{"id":5023,"date":"2012-09-19T12:57:37","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T19:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/?p=5023"},"modified":"2012-09-19T13:33:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-19T20:33:00","slug":"the-more-they-stay-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2012\/09\/19\/the-more-they-stay-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"The More They Stay The Same"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know those shows where, about half-way through the openers\u2019 set, one finds oneself thinking, \u201cWell, I sure hope ABC Headliner has brought its A-game; else they\u2019s gonna get laughed off the stage!\u201d \u2026And then ABC Headliner comes out and lays such a massive whipping on the llama\u2019s ass that within about fifteen seconds, you remember, \u201cOh, yeah<\/em>. That<\/em>\u2019s who I came here to see, all right!\u201d<\/p>\n

Last night\u2019s Bob Mould\/Thermals billing was one of these. Hadn\u2019t seen The Thermals live in a good five or six years. Frankly, I\u2019d somehow missed their most recent release, and might\u2019ve even guessed that they\u2019d broken up. But no, they\u2019re still kicking out the jams; in fact, tighter and more rocking than ever. Man, Portland\u2019s music scene is some kind of a something right now, ain\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

\"thermals\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As you know, Bob Mould\u2019s got a new album of blistering Rock And\/Or Roll; released, coincidentally enough, on the twentieth anniversary of Copper Blue<\/em>. So, here he is with us again, having put together yet another Punk-Rocking Power Trio, touring the latter album in its entirety.<\/p>\n

Mould himself may be showing his years a touch, looking not terribly unlike a Log-Cabin Republican\u2026<\/p>\n

\"mould1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026but, as was to be hoped-for, Jon Wurster murdered the ever-loving fuck<\/em> out of these songs; proving himself yet again the most captivating performer in all of showbiz.<\/p>\n

\"mould2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"mould3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"mould4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jason Narducy, meantime, refused to be overlooked, pacing the stage like a caged lion, and and at times even seeming to outplay his two legendary colleagues.<\/p>\n

\"mould5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Holy crap did these motherfuckers ever bring the rock! So much so, in fact, that the band\u2019s, well, Raw Power, ended up compromising the songs\u2019 trademark melodicism, while ofttimes burying the vocals altogether.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a complaint, really: the records will always be the records, and can be consulted at any time. But when Bob Mould puts a crew together and deigns to go out and destroy the eardrums of the world one more time, the one and only conceivable response is: \u201cYes, sir! No, sir! Thank you very much, sir!\u201d Here\u2019s \u201cHoover Dam\u201d.<\/p>\n