Scientific Superstar Doomed Lucky Day CD Release Party

MarVell Event Center, Durham
December 5, 2009

Paul Gallant's promo words for Battle Rockets were "come see a skinny guy play 50 guitar pedals" which caught me as both hilarious and scrupulously correct. There are only two things in this world that guitar players really care about and one of them is tone. Once slipped into the instrumental only element Corbie Hill has parsed down to with Battle Rockets he may only care about one of those. One look at the regimen of effects and stomp boxes occupying a bastion at stage end gives rise to how it's done. From stretchy ghost-like refrains through easily provoked and marked-by-fire lead riffs traversing a jagged canvas, the Battle Rockets instrumental arrangements aren't building blocks of song they are the evolution of it. Throughout the performance tones and squelches raised forward triggering primal reaction as they reverberated through the room. Listening to the eloquent versus and arrangements of Corbie's vocally oriented rock band Where the Buffalo Roamed explains that Battle Rockets screams in the tongue of stomp boxes by conviction, not by necessity. As Battle Rockets outtro of distortion soaked feedback flickered to neutral Rob Beloved and Elini Binge joined on stage as Beloved Binge.

At once abruptly jarring and directional and then smoothly grinding and meanderingly melodic, Beloved Binge doesn’t just step around on a scale they play hop-scotch upon it. Their paired speak/shout vocals led story time about all sorts of drama and wrapped angular and dissonant intervals of time and rhythm with imagery creating a spaced out sense of balladry. With satirical jabbiness of The Talking Heads and fascinating tension of the Pixies, Beloved Binge's strange phase vocals and beatnik arrangements shouldn't work together but they do and they do so well that the intrigue has tractor beam effectiveness. Apparently also the type of effectiveness that can run The Marvell Event Center bone dry of PBR. By the time the hosts Scientific Superstar began we were sipping on a mélange of micro brews and wine.

Just under the radar of esoteric comes Junko Berglund, Paul Gallant, Thomas DeVries and the incandescent fervor of electronica and exotica they vortex into Scientific Superstar which is complexedly described as the this-world physical incarnation of a fictional band within a comic series they write and publish (which is also titled Scientific Superstar). Curiously unusual or excitingly strange are choices one is faced with in the witness of Scientific Superstar. Residing just under the edge of the flat earth found in the popular music universe, Scientific Superstar's experimental rock contrasts dimensionally with the homogeneous pop music society while simultaneously challenging their best to a dance-off to the death. Perhaps least in uniform is Paul Gallant's full vertical standing drum kit bearing a macédoine arrangement of toms and found objects (such as a terracotta flower pot). Different for the discriminating indy audience maybe, different for a fictional comic book super hero band? Immeasurable, and its uniqueness is the entertainment. --Carrboro Ninja


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Scientific Superstar
Beloved Binge
Battle Rockets


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Scientific Superstar



Beloved Binge





Battle Rockets

Show Review: Benji Hughes

Local 506, Chapel Hill
December 12, 2009

First things first: Benji Hughes live is not Benji Hughes recorded.

After releasing his debut, double album “A Love Extreme” in 2008 to much critical praise, this Charlotte native’s electro-funk musings about sweet girls in tight tee shirts and the perils of eating too much Ecstasy at a Flaming Lips show almost seemed like a flash in the pan. But beyond the catchy, danceable beats and quick-witted commentary on the modern party scene, Hughes managed to capture a deep-seated sadness that lies just beneath the surface of all great pop songs. And it is this not-so-hidden melancholy, and a full band, that makes a Benji Hughes live show so damn entertaining.

Now don’t get me wrong. This past Saturday night’s show in Chapel Hill was not all ballads and heartbreak – despite the fact that he’s got some good ones (“Waiting For An Invitation” and “All You’ve Got To Do Is Fall In Love” immediately come to mind). No, there were plenty of party anthems (sans the programmed beats) and there was plenty of dancing. At this point I feel obligated to mention that every time I have seen Hughes live, at least one person in the crowd has jumped on stage and danced with him. Saturday night was no exception.

But live, Hughes is true a crooner. He takes the stage in his trademark sunglasses and holds the mic like he’s performing on an early 80’s episode of Soul Train. And he performs every song from his album that you want to hear. And there is guttural banter in between songs. And he chides his band for not jamming out more. And it is great. But even more so, it is fun.

Personally, I have come to enjoy the unreleased material Hughes does live more than the renditions of his album tracks. There’s one where he sings to an unknown female, “You’re a lot like a shooting star but you’re more like a falling rock.” There’s one where he instructs Kenny to “cut me out another line of cocaine.” These are the real jewels of the set. Blunt and beautiful. A calm before the storm. And then it’s back to an uber-danceable tune.

After the show, sitting at the 506 bar chatting with Hughes, I said, “I like the unreleased stuff you’re doing. Are you working on a new album?”

After a moment of thought and a sip of his drink, he responded, “I’m only 34.”

His response made me feel strangely happy. --Tommy Kurosawa

Benji Huges on facespace:


photo credits:Mimi Pneurotic

Show Review: Humble Tripe CD Release Party

Duke Coffeehouse, Durham
December 4, 2009

"I wasn't planning on it being this crowded." I overheard the person 1.3 inches on my left whisper to his friend. We both flashed the same vacantly agreeing expression towards each other and I became aware that I was apprehended for eavesdropping. I quickly created a diversion by pulling the view finder of my camera to my eye rattling off two out of focus shots of Justin Robinson and the Mary Annettes who were just finishing up their opening set.

suspension of reality

Jay Cartwright Solo on the Accordion
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The soulful art pop quartet of Justin Robinson and the Mary Annettes is Carolina Chocolate Drops charismatic banjo picker Justin Robinson now flanked on either side by she-fiddlers and a half-and-half synth/drummer. Their sound verges on R&B, perhaps old fashioned born Carolina folk music re-imagined by neomotownesque Bohemians with far too much animation to downplay the vowels. The Duke Coffeehouse stage is tall in comparison with Durham venues and lent in quality to the larger than life presence of the already six foot plus stature of Justin and his model-tall violinists. Emblazoned in sequence and style behind a tree lined myriad of microphones and microphone stands which were grown in preparation for the numberless folk ensembles of Midtown Dicken's and Humble Tripe, Justin Robinson and the Mary Annettes marked a tone of movement and penetrating enthusiasm which hyped the room early.

Justin and friends now pulling cables and opening cases afforded a smoke-break rush which in turn provided a view to the front of the stage as the crowd dispersed through the side door of the room. Revealed by the dispersing crowd was the placement of two amps and a bizarre drum kit on the bare floor just ahead of the stage. Melting into place on them was the unique-mongering art-on-call indie-folk The Wigg Report who found themselves fully within their element as an abstraction between sets. The Wigg Report seized the space between Midtown Dickens and the openers by landing their gear, plugging in and playing. No aesthetic was lost in the hurried arrangement however. The lo-fi contrivings of their microphones slipped through guitar amps instead of the main PA flirted with the profound and their tube colored acoustic saxa-drumming chants held true to their nature of each performance becoming a variant of their last. Gleaming mysteriously in the red glow of the stage lights The Wigg Report's anti-folk tension and compulsive punk vitality tore attentions on them like the conflicted subject at the epicenter of a da Vinci war epic.

A half dozen raucous songs later, the stage was ready for Midtown Dickens. In from the smoky cold came the folk denizens hungry for the avant-garde challenge Midtown Dickens begets to old time mountain music. As if banjos and accordions were their older brothers borrowed car Midtown Dickens went upon a cross country joy ride with windows rolled down, radio wide open, and laughing voices singing about tomorrow. Champions of the Durham anti-folk subversions, Midtown Dickens are writing their own rules on what makes music and performance amusing. From Catherine Edgerton playing a soul rendering tune on the saw to Kym Register gluing refrains and choruses together with a somber trombone, Midtown Dickens spins the untypical into the essential.

On this Friday Humble Tripe and Midtown Dickens had just finished up their "Humble Tour" where the two played through rock clubs and living rooms across the South East in promotion of their new albums. Earlier this season Midtown Dickens self released Lanterns which is their first album Oh Yell's, cooler older brother who likes electric guitar, and Friday would be the homecoming official release party of Humble Tripe's Counting Stars on Durham label 307 Knox Records. With shared members, Humble Tripe took stage and most of Midtown Dickens stayed also. Once guitars, keyboards and shaky things were all in place but before the final performance of the eve kicked in 307 Knox curator of creativity Melissa Thomas grabbed the microphone and summed up the special quality the night maintained; it was a fitting celebration for a great year of Durham indie rock.

With their crisply delivered country sensibility and indie sincerity, Humble Tripe carried the midnight hours upon the shoulders of harmonicas, tambourines, banjos, six strings, ivories, and harmonic spectrums. A suitable comparison being The Rural Alberta Advantage crossed with The Thrills; Humble Tripe brings a concert of voices and instruments into their mix. Best wishes Humble Tripe on Counting Stars and well done to 307 Knox on a sharp year end celebration. --Carrboro Ninja

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Humble Tripe:

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The Wigg Report:



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Humble Tripe








Midtown Dickens

Midtown Dickens' Catherine Edgerton strumming out a ghostly harmony on the saw at Humble tripes CD release party at Duke Coffeehouse on Friday December 4, 2009.

The Wigg Report





Justin Robinson and the Mary Annettes

Anne Gomez (Cantwell Gomez and Jordan) Melissa Thomas (307 Knox Records) and Catherine Edgerton chatting between sets