Colin Meloy, Solo Acoustic at Schubas
Chicago, January 19, 2005
Colin Meloy is a clever bird. In front of what may have been the most respectful crowd ever assembled for an acoustic show, the Decemberists lead singer delivered an entertaining set that was equal parts humor and humility.
The Decemberists are one of the it bands of the moment. Their fans display a devotion and commitment akin to that of Smiths fans of yore. And Morrissey was on the top of every mind at this show.
The War is on, boys. And back on the home front, we must do everything we can to support the effort. In a moving display of patriotic moxie, GLONO Records’ own Quasar Wut-Wut pulled out all the stops for a local extravaganza that left no girl’s dance card unfilled and united the Flyboys, Swabs, Dog faces, and Jarheads for a night before shipping out.
Today, October 19, is the official release date of Glorious Noise Records’ first cd release, Taro Sound by Quasar Wut-Wut. This is a very big deal for us.
When you subscribe to Magnet Magazine, you can get a free Quasar Wut-Wut cd from Glorious Noise Records. How cool is that?
Chicago Public Radio’s Hello Beautiful featured a sneak preview of Quasar Wut-Wut‘s “Oh My Dear” from the album, Taro Sound (Glorious Noise Records, 2004). Stream it!
A couple years ago, I read the book Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azzerrad. I was blown away by all the stories of people who created their own scenes. Who ended up with something where once there was nothing. Whether it was starting a fanzine, booking an all-ages show at a K of C hall, or forming a band and driving across the country in a van, these were all inspiring tales of people doing it themselves. Not waiting around for anybody to tell them it’s okay or to set something up for them. Do it yourself.
Thank you, everyone who made it out, for making Glorious Noise’s third anniversary party a complete success. Thanks to everyone who attended, we will be able to donate over $1,000 to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund. None of this would have been possible without the selflessness of the three great bands who put on one hell of a show: The Millions, Riviera, and Quasar Wut-Wut. Each of the bands sounded great and poured their own spirits into the rock and roll punch bowl. What a fucking night!
Disclaimer: If you’re one of the people who’s happily marching in the Mink Lungs hype parade, more power to you, have fun and all. I don’t want to be the guy pissing on your head, but this article makes no pretense to be anything other than me saying I could care less.
So Tuesday night I went to see Quasar Wut Wut open for the Mink Lungs at Schubas, in part because I have been going to see the Quasars for about eight years. But I was also lured to the show by hype like this:
When it was over, Jeff turned to Jolie and asked her how long that song had lasted. Jolie said about four and a half minutes. I was shocked. I would have set down my beer and put my hand on the Bible and sworn that Quasar Wut Wut had just played a twenty-five minute extended jam on the Rolling Stones’ “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).” Apparently, the band has figured out a way to distort Time, which is good because even after twenty-five minutes of it I still could have used more.
When you’re friends with the guys in a band, you don’t want to compliment them too heartily about their cover songs for fear that they’ll interpret that to mean you don’t like their originals. With the Quasars this is not the case. Their own songs are great: weird without being obnoxious, and original without being pretentious. And if some of their compositions veer a little too close to the carnival or near some eastern european festival, then the next one will be a straight up rocker. They mix it up. And that’s good.
But they seem to cut loose a little more with their covers, as if they’re giving themselves the chance to rock out without worrying about being flashy. Guitarist Matt Schwarz never got as crazy on his originals as he went on “Heartbreaker.” And I mean Eddie Hazel crazy. He was amazing. For a moment there, he was a guitar god. For me right then, he was the best guitar player in the world. Why doesn’t he do that on his own songs? Is he afraid he’ll sound like Ace Frehley? Is that a bad thing? I don’t know.
Everything came together on “Heartbreaker.” Brent Sulek’s singing was right on and soulful. He must have been channeling Otis Redding at Monterrey (you know what I’m talking about: shake!). Jordan Frank and Matt Schwarz’s Doo Doo Doo Doo Doos sounded perfect and creepy, just like they should. The drummer had the Quasars playing twice as fast as the Stones, which made everything even better. Jolie tells me there was a moment when they all turned to each other in the middle of the song, acknowledging that they too realized that they were making some magic.
I’ve been questioning my feelings from the moment they stopped playing. Can’t tell the guys how truly great they were or else I’ll sound like just another dumb kiss-ass fan. Is it even possible that they were as great as I thought, or was I just out of my head? I honestly don’t know the answers. But I do know that in a crummy little bar in Detroit, those four guys shook the earth for either 25 minutes or four and a half minutes.
Either way, when I left the bar I had to wonder for a moment whether all the burned-out buildings surrounding me were actually caused by the earthquake that had just taken place in my head.
