As far as bands on Instagram go, Jacuzzi Boys (@jacuzziboys) are among the best. Well, maybe enviable is more accurate. Their feed is full of goofiness, rockin’ and rollin’ and, you know, the occasional hang sesh with Iggy Pop.

Onstage, however, they’re not so silly. The trio rips through their psych-laced garage jams, each one as energized as the last. They’ve slowed down a bit for the laid-back “Double Vision,” a cut from their next release, a 7-inch out in July via Hardly Art. But frontman Gabriel Alcala’s stutter and succeeding searing riffs boast the same potential for inducing seizure-like dancing in the crowd.

Bassist Danny Gonzalez responds to our 5GB series below. Not a lot of laughs in there, but hey—you’ve got their Instagram escapades for that.

What’s the first gig you ever attended?

Wax and Face to Face opening for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

What is the best gig that you ever played/performed?

Our second time in SF was pretty memorable… We Played with Fresh & Onlys, Sonny and the Sunsets and Art Museums… It was a great night!

What is the best gig you have ever seen?

Hard to pick one, but Gris Gris blew my mind when I saw them and Queens of the Stone Age on the Songs for the Deaf tour was super tough.

Gig you would most like to play?

Playing the Hollywood Bowl would be pretty neat.

What would be the lineup for your dream gig?

Nick Lowe, Funkadelic and the Ramones.

Jacuzzi Boys play the EARL this Saturday, June 8, with local acts COPS and Sioux City Sue.

Back in the mid-to-late 2000s, Snowden was ubiquitous in the Atlanta dance scene. You simply could not go to MJQ without hearing “Black Eyes” and shake, shake, shaking to Jordan Jeffares’ sticky synth-pop. Anti-Anti wasn’t just a hit here, either. Snowden scored big in clubs all over, even landing a 2009 touring slot with Kings of Leon.

Label trouble, however, caused a force hiatus for Jeffares, who now lives in Austin, Texas. While the break kept him from releasing, he still spent all of those years ruminating over the follow-up. Finally, No One in Control met the public last month via Kings of Leon’s label, Serpents and Snakes.

“It ended up meaning that…each of the songs [on the new LP] has three or four different versions—distinctly different,” Jeffares explains. “Some of those old versions are going to become songs for the next record.”

Naturally, the 7-year break resulted in a shift in Snowden’s sound. Jeffares has taken a more chamber-pop approach this time, and has yielded more to his melancholy tendencies.

“I think it’s half and half,” he says of the new album’s tempo. “The old one is three-quarters upbeat. I guess you can’t please everyone, so I tried to please myself. Pleasing myself meant that this record was split.”

Don’t expect much a downer of a live show, though. Jeffares is mindful of what Snowden fans want to hear. He assures the set list will include as many older jams as it does newer tunes.

“It takes time for a new record to catch on,” he says.

Anyway, the sound isn’t a giant leap from Anti. Even its slower moments are engaging and interesting. Not a single track drags. Plus, several are on par with Anti’s most danceable—and in the same vein, which is now decidedly different than the norm for clubs these days.

“If you try and chase trends, you’re always going to be behind,” Jeffares notes. “And so I guess I’ve kind of gotten to the point where I’m just going to do what I want to do.”

Snowden plays the EARL June 5 with Sealions and Twin Tigers.

O’Brother has been on a heck-of-a-ride these past few years. The notches in the Atlanta band’s touring belt are enviable: The Features, Thrice, Moving Mountains, Junius and, most recently, Alice in Chains. (Let’s not forget their frequent pairing with their pals in Manchester Orchestra, either.) The ethereal, epic-leaning rock act’s stint with AIC ended a few days ago but, being the hard-working crew that they are, toured all the way back home.

Check out bassist Anton Dang’s responses to our 5GB series,and revisit a cut from their debut LP, Garden Window, above.

What’s the first gig you ever attended?
Warped Tour 2009.

What is the best gig that you ever played/performed?
One of the best shows we’ve played was in Chicago at the Beat Kitchen. Playing The Tabernacle was also something we’ll never forget as well.

What is the best gig you have ever seen?
Best concert I’ve ever been to was Sigur Ros.

Gig you would most like to play?
I’d like to play a show at an intimate venue with amazing sound and good vibes and everyone is having a great time and losing their minds.

What would be the lineup for your dream gig?
A combination of any of these bands: Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age and Deftones.

O’Brother plays the EARL Friday, May 31, with fellow Atlanta outfit Big Jesus. 

Grab your tickets!

Photo courtesy of Cosmonauts

Orange County outfit Cosmonauts boasts a blend of chaos and comedowns in their forever-fuzzy rock ‘n’ roll repertoire. Last year’s If You Wanna Die Then I Wanna Die (Burger Records) hits both amped-up, anxious highs and droning, lost-in-lament lows with equal intensity. Nailing an energetic, raucous jam like “Motorcycle #1” is a feat in itself, but it’s exuding the emotion required to make a slow-crawl space-out like “Super Reverb” engaging from start to finish is another endeavor altogether—but that’s precisely the kind of thing Cosmonauts do.

Their third LP, Persona Non Grata, won’t be out on Burger until summer’s end. Luckily, Volar Records stepped in to tide us over with the “Sweet Talk”/”Wear Your Hair Like a Weapon” 7-inch. Both selections are brooding, almost sinister songs that imply the forthcoming full-length might showcase a bit darker, occasionally despondent side of the band.

Blast the new tracks below while you read out guitarist/vocalist Derek Cowart’s responses to our 5GB series, then check them out tomorrow night—for free!—at 529.

What’s the first gig you ever attended?

I think the first show I went to was Weird Al at the OC Fair when I was a kid. He dressed up like Santa and sang about being fat.

What is the best gig that you ever played/performed?

One of the best was probably at San Francisco State University with the Growlers. The place was packed, people went nuts and we were loud. Really loud.

What is the best gig you have ever seen?

I saw Spectrum at Spaceland in LA, that was a really radical show. Everyone was glued to the stage once Sonic Boom started playing.

Gig you would most like to play?

I want to headline over Oasis.

What would be the lineup for your dream gig?

Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto, Eddie Cochran and Jesus and Mary Chain.

Cosmonauts play 529 Thursday, May 16. Touring two-piece The Garden, also from Orange County, and local act The Caste Outs open the show. Entry is free. 

Sydney Eloise

By Jhoni Jackson

Even if it were not part of a fundraiser for a great organization, 500 Songs for Kids would still make for a memorable event. Lineups consisting entirely of covers based on a theme played by some of Atlanta’s best musicians? Count me in.

The fact that it’s for a great cause simply sweetens the deal. Since its 2007 inception, 500 Songs for Kids has been raising money to bring music to sick children in hospitals and special needs camps. Not only does the foundation organize live concerts, but also it offers the chance for kids to record their own music. Both listening and making music can be cathartic—and a lot of fun, too.

“500 Songs for Kids used to be just held at Smith’s Olde Bar,” explains local singer-songwriter Sydney Eloise, “but this year they are expanding it over five weekends at different venues. This will be the first time East Atlanta will host a 500 Songs event and I’m excited to see the turnout.”

This year marks Eloise’s fourth appearance at the event. Unlike prior years, she says, this time artists were given the opportunity to choose their own songs. She’s playing tomorrow night, along with many others, at the EARL under the theme “100 of the Great College Radio Songs of All Time.” Her pick? Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love.”

“I am all about spontaneous musical arrangements, so for this song I’m going for a more bonfire sing-along where hopefully all my friends come on stage and sing with me. It’s all about love and happiness,” she says.

Tonight’s performers include Carnivores, who’ll tackle “Dance This Mess Around” by the B-52’s, and Mood Rings, who’ve picked Blur’s “Coffee and TV.” The latter, in particular, is especially iconic. Christ, Lord’s choice is too: “Where is My Mind?” by the Pixies.

“We wanted to do a song that could let the trumpet and tuba stand out in a really rad way, and letting them go wild on that Kim Deal vocal line seemed like a really good fit. Our interpretation is all cats, Santa, goats that sound like people and sex appeal,” jokes drummer Billy Mitchell.

Also on the bill tonight is one-man-party known as Cousin Dan. He’s gone with a newer college radio tune you might know better from the Drive soundtrack: Kavinsky’s “Nightcall.”

“I chose that song because Ryan Gosling looks good with his shirt off,” says Cousin Dan.

Check out Cousin Dan, Sydney Eloise and Christ, Lord—and a slew of others, including Slim Chance and the Convicts, Book Club, Little Tybee, Cute Boots, The Head and Jungol—playing college radio covers tonight and tomorrow at the EARL. Do it for the kids! 

Photo courtesy of Mean Jeans

By Jhoni Jackson

Will somebody let Billy from Portland’s Mean Jeans borrow a guitar for their set at the Mess-Around tomorrow? Because the one he’s been using for years was smashed last week—during the first song of the first show of tour, in fact.

The notoriously raucous party-punks are known for a few things: Wild shows, super-fast jams and pounding Jäger. The latter fact somehow caught the attention of Jägermeister’s marketing department, and Billy Jeans was given a branded guitar. Its sound quality was poor, he says, but the logo-plastered inlay amused him. He decided to use it, but kept his actual guitar nearby just in case.

“During the first song some kid just jumped up on the speaker and [my guitar] fell down,” he explains. “You can imagine: There’s a wall, then my guitar leaning on the wall, then the speaker with the kid fell down onto it and it just cracked in half—which I’ve never seen a guitar do. And I’ve tried to smash a guitar before, just for fun, and you would think from whatever, The Who or Smashing Pumpkins or Jimi Hendrix, that it’d be easy, but not at all.”

A bummer of such epic proportions would test the patience of anyone, especially someone who’s had a few drinks. (I’m assuming.) For a lot of musicians, that kind of mishap might end in a fistfight. Mean Jeans’ pop-heavy punk promotes reckless living and perpetual partying. “Born on a Saturday Night,” “Party Animal,” “Come Toobin’” and “Don’t Stop Partying” are just a few cuts exemplary of the signature Mean Jeans lifestyle. The way Billy responded to his guitar, which he says “cut clean in half,” is a testament to how he is to his party-lovin’ persona.

“I didn’t know how me as a person would react to that,” he says. “I don’t think I was pissed at all. I think it was just an awesome thing that happened.”

Right on, dude. But seriously, he’s probably going to need to borrow a guitar tomorrow.

Mean Jeans play the EARL on the second night (April 27) of the Atlanta Mess-Around festival. The lineup also includes Apache Dropout, Ex-Cult, Parting Gifts, Clone Defects and Dwight Twilley.

Courtesy of Wax Idols

By Jhoni Jackson

There’s a little bit of L-U-V hidden in the lineup of this year’s Mess-Around. Two of the annual weekend throwdown’s most theatrical performers, Hether Fortune of Oakland’s Wax Idols and Tim Gick of Lafayette, Indiana’s TV Ghost, married in February. Their Friday-night sets at the EARL are part of a joint tour which, because of the timing, could serve as a rock ‘n’ roll honeymoon of sorts albeit one where a handful of bandmates happen to be there too.

But tour is no vacation, of course, and Fortune and Gick are especially exhaustive performers. The raw aggression Fortune channels onstage has only intensified after the release of a brooding, dark and damning second LP, Discipline & Desire. Similarly, Gick is almost trancelike before the crowd. Each song is an intense exorcism of emotion, and Mass Dream, TV Ghost’s debut full-length, is the poltergeist in question. Check out Mass Dream!

Because the pair is so steadfast and serious onstage, a lighthearted chat seemed like a good way to get a peek behind that sturdy fourth wall. And what better angle to employ with these two than a newlywed-themed game? It (mostly) worked. Read the Q&A below, then see them play (back-to-back, in fact) on the first night of the fest.

AMG: Tim, which Wax Idols song is Hether most fond or proud of?

Tim: Most proud of…I’m going to say the “Cartoonist.” I know I’m wrong.

Hether: Wrong! That’s your favorite one.

Tim: I thought that was the one that was the hardest for you to do.

Hether: No way! That song we wrote in 10 minutes.

AMG: What’s the right answer, Hether?  

Hether: “AD RE:IAN.” It’s that song off the new record…because I had it in my head exactly the way it came out, which is pretty crazy because that song is pretty nuts, I think. It’s “AD RE:IAN,” yeah.

http://soundcloud.com/slumberland-records/wax-idols-ad-re-ian

AMG: OK. Hether, what’s Tim’s favorite TV Ghost song?

Hether: I think it’s probably…this new song that’s not released yet because he can sing in this really low octave that he didn’t know he could sing in before. But I could be wrong about that.

Tim: I don’t really know. I’m going to go ahead and say Hether’s right.

Hether: I’m always right.

AMG: I think that was the right answer. Tim, what is Hether’s favorite band right now?

Tim: I would say…sighs. I would say Nick Cave.

Hether: Yup, he’s right.

AMG: OK! So Hether, what’s Tim really stoked about right now?

Hether: I don’t know, Tim listens to some weird shit. Half the time I don’t even know what it is. Let’s see…well, I know that he’s obsessed with country singers but I don’t know if it’s moreso now than general.

Tim: It’s general.

Hether: Uh…I don’t know.

Tim: Right now? I’ve been listening to a lot of different stuff. A lot of Canterbury scene stuff like Gong and Soft Machine and Robert Wyatt. I guess one album I’ve been listening to a lot is Deceit by This Heat.

Hether: Yeah, you listened to that the other night. I was wrong!

AMG: Ha! OK, Hether, when Tim was 15, what would he have said his favorite band was?

Hether: Probably Nirvana or something.

Tim: That’s right.

Hether: He was like a grunge teen.

AMG: Ha ha. Tim, when Hether was 15, what band would she have said was her favorite?

Tim: I don’t even know. The Cure or something?

Hether: No, my favorite band when I was 15 was definitely Thursday. I was definitely really into Thursday when I was 15. Thursday and Joy Division. I still stand by that record Full Collapse. That record is amazing.

TV Ghost and Wax Idols play the EARL Friday, April 26, as part of the annual Atlanta Mess-Around. The evening’s lineup also includes Las Ardillas, Natural Child Family band, The Go and The Zeros. Be sure to check out the afternoon sets at 529 beforehand too, as well as the rest of the fest, which continues through Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Bleached

By Jhoni Jackson

Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, sisters and former members of all-girl post-punk outfit Mika Miko, are poised to garner even greater success than the much-beloved (but now defunct) band achieved. The Clavin’s debut LP as Bleached—which was several years in the making—is finally out, and the reception’s been more than ideal. This time, however, it’s not so gritty a gig. Ride Your Heart leans more toward the girly and sentimental, even when compared to its preceding singles. But the pair aren’t sidelining their years of rock ‘n’ roll seasoning by any stretch. Bleached is more akin to the smack of bubblegum than the fluffy cotton candy for which its flavored.

Read Jennifer Clavin’s responses to our 5GB series below, then catch the pair (plus drummer Jonathan Safley) at the EARL tonight.

What’s the first gig you ever attended?

Our dad’s friend had an all-girl band called “Down Girl” that we went to when we were kids. But the first show I bought tickets for was Debbie Gibson.

What is the best gig that you ever played/performed?

I have lots of different favorites but the SXSW secret backyard party was my latest favorite. Pantless boys crowdsurfing, fireworks and skateboards in the fire pit.

What is the best gig you have ever seen?

Last summer I saw Stevie Nicks play two times and I cried.

Gig you would most like to play?

Lately Jess and I really wanna tour with Tame Impala or The Breeders.

What would be the lineup for your dream gig?

Misfits, Black Flag, Fleetwood Mac and Metallica.

Bleached play The EARL tonight, April 16, with Hunters and Carnivores. 

Courtesy of Bloodshot Records

By Jhoni Jackson

Wayne “the Train” Hancock is a honky-tonk hero, a bona fide blessing to both country and rockabilly. Since the ‘90s—and that includes his latest LP, Ride—he’s stuck to his signature guns: earnest storytelling, premium pickin’ and, more often than not, a swingin’ tempo.

It makes sense that Hancock’s responses to our 5GB series are concise, yet fully indicative of exactly what kind of country artist he is—and always will be.

What’s the first gig you ever attended?

1981, Hayloft Saturday Night in Gilmore Texas

What is the best gig that you ever played/performed?

1991 Cowboy Hall of Fame with the Texas Playboys

What is the best gig you have ever seen?

Big Sandy. Always.

What is the gig you would most like to play?

Perform with the Texas Playboys

What would be the lineup for your dream gig?

Dave Biller, Jeremy Wakefield, Bob Stanford (Texaco) John Doyle and Kevin Smith

 
Wayne Hancock plays at Vinyl Thursday, Feb. 28, with Patrick Sweany. 

Photo courtesy of Helado Negro

South Florida native Roberto Lange, better known as Helado Negro, has lent a hand to various projects, like mixing Bear in Heaven’s Beast Rest Forth Mouth and producing Prefuse 73’s Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian. But generally, his solo work over the past five years has been in Spanish—until now. On Invisible Life, his third LP, Lange sings in English.

“I wasn’t against singing in English, I just felt like every time I tried I was trying too hard to make it happen,” he says. “And I feel like all good things happen without any kind of resistance.”

Still, the bulk of the meticulously layered, luminescent songs on the album are guided by Lange’s trademark Spanish coos. And, of course, that crucial tinge of tropical that makes Helado Negro’s sound what it is remains entirely intact. It’s just his nature.

“I grew up in [a] household [where] everyone spoke Spanish,” Lange explains. “The way I grew up, the people that I was surrounded by…my father was very involved in the Ecuadorian community. We were always surrounded by Ecuadorians and or Latin Americans all the time. My family, friends were always sons or daughters of Ecuadorians or Latin American immigrants, so that’s what I am.”

Until Lange was 18, he says, two months of every summer were spent in Ecuador. His family visited around Christmas, too.

“Growing up in that environment, my parents never had a sense of assimilation. No one was like, ‘Oh, I have to be more American.’ There was always a sense of pride about our culture and who we are,” Lange says.

For non-Spanish speakers who’ve simply been basking in Helado Negro’s atmosphere without understanding the words, analyzing his English lyrics will spark a snowball effect. “Dance Ghost” and “Catastrophe” are rife with imagery that feels alive and illuminated. Lange can be a bit more straightforward lyrically, but against the spine of the music it all feels poetic. He’s been doing that all along in Spanish, and now you’ll likely want to go back and decipher it for yourself.

Helado Negro plays 529 on Thursday, Feb. 28, with Samadha and Adron.