Little Master, Canadian Rifle, Constrictor, and Real Talk
Thursday, September 23 at Strange Matter
Regardless of the name it's currently going by, the club located at 929 W. Grace St always feels like home to me. I've been seeing shows there since moving to Richmond 17 years ago, and whether it's called Twisters, The Nanci Raygun, or Strange Matter, it's still pretty much the same as it ever was--a dark, grotty hole in the wall, the classic rock n' roll dive bar. And I love that about it, even on nights when I showed up by myself, and setup time leaves me standing around unsure what to do (which, I suppose, is where drinking comes in). Once the music starts, though, none of it matters.
Newly-formed locals Real Talk led off the evening's musical entertainment. They had thoroughly impressed me with their debut public appearance, and they again acquitted themselves well. Their songs struck me as more straightforward this time, with less twists and turns than before, though I recognized enough riffs that I'm sure they were playing pretty much the same set. Maybe being familiar enough with them to have expectations about their sound changed the way I heard them. Only a recording I can listen to over and over will allow me to form a more objective impression at this point, though whatever it is they're doing, I'm sure I like it. Especially favorable to my ears are the melodic touches they insert into some of their songs; I enjoy the contrast between these less ripping riffs and the still-harsh vocals. There's something to be said for modulated vocals, but there's also something to be said for using screams to push against melodic tendencies--it adds layers and textures that wouldn't be present in the music otherwise.
Virginia Beach's Constrictor were up next. They're the sort of dual-guitar quartet in which both guitarists play rhythm parts, while the bass is the true lead instrument. The bass player's parts were the sort of walking basslines that have been part of poppy punk's DNA since introduced to the genre by Descendents bassist Tony Lombardo. Constrictor's riffing brought a decent touch of bar-band cock-rock to their sound, and they were clearly very well practiced--they hit each song like a runaway train, and stayed lock-tight throughout their set. However, regardless of how well they played, their sound didn't do too much for me, and I found myself zoning out after a while. While zoning, I notice that their drummer had the habit of twirling his sticks, Tommy Lee-style, whenever he had a second in which he didn't need to be hitting anything. It seemed like one of those things that someone first teaches themselves to do when they're bored, but soon develops into a nervous habit, one they can't help but engage in. Constrictor's drummer did it so often that, during one song, I decided to count his stick-twirls. Fifty-seven. In fairness, it was one of the longest songs they played. Recordings I've heard of Constrictor on their Myspace page de-emphasize the walking basslines that seemed so prominent live, making them sound less poppy and pushing them further into the realm of rock n' roll. If their live sound was closer to the way they sound on the recordings I've heard, I might have enjoyed their set more. As it was, I just wasn't feeling it.
Chicago natives Canadian Rifle played next. The band I hear Canadian Rifle compared to most often is Leatherface, and with their gruff vocals and melodic-punk guitar riffs, I can see where people are coming from. However, Leatherface are only the best-remembered exponent of an entire genre of English melodic punk that raged throughout the late 80s and early 90s. They were really too full of beer-soaked emotion to make an accurate comparison between them and Canadian Rifle. Snuff, a faster, punkier, but still gruffly melodic band from that same group of English punk bands, are the more accurate comparison, to my mind. That said, even Snuff weren't as gritty as Canadian Rifle, and the Chicago boys made the influence of dirty hardcore on their music prominent by beginning with an incredibly fast tune that resembled both Dillinger Four and early Husker Du. They slowed down a bit after that, but never really let up, attacking their tunes with a ferocious intensity and blowing everyone's hair back. Their songs being short and their performing style involving a minimum of tuning and other nonsense, it seemed as if their set ended too soon, but Canadian Rifle were content to leave the crowd wanting more. I don't know about anyone else, but I satisfied my jones for more of their music by picking up their new LP, Visibility Zero, which I am thoroughly enjoying thus far.
The final group of the evening was Little Master, who have recently attracted attention for reasons other than their music--those being, specifically, their ongoing legal battle against the City Of Richmond, who attempted to prosecute them for violation of a recently passed noise ordinance. In light of that legal battle, their melodic, mostly-undistorted musical performance seemed somewhat ironic; of all the bands who performed at Strange Matter that evening, they seemed the least likely by far to get in legal trouble for being too loud. Then again, my standards where volume is concerned are different from most people's. Little Master's music reminded me of some past periods of indie rock--the late 80s college rock era, or the bands that signed to Sub Pop right after the grunge thing died circa 1993. The best-known antecedent for their sound would probably be Candy Apple Grey era Husker Du, though it'd be more correct to compare them to The Moving Targets, early Afghan Whigs, or Hazel. I'd heard that Antlers guitarist Wolfgang Daniel was playing second guitar with Little Master recently, but he must not be a permanent addition to their lineup, as they performed at Strange Matter as a three-piece, with Wolfgang in the audience watching. And while I'm sure a second guitarist could add interesting layers to their sound, they clearly didn't require it, as there were no empty spaces in their sound crying out for an extra instrument. Regardless of what lineup they choose to move forward with, I'm sure they'll do well--as long as the city doesn't throw them in jail.