Tucson Weekly: Soundbites (May 21

Sound Bites LA LA LA LUSH: Once again, we're presented with the opportunity to witness the spectacle that is (Lush Budget Presents) The Les Payne Product. No matter what these guys decide to wear to their shows--whatever wild and zany antics they have in store--you can bank on hearing some capital original music.
"James" Himes Karnesbertensteinhovitz plays guitar and tickles the ivories, all the while blending his voice with that of drummer, organist and partner in Payne "Christopher" Thoob Pomerokeedokee. They make up for their lack of a bassist, who left Lush Budget for Oklahoma back in the band's pre-history, by employing all manner of mysterious electronics, as well as the occasional kazoo.
The Product is characterized by an ungodly, other-worldly sense of silliness--something like They Might Be Giants meets Devo, with maybe some Evel Knievel thrown in for flair. Make no mistake, although Les Payne create theater of the absurd, they do it with self-referential wit, an acute awareness and irreverence for pop culture and a genuine knack for spectacle. Theirs is pure, wacky fun and some solid pop music--so solid that they've shared the stage with bands you might have actually heard of: Yo La Tengo, Modest Mouse, The Poster Children, Railroad Jerk, Skeleton Key, and the Geraldine Fibbers.
The Les Payne Product was originally slated to play Tucson last March, but the date was canceled due to the unexpected closing of a certain hip, underground downtown venue. But life is full of second chances--Lush Budget Presents The Les Payne Product appears with The Hammertoes and After Hours on Friday, May 22, at another hip, underground venue, The Double Zero, 121 E. Congress St. Call 670-9332 for more information.
STONEY IN THE HOOD: You just don't see home-grown, all-out ass-shakin' like you do (or used to) at a Wafflebutt show--their last appearance at The Airport Lounge made it into many folks' Top Five list for local shows. It was a dance party the likes of which would make Dick Clark gape. With members in diaspora since last summer, Wafflebutt is largely a fond memory, with reunion shows few and far between and mostly a matter of chance encounter.
Good News! Wafflebutt re-emerges--for this incarnation dubbed ¡Cornuto!--featuring all the original members save Darren Mosado. ¡Cornuto! has two gigs before Mike returns to the Big Apple: Thursday, May 21, at Mutt's, 420 N. Fourth Ave. (call 628-8664 for information); and The Blue Room, 536 N. Fourth Ave. What else do you have to do on Sunday night? ¡Cornuto! will be raring to go on Sunday, May 24. Call 770-1377 for information.
HOT PICK: HOT! HOT! HOT! Perhaps while you were strolling the streets this past Downtown Saturday Night, you caught the vaudevillian pyrotechnics of Flam Chen? More performance than band per se, Flam Chen is an arty ensemble whose performance revolves around, well, revolving, great balls of fire backed by ethereal, spacy noise rock...all while being mock tormented by a top-hatted Dickensian character spitting fire and staggering to and fro with an accordion. It's a dazzling spectacle of fire, dance, theater and music--the show looks a bit like a gothic take on Alice in Wonderland, if the story were adapted to film by Tim Robbins and Ridley Scott. Flam Chen would be perfect on a bill with The Bindlestiff Family Circus.
The ensemble (of various sizes and membership) logged in a sideshow performance at the TAMMIES, drawing crowds between Calexico and Giant Sand's sets, and turned up for an outdoor performance last Friday at the Mat Bevel Institute as a part of Bevel's weekly performance feature, Club Kinetic. The ensemble is trying to finance a trip to the Continent, so watch for their flyers announcing future performances.
LAST NOTES: The Tucson Jazz Society is holding its annual educational fundraiser, the SuperJam, as a finale to the Plaza Suite Spring Series at St. Philip's Plaza. The SuperJam features more than 50 local players, including Cass Preston and The Individuals with Dickie Thompson and Uncle Dave Jeffrey; the Jeff Haskell Trio with Tom Ervin and Robin Horn; the Mark Noethen Trio with Beth Horn and John Ronstadt; and the Mike Eckroth Trio, among many others. Tickets are $10, $5 for TJS members.
Regular TJS-sponsored shows continue through the summer with the Summerset Suite, a series of Saturday shows in the St. Philip's Plaza courtyard, southeast corner of Campbell Avenue and River Road; and the Sunday Jazz Jams at the Cottonwood Club, 60 N. Alvernon Way. The Summerset Suite--changing venue from Plaza Palomino back to St. Philip's to accommodate the growing TJS membership--kicks off at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 30, with a very special appearance by the Sam Taylor Band with Heather Hardy. Tickets are $10, $5 for TBS and TJS members. Series tickets covering all six Summerset concerts are available to TJS members for $21. Call the TJS hotline 743-3399 for information about any of the Jazz Society's many sizzling summer events.
Skrappy's comes through with another ringing show, moody L.A. pop quartet Belle Academé. The band takes its name from the pen of Herman Hesse; and their brand new first release, Shimmer, is a strong, somewhat vintage house blend of all your favorite pop shot through with the sort of highbrow references one would expect from a group so named. Belle Academé joins special guests for an early, all-ages show on Saturday, May 23, at Skrappy's, 3710 N. Oracle Road. Call 408-9466 for information.
Datura Studios & Gallery, 31 E. Toole Ave., is staging an art happening on Saturday, May 23, pulling out all the stops with a multi-media event featuring art, music, poetry and performance. The opening begins with a potluck affair at 6 p.m., followed by a variety of performers at 8 p.m. Talent includes musicians Daniel Moore & Subhana Blyth, Lou Ann Lucas, Electrique Butterfly, Con and the Amor-Belhôm Duo. A $5 donation is requested. Call 884-0874 for information.
The Youth Storefront, a Project M.O.R.E. High School-based endeavor, presents all-ages shows downtown on Saturdays, at 123 S. Arizona Ave., off Broadway between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The project is student-run and provides a great downtown showcase for Tucson's younger generation of bands. Their shows have been aces so far, and continue in the same vein with The Fearless Vampire Killers and Sanguinary at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 23.

--Lisa Weeks

Home | Currents | City Week | Music | Review | Books | Cinema | Back Page | Archives