Now that it's approaching its second birthday, we're pretty well accustomed to seeing Three Links punch above its weight with the shows it books. It's what they do. But on Saturday it will host a mountain of local show spearheaded by the legendary Dallas band Baboon. Joining them will be no less than Deathray Davies, Corn Mo and Nervous Curtains.
Why do that bands matter so much? For starters, this bill represents sections of the local music scene going back a quarter century. With the exception of Deathray Davies, these bands all have deep roots in the seminal '90s Denton music scene, but have since evolved and travelled far beyond the college town borders. Their influence can be felt in all corners of the Dallas and North Texas music scenes.
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Baboon has defied the odds of band longevity. Forming in 1991 and going through a variety of minor lineup changes over the course of their 24 years together, the current five-member incarnation includes all four founding members. Baboon only has three albums and a number of singles to their credit. But after all that time they still retain the same penchant for anthemic post punk. It pays lip service to their roots, but at the end of the day they still sound like Baboon. It has been a decade since Baboon released any new material, which did not seem to bother the sold out crowd at their Three Links show last year who were singing along to almost every song in their set.
Baboon does not play out as much nowadays, but they do keep busy around town. Guitarist Mike Rudniki has been spotted playing in Myopic and Warsaw, a Joy Division tribute band. Co-guitarist James Henderson puts out original stuff as Sunday Actors and plays in the DOMA-nominated Smiths tribute band, Panic.
Not much has been heard from the Deathray Davies camp since their well-received last album, 2005's The Kick and the Snare. (Yes, that's a whole decade ago now.) It has been over two years since they graced a stage in Dallas. Shortly after the release of their last album, bandleader John Dufilho ended up joining with Elephant Six collective mainstays Apples in Stereo on drums which of course lead to extensive touring not leaving as much time for his flagship project. Longtime member Jason Garner has also been staying busy playing drums for Polyphonic Spree.
Dufilho has a reputation for being a very prolific songwriter, but ran into some turbulence with his last album attempt. Dufilho explains, "We recorded our sixth one years ago, but making it drove me bang my head against the wall crazy. So it's still shelved. Hopefully it'll see daylight someday." Despite the hold up on his own record, Dufilho is still finding himself in other collaborations with John Singer Sergeant for a second album, a soon to be released debut album from Cliffs and a third album with Cantina.
Corn Mo relocated to New York over a decade ago. Since then he has been on tour with They Might Be Giants, sang on a Ben Folds album Supersunnyspeedgraphic, popped up playing accordion on the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players' DVD release of On and Off Broadway, performed on Jimmy Kimmel and countless other feats. He's everywhere and it should not be surprising. He still has the power ballad vocal that could give Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson a run for his money. Still armed with accordion. Since his departure from North Texas Corm Mo has released 6 albums. There of this albums with his band .357 Lover.
Nervous Curtains have been pushing their guitar-less post-punk agenda since 2008 when Sean Kirkpatrick was wrapping up his involvement in the Paper Chase to lead his own band. The Curtains toured heavy behind their 2010 debut Out of Sync and sophomore effort 2012's "Fake infinity". After a two-year break they are prepping their new album Con for this upcoming June. According to front man Kirkpatrick, "The current live show is heavy on Con material, which is more rhythmic and aggressive than our previous material." Their recent live sets show the band pushing deeper into darker synth punk and krautrock territory.
This is about as old school of a local show as it gets. This show is kind of a crash course in the deep reaches of Dallas music history. It's nice to know that in this age of instant indie stars with short lifespans there are still regional bands that get local fans wanting to show rabid support for the local flavor. It would be in your best interest to buy tickets early or show up early if you want to actually get into the show.
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