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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2005)
Think whistling is only for passing hours of manual labor and hailing taxi cabs? Well, we’re sorry to say, you’re wrong again. There’s an International Whistler’s Convention every year in Louisburg, N.C., that elects the world’s best whistlers to its Hall of Fame. There are even musicians out there who cut entire records using only their puckered lips. As sad as it is, no hall of fame whistlers are performing in Eugene any time soon. But lucki- ly for you, a talented whistler (with a self-described unusually shaped tongue) will be in our midst. He is Andrew Bird, and besides his harmonic whistling he’s also a violinist by trade and one of the country’s most hyped singer/songwriters. Formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Bird chose solitude over swing and spent months in his Andrew Bird I cross my fingers as I write this, and hope I don’t get a stern letter from Thor’s lawyers, but I’m pretty sure Thor spent much of his teenage years masturbating in front of a mirror while KISS played on his stereo. When he ran out of KISS records, he stole into his mom’s bedroom for some Neil Diamond albums. My potentially libelous words are probably way out of line, but it’s the only way I can imagine the construction of the Thor touring machine. The lyrics are sexy in the way that only pubescent metal fans can be sexu- al, filled with nar- cissism and the most gentle of misogyny. The music doesn’t just cross musical bound- aries; it forces differ- ent genres to copu- late. Thor Against The World, his latest offering, features tambourine, metal guitar, hand claps, harmonica, synth, saxophone and vocals that range from gut- tural howls to lounge- lizard croons. Stairway Denied For all that is lacking in the music and the lyrics of Thor, there’s something to take its place in the live Thor show. Bricks are smashed on studly Thor’s chest. Manly Thor bends solid steel between his teeth. Thor the Conqueror destroys a hot water bottle with his lungs. And that’s awesome, just as I imagine a KISS/Neil Diamond duet would be. Thor plays with My Serpentine and Rock Scarlet 9 pm Friday, Dec. 9 at John Henry’s. $5. —Jef Stout hot musician to hook up with, or you just need a little more Zeppelin in your life, head to Quackers Saturday. There’s no cover, so no excuses. Spend an evening with these boys, you’ll thank me in the morning. Stairway Denied play 9 pm Saturday, Dec. 10 at Quackers. Free. — Alana Yankus Wait, wait, wait … it’s Eric McFadden It’s hard to believe that Eric McFadden is associated with people from Widespread Panic. I shudder to imagine the bar tab that would accompany a night subjected to that jim-jam racket. But the Eric McFadden Trio and its bassy, sinister rock sound is well worth a few $5 gin and tonics. The trio, McFadden’s vocals and guitar with James Whiton on the stand-up bass and Paulo Baldi, formerly of Cake, on drums, is most often compared to Tom Waits. The comparison is valid enough to be repeated, with slower, deep rhythm guitar and creepy leads going along with a story-telling lyrical approach. But McFadden’s voice is more like an angry, deep- voiced grunge rocker than the satanic Russian that Waits imitates. The band’s newest album, Joy of Suffering, glides from the crunchier, Waits-esque tracks into faster, country sounds and on to noisier, apathetic diatribes. “The Ghost of Saint Patrick” touches on McFadden’s frustration when he sings, “We wanna change the world but there’s no time/ We want to celebrate but there’s no wine/ We want you to please give us a sign/ The ghost of Saint Patrick’s doing time.” There’s an overall vibe on the album of “I know what’s real- ly going on here and this is what I think about it … you jerks.” And it’s quite refreshing. So order up. We know you wanted a reason. The Eric McFadden Trio plays at 10 pm Sunday, Dec. 11 at John Henry’s. $3/$5. — Danny Cross Let the Led out No, they don’t dress like the band; no, they don’t have fascinatingly horrendous drunken brawls that make E! Top 100 lists; and no, they don’t play “Stairway to Heaven.” They are Stairway Denied, an awesome Led Zeppelín tribute band that calls Corvallis home, and they are rocking into Eugene this weekend. The group consists of vocalist Noah Stroup, guitarists Dylan Nelson and Curtis (no last name provided), bassist Dusty Stallings, and drummer Chris Harver. It was Stroup and Harver, along with a former member, who started searching for a bass player to get their tribute band off the ground. Almost as soon as they did, the home- town crowds responded with enthusiasm. It is easy to see that these boys are no col- lege band singing about unrequited love for the girl who sits two rows up in Bio 101. They play time-tested rock, creating instant elec- tricity from the moment they take the stage, and if you close your eyes it’s really Jimmy Page et.al.playing just for you. It must be understood that these guys are not mocking the music, they aren’t impersonat- ing the band, and they will never be recording an album of Led Zeppelin. They just want to rock. According to Harver, they are also “Really attractive, smart, and good looking,” and that pretty much says it all. So, if you’re looking for a DIETIES • FA I R I E S • DRAGONS • TA R O T OBJECTS OF SACREDNESS & BEAUTY Holiday Open House F R I D AY , D E C E M B E R 9 • 5 - 8 P M Featuring Artist of Presidential Toilet Seat Covers Jewelry by Nayan Tara • Tarot by Kahat Evans Refreshments • Drawings Corner of Broadway & Olive • 541-868-1178 Hours: M-Th 11-6 • Fri 11-8 • Sat 11-6 • Sun 12-5 H I N D U • E G Y P T I A N • B U D D H I S T • AMY BROWN • CALENDARS • THANGKAS • Andrew Bird Gets the Worm Thor is so awesome, seriously • A band like Suffrajett could only have come from New York City. That place with all its bright lights and underground trains has so many artists shamelessly mixing genres and reusing classic styles. And Suffrajett’s no different. Nope. They just get on stage, play their catchy brand of punky, female-led rock ’n‘ roll and don’t seem to care that they don’t sound like anyone else today. Whatever! The band’s latest release is a self-titled five- song EP on Giant Step Records that offers a taste of what they’re currently working on for next year’s full-length release. It’s kind of like Joan Jett fronting the Ramones — fast paced, sassy vocals over guitar-driven rhythm. The EP starts out with a party track called “Mr. Man” about one of those crazy girls-night- outs that always go down in NYC. Some bars there stay open ‘til the sun comes up so it’s probably true. Then there’s “Shake Your Heart,” which is a quieter, lovey song that tones down the girl power and offers a glimpse into the tat- tooed heart of the indie rocker. The latest release is too short but at least it’s original – in a style-borrowing, reused track jack- et sort of way. Suffrajett opens for Bob Schneider at 9 pm Thursday, Dec. 8 at the WOW Hall. $12 adv/$14 dos. — Danny Cross family’s suburban Chicago barn recording his latest album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, which has received excellent reviews in The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. The title is a metaphor for the creative process, and Bird no doubt has a few eggs of his own. He plays most of the instruments on his album (sans drums) and uses a digital sampling pedal in his live performances when he’s not switching between the violin nestled against his neck, the guitar slung over his shoulder, his warm lyrics or precise whistling. Andrew Bird opens for Nickel Creek 8 pm Friday, Dec. 9 at the McDonald Theatre. $22 adv./ $25 dos. —Tim O’Rourke • JEWELRY Suffra-what? DECEMBER 8, 2005 39
