Events
"Sabertooth Micro Fest" - Day I featuring: SLEEP, Nothing, Black Pussy
- 8:00pm Friday, February 6, 2015
7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show (Ringlers music 5 to 7 p.m.)
All ages welcome
SOLD OUT
About Sleep:"The words have failed them all. Since by the time you've read this far you've already read words that are intended to be touchstones but which do nothing but make it easier to not hear what should be all about hearing: their music.
So let's dispense with "stoner" and "doom" and while "metal" is a good catch-all even that does what SLEEP does an injustice. What SLEEP does and has been doing since
1990. Since San Jose. Since vocalist and bassist Al Cisneros hinted darkly at his next act after Asbestosdeath. Make something that was like something you had never heard/felt
before even if you had heard/felt it before. Like wind or the yawning subsonic expanse of
an earthquake: something undeniably large.
And like ragas, the songs were not just songs but movements and the movements trended
toward the eternal. Almost time-wise too with songs that lasted as long as some entire
records, which is as long as it needs to be to get short-sighted labels to drop you. And
beyond time, the weight was equally significant. Heavy, sublime and not even a little bit
ridiculous and whether or not these were influenced by the sacramental consumption of
weed really misses the point.
While there may have been a few like them before them, there were none like them really
and certainly none of after them. And so in 2009 when they were reborn with Cisneros
who'd been reframing the world with the band OM, Matt Pike doing double duty with
this and his HIGH ON FIRE, and the estimable Jason Roeder doing the same with
NEUROSIS, SLEEP did what it had done and what it had left to do. Largely and without
pause, make music in tune with The Ages.
Best to be enjoyed? Live and living. See, hear, feel, do it. Well, beyond just music and
well into the experiential joy of pure being. SLEEP. Undoubtedly."
About Nothing:
"Nothing was formed in 2011 by Domenic Palermo. Previously Palermo was the brains behind the early 2000's hardcore/punk act Horror Show. in 2002 Horror Show was put on hold after Palermo was incarcerated for a stabbing that eventually led to a 2 year prison sentence.
Upon his return Palermo would take a lengthy hiatus from music. In 2011 Palermo released a demo tape titled "Poshlost" under the moniker NOTHING. After several attempts at constructing a solid lineup for the band Palermo met Brandon Setta. Setta would bring a lush, rich soundscape and a fresh approach to Palermos vision for Nothing.
Setta and Palermo would handle the writing for the next release, a very rare 12" EP that was released on Japanese boutique label Big Love Records called Suns And Lovers( A play off of the D.H. Lawernce book). It was limited to 300 copies and the bands share was donated back to the label for a Tsunami Relief Charity.
The next release, Downward Years To Come was a 5 song EP and was recorded at the Rubber Tracks Studio in Brooklyn with Kyle "Slick" Johnson. The record was released by Baltimore Label A389 Records in November 2012. The record was written by Palermo and Setta. The concept behind Downward Years To Come was a dedication to several different poets who had taken their own lives.
Setta and Palermo would again head into the studio, this time with Jeff Zeigler at Uniform Recordings to write their debut Lp, "Guilty Of Everything" and sign with Relapse Records. "Guilty of Everything" has since been released to brilliant reviews, and cements that "Nothing" are a band to be excited about."
About Black Pussy:
"When The Rolling Stones wrote their classic track "Brown Sugar" it was originally titled "Black Pussy," but record-label politics got in the way: It was deemed too offensive and the powers at work refused to put it out. So the band had to change the name to something that was easier for the general public to swallow. At least that's how the legend goes.
For Dustin Hill, the creative mastermind and songwriter behind Black Pussy, it sounded like a fantastic band name. It encapsulates exactly what the band is: a sex-charged, '70s-influenced, hide-your-daughters-because-they're-coming-to-town rock ‘n' roll band that sounds like Tarantino directing a Thin Lizzy video in the low desert. Considering the name comes from a song that directly speaks out against racism, Hill isn't willing to entertain the notion that the band intends to offend anyone.
For the past few years, the group has perpetually headed out on nationwide tours, including a full U.S. and Canada stint opening for ex-Kyuss legends Vista Chino in 2013, rightfully earning them the tagline, "ON TOUR FOREVER." The group has also spent the last two years constantly working on heavy, psychedelic rock songs with not only Portland recording engineer Adam Pike (Red Fang, Norska, Black Elk, etc.) but also the legendary Kyuss founding drummer and multi-instrumentalist Brant Bjork.
Black Pussy's heavy, bluesy sound and clear influences of Kyuss, Hendrix and The Who have found a niche in the ever-growing, global stoner-rock movement. The band exclusively uses vintage Sunn gear, pushing a massive 44 speakers when playing live and tends to land shows with the heaviest, sludgiest bands in the Portland, Oregon scene. However, their classic, upbeat, relentlessly hooky tracks have led to Hill coining the phrase "stoner pop," like The Cars meets Black Sabbath. The band's catchy music tends to seduce anyone, even those who walk in off the street after seeing the intriguing band name on the marquis of the venue.
The 2012 debut album, On Blonde, is Hill's baby: It was written and mostly recorded by him alone, though guitarist Ryan McIntire, drummer Dean Carroll, bassist Aaron Poplin and keyboardist Chief O'Dell were later added to the band. The record, which kicks off with the rip of a bong and sounds like a drug-riddled midnight misadventure in a '70s muscle car, even found its way across the ocean as well: The track "Blow Some Steam Off" landed a spot on the February 2013 Metal Hammer compilation. 2013 saw a split release from Black Pussy and LA-based Biblical Proof Of UFOs: a contact high-inducing, 22-minute psychedelic opus entitled "Galaxies."
"For The Sake Of Argument" is the first taste of Black Pussy's forthcoming album, Magic Mustache, which will be out in early 2015. The band's evolved sound takes the feel of rock legends Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and Hawkwind and combines it with the heaviness of stoner rock icons Kyuss and Monster Magnet, adding add a potent dose of pop sensibility reminiscent of The Cars and Queens Of The Stone Age for the quintessential stuck-in-your-head-for-weeks, sound that is Black Pussy. Filmed using an analog liquid light projector, the video utilizes a classic yet unique-looking take on the psychedelic and drug inspired imagery popularized in the 60s and 70s. Black Pussy are back doing what they do best: sending on a journey through time and space where vintage gear acts as the controls, and sound waves are the highways."