By Tyrone Greenfield
This Saturday, celebrate the unusually summery February weather with an evening of noisy and chillwave live music. Campus band Gluestick will open for Abe Vigoda and Wild Nothing, beginning at 9 p.m. on Feb. 19.
Abe Vigoda, named for the actor who played “Tessio” in “The Godfather,” is a punk band from Los Angeles. Formed in Chino, CA in 2004, they became known for a “tropical punk” sound before recently adopting more electronic textures and gothic synths—they continue to maintain their guitar-driven sound. “Crush,” the album released by the foursome last year, received generally positive reviews praising the band’s newfound interest in New Wave.
Wild Nothing, from Blacksburg, VA, was formed by Jack Tatum during the flood of chillwave in the summer of 2009. Track names such as “Summer Holiday,” “Golden Haze,” and “Cloudbusting”—a Kate Bush cover—aptly evoke the band’s sound palette of simple, melodic vocals over tracks that layer smooth instrumentals to create a pastoral wall of sound. Tatum, who tours with guitarist Nathan Goodman, bassist Chuck Violand and drummer Michael Skattum, released his debut album, “Gemini,” in 2010 to critical acclaim and placement on annual best music lists.
Gluestick is a punk band and a resident of Main 4th. Its members, bassist Vadim Fainberg, drummer Pooj Padmaraj ’13, and guitarist/vocalist Clint Williamson ’13, have been playing together since their first few weeks at Grinnell and now live in a group draw together. Fresh from opening for campus band Spliffskrieg at the Pub last weekend, Saturday’s performance will be “our first time opening for a legitimate band,” according to Williamson.
The band characterized their sound as “noisy punk rock with a post-rock ambience,” or “punk shoegaze,” or possibly “shitgaze.” Gluestick’s music-making process is just as unique as their genre listings.
“We usually start writing around the idea of a sound, then it turns into something else,” Williamson said.
To find out what it turns into, you’ll have to come to Gardner on Saturday where you can expect no eye contact from the band, according to them— and be sure to “look for the small buddha on the stage.”
“It’s the punk aesthetic, man,” Padmaraj said, to explain the band’s live style.
Gluestick has big plans for the semester, with several future shows including the Freesound concert on Feb. 26 and a film screening on March 8 of silent movies with live accompaniment, but for now, they’re “mad pumped” to head four flights down and play Gardner.
