BLOODLINE 2/24, SCHUBAS Bloodline includes the sons of some famous musicians–Miles Davis, Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger, and Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley–and if not for their fortunate births they would be sent straight to the H.O.R.D.E. category. The band’s blues-rock is accomplished enough but lacks any touch of originality, and the lyrics that help to sink their insufferable eponymous debut provide textbook examples of dumb rock cliches: “Her love is like a needle in my arm,” or perhaps you’d like to try “I am running through the darkness, can’t find my way / Is this what was promised, now alone I lay.” I’m sure these fellows said that they wanted to be just like their dads when they grew up. Unfortunately they failed.
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FALSTAFF 2/24, EMPTY BOTTLE Led by Ian Schneller, Shrimp Boat’s wunderkind guitarist and persistent goofball, this trio unleashes his all-over-the-place muse. This gig celebrates Falstaff’s self-released eponymous debut, one of the most intriguing and baffling albums to come down the pike in a long time. It’s difficult to know just what to make of tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “I gave my cock a woman’s name / To see if she would feel the same / The pilots all deplore my ruse / They say you can’t be a man if you call your cock Christina,” but one must admire their complete disregard for propriety. Schneller’s occasional vocal turns with Shrimp Boat were often difficult, so his full-time singing in Falstaff can be a bit of an endurance test, especially when he leaps into his piercing falsetto. The band possesses a sublime musical range, from chunky hard rock (“Thusly”) to overblown prog-rock (“Asa Nisi Masa”) to sensitive ballads (“Sweet Demon Flesh”) to indescribable experiments (“Uno Momento Rubato dal Porco Dio”); there are also a couple tunes–“Lonely Postman” and “Million Dogs”–that date back to Shrimp Boat. The album’s toss-in-the-kitchen-sink production can’t be replicated live, but Schneller and his pals can scale the same nervy heights just fine on their own.
SMOOTHIES, FITZ OF DEPRESSION 2/25, METRO A more viable late-night blast of punk rock is headlined by the Smoothies, the latest in a seemingly endless string of Chicago bands attracting loads of press gawking. Fronted by Sarah Contorer and Jenn Solheim, this spunky foursome sets surprisingly sophisticated pop-tinged melodies within familiar driving buzz-saw guitar. Their debut single was released a few months ago and newer stuff is forthcoming on Southern Records, including a debut album produced by Bob Weston. Fitz of Depression are a hyperreductive Olympia, Washington, punk rock trio whose recent Let’s Give It a Twist (K) provides a rapid-fire exposition on the joys of rudimentary expression. With the exception of “Young & Free,” a poorly disguised rewrite of the Jam’s “In the City,” the album’s stripped-down exuberance offers little more than a high-energy jolt of happy stupidity.
