Event
THE CONSTELLATIONS Live At the Triple Nickel Tavern
Virgin Record's Recording Artists: THE CONSTELLATIONS
LIVE at The Triple Nickel Tavern.
Friday August 13th.
Locals TBA
9pm.
21+
$10
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The Constellations could have called their debut album After Hours. Sure, Martin Scorsese
already used that name for his 1985 black comedy, but the two works share much in common.
Both are wide screen spectacles rife with seedy scenes and eccentric personalities, propelled
by a manic energy that hustles the audience deeper into the unexpected. But Southern Gothic
was a better choice. Because The Constellations stomping ground is Atlanta, GA, and in the
wee small hours of the morning, A-Town can get awfully bizarre.
The record is all about what happens in Atlanta from 2 AM until noon. Your tour guide on this
madcap adventure is the magnetic frontman and vocalist Elijah Jones, the ringleader of the
twisted circus that is The Constellations, who spent two years writing and recording the album
with producer Ben H. Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley), along with some storied cronies
from the local scene. Not that they set out with specific intentions. Far from it. "All of us wanted
to do a record about Atlanta, but we never said it in words," recalls Jones. "But the deeper we
got into it, the more we realized we were writing a concept album."
Atlanta has been providing the backdrop and soundtrack for Jones life since childhood. Now he
wanted to share his hometown's underbelly with the rest of the world. "Atlanta is a huge city, but
it still has a small town feel to it," explains the singer. "Everybody knows everybody, you run into
the same people at the same bars every week. So it's still kind of Mayberry, but with all the
yummy stuff that comes along with being a big cityand all the bad stuff, too."
"Atlanta is strange," he adds, "because we're all basically pushed together." The hip-hop heads,
punk rockers, and indie kids all rub shoulders and mix it up. Southern Gothic reflects that
inclusive diversity in its far-reaching sound. "The record was designed to sound lyrically and
melodically very thought out, and sonically very disorganized," comments Allen. One expects
nothing less from a singer who cites Tom Waits and Cee-Lo of Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley
as his musical heroes, working with a producer who name-checks Fela Kuti and Gorillaz among
their record's key influences.
Check out the centerpiece, "Step Right Up (A Tribute To Tom Waits)." The foundation of this
delirious nine-minutes-and-change comes from a cut on Waits' 1976 classic Small Change. But
it mutated along the way, with customized lyrics about the ATL. In this cavalcade of neon lights
and shady characters, no names have been changed, because no one is innocent. Jones
beckons the listener to keep up as he lurches from the Clermont Lounge to the Drunken Unicorn
and beyond, his carnival bark underpinned with dizzy disco whorls and eddies, and anchored by
a soulful chorus of irresistible exhortations. The extended percussion jam that caps the track
calls down an ecstatic abandon on par with LCD Soundsystem. More cowbell? You don't have
to ask twice.
Yet there are many twists and turns ahead of "Step Right Up." The eleven-song set kicks off
with "Setback," a psychedelic freak-out of wiggling synthesizers and vintage organ, shot through
with a nasal drawl reminiscent of Beastie Boys, and a wordless chorus that won't let go. For the
salacious funk number "Felicia," Jones drew inspiration from the laidback '70s vignettes of Iggy
Pop and Lou Reed. "December" opens with a baroque snippet a la some lost minuet, but
detours into '60s folk rock harmonies as it picks up momentum.
The band's name refers to the myriad musicians from the regional scene who either contributed
to making Southern Gothic, or have since played in The Constellations live band. One luminary
who drops in is Cee-Lo, whose verse on the electro-rocker "Love Is A Murder" prompted a
completely overhaul the track underneath.
Another guest is suburban rapper Asher Roth, lending his playful rhymes to "We're Here To
Save The Day," among the disc's most insidious moments. On the one hand, this ditty's sound
is pure sing-along bliss, with a gleeful chorus delivered by Elijah's niece and nephew. Yet at the
same time, Jones and Roth drop rhymes that lampoon commercial top 40 hip-hop and chestthumping
poseurs.
Because Southern Gothic was created on the artists' own time and own dime, as an
experimental studio project, no thought was initially given to recreating the songs live. No, that
only came after it turned out there was plenty of demand for The Constellations to do exactly
that. "We'd put in fifty billion handclaps and shakers, all kinds of crazy stuff," admits Jones.
"That's why we have eight band members." Although the line-up would go through numerous
changes, today its stable core finds Jones accompanied by a five-piece combo and the nonstop
shimmy, shout and wail of two female back-up singers.
Well before The Constellations had settled into its current incarnation, their explosive shows
were selling out all over the city. Wes Hoffman had been putting on parties at Atlanta hot spot
Star Bar, and booked one the earliest Constellations gigs. "The first thing I noticed was the
freshness of the music," he remembers. Lyrics about Atlanta made things more appealing. But
the key was seeing how fired up the crowd got. "I knew this band was on to something from how
people responded." When the group told him they couldn't play a subsequent gig because their
bassist was unavailable, Hoffman stepped in and learned the bass parts himself. He's been part
on the team ever since.
You don't need an in-depth knowledge of the 404 to appreciate Southern Gothic. One of The
Constellations' biggest markets outside Georgia is Milwaukee. Their songs may reference
specific sites, but the appeal is universal. Perhaps because we all know characters like these.
And Jones, who grew up singing in the church and whose father was a Baptist deacon,
recognizes how to exploit the tension between dark and light in everyone's life. "People ask me,
'How can you be into this weird after hours scene, coming from a Christian background?' But
you can't just write about the good in life. There's some bad shit in the human heart, and that
part of it is just a little more interesting to me."
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LocationTriple Nickel Tavern
26. S. Wahsatch Ave
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
United States
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| Minimum Age: 21 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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