Deep Cuts: Rock

Oakland, California based retro rock Shannon and The Clams are a three piece band that combines elements from garage, punk, classic R&B and Motown into their own brand of rock 'n roll. This group, made up of Shannon Shaw, Cody Blanchard
and Ian Amberson on drums, stand out due to the raw clarity of the band's influences and edgy subject matter.

For example, the first track from 2011 Sleep Talk, Baby Don't Do It, features a character running through the darkness with a machete that "glints by the light of the moon" that is sung with shades of The Ronettes with a sharp set of measured guitar chords ringing out with the tight precision of a rhythm section - or maybe a lovelorn serial killer.

In an interview with the blog Still In Rock from 2014, the group says they met in 2009 while attending the California College of the Arts.

"We had a class together and thought one another was lame until we saw each others videos in class. We realized we were the only cool freaks in the class and have basically been best friends ever since."

The group has three studio albums to date including: I Wanna Go Home (2009), Sleep Talk (2011) and Dreams in the Rat House (2013).

Shannon And The Clams - You Will Always Bring Me Flowers

References:

• Official Site, Shannon And The Clams
• Facebook, Shannon And The Clams
• Still In Rock, Band Interview

Shows: Zero Boys, Hives and Black Angels

The Hives@The Vogue 04/04/2013

The Zero Boys open for the The Hives at the Vogue in Indy on March 4th 2013.

This Spring there are two incredible shows coming to The Vogue in Broad Ripple in north eastern Indianapolis. On March 4th 2013, punk institution The Zero Boys are opening for Swedish post-punk phenomena The Hives. The Hives are a dynamic band with heavy influences coming from Iggy Pop and The Stooges and MC5 with a wild, irreverent nod to some modern post-punkers including Franz Ferdinand and in the same "high energy" style and tempo of The Vines.

The Hives began as a high school house party band in 1993 and went to on to major label success in 1997. Their hits include "Main Offender" from their break-out album Veni Vidi Vicious in 2002 and "Tick Tick Boom" from 2007's The Black And White Album. In 2006, Spin Magazine rated The Hives in the top ten best live rock shows. Notably The Hives covered "Civilization's Dying" by The Zero Boys in 2010 on an EP titled Tarred and Feathered.

The Black Angels@The Vogue 05/07/2013

The Black Angels based in Austin, Texas will be playing the Vogue in Indy on May 11th 2013.

The next can't miss show is also at the Vogue on May 11th 2013. The Austin Texas based psyche-rock (neo-psychedelic) The Black Angels have begun to explode in terms of popularity in the past 10 months beginning with headline the Austin Psyche Fest in 2012 and being featured on NPR's "Tiny Desk" pod and telecast.

Formed in May 2004, the band's name comes directly from the Velvet Underground song "The Black Angel's Death Song".

Each of The Black Angels four albums (Black Angels, Directions To See a Ghost, Phosphene Dream and Passover) are each amazing. There are Doors inspired vocals from frontman Christian Bland and guitarists Rishi Dhir and Alex Maas and plenty of fresh originality as they flesh out a genre that ended when The Ramones broke folk's collective back once-and-for-all in the early 1970's.

References:

• The Vogue, Hives Tickets
• The Vogue, Black Angels Tickets
  
• Wikipedia, The Hives

Screen Shots: Wilco@TinyDesk

Jeff Tweedy and Wilco perform in NYC for NPR's Tiny Desk unplugged sessions.

Wilco, naming itself in Chicago in 1994 after the aviation acronym for "Will Comply", is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago who released The Whole Love on September 27th 2011 - a follow-up to their unexpectedly brilliant Wilco (The Album) which placed band leader Jeff Teedy into a class of commercially and critically successful artists such as Arlo Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Thom Yorke, Scott Weiland and Kurt Cobain. In other words: pretty damn good company to be in.

Wilco is currently on a year long world concert tour that brought them to Louisville's 3-day Forecastle Fest on Sunday July 15th, in Chicago for the Hideout Block Party September 15th and in Columbia, Missouri for Live on Ninth Street before heading into the West Coast portion of the tour in Oregon and California.


References:

• NPR, Wilco @ Tiny Desk
• Wilco, Home
• Wikipedia, Wilco
• Forecastle Fest, Line-Up/Acts

Shows: Heartless Bastard@The Murat

Ohio natives Heartless Bastards will be playing in Indy in Friday September 7th 2012.

The Heartless Bastards, who are coming to the Old National Center (aka The Egyptian Room at The Murat) for First Friday Food Truck Fest in Indy on Friday September 7th 2012. They are a power trio whose members include singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter Erika Wennerstrom and her brother who were raised by a single mom in Dayton, Ohio.

Wennerstrom discovered her interest in music at a young age, but she always preferred writing her own songs as opposed to singing Disney tunes in school productions. Wennerstrom dropped out of her Catholic high school her senior year, and began concentrating more on music. After a few years of working dead-end jobs in Dayton, Wennerstrom moved to Cincinnati, where she met bassist Mike Lamping, who was working at his family's janitorial supply company.

Wennerstrom and Lamping began performing around town as the Heartless Bastards, and quickly added drummer and pizza delivery man Kevin Vaughn to the lineup. The band began to tour, its music rooted in and heavily influenced by garage punk (MC5), indie rock (At the Drive-In), soul (Otis Redding), roots rock (Neil Young), and blues (Leadbelly). The Heartless Bastards eventually were signed to Fat Possum Records, which released both the band's 2005 debut, Stairs and Elevators, and it's break through follow-up album All This Time, a year later, continuing with The Mountain in 2009. Arrow, the group's new album was released on February 2012 and is an incredibly strong album.

The Heartless Bastards will also be appearing at the Headliners in Louisville on September 8th and in Downtown Dayton at the Revival Music Festival September 9th.

References:

• Heartless Bastards, Official Site
• Ticket Fly, TICKETS