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
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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