Spazzstock!
Sato & Jonny/WWIX/The Plungers/Sea Monkeys//Union Pool//8/5/06
There were 2 G trains already in the station when I got to Courthouse Square. The doors were closed on the one on the left and there was an announcement that that one was leaving first. So I got on the one on the right. There was one other person in the car. The doors closed and we sat there. A conductor got on further down in the car and told us that this is the last stop, everyone off. Yeah, so what? It’s not like this is going to go into Queens on the weekend. It’s going to turn around and head into Brooklyn. Right? It’s just like the V. I get off and get on the other train, which is leaving first anyway. So they did me a favor. I look up only to notice the heavyset man across from me is in a tight-fitting, stained polo shirt and shorts and sitting with his legs wide open, giving quite the show of his black underpants. He’s got his hand on his crotch, completely unaware of how repulsive he is. (He’s the type of guy that would carry shopping bags full of newspapers around with him, and I could just picture the piles of old newspapers and porn in this guy’s apartment.) I wanted to put my sunglasses on in order to save what’s left of my eyesight, but my shades are no match for the horror. I pull my subway map out of my bag and hold it in front of my face, but the damage is already done. Thankfully he got off before I did, but not without showing off the saggy waistband on the back of his shorts.
I’d never been to Union Pool before, but for some reason I was expecting some hipster bar with pool tables in Williamsburg. Not so. The place sorta reminds me of a cross between Maxwell’s and Pete’s Candy Store—I don’t know why I came up with that, other than the fact that UP is at the end of the block like Maxwell’s and the door is cattycorner to the curb like Maxwell’s front door. There’s a back patio like at Pete’s. And you pass UP to get to Pete’s, since its right by the BQE overpass. No pool tables in sight. The place used to be a pool supply store and it was very 1940s. Maybe that was all it took, but there was such a happy vibe there. It was wild. The room where the bands perform also seemed to be from another time.
And maybe the other-generation vibe helped Sato & Jonny, or maybe it was just the stage dynamics. Or maybe it’s because Sato & Jonny made more sense to me after having seen Masayo Sato’s other band, the all-girl garage-rock band The Plungers. I saw S&J at Southpaw and while I didn’t hate them, I wasn’t impressed. I even forgot what bill they were on, but Southpaw is such a whack stage/place to play. Either you’re there there or you’re lost. I sometimes feel As the crowd goes, so goes the band and that holds true at Southpaw. Anyhoo, the stage at Union Pool is nice and accessible, right above my kneecaps, and the whole place was so warm. It drew you in rather than pushing away. And the stage was more compact, not as sprawling as Southpaw’s, so it made a nice setting for the retro 40s and 50s rock of Sato & Jonny.
And while I liked Sato & Jonny much better on Union Pool’s stage, I realized that this is the first time seeing World War IX on an actual stage. I think. Right? I don’t know if Trash counts, but this is a real stage. I started getting all excited for this. Max said he watched Office Space to get psyched for the gig, and wanted to know what was our favorite part of the movie. (The part where they take the fax machine out to the field and beat the crap out of it. I was working at this place that was nutso about the fax machine—which had to be one of the first fax machines ever made—when the movie came out. Not to mention the fax paper on the rolls, this thing was the size of the top half of a photocopier and it had a green light in it. I could go on, but I won’t.) So the IX made the most of the stage, running all over and trying not to implode—and ending with different songs than the ones they started, and being crazy pogo fun. The stage dynamic made for a more intense set. They said all their CDs were free, even the full-length! Hey! I paid $5 for mine!
I finally saw The Plungers, when they opened for Nikki Corvette @ Trash, and as I was digging them, I was thinking, That chick looks familiar. I’ve seen her before. It was in Southpaw. Now, what was the name of that band? Oh, right, Sato & Jonny. In addition to being a must-see based on name alone (at least in my book) The Plungers have been together for 10 years, according to the email I got from the IX. When I first read that, I was like no way, but I can see how that is, that they have been together for a while and the raw/primitive—which isn’t to say untalented or unprofessional or sucky—vibe/sound still comes through, because a sound like that for this brand of garage rock, can’t be faked.
“Next up is that new band from Long Island, Sea Monster!” Dave the Spazz announced. I had no idea what to expect—aside from the promised loud, fast, and stoopid. (Which they were from 1986-2001—how come I’ve never heard of them?) Sounds like a lot of bands I’ve seen. Coming onstage in matching outfits—Hawaiian shirts, Corona shorts, bucket hats, shades, and red Converse painted with glitter—I got it. I was thinking Sea Monkeys, those things you ordered from the back of a magazine and they were supposed to be a family of sea creatures, coming onstage in that getup, the guys were monkeys. (But are they monkeys or sea creatures?) It’s always refreshing to see a band that throws panties at you instead of the other way around, and I ended up with a cool pink pair with skulls and crossbones on it. Not like I would wear them even if I could fit them, but it’s good that the panty karma cycle was complete. And Sea Monkeys? Yep, pretty loud, fast, and stoopid. Not to mention eye-opening and mind-blowing, down to the band holding guitars/bass behind their backs and playing. (Well, not the drummer, of course.) I was thinking that they were WW9’s fave band because they were all falling over each other moshing, and I thought, The band that moshes together, stays together. Oh, and “Chimp movies from the personal collection of Dave the Spazz” means just that. So maybe the band name also refers to Dave’s love-of-monkeys.
There’s a 24-hour health-food store/Whole Foods knockoff just past the subway stop and even though I can’t afford to shop in places like that, I went in. They sold sodas there, so I don’t know how it could be health food. But they had larger sizes of Vitamin Waters and stuff like that. Bahlsen Hits were like $1.29 and you can get those for 99 cents in drug stores. I found a larger-sized Poland Spring sparkling water than I see in drug stores for only 50 cents more. But I was in such a good mood that I continued to look for something to go with it, like an inexpensive cookie or something. REM’s Man On The Moon came on, and a guy said to the girl he was with, “Yeah, I believe they put a man on the moon.” I laugh and he tells me, “I have no problem believing that.” They went to register and then Blister In The Sun came on. I was freaking out. I wanted to get some Pocky, but that was $3.49. I settled on Yan Yan and pretended to browse further so’s I could hear the rest of the song. I was ready to dance in the aisles, but I was too afraid it would be too much like the My Sharona scene in Reality Bites so I didn’t want to go there.
There were 2 G trains already in the station when I got to Courthouse Square. The doors were closed on the one on the left and there was an announcement that that one was leaving first. So I got on the one on the right. There was one other person in the car. The doors closed and we sat there. A conductor got on further down in the car and told us that this is the last stop, everyone off. Yeah, so what? It’s not like this is going to go into Queens on the weekend. It’s going to turn around and head into Brooklyn. Right? It’s just like the V. I get off and get on the other train, which is leaving first anyway. So they did me a favor. I look up only to notice the heavyset man across from me is in a tight-fitting, stained polo shirt and shorts and sitting with his legs wide open, giving quite the show of his black underpants. He’s got his hand on his crotch, completely unaware of how repulsive he is. (He’s the type of guy that would carry shopping bags full of newspapers around with him, and I could just picture the piles of old newspapers and porn in this guy’s apartment.) I wanted to put my sunglasses on in order to save what’s left of my eyesight, but my shades are no match for the horror. I pull my subway map out of my bag and hold it in front of my face, but the damage is already done. Thankfully he got off before I did, but not without showing off the saggy waistband on the back of his shorts.
I’d never been to Union Pool before, but for some reason I was expecting some hipster bar with pool tables in Williamsburg. Not so. The place sorta reminds me of a cross between Maxwell’s and Pete’s Candy Store—I don’t know why I came up with that, other than the fact that UP is at the end of the block like Maxwell’s and the door is cattycorner to the curb like Maxwell’s front door. There’s a back patio like at Pete’s. And you pass UP to get to Pete’s, since its right by the BQE overpass. No pool tables in sight. The place used to be a pool supply store and it was very 1940s. Maybe that was all it took, but there was such a happy vibe there. It was wild. The room where the bands perform also seemed to be from another time.
And maybe the other-generation vibe helped Sato & Jonny, or maybe it was just the stage dynamics. Or maybe it’s because Sato & Jonny made more sense to me after having seen Masayo Sato’s other band, the all-girl garage-rock band The Plungers. I saw S&J at Southpaw and while I didn’t hate them, I wasn’t impressed. I even forgot what bill they were on, but Southpaw is such a whack stage/place to play. Either you’re there there or you’re lost. I sometimes feel As the crowd goes, so goes the band and that holds true at Southpaw. Anyhoo, the stage at Union Pool is nice and accessible, right above my kneecaps, and the whole place was so warm. It drew you in rather than pushing away. And the stage was more compact, not as sprawling as Southpaw’s, so it made a nice setting for the retro 40s and 50s rock of Sato & Jonny.
And while I liked Sato & Jonny much better on Union Pool’s stage, I realized that this is the first time seeing World War IX on an actual stage. I think. Right? I don’t know if Trash counts, but this is a real stage. I started getting all excited for this. Max said he watched Office Space to get psyched for the gig, and wanted to know what was our favorite part of the movie. (The part where they take the fax machine out to the field and beat the crap out of it. I was working at this place that was nutso about the fax machine—which had to be one of the first fax machines ever made—when the movie came out. Not to mention the fax paper on the rolls, this thing was the size of the top half of a photocopier and it had a green light in it. I could go on, but I won’t.) So the IX made the most of the stage, running all over and trying not to implode—and ending with different songs than the ones they started, and being crazy pogo fun. The stage dynamic made for a more intense set. They said all their CDs were free, even the full-length! Hey! I paid $5 for mine!
I finally saw The Plungers, when they opened for Nikki Corvette @ Trash, and as I was digging them, I was thinking, That chick looks familiar. I’ve seen her before. It was in Southpaw. Now, what was the name of that band? Oh, right, Sato & Jonny. In addition to being a must-see based on name alone (at least in my book) The Plungers have been together for 10 years, according to the email I got from the IX. When I first read that, I was like no way, but I can see how that is, that they have been together for a while and the raw/primitive—which isn’t to say untalented or unprofessional or sucky—vibe/sound still comes through, because a sound like that for this brand of garage rock, can’t be faked.
“Next up is that new band from Long Island, Sea Monster!” Dave the Spazz announced. I had no idea what to expect—aside from the promised loud, fast, and stoopid. (Which they were from 1986-2001—how come I’ve never heard of them?) Sounds like a lot of bands I’ve seen. Coming onstage in matching outfits—Hawaiian shirts, Corona shorts, bucket hats, shades, and red Converse painted with glitter—I got it. I was thinking Sea Monkeys, those things you ordered from the back of a magazine and they were supposed to be a family of sea creatures, coming onstage in that getup, the guys were monkeys. (But are they monkeys or sea creatures?) It’s always refreshing to see a band that throws panties at you instead of the other way around, and I ended up with a cool pink pair with skulls and crossbones on it. Not like I would wear them even if I could fit them, but it’s good that the panty karma cycle was complete. And Sea Monkeys? Yep, pretty loud, fast, and stoopid. Not to mention eye-opening and mind-blowing, down to the band holding guitars/bass behind their backs and playing. (Well, not the drummer, of course.) I was thinking that they were WW9’s fave band because they were all falling over each other moshing, and I thought, The band that moshes together, stays together. Oh, and “Chimp movies from the personal collection of Dave the Spazz” means just that. So maybe the band name also refers to Dave’s love-of-monkeys.
There’s a 24-hour health-food store/Whole Foods knockoff just past the subway stop and even though I can’t afford to shop in places like that, I went in. They sold sodas there, so I don’t know how it could be health food. But they had larger sizes of Vitamin Waters and stuff like that. Bahlsen Hits were like $1.29 and you can get those for 99 cents in drug stores. I found a larger-sized Poland Spring sparkling water than I see in drug stores for only 50 cents more. But I was in such a good mood that I continued to look for something to go with it, like an inexpensive cookie or something. REM’s Man On The Moon came on, and a guy said to the girl he was with, “Yeah, I believe they put a man on the moon.” I laugh and he tells me, “I have no problem believing that.” They went to register and then Blister In The Sun came on. I was freaking out. I wanted to get some Pocky, but that was $3.49. I settled on Yan Yan and pretended to browse further so’s I could hear the rest of the song. I was ready to dance in the aisles, but I was too afraid it would be too much like the My Sharona scene in Reality Bites so I didn’t want to go there.
posted by heather @ 10:12 AM
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