When is a local band not a local band? No, it's not a trick question; we had too much to drink last night--by last night, we actually mean the last two to three months--so we're making it easy on you and us. The answer: A local band is not a local band when it moves. (See how easy that was?) Such is the case with The Cush, the new outfit featuring, almost exclusively, Gabby and Burette Douglas, whom you more than likely remember from Buck Jones. Yes, you do. It wasn't that long ago. Really. The couple is planning to relocate to Vermont in July, a move that's actually been coming for some time.
"We've been wanting to move to the Northeast for a while," Burette says. "We have some friends that moved to Vermont. We went to visit them and we fell in love with it. We'll have Boston three hours away and New York about six hours away, which will make touring around there really nice. We're both in the mood for some new scenery, so we figured this is a good time for us to make a move."
Though the Douglases are skipping town, they are considerate enough to leave behind something to remember them by. The Cush's self-titled debut, recorded at home by Gabby and Burette in the last year or so and mixed by Matt Pence, should be available in the next few weeks. The duo has also hired a supporting cast, including Pinkston drummer Ben Burt, keyboard player Chris Brodie and Doosu's Chad Deatley on bass, guitar and more keyboards. The band will play its first live gig June 7 at Trees (opening for the Earl Harvin Trio), and it'll pretty much be its last live gig, too, at least around here for a while. An in-store at Good Records is planned for later in June once the album is out, but if you miss the Trees shindig, you're not going to get a second chance anytime soon. Just keep that in mind. Other things to keep in mind: Free liquor isn't always free, dentists are worse than doctors and lawyers combined, and America is good and stuff. Pretty sure we're forgetting some things...
If it feels like we've been talking about the pending release of Fury III's debut full-length for quite some time, you're not imagining things. We have a problem with shooting off our mouths with nothing to back it up. Once, we said we were going to start training for a marathon and then started smoking again the next week. Rarely, if ever, do we make sense; probably should have said that earlier. So we won't try to predict when the Fury III disc will be in stores or at shows or wherever Steve Nutt decides to sell it. Eventually is our best guess, and Nutt would probably say the same if you asked him. You can do just that on June 1, when Fury III opens for The BellRays at Club Clearview.
"We'll actually be playing some new material on this gig--I'm really looking forward to it," Nutt says. "The new lineup is working out great, and the album is inching towards the light of day. Some kind of C-section may be in order." While you're asking Nutt about his album and when it's coming out and other relevant topics, you might want to bring up his pre-release plans. Which are? "In the meantime, I'm stuffing myself full of beer and anything fried," Nutt says, "hoping to be amazingly fat by the time it is released." Sounds like a winner. Or an episode of The Simpsons. Or maybe a little from column A and a little from column B...
Paul Bassman gets the job done, no matter if you happen to like the job he's doing (manager) or who he's doing it for (Flickerstick and Drowning Pool). Following F-Stick's high-profile (and highly entertaining/embarrassing) stint on VH1's Bands on the Run, Drowning Pool has been deemed Buzzworthy by MTV and MTV2, meaning you can expect to see the quartet's creative facial hair all over both channels for the next month or so. We're not saying it's Bassman's doing, but his track record is starting to speak for itself. And it has a mouth like a drunken sailor. Sinner, the band's debut for Wind-Up Records--produced by Jay Baumgardner, who has done the same for Papa Roach, among others--hits stores on June 5 and will no doubt do quite well. After all, the disc is aimed at a market that only uses its ears for piercings and possibly to hold up a pair of ridiculous sunglasses. Drowning Pool has also secured a slot on the summer Ozzfest extravaganza, which is like sending a mugger to the roughest prison in the country. It only makes them better criminals...
If you want a better hard-rock band, look no further than Dixie Witch, which released its debut, Into the Sun, last week on Brainticket Records. The power-power-power trio is off now on its first U.S. tour (with Alabama Thunderpussy and Suplecs) to drum up support for the disc, a seven-week excursion that will take them from coast to coast and all points in between. If you're a fan of straight-up rock and like the idea of a burly, bushy drummer working a double-kick drum and singing at the same time, pick up a copy of Into the Sun and play it loud, preferably with a speaker aimed at your neighbor's house. And really early in the morning, say 5 a.m. or earlier. People like that. And welcome Dixie Witch home in a couple of months, when it plays at Curtain Club on July 29. Just do it, and don't question us. We fold like a pair of pants when that happens.