Funky bunchkin’s bukkake bus ride

The Cheap Thrills is gone (sorta):
Venerable Midtown thrift store Cheap Thrills went out with a five-clams, all-you-can-drink, house-show bang this past Friday night. The shop’s second floor was cleared of costumes and threads—yeah, it was odd—to make room for bands—Lite Brite and Marcus Cortez’s new rock-metal group, among others—not to mention kegs of Natural Light brew and plastic bins filled with Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice.

Crowds and former patrons lingered inside the old house’s rooms possibly for the last time. Producer/drummer Matt McCord chatted, Chris Woodhouse covered Captain Beefheart on acoustic guitar, Bryan Valenzuela of Exquisite Corps relaxed near the staircase, Harley White Jr. busted my chops over SN&R’s music coverage and even Steve Vanoni himself paid respects.

Thrills’ owner, “Uncle” Fred Smith, is retiring from the store he’s hawked wares at since 1988; the shop itself dates back to the late ’60s. For a lot of Midtowners, it’ll be the end for an unforgettable storefront.

But rumor has it that it’s not quite the end for Cheap Thrills: When Bows and Arrows leaves its current location at 1712 L Street for new digs on 19th Street near Safeway, it’s whispered that Cheap Thrills will reincarnate over at the vacated L Street spot.

Take it to the Bank:
It’s not every day six 20-somethings from Placerville caravan down the hill to play a set of unexpected if catchy R&B pop in Midtown. Sure, white dudes playing soulful electro-dance music is no longer unique; Wallpaper’s ridden this kitsch trend locally for years. But still, the Bank’s live show last week at TownHouse Lounge was fresh, magnetic, fun.

And strange and raunchy. First, the guys appear very serious about being a boy band. If a satirical one. Lead vocalist/guitarist Matthew Trudeau—brother of Placerville electronic artist Pregnant—emerged onstage sporting a wife beater and a red bandanna wrapped around his forehead, looking like Marky Mark’s long-lost funky bunchkin. He and bandmates Ian “G” Cambridge, Jordan Lykins, Daniel Ramirez and Don Suave then proceeded to knock out six songs from their full-length, I Love Each Other, a 10-track album of smartly crafted, modern-pop jams, the only hint of irony being Trudeau’s absurd, occasionally offensive lyrics. Such as on “Facestation,” the second to last song of the night, which spurred a cabal of barely-21 Placerville groupies to sing: “You are at bus station, come in my face / home is where you make it, but not at my place.”

If this didn’t fulfill the bizarre quotient for the night, the Bank’s audience-demanded encore was a medley of ’90s pop covers, including Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name,” which Trudeau rapped flawlessly, and a dose of TLC for good measure, among other noxious, overplayed hits of yore.

It was the first set I’d seen all year where the audience grew in size as the band kept playing. It was also the weirdest. And awesome. Find out more at www.facebook.com/thebankbook or http://thebank.bandcamp.com.

Get a Death Grips:
How refreshing that local producer/drummer Zach Hill’s new project Death Grips has arrived, just in time to offer a big “screw you” to the manufactured hype of indie-rap groups like Odd Future. Death Grips—a trio of Hill and two unknowns—creates industrial-experimental rap that is rumored to cause Bell’s palsy in at least four out of 10 listeners. The trio just launched a website this month and is promising both a mix tape and full-length later in the year. Stay updated and catch the video for “Full Moon (Death Classic)” at www.thirdworlds.net.