There are a lot of reasons to love the crazy-ass kids in Lindby. Talent? Sure. The youngsters have got loads of that. But to be able to marshal that aptitude in the service of catchy, poppy, choral-vocal-heavy songs that skim the surface of novelty but don’t dive in completely makes Lindby just that much more worthy of admiration. The ensemble’s recent debut album, Erikson, is an “oddball opus,” according to Anthony Mariani, and is mostly about, well, people with that surname, including ol’ Leif the Viking. Why? Who cares! It’s silly. And good. And now Lindby is doing something unprecedented in the great 817: putting together an all-star Christmas record. Tim Locke (Calhoun), Josh Weathers, Jody Jones, Meghann Moore (The Breakfast Machine), and funkalicious Dallasite Larry Gee will take turns singing the five verses of the John Lennon classic “Happy Christmas (War Is Over),” the centerpiece of Christmas with Lindby and Friends. “We decided to [make the EP] because we know too many talented musicians not to do it,” Lindby co-frontman Nick Goodrich said with a laugh. But the biggest reasons, he continued, involve giving back to Lindby’s fans and musical cross-pollination. “Hopefully, our fans can discover some awesome local music,” Goodrich said. “Likewise, the fans of one group that is involved will see other people who are on the project and go listen to their stuff.” Group vocals will be provided by members of Animal Spirit, The Frisky Disco, Slumberbuzz, and We’rewolves, among others. Recording began at Lindby’s Euless home studio earlier this month. Other numbers include Mel Tormé and Bob Wells’ “The Christmas Song” (popularized by Nat King Cole); a live, lo-fi recording of two Lindby folks, Ali Grant and Nick Spurrier, performing the vocals-heavy ballad “Christmastime Is Here” (from A Charlie Brown Christmas); an electronica version of Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”; “Cold, It Is on the Dark Side,” a Star Wars-influenced spoof of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” lyrically centered around Luke and Yoda on Dagobah; and that John Lennon tune, “the epic track that is the Fort Worth ‘We Are the World’ or ‘We Are Fort Worth,’ ” Goodrich joked. Recording should be wrapped up by early next week. The EP will be downloadable for free via lindby.bandcamp.com.
One of the heaviest, toughest doom-metal bands in the 817, Stone Machine Electric is still bass-player-less but has nevertheless managed to crank out an album. With bass riffage. Recording began in August with engineer Kent Stump (from Dallas doom-metalists Wo Fat) at Crystal Clear Studios in Dallas. The bass parts were handled by Stone Machine frontman Dub and a friend, Daryl Bell. The self-titled record will be officially released on Friday, Jan. 11, 2013, at Lola’s Saloon with some of Fort Worth’s heaviest hitters: Orthodox Fuzz, The Cosmic Trigger, and china kills girls.
The reason you haven’t heard from “Fort Work” rockers The Rotten Roots in a while is that Tommy Ware and the boys are recording, having worked in a new bass player, Southern Train Gypsy’s Duane Smith. “We had several ideas around that hadn’t been completely fleshed out,” Ware said. “We finally got to them, and they are falling in line like dominos.” Two new songs will be up on reverbnation.com/rottenrootsmusic “soon,” Ware said, and an album may be in the works “sooner rather than later.”
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
