CD review: Giraffes? Giraffes! - More Skin With Milk-Mouth

Santa Cruz duo Giraffes? Giraffes!’s brand of math rock pits a war between body parts to see which will prevail: heart or brain. On sophomore album More Skin With Milk-Mouth, the band’s music wanders between the decidedly technical, prone to manic starts and stops, and the emotionally suggestive, with bewitching melodies tending to cascade across the ears like a waterfall. The instrumental two-piece doesn’t have much use for words over the course of the album’s five tracks, save for a recording of 20th century Zen deep-thinker Alan Watts waxing philosophical about dreams on “I Am S/h(im)e[r] As You Am S/h(im)e[r] As You Are Me And We Am I And I Are All Together: Our Collective Consciousness’ Psychogenic Fugue.” As illustrated, song titles are long-winded, most falling into abstract territory like “When the Catholic Girls Go Camping, the Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme.”

The two-minute long “The Ghost of Eppeepee’s Ghost” showcases an interesting dichotomy: Joseph Andreoli on guitar with plenty of loops up his sleeve, and Kenneth Topham, quick to both play drumslayer and pound a glockenspiel like a typewriter, thriving in their ability to meld two seemingly opposing parts into a whole. It’s a well-executed mix with enough components - a rapid-succession whip of cymbals here, a thoughtful guitar flourish there - to offer a reprieve from too many driving beats and repetitive arpeggios.

“A Quick One, While She’s Away,” a joyous sonic collage, rounds out the half-hour long record in a perfectly satisfying feedback-drenched climax. The only drawback to this colorful work is its brevity. Can’t the battle between gross anatomy take a little more time to pan out? (Loves In Heat Records) Originally published in West Coast Performer, April 2008

Hey ya! New Radiohead West Coast tour date

Wednesday, August 20 White River Amphitheater Auburn, Wash. (30 min. from Seattle)

Word abuse: loose

Lose. Lose. The word that's so shamefully evading your vocabulary is "lose." Not "loose." Guess I shouldn't be too surprised that I run into writers confusing "loose" and "lose" all the fucking time - last night, reading an eternally crap-copy-edited music mag; today, in an article by the music editor of a major S.F. weekly with usually impeccable copy editing. I mean, they're practically the same word. Except for the fact that "loose" has an extra "o" AND A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DEFINITION. Check it:

"With supporting acts ranging from the ambient to the drone-friendly to warped electro-pop, you can’t loose with any of (((folkYEAH!)))’s lineups that weekend."

"Without loosing the urgent, live, improvisational sound their live shows have become renowned for." "What is your favourite Foo Fighter's album? ... Probably There is Nothing Left to Loose, and The Color and the Shape." "Gene Simmons is the ultimate looser of rock music." Is this an accidentally typing too many o's sorta thing? Or maybe copy editors slacking on the job? Edward Collins, um, some guy with a Web site, devoted an entire page to illuminate this problem. But fear not: Plenty of online tutorials can school you on the distinction. Use them or loose them. As Yoda would say, not interchangeable these words are.

Rant: Survey says! Surveys suck.

Led Zeppelin fans apparently will be voting imbecile when it comes time for the November presidential election, or at least that's what a survey released Wednesday would like us to believe. According to a Web poll of more than 27,000 rock radio listeners conducted by Jacobs Media, a consulting firm that studies rock stations, classic rock enthusiasts tend to vote Republican while alternative fans lean toward Democratic candidates. Behold John McCain's new slogan in '08:

Abstinence, the war on drugs and rock 'n' roll

I won't hold my breath. I have a hard time buying that someone's allegiance to such progressive and free-thinking artists as Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix directly correlates to endorsing a warmonger like McCain. The survey's conclusion and the way data are being interpreted is flawed. It's not musical preference that controls a person's political alignment, but rather, listening habits play a secondary role to more decisive voting factors like age and wealth. Older radio listeners - the kind who tune in to classic rock stations more often than modern alternative due to a generational gap - likely have more money, and thus are more inclined to want to protect their almighty dollar by voting Republican. And folks, that's not news. I'm sick of these bullshit sociology methods gone stupid so willingly gobbled and digested by media, who report misleading generalizations to the public as gospel. Surveys suck. Disney fans and hunting aficionados, however, take heart: The poll also revealed 11 respondents pick Mickey Mouse, and 3 Ted Nugent, as the best presidential candidates come November. And to think I didn't take this survey seriously!

Say sayonara (at least for a while) to some of S.F.'s big concert halls

Looks like live music fiends may be catching shows at three fewer venues in San Francisco for the rest of '08 due to recent shakeups at the Warfield, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and the Cow Palace. Peep these developments: The Warfield: I stumbled upon this Craigslist post yesterday under the Gigs: Talent heading - Warfield to become comedy venue (downtown / civic / van ness)

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Reply to: gigs-625647918@craigslist.org Date: 2008-03-31, 3:56PM PDT The Warfield theater will be closing it's doors this May after a very long run. My production company has signed a long-term lease with the theater to run a full-time comedy venue. This Summer, we open our doors as the Frisco Comedy Palace. We are now recruiting local and national comedy acts. Please be in touch ASAP with your headshots and bios. Send to the email address above. We're also looking for acts that will double as wait staff, audio controllers and ticket staff. Burt Largess General Manager Frisco Comedy Palace The Warfield exclusively a comedy venue? Um, a sole Craigslist posting = not the most credible source. A search on Google for "Frisco Comedy Palace" and "Burt Largess" yielded zero results besides the ad. Can you say hoax? How about cock-and-bull? But further investigation revealed no concerts are scheduled at the Warfield following a Phil Lesh five-night stand ending May 18. The only event listed after that is comedian Jim Gaffigan on Nov. 7. Hmmm. To confuse the matter even further, Aidin Vaziri reported in today's Chronicle that the Warfield has a new promoter, AEG Live, because Live Nation's lease expires in May, thus providing a possible explanation as to why no concerts are scheduled after May. Maybe AEG just hasn't gotten around to finalizing/ announcing concerts at the downtown venue. And it looks like the AEG deal has been in place for some time, but this is the first I've heard about it. Let's hope the Frisco Comedy Palace remains a criminally untrue rumor. I mean, I've seen Dave Chappelle at the Warfield - great show, let me tell you - but the theater is so perfectly suited for rock concerts, nevermind the occasional dickhead security, that it'd be sacrilege to deny live bands on its stage. Who knows? Maybe concerts at the Warfield will continue uninterrupted despite the promoter change. I'll follow this more closely from now on. Bill Graham Civic Auditorium: Closed for renovations as of March 31, and according to a blurb in the San Francisco Chronicle, it will reopen in 6 months to one year all new and improved-like. I recently witnessed a kickass Tool show there, so let's hope it's sooner rather than ... Cow Palace: The fate of this longtime venue, technically located in Daly City, looks bleak. The city of Daly City, along with Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, are aggressively fighting for a deal to purchase the land, demolish the facility and sell it to a developer with plans to build a supermarket, elementary school and other businesses and residences on site. Today's Chronicle reported that the State Senate offered temporary amnesty for the Cow Palace by holding off on approving a bill that would declare the land surplus property, thus allowing the sale to proceed and the building razed. I don't know about this one. Yeah, the Cow Palace - which more often stages rodeos, livestock events and other niche conventions - isn't my number one choice for watching a rock concert. It's big and smelly - an armpit, if you will. And plunking a supermarket on this land would certainly give residents of the admittedly downtrodden area more access to healthy food - a definite upgrade from the myriad shitty convenience stores and KFC/Taco Bell on the corner. But I have such fond memories of the Cow Palace ... seeing Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Disney on Ice ... my mum saw the Beatles there as a screaming 12-year-old. Think of the cool bands that could play there in the future. I vote for keep it. With dead presidents galore dangling so temptingly in front of politicians with this deal, it'd be a safe bet to say R.I.P. Cow Palace. You will be missed.