One of the goals of the Great Ants is to not sound like a girl band.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There's no master plan when it comes to which weekend local bands choose to hold release shows for their new CDs. Obviously, a bunch of Pittsburgh musicians were waiting for spring while also trying to beat the summer concert season, because this weekend we hit a critical mass.

There are at least five CD release shows, varying in styles from thrashy punk to good-old roots rock.

GREAT ANTS: GREAT BIG SOUND

Pittsburgh has had some memorable girl groups -- the Barbed Wire Dolls and Thick Head Grin come to mind -- but there's never been a girl power trio here quite like Great Ants.

The closest sound comparison is probably Sleater-Kinney, without the Rush-like vocals, but Great Ants have moments where they can come off with the instrumental crunch of Don Caballero or the poppiness of Elastica or the Breeders.

According to guitarist Jody Perigo, one of the goals of Great Ants was to not sound like a girl band.

"A lot of the time, girl bands can get away with being mediocre because of the whole image," she says. "If you see a band with a bunch of guys, and they're not the greatest band, people will be more critical than if it's a bunch of cute girls. If they can't play exactly that great, you want to give them the benefit of doubt for trying."

That was one of the initial reservations of drummer Laura Totten, who had come to Pittsburgh from Belfast via San Francisco, where she was a drum 'n' bass deejay.

"Not that all girls stink," Perigo says, "but a lot of times if a girl wants to start a band it's a little cheesy or, like, they'll dress up in little outfits and it will be gimmicky. She wanted to steer away from that."

Great Ants began in the spring of 2005 as the four-piece Align Alike, and played that way until the other guitarist left in early 2006. Perigo figured it would be the end of the band because, she says, "I'm kind of timid about my playing, so I said, 'I don't want to be the only guitar player.' Leah [Klein] said, 'Well, I'm the only bass player and Laura's the only drummer.' So I realized I shouldn't be so self-conscious about my playing."

She's right about that. Perigo doesn't seem to have any clue how good she is, or how the good the band is, for that matter. But they've been out on the scene, including a high-profile Three Rivers Arts Festival gig with the Modey Lemon, and in some circles, Great Ants has been called the most underrated band in Pittsburgh.

Great Ants captures its live intensity on "For Simply," a debut album that, in some places, rocks as hard as Sleater-Kinney (check out the long thrilling jam on "Satellite") while also being poppy enough for radio ("Calling"). Perigo says the band's range is easily explained.

"Ever since we started, our songs have been all over the place, 'cause we have so many different influences. The first music I got into was metal. I just went to the G3 tour with my dad, which is as nerdy as it gets, and Laura, she could write for Kelly Clarkson -- it's so poppy it could give you a toothache. Leah likes a lot of pop and singer-songwriter stuff."

Totten also had some good contacts, like John Tejada, a West Coast recording artist and producer who recently did a remix for the Postal Service. He mixed and mastered the record to the band's specs.

"Even though it sounds pretty professional, we kind of left some mistakes in there for the charm," Perigo says. "It kind of sounds rough around the edges, 'cause that's how we sound live."

The other thing they wanted to maintain was the freedom to sound like more than one band on the record, which starts with a long proggy instrumental before breaking into a pop song.

	Scott Blasey of the Clarks has just released a solo CD, "Travelin' On." Click photo for larger image.

"A lot of times at our shows people have tried to give us advice, like, 'You're good but all over the place.' I think maybe if we were trying to get big and move to L.A. and sign to Universal, we'd be concerned with that, but we're not, so we're just going to write the kind of songs we like. If we want to write a pop song, we'll write a pop song; if we want to write an instrumental, we'll write an instrumental."

-- Scott Mervis,
Post-Gazette pop music critic

The CD release show is Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Lawrenceville Moose with Centipede E'est and More Humans. It's all ages and the $6 cover includes a free CD.

SCOTT BLASEY: LONG TALL TEXAN

On the opening track of "Travelin' On," Scott Blasey's first album since leaving his life here in Pittsburgh for Dallas, the singer looks back on the city that made him a star in a soulful piano ballad whose burned-out vibe recalls the Beatles' early solo work or maybe even Big Star.

"I had my time," he sings, "the Pennsylvania line is fading from my view."

He didn't mean to, Blasey says, but he's starting to wonder if "Travelin' On" isn't maybe a record for Pittsburgh expatriates.

"This place has a lot of pull," he says. "I love Texas, but it doesn't really feel like home. I still feel like a Pittsburgher living in Texas."

With songs reflecting on his home life, his daughter Sofia, and trading in "that tired fantasy" on "the corner of cold and familiarity" for a new life of "sweet mystery," this album lets you into Blasey's life with a candor that could only come from going solo.

"I'm glad this was an opportunity for me to do a solo record," Blasey says, "because I didn't really have to compromise on things."

It also meant an opportunity to make a record that sounds nothing like the Clarks, from those moments that echo the soulful beauty of the early '70s in ways that had him instructing his session guitarist, Chris Holt, "Dude, George Harrison, early '70s" to a handful of songs exploring Blasey's love of classic soul. He even covers Sam Cooke, while "Sweet Mystery," one of several songs about the big move, makes you wonder if he went to church with Otis Redding.

"The last thing I wanted to do was make a record that sounded like the Clarks," he explains, "without being the Clarks."

With all these references to travelin' on and never comin' back, you kind of have to wonder what this all means for the Clarks. And Blasey is as candid as his lyrics when it comes to talking Clarks (if more evasive when the conversation turns to whether he sees moving back to Pittsburgh in his future).

"What it means for the Clarks is that we've sort of entered a different phase in our career," he says.

The Maxipads bring the noise, bring the punk on their eight-song, 15-minute debut "The Battle of Noodle Castle." Click photo for larger image.

"We've done a lot of great things and we've had a lot of fun, but I think we just had to sort of look each other in the eye and say, 'We've got to stop pretending that we can still make it big like we thought we were going to, that this is kind of foolish to pretend with each record we make that maybe this'll be the one.'

I'm happy doing 70 or 80 shows a year, playing the Butler County Fair. We're not gonna get on the radio in Kansas City and all those places, so let's just stop kidding ourselves. Let's just move on and do fun stuff. Really, that was it. Let's just have fun."

-- Ed Masley, for the Post-Gazette

Release shows are 7 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Club Cafe, South Side. Tickets are $12 advance; $14 at the door. Call 412-431-4950.

MAXIPADS: PUNK ROCK MESS

The Maxipads aren't the best band in town, but there's a place in the world for sloppy three-chord punk with perfectly offensive lyrics, and the Maxipads deliver just that on the eight-song, 15-minute debut "The Battle of Noodle Castle."

The Maxipads go back to the fall of 2005 when Katie Pegher was hanging out with her cousin, punk-rock guitarist Joe Melba. "I said, 'I wanna start a girl band called the Maxipads. He said, 'Can I play drums?' I said, 'Um, you're not a girl and you don't play drums, but OK.' "

Pegher, who didn't play bass, enlisted her old roommate, Kacyn Keys, who didn't play guitar, and they started practicing. "At the first practice," Pegher says, "We decided we were going to be as loud as possible so nobody would notice that we couldn't play our instruments." Someone described the first show, at the Quiet Storm, ironically, as like "playschool my first band."

The Maxipads tear into their instruments like perfect brats and scream out punk raveups like "Jon Benet," "Fat Camp," "(I Want Your) Halloweenie" and "Big Ben," with the chorus, "No helmet/no hands/what are you going to tell your fans?"

"People took that so seriously," Pegher says of the accident, "we were like, 'Let's write a song about that.' "

Pegher offers that somebody on the pittpunk messageboard called the band "unlistenable," but says, "We're loud and kind of offensive, so you expect that."

	The Shanks' influences include Warren Zevon, R.E.M., Neil Young, the Tragically Hip and Bill Nelson of Bebop Deluxe. Click photo for larger image.

The liner notes to the CD mention that the "Noodle Castle" was recorded and mixed for $50. "It was supposed to be $50 and a case of beer," Pegher says, "but [the producer] took a really long time getting it back to us, so we didn't get him the beer."

-- Scott Mervis

The show is Friday at 9 p.m. at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern with Kill the Fall, Loft Co., Sirens and Songbirds, Nikki Allen and Party Terrorist. $5.

SHANKS: A FULLER PICTURE

When the Shanks debuted back in 2002 with an EP and benefit release show, Charlie Humphrey said it might be a one-time thing.

Now, five years later, the Shanks have about five shows under their belts and a new full-length record called "Esse."

"I consider it much like politicians who argue for term limits until they get into office. It kind of happened like that," says singer-songwriter-guitarist Humphrey, better known as the executive director Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

"I couldn't stop writing songs," Humphrey adds. "I have this Protools studio on my third floor. Plus I like my bandmates a lot, so it's an excuse to hang out with them."

Those bandmates are bassist-singer Sara Radelet (executive director of the New Hazlett Theater) and ace producer/guitarist Rick Witkowski, who has a big hand in polishing the songs.

Humphrey, who admits he wouldn't make it through one round of "American Idol" as a singer, sounds a bit like Warren Zevon singing over R.E.M., with all the jangly melodic electric and acoustic guitars.

Radelet chimes in with a cool, dispassionate delivery. "I like her flat delivery," Humphrey says. "Her flat delivery is better than my flat delivery."

Asked about the band's influences, Humphrey acknowledges Zevon and R.E.M., and adds the assortment of Neil Young, the Tragically Hip and Bill Nelson of Bebop Deluxe.

"I'm influenced by everything. In fact, I'm so influenced by everything, it's embarrassing. I don't think I have an original thought in my head, to be honest."

Does he really want to say that in the paper?

"Oh, sure, because when you put it all together, it still sounds pretty cool."

-- Scott Mervis

The Shanks play the New Hazlett Theater, North Side, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with Mon Gumbo and Local Honey. Tickets are $15; $20 at the door, with proceeds going to The Sharry Everett Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides a monthly stipend, a book award, or both to an eligible student based on the North Side. Call 412-320-4610.

PAUL LABRISE: ALTERNATIVE SOUNDTRACKS

Paul Labrise is trying to balance the idiosyncratic and the oddball with elements that will make more people listen. Click photo for larger image.

There's a certain cinematic quality to songs like "Silent Movie" or the country-flavored "Dancing Round the Door" that Paul Labrise is pretty sure might have something to do with an odd little hobby he had as a child. Before he'd ever touched an instrument, he'd find himself imagining alternate soundtracks to movies or shows he was watching. Or sometimes, when his dad was driving, he'd be in the back seat writing incidental music for the trip inside his head.

He's often felt his instrumentals, in particular, would lend themselves quite nicely to, as he says, being "slapped up against some other person's images" on film. But even when he's filling in the blanks himself with lyrics, he's more likely to suggest a scene than come right out and bore you with the details. There's "a ghost we've never seen 'round every dirty street we've been" in "Silent Movie," one of several haunting highlights of his latest effort, "Star Delight." And "By the Light of Day" creates its own impressionistic world in moments as poetic as "There used to be a house right there on the darkened streets, on the edge of town/Covered in vine, the foundation rises like an echo through time when lovers intertwine."

As beautiful as songs like that one or the album-opening "Propeller" are, it still seems odd to hear Labrise describe his latest album as part of an effort to "put forth something that wouldn't be as idiosyncratic" as his other albums.

"I want people to listen to the music," he says. "And if I have all these oddball sort of instrumental songs, or if I'm singing songs that don't have solid enough imagery, it doesn't seem to add up to being accessible to many people. So I definitely picked these songs with that in mind."

Which doesn't necessarily mean he's turned his back on interesting ideas.

"I love sound," he says. "I love recording sound and adding color to it. Lee Scratch Perry, he always added weird things to his mixes. He's probably way more glaring than I am about it, but it's kind of that idea. You add a part that isn't regular. I've always liked that. That's the magic touch."

-- Ed Masley

The CD release show is at 9 tonight at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville with Slim Forsythe and the Park Lane Drifters. Call 412-682-0177.