June 22, 2016
Say you’re on a sinking ship.
People are freaking out. Fighting for floaties.
Jumping overboard.
Shoving each other aside for a glimpse of a chance of a spot on a lifeboat.
Now, in that moment, do you wanna hear some maudlin string quartet creaking out “Nearer My God to Three?” No. Trust me: You want Quasi. Nobody embraces the meaninglessness of existence like this Portland band (Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, also of Sleater-Kinney), which is due to play Johnny Brenda's on Friday.
In fact, they like to give you that “what was the point of this?” feeling for all occasions, not just when you’re looking death in the face. The lyrics concern themselves with the dumb every day we’re all slogging through. The trick, the spoonful of sugar that makes the existential medicine go down, is their pretty, pounding, generally upbeat music. It’s rock ’n’ roll, often catchy and showy, sometimes straight-up glorious. And just about every word of it reminds you that you’re just some mindless zombie mouse in a maze with no cheese.
Anyway. Listen to these songs or don’t.:
“Life is dull life is gray,
at its best, it's just okay
but I'm happy to report
life is also short.”
(from ‘Featuring “Birds,’” 1998)
“Common as the cold
up for sale, never sold
getting older and it shows;
your disappointment only grows
and no one seems to care
that you never got your share
who said life was fair?
so smile — it's not so bad”
(from ‘Field Studies,’ 1999)
“You need the money so you got to play it dumb
but if you play it long enough it's just what you become
pay your rent, pay your bills, pay the doctor for your pills
so you can work another day
as life slips away”
(from ‘Featuring “Birds,’” 1998)
“Days roll past,
any one might be your last
as you run at your fleeting dreams”
(from ‘Sword of God,’ 2001)
“Work and slave and skimp and save
and you can buy yourself a bigger cage”
(from ‘Featuring “Birds,’” 1998)
“You give and you take
and I do the same
it’s no game
it’s just the way it is
when you're invisible.”
(from ‘Hot Sh--!,’ 2003)
“Highest hill to lowest pit
if you ain't got love you ain't got sh--
cause it’s your life to live or to lose
I'm tired of singing the death culture blues.”
(from ‘When the Going Gets Dark,’ 2006)
"So long stuck in the sand on the shores of oblivion
now you're free
drifting out to sea
baby R.I.P."
(from ‘Mole City,’ 2013)
"You can be so heartless; I can be heartless too
and we can wound each other — isn't that what people do?
you can't be betrayed when there's nothing to betray
you can't throw it all away
when there's nothing there anyway
nothing from nothing leaves nothing."
(from ‘Featuring “Birds,’” 1998)
“I'm fixing up my coffin
where one day I will lie
I can hardly wait until
the day when I should die”
(from ‘R&B Transmogrification,’ 1997)
“You f---ed yourself and you're looking for the goat
drowned if you sink, condemned if you float
you placed the blame but missed the boat”
(from ‘Featuring “Birds,’” 1998)
“A machine came knocking at my door
lost & alone; hungry for oil
I could see he wouldn't get too far
shape of a man; soul of a car
soon we'll all be dead.
it makes me feel so comfortable”
(from ‘R&B Transmogrification,’ 1997)
Oh I did 12 instead of 10. Whatever.
With Saqqara Mattabas
Friday, June 24
Doors 8 p.m., show 9:15 p.m. / $17
Johnny Brenda's
1201 N. Frankford Ave.
