On a Saturday night a couple weeks ago I attended a rock gig at a venue here in Des Moines I had not been at before, a bar called Carl’s Place. The bill was local institution North Of Grand, opened-for by Going To Grandma’s. You’ve already probably heard a bit about Fetal Pig here at the Farm, we’ve been recording lately and are playing at the Mews this Saturday night. Going To Grandma’s is like Fetal Pig in that it’s another re-boot of an old band involving Dan Hutchison of Why Make Clocks on guitar and vocals, and his brother Jeff on drums; and also in that its new lineup has a member of Why Make Clocks, Will Tarbox, playing bass in lieu of its original bassist. Both bands were re-launched in what was planned as a one-off show for the birthday of, and at the request of, Dan’s wife Kim, earlier this year. The show got a really good response and it seemed evident that people would like to see these bands some more, and we kinda figured what the hell, after we went to the trouble of re-learning all these songs — or in the case of Will and I, learning them for the first time — and additionally in the case of Will, taking up a whole new instrument — may as well keep it going.

Going To Grandma’s is different from Fetal Pig and the other bands this bunch of guys are involved in, however, in its musical style, being catchy, humorous pop-punk, played with sloppy abandon. Facebook event postings self-deprecatingly boasted, “Come see a bunch of 40-year-old guys sing songs about getting grounded and going to keggers.” Other song topics include zombie movies, shoplifting, and putting the milk back in the refrigerator with the cap off. These are definitely songs they wrote many years ago, though I’m reasonably sure they could write more now, just as good, if they decided to, though there would probably be more songs about shitty jobs or driving or bars.

Why would guys involved in other, “artier,” more “serious” bands, want to resurrect a goofy pop-punk band? Well, one thing that distinguishes Going To Grandma’s musically is that the songs are packed with hooks. Bands working in this style are a dime a dozen, but very few of them write songs this good. So far after both performances I’ve seen, “Beach Nuts” is still running through my head days later.

Another reason perhaps is that audiences love this stuff. I’m not going to complain or suggest that people are unsophisticated when they don’t respond as strongly to material that’s supposedly more sophisticated, because I think it’s part of the band’s job to find their audience instead of whining that it hasn’t found them — but I will say that it’s a hell of a cool feeling as a musician when people actually cheer enthusiastically for you. Sure, such behavior probably isn’t as appropriate a response to a song like Why Make Clocks’ “Christmas Is Ruined.” Even though as an artist you feel a need to convey depth and range of emotion, sometimes it feels great to just be bringing the party.

It’s because music like this has such a broad appeal that I think a lot of musicians and music fans secretly, or perhaps not so secretly, have a special place in their hearts for fun-rock too. At least, I know Dan loves The Descendants, so that’s something. I think there’s an assumption out there that musicians engaged in straightforward pop-punk or in bar-punk (or whatever you’d call the kind of thing North Of Grand and Squidboy do) are exclusively fans of the same sort of thing. I’ve found that the best musicians are persons of wide, eclectic tastes. Sometimes this crosses over into their playing and causes them to play in multiple bands quite different from each other.

To illustrate, let’s take the members of Going To Grandma’s themselves. I’ve already mentioned Dan and Jeff and Will; that leaves Jim Duede on lead guitar and some of the lead vocals. Will, Dan, and Jim are noted metal fans, especially Jim, with various subgenres represented among their collections and regular listening. Will and Dan are of course also into various sorts of indie rock and folk as you’d expect, and I don’t know what all Jeff likes to listen to but he seems to have a sincere appreciation for what would be termed “classic rock” in addition to more “alternative” materials. If you’ve been following my accounts thus far, you know (but in case you haven’t, I’ll summarize) that Dan, Jeff, and myself currently comprise Fetal Pig, and that Fetal Pig play a sort of dissonant, paranoid prog-punk that might be described as a mix of Minutemen and Voivod; and that Dan, Will, and myself likewise comprise Why Make Clocks, who play a somewhat moody brand of indie rock with occasional country sprinkles on it, that usually draws comparisons to Wilco, Crazy Horse, and Built To Spill. What I haven’t talked about a whole lot yet is that the duo of Jeff and Jim is known as Blutiger Fluss, and they employ an assemblage of synthesizers to play ambient electronic music heavily inspired by certain early ’70s German artists. Needless to say this stuff doesn’t exactly pack the rock clubs, but it has its following. Their space-themed compositions like those on their album The Moons Of Jupiter have gotten them some interesting gigs with the Science Center Of Iowa. Even lesser known is that Blutiger Fluss have an intermittently-active alter-ego playing 1980s-styled synth-pop, called Businessmen On Bicycles. This is just the bands these guys are in now, to say nothing of their past, but regarding that I’ll just throw out some band names: Airborne Catholics, The Delirious Conniptions, Mondo Cane.

I’d be curious to hear from any active musicians reading this who are currently or have in the past been involved in a little community like this, where a small knotty collection of people in various combinations create nearly as many bands of differing musical styles among them as there are people. I’ve found myself in such a situation once before in Cedar Falls, that which I now refer to as the “Garage” or “Ragman Records” scene. Most of the people involved were high-school kids during most of that time, and I was the weird older guy hanging out and collaborating with them because I was so excited by their creative energy. Ever since they started breaking off to other cities I’ve really missed that scene, and now I think I may have wound up in another one.

Another thing about this gig that really got me thinking was the vibe of the venue and the event. For some years most of the gigs I’ve played (hometown gigs especially) have taken place at places that are considered rock clubs, that is, the music venue is the main attraction. The Reverb operated that way early on before becoming more bar-oriented on their move to Spicoli’s, which got rolling not long before I moved to Des Moines; Vaudeville Mews doesn’t even open up as a bar if there aren’t acts booked for the night. But Carl’s Place is different — a neighborhood bar that happens to host live music on occasion, especially focusing on the more popular local bands. When Why Make Clocks has played in Omaha and elsewhere out-of-town we’ve sometimes played at this type of place — the 49′r, O’Leavers. It’s not a rock club gig, it’s a bar gig, and it’s a totally different feel, and I believe in many ways more advantageous circumstances.

It still helps to have a draw in a bar gig, but it’s also a better place to build one — you don’t just only get people who are there because of the bands (which might not be many), you get people who are there to hang out and would be there even if you weren’t. Perhaps not having a cover helps. There’s a loose, fun vibe of people who are there to have a good time together. I think that’s an especially good environment for a music show. The crowd is people who are among friends and open to hearing something new.

You’re also less likely to have 4 or 5 bands crammed into a night, so you don’t always end up being limited to a 35 minute set, which I personally think is too short. I really don’t like having more than three bands in a night, and preferably two. The shorter sets don’t really present me enough to get the feel of a band whose stuff I don’t already know. A 35 or 40 minute set isn’t even as long as a whole album, man!

There are downsides, but I think they’re small ones. The PA is more likely to be vocal-only and might not be very good. I think that’s fine though, your band should just sound good anyway. If your music sounds like mush without the perfect equipment, maybe your music just sounds like mush and you should rethink some things. Also it’s not as easy to get on these gigs, these places don’t usually have a dedicated booking person or a lot of focus put into seeking out bands. You kind of have to know someone who knows someone, and they tend to focus more on local outfits than touring acts. In the case of Going To Grandma’s, it was North Of Grand who asked them to do the show.

Also, certain kinds of performances or music may not work as well in this environment. I can’t quite imagine a band like Burmese going over well in such a setting, likewise Blutiger Fluss or even Distant Trains. Stuff like Going To Grandma’s and North Of Grand works especially well, though; North Of Grand seems to be the band doing the most business in these kind of places here in Des Moines (Hull Avenue Tavern comes to mind as another place they seem to frequent) and it seems to go well for them. I conjecture that a Why Make Clocks or Fetal Pig would do well with it too. There is a certain openness to hearing something different. Let’s not forget that punk rock itself had some of its early roots in something called “pub rock.”

To sum up, I had a really good time at this show, and it got me thinking that I personally could go for playing more of these kind of gigs, as well as attending more of them in non-performing capacity.

Dan, Jeff, and I hit the studio again on Sunday to lay down vocals and a few extra guitar parts and miscellaneous noises. Of the 9 songs we started with, 8 are basically all tracked now, and the other (“Meaningless”) we might re-take, provided we come up with another new song to throw in to make it worth the while (“Concerns” being the most likely candidate, given how it shaped up at the last practice).

Speaking of Dan and Jeff, Going To Grandma’s will be playing at Carl’s Place in Des Moines on December 18 with North Of Grand, about 9:30ish. I believe there are plans for them to do some recording. Why Make Clocks looks likely to get back on track to continue working on some version of the “cursed” Tight Dissolve album (so known because of the multiple unsuccessful prior attempts by earlier lineups of the band to record it) come the new year.

So, yeah. Played a pretty decent first Distant Trains set to open up the show on a pretty typically sparsely-attended Wednesday night at the Mews. Went over better than I expected. Todd On Acid is definitely a character. S.E.R.F.’s set was a drunken, technically-plagued mess, but a cool sweeaty rock and roll mess, though I’m not sure they themselves appreciated it as such. Part of rock and roll is playing your songs right, but part of rock and roll is also getting a raucous party vibe going, and they definitely succeeded on the latter. Even when they’re off playing-wise, they’re still a really fun bunch of guys to have up on stage, and I think folks really enjoyed it.

The headliner and definite highlight was The Bassturd. I think he’s always had this show-business-parody angle to what he does, but a lot about his show has tightened up to the point of downright professional, his timing seamless, his array of lighting gadgets, a mix of christmas lights and various Spencer’s Gifts/truck-stop-souvenier material, has gotten impressive enough that he did his set with no stage lighting whatsoever, playing keyboard entirely by touch. Hits such as “Fucking U Down” (with amplified accordion, of course), “Dirty Dirty South,” and “Bling Ballz” were in the set along with Devo covers from his tribute CD The Important Sound Of Things Falling Apart. The audience was mostly established fans very familiar with his material, and he was successfully goaded into doing a bit of “David Geffen Is A Pedophile.” Dan was totally on and in his element, and it was a joy to see him play such a solid show and to hang out with him.

Last night’s show came about as the birthday wish of Kim Hutchison, noted artist and wife of Why Make Clocks frontman Dan Hutchison, that he reunite two of his old bands, the goofball punk of Going To Grandma’s and the bloody-minded prog-punk of Fetal Pig, both featuring brother Jeff Hutchison, and the former also including Jeff’s Blutiger Fluss bandmate Jim Duede. Neither band came with their original bassplayers, however; yours truly did the job for Fetal Pig, opening the evening, easily among the most challenging sets of music I’ve learned and played in my life, and following a second set of no-nonsense rock and roll from Squidboy, Why Make Clocks drummer Will Tarbox took up the bass guitar for Going To Grandma’s, his first performance ever on the instrument. I’d expected GTG to be a fun band, what I hadn’t expected was that they would also be so good. Well written songs with lots of vocal interplay and sing-along choruses.

It’s been intense, playing new and old material for the first time. All humid weather and good times with good people. A lot of folks at last night’s gig seem to think we should play these tunes more often. I’m up for it.

I’m gonna do it kind like the solo gigs I been doing since ’08 or so, with drum machine and looper, but playing bass instead of guitar, and playing it loud and slow and sludgy the way Distant Trains rolls. I could maybe use a bandmate though, for future performances. Maybe someone who plays both drums and spaced-out synthesizers.

The show is at Vaudeville Mews here in Des Moines this Wednesday at about 9:30 pm. The Bassturd is the evening’s headlining attraction, and deservedly so; if you have not seen The Bassturd yet, you really should. The man is a songwriting keyboarding rapping improvising accordioning juggernaut of hilarity, absurdity, and awesome. A past collaborator of The Bassturd is also on the bill, Des Moines O.G. songwriter Todd On Acid, and newfangled local psychobilly outfit S.E.R.F.. I’m not quite sure what the order is other than of course The Bassturd goes on last.

I would have posted this bit of news much earlier but shit has been hectic in Centipede Land. I moved from a rented split-foyer in southeast Des Moines to a cheaper and lower-maintenance apartment in West Des Moines and started a new job as a combination Ruby On Rails programmer and server admin and possible development team lead. It’s the kind of job that forces me to learn a bunch of new shit to keep up, which is the kind of job I like. I went to 80/35, which I’ve already written about. I worked out an apartment-friendly headphone-based practice setup for bass + drum machine. I bought a Stylophone, and that kept me kind of busy for a while. I’m reading about four books at one time. In the process of moving, I unloaded a lot of random, bulky, oddball possessions that I didn’t really have much of a use for any more, but I’ve still got a lot to go. Feel free to make me an offer on a Yamaha CP-30 electronic piano or an epic collection of pencil sharpeners, including a ton of those die-cast metal ones that look like old cars and appliances and shit. The collection of Pascal programming books didn’t sell as well as I had hoped, most ended up in the recycle bin. My Atari 2600 and large collection of cartridges and accessories will be going to the International Video Game Hall Of Fame being started in Ottumwa, Iowa, in hopes that they do in fact appreciate the significance of Chase The Chuckwagon.

Anyway I didn’t start Centipede Farm to be a personal blog, in fact I very expressly started it not to be a personal blog, but you know, I’m sure that’s all interesting shit, and it ties in in some ways with my musical projects. Another rad thing I’ve got going on is the Fetal Pig reunion, which also involves a reunion of yet another classic ’90s Des Moines band, Going To Grandma’s. It will also be happening at the Vaudeville Mews, this Friday, along with another classic Des Moines rock band that needs no reunion because they never went away, Squidboy. Learning Fetal Pig songs, which are these crazy complex riff-fests that sound like a cross between The Minutemen and King Crimson, has been an awesome mind-bending experience and one that I hope will influence my writing for Distant Trains. There is talk that since we’re getting the songs down pretty tight we should go down to Luke’s and record an album.

See you Wednesday and Friday
(Now listening: Sleepy Sun – Fever)

I just had practice earlier today with the reunion lineup of Fetal Pig that’s going to be performing at Vaudeville Mews July 23rd. The lineup is the brothers Hutchison and myself (interestingly, this same lineup has performed as Why Make Clocks once, at The Replay Lounge in Lawrence). It was awesome. Des Moines old-skoolas ought to get your asses out there for this show — Going To Grandma’s will also be doing the reunion thing on that show (same Hutchisons are involved).