Discovered: Lone Wolf Gang live at the Olympic Tavern
Plus, Citrus on vinyl and a Great Room gig review.
Every now and again the promise of social media really pays off.
For instance, when someone uploads a decades-old live video of an otherwise obscure local band playing at some long-defunct venue and it languishes on Youtube for like 10 years and then suddenly gets reposted and pops up in your feed, as if from the ether.
And joy is had by this Fresnophile music nerd.
According to Youtube user Joe Lilly, “the Lone Wolf Gang was a Fresno band that played a unique brand of alt-country even before there was ‘alt.’ ”
The band — Perry Hodge, Joe Rosato Jr. and Carl Knoch — played in Fresno in the late 1980s and was known for “blistering guitar, unique original songs and three-part harmonies.”
All of this is on full display in a grainy, pre-cell-phone video, taken of the band at the Olympic Tavern circa 1989. The video, done by Laura Splotch, runs more than an hour, with some edits, and come off as almost documentarian, what with the quick interviews with the band at the end.
One wonders if Splotch did other videos like this and where they might be hiding.
Citrus, S/T debut out on vinyl
Oakland’s Transylvania Records is becoming the depository for Fresno-area bands.
Among its catalog are releases from Shop Dog, Phantom Fruit, Haunt and … Citrus, who’s debut EP just got a vinyl release (on sunnkist orange to boot).
Via the label’s Instagram: “The s/t debut from CITRUS is a super special record to me. The first two record labels I did over 20 years ago were when I was in highschool and based in the small central California town of Madera(CA). I ran a label called The Orchard and referred to all of our recordings as seeds, if you know anything about the area it’s a heavy migrant community known for its orchards and bountiful farmland, one of the big crops is Citrus.
“To have the opportunity to get to help elevate a group of musicians from this small community that I spent several years living in means a lot to me on a deep level. That’s one thing, but at the same time this band is incredible, they absolutely blew me away with how good they are. This record is amazing, if you like heavy shoegaze/grungegaze whatever you want to call it you owe it to yourself to check out CITRUS.”
The album is pressed on electric orange vinyl with a B-Side etching featuring the Madera crest/logo. Exclusive to the vinyl release, the album was remixed by Nick Basset, who plays in the shoegaze band Whirr and has done work with Nothing and Deafheaven.
“It’s fucking proper, I’m super excited about this group and record. I wanted to immortalize this fantastic offering on wax.”
Gig review: New Old Man, Saturn Death Dive, Big Ser, Built Different, 10/30 at the Great Room
Earlier this month, I got the chance to play at the Great Room, the all ages venue that popped up at the University Presbyterian Church.
The plan had been to do a full band show, as a kind of 2000s scene reunion with the guys from Big Ser (who made their live debut). That didn’t happen and I ended up doing a solo performance. It seemed well received.
The venue: The Great Room fills a niche as a kind of proving ground for up-and-coming bands, especially younger bands that don’t have access to the nightclub circuit.
These types of venue tend to operate mostly among those in the know and are essential if there’s any hope at a thriving scene.
There’s a vibe that exists in those spaces that you don’t get playing at a bar. Those who show up tend to be INTO music and eager for the experience of seeing bands perform. This makes them a bit more open to whatever’s happening.
That’s how it felt for me anyway.
There’s no dedicated stage (though I’m told this may be changing soon) so you’re playing on the floor right in front of the crowd. But the sound is well done for the space (so, not overly loud or mangled) and, added with the smoke machine they keep running all night, it kind of just adds to the whole aesthetic.
The bands: Saturn Death Dive is a shoe-gaze band with some grunge influences. They came in from San Luis and opened up with this squeal of feedback that, for me, was instant indicator that something good was about to happen.
There are snippets of songs on their social media, but they’re still working to get music on line. If you know them, bug them about it.
Big Ser give an impressive debut with a quick set of loud guitar rock.
I mistakenly thought the band would be a bit more emo, given the past work of the band’s core (that’s Ian Johnson and Shawn Covert). Instead, Big Ser does well crafted ’90s alternative radio rock that comes off as minimal, without being simple.
While the band appears to be in playing shape, it’s been spending most of it’s time in the studio, with an album in the works (a single, “Withering Heights” is out now).
If you need to band to get excited about, this is it.
Built Different pushed everything up a notch, with more volume, but also a kind of frenetic energy that only comes being young and in a loud rock band. It’s fully apparent in frontman/guitarist Duncan Shuck, who spent the majority of the set sweaty, shirtless and yelling, as is appropriate for the vibe.
This is a really fun band to watch.
Shuck happens to be Johnson’s brother, which gave a nice tie to the evening.
To (mostly accurately) quote Shuck (I wasn’t exactly taking notes): “The bad thing about playing with your older brother’s band is that everyone will know you stole everything from him.”
Built Different was formed from the remnants of Judah, a band a lot of folks were really hyped on. Some more history on all that is available over on the Local Harmony podcast.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Tonight, I’ll be in studio with Guaya to talk about the 4th annual Christmas Shabang (and also debut the new single “Napoles”). Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com