It feels so rare for a city like St. Louis these days to get a stacked bill like this one, and I was incredibly excited when it was announced that AJJ would be returning to Delmar Hall August 27th, 2023. To see not just AJJ, but Open Mike Eagle, Sad Park and Foot Ox together seemed like something they’d get on the coasts, not a midwestern city where one of the most sacred local foods is described by name as being toasted when it is most obviously fried.
Things started with Foot Ox, and I believe this might have been their first time here in the Gateway City. Foot Ox has a new record, Jullee and the Sun, and it is one of the best surprises of 2023. The record is like the soundtrack from a lost 90s indie flick about a group of teenagers at a small liberal arts college in New England trying to figure their shit out. It’s cozy, yet finds ways to be thoughtful and emotional in ways that one may not immediately expect. Teague Cullen and his bandmates sounded fantastic and were a lovely start to the evening. Hopefully Foot Ox will come back through sooner than later.
Ever listened to a band and felt like you can pinpoint where they’re from? Well, I was able to deduce that Sad Park hailed from L.A. on first listen. They may not have the most original sound, but they’ve got the goods. These boys went to the Timbre Springs at the base of Tone Mountain and bottled the tastiest jams, just for you. Post-hardcore Cali vibes and choruses that sink deeper and deeper into you with every bar are not in short supply here. Sad Park are just as energetic and captivating live as they are on their excellent new record NO MORE SOUND, which just happens to be produced by Sean Bonnette of AJJ. Keep an eye on them. Seriously, go on their Bandcamp. You’ll probably find a few of your new favorite songs.
Early on in their set, Open Mike Eagle told the crowd that he and his cohort Video Dave had finally figured out, after years of touring, what their genre was: “Trauma bops,” he said, couched somewhere between truth and a punchline. Open Mike Eagle’s approach to hip hop feels like one of the last holdovers from the glory days of backpacker rap, with an emphasis on wordplay and storytelling. It was a treat to watch Open Mike Eagle and Video Dave do their thing on stage, I just wish the crowd warmed up to them faster. I don’t know what it is with St. Louis, but people here struggle getting into any indie hip hop unless it’s something like Aesop Rock. The crowd did wake up after Open Mike Eagle performed “For DOOM” and lip-synced “Raid” off the late MC’s masterpiece Madvillainy. To be fair, it was an insanely cool moment, but dudes were giving us gold for the entirety of their performance. Open Mike Eagle released Another Triumph of Ghetto Engineering on the 25th, and there are some choice trauma bops on that one.
Very few bands have been able to zero in and express the social and political malaise of our time like AJJ, and it’s sometimes hard to imagine they’ve been doing it for nearly 20 years without ever coming across as preachy or boorish. What started off as a folk punk duo between Sean Bonette and Ben Gallaty in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2004 has grown into a powerful quintet which now includes Preston Bryant on guitar and keys, Kevin Higuchi on drums, and stompbox enthusiast Mark Glickon cello and baritone guitar. AJJ kicked off their set with “Strawberry (Probably)” and “Death Machine” off their new record Disposable Everything, and wasted no time pulling from their extensive catalog of music for Sad Bastards and Beauitful Weirdos with “Cody’s Theme” off 2016’s The Bible 2 and “Kokopelli Face Tattoo” off 2014’s Christmas Island. They may hate rock and roll again but they were not afraid to rock faces at Delmar Hall. I’ve seen AJJ live over a half dozen times and, let me tell you, they’re operating with quite a fire in their bellies these days. To call their performance captivating would be putting it mildly. It is a balm for the soul to those that have ever felt out of place, have had to suffer fools and dire circumstances, or those who think that late capitalism is a giant thumb slowly crushing us all into a fine paste. It is a church service for atheists. It is the pleasure you experienced the first time you’ve ever witnessed someone trip on an uneven piece of sidewalk. It is a critical observation of the human experience, and sometimes a dour celebration.
While AJJ’s music can certainly be darkly cathartic, it is far from doom and gloom. There’s more than enough witty gallows humor that peppers their lyrics, that people may always suck but with any luck we can become better than our surroundings, and maybe one day our surroundings will be a little better, too. On stage and in person, Sean comes across as kind and grateful, and the rest of the band comes off much the same. Between songs, a little joke became an entire riff about a Guitar Center Santa Claus that went further than expected and it killed. When Open Mike Eagle joined AJJ on stage to cover “Wave of Mutilation” by the Pixies, it was a purely joyful moment, and one that seemed maybe born of the fact that tomorrow was their first day off in almost two weeks.
After a rambunctious performance of “People II: The Reckoning” and “Goodbye, Oh Goodbye,” AJJ ended their set with “Big Bird,” the final track off 2011’s Knife Man. It is a heavy song about doubt and fear, a self-examination that doesn’t like what it finds. One where Sean questions not just if he is a good person, but if it is even possible to be one. The music swells as he hits the final go of the chorus and belts out “So I bought a knife/I am a knife/I am a knife man” the best I’ve ever witnessed. He has become the destroyer of worlds, he has become the Godhead, and he doesn’t know how he should feel, but this shit is going to keep going on regardless. The outro is a bombastic wall of sound, the main melodic theme pressed to its limit. The frenzy ends, the band says goodnight and thank you.
The crowd was, rightfully, hungry for an encore and AJJ was not above indulging. Returning to the stage, Sean informed us that they had one more left but they would have to be quick as to avoid going over the midnight curfew. The band gave us a slightly faster rendition of their old standard “Brave as a Noun” that felt incredibly focused and direct. AJJ ended the night with two of the songs that best epitomize the marrow of who they are as a fine tip on an amazing evening of live music, and all with a couple minutes to spare. In exchange, as the house lights turned on, all the universe asked of us was that we go out into the world and be a little less of a shithead. | Bryan J. Sutter
Footox is amazing! Also the album is Judee and the Sun. 🌼