Local track review: "The Cold" by Cavalcade

This month's featured track comes from Lansing's own psychedelic metal rockers Cavalcade. More astute readers will recognize this tune as a cover of Small Brown Bike's song "The Cold" from their 1999 album Our Own Wars. This track can be found on the recently released compilation Secret Identities: Lansing Covers Lansing, spearheaded by LansingMusic.TV head honcho Sean Bradley and released on Good Time Gang Recordings. The compilation features all manner of great local Lansing talent covering some of their favorite Lansing-based artists. The Plurals covering a country ballad by Flatfoot is worth the price of admission alone. If this piques your local interest, download the album at secretidentities.bandcamp.com or, if you're a dinosaur like me, head into East Lansing and grab a copy at The Record Lounge, Flat, Black, and Circular, or East Grand Record Store.

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Local Spotlight: The Cheap Girls
New record deal, new album

"Oh, you must know Cheap Girls!" If you're in a band and you're out on the road, this is the very first thing you'll hear after you say "we're from Lansing." These dudes (Brothers Ben and Ian Graham, on bass/vocals and drums respectively and Adam Aymor on guitar) have been touring like mad since forming in 2007. They've circled the U.S. multiple times and have even played the U.K. and parts of Europe. All that roadwork has made them the biggest thing to come out of Lansing since the Meatmen. (Ok, they really didn't have much competition, but still!) Along the way they've released two full-length LPs (2008's Find Me a Drink Home and 2009's My Roaring 20s) and a pile of seven-inch records. 2012 promises more of the same as the guys hit the road in support of their Rise Records debut Giant Orange, due out on Tuesday, Feb. 21 (yup, that Rise Records, home of Attack! Attack!). They'll be playing a record release show in Lansing at Mac's Bar on Feb. 17 with support from local rockers the Hat Madder. Not only will you be able to pick up the new record a few days before the street date, but it'll be your last chance to see the Cheap Girls locally for a while: They'll be hitting the road with Cleveland's own Sidekicks for a run of springtime U.S. dates, and if this year is anything like the last few, Cheap Girls won't be around Lansing too much. Catch 'em while you can.

Since the summer of 2008, a collective force of Lansing hip-hop heads have been pooling their resources in hopes of revitalizing the rap scene in Mid-Michigan. That rhythmical force is The Blat! Pack, a multi-faceted crew of 10 people, a mish mash of emcees, vocalists, producers, DJs, artists, radio personalities and writers.

Area emcee JYoung the General (aka Jahshua Smith) was among the BLAT Pack's busiest artists last year. He played a high-energy show at SXSW, received mentions from XXL and MTV and dropped the Black History Year Installment 2 EP, a free download at blatpack.com.

REVUE spoke with JYoung — here's what he had to say.

Tell us about Black History Year Installment, what were you going for on the EP?
What we did with volume two is similar to its predecessor, we gave a scholastic feel to the music, where you can teach people, regardless of their background or race, something they usually wouldn't learn about black history in text books.

What are some of the topics covered on the EP?
We touch on slavery as a concept of house workers, versus ones who worked out in the field. We also touch on the gentrification of urban areas like Detroit and Chicago. We talk about the colors of the Pan-African flag: red, black and green ... It's about bringing concepts to life. If you're in school and read it on paper, that's cool. But for a lot of people, giving it a beat and lyricism to it brings those lessons to life for a people who normally wouldn't care.

The BLAT! Pack Showcase Featuring JYoung the General, Philthy, Red Pill, Chell and Yellokake, DJ Carmine, by Hir-O and Kuroioto! Mac's Bar, Lansing Feb. 10, 10 p.m. $5, 18 and over macsbar.com, (517) 484-6795

What emcees have been an influence on you?
A lot of older stuff — like NAS, Jay Z, AZ, and Raekwon. But lately I also like the tonality of Drake's music. With Black History Month it's a lyrical approach. I take nods from Elzhi from Slum Village, Royce Da 5'9", and AZ. Nas' influence never strays far, his multiple-syllable rhyme style.

What do you think about current radio hip hop?
It's good and bad. You have to take all that with a grain of salt. For me, I can say that I identify with about 20 percent of what's on the radio. There are some things I like, but I try not to universally take a dump on any style of music. I'm not all underground and rebellious, but I'm not poppy and mainstream. There's a balance.

How would you describe your stage show?
I like to use every part of the stage. I've been on top of the speakers, there's been times I've hopped on the bar and walked across it, I've crowd surfed. But I have to admit, the first time I tried stage diving I fell right on my back! It's all about theatrics, you have to make them remember you, but it has to be something genuine.

How do you pick and choose your beats?
It just has to hit me. My favorite producer of all time would be Timbaland because of the drums, but number two would be Premier, J Dilla and Pete Rock are on the list. All of those guys have something that's catchy about them. When I work with a lot of underground producers, I have to imagine a concept when I hear the beat. I always have beats, but realistically very few get to the point where I decide, ‘This is a record I want to make.'

A Lot Like Birds Mac's Bar Friday, Jan. 27 All ages, 5 p.m. $8 advance, $10 day of www.macsbar.com

 

"Hey, you wanna start a band?" Drinking Mercury began with this question one faraway day back at Ionia Middle School, when a young Tommy McCord (guitar) asked Kevin Adams (drums) to jam with him after jazz band.

Things didn't take off right away. As most bands do, (especially bands formed in middle school) Drinking Mercury had an awkward adolescence full of seven-string guitars and half-baked stylistic mishmashes. As McCord describes it, they were writing songs that sounded like, "if you take everything that makes The Cars good, and removed it, then added lyrics written by a 14-year-old who isn't sure if he wants to sing like Robert Smith or Billy Corgan, and can't do either."

Most band dudes have funny, self-deprecating stories like this one about their first band. Most band dudes, however, aren't still in that first band. 10 years after that jazz band conversation, McCord and Adams are still quietly plugging away with Drinking Mercury. Through the years they've played some shows, released a few scattered EPs. They've even added a few members, like Michael Boyes on vocals/guitar/ukulele and Timmy "Corncob" Rodriguez on bass, though the band remains true to its original ethos.

"Basically, we always just played whatever we felt like," McCord said.

The proof is with members' extended breaks for other musical projects: Boyes also plays in Josh David & the Dream Jeans and the Hunky Newcomers, Rodriguez fronts The Break-Ups, and McCord plays in multiple Lansing-based bands. Local-music scenesters have probably at least seen him playing guitar in The Plurals. Even with an array of other active bands, Drinking Mercury would always reconvene to jam or play the occasional show.

Though they weren't as productive as their other musical endeavors, they saw no reason to put the project to bed.

"We've always had really good chemistry," Boyes said.

That's evident on their new (and first) full-length album, 2011's Orcades. The bad Cars impersonations are long gone and in their place are dreamy soundscapes, catchy indie rock, Sonic Youth-style guitar attacks and even some singer-songwriterisms, often all piled into the same song.

The band is very proud of the new disc, despite their trademark Midwestern humility.

"Eight years into it, we kind of figured it all out!" McCord said.

So where do the band members see themselves in the next 10 years? That's an easy one, according to Michael Boyes.

"As long as I'm able to still play music, I'm going to be playing music with these guys."

ALBUM REVIEW: Drinking Mercury, Orcades (Good Time Gang) Man, there's somethin' to be said for just lettin' it fly. How many bands out there just get together in the jam room and kick it with no expectations other than havin' a good time with their pals? Oh sure, every band in the world says they do this. Nobody wants it to be known just how calculated and full of artifice this rock ‘n' roll game really is — Bono wasn't born wearin' those shades. So when you stumble upon a band that seems to just genuinely play for the pure enjoyment of making a big loud noise with their guitars (and sometimes a quiet little noise), it's pretty refreshing. On their first full-length (only took ‘em 10 years!) Orcades, Lansing's own Drinking Mercury blow through a whole smorgasbord of styles without ever falling into "name that riff" territory. Sometimes it's big Sonic Youth-y guitar wailing, sometimes it's sensitive Dylan-esque singer-songwritery hoedowns. Heck, they even dabble with a little funk — probably the album's only failed experiment, if you ask me. Mostly they throw it all in the blender, toss it at the wall, and see what sticks. If other folks dig it, good for them. I get the feeling Drinking Mercury would rock in front of three drunken hobos down at the local waterin' hole for the rest of their lives and be fine with that. They play music because they like it, and because they have to. Even though it's not a record full of big choruses and pop hooks, Orcades is a grower with some truly fantastic tunes on it. Well worth checking out.