School starts soon and Shanghai is back to the business of rock. It warms my heart every year to see tanned English teachers fresh off their Bali vacation with one dreadlock. Then there are the waves of Chinese university students. After two and half months spent locked up at their parents' house in Ningbo, you know those crazy kids are going to be out all night eating congee and drinking juice. Summer I hardly knew you. With the arrival of the new school year it’s also time for the weekly influx of international acts that grace Shanghai stages every Thursday through Saturday. This week is no joke with some of the best indie rock bands in the world playing. First on Thursday we have dance punk machine !!! (Chk Chk Chk) competing with a DJ set from fellow early 2000’s hit maker Bloc Party. Friday is Brooklyn based noise rock trio Liars competing with hipster Finnish alt metal band HIM. Saturday we have a little local flavor with the Rat On Monthly rock showcase featuring surf rock gods The Psyders, synth queens Next Years Love, post rockers Mo Fei, and Dahlia Rosea. Today I’m going to share some of my favorite tunes from these bands along with some back stories. Tighten up those skinny jeans and poke the lenses out of those frames, it’s time to get indie.
!!!
Every generation has defining bands that shaped the landscape of music to come for the next decade or so. !!! is one of those bands. Formed on the mean streets of Sacramento where Arnold Schwarzenegger used to run California with an iron fist, this band really kicked things off with their 2003 release "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard." Just like old punk rockers ask "where were you in ’77 when The Ramones first played?" everyone remembers their first !!! show when dance punk was made funky. I was in the Bay Area at a time when the word "hella" went before every description of daily life. “Those free trade coffee beans are hella tight”. Needless to say it was refreshing having a band force the boring stiff indie rockers into a dancing fury of funky beats and hard-hitting bass hooks. Famed for having a team of 7 – 10 people on stage at once contributing to the madness, let’s see if the band still has it over 10 years later. The show is organized by New Noise, who brought in all those slow, boring post-rock acts like Tortoise and Album Leaf. Does this mean New Noise is turning a new leaf into the dance rock scene? Hopefully so!!! !!! - Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard
Liars
Not one to be outdone, the next night Modern Sky is also bringing over one of the most influential indie dance rock bands of all time -- Liars. Formed in the hipster capital of America, Brooklyn, their debut album They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top was a call to arms for the slacker rock world. What is with all these long album names? Anyhow the more conventional three-piece rock setup of Liars didn’t stop them from creating some of the best experimental music that holds up to this very day. While panned by critics, their second album "They Were Wrong, So We Drowned" which was a conceptual piece based on German witch trials, stands up as one of the 2000’s best experimental/no wave rock records. While Liars do have dance songs it’s important to note they come from a strong post punk school of thought were long extended guitar drones could enter the set at a moments notice. Now with seven full length albums under the mega label MUTE, it’s clear these kids are card carrying members of the rock union. Ticket prices are a mere 150RMB presale making the show manageable on the pocket. So even if you blew your weekly allowance on !!! the night before just beg your parents to drop another 150RMB for what’s sure to be a great night.
HIM
Self described Love-Metal but also toted as Goth n’ Roll or Scandinavian Blues, the Finnish band HIM has crossed many genres and sold millions of albums in the process. Originally named His Infernal Majesty, which is taken from Anton LaVey’s Satanic Bible, the band has received reviews from both indie rock and metal magazines alike. Always a little too soft for metal media and a little too hard for the mainstream, it’s been hard for HIM to achieve critical success. But the people can’t be wrong as it’s no easy feat to become a double platinum band in this day and age of musical piracy. To me, HIM’s music is most comparable to the 90’s Alt. Rock explosion of bands like Alice in Chains. Even though I’m not usually a fan of these crossover metal attempts (let’s all try to forget rap rock) I was a fan of their early material and possibly a closet fan of the more polished later work. Here's one of their earliest songs "Serpent Ride" compared to a more polished song "Stigmata Diaboli". HIM – Serpent Ride HIM – Stigmata Diaboli
Rat On Monthly
On Saturday let’s take things back to the motherland with another installation of Rat On Swamp Dog. This monthly rock gig has become one of the best showcases of local talent under one roof. This week features one of my favorite new bands The Psyders. Lead by the infamous Misuzu, who shreds on guitar like it’s his last night alive, and backed up by one of the most on-point drummers in Shanghai, the band is heavily instrumental with strong garage rock influences. If you haven’t gotten a chance to see them live yet then don’t miss this Saturday’s show. Also on the bill are the all-girl all-Shanghainese dark synth band Next Years Love who recently started playing weekly shows again. The bill is rounded out by post rock kids Mo Fei and alt rockers Dahlia Rosea. This show is a mere 40rmb. The Psyders - Live Hot damn that is just a ton of good indie rock hitting the streets this week. Luckily I’ve been growing my bangs out and just bought a bunch of ironic t-shirts two sizes too small. Looks like I’m ready. ***
