I’ve always had a soft spot for The Cush. The reasons are many-splendored and colorful, but I won’t bore you with them here. Let’s just say that, like Gabrielle and Burette Douglas, the husband-and-wife team behind the band, I also am married and also remember when Pac-Man was new. I also am really into the kind of propulsive psychedelic music that The Cush has been pounding out for nearly a decade, starting not long after the Douglases’ previous outfit, the popular North Texas garage-rock act Buck Jones, broke up and the duo moved back to Fort Worth after some time in Vermont. The Cush’s fourth and most recent album, 2015’s Transcendental Heatwave, shows a lot more dynamics than previous efforts and really seems to encapsulate the layers and energy of both a killer Cush show and a perfect take in the studio, credit also to the other Cush’ers, drummer Todd Harwell and additional guitarist Josh Daugherty, and David Castell, who mixed and mastered it. The Douglases and company recorded the 10 tracks at home.
Knowing that touring is pretty much the only way an underground indie-rock band is going to make a living via music, The Cush, now with local monsters Parker Donaldson and Ben Hance, is about to embark on a small but pretty choice tour. Of Europe.
Along with shows in Isle of Man and Norway, The Cush will also perform three English dates: in London, Glossop, and in Wallingford for Supernormal.
Ashtray Navigations, Asiq Nargile, Babaloose, Atari Punk Console, and Apostille are among the several dozen artists also slated to play the annual multi-disciplinary festival.
Please note: I picked the names above at random. (Maybe they’re bands. Maybe they’re ads.) I’ve never heard of any of them, but that doesn’t mean much, because I have heard of and have read The Wire and The Quietus, two of the festival’s sponsors, and I know that they are the authorities on progressive, often nonlinear, often electronic music. That they would select The Cush for inclusion in their undoubtedly awesome gathering is a testament to the Douglases’ greatness. #truth
But before taking off, The Cush will play a couple of local shows, starting Saturday at Shipping & Receiving Bar (201 S Calhoun St, 817-887-9313) with headliners KatsuK and after-party jammers Jumbii, who will celebrate the life and music of the dearly beloved Prince. Cover to this all-ages show is $10. The other Cush gig will be Friday, Jul 29, at The Foundry in Big D with F-Dub glam-rockers Joe Gorgeous.
“We are feeling really good about it,” Burette said. “We haven’t toured in a few years, and have missed it, so we are itching to go. We are going to some new places this time, which is always fun.”
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
