Sharp Notes October 23 2003
LITHP’S PUPPET CAPER: When Josh Rifkind opened CL’s Best Of Atlanta issue last month to find his goofy local rock band, Lithp, had been awarded Best Pre-Concert Ritual By a Local Band, the satisfaction he felt for having been recognized was tempered with pangs of sadness. That’s because the pre-concert ritual in question is the puppet show that members of Lithp perform on stage before their set — a wacky “South Park”-style romp through current events, starring the group’s handmade stick puppets. And those puppets — hundreds in all, going back to Lithp’s first puppet show in 1997 — had, just a day before, been stolen.
In broad daylight, Rifkind says, someone came by, hitched up the trailer that the band uses to transport its equipment, and drove off with it. While no musical instruments were inside, several filing cabinets of puppets were stored there.
“I’d so much rather the equipment be stolen,” Rifkind says. “All our equipment down to the last pedal is insured, but not the puppets. I don’t even know how you would go about insuring puppets. And the cops weren’t too thrilled about chasing down some puppets. They haven’t really followed up with us.”
The lost include puppets of everyone from a pre-9-11 Osama bin Laden to Richard Gere with retractable gerbil; from Hillary Clinton in bondage gear to a naked Bill Clinton that held particular sentimental value.
“I wanted my grandkids to see the naked Bill,” Rifkind says. “That was our prototype, the first puppet we really made. I went to Ace Hardware and rigged up his arms so they were completely mobile. We’d go through hundreds of dollars of duct tape. It’s all self-taught techniques, we just it figured out.”
Undeterred by the setback, Lithp has already begun work on a second generation of puppets, including Ben Affleck and a working vending machine. They recently debuted during an all-new pre-concert puppet show.
“Ben Affleck was trying to get an Almond Joy out the machine and it got stuck,” Rifkind says. “And he got really pissed off and tried to shake the machine. We came back with a roar, man.”
Lithp plans to reprise the show at its special Halloween gig Oct. 31 at 10 High. After the puppets, Lithp will play an entire set of Beastie Boys songs.
ONE-TWO PUNCH: A few weeks ago, for the first time ever, all the songs in Billboard’s Top Ten came from black artists (including three local acts). Now, Atlanta offers more evidence of dominance. The Oct. 25 Billboard album charts finds Ludacris’ Chicken ‘N’ Beer and OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively (OutKast had previously spent two weeks in the top slot). And at No. 3? Some guy named Elvis Presley.
BAND BITS: Slangbanger reports that “after nearly four years of bombarding your e-mails and mailboxes and trying to seduce your musical taste buds,” the band is no more. ... The husband-and-wife guitar-and-cello duo formerly known as the Adams Duo is still together and still Georgia-based, but will now be called Montana Skies. Among other reasons for the change, the duo explains, “We grew tired of requests for ‘The Addams Family’ theme song.” ... Shamgod will take an indefinite hiatus after its Oct. 24 show at the Earl, which marks the departure of drummer Sammy and guitarist Matt Chenoweth. Chenoweth has formed a new band, Triad, with Chris Jansen (Myssouri) and Bruce Butkovich (Universal Overdose). Meanwhile, Shamgod’s lead siblings Mary Byrne and Donald Byrne plan on working up new material, finding new bandmates, and perhaps morphing into a new band.
Meanwhile, Justin Hughes of the Rock*A*Teens has formed a new band with former Bob cat Mike Koenig and ex-Blame Gamer Matt McCalvin. They’re called Gong Fodder and they’re playing Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Earl and Sat., Oct. 25, at Eyedrum.