THE KELLEY DEAL 6000,
CORDUROY ASTRONAUTS,
THE HEATHERS
Grog Shop
June 3
A crowd of elbow-to-elbow fans had amassed by the time ex-Breeder Kelley Deal took the Grog Shop stage late Monday night with her band, the Kelley Deal 6000. Wearing a white Grog Shop T-shirt and casual black jeans while cooling off with an occasional swig of Mountain Dew, Deal was a charismatic performer for the duration of her set. Touring in support of her impressionistic debut CD, GO TO THE SUGAR ALTAR (on her own newly-founded Nice Records label), Deal joked and chatted with the audience between banging out her stylistically diverse tunes. Her stage persona was a refreshing change from that of your more typical, self-absorbed band leaders, and she masterfully utilized the intimacy of a tiny club environment to her advantage as she brought her batch of unorthodox pop to maximum potential.
"Can we turn the lights down a bit?" Deal asked before getting underway, putting a hand over her eyes to block the glare and check out the crowd. And when the harsh red and whites were dimmed to her liking, she gave an approving thumbs-up. "Ready?"
After a cursory sound check, the Kelley Deal 6000 were eager to swing right into the melodious textures and atmospheres of "Canyon" well before the club soundman was, but a couple quick modifications brought Deal's smooth voice to life. And once the tight-knit unit got going, Deal left no doubt who was in control as she playfully imitated co-guitarist Steve Salett's echoed leads on her own six-stringed instrument.
During the jazz-funk of "Sugar," Deal showed off the sultry, rich voice that turned such Breeder ditties like "Cannonball" into the ear candy songs they are. I want to be your girlfriend, she sighed during the refrains while bassist Marty Nedich and drummer Nick Hook kept the sound glued together with hearty rhythm work. "Marooned" and "Mr. Goodnight" were similarly tight pieces that showcased Deal's jangly guitar progressions and finger-picking.
While the scatological lyrics and diverse styles of GO TO THE SUGAR ALTAR highlight Deal's creativity and penchant for unique songwriting, the music will hopefully now serve to distinguish her from twin sister Kim (who now fronts the Amps) and their common Breeder past. In a live setting, Kelley's performance lived up to the hypnotic (and sometimes hallucinogenic) guitar melodies heard on the KD6K disc, and oftentimes surpassed it. Salett's chunky riffing and heavyweight chord contributions even beefed up some of SUGAR ALTAR's weaker, lo-fi cuts and gave Deal that much more freedom to vocalize her way through the exploratory rock sounds. "Trixie Delicious" was especially powerful when Deal juxtaposed Salett's cool-headed singing with her own piercing squeals during the chorus as the band worked its chemistry to the furious hilt.
Other hot spots of the KD6K set featured the raw attitude of "A Hundred Tires" and the twisted dementia of "Nice," during which Deal portrayed more sex and drug-addled narrators quite convincingly.
The band invited members from opening act Heathers to join in as they ventured to road test a couple new songs not appearing on Kelley's debut. These tunes exuded the same playful energy that typifies Deal's music. If not for the late start and a few instances of muddy sound, obnoxious feedback and shoddy mixing (all of which could be counted on the fingers of both hands), it was a near-perfect outing for Deal and her cohorts. The attentive Monday night Grog Shop crowd had a good opportunity to experience this half of the Breeders coming into her own.
Cleveland-based Corduroy Astronauts got off to a late start, and their grunge-heavy set was plagued by tiresome tunings and sound adjustments between almost every song. Specializing in gloom rock with a hook, Sharon Yoo (guitar and vocals), James McDonough (bass) and Dale Ursick (drums) rode out waves of feedback that combined a Pixies-like approach with a Smashing Pumpkins' execution. Yoo's confident voice and ethereal guitar excursions alone were enough to please those who had arrived early enough to check out the Astronauts. With a little more technique (like that displayed in their quick, dramatic stop-time arrangements) and less amplified shriek, the Corduroy Astronauts might settle themselves in a fixed orbit on the music map.
Local quintet the Heathers followed on the bill with a lively, hour-long set of rambunctious grindcore from their forthcoming debut, I CAME I SAID. With the sole male member of the band pummeling away at 100 mph behind his drum kit, the remaining Heathers worked their Go-Go's-meets-White Zombie image through punchy numbers about such dinner topics as bisexual teenage pyromaniacs. Lead singer Gina J. was an effective focal point with her short-cropped blonde 'do and colorful arm tattoos. She yelped away to such tunes as "Chicken Boy" and "Hitchhiker" while fellow femmes kept up the brisk pace, throwing in a harmony vocal (or yell) here and there.
The Heathers have a powerful weapon in Gina J. and their manic set of gutsy, minimalist punk made for fine entertainment on what would have been just another bland and boring Monday night.