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Localized 153
The lovely Margaret has scored another killer little indie award-winner for
the next installment of Movies That Move; 'The Target Shoots First', shot
and directed by 22 year-old NYU philosophy graduate Chris Wilcha, is a
scathingly funny indictment of fumbling corporate attempts to manipulate and
market youth culture. Wilcha filmed the movie while working at Columbia
Record and Tape House, where apparently, he was the guy to ask about
underground music simply because he could "tell the difference between Bad
Religion and Bad Brains". 'The Target Shoots First' won Best Documentary at
Slamdance, Best Music Documentary at the New York Underground Film Festival,
and the Audience and Best Documentary Jury awards at South by Southwest's
Film Festival. The flick will be shown at The State on August 27 at eight
p.m., and will be prefaced by "a series of vintage short films culled from
archivist Skip Elsheimer's collection of industrial training and
motivational films", in keeping with the evening's "Quit Your Day Job"
theme...Pinellas imprint Unshared Worldwide has announced it will release a
full-length solo disc by way-underground punk/lone balladeer/songwriter
Jeremy Gloff, to be titled Spin Girl Spin, on October 3. Gloff relocated to
Tampa after years of punk releases and endless low, low, low budget touring;
a track from Spin Girl Spin will be featured on the next compilation that
comes with copies of Magnet magazine, perhaps the last glossy still holding
out on a Slipknot cover. Check out this guy on August 25 at Orpheum, where
he'll appear along with Engine Down and The Q And Not U. Learn more about
the indie enigma at http://listen.to/gloff, then sample a track at his
mp3.com site...in other Unshared news, Josh is still looking for cool bands
to appear on an upcoming Who tribute disc, and swears the
unsharedworldwide.com site will be updated sometime before the internet as
we know it becomes obsolete...Spurs continues to sport the colors.
Sometimes attendance is good, and often it blows, but the Ybor watering hole
with the mechanical bull is still booking locals on Friday nights. Rumor
has it the club is making enough on it's Tex Mex Sundays to cover the
spread; we don't care how they're doing it, we're just glad they are (hey,
guys, how about an ad, hint, hint?) Thanks to 'em, especially Audiolab's
Josh Young, who is always working the local angle. The schedule for August
is as follows: 4 - The Lemmings, Shoobox, Harvest; 11 - Project 13, Voodoo
Tribe; 18 - The Beauvilles, Hangtown, Slick Riddle; 25 - Flo, E3, 10 Second
Drop...The aforementioned Voodoo Tribe and 10 Second Drop will also be at
Gasoline Alley together on August 18, as will the must-see live clench that
is Attica. Note to Doug Drop, sorry I didn't get your full schedule into
Localized last issue, but when a friend of a friend hands me one quarter of
a piece of notebook paper with hastily scrawled dates on it while I'm at a
club, all bets are off. I owe you a beer...the also-aforementioned Lemmings
have finished mastering their debut disc; look for a CD Release Party-style
showcase around mid-September. As for the rest of August, one might find
them at Dunedin's The Pharm (Aug. 16), Gainesville's Florida Theater (Aug.
26), and that new Ybor live venue, Tahiti Joe's (Aug. 27)...it's been awhile
since we've heard from ska/rock/funk/whatever outfit Rude Squad. You may
remember them as the Bay area outfit who almost won the Conan O'Brien Best
College Band extravamaganza, or whatever the hell it was. The band has been
extremely busy booking their monstrously huge monster comeback tour with 28
Gates, and the roster of dates has finally been confirmed and approved. And
here, in a Focus exclusive, are the shows on the 2000 Tour:
August 17 - The Brass Mug, Tampa
August 18 - The Tamiami, St. Pete
Be sure to pack a buttload of clothes guys. You know how it gets when
you're on the road forever, never finding time to shove a load in the
wash...Soulsystem debuted 'Stereophonic', a track from their upcoming CD
release, on Star 95.7 a couple of weeks ago. The band was even invited into
the studio for a little chat; as much as we here at Focus abhor the radio,
we've got to give Star their due. They've played Harry Dash, Greed Engine,
and, uh, some other people too. There may not be a locals-intensive program
anywhere on the FM dial, but support is support, and 95.7 are certainly
doing more than they have to. Call in and tell 'em you appreciate it, and
request some local tuneage. www.soulsystem.net ...in other radio news,
could it be that the long and extremely entertaining bout of bad blood
between everybody's favorite southern-fried bad boys of rawk, Gunburner, and
every burnout's favorite radio anachronism, 98Rock, is over? GB will be
cranking them out in front of the Ice Palace on September 25, the eve of the
98Rock-sponsored Black Crowes & Jimmy Page/Cult gig. Could a local band be
any more well-suited for a show? The 'burner will also appear at Tampa
Stadium on August 25, where they'll perform following a pre-season Bucs
game. www.gunburner.com ...Book of Shadows asked us to thank everybody who
logged on to nextbigstar.com and voted for them. They also asked us to beg
everybody that didn't to go ahead and do so. As my beloved father once
said, "The shortest distance between two points is a hefty bribe", but BOS
are above that sort of thing, so all you'll get is that contented feeling
that you helped. Catch them at The Mug on August 12, before they head off
to Gainesville for a September 2 Florida Theater show...the Bushhounds will
be on tour supporting Artimus Pyle's band for most of the next two months;
the tour will make a couple of southern rock and blues festival stops,
including a three-day beer, motorcycle, and
leather-vest-with-nothing-underneath binge at Florida's own Slammer Jammer
shindig...Crizzy & The Punx continue to criss-cross the state in a frenzy,
solving mysteries with celebrity ghosts and feeding Billy Scooby-Snacks,
secure in the knowledge that their quest is a righteous one. The dates:
August 4 - Johnny's Rockin' Bistro, Casselberry w/Mohave
August 9 - Bourbon Street (formerly Rockets), New Port Richey w/Lost Dope,
Lost Cause & Magnetic Trigger
August 12 - Logan Skate Park Benefit, Panama City Beach w/many, many others
August 19 - Keegan's Clubhouse, Sarasota w/Tao and Left Hand Black
August 25 - Monterey Deli, Sarasota w/Swallowed
Yes, the Swingin' Mooks are still at it. This month they'll supplement
their regular gigs at thatched-roof pickup joints like Gators and The
Daiquiri Deck with showcase slots at Gasoline Alley (Aug. 5), Bourbon Street
(Aug. 18), and Club More (Aug. 26)...the wonderfully anarchic airwave
terrorists of 87X have gone digital; they've got a streaming audio site up
floating somewhere in cyberspace. The only problem is, we weren't apprised
of the address. We're sure you intrepid explorers out there will be able to
hunt it up and pass it on - the bugs should be worked out shortly for
worry-free audio mayhem...With a little help from Canada's AMP Records (who
seem to have quite a thing for Bay Area bands this last year or so), the new
full-length from Blue Flame Combo is ready for mass consumption. The disc
is called Rockabillies Go Home, and the trio's CD Release Party is tonight,
August 4, at The Tamiami; the woefully underrated Loose Ends and Orlando's
Evidents will support. And speaking of Orlando, BFC will be spending quite
a bit of time up there in coming weeks, with shows at The Kit Kat Club (Aug.
6, a benefit for some O-town filmmakers), Midtown Tavern (Aug. 11, and it's
actually in Winter Park), and The Back Booth (Aug. 12). Blue Flame is also
putting out the word that their August 18 show at Light Painter Gallery in
Sarasota has been cancelled - apparently, things have come to a head with
LPG, and they're getting some fairly heavy pressure to give up the shows.
Somebody go find out what the hell is going on down there...at press time,
the lineup for this month's Writer's Night at Orpheum is reported to include
Lance Rowland, Mike Tozier, Eric Knight, and Scott Anderson, not to mention
WN founder Frand Snyder...The Rancid Polecats dropped a line to let us know
there wasn't anything to report. www.rancidpolecats.com ....stalwart
Gainesville pop-tarts The Pawn Rook Four, currently on their way back from a
set at this year's International Pop Overthrow festival (where NutraJet also
played, incidentally), have found a permanent new drummer in the form of
David Reese, who reportedly wanted to be in the band so much he actually
agreed to live in Gainesville, even though he's out of school, dislikes jam
bands and has no idea where The Hardback used to be...Next Season, who we
last reported were occupying themselves this summer with the role of
'touring fiends', have picked up some aid in the booking and management
categories, rumor has it. Feel free to check out their newly updated
website. http://nxtseason.homepage.com ...I can't remember if we blurbed
them earlier or not, but either way, nice guys and marvelous hip-hop
conglomerate Red Tide is going to Atlantis next weekend; apologies for not
mentioning it before...another fine Gainesville outfit, Slack Season, has
been forced to delay their next full-length, titled Left To Right To Left,
for a month or so, because they've written so much new material it's become
difficult to decide what's going on the disc. But fear not, those few
around here who know how good these guys actually are (they were invited to
play CMJ a year or two back, if you see that as any indication), for a
five-song EP of new material, Highway Firecracker, will be released shortly
to tide your dirt-pop-loving asses over. Make the trip up to Orlando's
Sapphire Supper Club to see them tomorrow night, August 5, with Orlando's
own Cider and Red...WOMAN: word and image, a "synesthetic exhibition of art
by Jen X and spoken word by Wallis Bast", will open this Saturday, August 5,
at Clearwater's Java Lounge (2551 Drew Street). The Gita will play the
opening party; the exhibition will run throughout the month of
August...Marcus McCord, best known for his role as "the tall bald guy in
Spiller", will be DJ'ing the new Tuesday Night '80's music deal at Budious
Maximus. New wave, old wave, no wave, everything you either loved or loved
to hate about the Eighties, along with drink prices straight from that
decade. Plus, you can point and laugh if McCord flubs a mix, because he's
cool like that, not all stuck up and shit, like that one DJ with the yellow
shades. I fully intended to do a big blurb about Budious this issue, but
left all the info in my other rental car, so suffice it to say that the
things that sucked have been changed, and the things that made you go there
in the first place are back around. Plus, there's something either cheap or
free going on all week long. Be adventurous, check it out...in other
Spiller news, it's true, they scored the opening slot for The Outfield this
weekend (Aug. 5). Brett will again handle drums, and it's looking like the
lineup has once again gelled. Bother them with irritating questions
regarding their future while 'I Don't Want To Lose Your Love Tonight' blares
from the stage...though they will remain closed on Sundays and Mondays until
summer's end, The Pharm is still going strong, and booking everything from
original blues to altrawk to touring granola-oriented outfits. The regulars
are as eclectic as the lineups, though both lean a little heavily on the
jam-band side of things, but what the hell, the beer is cold and you need to
get out of that arty little indie rut you've listened yourself into.
Besides, it's one hell of a slow news week. The Pharm's schedule for August
is as follows; for descriptions, details, and further in-depth analysis
check out their site at www.pharmreport.com .
August 4,8 - Grin
August 5 - Glen Mancini Band (tight, jaw-dropping jams - Hendrix-y)
August 8 - Ransom Call
August 9, 30 - Hazard Factor (eclectic improvisational unit made up of
locals from other bands)
August 11, 12 - Crazy Fingers (apparently, the 'ultimate Grateful Dead
tribute band' - be warned)
August 15, 22, 29 - Funk Like Whoa
August 16 - The Lemmings
August 17 - Stonehouse (college jamfest favorite)
August 19 - Skydog Gypsy (three guesses)
August 24 - Resin
August 25 - Universal Baby (featuring Jeremy from Men From Earth), Blue
Joules
August 26 - Backwater Blues Band, Natural Blend
Ask, ponder, fret. What well-respected local heavy has a DIY European tour
in the works? Will they pull it off? Who recently narrowly avoided
incarceration following a shouting match with the law outside a prominent
venue? Who saved his or her ass? Is another local groovecore unit under
heavy observation by The Industry Machine? Do they care?
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