We jam econo. Those three words might not make a lot of sense to the average citizen, but for people steeped in the punk rock ethos, they know exactly what it means. MSSV (aka Main Steam Shutoff Valve) doesn’t tread waters in the punk end of the pool much though, outside of the DIY attitude. Mike Baggetta tapped two big hitters to form his trio; Mike Watt needs no introduction, and Stephen Hodges has provided drums and percussion for Tom Waits and Mavis Staples as well as other titans.
It’s a much more jazzier feel, skittering and careening and rarely staying inside the lines. They played most of the new record (reviewed here), and included the improv interludes that are on the vinyl-only release as they made their way through the set. Tubby’s is the smallest club I’ve ever set foot in and the back room was bursting to the seams with people craning their necks in an attempt to catch the action (it’s also very poorly lit, especially Watt’s position sitting down at stage left so sorry if my photos aren’t up to the usual standards).
“Boat Song” and “Help” were standout tracks, the band stretching out and keeping things loose and off-kilter when needed, straight on the nose when called for. The encore featured a Richard Hell song that somehow I’d never heard (“Another World”) and featured a biting lyric of “I could live with you in another world/Not this one.” From Kingston the band hit the far reaches of Rhode Island and New Hampshire until the tour turned back westward; they are playing small clubs and some have sold out but grab a ticket if you can.
Beech Creeps is Mark Shue’s project, and given his Guided By Voices tenure I figured the songs would be somewhat adjacent but this was something entirely different. Caustic lo-fi garage rock that breathes the same air as Osees or Birds Of Maya, two guitars and a drumkit that send plumes of smoke high into the air and surrounds you, invading every pore. Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Brian Chase had an unusual set up with the snare titled away from him and angled towards the crowd. He sprawled over the kit in pretty much every physical option imaginable but never lost the beat. What the pure, distilled version of rock music should look and sound like.
Opening duties were handled by Working Batterie, and they played some songs that were directly inspired and collaborated on with Watt, who provided some bass lines and then the songs were crafted around them. To sweeten the deal, the last three songs of their set had Watt sit in for some Minutemen covers; hearing “Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs” and the stirring “The Glory Of Man” never gets old.
