Oof. Does anyone else feel the subtle, oh-so-sleepy effects of daylight savings time? We're hoping no one fusses at us when we inevitably stumble in half-asleep, an entire hour late to the Monday morning staff meeting. Spring forward, you say? As long as that means more sun and shows, that's fine by us. Get a glimpse of the high caliber of concerts to come by reading this week's recommendations after the jump.
Note: Though we wish we could, we can't cover every single show happening in town in just one measly post. Look for plenty more recommendations this Friday in our weekend show post, and peruse the St. Louis concert calendar for more ideas anytime.
Mutilation Rites Monday, Mar. 12, 8 p.m. w/ Inter Arma, Ashes and Iron, Everything Went Black @ Fubar - $10-$12 By Rick Giordano From "The Best St. Louis Metal Shows in March": Mutilation Rites's name sounds like a death metal band, but it's record label Prosthetic is home to mostly hardcore, but the band plays black metal. Confused? Don't be, because the band rules. I avoided giving it a listen for the longest time because I thought the band name was dumb; little did I know the name was taken from a song by black metal legends, Inquisition. Great, so I'm superficial AND I'm a poser. Anyway, as many of you know, that fine line between stupid and clever discussed by Spinal Tap can be all too evident in this subgenre, but Mutilation Rites land perfectly on the latter side of said line. The band plays fast paced, raw black metal that moves from anger to sadness to eerie beauty with intensity and purpose, never sounding contrived and without the corpse paint clown outfits. This is without question some of the best black metal you'll see in this town anytime soon.
The Spits Tuesday, Mar. 12, 8 p.m. w/ The Scam, Maximum Effort @ Fubar - $12-$14 By Daniel Hill Fans of fun, infectious garage-punk à la the Ramones will feel right at home within the world of the Spits, whose dirty punk-rock sound is often accompanied by the band members' propensity to wear costumes onstage, occasionally constructed out of toilet paper.
Cotton Jones Wednesday, Mar. 13, 8:30 p.m. w/ Spectator @ Off Broadway - $10-$13 By Roy Kasten With the benefit of a few years' worth of hindsight, it's safe to say that Michael Nau made the right call in leaving Page France behind and putting his weight behind Cotton Jones. Alongside his keyboardist wife Whitney McGraw, Nau channels soft-touch psychedelia and sun-kissed '60s pop, but without all that cumbersome reverence to form that burdens so many pop auteurs. The music of Cotton Jones is both buoyant and scratchy, like Belle & Sebastian rolled in burlap. Take a spin through that band's myriad full-lengths, EPs and 7-inches for evidence of pure pop soul sung by true believers.
Maserati Thursday, Mar. 14, 7:30 p.m. w/ STS9 @ The Pageant - $30 By Ryan Wasoba From "The Six Best Songs With Ridiculously Long Titles": Since Athens, Georgia's Maserati is most often labeled a post-rock band, a twelve-word title such as "This Is A Sight We Had One Day From The High Mountain" may conjure twinkly guitars and an inevitable inspirational climax. Nope. This track is a steamrolling dirge with psychedelic flourishes, like Sabbath playing krautrock. The band's 2008 album Inventions For The New Season features now deceased drummer Jerry Fuchs, and "This Is A Sight..." is built around his slowed down tracks - presumably assembled while Fuchs was touring as a hired gun for !!! and/or LCD Soundsystem. At normal speed, Fuchs put an unmistakable spring in Maserati's steps. Now Mike Albanese from Cinemechanica has taken his throne, and I can't wait for a math-rock powerhouse drummer to make neo-hippy asses shake when Maserati opens for Sound Tribe Sector 9 at The Pageant in March.
