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LOCAL BUSINESSMEN New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus shills esoteric punk ANDREW CRISP
Glen Rock, N.J.-based, punk troupe Titus Andronicus has a love-hate relationship with the Garden State—including Bruce Springsteen. “Don’t tell me I was born free,” sings Patrick Stickles on the band’s new album, Local Business. “That joke has been old since Titus Andronicus is out to prove there’s more to New Jersey than The Boss. high school.” Yet Stickles can’t help but channel and lambaste The Boss as he struggles to make a case through the name of the record, which has a one of William Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays. that there’s more to New Jersey than Springsconfluence of meanings for Stickles. “I don’t think you need to know about teen. Boise Weekly caught up with Stickles on “We used to sing about New Jersey a lot [those references] to understand the music. I a cross-country tour two days after Hurricane when I was living there as a younger man,” he mean, you can just bop your head to it if you Sandy rocked New Jersey. “I could hope to get back quickly but that’s want to, but the opportunity to learn is there,” said. “This album, I mostly wrote while living in Brooklyn, which definitely informed what not going to help me,” said Stickles. “Hopeful- he said. “You can lead a horse to water, but I was doing there. It’s different living there, you can’t make him drink.” ly by the time I get back, this whole hurricane being a smaller part of a larger organism. ... Scholarly influences are less apparent on will be just a memory.” That’s definitely one of the themes; it’s one of Local Business, which heralds a return to the Local Business, which came out Oct. 23 the meanings of Local Business.” garage-rock vibe of the band’s debut album. via XL Recordings, reconciles two sides of the Throughout the conversation, Stickles made “I think it’s different in that it’s a little bit band. Stickles said the album fuses in-studio references to commerce and nailed down a more of a stripped-down affair,” he said. “It’s work with live performance and that the band list of tenets of the band’s credo. Honesty is a a little less grandiose than the last one.” is now consistently replicating the record on part of it, he said, but also “rocking, intensity, Local Business dispenses with the bagpipe stage nightly. keeping a low overhead from a business angle, solos, guest musicians and Ken Burns-style “We recorded it mostly live so there was a celebrating the little guy—the forgotten man or spoken-word tracks found on The Monitor. very long process of us just playing the songs woman at the bottom of the economic ladder.” Stickles explains his new approach on “Ecce over and over again, like 100 times, over a seLocal Business is also more political, the Homo,” the first track on the album, singing: ries of a couple of weeks,” he said. “We kinda “OK, I think by now we’ve established / Every- opposite of the “corporate ogre,” of which banged our heads against the wall for a while Stickles said he isn’t a fan. thing is inherently worthless.” to get things right.” “Local businesses are the lifeblood of “All that stuff has fallen by the wayside After adding two members, the band is American capitalism, in my mind,” said Sticknow. No spoken word, no crazy instruments, now a quintet. It previously garnered critical les. “Though that’s not really how it’s worked just plain old guitars. I think that the guitar acclaim with two solid albums: the raw reout so much lately, it’s important that people cord The Airing of Grievances (2008), which is still vital. We play guitars on stage, you understand, so it was important for us to make can get empowered to do their own thing, to was followed by the band’s critically aca record that was more be their own bosses.” claimed 2010 release, While on tour, Titus Andronicus encourages like what we do live,” The Monitor. With Art Fad and Ceremony, Saturday, fans on Twitter to use the hashtag #localhe said. The Monitor told Nov. 17, 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show, businessforever to give a shout-out to the best With a new pareda tale loosely based $12 adv., $14 door. businesses in their towns. down approach, on the events of the THE CRUX “It’s to get people excited about the local Stickles said there were American Civil War. 1022 W. Main St., 503-784-1182 more opportunities for business in their community,” he said. “And Named after one of the With James Plane Wreck and Ceremony, the band’s personalities it’s good for us because we’re essentially Union’s ironclad warSaturday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m. doors, to shine through. Previ- tourists.” ships, the album was 8 p.m. show, $12 adv., $14 door. Titus Andronicus rolls into Boise Saturday, ously, his songwriting ambitiously filled with NEUROLUX Nov. 17. The gang will take the stage twice in was cloaked in metadubs of actors portray111 N. 11th St., 208-343-0886, phor, he said, but that’s one evening, first at The Crux for an all-ages ing William Lloyd neurolux.com. set, then around the corner at Neurolux. a trick Local Business Garrison, Jefferson doesn’t rely on. Stickles Asked if he thought playing all-ages shows is Davis, Walt Whitman doesn’t waste time telling how he feels, instead important, Stickles said emphatically, “Yes.” and Abraham Lincoln. But those “bells and “To not do all-ages shows is a form of he acquaints listeners with the reality of growwhistles,” as Stickles has called them, didn’t ing up in the shadow of New York City on the age discrimination, and that’s got no place lend themselves to the gritty reality of touring. track, “In a Big City,” and with the pain of his in punk—discrimination of any kind,” he Still, Titus Andronicus has always been said. “It’s supposed to be for everybody to esoteric. The name comes from Stickles’ varied struggle on “My Eating Disorder.” enjoy.” The album’s wanderings are tied together interest in literature, borrowing the name of
Red Fang will bare its teeth at Boise.
RED HANDS AND RED FANG In this column, we’ve tracked the progress of the debut album from local band and world-class slowpokes Red Hands Black Feet. Consistently, the record has taken longer than BW reported it would, something that irks the bejeezus out of us—not just because we hate being wrong, but because we would like to listen to it. And as loath as we are to report on the status yet again and be inaccurate, a little birdy who plays guitar in the band swears it is now just down to mastering, and the album release is tentatively scheduled for December. As The Who said, we “pray we don’t get fooled again.” Another thing we were wrong about was Portland, Ore., metal wizards Red Fang. After the band’s mind-warpingly good performance at Neurolux last spring, we said the likelihood of seeing it in a club setting again was slim. We were wrong. Red Fang returns to Neurolux for a show Wednesday, Nov. 21, with another band named after colored mouth enamel: Black Tusk. The show starts at 7 p.m. and costs $13. Lord Dying is also on the bill. Another thing returning to Boise is Skate Night, the weekly night when you can pretend you’re still a high-school punk instead of an aging one. Skate Night goes down Wednesdays at The Shredder, with tunes courtesy of DJ Auz and half off on drinks for those shredding the skate ramp. Another band returning to The Shredder is Seattle hip-hop group The Knux, which has performed its signature mix of alt-rock and hip-hop with everyone from Lupe Fiasco and The Roots to Travis Barker of Blink 182. That show goes down Tuesday, Nov. 20, at 9 p.m and costs $5. Heibarger and The Gunfighters open. And finally, Boise is getting its second dose of “the invasion.” This time the attack will come from eastern Oregon Friday, Nov. 16. That’s the night that bands Sons of Guns, James Dean Kindle & The Eastern Oregon Playboys, Correspondence School and Echo Returns will schlep over the border and set up shop at Red Room, courtesy of the invasion-loving folks at Evil Wine. That show goes down at 7:30 p.m. and costs $5. —Josh Gross
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