Jimmy the Exploder

This week, I found myself at two art museums. I didn't mean to.

On Thursday night, I went downtown for a couple of drinks after work. Then I remembered that my friend Andy said he was working the door for an art opening. I had read a little about the place, but wasn't quite aware of the situation. For some reason, I was thinking it was a total DIY gallery in the vein of the Detroit Art Space or the Detroit Contemporary (not CAID, that's been around for decades in various spaces). So I text Andy and verify that he's working and then start walking down the street.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is serious. Big time. Earlier last week, I drove by and noticed someone on a ladder painting the front of the building with a giant graffiti tag that went from corner to corner and sidewalk to roof. It actually looks pretty cool. But then when I was walking up to it on Thursday (I was drunk, by the way), I saw something odd. I thought I saw a kid hanging off the roof by one hand, with a can of spray paint in hand, bombing the facade. Walking past, I had to go back, and then I stopped and stared for a minute. It was a robot! A freaking robot! But I like the idea.

So then I turned the corner because it quickly became obvious the entrance was on the north side of the building. What I saw surprised me. Suddenly it became clear that this was no little DIY art gallery opening. There were maybe twenty valets lined up at the street, driving off in Saabs and Volvos and high-end VWs. I saw the blazered security dudes, and walked up. As soon as I got in the lobby, someone asked me if I had tickets at will-call, or had to buy. I saw Andy sitting at a table with ten other people and went there. He had acquired a wristband through a friend who didn't have their plus-one, so he kept it and gave it to me. The next day I found out that I was there at a time when it would've cost $125 to buy a ticket at the door. Crazy.

Andy pointed me in the direction of the room with the bar. There were people EVERYWHERE - it was insanely crowded. And right away I knew for sure that this was a big deal. It was all middle-aged white people wearing black, i.e. art patrons. They were doing a ticket system for drinks, but the prices weren't too bad. Unfortunately, the only whiskey they had was Dewar's, and I had been drinking a lot of Seagram's 7 earlier in the night. The Scotch was close enough, I guess. That room was kind of dark, and the most crowded. One wall had the bar, the opposite wall had the food (which I never had the ambition to wade through the crowd to get to), another wall had a table with some t-shirts for sale that were designed for the event, and the fourth wall had a white banner stretching from side-to-side and roof to ceiling that was backlit with the museum's logo. That's also where the Paxahau DJs were at. I tried walking into the other big room, but they wouldn't let me with my drink, and I just got it and didn't want to let it go. But looking in, I could see several installations that looked interesting. After less than a half hour I left because I was drunk and stupid and starting to feel edgy around all these people who couldn't possibly move any slower.

The next night (Friday) was the premiere of James Petix's film "It Came From Detroit" at the DFT Film Theatre (in the DIA). This thing has been in the making for years. It was supposed to be all about Detroit's garage rock music scene, but I think in the making of it, the focus shifted to what happened to the scene.

There's just one problem: it's too soon. I'm not saying he should wait awhile and come back to it or anything, it stands on it's own. But there are so many interesting directions that the scene has taken lately and those are all worth pursuing and exposing in the context of the recent past. For example: Patrick and Jack of the Greenhornes playing on Loretta Lynn's last album, the Raconteurs, Brendan Benson's solo career, Lee Marvin Computer Arm, the Frustrations, the Genders, Human Eye, Saturday Looks Good To Me, and the Terrible Twos.

It was great to see all those bands up there on the big screen and the interviews were great. I wish there would've been more from the people who made the scene, not just the bands.

Some interesting tidbits: Dick Valentine (singer from Wild Bunch/Electric 6) was always shown with Chris Tait dressed as the 'budget devil' which was to support his statement that he sold his soul. Amy Abbot (bartender from the Gold Dollar) was in a bear costume every time she was interviewed. And every profiled band had some live footage or at least a music bed of their own work except the White Stripes. There was no music and no video, only still photos and some voice-over narration. Also, the Jack White/Jason Stollsteimer tiff was noted lopsidedly with a few band members giving their reaction, White explaining things at a press conference, and Stollsteimer defending himself to the interviewer. There was nothing direct from White. It didn't feel fair. There was footage of the Electric 6 playing live in London with Esquire doing the Jack White parts on stage. Absolutely no mention of The Dirtys, and only a brief mention of the Greenhornes. No early footage of the Soledad Brothers when they were especially physical in front of a crowd. No mention of the many bands who never called Detroit home and weren't from here but still loved playing here and recording here and partying here, i.e. the New Bomb Turks, the Compulsive Gamblers/Oblivians, the Lost Sounds, the Mooney Suzuki, and the Bellrays.

As a fan who was at hundreds of these bands' shows, and helped "keep us drunk" as Mary Ramirez (Detroit Cobras/Buzzards) referred to employees of the Garden Bowl in the late '90s, I feel that people like me were sorely under-represented. From being at all those shows, I know there were quite a few others like me who weren't in any bands, and weren't close friends with any of them, but we supported them completely, and without us, there wouldn't have been people at the shows who the bands didn't know. There wouldn't have been fans early on.

Plus there are a few people who weren't in bands, but were close to them and could've been interviewed.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the film, but being not only a film student, and also someone who was there, I feel there are some things that are missing. But if you weren't there, and you love the music, it's an excellent portrait of a time and a place that greatly influenced many a young adult life, including my own.

P.S.: the Dirtbombs played before the film in the Rivera Court at the DIA, and even though the sound was very echo-ey, it was still pretty fucking cool to see them playing in that space.

P.S.S.: I feel I should also note that James himself noted that this is not the final cut of the film and that he will be revising it before submitting it to Sundance and all the other film festivals next year.

LINKS: MOCAD, It Came From Detroit, DIA

Fifteen, Part 1

I had high hopes for this record. When I first heard a couple tracks, I thought it sounded like this Gang of Four/Talking Heads on meth/Magazine kinda sound that's been popular for a couple years. And that's what it is, but too much so.

Forward Russia sound like a carbon copy of Bloc Party. Add a little bit of The Editors in there whilie you're at it. What if Bloc Party sounded just a little bit edgier? They'd sound like Forward Russia. And that's all they have going for them. I tried listening to it a few times in it's entirety, thinking it would grow on me, but it hasn't. This last time I couldn't wait until it was done.

The album "Give Me A Wall" from Forward Russia is not recommended by me. But if you want to check it out for yourself, hit up their MySpage page right here and see what you think.

God Gave Rock and Roll To You

Tonight I attended a show at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit. This is the full title of the show: Little Steven's Underground Garage Presents the Rolling Rock and Roll Show delivered by the AT&T Blue Room. Did you get all of that?

I wasn't going to go this show...part of me wanted to see it, but part of me thought that $20 was too much. The latter part of me had it right the first time. A friend invited me to the show yesterday, and when I say invite, I mean she said she would put me on the list. I agreed to go, but then changed my mind because I've been out a lot lately. This afternoon my roommate talked me into going. So, for me, this show was sponsored by Deanna (guest list add) and Mike (drinks). Thank you. It was worth it at least to see what it was all about.

This night of the tour had The Sights opening. I've supported the Sights ever since their first shows - through five drummers, two organ players, and at least three bassists. I love seeing them. But I didn't absolutely need to see them tonight. Next up was The Gore Gore Girls. I've never really been a fan, but I have to say they are sounding better than ever. Then there was Atlanta's The Woggles. Those guys were doing this garage rock thing when I was in grade school. The first time I saw them in the late '90s, the only people there were people who are all local rock stars now. Speaking of local rock stars, I couldn't flick a cigarette at tonight's show without hitting someone who's put out a record. The Woggles fucking rocked, and I'm really glad they were getting some exposure. They did it right, too. Lots of energy, tight songs, and the singer hung out in the crowd for a few times, dancing with cute girls and singing to us on our level. I really appreciate that kind of thing. Except when Eric Davidson of the New Bomb Turks does it - he's kind of a prick when he's in 'entertainer' mode. After the Woggles came Mooney Suzuki. They've always been pretty good live, but their over the top rock star schtick is exhausting. At this point in their career, they're venturing into territory that is already well covered: bland poppy rock, the kind of stuff meant for car commercials (incidentally, two of their songs have been in national car commercials).

Finally, the headlining act came on: The Zombies. This was the band that I really wanted to see. I can see those other guys anytime. The billing for the band lists them as "The Zombies" with 'Colin Blunstone - Rod Argent' in smaller print below it. That's because they were the only original members of the band onstage tonight. I'm fine with that, they were the songwriters, Blunstone was the lead singer with that smooth voice (and he still has it!) and Argent's organ provided the backbone to the band's sound. So it's a good thing, right? Maybe. Bass was provided by Jim Rodford, an old friend of the band who played on many Kinks records back in the day. His son was playing drums, I can't remember his name. Guitar was played by some other guy whose name I forget, but he played with Howard Jones and a bunch of other people. Whoever he is, he's quite capable, I just don't remember his name.

Argent dominated the show, and I don't just mean his onstage banter, I mean his fucking songs dominated the show. Did you know that after the Zombies broke up in '67, Rod Argent formed a new band and called it Argent? I always thought that seemed kind of pompous to name a band like that. Anyway, the band Argent also featured Jim Rodford, the same Jim Rodford who played bass with 'The Zombies' tonight. And tonight's setlist featured four Argent songs. That was about three too many. I only say three because Argent had one redeeming song: "God Gave Rock and Roll To You," and they played it at tonight's show. Let me tell you Rod Argent looks like a pedophile. I won't qualify that, but I'll give you a picture of the band Argent from 1973. Argent is second from the left and Rodford is third from the left.



He looks harmless enough, right? Here's what he looked like tonight:



See what I mean? Fucking creepy. He was such a completely pompous asshole. I was so sick of it, I was ready to leave, but then Blunstone announced they were going to play some tracks from their one full-length album Odessey & Oracle (that's the way they spelled it). Good. That was what I wanted to hear. I didn't go out tonight to hear Colin Blunstone's '80s solo hit of the Jimmy Ruffin song "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted." Nor did I come out to hear Rod Argent brag that Jimmy Ruffin once said in an obscure BBC interview that Blunstone's cover was his favorite cover of the song. I also didn't come out to hear Rod Argent fucking brag about someone giving him an award because "She's Not There" has been played five million times on American radio. I fucking wanted to hear some good psych-pop. It took them long enough. It was torture sitting through the first two Argent songs...awful, awful metal-ish crap.

Overall, I have to say it was good to hear Colin Blunstone sing in person. Jim Rodford is an excellent bassist, and the drummer and guitarist were quite capable as well. But Rod fucking Argent...that guy irritates me. Watching his shit-eating grin every time people applauded was the most painful thing...the band should've been billed as Rod Argent, featuring the other guy who sang for The Zombies. That's what it felt like. He kept announcing the Odessey & Oracle songs like it was a revelation to realize how good they are. I'm guessing that's why they only played a couple songs off that album...even they don't get it, that was the best stuff from them. Memorable, influential, and extremely relevant. I wish they saw it that way.