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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tonight! Tonight in Music: Allen Stone, Y La Bamba, Howe Gelb & Last Watch

Posted by Ned Lannamann on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 12:24 PM


ALLEN STONE, REVA DEVITO

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Allen Stone.


Y LA BAMBA, SEAN FLINN AND THE ROYAL WE, REMEMORY
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Y La Bamba—a band as gorgeous as they are entertaining—have cleverly avoided the curse of accessibility by being extremely weird: Fuzzy guitars, whimsical percussion, and harmonizing multi-instrumentalists weave in and out of bilingual lyrics regarding heavy spiritual conundrums. Sometimes there is Mexican accordion; sometimes there is full-on rock. It's enjoyable, unexpected. But it's all ultimately background for Luz Mendoza, the force of nature at the front of the stage, a smoky silver-screen chanteuse who is nevertheless heavily tattooed. Her extreme confidence as a frontwoman makes Y La Bamba what many of their musically talented peers never could be: memorable. Their upcoming album was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and features even more Spanish lyrics and lush arrangements. Local stalwart Sean Flinn, the band's one-time guitar player, opens up with his band the Royal We. REBECCA WILSON


HOWE GELB, JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER, TRACY SHEDD

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) There are few performers whose trajectories are as difficult to track as that of Howe Gelb. Best known for his work with Giant Sand, Gelb is also a whorish collaborator, having performed and recorded alongside more musicians than can reasonably be counted. Among his most recent works is Alegrias, an album that he reportedly recorded on a rooftop in CÓrdoba, Spain, with a group of Andalusian musicians. It's a deeply hued collection of Gelb's deconstructionist "erosion rock" brand of Americana, with plenty of old-world gypsy flair. He also recently released the weird Snarl Some Piano collection this year, an experimental album that sees him recording the piano via guitar pickups. As for what Gelb will be playing tonight, and what vein he'll be playing in, your guess is as good as mine. NED LANNAMANN


LAST WATCH, SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR

(Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick) Last Watch is the semi-new project from Hillstomp's John Johnson, and it's not much of a deviation from that band's high-octane choogly boogie blues. With Last Watch, the Portland two-piece essentially straps on their instruments and blasts off. While most modern takes on blues often come off as blue-eyed and boring, Last Watch sound inspired... and slightly possessed. The song "Scraps" is a space-riffed blues monster with urgent, slappy drums, wiry Zep-meets-Stooges guitar, and guitarist/vocalist Scott McDougall's shouted refrain, "Out of the darkness." Best of all, these chaps sound like they're having fun. It's nothing but beer, beards, and beefed-up guitars—check all pretensions at the door. MARK LORE

 

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