Remember dance-punk? Oh come on, sure you do — that short-lived, NYC-fueled bizarro early '00s trend spearheaded by, like, four bands that sounded nothing like one another? Well, one of the bands that kicked off that whole stylish weirdness, The Rapture, is finally following up on its extremely hip 2003 debut Echoes with a new CD that's unlikely to sound too much like its predecessor. Pieces of the People We Love will be released on Sept. 12 by, no kidding, Motown/Universal, and features some production work by none other than the half of Gnarls Barkley that once mashed up Jay-Z and The Beatles, DJ Danger Mouse. You can hear new Rapture single "Get Myself Into It" at the band's Myspace page.
… Speaking of Gnarls Barkley, that pretty-good-but-completely-overhyped rap/funk/pop project is currently on the road with support from former Faith No More and current Fantomas frontman Mike Patton's latest foray into weirdness, Peeping Tom. An interesting combo of a show, to be sure, but witnessing it is gonna cost you quite a bit in gas money, as the closest this lineup comes to the Tampa Bay area is New York, for a show on Aug. 17.
… Motley Crue singer Vince Neil did come to town for a Tampa show at the St. Pete Times Forum a few weeks back, but maybe he shouldn't have. Reports that the aging vocalist was too inebriated to do more than stumble around the stage and holler every third or fourth word of the same lyrics he's been singing for 20 years were substantiated by several videos that subsequently appeared on the web. Current Ratt frontman (and, you'll recall, one-time replacement for Neil in the Crue) John Corabi had to come out to prop him up, and Neil was all but booed offstage by the angry crowd. Later, when he was asked about the incident, Neil refused to apologize: "This isn't a tour," he told a reporter from the Calgary Sun. "This is just me going out and having fun and sometimes, yeah, I drink a little too much. That's just the way it is … I just finished 185 shows with Motley Crue, so one show in Tampa where I drank a little too much — whoopdie-doo." Tampa fans of Neil could not be reached for comment, because there aren't any left.
… Clearwater power-pop outfit Four Star Riot goes Hollywood: a sizeable chunk of the band's tune "Get What U Give" is featured in the 20th Century Fox straight-to-DVD release Like Mike 2. In other FSR news, guitarist Finn Walling has left the group, but you can still see him bending notes with twang-rock flair in Hangtown.
… Pioneering Canadian prog-thrash combo Voivod's latest album, Katorz, was released on July 25. Voivod is already working on the arrangements for its follow-up, which will feature the final recorded contributions of guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, who died of colon cancer last August.
… Speaking of new albums, cross-dressing proto-punk legends the New York Dolls are releasing their first album in more than 30 years, for some reason or other. One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This also dropped on July 25, and features an accompanying making-of DVD. You can hear the first single, "Dance like a Monkey," at label Roadrunner Records' website, www.roadrun.com.
… Basic Rock Outfit, the Bay area band fronted by veteran Tampa-scene singer-songwriter Jeremy Thomas (formerly of Men From Earth), is heading out to Weed, Calif., in September to spend a month working on a new release with noted producer Sylvia Massy Shivy. Massy Shivy is perhaps best known for her work with Tool and Dishwalla; she also mentored Manasota modern-rock unit The Morning After. According to Thomas, Basic Rock Outfit is close to securing national distribution for the forthcoming CD.
… Irritating jam-pop ubiquity Maroon 5's three-years-plus touring odyssey for its Grammy-winning hit album Songs About Jane has been chronicled in a new book, the exhaustingly, redundantly titled Midnight Miles: On The Road Through 5 Continents & 17 Countries. It's mostly photos, though none are of Maroon 5 frontman/Number One Pop Playa Adam Levine shagging Jessica Simpson, so forget it.
… Atlanta producer Dallas Austin (Madonna, TLC), who apparently only had two minutes and a map of Texas to come up with a memorable moniker, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates kingdom of Dubai back in mid-May for possession of small amounts of cocaine and Ecstasy. In keeping with Dubai's strict anti-drug laws, Austin was quickly sentenced to four years in prison. In keeping with the fact that he's famous, Austin was just as quickly pardoned, and flew back to the States less than a day after being sentenced. Since the incident, it's come to light that a high-powered cabal of Austin's friends and fans, including Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones and Republican Senator/singer-songwriter Orrin Hatch, successfully lobbied the UAE's embassy in Washington, D.C., for Austin's release.
… If you're a St. Pete scenester, chances are you've stuck your head in the door at new downtown music venue The Garage by now. And if that's the case, then chances are, you had something snarky and deprecating to say about the quality of the sound emanating from the club's PA. Well, fear not, original-music fans. I ran into Garage owner Jimmy Jordan at last week's Rancid show at Jannus Landing, and he assured me the sound system is well on its way to living up to the room's obvious potential. Get in there and support the place.
… One last thing: Three-piece tech-rock juggernaut Riddle of Steel, the coolest thing to come out of St. Louis, EVER, will be back at Ybor City's New World Brewery for another sure-to-be astounding show on Sept. 3. The group is crashing a CD release party by one of the Bay's most buzzed local bands, the irrepressible Auto!Automatic!!, and is bringing a pretty good posthardcore act from D.C. called Retisonic (which features former members of underground heavies Bluetip and Garden Variety) along for the ride. It's a testament to Auto!Automatic!!'s current, well-deserved status that one of the best rock acts in the country is being billed as "Special Guest" at the local's shindig. Mark your calendars; this could be the small-club gig of the year.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2006.