In May this wolf reported on the breakup of raucous local garage rockers Heavy Times—but now the band is back! Or at least part of the band. Alas, bassist Matthew Hord and drummer Luca Cimarusti (the Reader‘s music-listings guy) are no longer involved. Guitarists Bo Hansen and Matt Courtade have recruited Matt Williams to drum, and last weekend the three of them cut five songs at Minbal with Russ Calderwood on bass and Cooper Crain on synths. Heavy Times play the Main Stage at West Fest on Sat 7/13 as a five-piece; that night they open for the reunited Oblivians at the Empty Bottle (see Soundboard) to celebrate the release of their new LP, Fix It Alone.
Gossip Wolf has pretty special feelings for the Velcro Lewis Group, whose mishmash of space rock and funk reminds us of Sly & the Family Stone, Hawkwind, and Funkadelic—if the Mothership had a guy who played electric washboard. Last week on Soundcloud the band uploaded a snippet of “Bernadette,” the stomping chunk of stinky funk on the A side of their new single, due Tue 7/23 on Eye Vybe Records. It’s so good that they put an instrumental version on the B side, which Lewis says “is mixed to sound ideal in an Impala.” The song also appears on the LP Open the Sky, available in October via Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records. Velcro and the gang play a free show at the Bottle on Mon 7/22.
Logan Hardware is moving! This wolf got a whiff of the news after the killer Evens show there on July 1—the store’s final day in the building just west of Fullerton and Western. Part owner John Ciba tells Gossip Wolf the shop wanted a bigger space and found one three blocks west at 2532 W. Fullerton. Ciba says it has twice as much floor space, and that the shop will rotate the selection of games in its arcade more often. The new building also has a cool-looking turret—check it out when the relocated Logan Hardware opens its doors Sat 7/13 at noon.
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