music
Blue Scholar Suspension
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
Even when Seattle’s Blue Scholars are in between releases (they’ve
been in and out of the studio lately working on new material), the
duo’s sharp, sometimes-acerbic rhymes about the state of the union
still make waves. Last month, a teacher in Spokane was suspended
for playing “Commencement Day,” a song from the band’s 2005
EP The Long March, for his students. The administration claimed
the decision was made not because of the song’s content, which
contains the typical challenges to conventional authority we’ve come
to know and expect from Geo and Sabzi (including a particularly
appropriate censure of school censorship), but because of the use of
the words “fuck” and “shit.” If anything positive came out of the whole
fracas other than a very timely and relevant discussion of what is
“appropriate” to use in the classroom, it’s the knowledge that the Blue
Scholars will not be selling out their values even as they play ever-
larger venues. Over the past six years, both Geo and Sabzi have honed
their skills to a razor-sharp precision that comes off like a gourmet
meal served in lieu of the mass-marketed McDonald’s nonsense
you’re likely to hear if you fl ip on any Top 40, Clear Channel-operated
hip-hop radio station in the country. Why most people still go for the
McDonald’s is anyone’s guess, but if incidents like the one in Spokane
keep occurring, perhaps folks will consider putting down the junk
food and tasting the real stuff. Blue Scholars, Grieves and Budo and
Undermind and K.I. play at 8 pm Thursday, Oct. 21, and Friday, Oct. 22,
at WOW Hall. $15. — Sara Brickner
An Anniversary Knocks
Twenty years ago, the Trashcan Sinatras released
their debut album, Cake. The album has gone down in
history as an underrated classic of the era. To celebrate
the anniversary, as well as the release of their fi fth studio
album, In the Music, the band has been touring all summer
long. After an invitation to open for fellow Scots Belle &
Sebastian in Seattle, the band decided to extend the tour
into the fall, adding an acoustic west coast leg that stops in
Eugene at Sam Bond’s Garage on Oct. 21.
Cake scored the Trashcan Sinatras some Smiths-
inspired hits with songs such as “Obscurity Knocks,”
“Circling the Circumference” and “Only Tongue Can Tell.”
The band has since stayed busy recording, touring and
fostering a devoted fanbase. To kick off the 2010 summer
tour, they played in a Portland living room to 50 fans that
had traveled from all over the West Coast.
In the Music contains 10 new studio recordings and
eight previously unavailable live acoustic tracks. The BBC
describes it as “tender, affecting music that impresses
with increasing listens.” The band plans to release more
acoustic material in November on a live release called Brel,
as well as reissuing their back catalog in 2011 with more
touring to follow. The Trashcan Sinatras, Alpha Tango
Alpha and Glass Elevator play at 9 pm Thursday, Oct. 21, at
Sam Bond’s Garage. 21+. $10. — William Kennedy
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EUGENE WEEKLY OCTOBER 21, 2010 33