rainy or snowy, depending on your location. Poverty drives artists indoors, where our skin becomes pasty and our minds turn to mush, while we anxiously await easy summer living. It’s not hard to imagine some similarities between us and the Ice-Age cave painters at Lascaux, huddled away from the wet and cold for unreasonably boring, long periods. Any form of creative output becomes an exercise in retaining health and sanity.

Which is not to say that Dreamsalon remotely resembles anything healthy or sane, nor does anything from their scene. Hailing from other brain-scrambled Seattle groups like A-Frames, Factums, and the Lights, Dreamsalons’ members have honed into composing cavern-bop hits. Guitarist Craig Chambers’ signature guitar riffs seemingly work both backward and forward in a hypnotic loop, a trick he’s learned through countless hours of screwing around with home-recording, vinyl hoarding and a healthy Michael Yonkers obsession. Every tone and utterance by Chambers is run through some sort of echo-y delay, resonating into a wild, haunted feeling.

The discipline factor of Matthew Ford and Min Yee keeps things in a more recognizable garage form, albeit a grungy, repetitive one. (Ford and Chambers previous collaboration, "Love Tan" is more like noise-induced sex-mania than rock’n’roll). The two sometimes play off each other in a galloping, fool-of-fortune way, like on the dreamy, tropical tracks “In the Air,” and “Splits,” but are equally capable of setting the stage for really sinister, inky-black weirdness like the quintessential creep-out sessions “On the Bus,” and “Every Man, Woman, and Child.”

THE BUGS ARE TOTAL

The Bugs, picture by Sachiko Arakawa

The Bugs new record is called "The Right Time" and I helped to put it out along with X-Mist in Germany and the band themselves. If you want one, there's a little bit of the first pressing available here or from the band as they tour the west coast. We printed the covers at Garage Tees, a long time Total Fest sponsor and great print shop. It's been on repeat around here since we got the tape version of it when they toured through last fall. Pretty much everything the Bugs touch is gold as far as I'm concerned. They've got the raw emotional stuff, they've got the humor and they've got the realness sometimes punk rock wants for.

I first saw the Bugs in around 2003 or so, I think. They were on tour and stopped into Missoula during a cold snap. They played a set at a Barnburner festival at Marshall Mountain, in a tent scented with propane fumes and with few folks in attendance, right after Volumen. None of that adversity seemed to phase them, nor did they really seem to notice. They just blasted out a 23 minute set of about 10 great songs, got off the stage, then we probably went to buy some beer.

Recently when Red Fang did a video release show, they invited the Bugs to play, and hopped up on stage and did a handful of Bugs covers.

Q: WHAT IS IT THAT YOU LACK? A: WIMPS!

Seattle's Wimps attack the banality of existence with a serrated party knife, leaving all the various sinews and tendons sprawled out on the floor.

Bored with life? Swimming in the cold sweat of ennui? Eat it.

Wimps drums up a pop-filled, dance party that presses up against the mundane bullshit of paying bills, waking up, working lame jobs, hangovers, unemployment, laundry, saying hello. Featuring members from The Intelligence, Consignment, Meth Teeth, Butts and Partman Parthorse, Wimps run through a host of short, punk driven songs with distinct guitar, catchy vocals, and just enough playful bitterness that it can be easy to miss the serious affirmation of living. Try as we might, we have to wake up sometime. The curtains have to be opened. The trivial provides us with compelling narratives and moments of joy that, if we fail to acknowledge the absurdity of it all, drive us to dark, negating spaces rather than basking in the hysterical, exuberant joy of taking a breath or catching someone shitting in the alley. Wimps find a perfect balance between self awareness and raw, punk desolation. Their songs are short, ear-blistering, pop-infused, middle-finger acts of defiance. Like our favorite scrivener, Bartleby, they prefer not to; unlike him, Wimps devours the world in satiating bliss.

Party at the wrong time? Well, things could be worse.

MEET YOUR MATCH WITH PISSING CONTEST

Some days, no matter how old I get, I need short, thrashy, brutal tunes to listen to on my iPod while I skulk around town feeling scowly. And boy, does Pissing Contest ever fit that mood just right.

This Battle Creek, Michigan-based outfit put out a killer EP, that I totes recommend you check out, and will be putting out a full-length this summer. (I find that listening to the EP about three times in a row is enough to work out my bad mood and get me feeling perky again.)
Plus, lead dude Mat has a rad skateboard and record company, SAY-10, if you're into that sorta thing. Pissing Contest makes its first-ever visit to Montana for Total Fest XIII.

PISSING CONTEST!! Go follow 'em on Twitter, too!

-KW

GRECO: THE INVENTOR OF COOL

Ok. Honestly, I don't want to play favorites, but I'm about to. Greco is one of the performances I'm most excited to see at Total Fest this year. Greco is the solo synth-pop project of Flagstaff, AZ music legend, Chris Greco. When we met, he was concerned I didn't get what he was going for. 
Trust me Greco, I get it. I really get it.

His album, Denim Don't Dry, is what kept me pumped our entire tour last year. Anytime we were stuck in traffic, it was an unspoken rule that we would listen to, and sing along with Greco. From the first time I heard my favorite track, uhh, I knew I had to get Greco to Missoula.
If you're into people who are into themselves, this is a band you'll love. If I've ever given you a ride, chances are, we've listened to this.
   -Mikki 'internet' Lunda

CRIMINAL CODE RETURNS

Rounding out a week of exciting announcements we're stoked to share with our fellow freaks that Tacoma, WA's Criminal Code will be making a return to Total Fest this August. They first caught our ears with their demo followed up by a killer debut 12" on Inimical Records back in early 2012. Later that summer they graced the stage at Total Fest XI with their totally raw and urgent, guitar-driven punk. Yeah, it's got this whole Hüsker Dü and the Wipers vibe, but with a more aggressive, contemporary hardcore feel, drenched in an abundance of fuzz, flange, and gloom.  Since their last Total Fest appearance, they've toured their butts off all over the US and released a slew of rad singles, along with the newest, a long player, No Device on Deranged Records. Check out some footage from their TFXI appearance:

WHITE NIGHT WHITE HEAT

Adrian Discipulo Photography

Fullerton's White Night  is one of those bands that baffles me a bit. That's not a knock in any way. They're straight up stellar, good-time punk that makes you taste the air. I (welcomely) take some flack for defining bands in the negative, or, to say it another way for positioning bands I like against bands that, for one reason or another, folks like and pump out $20 for a two band bill and continue to buy tired and trite record after record. Straw man or not, I'll not do that here. Well ... at least, I will not call out names or point fingers at those "punk" labels that cookie cut their way through merch sales. What White Night gets right is that punk is about merging the serious with the silly, jettisoning constricting genre categories, embracing the dirty rawness, and celebrating all the people and experiences that come with it.

Take their most recent release, Prophets ov Templum CDX, for example. It's a strange ass record, incorporating a few decades worth of sounds into two-minute (give or take) meandering blasts of sweetness. Backed by a solid pedigree of musicians, White Night feels like they're always evolving, always moving in and out of spaces that are familiar and comforting but choreographed in such a way that it catches you off guard, forcing you to catch up before the next shift. It's a dynamic approach that never feels forced or cobbled. Coming from someone who gravitates toward the atonal and affronting drones, White Night gives me pause. In a way, they make me take stock on how my tastes have shifted and remind me of the quiet joy of watching Neil Blender carve around for hours. Yeah, sure, there's some nostalgia plunking me in the back of the head, but White Night is never stale, never trite, never complacent. So dig it, Total Folks, they're coming to Missoula  in August with a small contingent of Recess bands, and we'll all be better for it.

MANX, LET'S PARTY WHEN YOU GET HERE.

This is a great 3 piece rock band from Portland, OR. I'm stoked to see them play Total Fest! I love their fun vibe and classic 90's garage sound. 
   This band is awesome live. They look like people who wouldn't even hang out if they weren't on a stage together. John Barnaby on bass/vocals looks like he's ready to party at the gravel pit in 1987, Thomascine Ryther on guitar/vocals would be at home behind the counter of an independent book store, but then straight up freakin shreds. And then there's Kyle Beckman on drums. I don't know why I have this fantasy backstory for him, but every time I see him I pretend he just came from MMA practice in a warehouse down by the docks.           
                                                http://manxportland.bandcamp.com
                                                                                     
 Manx released their self titled album in 2011. It makes me want to drive around at sunset with all the windows down. The last time I listened to it, Bad Naked described it as " this is fucking music." That about sums it up.
    Mikki"internet"Lunda

SAIL AWAY WITH TREASURE FLEET

Free and easy indeed. Total Fest welcomes Recess Records' Treasure Fleet to the lineup this year. The Chicago outfit consists of dudes from a band or two that you might have checked out before, with a lineup of Isaac and Dave from the Arrivals (who you might remember closing out Total Fest X in 2011), Mike from Sass Dragons, Eli from Smoking Popes and Neil from Smoking Popes and Lawrence Arms.

Not that Treasure Fleet necessarily sounds a whole lot like any of those bands—rather, it goes for a 60s psychedelic-meets-Britpop kinda vibe, plus lyrics about riding bikes while high and spacepunks. Perfect for hot summer grooving.


Stream Treasure Fleet on Bandcamp. Right arm, man! Farm out. (KW)

WOOLEN MEN ARE IN.

Woolen Men

Woolen Men came onto my radar when Mike from Sleeping Giant Glossolalia (who's helped steer lots of awesome groups our way over the years) included their 7" split with Lame Drivers with a trade we were doing. I love that "Deaf Americans" song so damn much. Could've been a top 40 hit on a Tom Petty record if it were slower and recorded in a massive slick studio, or something. Theirs is the kind of music I'm a sucker for. Pop, punk. Important use of comma there. The stuff just has a melodic sense about it that seeps familiarity, and I love the recording aesthetic, which is shitty, but actually, all there, so to speak, and infinitely crankable.

Woolen Men 

And the damn thing just makes me think of tall cedars, rainy Northwest days, strong coffee, yard sales and basement shows. It's like Bob Pollard and Tobin Sprout, without the Ray Davies accent. The term low-fi, or I guess lo-fi gets overused to this day, and essentially just means that stuff wasn't recorded slickly, or super carefully. As an adjective, it's virtually meaningless because saying something's lo-fi is just saying what it isn't, vs. what it actually is. So, there won't be any talk of that around here. What they've got it chemistry and a great vibe. Woolen Men may need to be cotton men this August. Oh, and you can get their 2013 LP from Woodsist for $10 right now.

BORN YESTERDAY: TOTAL BABIES.

Born Yesterday is Hana Montana’s (the real one) new band. Hana is a Missoulian who recently set sail for coastal America with a crew of awesome Missoulians in tow. It’s the kind of thing that happens when you live in a place like Missoula. About every 4-6 years you have a near complete change-up of almost all the super creative weirdos. Or, maybe about 80%. Turns out that people want Korean food, jobs that pay a living wage, to see some ethnic diversity, run into Ty Segall at a record store and that kind of thing, I guess.

Anyway, back to Hana. She was in a handful of great bands with Total Fest pasts: first one, I think was 10 Year Old Girlfriend, which was a kind of trashy, excellent and bratty punk deal. 10YOGF started as a bedroom songwriting project, and morphed into a great, unfortunately short-lived band with Matt Cote and Tom Shahs. Keyboards, bass and drums. Then, after they broke up, Hana and Mikki started Needlecraft, which is still a functioning group (here and there) with a tour coming up in June. We make no bones about loving Needlecraft completely. They’ve got everything from killer doo-woppy girl group melodies, awesome lyrics, a totally believable diva schtick and moreover, a fucking phenomenal live show. They ruled the roost here for about a year or so. And they’ve got a new record coming out on Marty’s Minor Bird label.

So, all of that gets to what Hana’s currently doing musically. It’s a group called Born Yesterday, and it’s a spacey, reverby garage band. Their cover of “The First Cut is the Deepest” is so excellent, we also love the trash of this “State of Desire” jam. Long story short, there’s been something missing in Missoula this year with Hana gone, and we’re excited to have her back for Total Fest! It’s just that simple. 

NORTHWEST EXCLUSIVE SHOW: SHANNON AND THE CLAMS

Oh man, you guys. SHANNON & THE CLAMS are playing Total Fest XIII. It's real, it's happening and I can't wait. We're so excited to welcome these rocking Total Fest XI veterans back to Missoula. If you've never seen this band play, you seriously need to. They're proficient musicians, have great energy and wear costumes. What's not to like? If you can make it through the set without being pulled into their enthusiasm or the energy of the crowd, you might be a robot.

Musically, Shannon & the Clams hits on garage, soul, doo wop and pop. The band is comprised of Shannon Shaw, a bombshell on bass and lead vocals. Cody Blanchard, who I'm consistently impressed at his ability to play sweet surf riffs while wearing that tight of jacket and highly buttoned collar and Nate Mahan, until recently I thought his last name was 'Mayhem' and it fit after seeing him on drums. 

Let me put it this way; I've never even considered writing a blog post before and this doesn't feel weird because it's about a band I'm stoked to see.

— Mikki "internet" Lunda

Check out more info and find downloadable tracks for Shannon and the Clams here.

WHO'S READY FOR THAT OL' TOTAL MAGIC?

While August 14-16, 2014 aren't exactly just around any corners just yet, it'll be here soon enough, and we've been blowing our speakers trying to sort out the best set of tunes to launch this deal into the Moon's orbit. We are pretty stoked about what we've got lined up. Oh, and did we mention you can get a pass starting today? We've released our first batch of passes, man.

Here's what we've got on this Friday in May for you:

With some big help from Total Fest's co-presentin'-est radio station in the west, KBGA we are so damned excited to be able to announce that we're bringing up SHANNON AND THE CLAMS this year. Few bands have same ability to cut across the rock-garage-punk-hardcore-curmudgeon music fan distinctionss like Shannon does. We were pretty sure their 2013 Dreams In The Rat House LP was about the best thing we heard last year. We wrote about that here. It grew, grew and grew some more on us. Then we put it down, and we went back about a week later. Punk, soul, garage, a little doo-woppy. Whatever man.

Shannon and the Clams

VAZ, or as organizer Paul says "Vahhz", are a three piece group who do more to vocabluarize the Soviet space program and the Cold War than anything that's written. Vaz's 2013 Visiting Hours was a whopper of a shredding force that showed the 15-year old band creating a Masonic-quality temple to cold riff after cold riff. And they're originally from around Fargo.

Obnox

OBNOX is Lamont "Bim" Thomas's two-piece Ohio outfit. Lamont's a multi-talented, Rustbelt-stalwart-been-doing-awesome-bands-forever (Puffy Aereolas, Bassholes, This Moment In Black History) kind of dude, who's got no shortage of excellent ideas, and the means to readily execute them. He's never brought Obnox to Montana before.Goddamn!

CHASTITY BELT 's tags on their bandcamp page say "no regerts, punk, walla walla, blood, classical, metal, sex." The tunes they turn out soar around at about 35,000 ft. with  a dry, high desert oeuvre and we hear there's a tour with Wire coming up.

ED SCHRADER'S MUSIC BEAT is from the same Baltimore scene that turned loose Dan Deacon, Roomrunner and you know, around a dozen radical groups. Dan recommended Ed Schrader's Music Beat to us, and we're excited to have locked them in.

Lots more announcements soon.

TOTAL FEST THIRTEEN: LET'S GET LUCKY

We’re proud to announce another excellent lineup of independent rock, metal, punk, pop, dancey, sorta-unclassifiable and generally rad tunes in store for the 2014 edition of Total Fest, Thu., Aug. 14-Sat., Aug. 16 in downtown Missoula, Montana. Venues include the Badlander, Palace and Zootown Arts Community Center. Now in its 13th year, this all-ages festival remains as nonprofit, DIY, volunteer-driven and community-based as ever. Three days of barbecues, afternoon shows, outings to the Blackfoot river, raucous evening concerts and, of course, the Big Dipper Record Swap are all on tap.

Here’s a sampling of the more than 40 bands slated to party down:

SHANNON AND THE CLAMS

GAYTHEIST | KITTEN FOREVER | PRIZEHOG | TREASURE FLEET | OL DORIS  

ED SCHRADER’S MUSIC BEAT | CHAIN AND THE GANG | PISSING CONTEST | OBNOX | VAZ | CHASTITY BELT | AL SCORCH | MASS FM | BOYS

(and lots, lots more yet to be announced)

Three-day passes are $50 in advance, on sale now! go click the handy "purchase tickets" button above on the right!