Film Review: We Fun

Last week I attended a screening of the Atlanta music scene documentary, We Fun, as part of the Atlanta Film Festival. Every good documentary I have ever seen either meticulously informs or tells a compelling story, and unfortunately We Fun does neither. The movie is a barrage of total randomness that ambles along playing show and tell for various ATL institutions. You see a badly shot band playing a song, you hear them say a couple of random things, then you see something else. For someone from Atlanta familiar with this scene, the kaleidoscope of sights and sounds will be nostalgic and enjoyable, but anyone being introduced to the Atlanta music scene for the first time will find very little in this movie to care about.

There had been some premature criticism of the documentary that it didn’t cover enough bands to represent the whole city, and if anything, I wish they had put less bands in this movie so they could have explored the central characters more in depth instead of wasting our time being democratic about giving enough bands screen time. For instance, the part with the Coathangers starts with a clip of them playing a song, then you see a short clip of one of the girls massaging one of the other girls, which is only entertaining for someone searching for bad softcore porn. Then you see a clip of one of the girls getting hit on and then complaining about it. Then we never see them in the movie again. Nothing about it feels connected to any other part of the film. Outside of the Black Lips, every band’s relevance is completely left to mystery outside of the fact they deserved a couple of minutes to be showcased. The Mastodon “cameo” is a complete tease. It reminded me of the movie Executive Decision where Steven Seagal got top billing and was killed off in the first 15 minutes. Putting the band’s name on the poster and then only showing 60 seconds of an interview is very disappointing, especially since their brief conversation outshines almost any other artist’s banter in the film.

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Live Videos: The Liverhearts, The Coathangers (9/6/2008)

Last Saturday I dropped by Lenny’s to check out the Totally Titties Two breast cancer research benefit. I got there just in time to see The Orphins leave the stage. I keep botching every attempt I make to catch them. Next, The Liverhearts brought it hard and made the trip well worth it. This was their first show in about 3 months. Their new bassist had some technical difficulties early, but once those were ironed out, they blasted the songs from Ornament I am now intimately familiar with, and it was so good. I stuck around for The Coathangers, but I have to say that each time I see them, it gets less enjoyable. They just seem so superficial and the songs are not aging well with me at all. They are going to have to up the ante and bring things to another level on their sophomore album due out early next year to keep me interested in these ladies.

The Liverhearts:


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The Coathangers Summer Tour Starts Tonight

The A Town’s rowdy ladies are back on the road again. Go see a show:

June, 9 – Nashville TN @ Springwater Supper Club
June, 10 – Hot Springs, AK @ The Exchange
June, 11 – Fayetteville, Arkansas @New Deli House w/ El Paso Hot Button
June, 12 – Wichita KS @ Barleycorns w/ El Paso Hot Button
June, 13 – Norman OK @ Opolis w/ El Paso Hot Button
June, 14 – Dallas TX @ Club Dada w/ The Strange Boys
June, 15 – Austin, TX @ Emos w/ The Strange Boys, Wax Museums
June, 18 – Pheonix AZ @ the Modified
June, 19 – San Diego @ Tower Bar
June, 21 – Los Angeles @ The Smell
June, 22 – San Francisco @ Hemlock Tavern
June, 26 – Portland @ Towne Lounge w/ Destruction Island
June, 27 – Seattle, WA @ Bend-It Festival w/ Pleasureboaters
June, 29 – Milwaukee, WI @ Franks Power Plant w/ Plexi 3
June, 30 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
July, 1 – Lafayette, IN @ Zooleggers
July, 2 – Detroit MI @ The Blind Pig
July, 3 – Cleveland OH @ Now That’s Class
July, 4 – Pittsburgh @ Chatham College
July, 6 – Charlotte NC @ Snug Harbor

Various Coathangers appearances at Criminal Records:

Record Store Day In Atlanta: Dead Confederate, The Coathangers, Club Awesome

I spent a few hours last weekend at Criminal Records for their Record Store Day celebration. Here are the three local bands who played there that matter most:

Dead Confederate:

We’ve been talking about them for a while now around Ohmpark and the justified hype is starting to get some traction on the webs post-SXSW. Earfarm spent some time with them while they were down in Austin and has a bunch of cool material. Speaking of SXSW, you can get an entire performance here. Southern Shelter has just put up a show on their site where Dead Confederate played nothing but Sonic Youth covers at The 40 Watt in Athens earlier this year here. A sample:

Dead Confederate : Silver Rocket (Sonic Youth cover)
At Criminal:

They are touring steadily this summer, so go check them out:

23 May – Seattle, WA @ KEXP
24 May – Quincy, WA @ Sasquatch! Festival
28 May – Washington D.C. @ DC9
29 May – New York, NY @ Piano’s
30 May – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Saint
31 May – Philadelphia, PA @ The Khyber
1 June – Boston, MA @ TT the Bears
4 June – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
5 June – Asheville, NC @ The Rocket Club
6 June – Knoxville, TN @ Barley’s
7 June – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
14 June – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
17 June – Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Brewing Company*
18 June – Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre Flagstaff*
19 June – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre*
20 June – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern*
24 June – Sacramento, CA @ Empire Room*
25 June – Bend, OR @ Midtown Ballroom*
26 June – Spokane, WA @ Big Easy – Spokane*
5 July – Rothbury, MI @ Rothbury Festival

* w/ Drive by Trucker

The Coathangers

The Coathangers quick rise to ATLien elite status last year is an interesting phenomenon, and while I’m not the biggest fan of bands getting popular in this town solely because of their stage act and attitude rather than their music, these girls back up their their brash aura with clever lyrics and catchy tunes. I stumbled across this great remix of one my favourite Coathangers songs on the ‘net last night:

The Coathangers : Parcheezie (Griff Remix ft. Fitzgerald)
Here they are doing that song last Saturday:

And Kimcriminal has one up too, she has tons of vids of in-store Criminal Record performances you an check out here.

They are also on summer tour, so go to a show:

2 May – Atlanta, GA @ The Star Bar
9 May – Atlanta, GA @ Smith’s Old Bar (500 Songs For Kids)
15 May – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
16 May – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
23 May – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
7 June – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
9 June – Nasheville, TN @ Springwater Supper Club
10 June – Hot Springs, AK @ The Exchange
11 June – Fayetteville, AK @ New Deli House *
12 June – Wichita, KS @ Barleycorns *
13 June – Norman, OK @ Opolis *
14 June – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada *
15 June – Austin, TX @ Emo’s *
2 July – Detroit, MI @ Alvin’s
3 July – Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class
6 July – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor

* w/ El Paso Hot Button

Club Awesome

Atlanta’s Club Awesome, known for their pool parties and “Whyte Tygre” suit, are what I would describe as in the greater post-punk/post-pop vicinity. I arrived too late to get some video of their show, but I did pick up a handmade advance copy of their debut album, and it is really good. Here’s a track:

Club Awesome : Trainwreck
They have a few shows coming up:

3 May – Atlanta, GA @ Smith’s Olde Bar (500 Songs For Kids)
25 May – Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox (We Festival)
29 June – Atlanta, GA @ Lenny’s (Corndogarama)
5 July – Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar (July 4 Weekend Fest)

Video Of The Day: Coathangers “Tanya Harding”

As they take off on tour today, you can be with them in spirit watching this new video:


The Coathangers – “Tanya Harding” from ataricharm on Vimeo.

Live Review: The Coathangers (9/4/2007) Criminal Records

Last Tuesday afternoon I went down to Little Five Points to catch the Coathangers doing a free in-store performance at Criminal Records. The uber-hipsters were out and about in what seemed an almost surreal scene. The theme for the day The Coathangers were going with was “Dreams Come True”, a reference to their out-of-nowhere ascension in the Atlanta music scene. They repped it well with an armada of props including balloons, bubble machines, pink clouds, miniature live horses, a live monkey, candy gift packs, and a unicorn pinata. They played outside the front door of the store to a huge crowd, and even Mastodon‘s Brent Hinds came to check it out. As they played what i thought to be a good set, there were a couple of things that struck me. First, the music was really good for as much as their reputation for being bad musicians is floated around, and i feel like on a sonic level they have a really interesting vision that has enormous potential if they can improve and master their instruments. Secondly, despite the over-the-topness of their image, and the props, and the hype, there’s something about them that feels really genuine. It felt like they really don’t take themselves that seriously and they seem to be more surprised about how big they’ve become than anyone else. I bought a copy of their self-titled album and have been pleasantly surprised by what a good album it is too. I thought it might be a bunch of filler around already popular songs like “Nestle In My Boobies”, but there is something interesting going on throughout.

So my take on The Coathangers now is this, i like them, and they may be over-hyped relative to all of the great talent in the Atlanta music scene, but they aren’t just some hacks playing dress-up and they certainly have the potential to become one of Atlanta’s greatest but they will now have some high expectations to live up to, which comes with any band that blows up so quickly, and hopefully they are up for the challenge. They will be at the 40 Watt in Athens with the Black Lips and The Selmanaires Wednesday night and at the Drunken Unicorn Thursday night with Shock Cinema, Dragons Of Zynth Chainstereo, and The Skylarks (formerly the band Variac) so check them out for yourself.

Coathangers Myspace

Buy The Coathangers

Coathangers : The Coathangers : Shut the Fuck Up

Coathangers : The Coathangers : Parking Lot

Word On The Street

Colin Mee, guitarist for Deerhunter, has parted ways with the band. Hear what he has to say about it here. The drama continues for these guys, but hopefully everyone involved continues making great music and the hype is justified.

Speaking of hype, Creative Loafing did a story on The Coathangers and the blowing up of said band. I’m reserving any real judgement about this band until I listen to the album and see them today at Criminal Records, but listening to their songs makes me laugh, and that’s cool.

ISP Space is closing down. I have to say that this is a bummer to me because I really enjoyed the shows I saw there.

Here’s some Black Lips news from their myspacing:

The Black Lips’ newest opus, Good Bad Not Evil which you can stream in its entirety onMySpace this week, comes out September 11. For the momentous occasion, Black Lips are doing a special show at MJQ in Atlanta. How do you get into the show? Well, it’s easy. Starting Tuesday, September 4, Good Bad Not Evil will be available for pre-order at ye olde Criminal Records. If you truck down early to pre-order the record, you not only get a spiff-tastic DVD of Black Lips Live in Israel which you can’t get your paws on anywhere else, but you get the secret handshake invite to the show on September 11. Assuming the show doesn’t sell out before release date, there will be CDs available as your ticket in at MJQ on the day of the show, but why would you risk it? Oh, and you only get the DVD if you pre-order or buy at Criminal on release date. So if you’ve got nothing to do on Tuesday during your lunch break besides sneak a couple of pints, head down to Criminal and pre-order that gem and get ready for the show.

Here’s a video @ Radio Har-Hatzofim, JERUSALEM ISRAEL:

Okkervil River will be at The 40 watt in Athens, Ga October 3rd.

Wondering what the chicks from Sleater-Kinney have been up to? Check this out

Burn To Shine, a cool film series where they have a bunch of bands from a city play a song in a house about to get demolished, is about to do one in Atlanta featuring Mastodon, Deerunter, Black Lips, Snowden, The Selmanaires, The Coathangers, and Shannon Wright.

The internets are exploding with rumours that My Bloody Valentine will be reuniting and playing Coachella next year. Let the 2008 festival line-up speculation madness begin!

You can stream the great new Minus The Bear album here.

Remember that Midlake is at The Earl tonight. Don’t miss it:

Check out this video: Midlake – “Roscoe”

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Atlanta Music Updates

Saturday night I went to Lenny’s for their one year anniversary show. Unfortunately Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter‘s solo/side project, did not show up and Psychic Heart‘s mini-set didn’t start until after 11:30pm, but at least Snowden kicked ass as always. Stickfigure Distribution has just reissued their self titled EP debut release. Here’s a sample:

Snowden : Snowden : Good News

Buy Snowden Here

Also, here’s the title track from last year’s Anti Anti:

Snowden : Anti Anti : Anti Anti

Deerhunter‘s Blog has got some really cool stuff on it, including mp3s from their first release, a split 7″ with Alphabets featuring their former-now-deceased bassist and of which there were only 300 copies pressed. Check it out here:

They are about to be doing some serious touring, so go check them out:

Aug 30 2007 9:00P
Black Cat Backstage w/ Clockcleaner Washington DC, Washington DC
Aug 31 2007 7:00P
Seaport Music Festival w/ Battles New York City, New York
Sep 1 2007 9:00P
Ottobar w/ Soft Circle, High Places Baltimore, Maryland
Sep 6 2007 8:00P
Neumos w/ Grizzly Bear Seattle, Washington
Sep 8 2007 9:00P
Doug Fir Lounge w/ Bobby Conn Portland, Oregon
Sep 27 2007 8:00P
Drunken Unicorn w/ No Age, Fag Static, Cut Teeth Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 28 2007 8:30P
Mercy Lounge w/ No Age, Bows and Arrows Nashville, Tennessee
Sep 29 2007 8:00P
The Wire presents Adventures In Modern Music Festival @ Empty Bottle w/ No Age Chicago, Illinois
Oct 1 2007 8:00P
Canopy Club / Club Void w/ Nudge Urbana, Illinois
Oct 2 2007 8:00P
Southgate House Newport, Kentucky
Oct 25 2007 8:00P
Elevate Festival @ Dom im Berg Graz, Austria
Oct 26 2007 10:00P
Bad Bonn Dudingen, Switzerland
Oct 27 2007 8:00P
Palace St. Gallen, Switzerland
Oct 28 2007 9:00P
Kaserne w/ Frog Eyes Basel, Switzerland
Oct 30 2007 8:00P
Recyclart Brussels, Belgium
Oct 31 2007 8:00P
Maroquinerie Paris, France
Nov 1 2007 8:30P
Tanned Tin Festival @ Auditori i Palau de Congresos w/ The Ex, Xiu Xiu and many more! Castellon, Spain
Nov 2 2007 6:30P
ATP presents Release The Bats @ The Forum w/ Liars, Black Lips, Deerhoof, and Fuck Buttons London, United Kingdom
Nov 3 2007 8:00P
Nasty Fest VIII @ The Faversham w/ The Black Lips Leeds, United Kingdom
Nov 4 2007 7:30P
ABC2 Glasgow, Scotland
Nov 5 2007 8:00P
The Village Dublin, Ireland
Nov 6 2007 8:00P
Liars Club @ The Social Nottingham, United Kingdom
Nov 7 2007 8:00P
Saki Manchester, United Kingdom
Nov 9 2007 8:00P
Vera Groningen, Netherlands, Groningen
Nov 10 2007 8:00P
Tivoli w/ Dirty Projectors Utrecht, Netherlands, Utrecht
Nov 13 2007 8:00P
Debaser Malmo, Sweden
Nov 14 2007 8:00P
Garage Oslo, Norway
Nov 15 2007 8:00P
Debaser Slussen Stockholm, Sweden

Here’s a track from their first LP:

Deerhunter : Turn It Up Faggot : Tech School

The Black Lips new album, Good Bad Not Evil, hits stores on September 11th. They are on tour right now too, and their live shows are amazing, so hit one of these up:

Aug 30 2007 8:00P
The Roadhouse Manchester
Aug 31 2007 8:00P
The Social Nottingham
Sep 1 2007 8:00P
The Faversham Leeds
Sep 2 2007 8:00P
Optimo Glasgow
Sep 3 2007 8:00P
Fibbers York
Sep 4 2007 8:00P
White Heat London
Sep 6 2007 8:00P
The Cellars Oxford
Sep 7 2007 8:00P
The Engine Rooms Brighton
Sep 12 2007 8:00P
40 Watt Club Athens, Georgia
Sep 13 2007 8:00P
Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, North Carolina
Sep 14 2007 8:00P
Sonar Baltimore, Maryland
Sep 15 2007 8:00P
Black Cat Washington, DC, Washington DC
Sep 16 2007 8:00P
Khyber Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sep 18 2007 8:00P
Bowery Ballroom New York, New York
Sep 19 2007 8:00P
Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York
Sep 21 2007 8:00P
The Middle East Upstairs Cambridge, Massachusetts
Sep 22 2007 8:00P
La Sala Rossa Montreal, Quebec
Sep 23 2007 8:00P
The Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Ontario
Sep 25 2007 8:00P
Magic Stick Detroit, Michigan
Sep 26 2007 8:00P
Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, Ohio
Sep 27 2007 8:00P
The Mad Hatter Covington, Kentucky
Sep 28 2007 8:00P
Logan Square Auditorium Chicago, Illinois
Sep 29 2007 8:00P
Mad Planet Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sep 30 2007 8:00P
Triple Rock Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 2 2007 8:00P
The Waiting Room Omaha, Nebraska
Oct 3 2007 8:00P
Grand Emporium Kansas City, Missouri
Oct 4 2007 8:00P
The Loft Dallas, Texas
Oct 5 2007 8:00P
Emo’s Austin, Texas
Oct 6 2007 8:00P
The Engine Room Houston, Texas
Oct 7 2007 8:00P
One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, Louisiana
Oct 11 2007 8:00P
Richard’s On Richards Vancouver, British Columbia
Oct 12 2007 8:00P
The Crocodile Cafe Seattle, Washington
Oct 13 2007 8:00P
Dante’s Portland, Oregon
Oct 15 2007 8:00P
Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
Oct 17 2007 8:00P
Glasshouse Concert Hall Pomona, California
Oct 18 2007 8:00P
The Casbah San Diego, California
Oct 19 2007 8:00P
Troubador West Hollywood, California
Oct 20 2007 8:00P
Echoplex Echo Park, California

Here’s a few classics:

Black Lips : Let It Bloom : Not A Problem

Black Lips : Black Lips : Freakout

The newest band to break out in the A-town is The Coathangers. This all female four-piece is releasing their debut, self-titled record on Rob’s House. Here’s a couple tracks from it:

The Coathangers : The Coathangers : Nestle In My Boobies

The Coathangers : The Coathangers : Don’t Touch My Shit!

They will be doing an in-store performance at Criminal Records next Tuesday:

They are also on an extensive tour:

Aug 31 2007 9:00P
PERFORMER MAGAZINE PRESENTS: The Drunken Unicorn w/ Beat Beat Beat and Cola Freaks Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 4 2007 7:00P
Criminal Records- Album Release InStore! Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 7 2007 8:00P
Star Bar CD Release Show w/ Chopper Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 12 2007 9:00P
40 Watt Club w/ The Black Lips and The Selmanaires!! Athens, Georgia
Sep 13 2007 9:00P
Drunken Unicorn w/ Chainestereo [TMNGW], and The Skylarks (formerly Variac) ATL, Georgia
Sep 14 2007 9:00P
Circle Bar w/ RATZINGER! New Orleans, Louisiana
Sep 20 2007 8:00P
Atlantis Music Conference ’07 Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 10 2007 8:00P
Radio show @ WSBF in Clemson, SC Clemson, South Carolina
Oct 15 2007 9:00P
Show with JAY REATARD and BABY SHAKES at LENNYS! Tha dirtay dirty, Georgia
Oct 24 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 tour w/ Snowden, Ponderosa@ The Drunken Unicorn Atl, Georgia
Oct 25 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 Tour w/ 63 Crayons@Caledonia Lounge Athens, Georgia
Oct 26 2007 9:00P
Coathangers 2007 Tour (blackbeard’s lost weekender fest)@The Cave Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Oct 27 2007 9:00P
Coathangers 2007 tour w/ The Griefs, The Points, +1 TBA@Fight Club Washington DC, Washington DC
Oct 29 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 Tour w/ Sudden Walks, Guilty Faces@Cousin Larrys Danbury, Connecticut
Oct 30 2007 9:00P
Coathangers 2007 Tour w/ DEMONS CLAWS, The Konks, Hospital Rats@PAs Lounge Somerville (Boston), Massachusetts
Nov 4 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 Tour w/ DEMONS CLAWS, Human Eye, Terrible Twos@Lager House Detroit, Michigan
Nov 5 2007 9:00P
Coathangers 2007 Tour w/ DEMONS CLAWS, Jail @Cactus Club Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nov 6 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 tour w/ DEMONS CLAWS, Cococomas @Ronnys Chicago, Illinois
Nov 9 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 tour w/ DEMONS CLAWS @Murphys Memphis, Tennessee
Nov 10 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 tour w/ DEMONS CLAWS @ Saturn Bar New Orleans, Louisiana
Nov 11 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 tour / DEMONS CLAWS, Wizzard Sleeve, Hibachi Stranglers@Blind Mule Mobile, Alabama
Nov 14 2007 8:00P
Coathangers 2007 tour w/ DEMONS CLAWS @ The Drunken Unicorn ATL, Georgia

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