Guerilla Toss, Pals of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus and Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Ready to Go Ape in Boise Tonight
After a kinda middling summer concert-wise in Boise, the next month is chock-full with super shows, and The Bad Penny will do its best to both inform you about can’t-miss and encourage you to attend them. One is happening tonight at Shrine Social Club, which will host Sub Pop art-rock quintet Guerilla Toss, along with Vancouver, British Columbia’s alt-punks Still Depths and Evan Zuri.
Guerilla Toss’ set will perform selections from their fifth record, You’re Weird Now, which dropped Sept. 12 and features contributions by Stephen Malkmus of Pavement (who produced the album) and Ben Katzman, who came in third on Season 46 of Survivor. Bet you didn’t have that latter guest appearance on your bingo card.
Guerilla Toss singer Kassie Carlson did The Bad Penny the favor of touching base with us during their long drive from Portland to the City of Trees. Our conversation went a little something like this:
Hiya, Guerilla Toss. Thanks for making the trek to Boise and helping to enrich the music scene here. By my calculations, your Saturday show will mark your fourth concert in this city in roughly two and a half years. What spurs you to grace us with your presence so frequently?
We love Boise. It’s home to Treefort [Fest] and so many other cool bands. It’s usually on the way to other great cities too, so coming to Boise is a no-brainer.
Do you have any plans to do anything specific in Boise while you’re here, or will you be too strapped for time?
We have a long drive from Portland, Oregon, so it is unlikely we will have time to plan anything while we are there. Chances are after soundcheck, I will do some wandering. I remember The Record Exchange being pretty cool. There are also some vintage shops near the Shrine that I’d like to check out.
While I try at all costs to avoid asking musicians about their band names, in part because you must get this query in every interview, why is your band name misspelled? “Guerrilla” is supposed to contain two Rs.
Just to be different!
Congratulations on your tremendous new record, You’re Weird Now, which Sub Pop issued in mid-September. What vision did you have going into the making of the album? In what ways did it turn out as you expected and in what ways did it not?
In the beginning, we intended to make the record a very live-sounding record … more raw and less polished than [2022’s] Famously Alive. Ultimately, we ended up going down the rabbit hole with production like usual, but I think it wrapped up somewhere between live sounding and pristine. We are very happy with it.
What are you most proud of in terms of the new album? What sides and aspects of Guerilla Toss does the record reveal that even devoted fans didn’t know before?
Our love for Phish and Pavement!
Which came first, the thematic concept of the record or the songwriting for it?
Literary thematic tones arose from the songwriting. The concept to make this kind of record arose from touring with Pavement and listening to a lot of Stephen Malkmus related music. We wanted to make a real rock record, but in the GT style.
Aside from rolling out new material during your performance, is your set on this tour gonna be different in any other ways than in tours past?
Yes, we are playing a lot of new material.
What do you recall from performing last year at the Shrine, the venue you’re playing again tonight?
I remember playing there at Treefort with Nanhi the Great. Last time we played Shrine, we were graced with the presence of Doug [Martsch] from Built to Spill. We went to get tacos after the show and talked until like 2 a.m. Then we woke up and got breakfast and talked for hours then, too. He is really the sweetest angel.
What item/request on your tour rider might surprise people the most?
We don’t really have a tour rider, but I usually bring my dog Watley on tour, so it is nice to be able to bring him into the green room.
What’s the craziest show you guys have performed thus far?
Last night in Portland, Oregon, at Mississippi Studios.
What’s the lamest show you guys have performed thus far?
There was a show recently with a lot of unresolved feedback and that was kind of lame, but other than that, shows have been great.
What’s the best show you’ve ever attended?
When we took Stephen Malkmus to see Phish in Seattle and met Trey Anastasio, and they decided to help us make this record!
Grab your tickets for tonight’s Guerilla Toss show at the Shrine here. Doors are at 7, and Zuri kicks off the party at 8. For more info on the bands, pop over to the Bandcamp pages for Guerilla Toss; Still Depths; and Boise’s own Evan Zuri, who is now playing solo after fronting post-punk band Neocentrics.
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