The reason for having a concert in the middle of the week apparently eluded a number of people Wednesday at the WOW Hall. Audience members were relatively scarce when four bands took the stage and attempted to liven up the cold Eugene night.
Opening up was Eugene’s own Speedshift, a decent if not terribly inspiring rock combo. The subject matter of the songs consisted of standard-issue relationship problems; the music, a bland form of “modern rock.” The performance as a whole felt completely unmoving.
This is not to say that the band was terrible. They just need to learn to stretch themselves out a bit. It might be a good idea for them to write songs that don’t sound like everything that was popular on new rock radio circa 1995 to 1998.
Next up was the Sawyer Family, another Eugene band, and this combo is something wicked. It plays a fast and dirty style of gutter rockabilly that takes its influence from the Penguins’ “Earth Angel,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” beach party movies and just about everything in between. It’s like hearing the Cramps sped up to maximum RPM.
To top it off, they’re also great musicians. It’s difficult to play this loud and fast and still be precise, but this band’s songs cut like machetes. Pulling together a wide range of old school rock ‘n’ roll styles and filtering them through horror movie imagery, the Sawyer Family’s trash compactor approach to rock is rather invigorating. It’s also refreshing to hear a band that sings as much about dismemberment as they do about relationships.
Band number three was the first out-of-town act, Seattle’s Boss Martians. I know who they are and where they’re from because the lead singer mentioned it no less than seven times before the set was over. After awhile, it began to feel like they had to constantly affirm this fact to themselves, like a mantra, in order to keep playing.
Have you ever noticed how in movies, whenever there is a battle of the bands going on, the winning band always plays this cheesy, life-affirming style of rock? That’s what the Boss Martians sounded like. They have the power pop thing down cold, sure, but that might be part of the problem. For all their catchy new wave melodies and guitar crunch, everything tended to sound alike. The band started to come alive during the last few songs, but never really built on the momentum.
Last up was Throw Rag from Los Angeles. Playing nothing but the most grinding trash punk, the band is full of pure rock ‘n’ roll decadence. Captain Sean-Doe, Throw Rag’s lead singer, comes off like an over-baked Johnny Rotten impersonator on a bad day, while backup singer and washboard player Jacko seems to revel in the role of a total goon.
The band didn’t miss a beat during their breathless 45-minute set, playing some of the dirtiest rock anyone is likely to hear this side of the Butthole Surfers. It says a lot that the usually passive WOW Hall audience was actually showing signs of movement below the neck, meaning that this band has definitely got something groovy going for them.
It would be nice to see Throw Rag rise to some semblance of popularity on the national music scene, but it’s probably just wishful thinking. Bands this low down and dirty tend to stay low to the ground.