Tag: Playing Bloomington

PLAYING BLOOMINGTON: On Dasher’s Powerful Debut Sodium

  

Kylee Kimbrough knocked over her drum set and walked off the stage as the crowd took pictures and cheered at the Dasher release party this weekend. Along with bandmates Gary Magilla (bass) and Derek McCain (guitar), she had just delivered a stormy live performance in celebration of Sodium, Dasher’s debut full length album. The eleven tracks on Sodium, an album that combines gloomy post-punk with hardcore vocal stamina, are at their best when experienced live. As I watched Kimbrough’s hair fly frantically across her face while she headbanged along to her rabid drumming and explosive vocals, I felt the music’s innate intensity more acutely than on the previous recorded listens in my bedroom.

Sodium had been in the works for quite a while before it was finally released on June 14. Kimbrough began releasing singles under the name Dasher in 2013 while living in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon relocating to Bloomington – home to Dasher’s record label, Jagjaguar – Kimbrough reassembled her band and released a string of singles, most of which are featured on Sodium. Since gaining regional traction, Sodium’s imminent release has been much anticipated, both locally and nationally.   

While Dasher’s sound is best understood when experienced live, the studio-recorded version of Sodium is the next best thing.  Kimbrough’s force, volume, and often speed are maxed out, but she always manages to find textured variation amongst the chaos. Sodium showcases that impressive vocal stamina and range. During “Get So Low,” macabre industrial instrumentals are accompanied by inaudible screams before the song crashes to its end. On “Trespass,” Kimbrough concludes each phrase with an unrestrained squeal. In the opening track, “We Know So,” she breaks down into exasperated growls as a biting guitar solo propels the music forward. This exasperation can be felt on title track, “Sodium,” where Kimbrough begs, “Please, please forgive me…you see right through me.” While Kimbrough has previously said that lyrics are a secondary importance to the sound and feel of the music, many of Dasher’s tracks provide a repetitive hook which serves as an anchor for listeners to sink their teeth into. Previously released singles “Soviet” and “Go Rambo” best represent this structure.

As the songwriter, vocalist, and drummer of Dasher, Kimbrough is able to demonstrate a bold control over both the rhythm and melody of the music, and showcasing this mastery is Dasher’s strong suit. On “Teeth,” for instance, Kimbrough spaces out her drumming while the vocals increase in ferocity. The lightning fast duple meter on “Resume” lets up on the chorus while the vocals become more desperate, only to come crashing back for the song’s final section. Conversely, on a floor tom heavy “Slugg,” drum and vocals work together, along with a heavy guitar line, to push each other to a synchronized climax.    

While many of its tracks have been previously available for streaming, the release of Dasher’s first full length album represents Kylee Kimbrough’s long-term process and creative triumph.  Much of Sodium is available for streaming and the entire album is available for downloading via Bandcamp. Dasher is on a countrywide tour this summer, which kicked off in Bloomington on July 22nd at the Blockhouse.

PLAYING BLOOMINGTON: The Dancing Cigarettes

Whenever I tell people that I research the Bloomington punk scene, they are often surprised to learn about its existence and skeptical about its ability to be anything other than a small-scale replica of more famous scenes in larger cities. While Bloomington reacts to and against other punk scenes, what people are doing here is uniquely Hoosier, and often just downright weird. Bloomington’s cult-favorite experimental new wave punk band, the Dancing Cigarettes, is perhaps responsible for starting this tradition.

The Dancing Cigarettes surfaced on the Bloomington punk scene in 1979. While they were only active until 1983, they developed a local cult following of devoted Cigs. While their sound could be described most simply as experimental new wave, delving deeper can illuminate the threads that held such a unique group together: the signature goofy irony of their lyricism, the dissonant and abrasive saxophone line, and their choppy, unpredictable rhythms. With the Dancing Cigarettes, all of these components were strung together atop poppy, melodic lines on the bass, guitar, and/or keyboard, and then packed into meandering and disjointed song structures. The Dancing Cigarettes created a sound that was simultaneously confrontational, nonsensical, and infectious.

The Dancing Cigarettes were Michael Gitlin (guitar and vocals), Emily Bonus (bass and vocals), Tim Noe (keyboards, guitar, and saxophone), Jaclyn Oddi (keyboards), John Terrill (drums and guitar), and G. Don Trubey (saxophone and drums). Part of the band’s mystique is due to the fact that they never released a LP during their active years. One has to scramble across privately distributed cassettes, compilation albums, and live audio to listen to their discography in its entirety. By 1980, they began recording for Gulcher Records, Bloomington’s original D.I.Y. record label. In 1981, Gulcher Records released a compilation record, Red Snerts: The Sound of Gulcher LP. This album featured a number of local acts, including the Gizmos, Dow Jones and the Industrials, the Panics, and the Dancing Cigarettes. Again in 1981, The Dancing Cigarettes released their first 7” EP, also off of Gulcher Records. In 1981 and 1982, their music was included on Bloomington-based new wave cassette compilations. The Dancing Cigarettes released their first CD in 1996. The Dancing Cigarettes, The School of Secret Music included live and studio recordings from 1980-1983. Most recently, in 2002, Gulcher released an additional CD of 1980-1981 recordings and live performances.

The Dancing Cigarettes helped to establish a local scene of creative weirdos and outsiders. On the notes of their 2002 album, long time fan Carrol Krause explained the importance of the band to the larger scene. “It definitely wasn’t music that made it easy to hold your partner close while smoothly gliding across the floor. This music was meant for solo dancers. We invented new ways of dancing that accommodated the band’s staccato rhythms, using all four limbs to flail, spar, circle the dance floor, and stamp rhythmically.” Because their music was rhythmically unpredictable, it was easy to tell diehard fans from the newbies at live shows. Those who knew to anticipate the false stops and unexpected breakdowns would move their limbs accordingly. The Cigarettes performed in venues across town, most notably the Bluebird (which is still in business), and the Second Story (the upstairs of Bullwinkle’s, a popular bar that provided a safe space and catered to a primarily LGBTQ+ clientele).

While I doubt that anybody outside of Indiana has heard of the Dancing Cigarettes, locally, people still worship these punk legends. Earlier this year, I attended an art exhibition – The History of Indiana Punk told through Band Posters. The Dancing Cigarettes were one of the most well-represented bands at this event.  Weirdo pioneers of a truly unique local scene, the memory of the Dancing Cigarettes is held close by those that were there to witness the magic in person and have since been lucky enough to participate in its fandom.

 

PLAYING BLOOMINGTON: Punks Give Back @ The Root Cellar

Punks Give Back! Bloomington is a local branch of Punks Give Back!, a national, not-for-profit organization that supports local artists and organizers to raise money for local nonprofit organizations. Punks Give Back! Bloomington organizes a monthly event with music and poetry in order to channel funds into various organizations that support local underserved and underprivileged populations. On March 4, this organization’s first event raised money in support of the UndocuHoosier’s fund. UndocuHoosier Alliance is a group that serves the needs of undocumented people at Indiana University and in Bloomington. The second event, held after Bloomington’s Zinefest, raised funds for the Bloomington Anarchist Black Cross and local prisoner support efforts. On Thursday, I caught Punks Give Back No. 3, a benefit show for the All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington. This center provides a number of services to people in the community: free pregnancy tests, peer counseling, diapers and baby clothes, abortion funding, condoms, adoption information, support groups, and referrals.

The third installment of Punks Give Back! Bloomington was held at the Root Cellar. Accessible via two different alleyways and through a parking lot, the Root Cellar occupies the basement of Farm, a popular restaurant in town. One has to walk through an unmarked door at the bottom of a flight of stairs to enter the Root Cellar. Despite its conspicuous location, The Root Cellar, with its hipster-meets-rustic-grime aesthetic, is a popular spot for those who prefer to avoid the more mainstream bars that cater to Indiana University’s overwhelmingly present Greek life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because a portion of the night’s drink sales was donated to the Resource Center, I felt less shitty about ordering a “Bill effing Murray” before I settled into a corner of the Root Cellar for the poetry portion of the night. Punks Give Back No.3 featured 8 poets: Dan “Sully” Sullivan, Mobe, Bella Bravo, Jasper Wirthshafter, T.K. Williams, Michelle Gottschich, Emily Corwin, and Eszi Waters. After a brief introduction, each poet took the stage for about five minutes. Talking points ranged from love and heartbreak to racism and gender equality. Typical to most Bloomington shows that I’ve been to, the audience, which was already impressive for a mid-week event opener, was supportive and respectful of the performers.

After the poetry had finished, the crowd reshuffled while the stage was prepared for the musical acts to come. I grabbed my second drink and wormed my way into the back of the standing room for Yalla Stockings, the first local musician of the night. Yalla Stockings is the solo venture of British transplant Charlie Jones. With a synth pad, a looping pedal, and her own airy vocals, Jones constructed ethereal, dreamy, meandering synth pop with haunting, repetitive vocal motifs. As the music began to unfold at the root cellar, the audience was physically responsive, despite the fact that Yalla Stockings was the most low-key act of the night. Yalla Stockings is not yet available for streaming anywhere on the Internet, so one has to come to Bloomington if they want to experience it.

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Doozie performing at the Root Cellar. All photos by Rebecca Kunin.

Next up was Doozie, a power pop foursome with a 90s retro grunge aesthetic. Their music is unapologetically straightforward, simple yet captivating, and extremely personal. The audience bopped around to Doozie’s upbeat and catchy riffs, yet from where I was standing the band seemed to be coolly unaware that there was any audience at all. The guitar player had his back to the audience for the entirety of the performance, while the other members seemed to be equally wrapped up in their own actions. Doozie released their first demo back in June 2016. It is available for streaming below.

New Wave-influenced spooky synthpunk band Spacer was the next act to perform. Spacer is comprised of Connor Martin (drums), Olivia Graham (bass), and Hannah Hadley (synth). During their performance, Hadley’s vocal timbre fluctuated between heightened speech, breathy soprano, and quavering vibrato over the confusing and intricate cacophony of noise. Spacer was an eclectic and energetic mixed bag of Hadley’s vocal styling, grungy baselines, spacey synth, and bouncy drum patterns. Spacer has been busy recording and performing all across town. Their most recent single, “Place 2 Go,” dropped this Saturday, May 20.

For the final act of the evening, Jessica Knight (bass and vocals) and Cassie Staub (guitar and synth) of Looming performed a stripped down version of their music. Looming is an indie rock group based out of Springfield, Illinois. At this point in the night, the crowd had thinned out, which is unsurprising as local bands often draw in bigger crowds than the larger touring acts do. But this intimate version of Looming was not to be missed. Its minimalism highlighted Knight’s sharp and punchy vocal performance, which somehow managed to straddle the line between aggression and introspection. Looming just wrapped up their countrywide tour, but their music is available for streaming via Bandcamp.

Punks Give Back! Bloomington has so far helped to show that when the world seems like an overwhelmingly terrifying and unjust place, real work can be done at the local level to help improve people’s experiences. In a state (and country) where the rights and safety of women, LGBTQ+ people, Muslim-Americans, undocumented people, and people of color have been recently under attack, it is hopeful to see local musicians and activists use their art to push back, even if it does sometimes just feel like a drop in a bucket.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

PLAYING BLOOMINGTON: Why Bloomington? An Intro to Hoosier Punk

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MX-80 Out of the Tunnel LP
The back cover of MX-80 Sound LP Out of the Tunnel. Photo by Kim Torgerson (c. 1980)

I moved from Brooklyn, New York to Bloomington, Indiana in the fall of 2014 to pursue a PhD in Ethnomusicology at Indiana University – in a nutshell, to study music within its cultural context. Coming from a background in music journalism and with a life-long interest in punk and underground music, I began to explore the Bloomington punk scene. What I found was a scene that looked nothing like the one I had encountered in New York, and certainly wasn’t trying to be that. I decided to make the local underground and punk scene the topic of my academic research and dissertation.

I include this information about my process and position not for narcissistic reasons, but for clarity and transparency.  Who we are – our positions, our experiences, our backgrounds – largely determines how we write, who we write about, and why we write. This column, therefore, is my interpretation and presentation of the Bloomington underground music and punk scene, and all of the weirdos and misfits that constitute it. But enough about me. What follows here is a (very) condensed history of the Bloomington punk scene and why it is so incredibly awesome.

1974. Patti Smith recorded Horses, the Ramones began playing at CBGB, and the New York Dolls released their second studio album. That same year, guitarist Bruce Anderson and bassist Dale Sophiea formed MX-80 Sound and began to perform their unique brand of art rock at local music venues and houses across Bloomington. By 1976, they were circulating a fanzine, Big Hits. Considered by many to be the pioneers of the local underground music scene, MX-80 was soon joined by proto-punk band the Gizmos (the first iteration), who began recording with Gulcher Records in 1976.

Collaboration took place between Bloomington punks and the punks of nearby Lafayette and Indianapolis. From Lafayette, post-punk band Dow Jones and the Industrials recorded a split LP, Hoosier Hysteria (1980), with the Gizmos (the second iteration). Bands from Bloomington and Lafayette traveled to Indianapolis to perform at the legendary music venue, Crazy Al’s. The Gizmos (1), MX-80 Sound, and then later The Gizmos (2), Dow Jones and the Industrials, The Zero Boys, The Jetsons, The Last Four (4) Digits, The Premature Babies, The Panics, Latex Novelties, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Dancing Cigarettes, and many others, constituted a vibrant scene that is still celebrated today through band poster exhibits, roundtables about the history of Gulcher records, reunion concerts, re-issues, and compilation CDs.

When listening to early Bloomington punk, the Gizmos’ (1978-1981) album is telling: Never Mind the Sex Pistols, Here’s the Gizmos. While the Bloomington and Indiana dirtbags were certainly influenced by the dirtbags in New York, London, and Los Angeles, they distanced themselves from these powerful urban centers and created a sound that was distinctively hoosier.

This remains true in 2017. A few times a week, punk bands can be found performing in houses and D.I.Y. venues across town, such as The Bishop, Blockhouse, The Void, Rhino’s, and The Backdoor. Bloomington is home to a number of punk and indie labels: The Secretly Group, Winspear, Plan-it-x Records, and Let’s Pretend Records are a few. Bloomington’s Landlocked Music and TD’s CDs & LPs sell local punk music, which is broadcasted through Bloomington radio stations WIUX and WFHB. 

A thriving zine scene augments and documents the music. The volunteer-run Boxcar Books and Community Center boasts one of the most impressive commercial zine collections that I have ever encountered. Zines like Neurodivergence and Shut Up and Listen are produced and celebrated through youth zine-writing workshops and zinefests.

It should be clear at this point that the Bloomington punk scene is rad; that such an unassuming Midwestern town has such a deep history with punk music, and that the scene is still flourishing today shouldn’t be surprising. My goal for writing this column is to shed a light on the scene itself, and all of the humans that make it special.    [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]