all blk jks photos: from their myspace, all so so glos photos from the show they played last here, with Santogold

Last week, members of the Laughing Man were blessed to enjoy the company of some real life rock stars, a couple we had known already, but all brilliant musicians. The week began on Sunday, as my friend Israel Nebeker was in town playing with his band Blind Pilot at the Black Cat. Later in the week, Brandon found himself in the company of TV on the Radio outside of the 9:30 club, where we shared some Ben’s Chili Bowl with the Dirty Projectors and took turns flirting with Amber Coffman after an incredible set. I definitely didn’t expect the week to get better but it did on Thursday nights performance of the So So Glos and Blk Jks at the Cat. Apparently there were a plethora of shows that night including Mika Miko at Comet, and Jenny Lewis @ 9:30. I’m sure those shows were amazing, but I think anyone backstage at the Cat with me that night would agree we witnessed one of the best kept secrets in music.

First, lets discuss the So So Glos who opened the night. I initially heard of these guys last year in connection with their Brooklyn DIY space, The Market Hotel, which has entertaining shows featuring No Age and High Places among others and continues to thrive though it has changed form somewhat. Originally the space served as a live-work situation for better or worse. It seems now the band has little actual connection to booking shows or anything related to it’s management but still deserve kudos for getting it off the ground.
I hadn’t heard their music going in, but I was pleasantly surprised. 3 of the 4 band members are brothers and it really comes across in their live set. They have great timing with their changes, and very unique parts especially for a band dabbling in a genre somewhere between The Libertines and post-Ramones 80’s Brooklyn house punk (aka “fight for your right to party”) with a political lean. They had a very “Springsteenesque” working class anthem rock sensibility I found charming, and they played with tremendous energy despite the fact the room was still pretty sparse for their set. I heard some groans that their set was maybe a song too long, and to be honest there isn’t a tremendous amount of diversity song to song. But they played well, had great energy and had a lot of fun up there. Can’t really ask for much more from an opener. A side note, they are very nice, engaging dudes. I would love to see them in more of a DIY or house show environment I where I think they would really flourish.

Okay, so on to Blk Jks. This is a band who has been on my radar since sometime last year when I saw their article in Fader. I had listened to a few songs online but this was my first time seeing the band live. I went into the show with a pretty clean palette in terms of expectations, and still, I was blown away.

I decided early on not to “interview” the band with traditional questions like “what are your influences” and stuff like that. The band, their manager Knox Robinson, and their touring entourage were very inviting right from the beginning and it was easy to just be there as a fly on the wall. I picked up some good random tidbits. For example, I discovered they hate talking politics, especially the topic of Obama (long story), and frontman Linda Buthelezi had a possible case of appendicitis after the show but continued drinking beer despite my motherly nagging.

I’m not sure how long they have known or toured with the So So Glos, but they had a real good rapport. It made it feel like hanging with a big family, one that I instantly bonded with. That same energy extended to the stage, I’d say half of the enjoyment of their set is in experiencing how cool and friendly these guys are and sharing in the fun they are clearly having playing with each other. They don’t just go through the motions..you can tell they are really feeling the music.

And of course the other half of the enjoyment is the actual music..which as i mentioned before is fucking mind blowing. To quote a giddy kid standing next to me in the crowd, “Those guys don’t even know how good they are yet”.

Blk Jks music is pretty hard to describe, I’d call it a mix of free jazz, calypso, African improvisation, punk, and Cream-style lush hard rock. The resulting sound is equal parts beautiful, revolutionary, and comfortable. Tshepang Ramoba is one of the best drummers I’ve seen in a long time. The personalities of the band members play off each other nearly perfectly, Mpumi Mcata with his mumblings of African phrases is youthful and rambunctious on stage and Molefi Makananise is as cool and slick a bass player as you will ever see.

I’m very happy I got to check Blk Jks out in person, and getting to know them gave me an even more personal connection to the music. I can’t wait till they come back to town and I really hope my band gets to play with them, if the show lacked one thing it was a good local opener and I think we deserve the job. Can someone please make that happen?