The 5:15ers at the Arthur Ball - The Echo - Echo Park Ca 02.26.2006
Posted by Frank Estrada on 02.28.2006
Josh Homme goes Electronic and I yell Judas! I mean hey this was really good.
Welcome to the Los Angeles/Hollywood/Silverlake, Hipster/Indy scene. This is a place where everyone knows someone, but you. All the guys look like they needed a hair cut since 2004 and their clothes are so worn, you know they paid over $80 for that faded t-shirt on their back. The women look like they are dressed for a club, but are here because they hear from their friend in the Industry that this is going to be the place to be on a Sunday night. I love this scene. As jaded as I may seem, I bumped into Meg White when I got there, I was able to talk to Joey Castillo from Queens of the Stone Age and P.J. Harvey. Call my life complete.
Tonight is the final night of the Arthur Ball, a small festival in Echo Park, Ca, put on my a small indie music rag. There were a lot of bands on this bill, but as the coolest one on the block, I just came to see the Fififf Teeners (or The 5:15ers). This is Josh Homme's latest musical paring with longtime collaborator Chris Goss (Masters of Reality). When I say they go electronic, I'm talking about these two backed by a drum machine and sequencer, with a synthesizer sitting in front of Chris Goss. While past bands thrive on the pounding of the drums; tonight's set was set to the drum machine and was different than anything I expected
The first song, starts with a stomping beat, which is joined by Homme riffing in time with Goss pounding on the synth. This song reminds me of the riff everyone loves from Burn the Witch; just imagine if The Kills covered that song. Actually The Kills are a good reference point of what tonight kind of sounded like. Imagine if Josh Homme played with the Kills. Then you can kind of imagine the electronic simple sound that The 5:15ers had. In an interview with Billboard, Goss said they would be improving and possibly doing covers. Well I can tell you that they covered Mark Lanegan'sOne Hundred Days; off his Bubblegum album; and they did Masters of Reality'sCalling Dr. Carrion. Through out the set the two traded vocals. I must say both can carry a tune and they harmonize well with each other. Two originals that they sang were Baby May and Space for Rent. They did other songs but I wasn't familar with those. I'm sure someone recorded this and it is worth finding. Although this project may see the light of day with more shows and a recording in the future; as the inaugural show, they did not disappoint. You would think fatherhood would slow Josh down. Nope, it just made him stranger and strangely better.
The 411: I hear this is the first show of The 5:15ers, with more in the future. When you hear they are coming to your town, run don’t walk. It was great seeing them in a room with what it seemed like fewer than 100 people. Even if you aren’t a fan of Queens of the Stone Age, this is something you should check out. You are not going to hear this music on the radio. That’s a shame. While Josh Homme has a gold mine with QOSTA, has the talent to bring to us vastly different sounding music under different monikers. Bottom line, if Josh Homme is playing, go see it.
