Godzilla in My Pants!
We arrive at the Melody Inn in Indianapolis around 5:30pm only to find out that there are TWO shows Wednesday and we don’t really need to be there till around 9, and it looks like we will load in and immediately play. No sound check, uh, no drum mics even. We ask the door guy where we can kill time and he directs us to Broad Ripple, where we can get us some beers and grub. We hit some “Big as your Head” burrito place after deciding that the Indian place is too expensive. Then we get some coffee and walk to a record store, IndiVinyl that has some good stuff. We wonder why they don’t have the Magnapop cd though. Hmmm… Back at the club the “early show” is japan rock, some bands we recognized from SXSW, Gito Gito Husler and The Spunks. They drive the crowd nutty with that specialized energetic rock only the Japanese seem capable of pulling off, complete with pseudo-sarcastic rock star comedy shtick. The Spunks really ham it up and play bluesly spaz-rock with titles like “Hey, Hey, Hay” and “Motor City Baby.” The singer, Hajime, is leather jacked, sunglassed, bleach blond coiffed and thoroughly possessed by the Rock of Ages, gives us the stereotypical self-deprecating English as a second language comedy routine, with commentary such as, “I have Godzilla in my pants, and he never sleeps.” I never know what to think about this sort of thing. You laugh, but don’t really want to in a way.
The Melody Inn reminds me of the Earl, not some much in layout but in its color scheme and vibe. Blue walls, adorned with junk, mostly guitars and cymbals, thift store crap, and setlists written on drumheads. The owner tells me that the black guitar hanging over the bar is Bruce Stuckeys, from the legendary Toxic Reasons.
Turns out the Japanese bands really love Magnapop, as Hajime raves about seeing Magnapop on TV in Japan when he was 16. Such is the legacy of Magnapop. We play a very fast set, no monitors, no drum mics, just me competing with Scott’s 8/10 Ampeg and Ruthie’s Marshall, which is no easy feat. There is a funny cowboy guy dancing all countryish in the front. I catch myself watching TV during parts of some of the songs. That’s a first. I have to beat the crap out of everything just to fucking hear myself. But it’s fun. After the show the Spunks and Gito Gito Hustler come up and are all hugs ,handshakes and compliments and give us CDs and wristbands. We give them CDs and the desire to play Japan is thrown out there…they can help…maybe?