Once Bitten Twice Shy

(The Great White Jenkins)

On Friday night it was either Baltimore’s Future Islands (and four other bands) at The Overlook or The Great White Jenkins’s EP release party (and two other bands--I overheard that one of them had recently toured with Akron/Family) at Gallery 5. I had just had my pea coat laundered so I avoided the former warehouse party and chose the latter.

Chance was in RVA, down from high in the mountains of West Virginia, which means that I was sort of unconscious by the time we got to the show (if “shot after shot” is the name of your game, then he’s your Huckleberry). All I can really say is that Chance and I had the grandest beards there (which is probably the reason why we got in for free), and that the band was good enough for me to wake up the next morning with a shiny new 5-track EP in my pocket. I do recall the big bad horn sound of Fight The Big Bull, who acted as the Jenkins’ horn section. What I recommend, so that you won’t be getting only fictions, is that you go to their myspace page and listen to some of the tracks (Shadow, River, and Brother are all from the new EP). They also just recently recorded some tracks with Karl Blau. One of them, called “Look Out World,” is up on myspace, and I think I may like it more than anything on the new Mussel Souls EP. But that's not to say that the Mussel Souls EP isn't great itself.

The Great White Jenkins -- O Night, from 2005’s Where Is Thy Sting?

RICHMONDERS: I urge you to go see The Great White Jenkins play. There are two shows coming up. The first is on January 27 at Cafe Gutenberg. The second is on February 5 at Ipanema. You should go to both, but I double urge you to go the Ipanema show.

Why?

(Nat Baldwin)

Because for this show, the Jenkins are opening for Nat Baldwin, who you may be more familiar with through his past work as the touring and studio bassist for, the greatest existent band, Dirty Projectors. I’ve just been getting into Baldwin’s 2007 release, Enter The Winter, which is pretty killer. (I think Baldwin’s vocals are very Longstrethian.) Below are two legit mp3s from the record.

Nat Baldwin -- All That Was
Nat Baldwin -- Within Walls

(Deradoorian)

I’ll also be seeing Nat Baldwin perform soon, on February 1, at Earth House on the Wesleyan campus. For this show, Baldwin will be joined by Deradoorian, the solo project of Angel Deradoorian (the angelic voice and current bassist for Dirty Projectors), Belly Boat, and Deer Tick. As you’ll recall, two of my Top 5 Mistakes and Regrets of 2007 slots were taken up by missed Dirty Projectors shows. So, while seeing Baldwin and Deradoorian solo is not a sufficient supplement for the directly experienced presence of the Christ Figure, I still expect these two young sheeps to destroy me real good.

Deradoorian -- (four downloadable tracks on myspace)
Belly Boat -- Little
Deer Tick -- Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)


For The Heads: