RTFO Bandwagon - Dums Will Survive

Given RTFO Bandwagon’s curious blend of folk and punk, it’s not surprising to find the band on bills with a shitgaze act like Psychedelic Horseshit (with whom it shares a drummer) and eccentric folkies like the Super Desserts. But with the release of Dums Will Survive, RTFO’s newest offering on Dull Knife Records, the punks now have more ground to stand on when staking their claim on the band.

“Skipper Bunkum” is RTFO at its punkiest, with talk-sung vocals over insistent, distorted guitar and keys. And then there’s the in-the-red, album-closing extended jam on “Dumbs Will Survive,” a reprised version of the leadoff title track (a bouncy, catchy tune propelled by percussive guitars and call-and-response vocals).

Still, for the more folk-inclined, you’ll find French horn on the rambling “Like a Dan Shearer Over Troubled Water,” and you’ll find Old West-style piano (courtesy of Dane Terry) and lap steel on “Between the Ears.” Both songs are easy on the ears.

There’s beauty in all of it, though, regardless of the irrelevant genre tags. The record—seven tracks in all—has a ramshackle, homemade feel, and yet every instrument is present and accounted for, intricately pieced and layered together in analog warmth. (One of my favorite touches is Terry’s fuzzed-out, treble-heavy keyboard on “Dan Shearer” and “Public Relations Rag”; it sounds nothing like a keyboard.)

As far as this relatively lo-fi aesthetic goes, it’s probably one of the best-produced records I’ve heard.

RTFO Bandwagon’s release party is scheduled for March 27 at Skylab. Pre-orders are available at dullkniferecords.com; the first 50 orders will also receive a limited-edition cassette of “Like a Dan Shearer Over Troubled Water.”

(Also at The Other Paper)

Times New Viking, Psychedelic Horseshit - Cafe Bourbon St., 3-22-08

Recently I was listening to Psychedelic Horseshit through headphones, and halfway through the song there was no sound coming through the right earbud. Normally, this would cause me to check my headphone connection to see if the jack had become partially unplugged. But I didn’t. I just assumed it was purposeful, and I didn’t realize it was a faulty connection until the next song started.

The fact that I didn’t check is telling. Horseshit’s sound is messiness to the max, the exact opposite of a headphone album. On the band’s Siltbreeze full-length, Magic Flowers Droned, and on Columbus Discount Records seven-inch Who Let the Dogs Out, it’s as if every instrument, including singer Matt Whitehurst’s voice, was dragged across sandpaper before being recorded in low fidelity. Every song is scratched and scraped, a jumbled muddle of fuzzy guitars, synth organ and brittle drums.

At Cafe Bourbon St. on Saturday night, it was the same story. But what makes the band compelling, along with headliners and fellow shitgazers Times New Viking, is that cloaked underneath that scarred exterior and disaffected aesthetic are pop tunes.

One of the best examples is Horseshit’s “Bad Vibrations,” a song the Bourbon St. crowd chanted along to as Whitehurst spewed the refrain with a snarl: “I’m picking up bad vibrations everywhere that I go. I’m picking up bad vibrations from everyone that I know.” It’s a purposeful reference to the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” a clever way of revealing the band’s intentions for taking simple pop songs and deconstructing them almost to the point of obliteration, but still leaving that scrap of a hook that you may just barely decipher once, but with a little patience and willingness to damage your eardrums, will begin to reveal itself more and more.

A fair amount of the band’s short set felt improvised, as bassist and kindred spirit Kevin DeBroux--also the sole static member of Pink Reason--followed Whitehurst’s lead and occasionally banged some notes on a Korg that teetered on top of a stack of milk crates. Drummer Rich Johnston held the beat (usually) on a stripped-down kit that featured a cardboard box with a cinder block inside instead of a bass drum, as is his custom. Not surprisingly, it was barely audible. Johnston also stuck a mic inside a saxophone at the end of the set and squealed for a bit too long.

Times New Viking is like Psychedelic Horseshit’s older brother, a band in the same fuzzy vein, but with more of a pop sensibility and a record on super-indie label Matador. The show was a sort of homecoming for TNV, playing its home-base venue after weeks on the road. The place was full for Horseshit, but it was absolutely packed to bursting capacity for Times New Viking. The entire front section of the bar turned into a giant mosh pit that had frightened girlfriends retreating back to the safe zone.

“We are not Vampire Weekend,” drummer/singer Adam Elliott announced as the band took the stage, just in case there was any confusion with the other blogosphere buzz band. TNV sounded at home at Cafe Bobo, keeping its set loose and its chemistry tight while favoring mostly older songs, including one the band hadn’t played since 2005. I’ve come to love Rip It Off, so I was a bit disappointed with the lack of newer material, but the fervor of the band’s performance mostly made up for it. On vocals and keys, Beth Murphy looked and sounded entirely more comfortable than she did at the recent Wexner Center show. The trio are bonified Columbus rock stars, and it showed.

There’s a reason some people prefer the term “shit-pop” over “shitgaze” when describing Times New Viking’s sound. “Devo and Wine,” “Teenage Lust!” and “DROP-OUT” were perfect examples of crowd sing-alongs that easily get lodged in your head for days.

Yuppies from Omaha screamed with an intensity I haven’t seen in a while, but it wasn’t contagious. The trio mostly took turns screaming, and I’m pretty sure the guitarist’s voice hadn’t changed yet, so these guys will have plenty of time to refine their sound. There’s plenty of potential and passion there, but I’d like to see them develop some tunes that are a bit less predictable.

I never caught the name of the second band on the bill, but it didn’t matter because it sounded like a high school band playing Against Me covers. Openers RTFO Bandwagon were obviously unrehearsed, with at least two false starts, an inordinately out-of-tune guitar and Horseshit’s borrowed drummer, who seemed perpetually lost. But despite all that, the band was the most impressive of the openers, playing jittery, catchy tunes with playful yet earnest vocals. With some more practice, this band’s art pop could take off. The sheepish-looking tambourine player probably isn’t needed, though.

More photos here.

mp3: Psychedelic Horseshit - New Wave Hippies