Boise Weekly Vol. 21 Issue 26

Page 25

NOISE/NEWS NOISE 1 , ĂŠ* ,

ALL HANDS (AND FEET) ON BOARD

Rumour has it you need this classic album.

Red Hands Black Feet prepares to drop its debut album

LP STARTER KIT

JOSH GROSS It was around 10 p.m. on Dec. 2 and Boise band Red Hands Black Feet was hard at work preparing for the biggest moment of its career—if drinking PBRs and gooďŹ ng around at the band’s cluttered Bomb Shelter Two practice space can be considered hard at work. “There’s a lot of bands that want to play that show with us, so we better talk cerned about the aborted practice. Larson about that,â€? drummer Jessica Johnson said the band has been playing its songs eventually said, veering the young band long enough that the difference between a back on course. good show and a bad show has more to do The show in question is the release party with what he ate that day than how much for the group’s long-anticipated debut he practices. album, These Things Are Important, which Strangely enough, this devil-may-care apis on Thursday, Dec. 20, at Red Room. And proach is about par for the course. Talented the reason it has been long-anticipated is as its members may be on stage, Red Hands that the band hoped to have the album out Black Feet doesn’t do much to keep pace in time for Treefort Music Fest, back in with the Internet age offstage. March. Clearly, that did not happen. And The band’s music is written using a there were serious questions about whether sort of line-graph that Larson and bassist the band would have it ready in time for Joey Myers employ to illustrate the desired Treefort 2013. peaks and valleys of dramatic tension. The Asked why it took so long, guitarist Eric resulting songs routinely run 10 minutes or Larson simply said, “Life.â€? In addition to numerous overdubs as part longer, using blazing guitar work and solid drum beats to create expansive atmospheric of a nearly self-destructive quest to get it intros that lead to song-length crescendos perfect, “lifeâ€? includes the fact that Larson fronted most of the $2,000-plus in recording as layered as a feature ďŹ lm. Whereas some bands use music to paint a picture, Red costs himself with his late night job slinging Hands Black Feet paints a mural—likely the pizza at Pie Hole. kind you’d see on the side of a mid-’70s van, Over the year the band has been recordwith barbarians challenging the heavens to ing, and the two and half years that preceded it, Red Hands Black Feet built a ďŹ erce a ďŹ stďŹ ght. Myers described the group’s ďŹ rst tour, local following for its sprawling post-rock a Northwest loop dissections of time performed in the and space. summer of 2012, as And that’s why so Red Hands Black Feet album release party with First Borns and Lakefriend, Thursday, something the band many local bands want Dec. 20, 8 p.m., $3. “kind of fucked its to be in on the show. way through.â€? There RED ROOM “You guys just 1519 W. Main St. were three-day gaps want to get drunk, redroomboise.com between dates, nights make a chart of band spent sleeping upright names and point?â€? in Walmart parking Johnson asked. lots and shows that the band booked the The decision was eventually put on hold day of by walking around towns asking if so the band can get back to practicing for there was anywhere to play. the big show. But before it started a single Larson says the band hopes to repeat song, a can of PBR was spilled onto guitarist that route in 2013 but with more shows and Jake Myers’ amp, which promptly stopped working and ended practice for the evening. better planning. He also thinks the album’s release will help better secure shows. “So, this is band practice,â€? Johnson But the problem with all those big plans joked on the way out the door. is the band took so long recording its debut None of the band members were conWWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M

Red Hands Black Feet: post-rock pinball wizards.

that it’s already focusing on the follow-up: a concept album about space travel called Hail Sagan. Larson even said that as much as he is looking forward to it, he also kind of just wants the album release over with. “I don’t want to say I’m tired of [the songs on These Things Are Important], I’m just really looking forward to new songs,â€? he said. But Larson also admits that work on the album took so long that he started to lose perspective. “Sometimes I forget what it sounds like when I’m playing it, and then I listen back, it’s like, ‘Fuck, yeah, that’s cool,’â€? Larson said. Another thing keeping the band hooked is that These Things are Important will be the ďŹ rst album release for everyone involved in Red Hands Black Feet, which is hardly an everyday moment. The release is especially big for Johnson, who said her parents are less-than thrilled about her ambitions. Though her time spent playing in a marching band made her stick work in Red Hands Black Feet the envy of many of Boise’s young drummers, she said her family would have preferred that she pursued piano. “I ďŹ nally have something to show for my almost 13 years of playing drums,â€? she jokes. Even though local interest in the album is high, These Things Are Important isn’t likely to shoot to the top of the charts or allow Larson to step down from Pie Hole anytime soon. But he and the rest of the band all said that getting the album out, ďŹ nally, is enough for now. “If I can look back on it in a few years and not be embarrassed by it, and say, ‘Oh, this lead us somewhere,’â€? Larson said. “That’s success.â€?

Kids these days—long written off as a “lost causeâ€? by curmudgeons—are turning in a large number of Christmas requests for turntables, meaning there may still be hope. But the problem these whippersnappers are running into is that, unlike that Internet they are always chattering on about, music is not immediately available at the click of a mouse on a turntable. They have to have a physical copy of the record they want to hear. But one can’t walk into an Idaho Youth Ranch and start buying old Olivia NewtonJohn albums all willy-nilly. Curation is key. Keeping that in mind, here are some essential suggestions from Boise Weekly staffers on what should go into an LP starter kit. —Josh Gross Andrew Crisp, staff writer U LLiÞÊ,Âœ>`]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ i>ĂŒÂ?iĂƒ U ÂœĂ•ĂƒiĂƒĂŠÂœvĂŠĂŒÂ…iĂŠ ÂœÂ?Ăž]ĂŠ i`ĂŠ<iÂŤÂŤiÂ?ˆ˜ U*iĂŒĂŠ-ÂœĂ•Â˜`Ăƒ]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ i>VÂ…ĂŠ ÂœĂžĂƒ George Prentice, news editor U ĂŒĂŠ ÂœÂ?ĂƒÂœÂ“ĂŠ*Ă€ÂˆĂƒÂœÂ˜]ĂŠ ÂœÂ…Â˜Â˜ĂžĂŠ >ĂƒÂ… U,iĂ›ÂœÂ?Ă›iĂ€]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ i>ĂŒÂ?iĂƒ U7Â…>ĂŒ½ĂƒĂŠ œˆ˜}ĂŠ"˜]ĂŠ >Ă€Ă›ÂˆÂ˜ĂŠ >Ăži Harrison Berry, calendar guru U Â?iVĂŒĂ€ÂˆVĂŠ >`ĂžÂ?>˜`]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ ÂˆÂ“ÂˆĂŠ i˜`Ă€ÂˆĂ?ĂŠ Ă?ÂŤiĂ€Âˆi˜Vi U >ĂƒĂŒiĂ€ĂŠÂœvĂŠ,i>Â?ÂˆĂŒĂž]ĂŠ Â?>VÂŽĂŠ->LL>ĂŒÂ… U/Â…iĂŠ Ă€>˜iĂŠ7ˆvi]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ iVi“LiĂ€ÂˆĂƒĂŒĂƒ U-ˆ>“iĂƒiĂŠ Ă€i>“]ĂŠ-“>ĂƒÂ…ÂˆÂ˜}ĂŠ*Ă•Â“ÂŤÂŽÂˆÂ˜Ăƒ U/Â…iĂŠ7Â…ÂœÂ?iĂŠ ÂœĂ›i]ĂŠ7ˆÂ?VÂœ Josh Gross, new media czar U œœ`ĂŠvÂœĂ€ĂŠ9ÂœĂ•Ă€ĂŠ-ÂœĂ•Â?]ĂŠ"ˆ˜}ÂœĂŠ œˆ˜}Âœ U iÂ?Â?ÂœĂŠ ÂœÂ?Â?Ăž]ĂŠ ÂœĂ•ÂˆĂƒĂŠ Ă€Â“ĂƒĂŒĂ€ÂœÂ˜} U-ĂœÂˆĂŒVÂ…i`Â‡ÂœÂ˜ĂŠ >VÂ…]ĂŠ7>Â?ĂŒiÀÊ >Ă€Â?ÂœĂƒ U ÂœÂ“ÂŤÂ?iĂŒiĂŠ ÂœÂ?Â?iVĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜]ĂŠ,ÂœLiĂ€ĂŒĂŠ ÂœÂ…Â˜ĂƒÂœÂ˜ U/Â…iĂŠ6iÀÞÊ iĂƒĂŒĂŠÂœvĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ6iÂ˜ĂŒĂ•Ă€iĂƒ]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ 6iÂ˜ĂŒĂ•Ă€iĂƒ U7Շ/>˜}ĂŠ ÂœĂ€iĂ›iĂ€]ĂŠ7Ă•ĂŠ/>˜}ĂŠ Â?>˜ Sally Freeman, publisher U ÂœĂ€Â˜ĂŠĂŒÂœĂŠ,Ă•Â˜]ĂŠ ÀÕViĂŠ-ÂŤĂ€ÂˆÂ˜}ĂƒĂŒii˜ U >ÀŽÊ-ˆ`iĂŠÂœvĂŠĂŒÂ…iĂŠ œœ˜]ĂŠ*ÂˆÂ˜ÂŽĂŠ Â?ÂœĂž` U ÂœĂ€ĂƒiĂƒ]ĂŠ*>ĂŒĂŒÂˆĂŠ-Â“ÂˆĂŒÂ… U œ˜`ÂœÂ˜ĂŠ >Â?Â?ˆ˜}]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ Â?>ĂƒÂ… U,>“œ˜iĂƒ]ĂŠ,>“œ˜iĂƒ U,>ĂœĂŠ*ÂœĂœiĂ€]ĂŠ }}ÞÊ*ÂœÂŤ U-}ĂŒ°ĂŠ*iÂŤÂŤiĂ€½ĂƒĂŠ œ˜iÂ?ÞÊ i>Ă€ĂŒĂƒĂŠ Â?Ă•LĂŠ >˜`]ĂŠ The Beatles U/Â…Ă€ÂˆÂ?Â?iĂ€]ĂŠ ˆVÂ…>iÂ?ĂŠ >VÂŽĂƒÂœÂ˜ Tara Morgan, A&E editor U,Ă•Â“ÂœĂ•Ă€Ăƒ]ĂŠ Â?iiĂŒĂœÂœÂœ`ĂŠ >V U-œ“iĂŠ ÂˆĂ€Â?Ăƒ]ĂŠ,ÂœÂ?Â?ˆ˜}ĂŠ-ĂŒÂœÂ˜iĂƒ U ˆÂ?Ž‡ Ăži`ĂŠ i˜`iĂ€]ĂŠ Âœ>˜˜>ĂŠ iĂœĂƒÂœÂ“ U*>ĂŒĂƒĂžĂŠ Â?ˆ˜iĂŠ-Â…ÂœĂœV>Ăƒi]ĂŠ*>ĂŒĂƒĂžĂŠ Â?ˆ˜i U/Â…iĂŠ >˜`]ĂŠ/Â…iĂŠ >˜`ĂŠ U/Â…iĂŠ Ă€iiĂœÂ…iiÂ?ˆ˜½ĂŠ ÂœLĂŠ ĂžÂ?>˜]ĂŠ ÂœLĂŠ ĂžÂ?>Â˜ĂŠ

BOISEweekly | DECEMBER 19–25, 2012 | 25

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