The Poison Control Center will be entertaining at the Drunken Unicorn on Saturday, February 26th, 2011
"Familiarity can be a crutch, or a comfort; in the case of Ames, Iowa's Poison Control Center, it's very much the latter. Something about Sad Sour Future, their slack-but-sturdy double LP, is bound to set off a lightbulb or two in the head of anybody who's ever made it through a few Superchunk records. Their rangy, restless guitar tangles harken back to the brainy, punchy work of the Chunk, Archers of Loaf, Pavement and the like. Primary singer Patrick Fleming's got one of those classic indie dude voices, insistent and a little pinched, and the other guys fall in nicely. (Devin Frank does a mean David Berman.) Even Sad Sour Future's analog production lends the proceedings a loose-fitting, era-appropriate warmth. But whereas most throwback acts are content to take a loan out on every last thing, personality included, Poison Control Center are far too sharp and self-assured to need a lender on anything that vital; lax and charming, these tunes feel fresh even when the music veers a tad out of time.
PCC are dabblers; their past work ran a weirdly effective gamut from Les Savy spaz to the more ornate Elephant 6 stuff, and while they're certainly pounding the Pavement a lot harder on Sad Sour Future, touches of Beulah-style horn flare ups and Tullycraft twee run ideal interference on all the goldbricking. Songs circle back on themselves, winding melodies into countermelodies into even more melodies; what seems at first limber and casual reveals itself as carefully considered and pretty crafty, with hooks duking it out among the myriad guitar interjections. The hour-and-change runtime means nobody's checking their watch, and these songs feel wonderfully unhurried-- guitar solos seem to bleed out of the tracks, horns tumble into the frame, tempos stroll, and Fleming occasionally lets his singing fall just behind the beat, all to fine effect. Theirs is an agile sound, neither overeager or overblown, and even when things get to feeling a little familiar, the knotty melodies and judicious instrumental touches carry the songs over.
Lyrically, PCC opt for sweet slices of life occasionally cut through with a little abstraction; their tales of hanging out downtown with elegant gals and riding golf carts around their grandfathers' farm are richly detailed, chatty, and full of left turns. Their verses saunter, but their choruses soar, and you don't walk away from these tunes wondering what's meant by them. I wouldn't consider Poison Control Center a to-the-point kind of band-- at 71 minutes, Sad Sour Future certainly wanders-- but these tunes know precisely when to throw a hook in your path; you could, for example, slice "Calling Card" into maybe three parts and have three perfectly good choruses to build a tune around. You might say that's overgenerous; you could say the same about Sad Sour Future as a whole. But if a not-unhealthy respect for its elders and maybe one too many catchy numbers all in a row are the worst things one can level at Poison Control Center, clearly this is a band worth getting familiar with." — Paul Thompson, August 17, 2010 /
Pitchfork Media
The Poison Control Center on Facebook
Spectralux are the second performer of the evening.
an astounding entertainment experience... Spectralux was formed by Henry Watts, Jimmy Martin, Nate Fackler and Peter Roets in Atlanta, 1998. Influenced by David Bowie, Pixies and Wire, the band took the stage with a handful of songs and homemade props from malfunctioning television sets (ABOUT 40) to dismembered mannequins performing up the East Coast with such acts as Melt Bananna from Japan, Jucifer from Athens and His Name Is Alive (see TOP ALBUM COVERS OF ALL TIME-Rolling Stone). The band recorded three independent releases and underwent a series of line-up changes including the addition of guitarist Jeff Cobb in 2002. Their 3rd studio album was recorded in East Atlanta. The sound of Spectralux was further expanded in the summer of 2005 with the addition of keyboardist Jonathan Whiteside. With 808 and 909 as a drummer and the help of Mike London, the band completed its 4th studio album in November 2005 under the direction of producer/engineer Kris Sampson at the now defunct NICKEL N' DIME STUDIOS (TLC, TRAIN, The B52's). The self-titled album took a fresh, stylish approach to modern music with atmospheres and futuristic imagery that are uniquely Spectralux. 2006 brought the release of the album and the addition of veteran drummer Patrick Boggs. Soon thereafter, Stickfigure Distribution announced it would distribute spectralux. In 2007, the band began recording their 5th studio album under the direction of Engineer Joel Mullis of Fatback Sound Studio.The album should be ready for release by the fall of 2010 and will include a previously recorded and unreleased demo (Engineered by Bruce Butkovich) of "Deer of the Underground" and a version of "Majik Beach Motel" initially recorded by Bruce Butkovich. The album will be released sometime in 2010- which is here now and the band has once again reformed with original drummer Jimmy Martin, Adam Wildstein on bass guitar and a plethora of synthesizers and drum machines. The sound is taking us in new and interesting directions.
Spectralux on Facebook
She Came From Above are opening the show.
A motley ensemble that’s sound might have always been searching for a home has finally landed on planet Earth with a fearless attitude and an apparent agenda of aesthetic plague. The vulgar and determined demeanor of generation Pluto in Scorpio (1984-1996) has birthed a child promised to deliver its receivers to utopia and stain its significance in time. She Came From Above has conjures sounds best described as a montage of punk rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, and the often loosely coined label of rock and roll. Doors of intuition open, leading to places known only to those dismissed from the human thought plane, stirring the air, and such a glimpse of enlightenment is received by the sixth sense of the band’s shaman, guitar player and singer, Joshua Overley. The message is then exploited, and the direction of song, ignited by the band’s groovy but explosive rhythm section comprised of Evan Price on drums and Tim Paul Daly on bass guitar, becomes an eye opening display of imagination paralleled to the disaster you just can’t seem to look away from. The song is then decorated and further, characterized by the painter Marvin Figueroa, often noted as reminiscent of fellow painters Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Jimi Hendrix. Whether taking you to strange places, all too familiar feelings, or anomalies of euphoria, She Came From Above has density of substance that can truly free the human spirit.
Where did they come from? Where will they take you? Perhaps following the phrases “Let go and flow” or “feel, don’t think… use that animal instinct” spoken by the band could send us on the right course. Whether we get it or not, we sure desire the liberation and epiphanies you speak of. She Came From Above, you have our full attention.
She Came From Above on Facebook
$5 in adv, $8 DOS, 21+
Doors @ 9 pm
Advance tickets available @
Ticket Alternative,
Criminal Records,
Decatur CD,
Fantasyland Records and the following
CD Warehouse locations: Buford, Duluth, Kennesaw, Lawrenceville and Roswell.
