Recording: Are We Not Devo? We Are Not!

Artist: Are We Not Devo? We Are Not!

Songs: Uncontrollable Urge/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction + Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mammy) [Devo covers, except "Satisfaction" Jagger/Richards, arr. Devo]

Recorded at The Baby G, August 22, 2018.

Are We Not Devo? We Are Not! - Uncontrollable Urge/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Are We Not Devo? We Are Not! - Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mammy)

Celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Devo's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! these local musicians didn't just throw together a band to cover the album — they fully inhabited the band and the songs. The members of First Base, Vanity Phase, and Tough Age not only nailed the sound, but had moves and costume changes. Hugely satisfying for the packed-in crowd, most of whom looked like they were there out of Devo fandom — so hopefully some of 'em will be inspired to check out the other stuff these fine players are up to.

[This was too successful to do just once, so the group is headlining a "Carbon Copy" night at Handlebar on Saturday, October 27th, with members of Leather Jacuzzi as The Stooges, Goosebump and members of Weaves + Blonde Elvis as Roxy Music, members of Slutcode performing Madonna and Digits + co. returning as Kraftwerk klones.]

Recording: Century Palm

Artist: Century Palm

Songs: Then You're Gone + New Creation

Recorded at Monarch Tavern, March 2, 2017.

Century Palm - Then You're Gone

Century Palm - New Creation

A night of celebration not only launching the band across the country on tour, but also celebrating Meet You, their first full-length. The joyful scrappiness of the live set pushes things away a a bit from the recording's moody undercurrents, but singer/guitarist Andrew Payne's sparky leather jacket reminded that there's a soupçon of roxyglam under the band's postpunk glower.

Recording: Members of Century Palm + Germaphobes

Artist: Members of Century Palm + Germaphobes

Song: 6060-842 [The B-52's cover]

Recorded at The Dance Cave (DEATH TO T.O. V), October 30, 2015.

Members of Century Palm + Germaphobes - 6060-842

For its massive fifth year of Hallowe'en covers, DEATH TO T.O. upsized from its home at The Silver Dollar/Comfort Zone to Lee's Palace and the Dance Cave. That allowed it to keep its sprawling two-stage upstairs/downstairs dynamic even as it accommodated a bigger crowd than ever. Besides curating no fewer than seventeen (!) short sets, Dan Burke and Elliot Jones also kept things running on schedule, with one set starting quite crisply as the one on the other stage ended for nearly the whole night. And as always, the bands put in a lot of work — not just musically, but a lot of the time in trying to capture the look and mannerisms of the band they were covering.

Jesse Locke and Alexander Hamlyn from Century Palms supplied the new wave rhythm'n'throb, and up front Germaphobes' Paul Erlichman nailed Fred Schneider's sing-speak while Liz Collins and Julia Dickens served as vocal foils Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson. Mostly concentrating on the band's ace early stuff (though the post-Ricky era was acknowledged with the sublime "Roam" rather than the ubiquitous "Love Shack") the set ended with "Rock Lobster". The group completely captured the spirit, holding a joyfully-goofy sock-hop party on stage.

Recording: Century Palm

Artist: Century Palm

Song: Cold Reflection

Recorded at The Silver Dollar Room ("Wavelength 666"), June 6, 2015.

Century Palm - Cold Reflection

The band on stage might look a bit like The Ketamines, but the driving force here is Zebrassieres' Andrew Payne (guit/vox). Together with Tough Age's Penny Clark (synth) they work up a post-punk groove that's a little poppy, a bit scrappy, and capable of a bit of a groove. They had a set filled with tasty morsels, but for now, you can grip four of 'em on their bandcamp.