OOFJ talks performance
Emma Roszkowski
OOFJ features Jens Bjørnkjær as DJ and Katherine Mills Rymer on vocals. Photo by Jun Taek Lee
“It’s kind of hard for me, being very interactive with the crowd.” Though this statement could pose challenges for an upcoming artist, OOFJ has made their onstage shyness work for them. This past Saturday, Sept. 19, in Gardner Lounge, the Danish/South African duo of Jens Bjørnkjær and Katherine Mills Rymer performed a set that held audiences rapt, even as the performers downplayed the influence of audience feedback on their sets.
“I do a lot of pushing buttons during the show and trying to improvise the show. Of course you get the reaction from the crowd, but it’s also very busy doing just the actual work, trying to make something sound as cool as you can,” Bjørnkjær said.
“I find it very hard to have a stage banter like, ‘Hey everyone, we are OOFJ,’” Rymer added. “I might say three or four words in an hour and that’s kind of fine and, in some ways, it keeps this environment and this world without me going, ‘And now the next thing is…thank you for being here.’”
In terms of creating a unique environment using only their eerie blends of classical and electronic influences, OOFJ delivered. While the duo remained insulated within their own world—Rymer, eyes closed or fixed on Bjornkjær, crooned into the mic while she bounced along to the beat. Bjørnkjær, for his part, remained intent on his work and barely glanced up from the sound board—they managed to transport the audience as well. Any shortcoming in stage presence was quickly forgiven; attendees bobbed along to echoing harmonies, encompassed by the bubble of sound and energy. OOFJ’s performance was that of musicians over entertainers, and that was fine with the crowd. Gallant performs in Gardner
Photo by John Brady
Halley Freger
[email protected] Gardner was filled with the sounds of innovative R&B when Sunni Colón and Gallant performed on Friday, Sept. 18. Sunni Colón started off the night with a set of his smooth, minimalist R&B. Although Colón’s sensual R&B is comparable to artists such as Frank Ocean, his humorous and charismatic performance style sets him apart. He doesn’t take himself to seriously on stage and engages with the audience. When Colón’s set was over, he wasn’t ready to leave the stage so decided to perform his song “Water” again, even though he had performed it earlier in his set. He was so excited by the high-energy audience in Gardner on Friday that he kept saying, “Bring me back! I want to play here again!” Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of Sunni Colón.
Gallant brought something totally different to Gardner. His performance was highly professional, glossy and technically impressive. Jaws dropped as his falsetto rang out over the sounds of his band. He mostly worked his way chronologically through his music, beginning with songs from his EP and ending with his three most recent singles, as if to say, this is my career thus far, but it’s only just beginning. When he performed his final song and most recent single “Weight in Gold,” the audience shouted along and pulsated to its heavy beats. Gallant made it very clear: he has arrived. Ambré Perkins to bring classic R&B sound
Luke Jarzyna
[email protected] Photo by Minh Tran
Two young voices in breaking R&B music will be visiting Grinnell this weekend. Ambré Perkins is a New Orleans native who released her debut EP last spring. Chicago’s Rayvn Lenae, who is likely Gardner Lounge’s youngest act in many years (at 16 years old), will open the show with a unique blend of soul, R&B and house music. The two singers follow Gallant’s performance last weekend in what has been a very strong showing for breaking R&B music in this semester’s Gardner lineup.
Perkins released her debut EP, “Wanderlust,” last spring. Though 18 years old, the release sounds remarkably self- assured in both style and substance. The 13-song EP is an impressive collection of songs about love, individuality and Perkins’ own personal history.
From front to back, Perkins displays a willingness to make herself vulnerable on “Wanderlust.” She explores her perspective on adventures of adulthood or celebrity on high- energy tracks like “Faded” and “Bonnie & Clyde.” Meanwhile, “Ghost” touches on her upbringing in and out of various foster homes. “Pretty” addresses the oppressive role of societal beauty standards amidst her own desire to have her voice heard.
Beyond the personal nature of her lyrics, her voice is clear and in the foreground of the production on “Wanderlust.” She sounds like she cares deeply for the music she is making, a prerequisite that can easily be taken for granted when listening to an emotive R&B singer like Perkins. Yet, she expertly avoids overly expressive, Super Bowl National Anthem- type moments of self-seriousness. Her music sounds like it’s exactly what she needs to be making.
Her transparency in form and content is what makes Ambré’s music so refreshing. R&B music has taken an interesting course in recent years. Artists such as The Weeknd, Blood Orange, How To Dress Well and Kelela and many others have contributed to what’s commonly being deemed as “futuristic R&B.” Vintage synthesizers, vocal effects, ambient production and a generally cerebral nature could characterize “futuristic R&B.” Ambré Perkins, in many ways, stands outside of this cultural movement towards futuristic sounds, as she cites landmark R&B artist Brandy as an early source of inspiration and influence. Her music evokes classic sounds of early 2000s Top 40 R&B and the dog days of MTV.
Opening for Ambré Perkins is Ravyn Lenae, a 16-year-old upstart from Chicago who made waves with her 2015 release, “Moon Shoes.” The 8-song EP largely consists of collaborations between Lenae and producer Montae Jones. Sparks fly between the two in what sounds like a remarkably symbiotic musical relationship – Lenae compliments Jones’ skittering, Chicago- house-inflected beats with remarkable ease. Lenae’s precise rhythmic vocal delivery evokes the style of artists like Tinashé and Azealia Banks. This weekend’s double bill is a strong contribution to our tradition of providing young, distinct voices a platform to be heard. Mykki Blanco returns to Grinnell
Halley Freger
[email protected] Photo by Matt Kartanata
New York based rapper Mykki Blanco has been busy releasing new music and starting her own label since she last played Grinnell in the spring of 2013. On Thursday, Oct. 1 at 8:30 p.m, Mykki Blanco will return to Grinnell’s very own Gardner Lounge. Opening for Mykki Blanco is U.K.-based electronic musician, producer and DJ Ikonika (Sara Abdel- Hamid).
Mykki Blanco is more than a rapper—she’s an activist, a performance artist and a poet. And she’s especially more than just a “gay rapper,” often expressing frustration when she’s lumped together with other queer artists with completely different sounds who just happen to be gay and black.
Trying to categorize Mykki Blanco is like trying not to dance to her breakout single “Wavvy”—it’s impossible. The multi- talented and genderqueer performer has diverse influences. Growing up, she was inspired by the ’90s feminist punk movement known as Riot Grrrl and artists such as Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna. She even features Kathleen Hanna on “A Moment with Kathleen,” a spoken word piece on her 2014 mixtape, “Gay Dog Food.” She also cites rapper Lil’ Kim as an influence, and the inspiration for the name Mykki Blanco, a reference to Lil’ Kim’s alter ego Kimmy Blanco. Mykki Blanco experiments with a variety of sounds. The electronic, lo-fi quality on “Gay Dog Food” is reminiscent of Kathleen Hanna’s band Le Tigre. Her first EP, “Mykki Blanco and the Mutant Angels,” co-created with DJ Physical Therapy and Jeffrey Joyal as the band, incorporates industrial, Marilyn Manson-inspired sounds. Ultimately, the music Mykki Blanco creates, sometimes dark and industrial, sometimes melodic, sometimes bouncy and fun, is definitely unlike anything you’ve heard before.
Music can do a lot—it can entertain, it can heal, it can bring people together. Most musicians don’t set out to change the world, but if anyone’s actually capable of doing this it’s Mykki Blanco. In March, Mykki Blanco posted on her Facebook page about wanting to start a career in investigative journalism in order to find a way to “influence our world in a way a dance song and music video cannot.” However, instead of leaving the music world, Mykki Blanco decided to radically change it from the inside.
Last week, she released “C-ORE,” an album from Yves Tumor, Psychoegyptian and Violence. “C-ORE” is the first album released on Dogfood Music Group, her new record label/radical performance group/shining beacon of light in the music world. In her article in Dazed & Confused Magazine, Mykki Blanco refers to Dogfood as a group that is “unafraid to take over ‘white spaces’ and decontextualize them to create our own environments, our own safe spaces, our own visibility within the unavoidable supremacist patriarchy that is western civilization.” That might seem like a huge task, but at minimum Mykki Blanco aims to use musical performance to challenge various systems of oppression related to gender, sexuality and race.
So, is Mykki Blanco changing the world? Come see for yourself in Gardner Lounge this coming Thursday, Oct. 1 at 9 p.m, when she performs with Hyperdub Records’ Ikonika. Ikonika combines melodic synths, futuristic chips and pounding bass in her unique take on U.K. garage and dubstep.
Gallant to grace Gardner
Halley Freger
Photo by Matt Kartanata
There is an air of mystery surrounding Los Angeles-based R&B artist Gallant, who will perform in Gardner Lounge tonight, Sept. 18 at 9 p.m. Opening for Gallant will be another R&B artist, Sunni Colón. Despite a minimal and carefully curated media presence, Gallant’s notoriety is swiftly increasing and this soulful R&B artist who appeared, seemingly out of the blue, isn’t going to be a mystery for much longer.
Over the summer, Gallant released three evocative singles. The haunting “Talking in Your Sleep” is equal parts hard-hitting beat, ambient moans and ridiculously catchy chorus. The heartbreaking “Open Up” includes a solid 30-seconds of full-on Mariah Carey-style vocal trills that go up and down Gallant’s impressive falsetto range, ultimately building to a powerful belt.
Gallant’s mesmerizing falsetto rings over twinkling synths on his most recent single “Weight in Gold.” The track increased Gallants visibility when it premiered this summer on the first day of Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio show, hosted by radio DJ extraordinaire Zane Lowe. Now his SoundCloud boasts a massive 32,000 followers, and that number rises daily.
Gallant seamlessly blends his brand of contemporary R&B with the catchiness of pop and the sounds of classic soul. I wouldn’t dare label his music “alt-R&B,” a pigeon hole that has grown popular within the 2010s and disregards R&B as being a diverse, innovative genre. The history of R&B has been anything but static – it’s a genre full of experimental and hard-to-classify artists. Gallant is one of those artists whose soulful voice and lyrics juxtapose against experimental beats that ultimately swell into choruses you want to scream along to.
Gallant has diverse tastes and influences ranging from 90s R&B to alt-rock. His cover of the alt-rock jam “Learn to Fly” by the Foo Fighters choruses the song as a dreamy ballad set to the sounds of birds chirping—it’s pure genius. His lengthy Spotify playlist, “Every Song I’ve Ever Liked Ever,” includes artists like Weezer, Reba McEntire, Prince, Nick Lowe and Ciara. Although seemingly unrelated, all of these artists have created inarguably captivating hits.
Gallant is currently working on producing more work that better captures his emotional and high-energy live sound. Luckily, we get to experience this live sound for ourselves this Friday in Gardner.
Opening for Gallant is Los Angeles and Tokyo-based singer, producer and rapper Sunni Colón, who was recently signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation and featured on the soundtrack for the film “Dear White People.” He will begin the night with what is sure to be an intimate set of his signature R&B. If you’re a fan of Frank Ocean, you’ll love Sunni Colón’s smooth voice and minimalist production.
UK producer to perform Saturday
Luke Jarzyna
[email protected] Two of the most eclectic voices in electronic music production are visiting Gardner Lounge this weekend. Saturday night’s double bill with U.K.-based producer Mumdance and Chicago’s Them Flavors will bring sounds from around the world for a night of distinctive, inspired dance music.
In creating his sets, Mumdance (Jack Adams) doesn’t adhere to any specific genre, aesthetic or tradition. Rather, he weaves together a diverse collection of the sounds that are presently inspiring him into one, eclectic whole. On his most recent Rinse FM mix, he treats listeners to everything from U.K. grime and Jamaican dancehall to a track by the American hardcore punk band Rites of Spring and an extended, disorienting conversation between a child and the iconic voice of iPhone ghoul Siri. In this way, Mumdance pushes what is expected of DJs and tests the limits of genre classification. Adams’ diverse palette is further exemplified in an album he released with composer and producer Logos earlier this year, “Proto.” “Proto” is a meticulously crafted sonic experiment that explores the darker regions of early electronic music genres like house, drum and bass and jungle.
Due to this unique style, getting folks to dance isn’t always the top priority of Mumdance. While I doubt he’ll be dropping any post-hardcore cuts or tracks from the vaguely unsettling “Proto” on Saturday, still expect to hear a wide breadth of style and texture in what will be an incredibly danceable set. He’ll be unveiling a high-energy composition of the most well- researched and complex order.
A spirit of collaboration and a passion for sonic exploration underpins many of Mumdance’s releases. In addition to featuring a wide cast of voices in his sets, he has worked with innumerable other producers and collaborators in his career. Some of these collaborations include putting out remixes for Diplo and Gucci Mane, as well as British grime rapper Novelist and dubstep producer Pinch.
U.K. grime, a scene Mumdance operates within, is an underground rap scene that has steadily gained notoriety since it emerged in the early 2000s. While the origins of grime are complex, grime traditionally blends elements of dancehall, drum and bass and U.K. garage. Grime MCs touch on issues of politics and urban tensions in the U.K. Grime has recently taken a spot on the world stage.
The most highly visible representation of grime’s recent entrance into the mainstream could be seen during Kanye West’s performance at the Brit Awards earlier this year. Kanye took the stage accompanied by a sea of grime producers, in what may have been West’s prophecy for what the future of music will look like. However, Kanye is following in the footsteps of Mumdance and his compatriots, who have been exploring the fringes of grime for years now.
The eclectic, Chicago-based music collective, Them Flavors, is an ideal pairing with Mumdance. Them Flavors broke out over the past year as enthusiastic promoters for underground producers and MCs from a wide variety of musical persuasions.
Them Flavors hosted numerous Chicago dance parties featuring past Gardner Lounge performers Nguzunguzu and Princess Nokia, as well as Evian Christ and Scottish producer Rustie. To let the tagline on their official website speak for itself: “We Throw Parties And Help The World.”
The vast domain of underground dance music can often seem unapproachable with its seemingly endless distinctions of genre and scene. Thanks to both artists’ pursuits in genre exploration and experimentation, Gardner’s double bill will allow listeners from all music backgrounds to have memorable experiences. Don’t miss Them Flavors and Mumdance in Gardner Lounge this Saturday, Sept. 12, at 9 p.m.
Concerts chair talks fall lineup
Arts Editor, Susanne Bushman ’16 sat down with Concerts Chair, Mark Spero ’16 to discuss the committee’s fall linup.
SB: What can students expect from the fall lineup?
MS: They can expect really good music from a wide range of genres, showing off a bunch of up-and-coming artists from all over the world. We’ve got a grime artist coming from England next week. We’ve got people from New Jersey, New York, the Twin Cities, Los Angeles. When I was making the lineup I just tried to get the best I could get from each genre.
So, is that diversity of location and genre what you put at the forefront of your decision-making process when creating the fall lineup? Or were there other factors that came into it?
There were a lot of factors but I think that my main goal was to get a wide variety of music from many different genres. I mean by that, that anyone on-campus could get into, so that everyone has a chance to go to Gardner and see these shows and see someone that they’ll really enjoy. We also try to get up- and-coming artists from each of these genres. We also get a lot of messages from agents that we’ve worked with in the past and that comes into play with who we get.
Are there other events or things that you’re working toward this semester that you’re excited for as the Concerts chair?
It’s mostly concerts, but I’m excited for any of the small events that we might have. … One thing we’re going to try to do is work with more organizations on campus, [including] The S&B articles we’re working on, working more with KDIC and with Freesound, with ACE and other parts of SGA. I really see Concerts as something that could expand and become something that promotes really good music on-campus and a really good music scene on-campus.
Any particular challenges for you coming up?
September’s got a lot of rough shows, a lot of shows that will be really good but are taking a lot of work from the concerts committee as a whole to come together. I guess the main challenge of the year is, how do we take concerts and its job of making a really good music scene on-campus and make that into something that will happen this year and will happen in years to come — something that’s institutionalized.
Is there one show in particular that you, personally, are really excited to see?
I’m excited for all of the shows for various reasons, and I really did try to find artists that I thought everyone would like and then figure out, “Why would everyone like this?” and in that process, I started liking all the bands we’re getting. I’m really excited for Gallant, OOFJ, Ishtar. I think those are my three big shows, just on a personal note. Gardner to host Jersey Club artist
James Marlow
[email protected] Photo by Matt Kartanata
Kicking off the semester with a high energy, high intesity concert, Jersey Club artist UNiiQU3 and False Witness will perform in Gardner Lounge on Friday, Sept. 4, at 9 p.m. In addition, student DJs Enmusique (Simonne Carlton ’18) and Roy Utah (Hameed Weaver ’17) will kick off the night with a back- to-back DJ set. Students should expect one of the most high energy nights of the semester, with the fast-paced sounds of East Coast club music coming to the prairie in all their cardio-driven glory.
Often referred to as the “Queen of Jersey,” UNiiQU3 (Cherise Gary) hails from just outside of Newark, NJ, home to the lively genre of dance music known as “Jersey Club.” Characterized by its inventive use of clipped vocal samples, infectious triplet drum patterns and a bouncy 140 BPM pace, Jersey Club has recently gained traction both online and in the club, with BBC Radio 1 and Diplo taking interest in the sound. Jersey Club tracks draw from an astonishingly large field of experimental source material, not only taking samples from classic and contemporary R&B hits, but from sources ranging all the way from Vine memes to the Caillou theme song.
Not content to be limited to the role of a DJ, UNiiQU3 offers her own take on the Jersey sound, producing original tracks that often utilize her own call-and-response vocals, a technique that will be sure to get the crowd going. Ranging from the raunchy (“Booty so fresh they call me tic tac”) to the empowering (“I’m that little chick from Jersey that straight gets shit shakin’/And I can see from my peripheral, ya bitches be hatin”), UNiiQU3’s lyrics are all about turning up and thriving in the club on your own terms. With her deft beats and playful emceeing, there is little doubt that UNiiQU3’s set will be one of the most memorable of the semester.
False Witness (Marco Gomez) forges a unique blend of reggaeton, ballroom and industrial beats, with the ultimate aim of highlighting how club cultures stand as spaces of political confrontation. Currently based in New York City, Gomez is a founding member of the #KUNQ movement, a self- described queer artist collective that includes previous Gardner performers Kilbourne and Rizzla.
Decrying the apolitical nature of gentrified electronic music scenes, False Witness’s dark minimalism seeks to reclaim the club as a space that has been developed by the innovations of queer and minority communities. Through his synthesis of reggaeton rhythms juxtaposed with the empowering dialectic of queer ballroom culture, False Witness will be sure to bring an intense set (and dialogue) to Gardner Lounge.
Concert brings alum, rock
This past Saturday prior to waltz, several Minneapolis bands played a show in Gardner for those uninterested in or bored with waltz pre-parties but still with a little leftover Alice in their systems. Food Pyramid is an experimental band featuring Chris Farstad [’09] on the drums. As yet unsigned to any record label, the band’s music alternates between that which one might play at a rave and excellent study music, depending on the song selected. Purely instrumental, the music sounds a little like Explosions in the Sky mixed with a settled down version of Crystal Castles (no Alice Glass screeching).
One for the Team also graced Gardner with their presence on Saturday, offering Grinnellians a completely different vibe than that of Food Pyramid. One for the Team recently released a new album, entitled “Ghosts,” off the indie label Afternoon Records. This album, which reached #83 on Billboard’s New Artists chart, is the band’s second—the first album was released in December of last year. One for the Team accurately categorizes their music as Indie/Rock/Powerpop. Quieter songs such as “Questions and Panthers,” which they played on Saturday and hails from their first album, stand in sharp contrast to the somewhat louder, rock feel of “Ghosts.” One for the Team has been likened to Matt & Kim, Mates of State and Velocity Girl and in some songs, there was even a little of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in their sound. They plan to release another record this year, according to an article SPIN magazine recently ran on the group.
Gardner was calm at the onset of the shows, but as the night went on, increasing numbers of students trickled into the show. By the second half of One for the Team’s set, students were head-bobbing and foot-bouncing all over the dance floor. Some of the decorations for the Justice dance party—which took place later in the evening—had already been set up, so students danced beneath black trash bags billowing from the ceiling. Gardner was definitely a marked contrast from softly- lit, jazzy Darby, which was probably a good thing. New sound for the last show
Next Friday, Chicago-based band Blane Fonda will be performing in Gardner at 8 p.m. Having formed little over a year ago from two other Chicago bands, Blane Fonda offers an upbeat but melodramatic take on a fusion of sounds, melodies and rhythms that will arouse the crowd in more ways than one.
“We all listen to different types of music, we all have varied types of influences, so finding the common ground and influencing each other to make music is a really big part of our band,” singer Mark Wentz said during a phone interview with the band.
Upon hearing their music, this message could not be clear enough, as each song seems to comprise a medley of varying traits.
Blane Fonda intertwines a collection of fast-paced rhythms, somber tones, and interesting instrumental compilations that create one cohesive sound. One essential element of this band is their lead vocalist, Mark Wentz, whose voice adjusts to fit the mood of each song’s lyrics. In addition to Wentz, the reverberations of Dave Veller’s bass guitar and the other men’s voices that comprise the band help to solidify this deeply masculine sound.
In contrast, the instruments of Matt Witt, keyboard player and trumpeter, Charlie Nadler, guitarist, and drummer David Fine all work together to challenge the heavy melodies.
Whereas the vocals reverberate in the pit of your stomach, the instruments provide a relief by stimulating your outer senses and lifting you out of the moroseness of the singing. With the collaboration of these various elements comes a surprisingly cohesive sound that is neither so low key as to inspire lethargy, but not with such a high octane as to result in a brain aneurism. The song “Modern Women” illustrates this band’s strength nicely, as the grave voice of Wentz mixes smoothly with the brassy sound of Witt’s trumpet and produces an invigorating experience. Wentz said that there is a therapeutic aspect of their music because each member of the band puts their own passions and frustrations in their songs.
“I write a lot about things that are beyond my control,” Wentz said. “It’s therapy really and I know the other guys feel the same way. If you can’t change something in your life, or something’s out of your control, you can beat it out on the drums, you can hammer it out on the bass, or you can wail on it when your singing, or you can write about something that’s aggravating you, whether it’s sad or happy.”
While Blane Fonda is good, and generates an interesting sound, those looking for easy-going music will be hard pressed to find it here. What brings the two contrasting effects of heavy vocals and higher ranged instruments together is the ability of the musicians to cue each other and produce one, synthesized sound that is both deeply resonating and uplifting. When this band manages to pull it off, the sound is new, exhilarating, and exciting, and when it doesn’t, the sound remains flat and pulls the listener down. However, even this intense sound can be stimulating, depending on your mood and penchant for languor. Concerts preview: Concerts chair and committee look to escape indie pidgeonhole, diversify lineup
“Imagine a band’s popularity as a parabola,” Alex Schechter ’10, 2009-10 SGA concerts chair, said. “We try to get [a band] right before they hit that peak of the parabola.” A common complaint among Grinnell students regarding concerts is that they have never heard of the bands that come to the college. But as Schechter said, “To some extent, that is what we are trying to do.” In a year, Schechter hopes, people will be able to look at these bands as they’ve grown more popular and be able to say they saw the band at Grinnell. “Not that we are trying to be pretentious…[it’s] just the nature of the beast and the way the budget works,” he said. In the past, Grinnell has brought in a variety of artists. Last year, “Wynton Marsalis was good,” Evan Hockett ’12 said. This semester’s line-up embodies a wide spectrum of genres from electronic to rock to bluegrass. There are also traditional and experimental hip-hop artists, a Klezmer style group, a singer/songwriter and some jazz. Yet despite this, “There’s a constant complaint that all we get are indie bands, which is a really… problematic way of classifying a huge amount of music that is very diverse and lumped into a very narrow genre,” Schechter said. The committee not only works to bring in a variety of music, but also to ensure that the bands are taken care of by providing a green room with food and occasionally accommodations. By doing most of the scheduling for the semester over the summer, the committee was able to book such bands as WHY? and Wavves, as well as rapper Kool Keith as Dr. Octagon, “It’s mind blowing that we got him,” Schechter said. Although the concert committee has worked to pull in some bigger shows, none have been booked in Harris, the biggest venue on campus. When Sebastian Tellier played in Harris last year, the results were mixed. “We got really weird feedback from the band…it kinda felt like they were playing in a high school gymnasium,” Schechter said. According to Schechter, Harris shows harbor a variety of other challenges as well. They are usually the bigger shows, but because so much is going on at Grinnell at one time, it can be hard to fill up the space, which can be awkward for the band. Harris shows also require a lot of external support beyond the concert committee’s control, including the need to bring in an outside sound system. As a result, this semester’s shows have been booked in other venues, including Bob’s, Gardner, and a noon show on 10/10, the infamous all-campus party, in Herrick. The first show of the semester is My Name is Nobody (with M. Treka) on Sep. 8. According to their Myspace, the band is based in Birmingham, UK and are influenced by such bands as The Smiths, MORRISSEY, and Joy Division. “We’ve got a really sweet line-up for this semester,” Schechter said. Grinnell students tend to value shows as diverse and broadly influenced as they are and this semester shouldn’t let them down. Don Garcia ’11 commented on the range and role of shows on campus. “I think [concerts] just adds to Grinnell’s personality.” Grinnell’s concerts committee strives to bring in a wide variety of exciting shows. This year’s line- up hopes to achieve the pageant of shows like last year’s memorable performance by Fucked Up, photographed here suplexing Asa Wilder ’10.