On the occasion of Sub Pop's Re-release of Red Red Meat's Bunny Gets Paid, the band played a couple of shows at the Empty Bottle this week. Cautioned by memories of the occasional snoozefest watching the band in that venue back in the nineties, I decided to walk down to the corner and give it a go. The show was terrific, the band on task and focused for the most part, with disjointed silverware scraping sound collages kept to a minimum. There were many sweet spots during the show, when Tim Rutili's bluesy art rock slide work and Brian Deck's floor tom heavy just-behind-the-beat drumwork locked in to create the perfect demented blues blend. One such moment was during "Chinese Balls", from the band's last album, There's a Star Above The Manger Tonight.

Chinese Balls