JAPANTHER RETURNS!

When it comes to late editions, one hardly seems more relevant than Japanther. Total Fest pioneers and perennial Wantage artists, Ian and Matt supply some of the best summer time beats that you desire ... and a ton more than you thought that you'd want. Let's be frank: Japanther kicks ass. If you don't dig on their sound, well go back and hate on your grandmother some more. Japanther asks us to take notice of the world we exist in but not to be cynical shits. You have to dwell in it, but you also need to create. There's enough to bitch about; what do you celebrate? And once you celebrate it, you need to move on and find something else. Their records do the same thing as they shift gears, tweak tempos, mix-in art house, noise, lo-fi and punk. It's a virtual stew of influences and impulses, and, well, like every other thing in this world, Japanther appropriates them and weaves them together into something that in theory seems overly complicated, but in practice seems simple and seamless. We're preaching to the choir here. You want Japanther. You have Japanther. This is happening! Come ride the train or get the hell out of the way. In the words of Flipper, "life is the only thing worth living for" ... and these cats give you the soundtrack.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE TOTAL SPOTS, PART ONE.
THE MISSOULA ART MUSEUM, PATTEE STREET, DOWNTON MISSOULA. Because we've all but wrapped up the slow release of our lineup, and have actually posted the TFIX schedule here on our website (right hand side there), we're going to take a minute to look at some of the spots and people and their businesses that help us make this thing possible. First up, it's the Missoula Art Museum ("MAM"). A vibrant place on all accounts, first as a Carnegie Library, the museum had a classically Roman via Pittsburgh facade. Then a couple years ago, after much raising of funds and planning, a nice modern addition was put on, and the museum's galery/office space went from not much to lots more in just about a yar. As fans of art, creativity and all things in between, it's been awesome for we Total Fest organizers to see the museum grow as a central part of Missoula's cultural life, with our very own Tom Dewar (Total Fest poster printer nonpareil) having shown work there, as well as tons of awesome local, regional and national artists. The folks who run the museum have the rare gifts of being both visionary and ambitious about bringing in art from elsewhere, but also to fostering a creative, arts-stoked Missoula/Western Montana communities.

The MAM folks do a monthly event called Artini, wherein they sneak preview new shows and open the doors in the evening, and allow for some alcohol enjoyment on premises. This year, Artini, or TotalTini as we're calling it will bring some punk rock to the MAM in the form of Abe Coley, Japanther, Fag Rag and Muhamadali. We'll start up first thing at about 6PM on Thursday, July 19 and welcome folks to Total Fest with a new venue in the family. We're excited about the partnership, and encourage Museum patrons to come and enjoy some more of what we've got on offer. More to come soon!

HEY, ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE: JAPANTHER

I'm sure they're out there, but I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like to feel good. Having a good time, though hard to remember at times, is the only thing that makes life worth it. There's a primal element to jettisoning the everyday and allowing ourselves to rattle the cages. Sometimes we need folks to jostle us a little or pied-piper us into submitting to our lizard-brains. That's what Brooklyn-based and Missoula favorites Japanther is there for. Ian and Matt work music like a blender – throw in a variety of delicious parts, set to high and let it whirl (and for those of you lucky enough to have a line of sight last year, you'll remember the actual blender). I still remember the words out of my mouth the first time that I saw Japanther. After the first two songs, all I could muster was “Holy shit.” Since then, I've tried to accumulate everything that they pump out – 2010's Ninjasonik split-project 7” is damn pretty. Their music refuses to be tied down. The differences between albums (take Dump the Body in Rikki Lake vs Skuffed Up My Huffy, for example) demonstrate a solid progression, but also a progression that doesn't sacrifice creativity for the sake of “development.” From power pop to noise, ambient to whacked, their songs stick in your head – how many times have you caught yourself singing River Phoenix or Fuk tha Prince A Pull iz Dum? With our efforts to branch out a bit, we've nailed down a Thursday warm up at the Missoula Art Museum. Japanther will be there; art will happen.

On a personal note, I want to say that Japanther can do no wrong. Back in 2008, when my friend Chad was dying of cancer, Ian and Matt sent him a CD and a poster with “Keep Rockin” sharpied on the back. It was a small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but it was drenched in kindness. They didn't have to do anything. It made my friend smile, and, for the last months of his life, that is all he wanted to do.

TOTALITY: INCOMING

Whether you are a Western Montanan, anti-government type from an enclave like Noxon (MT), or a Spokanite, looking to get away from the town with the gayest...yet weirdly anti-gayest mayor ever (or, we guess "former mayor"), Total Fest VIII is anticipating you, and awaits you with arms spread wide. Or as wide as you could expect from friendly Missoulians who spend the better part of 9 months making sure these three days rock hard as fuck.

It's hard to talk globally about a festival that goes to painstaking lengths to choose individual bands that we think represent the best shit going on in music currently, but hell, what's the harm: I honestly believe that we are proof that a festival can be thoroughly non-commercial, but feature some awesome talent that you'd be hard pressed to find at any larger/expensive/bogus fest. This year we've got rap, folk, punk, hardcore, metal and boogie rock, and everything in between and it's all unified by the same oneness of purpose: Quality. If you're these parts, please come out and bring a friend with you! Thank you, and we'll see you at the Badlander Thursday, August 20th!

JAPANTHER CONFIRM!
"Say you love satan! I love you mom!" Seems like a wicked combination of expletives, adjectives and other shit's always on deck when somebody's writing about Japanther, whose noise blast sound has grown into its own melodic, punk rock deal over the past three years. In 2009 they sound more like the Beach Boys and the Ramones, versus the Screamers --a band I regularly compared them to when they started. They still like to confront, get in your face, encourage behaviour changing, room-cleaning, swimming, etc. but now they are accomplished songwriters and Japanther's melodies are some of the hummed-est around this household. Start with their Skuffed Up My Huffy LP and then work through the catalog. Stop at Master of Pigeons and spin I-10, head over to Wolfenswan and get your noise-skuzz fill, work back to Operating Manual for Life on Earth and be greeted by the voice of Jimmy Carter. It's an ambitious, eclectic, varied body of work these guys have whipped up in their short career.

And the music's only about 75% of the deal with the band. Every time one turns around, there's a wild audio/video/visual/puppet art blowout going on at the Whitney or at PS122 or in Marfa... or at Art Basel and invariably, Japanther are putting something together with Dan Graham (Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty) or a handful of other seriously creative types. Japanther played Total Fest I in 2002, and since then they've gone around the world a few times, played hundreds of shows (recently with the Dillinger 4 and Against Me!), but they continue keep Total Fest and Missoula directly on their radar. We love Japanther. They play from their guts, they do what they feel, and they work like mad to make their music and art happen, and on their own terms to boot.