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From Hell?
Ross Beach and the Hellpets dig up the doomy side of pop
BY J.D. SUNTAN
Some guys you just can't keep down. Battling a head cold, his country keyed up for war, Ross Beach doggedly slaps an Attack Iraq? NO! sticker on his chest and misintroduces his band Ross and the Hellpets to 30 or so people packed into the bunkerlike Rabbit Hole.
"We're 'Attack Iraq? NO!' tonight," Beach says, while bassist the Countess and Sauvie Island Moon Rocket Factory's Dave Klopfenstein, subbing for regular Hellpet Chris Baker on drums, chime in on the "No!" At that, the Portland trio launches into a set of power-pop, Beach's jangling guitar hooks and deep vocals backed by yhe Countess' rollicking bass.
It's doubtful anyone, Beach included, takes the band's politicizing very seriously. He just seems too cheerful to be upset or angry about anything. Given that his songs largely concern death, darkness and emotional doom, you would be tempted to call him a paradox.
Beach, 29, grew up in Baton Rouge, La.,singing in the church choir and playing the piano, later learning guitar and bass in high school. He graduated from Louisiana Tech, where he met Jeff Mangum, a math professor's son and architect of the band Neutral Milk Hotel. Beach played with Mangum in the early 1990s and describes himself as a "hired hand " bassist in the Elephant 6 collective. That Dirty South-based group of musicians formed some of the 1990s' seminal indie pop ensembles--Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel--and inspired innumerable followers.
"The whole Elephant 6 group really was pretty cohesive, almost like a big family," Beach says. "The fact that they were all genius songwriters was a nice touch. Jeff was my favorite songwriter even back then, but I didn't expect anyone else to ever hear his stuff."
After its core groups dropped a string of critically revered albums, the E6 crowd dispersed to Athens and Austin, and Beach picked up the guitar once again. He'd begun playing with The Countess, a bass player he met while she was earning an MFA in writing at Louisiana State. In 2000, they fled Louisiana for her native West Coast and ended up in Portland, where the Hellpets took root.
Beach's new solo record, You Make It Look So Easy, abandons the Hellpets' straight-up pop-rock live sound. It would be a stretch to stick it with the well-worn "Americana" label, but a cast of stringed instruments like mandolin lends a homey feel to the album's quieter moments. "American" might be more accurate: a buffet of indie power-pop, twisted folk, love and death.
The new songs maintain the juxtaposition that characterizes Beach's catalog: pop gems with darker underpinnings. Cheery backdrops to songs about children burning out their eyes as they stare at an eclipse? "Well, it's kind of like life, isn't it?" Beach says. "There's seriousness and conflict, and I just try to get through it with good-natured humor."
This attitude is illustrated in You Make It Look So Easy's opening track, "Beautiful Worms," a Cars-esque number that features Beach singing "Let's play Scrabble/ Let's play Skipbo in the morning/ One day/ We'll welcome/ Death without a hint of warning." The Hellpets' self-released 2001 album, Teddy Bears Gone Bad, contains an infectious number called "Little Pink House," a rose-colored suicide fantasy about jumping off of the tallest building in Portland. Beach was suffering from a spot of depression when he penned that one; "I got over it," he says, "but the song's taken on a life of its own, and I'm forced to keep playing it."
With the release of the new record (his seventh solo effort, but only the second to escape cassette-only release) and a crackerjack band, it looks like good times lie ahead for Beach. A two-week tour of California in November gave the band its first chance to perform outside of the Northwest, generating entertaining Tour Diary fodder for the obsessively maintained Rossbeach.com. A series of local shows in December and January may help lure the ever-elusive next wave of fans.
Beach says he's finally getting the hang of this songwriting thing, just as the band is coming into its own. "It's hard for me to tell, to look at the new songs in any kind of objective way," he says. "But overall, yeah, I'm pretty happy with them. Sometimes I get my own song stuck in my head, and I'll be humming something and think 'What is that? Oh, I wrote that.' I consider that a good sign."
Ross Beach and the Hellpets play Friday, Dec. 13, at Tonic Lounge, 3100 NE Sandy Blvd., 239-5154 . 9 pm. Sauvie Island Moon Rocket Factory and the Persimmons also appear. Cover. 21+.
PREVIEW
Down to Get the Friction On
The young guns on Kid 606's Tigerbeat6 label rub electro-funk against toothy punk.
Back in the dying days of the 20th century, deranged Oakland electro-punk wizard Kid 606--a.k.a. Miguel Depedro--decided he wasn't content with just scarring the ears of unsuspecting listeners with his unholy marriage of experimental electronica and noise. So he founded Tigerbeat6 Records to bring like-minded miscreants to the masses.
In just under three years, the label has churned out dozens of releases by acts such as Blectum From Blechdom, Pimmon and DAT Politics. The Tigerbeat6 stable explores the far reaches of contemporary pop (and not-so-pop) music: from funky to beatless, from reflective to pummeling, from serious to silly. To spread the musical mayhem, three of the label's finest mounted the 45-day "Paws Across America" Tour of the U.S. and Canada.
Cex is the stage name of prolific and precocious Baltimore native Rjyan Kidwell, who--though barely old enough to drink--has dropped more than a half-dozen releases in the past four years and is Depedro's main cohort in running Tigerbeat6. Though his output wanders through austere electronica and near-ambient atmospherics, Kidwell's true love is undoubtedly hip-hop. His goofy stage antics and complete lack of inhibition have made his live appearances legendary.
The San Francisco trio Numbers adds a bit of punk pungency to the night's proceedings. Short blasts of funky guitar, raspy synths, simplistic drumming and barked vocals declare direct lineage to funk-punk godfathers Gang of Four. More recent reference points include British hotlings Add N to (X) or some of the K/Kill Rock Stars stuff out of Olympia.
Stars As Eyes plays a more meditative note. Two records for Tigerbeat find the duo from Providence crafting elaborate compositions from treated guitar, strangled samples and other electronic detritus. Portland's Nudge--future Tigerbeat6 member--opens the show.
Rumor has it that the tour has been full of hijinks. But even if you catch this crew on a subdued night, the sheer variety of styles on parade would make this bill worth checking out. Plus, you'll be doing your part to assure total Tigerbeat6 world domination. So obey! Ben Munat
Thursday, Dec. 12, at Meow Meow, 527 SE Pine St., 230-2111. 9 pm. Cover. All ages.
HISS and VINEGAR
SAUCE COMMISH STICKS STEPHANOS ON SHARP END OF SWORD
Fans of nude "shadow dancing"--and dancing in general--may soon lose a downtown destination. Last week, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission announced plans to cancel Stephanos' booze license. The Commission claims the popular club at 1135 SW Washington St., which books dance DJs and offers not-quite-nudie dancers concealed by backlit screens, is a noisome trouble spot. The OLCC announcement ticks off 17 incidents, including "verbal altercations," fights and arrests. The club's chieftains have until Dec. 27 to request a hearing before the five OLCC commissioners or agree to a settlement that satisfies regulators; if they don't, the panel could scrub the license by Jan. 24, 2003.
COMIC "LEADER" PROMISES "WAR," CANNOT SPELL "INFLAMMATORY"
Excerpted from email, with emphasis added:
"I just wanted to say thank you for absolutely ZERO mention regarding The Portland Comedy Challenge...Instead you listed the stupid-ass Def Comedy Jam vs. BET's Comic View in your listings. This is where I stop being nice. What I will say is FUCK YOU and your comments about Portland comics ripping off material from this Def Comedy Bullshit even and plagerizing [sic] it for our routines. Who the fuck do you think you are?...Your constant ignoring of the Portland comedy scene combined with this inflamitory [sic] statement leads me, once again to say fuck you and fuck Willamette Week. You have started a war...Whoever wrote it either is not getting laid or is just a flat-out bitter piece of worm ridden dog shit...Pissing off a bunch of comics was not a good idea. Pissing off one of their leaders was an even worse one. You Suck Willamette Week! Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go take a shit and wipe my ass with page 43. Mark 'The Mustard Man' Kikel"
ON A MORE APPROPRIATE SEASONAL NOTE
As Bernie Bernbaum said to Tom Reagan in Miller's Crossing, "Look into yah heart...Look into yah heart." In this season of multi-denominational charitable sentiment, Hiss & Vinegar would like to commend Ethos Inc. to readers' attention. If you've read this week's WW cover story--or if you are mildly sentient--you understand the horrific decline in Portland's public education. The arts have taken a particularly savage beating. Ethos, a Northeast Portland-based nonprofit, is one of a number of yeoman organizations trying to stanch the bleeding. The outfit brings a number of innovative music-education programs to local kids, including individual lessons for about 250 young'uns a week, priced on a sliding scale and teaching everything from piano to turntablism. Ethos' Music Corps hits 48 schools and community centers around Portland, while about 100 schools all over the state have benefited from the organizations' custom-tailored music assemblies. Last but certainly not least, Ethos collects and repairs donated instruments and loans them to kids who can't afford axes of their own. And yes, Ethos is a 501(c)(3) organization, so you can give money (or an unwanted trombone) to them and screw Uncle Sam. Everyone wins! Get in touch at 241-8824, or check out www.ethos-inc.com for more info. After you get done writing a huge check to Ethos, call legislators and tell them further cuts to school funding are unacceptable. Thanks and good night.
Have any fractured grammar or half-cooked opinions you'd like to share? Hiss@wweek.com.
WWeek 2015