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2010 Flagpole Athens Music Awards
Morton Theatre^*V
Thursday, June 24, 8 p.m.
• Awards handed out in 21 cat
egories' Who's Athens’ favor
ite Upstart Band of the Year?
Country crooner? Metal shredder?
• High-energy hip-hop from Elite
Tha Showstoppa
• Buzzworthy electro-pop from
Reptar performs as a trio!
• Acclaimed E6 supergroup
Circulatory System!
• Rustic Americana and gypsy
swing from A Postwar Drama 1
• Teen sensations Athens (the
band}!
• Los Meesfits play salsa covers of
Misfits songs!
• Hosted by local comedians Chris
Patton and TJ Young-
• Award presentation by surprise
guests including musicians, pro
moters and scene vets!
• Screening of the winning local
musk video!
• The tmprovisationat genius of Kenosha Kid in the pit!
Tickets cost just $4 if you already have an AthFest wristband. Otherwise, it'll be $7
in advance and tickets are available at the Flagpole office, at SchooiKtds Records
and at the historic Morton Theatre. The price goes up to $9 at the door. Everything
gets going at 8 p.m. and wraps up in time for the rest of the night's musical events
See you there! [Michelle Gilzenrat]
plugged into the Athens music scene. Lona is
a vehicle for leverett, a local musician who
has played with such nationally touring acts
as Bright Eyes and Now It's Overhead. Iona's
music tends to run the gambit, but mostly
bears similarities to early '70s-era Rolling
Stones. Lona's 2001 album, To the Nth, was
well-received and features a number of rau
cous songs that are perennial crowd-pleasers.
But despite the group's lingering popularity,
the rumor is that Lona's AthFest performance
will be one of its last. Leverett, who still
regularly performs around town under his own
name, is working on a new batch of songs
that don't quite fit the Lona mold. “Lona's
been together 10 years, and now everyone's
doing their own thing, and I'm focused on
this country music stuff," says Leverett. While
undoubtedly Leverett will continue to storm
the stages of this city's fairest venues, local
music fans should venture out to respectfully
toss a shovel filled with dirt onto the coffin of
a great Athens-based band. [John Seay]
Efren
Flicker Theatre. 1 a.m.
Athens, meet Efren. In the time it takes
most bands to have their pictures taken in
front of brick walls for publicity shots, Efren
has rocketed to the forefront of the local
music scene (they were even nominated in the
"Upstart of the Year" category for this year's
Flagpole Awards). Behind Efren's success is
Scott Leon-O'Day's Herculean work ethic. Over
the last 10 months, the band has performed
more than 45 shows. Leon-0'Day says touring
is what he knows. "I've been going after it
with determination," he says. “I'm really just
getting going, feeling what it's like to really
write songs and put them into action." Efren's
songs are dreamy folk music sung by Leon-
O'Day, whose voice is a striking combination
of breathiness and gravel. He sings with the
kind of twang that can only come from life in
Northeast Georgia (where Leon-ODay is from).
Think Mazzy Star fronted by Kurt Wagner of
Lampchop. Efren's performance at this year's
AthFest will also be a release show for the
band's new EP, Always Been a Bleeder. Despite
the hype surrounding his band, Leon-O'Day
keeps his eyes on the prize. "We're trying not
to be about hype, but writing songs for listen
ers." [John Seay]
SATURDAY, JUNE 26
Chrissakes
Caledonia Lounge, 10 p.m.
Drew Smith is multi-talented. In addition
to his solo work as Chartreuse, an explora
tion in organic ambient soundscapes a la
Tim Hecker, he also fronts Chrissakes, a
hard-hitting three-piece featuring longtime
Athens dude Rob Thomason and bassist Helen
Rhinehart. Chrissakes aim to bludgeon their
audience with blasts of carefully calculated
sludge, but beneath the crusty surface lies a
crafty early-'90s don't-call-it-emo flair. It's
heavy, flailing, passionate music that fans
of groups like McLusky and Drive Like Jehu
will instantly understand and enjoy. [Gabe
Vodicka]
Nuclear Spring
Go Bar, 10 p.m.
I can't find enough good things to
say about this band. Consisting of Danny
Gorbachov (guitar, vocals), Jeff Webber (gui
tar, vocals), Ryan Vogel (bass, keys, vocals)
and Scott Woodward (drums), Nuclear Spring
is dripping with '60s garage-rock cool. The
band's wild, often yelped vocals and steady
grooves combine for a naturally gritty, psyche
delic appeal that's part Kim Fowley, part Kenny
and the Kasuals, but its quirky sense of humor
and broad musical vocabulary brings Nuclear
Spring more in line with the deft genre
bending of Athens' own Russian Spy Camera.
Relentless punk basslines and freak-folk organ
work entwine with unconscionably catchy
guitar hook$ that will imprint themselves
indelibly upon your brain and make you twist
a hole in the dancefloor. It's only a matter of
> continued onp. 19
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