.:: 225BatonRouge.com ::. The Record Crate: Rising from the ashes

Rising from the ashes

January 13, 2010
By Alex V. Cook

The results are final. We have scientifically pinpointed top 5 most intriguing Baton Rouge CDs of 2009, and like any scientific discovery, the results point to a bright and vibrant future. Click here for the results.

We have had a recent spate of celebrating ourselves lately. At the Red Star Bar last week, a fundraiser for victims of the Spanish Town apartment fire exhibited our most resilient side. The two-man pop machine Cars & Girls created the soundtrack for the primetime teen drama never aired, Calvin Hairstyle & Fried Ice successfully project their bedroom recording warmth into the corporeal real, and Baton Rouge's punk rock heartthrobs the Melters will make you believe in the restorative power of music with little more than adrenaline and a whip smart medley of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" and the Who's "Baba O'Riley."

The band I really want to discuss though is the Axes of Evil. They started out as a lark; Mike, the former Red Star doorman put on an '80s metal tribute show once a month that turned into a force to be reckoned with. I love metal, or more exactly, I love metal people. In my experience as a music journalist, metal people are consistently the most forthcoming and open-minded of the lot, maybe because the music that girds their hearts is maligned almost universally by non-believers. The Axes of Evil are all in good fun, but they are also no joke. The axes in the Axes of Evil shred as the gods command, while Mike, short in stature and long of beard, storms in like a Tolkien battle dwarf set on kicking the tar out of a dragon. I detected a couple of covers in their ear splitting set: Black Sabbath "Paranoid" and Judas Priest "Breakin' the Law," but I gather this little outfit writes most of its own over-the-top material. You might think metal as the sound of lonely teenagers—and you'd be right—but it is also one of the few popular artforms where dedication to craft meets the unfettering of the spirit in the most spectacular way.

Two more tributes have caught my eye and ear this Friday. Click's is hosting a benefit for the bands that lost gear in the practice rooms behind the Caterie. Liquid Sand, Meriwether, letters in Red, and Doubleteam Supreme are all on the bill, and proceeds go to the victims of the fire. There is also a Facebook group, From the Flames, created for bands that lost equipment in the Caterie fire. If you'd like to donate to the cause, you can send donations to the Arts Council of Baton Rouge (please put "From the Flames" in the memo line of your check). From the Flames is planning another benefit in March.

The Louisiana Hayride, the Shreveport variety show that helped launch the careers of Elvis Presely and countless other country and rock 'n' roll stars in the '50s, is seeing its own revival as a touring show featuring north Louisiana songwriters Kevin Gordon, the Levees, Monty Russell, Kenny Bill Stinson, and Alan West Brockman, all of whom will be making a whistle stop at Chelsea's this Saturday with a film crew in tow. The show promises a mix of vintage Hayride material interspersed with the contemporary face of Louisiana country music. Y'all come!

One final tribute is the CBGB's night this Friday at Red Star with We Landed on the Moon! impersonating Blondie, the Melters doing their best Ramones, and Idiot Box (culled from members of the Myrtles, Cars & Girls and others) performing the songs of seminal punk band Television.

Thursday, January 14

Hell's Bells a tribute to AC/DC at the Varsity

Magnolia Sons and Sequoyah Prep School at North Gate

Friday, January 15

Caterie Fire Benefit at Click's (see above)

CBGB's Night at Red Star (See above)

Gris Gris and Gravity A at Chelsea's Café

The Chee Weez at the Varsity

Signs at Phil Brady's

Saturday, January 16

Louisiana Hayride at Chelsea's Café

Lovesexy- a tribute to Prince at the Spanish Moon