April 16, 2003

There's been a critical overuse of the term no wave lately. Some would argue it is misused if applied to anything outside a handful of groups with lineage tracing back to the 1978 No New York compilation. Apparently you had to be there. So where does this curse of chronology leave you if you're in a noise-fueled three-piece that happens to channel more of the angst and agitation of that sound than the revamped gloss-over of nu-new wave? You might be Curse of the Birthmark.

Curse of the Birthmark sound a lot like Arab on Radar, mostly in terms of the vocals. Arab on Radar in turn seem like Mars, one of the four bands on No New York. Some would say that makes CotB a fifth-generation incarnation of Mars, which still puts them worlds apart from a band like Numbers, even though they both have a keyboardist who plays erratic bass parts and a drummer who is tall.

Singer-guitarist Eric yells about getting fucked on the cross or blood on the walls while his fingers do a flight-of-the-bumblebee dance up and down the fretboard. Meanwhile, Simon's powerhouse beats and another Eric's keyboards push the apocalyptic theatrics toward an almost martial order. It's uncomfortably primal and male, messy in a way a lot of "new" music isn't. These nine songs are recorded in the Load Records blown-out fashion, a mishmash of slop and precision. The musicality of it is frustrating because they sound unhinged but never cut loose completely. Still, the extended self-flagellation and negative power potential make for a fascinating combination and reliable floor show. Curse of the Birthmark play Fri/18, Lipo Cocktail Lounge, S.F. (415) 982-0072. (George Chen)

Influents
Some of the Young (Adeline)

The Influents are '80s throwbacks – they'd probably even say it loud and say it proud. But far be it from these East Bay boys to latch onto electro-pop vinyl and restyle themselves as electroclash fly-by-nighters. Instead this four-year-old quartet proudly jingle-jangle like a cross between Tom Petty and Green Day, buttressed by the occasional organ and horn section and angels-with-dirty-faces harmonies.