Wax Tablet
By | July 3, 2012
Heart Shaped Rock |
• As we enter the season of maximum enjoyment and maximum stimulation, now is the time to consider attending the area's music festivals and concert series. Among them, the fourth annual Kah Bang festival in Bangor is indisputably the biggest, with nearly 40 bands over two days and nights (August 10-11). Kah Bang's schedule strikes us as a little different from years past: it offers fewer performances from Maine bands than last year — VOLCANO RABBIT, MILKMAN'S UNION, THIS WAY, SPOSE, CYBORG TRIO, OF THE TREES, and OTHER BONES are set to play — while leaning pretty heavily toward "indie" rock orthodoxy, where dozens of propulsive, aggressively anthemic bands are imported from Boston (Aloud, Animal Talk, No Evil Star) and particularly New York (Late Cambrian, Lights Resolve, the Aviation Orange, Black Taxi, and many more). Left-field highlights include the unique Providence duo Roz Raskin and the Rice Cakes, Nigerian-born go-go rapper and Rick Ross product Wale, and another appearance by the swampy trash-pop duo the Gay Blades, who've played the festival every year since its 2009 inception. And, of course, the Deftones, whom Americans long ago declared the only interesting band to emerge from the '90s nu-metal era (you might be interested that Deftones singer Chino Moreno is forming a band called Palms with three members of post-metal band Isis, including Maine-raised drummer Aaron Harris). They headline Friday, while dubstep producer Bassnectar is Saturday's centerpiece. Day passes start at $35, making the $50 festival pass a steal. Visit kahbang.com for more info.•Everyone knows that PRIME ARTIST will soon be torn down, while no one knows where the dozens of bands rehearsing there will play. It's a vital issue. Nuclear Bruce (drummer of NUCLEAR BOOTS, ears low to the ground) suggests someone should make a video documentary of these final days — not a bad idea from our perch. Another idea, throwing a farewell show, is already in planning stages. On August 10, ARMSTRONG (Prime owner Sean Emmons's band), HEART SHAPED ROCK, and PIGBOAT, the pride of Mark Belanger, who fronted metal band (and Prime renters) Broken Clown in the '90s. Show's at Prime Artist itself — perhaps fittingly, no cover.
•No band in Portland is more fascinating than ALTERED GEE, the city's pre-eminent progressive G-funk duo. They've been playing here and there since the L'Animaux Tryst-released full-length last year, the dizzying blitz of analog synths and retro drum machines that is European Gees, and countless fans already anticipate the next one, titled Rise From Yr Grave, which Sunset Heart Casey McCurry is mixing and mastering. It's out soon — meanwhile, the sample track "Gawdz Hands" is so good it's virtually unlistenable. Some odds you'll find them at the Big Easy's open-mic hip hop night on Wednesdays, but keep visiting damp.bandcamp.com for more info.
Topics:
New England Music News
, This Way, This Way, Pigboat, More 
, This Way, This Way, Pigboat, Pigboat, Milkman’s Union, Milkman’s Union, Spose, Spose, Heart Shaped Rock, Heart Shaped Rock, Less 
