It appears as though we'll have one fewer band to kick around, now that the members of Buck Jones have announced that they will be going their separate ways after January 15, when the group performs for the final time at the Curtain Club. Well, half the band will be splitting up; Burette and Gabrielle Douglas are married, so they're stuck with each other. Buck Jones has a few more gigs left before then, though, including a show with One Ton Records labelmates Fixture at Club Clearview on December 11. No reason has been given for the breakup, coming only a few months after the release of the quartet's third album, Bliss. Which, apparently, was an ironic title...
As one band leaves the scene, another one has returned -- however briefly it might be. Actually, two groups are back, thanks to the reappearance of Broose Dickinson. Both of Dickinson's bands, pop poppins and TOOMuch TV, will play shows around these parts in December, since Dickinson is back in town after splitting for New York earlier this year. TOOMuch TV will perform on New Year's Eve at the Curtain Club, while pop poppins will play there on December 25, so adjust your schedules accordingly. That's about all we can say right now, because we don't want tears of joy shorting out our computer. We're expecting Broose's angry homecoming e-mail any day now...
Tripping Daisy frontman Tim DeLaughter will appear on The Adventure Club on KDGE-FM (94.5) on December 12 to debut songs from the band's forthcoming self-titled album and discuss the present and future for Tripping Daisy in the wake of guitarist Wes Berggren's death. The Adventure Club airs every Sunday from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and DeLaughter is scheduled to drop by the studio to chat with host Josh Venable at 7 p.m. This is the first time DeLaughter has spoken publicly about Berggren, with whom he formed Tripping Daisy almost a decade ago. Check it out...
Brave Combo will play its annual assortment of holiday shows, with gigs on December 10 at the Czech Club, December 11 at Rick's Place, and December 17 at Caravan of Dreams. The group's 1991 disc It's Christmas, Man! is still one of the few Christmas albums we can stomach, on a short list that includes Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas. Expect the band's usual, uh, unique take on Christmas classics, among them "We Three Kings Cha Cha Cha," "Silent Night Cha Cha Cha," and various other traditional yuletide carols with "cha cha cha" affixed to the end of their titles...
Speaking of Brave Combo, the band's former percussionist Joe Cripps recently returned from Seattle, where he was recording music for the soundtrack to Lush -- a new film starring Campbell Scott (Singles, The Impostors) -- with ex-Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. Lush will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and both Martin and Cripps will be in attendance. The pair met earlier this year when they were among a group of musicians who traveled to Cuba to collaborate with Cuban artists. Their collaboration looks to be just starting, with plans for a few more soundtrack recordings, as well as a project (still in the planning stages) that would involve Cripps and Martin traveling to several different countries to document native musicians for the Internet...
Hagfish suits up again on December 11 at Trees, headlining a bill that features The Riverboat Gamblers, Slowride, and Clumsy. No word yet as to whether this will be the band's final show, but since they already played one "final show" in April, we wouldn't really believe it if they said it was. Of course, we didn't believe it when Funland said the same thing in 1996, so we don't exactly have the best track record...
In a strange confluence of events, we're able to mention Centro-matic, Legendary Crystal Chandelier, John Freeman, Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, and the Good/Bad Art Collective in the same paragraph. (Had to happen sooner or later.) That's because Centro-matic and LCC, along with Mandarin, Lo-Fi Chorus, and The Cock-Outs -- Freeman's new band with former Bedwetter bassist Colin Jones and ex-Meat Helmets drummer Bill Ivy -- will all be performing at the latest Good/Bad benefit on December 10 at Rubber Gloves. And the next night, Freeman will have one of his short plays, FantasyCon (set at a sci-fi convention in San Antonio in 1983) performed at the Good/Bad space in Denton, with a cast that includes Ivy, as well as various members of the collective. Next week, we'll try to give you Freeman's minute-by-minute schedule...
In case you missed it, Duncan Black and Josh Weber, both former members of Floor 13, were in town last week with their new band, I.C.B.M. The group, based in Chicago, should be back through town early next year...
The Necro Tonz have been released from their contract with Last Beat Records, which means that the band's album -- Welcome to Cocktail Hell, a mix of covers by Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath and Necro Tonz originals -- will have to wait a little longer to come out. If you put your face really close to your monitor, you can hear us holding our breath in anticipation. Actually, it's perfect timing, since singer Colleen Bradford (or Necrophilia, Diva of the Dead, if you buy into her shtick) will be off her feet for three to six months while she is recovering from back surgery. In the meantime, she'll be shopping the disc to record labels and figuring out new Gothic puns to use in e-mails. As in, "fangs so much, darkling." No, Colleen. Thank you.
Send questionably spelled e-mails with atrocious punctuation to Street Beat at [email protected].
