Ettrick

Black metal, free jazz, and improv skronk — these are the things Ettrick are made of

"Ever heard of Wisconsin Death Trip?" Jacob Heule asks. Ettrick's alto sax–playing half and I are in my living room discussing the rigors of life in the Midwest as they pertain to the metal-listening youth of today. Heule, a Wisconsin native, has jokingly — or maybe not so jokingly — cited Michael Lesy's book about the disintegration of the 19th-century town Black River Falls as we make loose connections between freezing cold weather, insanity, and locales that death metal and its fans call home.

He's certain of one thing: "Black metal is the perfect stuff when you don't feel like a human anymore. When I was a receptionist at a medical center, I got really into it because I just felt terrible about certain things. It was a dehumanizing job. Cold, bleak black metal — I could relate to it." more

Archie Bronson Outfit

The Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA, 10/18/06

On nights like this, The Bottom of the Hill hangs open like an empty doll house, black and littered with detritus of play dates past. Strands of Christmas lights illuminate the bar and twinkle over a small, tightly knit crowd. Restlessness in this space is contagious - it’s possible that people will stick around for half a song, chug their beers, and bolt. The band shuffles in quietly, a British trio with one drum kit, two guitars, and three beards between them. People shift their beers and stare expectantly into the void.

It's impossible to say what arrives in the ear first. Is it the skittering, relentless drums that drive the Archie Bronson Outfit onslaught? It might be the guitars that clang and clink like hollow bottles thrown across a room. Then there’s Sam Windett’s voice - a rattling wail that pierces the percussive waves with no sign of letting up. Either way, after about thirty seconds worth of “Cherry Lips,” the crowd is about as rapt as cynical indie rocker types can muster. more