I’m always impressed when a band stays together for even 10 years. Staying together for 30 years in a genre as volatile as punk is especially rare — and yet that’s exactly what the band Potbelly is commemorating this month. The Oak Harbor-based thrash-punk group will be playing at the Lincoln Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 25 with an epic show featuring no less than five of their previous lineups.
The band is fronted by guitarist Jason Rodger, best known in classic punk nomenclature as Jason Potbelly, who writes and sings most of the songs. Ken Ball is also an original member, playing bass and taking occasional lead vocals. Drummer Jeff Thayer has been with the group since 1996. The other lineups all start with that core trio and add various other guitarists and singers into the mix. Over the course of 30 years, they’ve done 10 full-length albums and more than 150 other releases (singles, EPs and split singles). They’ve toured all over North America, plus Japan, Costa Rica and the U.K.
Their music sticks mostly to the loud and fast, with a high percentage of the songs clocking in under two minutes. Every once in a while they’ll throw in some kind of instrumental twist, but mostly it’s thrashy guitar riffs and relentless drums.
Lyrically, they’ve become increasingly political over the years. As Rodger puts it, “We used to write a lot of comedy songs, but I just keep getting more and more angry”. Anti-fascism is a consistent theme, as is a distrust of organized religion. A lot of the songs feature shout-along choruses, designed to get the whole crowd involved.
Potbelly has big plans for the show at the Lincoln, with the whole thing being recorded for a live album. They’ll play their entire first album, joined by former members Chris Thayer and Abe Murray on guitars. The bill also includes Stagnant Water, Entrails and the Accused A.D. (the “kings of splatter rock”).
In addition to that show, and their typical busy schedule of playing all over the PNW, Potbelly’s other big plans for the year include a return to Costa Rica in the spring, a summer run out to South Dakota and Montana, and a fall West Coast swing with their friends TCCL from England and Altercados from Costa Rica (both of which they have toured with in their respective countries).
Supporting other bands like that is a big part of what they do. When the band members first started out in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, there wasn’t much punk music happening on Whidbey Island, so they would put on house parties and find ways to bring in out-of-town bands in a quest to build up the scene. Rodger’s advice for younger musicians: “Don’t be competitive with other bands.” Many of their releases have been splits with other groups, in order to cross-promote and build scene cohesion.
After all this, they’re showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. As Rodger puts it: “I don’t know anything else.” Come out and join them to celebrate 30 years, and to look forward to everything that’s still to come.
News
There’s a new open mic in town: 6 p.m. on Mondays at the Corner Taphouse in Fairhaven. It’s hosted by JP Falcon Grady, which makes me think it will probably be pretty high quality.
The Hannah Wyatt album I wrote about a few months ago is out in the world now, and I’m glad to say it was worth the wait. Fans of hushed, contemplative indie folk and Americana will definitely want to check out “Sunday Cowboy.”
I can’t pretend to be too objective about Go Slowpoke, which has a new album out called “So Many Last Sips.” I’ve been a fan of Peter Woiwod’s bizarrely skewed songwriting for almost 20 years now, and it warms my heart to see that he’s still at it after a few years away. (I was also honored to be asked to play a little bit on the new album.) Take my recommendation with all the grains of salt you need to — but if the idea of writing a breakup song from the point of view of the couple’s cats sounds intriguing to you, be sure to check out this album anyway.
Finally, it’s not strictly a local release but I need to give a shout-out to Seattle’s Supercrush, whose new single, “Following the Taillights,” is a tribute to Bellingham’s own late great Sean Meyer. He was a touring guitarist for that band, and the song uses the story of a terrifying late-night drive they shared through the mountains of Utah and Wyoming as a metaphor for losing Meyer to cancer. Even without the backstory, it’s a beautiful piece of power pop, but knowing who and what it’s about makes it even sweeter.
Jesse Stanton's music column, The Beat Goes On, appears weekly. Reach him at jsbhammusic@gmail.com; @JSBhamMusic. Check with individual venues to make sure events are still taking place as scheduled. Live music events in Whatcom County: http://www.cascadiadaily.com/category/living/arts-and-entertainment/music/music-calendar
