VANEK UNLOADS 2016 BAGGAGE

Big Business

Everybody knows lots was wrong in 2016 but musically for me there was some pretty excellent stuff that came to and happened in Missoula. Big Business played at the Badlander and were nothing but of bruisingly excellent. Jonny Fritz and the Best Westerns played at the Palace. Divers played at the VFW. Absu wore corpse paint and defiled the Palace. Timmy's Organism and Wolf Eyes careened into the ZACC. Mordecai and Plastic Crimewave Sound blazed down the VFW. Purling Hiss erupted Stage 112. Danava and the Shrine dusted the Top Hat. I really got to see a such a great set of bands in Missoula this year that I'm running out of stupid verbs do describe them. And those are just the touring acts. The best Montana band I saw was when I was in Crow Agency for work, and I saw a Crow country singer named Sammy Hoops on a flatbed trailer, with a pedal steel accompaniment. It was like hearing Neil Young for the first time or something. Chilled me. Back here in the Garden City, I had a blast seeing St. Balls play huge, self-indulgent psych jams, and that Dwarves cover band at the Bike Doc. around Halloween made me grin ear to ear. I remembered most of the lyrics to "Backseat of My Car" which doesn't exactly make me proud.

I used to help with Total Fest and this was the first year we didn't do it since 2003. Mostly, that meant I got to do other pretty normal things like go hiking, and enjoy summer. It was sad too because Total Fest was easily as much about the hangouts as it was about the tunes and I missed all of that hanging out (seeing Joe Preston on a BMW motorcycle, drinking Dan Engler's beer) hugely. Fretting over attendance, money, logistics or drama weren't among what I missed.

Camp Daze

However, 2016 did not want for music festivals around here. Of the fests I took in I think again I dug Camp Daze best. I caught a night of it and had a blast. My favorite act was Vasas who play great, weaving rock, kind of like a less frantic Meat Puppets. I was stoked that Wes Williamson's and Jared Sayre's new Austin band Gold Leather made the trek, and they pretty raging. I didn't get what Iron Eyes deal was, or rather, I think it just wasn't for me (an uncool 42 year old who wants a Treepeople reunion more than anything). As a dad with small kids my partying days are pretty well behind me and I didn't see anywhere near the entirety of these fests that I once would've. I did get into a little of it and I loved Camp Daze' mellow, hang-out vibe most of all. If I get to have one note for the comment box, it's for Camp Daze to take the plunge with a couple more gnarly, heavy bands. I love what Camp Daze does and think it's got real wheels under it now, and thusly I'd love to seem some the heavier weirdos from the northwest on its stages here and there.


Second up was the Badlander Complex's Saudade, which seemed a wee bit damned by its unwieldy name and latish publicity, but was otherwise hugely ambitious. Too few Missoulians checked it out, even with some solid headlining by Red Fang and Lee Fields. Hopefully that's just first year blues, and now that they're over the hump they get some momentum. Saudade has a lot of potential to rule, and needs to leverage any an all name recognition in year two and pay some more attention to its curation and it'll be a solid force. The hope I think was to have genre-geared stages, e.g. a jammy stage, a metal stage, a dance music stage, etc. and I think that approach didn't quite pan out as well as organizers hoped. The metal night was a success, but other stages seemed to lack audience. I hope that with the Palace's recent closing as a music venue that the festival won't be effected. It's noteworthy too that the Badlander folks made a sizable charitable donation on behalf of Aaron Bolton, the deceased Missoula musician, promoter and co-owner of the Badlander as part of Saudade.

Wolf Eyes

I wasn't in town when Plus One Fest happened this fall, but I heard it had great bands and very few paid Missoulians in attendance. That may have to do with the fact that its organizer, Mike Gill who used to live here, no longer lives here. I mean, it may be my pre-internet informed, Generation X worldview talking here, but I still believe music promotion is 95% word of mouth, posters and hand-to-hand "hey, this rad thing's coming up, here's a handbill" kind of deal, compared to any other form of promotion. And that all really seemed to happen a little too late with Plus One, unfortunately. I get concerned that our town's good name in the live music and fan departments might get needlessly sullied if there are many more of these things that fail to reach actual paid attendees.

Gold Leather

Erosion Fest also happened in the fall, this was its second year, and first time in Missoula, after launching in Great Falls in 2015. It unfortunately happened when I was away from town so I wasn't there, but the folks I talked with said it was a great event, and was well attended, with Acid King, St. Vitus and a bunch more doom metal acts converging and playing with heavy locals like Swamp Ritual and Stone Elk.

Back onto the subject of venues, it's interesting that recently two pretty solid bars with live music announced they were getting out of the business of live music altogether. First Stage 112 in the Elks Club and recently the Palace Lounge made a similar announcement that their show-hosting days were over. This seems to be ebb and flow of Missoula every few years. To me, speaking from the perspective of indie/DIY show economics: it's a tough racket to make work financially. Even when you've got a band with a built-in draw, there's very little wiggle room left in a door take after paying bands, sound and venue rental costs to cover even basic promotion costs, let alone luxuries like print advertising. In my experience in Missoula, there's a trend of starting a new show space out simply, and then ramping up the production values as a next step. Larger productions come with larger costs that in my experience quickly make modest DIY shows next to impossible financially.

Absu

For example, a lot of good music can happen with a basic vocal-only PA, and many, many weeknight shows can't sustain a soundperson, and all of the mics, amps, mixers, monitors and between band nu metal that comes with one. A DIY promoter in Missoula regularly faced with the prospect of the having to pay a minimum of $100-300 for sound/room, and pay a touring band next to nothing, or coming out of pocket to make ends meet. Which seems like a totally preventable deal. I don't know exactly what the solution is, but I think it has to do with shows at great Missoula nonprofits like the ZACC, and more back-to-basics bar shows where bands are able to get all the door money, because the sound was a minimal vocals-only set up. Sorry to get into the weeds there, but you know, sometimes simple and cheap are the sustainable solutions and I think it's good to acknowledge the importance of simplicity, and not fixing what isn't broken.

Here are the records I like most last year:

Modality: Under the Shadow of this Red Rock (House of Watts)
CCR Headcleaner: Tear Down the Wall (In the Red)
The Double: Dawn of the Double (In the Red)
75 Dollar Bill: WOOD​/​METAL​/​PLASTIC​/​PATTERN​/​RHYTHM​/​ROCK (Thin Wrist)
Nots: Cosmetic (Goner)
Jonny Fritz: Sweet Creep
Big Business: Command Your Weather (Joyful Noise)
Purling Hiss: High Bias (Drag City)
Yass: Things that Might Have Been (X-Mist)
Helms Alee: Stillicide (Sargent House)
Vaz: Pink Confetti (Learning Curve)
Dead: Untitle (We Empty Rooms)
Ngozi Family (re-issue)
The Plastic Harmony Band: Voyage of the Angernaut

JUNE 2016: TOTAL MONTH. HELMS ALEE, DARTO, BIG BUSINESS

Big Business: Play Monday, June 27th at the Palace.

June here in Missoula is a good month! We just got done with Camp Daze, which was a great blast of a fest, and we've got three great shows with some kind of direct Total Fest tie-in coming our way.

First up, this Sunday, June 19th Helm Alee is playing. Helms brings the fury, and I'd never miss 'em, ever. Spacious, but focused. Heavy, but pretty. You know, a band of paradoxes or something like that. And a great live band. That's at the Palace, and it's this coming Sunday at at 8:00 PM.

Helms Alee play Sunday, June 19.

Next up, Darto, comes through here on their way home to Seattle from a string of dates in western Canada. Darto similarly skip traditional rock conventions and do whatever the fuck they want to. Which means that each of their records has got a whole different vibe to it. I like their heavy stuff, I like their soundtracky stuff, I like it all. I can't wait to see them again. They play an all-ages show on Sunday, June 26th at the ZACC. Zoo City Apparel is hosting that.

Darto play June 26, Sunday.

Finally, Big Business are coming on Monday, June 27th. That show will be at the Badlander and is 18+. Local locos Holy Lands and Swamp Ritual open. Tickets $10 via Ear Candy, or through the show page. Big Business will be touring behind a brand new LP, which they'll have on tour before stores do.

TWO TOTAL SHOWS THIS WEEK.

Absu. Nuff said.

Everybody knows Marty, he's a show booking powerhouse, his baseball cap is rakishly allowed to be off-center, and he's a big part of keeping independent rock and roll happening in Missoula. This week, there are two pretty sweet shows happening, thanks to Party-Marty, the M-Dawg, uh, Minor Bird Records: Missoula's getting its first ever taste of Absu and I think our third visit from Divers.

First up, Tuesday, April 12th legendary Texan deathmetalers Absu bring their decidedly brutal rage to town, and to the Palace in particular. Pre-sale tickets are available from Ear Candy in Missoula, and a good chunk of them will be kept at the door for y'all coming in from other places. Zebulon Kosted, Judgment Hammer and Shramana open.

Divers. Slightly more said.

Next up, Divers were lots of folks sleeper hit of the last Total Fest. They have that special psy-band vibe, that comes from too much van time, too much time smelling each other's feet etc. And they just kick it out. Kind of like I imagine the Replacements did in their heyday.

Divers play Thursday, April 14 with VTO, Wojtek and Sunraiser open. It happens at the VFW bar.

Missoula, get to 'em.

VANEK'S TOP LIST OF 2015

This thing was on top of our year-end list.

2015 was a year that went by entirely quickly, but when I sat back to think about what new music stood out I came up with a decent list pretty quickly. In Missoula I think we were lucky to have a major renovation done to our largest real-deal, non-sports hall live music venue, the Wilma Theater, which had been in dire need of it. The Wilma was always a funky and sweet place, and while I tend to prefer my buildings well past their prime and dingy to new and shiny, you can only see Yo La Tengo so many times with sub par audio and not start to wonder. So, thanks to the Top Hat's Nick Checota, the place sounds and looks great and here's to a sweet roster in 2016.

Additionally, this August's Total Fest was the last one, you can read about why here. I think it was the correct way to wrap it up, and I encourage people to direct a good amount of their live-show attention to smaller and mid-sized venues like the ZACC, VFW, Palace and Stage 112, all of which are helping keep Missoula vibrant with affordable shows chock-a-block with great locals, and amazing touring national talent. Camp Daze will happen June 2-4, 2016 and I'll be there.

V/A Long Time Comin': Lost Sounds From the Treasure State
Unquestionably, this double LP is at the tip top of my listening heap for 2015. This thing took Dave Martens (Best Westerns, Magpies, etc. etc.) many years to assemble, and his hard work digging up the great, never-released, or long-forgotten gems included on here speaks to a garage rock past in Montana that had scenes from Sidney to Kalispell and all points in between. It fascinates me that Montana bands were getting national air time and attention via the more democratized and culturally important radio. There are as many stories behind this record as their are bands, and the copious liner notes help contextualize all the great stuff that was going on about fifty+ years ago. The first pressing is selling through quickly. A+ stuff.

Dan Deacon "Gliss Riffer"
Dan's ideas continue to push electronic music and pop music in general, and I continue to really dig what he does, as indescribable as it can be.

Broken Water "Wrought"
This great band just called it quits, after probably 8 years of doing it. I always found their sheets of sound mesmerizingly hopeful and great.

Ciudad Lineal  "El Nuevo Hombre"
Spaniards (or I think actually Catelonians) Ciudad Lineal from Barcelona make decidedly 80s Cold War synth jams. Kid of Cure-y, I guess, but a little more awkward and eastern euro vibed.

Hammerhead "New Directionz
Duh. Hammerhead regrouped fully and officially this year, with Jeff and Paul's return to the snowy and windswept prairie of the north. And they self-released a full-on return-to-everything-you-loved LP.

Shahs "The Bodyguard"
Missoulians Shahs released a great full length this year, and it's a progression from their mostly Tom Helgerson dreamy tropical synth to something a little more layered and complex. Sorry this sounds like Wine Spectator. Trust me, mon.

DIÄT "Positive Engery"
Australian two-piece living in Berlin, making decidedly un-modern sounding and cold post punk/new wave. I hate saying the words "post punk" as much as you hate reading them, but I think they're pretty close to correct here. Damnation is this great. Heavily, heavily rotated.

Benjamin Von Wildenhaus "II"
As the title says, this is Benjamin Von Wildenhaus's second LP, and his first was a revelation. This one continues to mine the same great vein of subtle and wild, uh, guitarscapes. Uggh, right? Who said that word would be okay?

Miss Lana Rebel and Kevin Michael Mayfield "The Midtown Island Sessions"
Most of these are in no particular order, but this record is my co-top record of 2015. We'd been waiting impatiently for the next phase of Lana and Kevin's output, following up on their excellent A Real Subtle Beauty, and this album rings true to all the greatness of their songwriting and performance abilities. Heavy rotation.

Flesh World "the Wild Animals In My Life"
More stellar, depressed but frenetic kind of post punk, this time from somebody from Limp Wrist. I really dug this.

Swamp Ritual "S/T" 
Heavy Missoulians whose riff mastery became pretty clear in 2015. Riffin' bong-rock at its finest, with only a bass and drums behind it.

Shopping "Why Choose"
British band whose sound is like a kind of modernized Gang of Four. Super LP.

Nots "We Are Nots"
Memphis band on Goner who played here. Niki saw them and gave me the CD, I loved it.

Sleaford Mods "Key Markets"
British (I guess) hip hop that's so smart and political that it's kind of creating its own world around it and their documentary Invisible Britain is apparently great news too. Here's hoping that Big Sky Doc Fest or the Roxy get it next year.

John Carpenter "Lost Themes"
Arguably, the thing I waited most anxiously for in 2015, and it didn't disappoint one bit.

Shannon and the Clams "Gone By the Dawn"
I always have a blast watching this band. They're incredibly good musicians, and songwriters and something about them just makes them transcend so much of the rest of what's out there.

Live:
Fireballs of Freedom at Total Fest.
Red Fang at the Palace.
Big Business at Total Fest.
Earthless at the Top Hat.
The Whip at Total Fest.
Dead at Total Fest.
Black Cobra at Total Fest.
Built To Spill at the Badlander.
Humpy at Total Fest.
Everyday Sinners at Total Fest.
I think I'll need to get out of the house more this year.

HAMMERHEAD TONIGHT (MONDAY, OCTOBER 5) AT THE VFW

Hammerhead.

The 1990's were a curious time. Folks interested in underground music were hugely record label-conscious, or at least I and most of my friends were. You got a lot of stuff just because Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, or Tom Hazelmyer had put it out on their Sub Pop or Amphetamine Reptile labels, respectively (or SST, CZ, Kill Rock Stars, Boner, etc.). I thought of places as having their own sounds. Seattle always sounded very much like halfway between Mudhoney and Gas Huffer to me. The Twin Cities sounded like Hüsker Dü, Boise like Treepeople, Olympia like Beat Happening, Ellensburg like the Screaming Trees. It didn't make a ton of sense in retrospect, but so it goes, right?

All that has largely faded with the advent of ala-carte song purchasing/stealing courtesy of the internet's "here's everything, no waiting necessary." and youtube to MP3 capabilities, etc. My point isn't to say anything was better about the old way, just to kind of set the tone for how Hammerhead came onto my radar. Missoula was somewhat of a stopping point between the Twin Cities and Seattle, and we hosted a lot of the bands who's music got released by Tom Hazelmyer's Amphetamine Reptile or "Amrep" label. We had the Cows, God Bullies, Janitor Joe, Steel Pole Bathtub, and probably several more I'm not remembering through town. And regardless of whether anybody knew anything about the band or their music, there was some kind of a cache that came with being associated with this label that had put out all this raw, weird, angry noise.

Hammerhead were different, though. They had a paranoia and desperation about their music that just kind of set them apart, and made the others seem a bit like more of an act. Hammerhead were from Fargo/Moorehead, and came with the full-on endorsement of North Dakota transplants the Fireballs of Freedom who helped add to the super-human mystique that surrounded the group. It didn't hurt that Hammerhead were and are a spot-on tight power trio, with great musicianship, better tones and huge volume. They stopped playing or broke up, not sure what the exact story is, right at the end of the '90s. Jeff Mooridian and Paul Erickson went on to form Vaz, which has been very productive for the past 15 years, releasing some of the decade's best music, from my vantage point.

Roughly five years ago rumors started that Hammerhead was reforming, if ever so briefly, to play the Amrep 25th anniversary show. They also used the occasion to record a few songs for an EP, called "Memory Hole." We got them out for a Total Fest set shortly after that, and they continued to play sporadically, recorded an album called "Global Depression" for Learning Curve. This summer they released a record called "New Directionz" and are doing their first tour in something like 15 years to support. They're coming out with the band Qui, who played with the Jesus Lizard's David Yow for a while. Both bands and Missoulians Naked Limbs play tonight, Monday October 5th at the VFW in Missoula. Show starts at 9PM, $6. Here's a nice video to whet your appetite.

TOTALLY HUNGRY? SAY "YES" TO TOTAL FEAST

Bob Marshall's dank pizza place.

It's the final year of Total Fest and that also means that yes, it's time to announce our final Total Feast. This is something we've come to look forward to every year. It's a time where we partner with one of our most stalwart supporters, Biga Pizza, and go nutz with an all-out all-you-can-handle pizza buffet. This year, all that pizza sets you back $12 and it runs from 5pm to 8pm. Know that a big portion of those proceeds goes towards making this last best fest something to remember. We're still a non-profit, volunteer-run enterprise so we rely on fun events like this to pay all those bands you can't wait to see.

Biga is one of our (and Missoula's) favorite restaurants in town. The place is run by Volumen and Bavon and Egg member Bob Marshall and he's been tossing brick-oven-pizza for years now. The menu has some pretty creative topping choices (the Flathead cherries, the marscapone, all so so good) but they're just as solid with your regular sausage, pepperoni, and cheese. There's always been a few gluten-free pizzas popped out for you celiacs and there will be plenty of salad for all you Yoga instructors.  We love Biga and we're extra super totally elated to be doing this again, even for the last time.

To reiterate: TOTAL FEAST runs from 5pm to 8pm on Sunday, August 9th and like I mentioned earlier, it's only $12 for all-you-eat pizza and salad. PBR is available as well as Biga's regular beverage menu. The Ole Beck VFW Post #209 is available next door for overflow seating and booze-drinks for the 21+ set. This event is 100% FAMILY FRIENDLY and we can't wait to see you there.

TOTAL MIXTAPES

If you're the kind of person that enjoys convenience or just the satisfaction that comes from consolidating everything in one place, today is probably the best day of your life. We've put together three mixtapes featuring the majority of our Total Fest lineup for this year. They're not really tapes, we know, but they're streaming online so if that's the kind of the thing that totally floats your proverbial boat then hell, we're here for ya. Each mix is loosely based around a genre or two and we tried to make each one have a sense of flow because, well, half of the Total Fest committee is made up of radio DJs and that's something we care about.

Yeah, we're aware not every band playing Total Fest this year is on the mixes. We'll be posting more stuff like this in the future so no worries, we wanna make everyone part of the party. We'll keep you updated like we always do from this blog. 

Here they be:

OBLIO JOES.

Guest post today from longtime Missoulian, Total Friend and former TF Organizer and party/camper host, Irish American and soul patch wearer, Dennis Lynch. Now of Portland, OR for the record. I lugged a lot of staging with Dennis, and saw him barbecue a lot of burgers and generally just enjoy the guy's company. I think he's also got the distinction of being the Number One Fan for the Oblio Joes, so it figured to ask him to write something up when we secured the Obes

)


What is there to say about the final Total Fest and one of the best bands to ever grace the stages of Missoula? I had a feeling that the Oblio Joes would resurface for this event and I was asked if I would do the write up for the Obes and I was more than happy to oblige. I gave this some serious thought for a few days because I could probably write for hours about memories of shows and general drunken debauchery. The more I thought about it, I came to realize it wasn't the stories that we have about our friends in the Obes but it was the story of the Oblio Joes that made them our friends.

He sincerely means it.

One of the things I was most proud of in the Missoula rock scene from the very early 90's all the way through today was that, save for the hippy dippy jam bands and phony bluegrass bands that abound the Garden City, was that we were never pigeon holed for a type or a style of music. The beauty of shows booked at Jays Upstairs or the few other fall back bars for bigger shows was that we were blessed to an evening of multiple styles of rock. I have very fond memories of shows with Humpy, Fireballs Of Freedom, Sasshole, The Banned, VTO to name a few. There were so many bands at the time that crossed the Rock spectrum yet our lives were all intertwined. We were a large family. We stood up and stood out for each other and it bled from band to band and person to person.

I remember Andy Smetanka telling me a story of sending a split 7" single with Humpy and the Oblio Joes to Maximum Rock and Roll for a review and they at first would not review it because the Obes weren't "punk" and Andy giving them a lesson about punk not being safety pins and Liberty Spikes. It is about DIY ethos and being true to your music and standing behind what you write and perform. That my friends is punk rock. Not a chord or a scream or a leather jacket. It's your soul.

Roll on, Kentucky Moon. Picture by Becky Hensley.

The Oblio Joes embody that. Over many, many years and 7 or 8 albums with a few 7" singles thrown in, these guys blew out some serious songs and more than several Anthems near and dear to a lot of Missoulians hearts and ears. While bands came and went, some moved on to hopefully greener pastures and some just disappeared into the closet of past Missoula Rock and Roll lore, the Oblio Joes continued to build a base of fervent fans and new believers at every show. It was not uncommon to walk into a local watering hole and see the stage crowded with people trying to out sing the lyrics to many an Obes song or some drunken lout jumping up on stage to belt out a few chorus' with the band (I may have been guilty of that once or twice). These were hardly just shows, they were events. While new bands were popping up and old bands moving to the side, the Obes were stalwarts of the old guard but inspiring the future of local music.

There is a picture from the last "official" show at Caras Park that I am so happy to still see every once in a while. Now, I can't take credit for making it but I was happy to steal it and hold it up very high because the Oblio Joes truly did change my life. They not only showed me what Rock and Roll was about but they showed me what it could be and they will not be denied their place because they didn't wear the uniform of the rocker that some zines and the old school establishment told the masses to wear. They wore the uniform of the Oblio Joes and they wore it as a badge of honor and pride. Having them re-unite for the last hurrah of Total Fest just makes sense.

And it makes me happy. I am only sad that they will only have 30 minutes to make you smile and not 3 hours to play every song they ever wrote. Either way, it will be an event.

And it will change your life. It changed mine.

(Dennis Lynch, July 2015)

HIGH, WIDE, HANDSOME: THE BEST WESTERNS

It's been years now since I first encountered The Best Westerns. For a band that reads as MONTANAN as this one, seeing them at the Union Club was perfect. As Missoula bars go, The Union Club is the near-embodiment of Country and Western. Walking into a crowd of pearl button shirts amid the Westerns' mourning pedal steel and Isaak Opatz's baritone drawl, it was hard not to become a convert. I've never professed any undying love for Country Music but man, it's hard not to give in when you're watching these guys play. Call it charisma, call it just having a ton of really great songs, call it whatever you need to, The Best Westerns are fantastic and they'll be repping that Montana flag high, wide, and handsome all over Total Fest XIV.



They've come a long way since playing the fest a few years ago. Since then, they've released a stellar record, High Country, that's cemented their reputation as one of premier alt-country, electric folk, or whomever bands in the region, if not the country. The Best Westerns are tireless, gig a ton when one of their members isn't living in Nashville, and deliver some of the most moving performances I've ever seen. You're gonna love it, folks. Even if this country thing isn't in your wheelhouse, I'm certain you'll come away a fan.

TOTAL LOCAL: NO FANCY

Another day, another killer Missoula band we get to announce and it's...NO FANCY. They're one of the newest, most stellar local trios operating right now. For reference, let's just say they kinda remind me of The Magpies in one sense, perhaps without the latter's serious wall-of-noise, but with that same propulsive garage-y nod to 90's indie rock. No Fancy is a little moodier, I think, and that's one of things that sticks out for me. I love those moods.

Some other things you might be interested in knowing: No Fancy has been hard at work and (last I heard) is nearly done with recording their first album via Missoula's recording-brain-trust Black National. The first result of which you can hear below. Ray, No Fancy bassist extraordinaire (the guy with the mustache) is also a member of Missoula alt-country-faves The Best Westerns. Dude is a talent. Hell, all three of these No Fancy folks are talents and man, I'm really excited they're playing Total Fest XIV.

 

LIFE DURING: WARTIME BLUES

For long (or even part) time Missoula residents, the mere mention of chamber-folk juggernaut Wartime Blues will elicit a wave of feeling. For you non-Missoulians, I'm here to tell you that the wave of feeling(s) are pretty much guaranteed. Wartime Blues are a force of nature, a surprisingly weird force of nature, in a consistently staid genre of music. They're also one of the few Missoula bands in recent memory to have made a name for themselves in national circles, especially those circles that run counter to much of Total Fest's classical "genre." We haven't been the same festival for years, people. Wartime Blues isn't your run-of-the-mill cello-a-guitar-and-a-folk-song jumble. They're 1,000x the greatest band you haven't seen. They're as sprawling as their subject matter and absolutely HUGE live. It's always been a treat to see 'em and you're in luck because they're totally playing Total Fest XIV.

CLARKE AND THE HIMSELFS: LESS IS NOT LESS

If you think for one second that a one-man-band isn't as deserving of respect as your regular guitarist/drummer duo then buddy, you've come to the wrong place. There's a common misconception that single musicians aren't to be taken seriously as say, every other band with two or more members. It's a shame, yeah, but we at Total Fest have been attempting to throw that notion overboard for years. We've featured solo acts like Thrones, Reggie Watts, Greco, Dear Rabbit, that one time Shahs played alone, and plenty more I'm probably forgetting. Killing stupid notions is in our blood so this year, we're proud to present Boise, ID wunderkind Clarke & The Himselfs.

Total Friend and former KBGA Music Director Dane Hansen once compared the dude to something like My Bloody Valentine realized through the production and performance values of rockabilly weirdo Hasil Adkins. I'd agree with that, but throw in that Clarke & The Himselfs also presents this lazy stoner-pop-punk vibe that we've probably last seen with Wavves. It's awesome and it's fun as hell. Don't just take our word for it, Boise's own Built to Spill (heard of 'em?) invited Clarke to join them on one of their most recent tours. He's doing something right and we hear it. You should hear it too. Trust us.

  

SWEET LEAVES: BENNY & THE JET RODRIGUEZ

Rewind a handful of Total Fests ago and these people, this self-proclaimed "pot-punk" band from San Pedro, totally took me by surprise. I feel that's the general consensus with how Total Fest works with a lot of people (you go for some bands, love a lot more) but Benny & The Jet Rodriguez completely stood out when they played the Top Hat at whichever Total Fest that was (12?). 

Dunno what it is, man, I mean they probably got that "stuff" that is next to impossible to quantify but oh lordy, it could just be the Total California Vibe that at least coming from them, doesn't sound so overwrought or a gimmick or really anything but straight-up fun-loving punx doing that thing they do and yeah, they're doing that thing at Total Fest. Again. It's gonna be another Perfect Summer so prepare, dooods. Get blazed.


ALLEY CAT by Benny The Jet Rodriguez. Directed by Abby Banks from Abby Banks on Vimeo.

FIREBALLS OF FREEDOM: AS TOTAL AS IT GETS.

Kelly Gately, Fireballs of Freedom

Aside from having an album called Total Fucking Blowout and being the band that many of us cut our underground punk rock show teeth on, the Fireballs of Freedom have just got a presence and personality that's fully impossible to deny. "FoF" started in  North Dakota as a band called Honky Sausage, moved to Montana in 1992 or 1993 after Ear Candy Music's John Fleming told them these were fertile pastures for the kind of high plains, country-boogie-punk-whatever-exactly-you-wanna-call-it rock and roll they were blasting out. And it turned out that Missoula and the Fireballs was a match similar in potency to coffee and cigarettes, chocolate and peanut butter, Peaches/Herb, etc. etc. etc. Missoula loved, and I'd hazard loves the Fireballs like few other things.

Missoula was a waaaay different feeling place in the 1990s. Namely, those of us who are older now, were younger then. There's your big difference. But also, the town was a fair piece grittier with rickety Jay's Upstairs defaulting as a venue for everybody worth their salt from about '93-'03. Everyone smoked, and did so indoors. Craft beer wasn't widely available. Gasoline cost less. Rent cost less. There wasn't an Ear Candy for a lot of the decade. There wasn't much of an internet. Zines existed. Dreadlocks were in vogue. Shows cost less. Bands constantly came through and played for too little door money.

FOF

A person could fill a decent sized book with Fireballs of Freedom stories. I won't here, because they're better I think as oral histories, told by friends, the band and acquaintances. It's exciting to me that the Fireballs haven't stopped, they've made some small lineup adjustments, don't tour nearly as often and probably are far steadier in their personal lives for it. They still are a completely blistering band, and regardless of your thoughts on the kind of music they lay down, you owe it to yourself to enjoy the unhinged power and love for music they bring.

PUNISHMENT: FREE MUSIC

Wm. Statler.

Sound collage, performance art, exceptionally self-aware pop weirdness and a whole host of other adjectives of my own devising are popping up in my mind-brain while attempting to truly express how much Seattle's Free Music (nee Punishment) will completely surprise and wow you guys at Total Fest XIV this year. Musically, William Statler's one-man-magic-orchestra fits somewhere between the soundtrack to a Sega Dreamcast game and Brian Eno's emotional 1970's. It's a bizarre mix, sure, but the real neon icing comes into play when you see Free Music live and in person. I don't wanna give too much away; you really do have to see this.

Free Music is one of the true enigmas at the festival this year. While I did mention "performance art" and that phrase is sure to make more than a few of your eyes glaze over, you should trust me. Let's just highlight the word Performance for a minute. A few years ago, while Free Music was still known as Punishment, he played a show at the ZACC with Mega Bog and completely enraptured the room. It was one of the most amazing things I'd seen a solo performer do. There's a ton of humor in it, it's almost childlike, but the depth is there and you can tell this guy is completely serious about what he's doing. I seem to remember there was a basketball involved. "Not in my house."

Let me put it another way: Free Music is one of the most "punk" bands I've ever seen. This is the kind of punk that doesn't need a snarling beard or a half-stack. This is punk that doesn't need a band. This is punk like it really, REALLY, doesn't care what you think. It's confrontational but dressed up in a cartoon half-smile and completely one of the most unique things this festival has harbored in a good long while. CYA this summer, doods.

P.S. Don't just take my word for it: Julia Shapiro (of Total Fest alums Chastity Belt) included a song by Free Music (then known as Punishment) on a Seattle-centric mixtape she created for Hardly Art.

KETTLEHOUSE: BEER STEEPED IN ROCK AND ROLL.

Double Haul IPA: Decant or Drink from can.

KettleHouse started in a modest version of its current Myrtle Street location in the second half of the 1990s as you-brew place, with nice stainless 10 gallon brew kettles and carboys for rent, brewing supplies for sale and a business plan centered around Missoula's student/low bagger population not having the means to buy brewing gear, but wanting like hell to brew. That business did pretty well for a number of years, but it wasn't until they started turning some of their own recipes loose from the taps that the place started to fill on up and become a stalwart corner of Missoula's beer scene that it's become. Before Kettlehouse, there were Bayern and Big Sky, both great outfits in their own right, but Kettlehouse's game change for Missoula was the fact that they brought their great flagship beer recipes and a great vibe in their centrally-located, lived-in-and-okay-with-it, Myrtle St. taproom.

It's a place you might hear some P Funk, loud. Or Iron Maiden. Or Prince. For years, Kettlehouse' Al Pils won best bartender in Missoula, although technically his tending was limited to pouring Kettlehouse brew. Pils is cut more from the publican cloth than bartender style anyhow, writing long screeds on a white board about some NFL team or star whom he'd gotten sideways with recently, and having a believer's passion in the awesome elixir coming out of K-hole's taps. It's not hard to be evangelical about good beer, and Kettlehouse's beer is great. Myrtle St. location's expanded, it's kept its original beer laboratory charm, with that same great lived in feel.

Missoula's best bartender.

Kettlehouse has been a part of Total Fest in some way or another since we began.We still pickup kegs of Eddy Out pale ale for all our band barbecues, and they help us out by throwing a pint night our way to help raise funds for the festival.

And that's what's happening this Wednesday, May 13 over on the North Side location, on N. 1st St. By the ZACC! We get a percent of sales all evening, and if we hit 400 beers sold, well shucks, Total Fest gets an additional $250 to support the fest! Come down and have a beer with us, please!

DEAD ENDEADEN TOTAL (MORT) FEST.

Not cool man, not cool. What-so-ever.

So, we may have never looked at Castlemaine, Australia's Wikipedia page, and that's okay. We think it's a place like Missoula with somewhere far fewer than a hundred thousand human inhabitants, a healthy countercultural vibe, and far enough from a town of any size not to be some boring bedroom community.

And,we do know that before Dead were from there, they were from an unhip zipcode within Melbourne, a town arguably pumping out more groovy crap than anywhere we can really think of. Dead (pronounced "Did," I believe) have got an awesomely unwholesome Motorhead, Karpy kind of vibe, have been a band now for we think a solid five or nearly six years, and this will be their third stateside tour. They've been to two other Total Fests, and their ass-soloing, drum thrashing, whatever it exactly is, always counts as the top end of the highlights reel, which is typically pretty well jam packed already.

Some history: back in something like 2006, a young fellow from Australia began swapping emails, buying Wantage stuff relentlessly, and sending CDRs of his and his friends bands. Jem was then in a great three piece band with two bassists and himself called Fire Witch. We ended up putting out a rager of a 10" for them before they broke up. Hand printed it on leftover Oxes sleeves, in fact. We've always kept in pretty solid touch, and he'd been serious about getting to the U.S., largely to get to meet some of the folks from the bands he loves, but also to share his great tunes. The second half of the group is Jace Rodgers whose bass playing/screaching we'd gotten to know well from one of Jem's vinyl releases (on his label We Empty Rooms), a thoroughly fucking ripping rager of a band called Inappropriate Toughguy Behaviour.

Also not cool. Not cool at all Total Fest. Who do you think you are?

Dead got us their first LP to put out, then did a second one called Idiots with a rad label called Eolian Empire in Portland. All of them have something unique and not just noise rock about them, and that's kind of I think what makes it a step above the rest. The first LP has this track called Prick Rodeo that we still listen to for its biiiiiig, groovy riff that gets repeated beyond ad nauseum to the point of an Oneida or Neu sort of commitment. We thought that took guts, and loved it. And love everything they touch. We put out (with WER) a great 7" they did with Vaz, who were tourmates of theirs in Australia. Okay, it's clear we think. Dead.

TRIP METAL.

WOLF EYES, PICTURE CREDIT: SHARYN MORROW

Mikki's Top 10 for Total Fest

Mikki Lunda's Top 10-ish bands she's most excited to see at Total Fest XIII:

(in particular order)

1. Greco- Fri. 8pm, Palace
I hear from a reliable source that he wears a full-body-tiger-print-cat-suit, when he plays live.  And he's a bigger shameless self promoter than I am. All of his songs are about how rad he is.
[Editor's Note: You can listen to a couple of his tracks here at the Total Fest band camp.]

2. Obnox- Thurs. 9:15, ZACC
Dane Hansen (Bad Naked) told me "you can't miss this set."

3. Shannon & the Clams- Thur. 10:45pm, ZACC
I love this band's live energy. I've seen them bunches of times and they still made my top 3, that's saying something.

4. Underground Railroad to Candyland- Fri. 9:45pm, Palace
Last month I played with these guys in Pomona, CA. They are a party on stage, super fun to watch and are super tight. (multiple drummers)

5. j sherri- Sat. 12pm, Big Dipper
I'm just going to come right out and say it. These hotties have been my favorite local band for the last 2 years. I'm stoked to see them in the HOT HOT summer sun while licking a melty ice cream.

6. Woolen Men- Thur. 8pm, ZACC
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

7. Toupee- Sat. 8pm, Badlander
My pop idol, Richard Album, was in town last week and he said "in Chicago, anyone with our musical integrity will have this band on their list of favorites". I trust that.

8. Dreamsalon- Fri. 10pm, Palace
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

9. Kitten Forever, Sat. 10:15pm, Badlander
This band does it right. How they figured out how to transition instruments like that, is a straight up miracle.

10. Wimps- Sat. 9:15pm, Badlander
I've never seen them live, but I NEED YOU TO KNOW: I really dig their sound.

11. Dear Rabbit- Sat. 12:35pm, Big Dipper
Love his stage persona, he has a great booming voice and I'm impressed by people who can play 2 instruments at once. (Accordion/ trumpet)

12. Chemical Lawns- Fri. 8pm, Badlander
Another of my FAV locals.

Wowie, I can't wait to see all these amazing bands and more!
See you all there!
- Mikki "internet" Lunda

Check out Kate's Top 10 for Total Fest over at Missoula Punk News and Tom "T. Money" Helgerson's Top 10 over at Weird Missoula.

LORD DYING SUMMONED TO MISSOULA

Rounding out the last couple additions to the Total Fest XIII roster, we're proud to announce that Portland's LORD DYING will be performing this year. With a pedigree that includes TF vets Black Elk and Le Force, this Missoula favorite has turned more than a few heads in the metal scene over the past three years through their superb and frightening live show, seething with intense riffage, relentless headbanging, and fist-pumping goodness.

Last year saw the the release of their debut LP, Summoning the Faithless, and the band has been trekking the country non-stop in support of the release. We're stoked to welcome them back through Missoula and hope you are as well.