Kultur Shock & Art Brut Rock Neumo's in June; Tix On Sale This Week

And this Friday, tickets go on-sale ($10) for local gypsy-punk/thrash metal/Balkan wedding music outfit Kultur Shock, who rock Neumo's the day before Art Brut, on Friday, June 12. Kultur Shock have always been the bastard child of the Seattle rock scene: led by a former Yugoslav pop star and featuring a decidedly international line-up, the band has a cult following locally that never transferred to major U.S. popularity, even as their old touring mates Gogol Bordello have become a household name. That's led to the odd situation that the band is far more popular in Europe than at home; they've played more shows (to bigger crowds) in Istanbul over the last two years than in Seattle.

Sometime later this year, the band will release their fourth studio album, Integration, produced, as usual, by local legend Jack Endino (a number of songs are already on their MySpace). The band's sound has changed somewhat dramatically with the departure of two long-time members, Masa Kobayashi (bass) and Mario Butkovic (lead guitar). The band's found a new bassist, but instead of getting a new lead guitarist, they've substituted by adding a second violinist. For their tour last year, Matty Noble, their usual violinist, was unavailable due to the birth of his first child, so local violin phenom Paris Hurley filled in; now both are apparently full-time members, and the band's already extreme sound has been further radicalized.

Kultur Shock doesn't play locally all that often, so if you've never seen them, now's the time--the experience is pretty incredible, somewhat akin to a drunken night at a Greek restaurant mixed with the shit you'd expect from Motley Crue. Truly weird. Their opener is another talented local band we dig called X-Ray Press, a modern math rock outfit whose music doesn't have a lot of pop crossover potential, but whose musicianship and compositions leave those in the know drooling with envy. Links to ticket info aren't available yet, but check the Neumo's website by Friday and they should be up then.