Riley, Vagrant Beat and Zapano / May 17, 2012 / The Smiling Skull

By: Matt Bemer, PR Director

Photo Credit: Athens News

The Smiling Skull is a nostalgic place for me. The ambient lighting, loud music and townies intermixing with students and students intermixing with illegal substances creates a mildly entertaining atmosphere reminiscent of personal experiences. During freshman year, I went to my fair share of punk shows at the Skull where I was packed tight with different kinds of people. I ventured down to the Skull for the nostalgia. Others came because of a fundraiser for Kairos, which is a student organization focused on spirituality. They're a non-religious, non-denominational group. 

I was late to the show. Like, fifteen minutes late. Not much, but late enough to walk halfway in on Vagrant Beat. Those dudes are my friends and we actually, sort of, planned this. That's how we hang out most of the time. I come to their shows and watch them play, then we sit around for the rest of the bands and talk or enjoy music. Sometimes both, rarely neither. 

There was a reason I was late, though. In case you weren't aware, NBC's Community aired three final episodes of the show that night and I wasn't going to miss those. I'm sad that this is the last moment (possibly) aired from the show. Honestly, if you missed last night's episodes, run over to Hulu and check those out now. The hashtags #sixseasonsandamovie and #SAVECOMMUNITY won't do anything if you ask me. Honestly, we should all capture NBC's headquarters and turn off all the air conditioners.

Back to the show. 

The boys in Vagrant Beat played a bunch of new songs and, to no one's surprise, I liked them. A couple difficulties with cords and electronics set some of the songs up for failure and a rather lackluster crowd didn't help the band's performance. But I was glad that I got to see them play. It has been a while and I haven't heard much of the band's new material.

The members of the band and I settled in to a cozy table and watched the rest of the show. People flooded in after we sat down and Melk took the stage performing to a rather full house. When I came up to the bar, Melk's drummer dropped a bunch of equipment on the sidewalk right outside. I helped him pick it up. He said, "Aw, thanks man." Then he walked away. They played well. 

I'll admit, I did not stay for the entire show. I hear the closing band, Riley, is cool and that the band came all the way from Dayton to play. Here's my generic PR review of the band: Riley's music is good and definitely a buy. I'm sure they are much more deserving of that, but hey, I was hungry and tired and it was late. 

I did, however, watch Zapaño play a rather interesting set. Interesting as in they didn't play the usual stuff, or at least what I am usually used to. And I know that it was unusual because the people I was with made the same comment. I enjoy those guys' set whenever they play. I'd speak more highly of them if I thought that they were the type of band that basked in the praise of reviewers like myself, but somehow I get the feeling that they're beyond that. One request for the band though: don't take that "Black Magic" song out of your set. Regardless, the new stuff was "dope." Possibly a shameless plug to follow me on Twitter, too.

I came to the Skull, "scene" what I wanted to see, heard great musicians play even better music, saw great friends and conquered the long walk back to my bedroom from the Skull. Dope. 

ACRN Presents: Mom's Weekend, Dingus Kahn and the Spacemen Spiffs, Sure Plus & Magna Drag / May 3, 2012 / Smiling Skull

By: "Snatty" O'Leary (a.k.a. Katie O'Leary, Art Director)

As a lobster living in a town full of humans, I don’t get out much. Sure, a radio station here has decided that I represent them, but other than that I usually get pretty bored. It’s always a risk to walk out on Court Street where I often find drunks ready to make a meal out of me (butter sauce included). 

Well, last night was different. I had spent the day campaigning for my presidency of Ohio University and this gave me the guts I needed to enjoy a night on the town. Naturally, I chose to attend the ACRN show at The Smiling Skull.

On my way over to the show, my bravery was shaken by some handsy drunks yelling, “That’s a lobster!” at me. Of course I’m a lobster. I don’t understand humans. I finally scuttled along the rest of Court Street and made it safely to the show.

The Skull was overflowing with all kinds of humans. I scampered across the beer stained floor and ran into something that was not human—a dog! I personally love dogs but this particular one sure hated me. I think my giant claws were a little intimidating, but I would never use them on him. Since I couldn’t sway him to be my friend, I turned to the music.

The first band up was Magna Drag. They were a garage-y rock-type band I could really “snat” my claws to.

After the first band, I took a little break by the bar. These humans here LOVED me. People were buying me drinks left and right. I decided to let loose and have some skull ale. It tasted like it came from the mud at the bottom of the ocean, but beer is beer and I kept drinking it.

Next up was Dingus Kahn and the Spacemen Spiffs. Talk about a hard name to say. They were an interesting combo of grunge, surf rock, and upbeat melodies that had everyone moving, especially one guy in the back. He was going crazy and wanted to dance with me. I thought, “Why not?” and busted some lobsta’ moves.

The singer had an interesting voice. I’m not sure if I would have liked it on its own, but with the music, it had that spastic-y tempo just right for garage rock.

The night went on and next up was Mom’s Weekend. It made complete sense for Mom’s Weekend to be playing on the weekend of their namesake. They had a bit of a sloppy performance due to the lead singer’s slight intoxication, but they had enough energy to get any mom dancing. Unfortunately, there was only one mom spotted in the crowd and she was clearly too sober.

The final band, Sure Plus, was a brand new spin-off of Athens math rock/punk band Difficult Dogs. They were delightfully catchy and I decided to break it down for the crowd. I thought I was a great dancer, but that might’ve been the alcohol talking.

After last night, maybe I’ll be making it out to a few more shows in Athens. I had a great time and met a bunch of people who thought I was more than just a meal. Oh, and one more thing: vote #Snat4Prez!

ACRN Presents: Tiny Moving Parts, BFF, Difficult Dogs, Sign Off / April 5 / Smiling Skull

By: Sam Boyer, Staff Writer / '90s Blogger

Shows at the Skull can go one of two ways: Appalachian-friendly country jam sessions, or all-out punk rock mayhem.

Thursday night was definitely the latter.

When I approached the Skull, I could already hear the guttural screams of Sign Off threatening to blow the wooden door wide open.

“Well, this is going to be interesting,” I remarked to my concert buddy, Carolyn Menyes.

We took the two or three steps to the general vicinity of the stage and stood near the back of the crowd. I immediately noticed that the audience had basically segregated itself into the boy camp and the girl camp. The boys stood at the front taking in the action, while the girls hung back and stared bemusedly at the band.

I was honestly a little wary of Sign Off at first. The abrasive vocals caught me off guard, but I gave them a chance and it was worth it.

They had this filthy grunge sound that rubbed me the right way. It was a little reminiscent of the Melvins. The bass was sludgy (in a good way), but still had that punk rock bounce to it. Though it’s obvious that I’m partial to bass, I was also really impressed with the drum work. The beat was clean enough to stand out, but also kept the guitar and bass on the same page. I recall giving the drummer a polite golf clap at the end of a song (you know, out of respect.)

What really made Sign Off’s set interesting was the crowd’s response. A handful of guys standing at the front was getting really into it. I noticed a few of them singing (screaming?) along to some of the songs. It really warms my heart to see a smaller band connect with an audience like that.

I particularly loved the synchronized head bobbing going on. The one thought going through my head was, “Yes, my little grunge chickens. Dance. DANCE.”

Things lightened up a bit when BFF took the stage. They had more of a blink-182(ish) pop-punk sound, which was a nice contrast to the heaviness of Sign Off. Their crowd was noticeably larger, but their set was fairly short and I’m kind of disappointed that I didn’t get to hear more.

Though I unfortunately had to miss Tiny Moving Parts and Difficult Dogs, I’m sure they did a great job. I’ll catch you guys another time, I promise.

Oh, and Sign Off? You get the Rad Band of the Night award. Congrats!

ACRN Presents: Blithe Field, Old Worlds, and Whirl / March 1 / The Smiling Skull

By: Kyle Rutherford, Staff Writer

The crowd at The Smiling Skull were chilled out, but excited for the show that was brought to them Thursday night, with a lineup of music on the weirder side, everyone seemed to be pleased.

First out was noise/electronic act Whirl, a duo that consisted of Death Beef, and Matt Umland of Tin Armor. The Columbus group held no true structure to their sound, no set list, but more of an improvisational set that lasted a good 30 minutes STRAIGHT.

The music was ambient, but had an awe-inspiring power to it, with glitched-out synths, completely layered with different effects pedals. It was one of those sets that you just have to watch the performance to experience it for yourself.

Next was Columbus's Old Worlds, an experimental mathcore/emo/post-rock group that held a tight influence from every single instrument used, even using soft, near opera-like vocals. The 5 piece consisted of a the typical guitarist/drummer/bassist trio, but added in a KORG synthesizer player, and a violinist who had almost more effects pedals than the band's guitarist. Vocally, the group's male vocalists had the kind of voice that could remind one of old Jimmy Eat World, with the female synth and bass players adding a lighter harmony to it. Instrumentally, the music seemed slightly ambient at times, with the experimental qualities of The Fall of Troy and Dance Gavin Dance. What impressed me the most instrumentally was the guitarist/vocalist kept to a finger-picking technique throughout most of the songs.

Last was Athens' own sample electronic Blithe Field. With recent hype and his April 12 release of Warm Blood coming close, and with a recent spotlight in Alternative Press, OU senior Spencer Radcliffe brought his typical A-Game, mixing many of his older tracks and even premiering a new song from the upcoming album.

One may think that the Skull would be out of Radcliffe's element when it comes to venues, but the difference in setting gave him a particular advantage, where front-row members were within arm's reach of him, giving attendees a more intimate experience.

Hyrrokkin, Sport Fishing USA and Sign Off / January 5, 2012 / The Smiling Skull

By: Kyle Rutherford, Contributor

A good crowd packed into the stuffy Smiling Skull Thursday night for a rock show of interesting styles. Out to play were Hyrrokkin from Yellow Springs, Sport Fishing USA from Yellow Springs, and Sign Off from Athens.

Sign Off started the night with a noisy experimental post-punk set, with songs that changed from a classic heavy punk sound to an experimental/electronic sounding noise rock in less than a few seconds.

Not bad for a band that only consists of a bassist and a drummer.

Next was Sport Fishing USA, a band that takes classic rock, shoves it into modern indie, and takes near-pop vocals and lyrics of young adult/teen angst and shoves them into the indie. It's like a a "turducken" (Chicken stuffed into a duck that is stuffed into a turkey and cooked) for the ears.

Some things that stood out about their sound was that brothers Nathan and Brendan Moore harmonized fantastically on practically every song played. Nathan was also able to break down into guitar solos and interludes that sounded somewhat prog-rock and experimental while the rest of the band kept the crowd moving.

Last out was Hyrrokkin, an avant-garde/experimental trio for which one could go absolutely ballistic. Everything seemed to be completely in-place, but so scattered and crazy when it came to how it was structured. No song sounded similar, with some songs sounding as metal as the background music of a Sylvester Stallone movie, or as soft as those of an ambient group. But normally the soft parts were only intros/outros to even more heavy instrumental insanity. What was thoroughly impressive was that the bass part easily kept up with the guitar riffs, even sometimes matching the pattern altogether.

High Castle, Pigeonholes, Nurser, and Hippie Grinder / September 15, 2011 / The Smiling Skull

By: Sam Boyer, Staff Writer | '90s Blogger

My first venture to The Smiling Skull was marked by some apprehension. As a socially awkward sophomore, the thought of wandering beyond Court Street filled me with a ridiculous sense of dread. Translation: I’m really weird and I don’t like hanging out with people. But I’m a big girl now, and I have the ability to traipse around Athens like I own the damn place. Kind of.

Now that we’ve established the proverbial “popping” of my local venue cherry, I can get into the super rad experience that ensued.

The Smiling Skull looks slightly menacing upon first glance, but inside lies the coziest little hole-in-the-wall you ever did see. And by cozy I mean littered with (sometimes X-rated) graffiti and various vintage beer signs. Home sweet home.

The first band up was Pigeonholes, a pop-punk outfit from Parkersburg, W. Va. As I am partial to bands of the punk persuasion, I dug these guys. They were playful and had the three-chord progression thing down pat. The lead singer had a permanent smile plastered on his face, which translated to my face. If you’re happy, I’m happy, dude. And if you name one of your songs “This Coke Tastes Like Pepsi,” you automatically get my seal of approval.

The Skull started to fill up pretty quickly after the first set, but it wasn’t claustrophobia-inducing. One reason why I prefer The Skull over The Union: Atmosphere. There isn’t a ton of space, but the close quarters make for the dank bar equivalent of a group hug. “You smell like PBR and sweat. Let’s be friends!”

But I digress. Nurser was up next, and since I am ignorant to the local scene, I kept an open mind. Unfortunately, Nurser didn’t quite woo me the way Pigeonholes did. The former is a noise-rock band, so comparing the two is absurd. But after a few songs, I came to the conclusion that Nurser is just not my cup of tea. Too much noise, not enough rock. But that’s just my humble opinion. I am not the master of local music.

Due to the fact that I hadn’t eaten much all day, I only caught a few songs during High Castle’s set. What I did hear was fantastic. West Coast punks always rub me the right way. They kind of had an early Green Day thing going on, and considering my GD obsession, that is a very good thing.

I regret not seeing Hippie Grinder, but hopefully they come back around. My expectations for a “hardcore punk” band are very high.

ACRN St. Jude Benefit Show / May 5 / The Smiling Skull

A sleepy brain and a game of “Would You Rather” later, and we were on our way to the Smiling Skull. We were apprehensive of the price at first, but morally we couldn’t allow ourselves to use that excuse, given the show was a benefit for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We had to think of the children.

The Athens-famous, omnipotent, flawless Nurser took the stage (of sorts) first. Things went better than the last time I saw them, but their music is so weird that it’s hard to tell when things aren’t going well. I mean that in the best way possible. There are definitely some inventive sounds coming from them, particularly from Shane Riley’s guitar. He finds the most obscure notes to play, but stirs them together so that they transition solidly.

They had some new material to lay on the growing crowd, one song in which bassist Sam Mink had to step out because he hadn’t learned his part yet. To that, Riley said something along the lines of, “Our bassist can’t play to this song because it’s such a rager.”

Blithe Field was next and to my and everyone else’s dismay, he was having technical difficulties. He tried to push through as best he could, but the beats weren’t quite the way they were meant to be. Still, he had a supportive crowd that wished him well, but his set was forced to end too soon.

Stomp the Condor, very much unlike Blithe Field, was a weirdo, rambunctious bunch. Or, really just the lead singer/keyboardist/guitarist was. They played rowdy tunes that the crowd greeted with rowdy energy. It was punk rock and other stuff at its finest. A couple of them took off their shirts, too, and of course that’s always a good time, even more so when the shirtless are wearing jorts.

The crowd was at its largest with Brothertiger, which usually is the case every time he plays. I only stuck around for a couple of songs, but left a trippy, happy, dancing group of people. That’s alls yous gotta do, anyway.

Apparently we raised $300! May good causes be benefited and may good music be cherished for all of eternity.

--Hannah Cook, Managing Editor

Brothertiger, Monolithic Cloud Parade, Historians, and Iron Jim & The Broken Hand Band / March 3 / The Smiling Skull

Things didn’t go quite according to plan last night, but unexpectedness and spontaneous behavior is what makes the fun world spin ‘round. And that’s just where we were last night—the fun world, also known as the Smiling Skull.

On the bill for the evening were Brothertiger, Monolithic Cloud Parade, Historians and Iron Jim and the Broken Hand Band. Who, I believe, ended up actually playing were: Brothertiger, Historians and Iron Jim with a different bassist than usual, with no trace of Monolithic Cloud Parade. A bummer, yes. But the night still went on and good spirits were still rustling like the ghosts at a Christmas feast at Hogwarts (Microsoft Word knows what Hogwarts is!).

Iron Jim played first, but I missed most of it since the hustle and bustle after my first arriving was still going on after they ended. I don’t remember hating the sound that was going on, though. I guess that means they were okay in my book.

Historians were next, and I didn’t absolutely love them. It could have been due to the crumby sound system, but the vocals seemed a little off. They played a varied set, though, with no song sounding quite like the other, and sometimes the intricate and bouncy instrumentation picked up the slack, but for the most part, I wasn’t too enchanted.

Brothertiger, as per usual, got most of the people on their feet and cutting loose. He’s got quite a following too. In between songs, one could hear many chants of “Brothertiger!” and even some singing along a bit. It’s safe to say he’s an Athens favorite and he’s one of my favorites too. Anything a sister can boogie to is something a sister loves—and loves even more if it’s unique and self-created.

--Hannah Cook, Managing Editor

Vagrant Beat, Damn Animals & Zapaño / February 25 / The Smiling Skull

 By: Matt Bemer, Staff Writer

For the past two weeks the members of Vagrant Beat have been up until the early morning recording and practicing down the hall from my room, filling the hall with echoing sounds of reverb and phaser guitars. Last night at the Smiling Skull, I finally got to hear all those sounds come together live.

Vagrant Beat may have been the opening act, plagued by technical difficulties, broken guitar strings, crappy mic stands and wasted biker folk; but the 4-piece post-hardcore act couldn't have had more energy. What really impressed me was the lead singer's willingness to get into the crowd and jump around. Their sound was impressive: obvious At-the-Drive in influence mixed with lots of effects-driven guitars and an occasional Ian MacKaye-esque scream from the lead singer, Ryan. Overall, I was impressed by the sound and quality of the live performance they gave, given the rough start they had.

Following them was an Athens garage rock band called Damn Animals. There's not much to say about their performance. Outdone by the opening act, they just sounded generic. For a moment I thought they would break the mold and play something unique when their guitarist brought out an auto-harp, but disappointment ensued.

Zapaño closed the night. I have heard a lot of buzz regarding the jazz fusion/progressive rock quartet and I must say I was very impressed. They sounded a lot like The Mars Volta with some stoner metal influences. Frontman Sean really got the crowd into the music with his impressive vocal improvisation. The band as a whole is tremendously talented and it definitely showed throughout their solos.

The incorporation of a saxophone into their music definitely brought a fresh angle into their music and I really enjoyed the show, until I got a half hour into it.

Repetitive bass lines combined with similar breakdowns and song structures made the show drag, and I was actually glad that they ended close to 1 A.M. and did not go until 2.

Although the Skull may not be the best place to hear a band, last night was definitely a great night to see Vagrant Beat and Zapaño put on a show.

The Miracle Vitamins / February 12 / Smiling Skull

Saturday night was one of those nights that I had to piece together with my friends afterward, just to make sure everything was as preposterous as I remembered.

It was.

One is always bound to run into some characters at the Smiling Skull and, perhaps because the weather is getting nicer, Saturday night seemed to bring out more characters than usual. Townies were getting in touch with their argumentative sides. A group of shufflers-- who probably would have felt more at home at Crystal or even Dave Rave-- were clamoring for “birthday shots” for their “girl’s 21st.” Two dogs-- referring to the animal, not the two old men hitting on miss birthday shots-- were getting their mingle on. You would think that two dogs roaming freely about a tavern would be odd. It wasn’t. Those dogs were the most normal, chilled out, occupants of the Skull Saturday Night. But I digress. I’m here to talk about the music.

We stayed for one band. It was all we could bear.

They were called The Miracle Vitamins, and they hailed from Toledo. I’ve been instructed by a friend who is much more tolerant than I am to state that some people were enjoying it. I, however, would like to clarify that “some people,” refers to an enthusiastic potential cousin or groupie of Miracle Vitamins and what was presumably his less enthusiastic sidekick, who proceeded to dully nod his head in the affective manner characteristic not of the ironic-though-appreciative hipster kid, but rather of a normal human being who is extremely bored.

Miracle Vitamins was a folk group. They had a drum machine. They had a leapfrogesque-piano-keyboard-toy. I cannot make this stuff up.

Every song in their set inexplicably referenced New Hampshire. That prompted my friend, an Arctic Monkeys fan, and myself to write a parody of "Fake Tales of San Francisco" on the spot: “He talks of the east coast but he’s from Toledo/ I don’t quite know the distance/ But I’m sure it’s far/ Yea I’m sure it’s pretty far/ And yea I’d love to tell you of my problem/ You’re not from New Hampshire you’re from Ohio/ So get off the stage/ and put down the fake piano thing.” Not very creative, I’ll give you, but hey, maybe if we get Weird Al to record it we’ll have ourselves a hit. Regardless, we ditched the Skull soon after and headed for the Union Street Diner.

The waitress asked our orders and two of my friends ordered the same thing. In reality, his response was “I’ll have what he’s having.” In a perfect world it would have been, “I’ll have what he’s having, as long as it doesn’t include any Miracle Vitamins.”

*Contributions were made to this in the form of collective-remembering from Corey Sheely [non-staff writer], who offered a non-future-music-critic’s perspective; Chris Dobstaff [staff writer], who diligently took notes on his iphone and offered invaluable help in the act of penning uncreative song parodies; and Jacob Bowman [staff writer] who failed to make what could have been the night’s most memorable quote an actual quote.

--Amanda Norris, Staff Writer

Thumpdaddy / October 17 / Smiling Skull

Turn down Union Street. Keep walking straight until you think you’ll get raped. Then keep going, you’re in the right place. Turn into sketchy biker bar. Fight past the townies and get your groove on because Thumpdaddy is in the house.

Thumpdadddy’s been groovin’ for decades and it’s easy to see why George Clinton jammed with him back in the day. The man is a funk titan and the band ain’t bad either.

They took the stage, sporting hats the belles of the Kentucky Derby would covet, and knocked out the best “Mrs. Jackson” cover Athen’s has ever heard. After a short “pause for a good cause," a.k.a Thumpdaddy's meeting and greeting with the crowd, they launched into the main set sequence. The show started out slow, as these things often will, but get enough PBR into those kids in plaid and they get down with their bad selves. “Play That Funky Music, White Boy” lightened the mood and from there the revelry never stopped.

By the end of the night, The 'Skull had erupted into a giant dance party. Both feeling and smelling funky, the crowd requested encore after encore until Thumpdaddy could thump no longer. And we ACRNies were lucky enough to walk away with a free C.D. from the hands of Thumpdaddy himself. It will display prominently in the station... after visits to each of our laptops.

--Amanda Norris, Staff Writer

Hey man, are you here for the chill wave?

The Smiling Skull may just be one of Athens' most precious "hidden" gems; for the Union-dwellers who are low on cash and sick of the same 'ole crowd, The Smiling Skull is definitely the place to check out. And if you weren't there last night, I have to be honest when I say that you missed.

I've never seen The Skull so hoppin'; students and townies alike were diggin' the tunes brought to us by yours truly, ACRN. The night started off with Chiswola, who debuted last week at The Union's free show. Honestly? They weren't really my jam. I thought they sounded unrehearsed and a bit too off-the-cuff -- but I'm probably biased, just in that their taste didn't really align with mine. I'll hand it to them, though; they're doing something different, and for that I commend them. Plus, they got the crowd movin' and groovin', so kudos for that.

"Hey man, are you here for the chill wave?" <-- Decidedly the best pick-up line ever, Brothertiger came up next, bringing on said chill wave. I don't know if my "beverages" were slowly sinking in or if this music is truly just mesmerizing at any given time, but Brothertiger enchanted me into a stupor that I don't often fall into in public. I totally dug 'em, and based on the equally-entranced audience, I'd say they were altogether well received.

Sad enough, Whale Zombie was the last act I caught last night. The aforementioned beverages were consumed all too quickly, and my bed was a'calling. But Whale zombie, as usual, was a toe-tapping, dance-able success. They were the perfect end to my night, as ended my night squirming between too-full tables and too-drunk college kids towards my walk home. Whale Zombie's tunes reverberated in my brain for the remainder of my evening, and altogether the kick-off to ACRN's birthday weekend was a total success.

-Krisi Nehls, Blogs Editor