Salmon Thrasher’s Ceiling Crumbling Debut

December 12, 2009

Salmon Thrasher ::: all photos by Abbey Simmons

Last night in the intimate living room setting of Cafe Racer, Salmon Thrasher played a set of sloppy garage rock so forceful the ceiling actually started crumbling. Instead of Chicken Little calling “the sky is falling, the sky is falling” it was Salmon Thrasher’s drummer Tara who peered nervously upwards as chunks of ceiling fell on her kit.

If you haven’t heard of Salmon Thrasher yet, don’t feel too bad… it was their first show last night. But get hip to this band now because they’re one you’ll be hearing lots more about in the coming months on this here blog and others around town. Seeing that it was the band’s first show and they were playing in what is only sometimes a live music venue, the set was rife with technical issues. (Surely frustrating to Justin and Evan who are sound guys at two of the city’s biggest venues: the Showbox and Neumos.)

Despite the first show jitters and technical issues it was the bands undeniable knack for dirty grooves, deafening assault by bass, some serious swagger in their delivery, a couple super solid original tunes, and their leering cover of The Box Tops “The Letter” that stood out the most. It seems almost ridiculous to say this in the city the Grunge and Garage built, but Salmon Thrasher’s rough around the edges rock was a much needed breath of cheap cigarette smoke taking me back to 2006 when we first started the blog and this style and sound was more prevalent. I suspect many of you will be shoving and screaming along to Salmon Thrasher in 2010. I know I will be.

Get a head start on 2010 and see Salmon Thrasher December 20th at Neumos for the Neumos Employee Band Bill.