Locals King Elephant Full of Pop, Love, & Angst

Out of the "Exhaust" of a dying van and the remnants of Total Fest Alumni Goddammitboyhowdy (Joey Running Crane and Booster Bustamante) emerges the fully engaging sounds of Missoula's own King Elephant. Joining forces with Ryan Bilunka (Suicide Victim) on bass and the new edition of the soda-and-lemonhead fueled Ethan " who cares who's watching" Uhl (The Whoopass Girls) on guitar and vocals, King Elephant throws down some of the most energetic and meaningful songs coming out of Missoula.

Currently out on a 30 day US tour, these Montanans are about to set the US a fire with their live, sing-a-long, raise your fist and dance along tunes. The tour is being documented by Tim Goessman, which you can check out here. A full length album out in the near future on Minor Bird Records will have these lads playing in bedrooms everywhere.

King Elephant represents the DIY punk heart of what makes Total Fest a totally awesome event. Make sure to catch one of Missoula's most prized gems before these dudes make way to new pastures.

VTO: HIGH IN THE MID 90S.

Named for octogenarian Montana broadcast legend, (pic below) Vi Thompson  (RIP), the Vi Thompson Overdrive -now simply "VTO"- sprang out of Charlie Beaton's need for a band that did something different than what his other band, the Banned, had done. The Banned were, for an 18 year old Knowles Hall  (dorm) resident named Josh Vanek in 1992, the first Montana punk group. I think the first Banned show I saw was them opening for Seaweed at UM's Copper Commons. It was excellently, awkwardly punk in every way from the cruddy mosh pit, to the mohicans, and docs and Skinyard shirts. The Banned were excellent, in a pretty theatrical, good at their instruments, rippin' crazy punk kind of way. And they had this kind of weirdo high pitched Jello-esque front guy who sangs songs like South Canada and Hippie's Got a Gun and who occasionally threw hot dogs at the (rather thin) crowd. The Banned had been around since the later '80s, released what I think is safely Montana's first punk 7". They probably had four or so pretty distinct lineups with the core of Charlie singing, Pat Phylmm/guitar and Mike Vanecek/bass being the band I'm most familiar with. They broke up at some point in the latish '90s when Pat moved to Seattle to pursue a dance/music/wild man career. Pat's another story, but I think the first time I saw somebody cut himself intentionally was Pat, at Jay's Upstairs, with a razor, ... across his forehead. Still gives me the shivers.

The Banned reunited for Total Fest IV, that sweaty affair at the American Legion Hall in 2005. During college, Charlie was the guy who'd organized shows for (touring behind Margin Walker) Fugazi, and (Kerplunk-era) Green Day. He'd get the bands like Schlong and the Too Many groups (two VTO songs reside on Too Many comps) to come to town. Charlie's always been that rare kind of dude in a place like Missoula who's excited about punk to the point where he took an active role in making it happen with shows, bands and releases. Between then and now he started up Big Dipper, the great ice cream place that's always hosted Total Fest's Saturday Record Swap, and a family, and some of the active punk stuff took a back burner.

But, a handful of months ago, VTO reformed, and with about half of their original lineup intact! It's rad to see guys in their 40s (or close) playing country punk in Missoula in 2012, it's the sort of lifer move that I think helps keep a place like Missoula unique compared with say, err, other similarly sized towns. I think "country punk," as much as I don't love saying it, is pretty apt handle. I know Charlie and Yale listened to a lot of Jonathan Richman's Goes Country record when they were starting. I went and saw them play in Helena the other weekend and it's thoroughly great, the same vibe as before, lots of fun, well rehearsed and a good time. Sounds like the '90s, man.

PHAMACEUTICAL-GRADE POP >>>> THE PHARMACY

Hailing from Seattle, WA, The Pharmacy are a lo-fi/psych-pop outfit who aren’t afraid of what that means in today’s musical climate. Or maybe they are. I’m making assumptions here. Point is, their music doesn’t feel like it’s holding back.

It's authentic. It's fun. And it feels good. Production bells and whistles take a back seat to quality songwriting and strong musicianship. And yeah, there is a firm foot placed in past popular music, but with a musical ambition that gets us excited.

Having just completed a U.S. tour with another group of TF vets, Japanther, and building up to the release of another LP, "Stoned & Alone," we are pleased to present The Pharmacy to you once again.


THE PHARMACY - DIG YOUR GRAVE (MUSIC VIDEO) from brendhan bowers on Vimeo.

SEDAN Cruises into TFXI

It's difficult adequately describe a band like Olympia's Sedan. Sedan released an amazing split with Thrones, a full length CD on Hamburgereyes, and self-released an awesome single "Patronized."

Simply put, Sedan is Scott Seckington on piano, weaving together tunes that are oddly ambient and agitated at the same time. It's a one man show "with a more spacious vibe kinda going on."

Instrumental music gets a bad rap -- maybe it's attention spans or laziness, but the lack of lyrics leads people to think that instrumental music is inherently melodramatic and repetitive. That's a little shortsighted. For one, instrumental music takes on the daunting task of crafting a story without words. Sedan accomplishes this through the piano with some electronic accents here and there. It's a vivid and moody journey. Ambiance, however, remains an even more difficult cat to herd. At its finest, it erases the lines between background and foreground. It's an event that surrounds us and solicits us to participate within it. Once we start thinking about the experience, we lose it. Don't get me wrong, I dig all the stuff that comes with a traditional band -- the flailing, screaming, hair thrashing, sweaty banter, etc. -- but it relies upon a distinct audience / band relationship. They're on stage; we're on the floor (or on chairs, tables, barstools). But, along the lines of Brian Eno, Sedan not only offers us a highly individual experience where we can lose ourselves for extended moments but also forces us to share that experience with a host of people.

Like a fun house, Scott leads us through mirrored and off-balanced hallways, smoky rooms, and spontaneous leaps, while we hear the laughter and shrieks echo on the other side of the wall. With that, we welcome Sedan, and invite you to come out and play this August. Bring your cotton candy, your caramel apples, your fried dough. Sedan will be there waiting.

(this video features Sedan's old drummer. Scott will be flying solo for Total Fest, but he promises that the set will still be killer)

UNNATURAL HELPERS

Relenting only for the occasional drum fill, the drums are all hi-hat/crash trash. Guitar chords are cranked through what sounds like a cheese grater on top of a Marshall Stack (lol wut?). The bass is that classic pick-pounded 80s thrash following the guitar around like a rabid puppy. But the vocals--man, the vocals. It's the thing that makes Unnatural Helpers so instantly satisfying. Not in a nostalgic way that some modern punk-garage treads garbage in, riff-recycling and attitude assembling, but in the sense that you still love hearing so-sweet kiss-offs hollered (not screamed) atop a loud-fast band that doesn't sound heavy, but impossibly, irrepressibly scrappy--hell, almost skinny. Like the smallest-smartest kid in gym class out benching every jock fuck before kicking the teacher in the balls and storming out triumphantly to go read Origin of the Species. Or something like that.

And we stand back, totally impressed. We, the lucky attendees of Total Fest XI of course, where Unnatural Helpers are gracing us with their presence this year. They even have a new album coming out this fall on Hardly Art appropriately titled "Land Grab," because--as previously addressed--their music has a kind of rock-conquerer feel to it, invading a continent of hungry ear-drums and freeing them from the tyranny of bad rock writing (my sincerest apologies). I'll let the pros handle this kind of damage.

Go here to listen to a track off their new album, or look below to watch an in-studio from KEXP.

'THEY'RE LOUD, THEY'RE MESSY, THEY'RE MAGPIES'

Total Fest is pleased to announce another great local Missoula band to play Total Fest XI, The Magpies.

The Magpies have been on local and regional radar for a while now, and with the relatively recent Nineties nostalgia popping up in popular music, it’s nice to know that there are those who have been there all along. Husband-wife duo Tolan and Sam maintain a certain sonic earnestness and authenticity that perhaps only two people who have lived together can. And with the addition of Dave Martens on drums – Missoula’s personal Keith Moon, and a musical renaissance man in his own right – the equation is complete for a rawkin’ good time. The Magpies rip through a slew of well-articulated poppy/grungy tunes that blow the doors off whatever club they find themselves slaying.

This is for those of you who weren’t able to see Sonic Youth live.

Even if you did, The Magpies still impress.

Get excited.

You can listen to their most recent releases below.

 

SPICE-ROCK PERSONIFIED: HARKONEN

Everybody at Total Fest knows Ben Verellen from his ripping current band Helms Alee who've played a handful of times, and who rage full-on, undeniably. They also know him from his rad amplifiers and pedals and stuff, sold under the handle Verellen Amps.

But before all of that there was Harkonen. I think we'll say a bit more about them in a minute, but why don't you please just click play down below and get treated to some ragin'.

Harkonen are officially broken up, but have agreed to melt the collective un-conscious of Total Fest-goers for a very special, one-off deal. It'll be a freakin' huge treat to see these rippers. I guess the only other thing I'll say (the internet's full of information, man) is that this year marks a first, I'm positive in Montana history, and perhaps festival history across the world: we've got two bands in Harkonen and Sandrider whose names are direct references to Frank Herbert's Dune. Think on it. Dress like Feyd Rautha if you're feelin' it. We'll let you in free that night.