This week brings us not one but TWO members of the Wu-Tang Clan (unfortunately on separate nights), Japanese punk-weirdos Peelander-Z, and the first visit ever from Seattle's raw Ramones-y punk band the Spits in its entire ten years of existence. Continuing with the punk rock / hip-hop aesthetic is Minneapolis's Doomtree, playing the Firebird on Saturday. Radiohead's long-sold-out show at Scottrade Center is on Friday; hope you got your tickets. More after the jump:
Cappadonna Mon., March 5, 8:00pm @ Club Viva! - $12 By Daniel Hill As a sort-of-official, most of the way, quasi, maybe full member of the Wu-Tang Clan, it seems safe to assume that Cappadonna proooobbably "ain't nothin' to fuck with". Internet sources are unclear and occasionally self-contradictory on the issue (I'm looking at YOU, wikipedia), but being that he is a childhood friend and long-time collaborator with the Wu (including a verse on the untouchable classic "Triumph"), one should probably play it safe, mind your manners, and throw your "W"s up at the Club Viva this Monday, March 5. KD Assassin, Bren Suarez, Tef Poe, Legend C4mp, Blan B. and DJ Fly D-EX open the show.
Reverend Horton Heat Tues., March 6, 8:30pm @ The Firebird - $20 By Jordan Harper You might think you're old-school. Maybe you're wearing dookie gold chains. Maybe you've got an ironic Flock-of-Seagulls haircut or an even more ironic mustache. But you aren't old-school. Reverend Horton Heat is old-school. His greaser hair and sock-hop-band finery place him firmly in the '50s, as do the rockabilly roots of his music. But there's also a bit of '60s surf to his blazing guitar sound, and some of his rave-ups have a healthy dose of fuzzy '70s-era Ramones punk. He first took to the stage as the good Reverend in the mid-'80s but really gained prominence with his early-'90s Sub Pop recordings. So no matter what decade of retro-rock you're digging this week, Heat is for you. His work ethic is from the real showbiz old school, the one that believes entertainers should get on the road and stay on the road, and his band plays about 150 gigs a year, every year. In fact, you may already be saying to yourself, "Reverend Horton Heat again?"
Raekwon Wed.., March 7, 8:00pm @ Gargoyle - $15 - Tickets limited to 100, available at the door only By Kiernan Maletsky From this 2011 review of Raekwon @ Firebird: The Firebird stayed eager, gamely, for the hour and forty five minutes while Raekwon methodically entered the Shaolin mind state (smoked weed on his bus). No matter; we expected nothing less. The Chef took the stage a little after midnight to the heavyweight hook from "Kiss The Ring" off his comeback burner Only Built For Cuban Linx... Pt. II and launched straight into "C.R.E.A.M." Might as well. It's not like he was going to run out of classics in the course of an hour-long set. He talks like he raps, savoring his words. He broke into a capella verses a half dozen times, always slowing his cadence to linger on the syllables. GZA thrills with wordplay; Rae thrills with delivery. He can make your mouth water by saying the word "fish." He was talking about that weed he got here in St. Louis and how it had him feeling nice, that "ooo-weee-loou-eee," and the words just dripped out of him. Always the professional: Raekwon is not exactly a pacifist, lyrically, but he called for peace signs all night. He told us to find a DD ("Don't drive no vehicle if you know you pissy drunk."), and he told us he just wants us to take care of our families, the babies, "especially you young boys." Raekwon rolls into St. Louis wearing sunglasses, raps his verses, gives everyone a little hip-hop history lesson and runs a couple sing-alongs and rolls out, wearing sunglasses.
Peelander-Z Wed.., March 7, 8:00pm @ The Firebird - $12 By Jaime Lees Peelander-Z is like Gwar on ecstasy. From Japan (via New York City), the members' bright color-block costumes make them look like after-hours Power Rangers. Described as "Japan action comic punk", the band is loved nearly exclusively by those intrigued by novelty: comic book addicts, professional wresting devotees, anime enthusiasts and Juggalos, alike. Peelander-Z is a good time wrapped up in a j-punk box. With songs like "Ninja-High Schooool," "Ice Cream!" and "Pun! Pun! Punkrock!," the band gets audiences bouncing like little kids on a sugar high. Come for the spectacle, stay for the smiles. Did You Know: St. Louis Japanophiles have been in luck lately. We recently had Melt-Banana, now Peelander-Z and soon Guitar Wolf. Arigatou, Japan.
Who Fucking Cares? Record Release Thurs. March 8, 9:00pm @ Bonerville - $5 By Daniel Hill Rising from the ashes of crossover punk band Dude Nukem, which played its last show in January 2010, Who Fucking Cares? (or WFC? for short) has wasted no time making its name known and simultaneously sending anyone considering attendance at one of its shows into a maddening "Who's on First" routine. (Q: "Who is playing the show tonight?" A: "Who Fucking Cares?" Q: "Wait, what?") In addition to the nihilistically clever moniker, WFC? brings tight musicianship, blistering riffage and an in-your-face attitude to the St. Louis punk scene. With all of its members having been active in local hardcore bands for years, WFC? does not carry itself like a new band at all, but rather a finely honed one. Playing fast hardcore punk that borrows influence from bands such as Poison Idea, Infest and Tear It Up, the four-piece cuts like a rusty scalpel on record, annihilating and infecting anything it touches. The band's self-titled seven inch will be available at this show, which also serves as kick-off for a two week East coast tour.
