#Heartless Bastards

[eyeofthestorm888]

[sinceileftyoublog]

GBV 40

Photo by Allison Ryder

BY JORDAN MAINZER

It's a popular wink-wink-nod-nod joke among the diehard Guided By Voices fanbase that dedicated GBV fandom is #notacult (but kind of a cult). You'd think that Robert Pollard and company were in on the joke, considering they decided to celebrate 40 years of the band's existence at a venue built by a 14-group Masonic Temple Association, which is a true story and not the name of the band's new single. As a full disclosure converted GBV head who has in the past attended Heedfest, the band's long-running fan weekend chock full of cover sets and Miller Lites, this first weekend in September absolutely felt like an extension of it, a full-on celebration of all things Guided By Voices. Celebrity superfan Paddy Considine came from overseas with his son Joe, playing a covers set at the Yellow Cab Tavern in Dayton's Oregon District. During the encore of GBV's first night at the Dayton Masonic Center, Scott Marshall (of Chavez fame), Matador Records Director of Digital, A&R Jake Whitener, and GBV manager David Newgarden presented Pollard with a "Most Valuable Lead Singer" trophy. Even Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, normally reserved, gave the crowd a half-hearted "G! B! V!" chant during the band's opening set. Miller Lites at the venue (along with most other beer) cost a measly $6 per can, a bargain in 2023. During the second night, Pollard took a moment to thank the alcohol distributor, who may or may not have been stocking his personal cooler full of beer bottles and the once-again passed around Jose Cuervo. What's for sure is those bottles were fueling Pollard's high-kicks, 2022 busted knee be damned. Always different, always the same: It was The Fall. Is it now Guided By Voices?

Photo by Allison Ryder

Yes, the same spirit pervades GBV: In a recent beginner's guide to the band, Uproxx critic Steven Hyden described them as having "one foot in the bowling alley, and another foot in the art gallery," whether that's the band's early R.E.M.-indebted material, lo-fi golden era, Aughts arena rock attempts, or the current, arguably most prolific late-career lineup. The quartet of guitarists Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare Jr., bassist Mark Shue, and drummer Kevin March is certainly the most formidable group of instrumentalists to ever back Pollard, and his songwriting on this lineup's albums has notably embraced the proggier, more epic side of his forebears. During the band's anniversary concerts, they paid curatorial attention to these newfound favorites just as much as the "Motor Away" and "Tractor Rape Chain"s: the tempo-changing "Alex Bell", bopping "Dance of Gurus", and even absurdist poem "Razor Bug", delivered a capella by Pollard and Shue. Pollard also admitted how the band tackles the old imperfections, joking that March made sure to play all the original studio version "fuck-ups" from "My Impression Now".

But GBV also had work to do. This year so far, they've released two albums, La La Land and live-to-tape gem Welshpool Frillies, and purportedly (shocker) have two more in the can. Only this band could garner this much crowd enthusiasm by opening a four-decade celebration with the first three songs from their latest album, but when they're as good as the jagged "Meet the Star", cascading "Cruisers' Cross", and Cheap Trick-meets-Crazy Horse ripper "Romeo Surgeon", it doesn't really matter, does it? The sets in general were treated like a normal GBV marathon, featuring but not overwhelmingly dominated by their most recent output. Gillard's trademark guitars chimed through the sludgy "Seedling", while La La Land's "Queen of Spaces" offered a necessarily languid breather between "Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)" and "Motor Away". To my pleasure, on night two, the band played La La Land closer "Pockets", a song about exactly what you think, that nonetheless exemplifies Pollard's ethos: As long as you have a sense of wonder and a penchant for songwriting, you can maintain constant creativity. Songwriting can be a daily exercise.

Built to Spill

Throughout the celebration, Pollard expressed thanks for past and present incarnations of GBV (joking that the current youngins help him up the stairs) as well as the other bands joining the celebration. The inspired lineup was a mix of 90's contemporaries (Dinosaur Jr,, Built to Spill), Dayton connections (the birthplace of Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom and Dino J.'s Lou Barlow), and new indie rock royalty (Kiwi Jr., Wednesday). Dinosaur Jr., Marshalls stacked upon Marshalls, treated the crowd to eternity-long fuzz jams heavy on their earliest albums, from "Gargoyle" and their faithful "Just Like Heaven" cover to "The Lung" and "Freak Scene". The next night, Built to Spill also offered a set with plenty of guitar solos and extended intros and codas, respectively bookending the set on the slow-burning "Stop The Show" and eternal "Carry The Zero". As for their (sort-of) cover, they chose The Halo Benders' "Virginia Reel Around the Fountain" and not Heartless Bastards' "The Mountain" since, well, the real thing had played right before them.

Heartless Bastards

Heartless Bastards are not a band you'd normally associate with 90's indie rock, though I wouldn't have expected Built to Spill bassist Melanie Radford to sing Wennerstrom's part so convincingly last time I saw BTS. Wennestrom and Martsch came out with Heartless Bastards on night two for "The Mountain", but I saw where the Texas-via-Ohio rockers fit in with the band lineup even more on other songs. Yes, their brand of blues-rock is unique, not quite punchy, certainly eschewing raw psychedelia for grooves or high and lonesome country. But while Wennerstrom's throaty singing led the hazy "Photograph", the song's instrumental outro with gorgeous guitar work snuggled beside Wednesday and Built to Spill. And the chugging back catalog highlight "Gray" came across almost like a GBV ripper with keyboards.

Kiwi Jr.

Wednesday

And then there were the up and comers. Toronto's Kiwi Jr. combined the instrumental concision of GBV with the storytelling of a band like Wednesday. They took from their three very good records, concentrating on their Sub Pop albums Cooler Returns and Chopper in their brief set, contextualizing "Maid Marian's Toast" and "The Sound of Music" (about insurance fraud and Christopher Plummer), easing the crowd into a night of clatter. Wednesday, meanwhile, was the unabashed non-GBV highlight of the entire festival, the band that converted the unfamiliar and justified those of us who have hyped them up. Their quintessential country-gaze was on full display from the moment they queued up the buzz saws of "Hot Rotten Grass Smell". "Chosen to Deserve" was the bonafide ne'er-do-well anthem, the song of the summer for the bad kids, Xandy Chelmis absolutely slaying on pedal steel. Of course, lead vocalist Karly Hartzman's drawl-cum-yodel was the perfect medium to communicate stories of people dying in Planet Fitness parking lots, getting electrocuted by your own house, and toothless men on oxygen tanks smoking cigarettes. But it was "Bull Believer" that absolutely brought the house down, tears in the eyes of people who had never heard the song before. In a rare move on a normally apolitical GBV stage, Hartzman decried the nadirs of the nation, from the return of student loan payments to the policing of Black and Brown and LGBTQ+ bodies. She invited the crowd to scream along in anger as she beckoned "Finish him!" Perhaps that's what even implored Pollard to, out of nowhere between "Twilight Campfire" and "To Keep An Area", declare, "We live in a shitty country...Everything is crooked as fuck!" It was a small moment, perhaps inconsequential, but one that really hammered down for me that after all these years, Pollard's done what he's always done: change.

[baby-prophet]

I walked around through the bottom of the ocean I took a deep breath and drank through my gills

[artjipson]

The Unconventional Jingle: Exploring the Charms of Indie Rock Holiday Songs

The holiday season is traditionally accompanied by the familiar sounds of sleigh bells, cheerful choirs, and iconic tunes from well-established artists. However, for those with an inclination towards alternative and independent music, the indie rock genre offers a refreshing twist to the festive soundtrack. No November 21st, Tom Gilliam and I celebrated our 13th annual YTAA Indie Holiday show. We…

[farminglesbian]

heartless bastards - revolution (do512 lounge session)

[marvelslegacies]

Song: Came A Long Way Artist: Heartless Bastards Character: Biron

[centraljadebaraldo]

only for you — heartless bastards

(jade baraldo cover vocal & violão)

[razorsadness]

My new resolution is to be someone who does not take everything so seriously I want to laugh and joke and have a smoke and have a good time and join an institution that will fuel my mind whoever said ignorance, oh it was bliss well, there’s something there that I declare they surely missed 'cause in the days and modern ways you’ll get passed by try to have some fun I always want to take it in stride

[evil-fact-checker]

A cartoon drawing that claims UNICEF is funding Hamas and a video of a woman saying they are involved with politics and UNICEF should "take their responsibility". Nothing else.

That is more information than i need to convince me that we should stop sending aid to the children of Gaza.

Really it was those pictures of them being trained by the terrorists (wich i know does actually happen) that made me feel it was truthy.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Built to Spill, Prism Bitch, & Itchy Kitty Live Show Review: 5/4, Thalia Hall, Chicago

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Ask Built to Spill fans why they love the band, and you’ll likely get a wide variety of answers, ranging from their dreamy themes to their earnest moods and stories. Ask this Built to Spill fan why he loves to see the band live, and it’s because Doug Martsch is a bona fide guitar hero. Plus, this current incantation of the band--with bopping, limber bassist Melanie Radford and mighty drummer Teresa Esguerra--is arguably the tightest Built to Spill has ever been. Thursday night at Thalia Hall, it was Esguerra’s birthday, and she played double duty, also in openers Prism Bitch. But the celebration was about more than just the calendar year. It was a tribute to Built to Spill’s most recent album When The Wind Forgets Your Name (Sub Pop), their finest in years, and the endurance of their back catalog among followers new and old.

Built to Spill always amazes me with how much sound they can get out of three people: with Martsch, Radford, and Esguerra, they delivered shredding intros, extended jams, and even some surf rock choogles. They entered the stage to Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”, and then proceeded to--wait for it--play a couple minutes of the song, instrumental, before traditionally opening with their own trademark epic, “Goin’ Against Your Mind”. I’d like to believe that in an alternate universe, Built to Spill is regarded as musically limber as the Canadian prog rockers, just as much as Martsch is regarded as a quintessential Pacific Northwest storyteller. When covering Heartless Bastards’ “The Mountain”, Radford took lead vocals, a dead ringer for Erika Wennerstrom, which answered the question you never knew you need the answer to, “What if Heartless Bastards had Doug Martsch on lead guitar?” Her sneaky lines on “Center of the Universe” and vocal harmonies on unreleased jangle pop ditty “Fire To Dust” made you wish Martsch would break his rotation and just keep her as a full-time member.

Of course, Esguerra proved to be more than versatile, her time-keeping centering Built to Spill and her mammoth fills propelling Albuquerque's Prism Bitch. Dressed like pilots and flight attendants, the latter started out with vibrant, synth-heavy pop from their most recent record PERLA. The democratically laid out four-piece saw guitarist/keyboard player Lilah Rose taking lead vocals on most songs but with bassist Lauren Poole in harmony, guitarist Tris Walsh slowly adding burning, creepy, sludgy, and psychedelic riffs to the fold on their punkier, older songs like “You Got I Want”. Best, they blasted through the supremely catchy, weeks-old “Woman” with aplomb, their hooks increasingly demanding of larger crowds and stadiums.

The most abrasive was Spokane’s Itchy Kitty, their unique combination of yelped punk and wiry goth-glam priming the audience for a night of genre-hopping rock and roll. The Osees-like squeal affects on guitarist Catman’s licks effectively matched the wails of guitarist/singer Ami Elston and bassist Naomi Eisenbrey on songs like “Coca-Cola Snakes”, “That Was My Dinner” and their irreverent “Psycho Killer” cover. Drummer Michael (Sug) Tschirgi chugged away as the rest, especially Elston, convulsed like feline versions of Ian Curtis. If Built to Spill and Prism Bitch were wound, Itchy Kitty was the ultimate expression of unbridled performance.

[heylittlebird]

Where you going, my friend Have you forgotten when There was a time filled with hope instead of fear that's in your heart There was a time when life was simple and innocent to start Do you remember, do you remember

[kairosclerossiss]

And I will only for you

[freqsho]

SXSW 2022—FREQShots: Day Five [Saturday, 3/19/2022]

By Mark Isley

Desperate Journalist @ The Green Jay

Star Parks @ The Creek And The Cave

Heartless Bastards @ Empire Garage

Surfbort @ HotelVegas