King Khan & The Shrines- "What Is?!" (2009)

Um, this band is fucking rad; however, reviewing their album is going to take all my Quickcriting abilities. Example, on their Myspace page while I was trying to find basic info about their band, it has mostly ridiculous nonsense. Like their style is listed as "Hardcore, Psychedelic, R&B." What the hell does that even mean? Well, I'll tell ya what it means. This band cannot be contained, defined, or confined to one simple genre or label (see track "Land of the Freak"). In fact, they have such a lemme' see your serious face and what you're workin' with, dance your clothes off type of groove, some of their band members don't even play instruments. People in the band are there just for their legendary party attributes. Like Till Tim who is apparently listed as in charge of the TnT, or Fredovitch, who is the master of orgasms. Their website is also not clear if they are from Canada, which would account for King Khan's indie rock style vocals and heavy electric guitar riffs like on "No Regrets" or "(How Can I Keep You) Outta Harm's Way". Or if they are from South Georgia , which would explain the inevitable back bone slippage upon even a 10 second listen to "Torture" (not on the album). So, in conclusion I would say the lack of info regarding who they are, and where they come from, suits their musical sound and overall ability to turn a party out. I have a feeling their live shows will be epic, so I will check out the show at Bimbo's in S.F. on April 15th and keep y'all posted. They are also playing at the Wonderland Ballroom in Portland on April 11th if the Portland crowd wants to get hip to the scene. Laters.

The Almighty Defenders - The Almighty Defenders (2009)

Certainly one of the big draws at the Scion Garage Fest will be the Almighty Defenders, a supergroup made up of King Khan, BBQ (Mark Sultan), and the Black Lips. Already individually known for wild stage antics, this group should be a riot on stage. Their self-titled album seems to support that premise with its loose live sound. Think a darker and less-wholesome Beach Boys' Party, but instead of covering songs outright they lift and integrate girl group choruses, rockabilly beats, and soulful vocals into sludgy and irreverent fun. The call and response on "All My Loving" is exactly what you would expect - group yelling, fuzzy guitar, and a soulful garage beat. "I'm Coming Home" sounds like a gritty Sam and Dave B-side. "The Ghost With the Most" lifts some sha la la's from Manfred Mann. There are even a couple tracks of collected grunts, whispers, monster noises, and some Three Stooges impersonations.

Garage Fest Pre-Party @ East End

Holy crap. I've been so focused on the the Scion Garage Fest that I somehow missed that East End was having a pre-party on Friday with DJs King Khan and BBQ and a surprise guest. Judging from the music they make, their DJ sets should be great. It's free.

On top of that, Davilla 666 is sticking around after they play the fest until Monday for a set, which is good because they are playing the same slot as Cheap Time and I've been dying to see them.

Scion Garage Rock Festival

I just picked up my wristband for the Scion Garage Rock Festival and I am getting excited. The venues are all pretty close together so jumping from one to the other is going to depend more on how crowded it is and less on the time it takes to get there. As the day goes on I'll probably just ending up hanging out at Dantes's at the cost of missing some likely killer sets by bands I've been loving pretty hard lately. Then again, I just saw Jay Reatard and Jack-O will be back in Portland a month later with Lucero, so... Suffice to say it is going to be awesome endurance regardless of which bands I see.

Here's my optimal line up:
3:00 The Dirtbombs (Berbati's Pan)
3:45 Almighty Defenders (Dante's)
4:30 Brimstone Howl (Someday)
5:00 Intelligence (Berbati's Pan)
6:00 Thomas Function (Dante's)
6:45 Cheap Time (Someday)/Davila 666 (Sayricon)
7:30 Fresh & Onlys (Someday)/Mannequin Men (Satyricon)/Strange Boys (Dante's)
8:15 Mojomatics (Dantes)/Lover! (Satyricon)
9:15 Jay Reatard (Dante's)/Goodnight Loving (Satyricon)
10:15 Jack-O & The Tearjerkers (Dante's)/Demon Claws (Satyricon)
11:30 King Khan & BBQ (Dante's)