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Planet of the Apes: Naked Ape turned out a set far more exciting than a night spent at a Vampire gathering Dec. 11 at the Aptos Club. Notes From The Underground Home Tour: The What-Nots and Naked Ape embark on tours de force for weekend shows By Matt Koumaras THE WHAT-NOTS dazzled the packed-in faithful at Callahan's Dec. 10. They sounded like the Blake Babies doing breakneck Hüsker Dü covers at a diner to pay off their bar tab. Glorious finger-frenzied lead guitar work from Phil and Kevin's colossal drum work hit right in the teeth like a belt buckle. "The Calm" stormed with its intricate applications of sustain and eventual cathartic release. "Borracho" was a ripping rock exposé that created surges in one's emotional wirings. Eden's vocals on "Too Much of Everythin'" were more tear-provoking than cutting an endless supply of onions at a La Bamba movie marathon. Sin in Space's progressive songs blended nicely into each other like Radiohead without the fast-forward parts. 40 Acres soared with plenty of heady roundabouts and just enough distortion to keep one away from standing in front of the dartboard. It's sweaty sets like this where you can see five o'clock shadow emerging on everyone's face. Spike and Princess were an amusing female trio that had never played as a group before. Their use of a Speak and Spell on their song about U.S. history (and the repetition of the letters U and S) was A-OK. Naked Chaos Naked Ape's CD Astroglyde has consumed my total attention and cost me a promising job at the DQ (that's Dairy Queen for the economically uninitiated), as well as a lucrative sponsorship from Capezio dance shoes. Todd, Eric and crew slapped down the spooky hard rock and rap grooves Dec. 11 at the Aptos Club. They opened with a scorching version of "It Kills Me" with smoke machine and metal laser-tag light show working to desired effect. If "Chillin'" doesn't thaw out your juices, then you must be dead. All the hits came early ("Euphoria," "Ain't Life Grand," "Home") so it was a tough task to maintain the momentum. But I never had time to drive downtown to play the role of Clove the Maudlin Warlock during a Vampire gathering. My heart bobbed and weaved during Eric's freestyle rap tour de force, "Cup O' Tea." This was more riveting than seeing the Globetrotters teaching kids ball-handling skills during naked P.E. I went to go sit on Santa's lap at the mall, and before I could blurt out "Hot Topic gift certificate," that old, fat-and-happy dude beat me to the punch, asking, "Hey, Matt, can you leave that new Chaos Lounge CD Red under the tree for me?" Chaos Lounge played what had to be their best show all year with tons of positive, amped-up energy matched with Kierstin's well-chiseled drum batteries. "El Nino" rocked liked a herricane with Anji and Krissy's intense chutzpah stamped into every incredible verse. Phoebe and Amy's guitar riffs on "Red" bit like a hammerhead into an Australian's leg. The fresh-out-of-the-oven "Power Transformation" proved that these movers and shakers are improving on an already great thing. Upcoming Dilligaf plays the Aptos Club Friday with Cold Rolled Coil and Robot God; also, the Forgotten, Randums, Schlep and the Volunteers play the Santa Cruz Vets Hall; Junk Sick Dawn and Robot God play the Jury Room Saturday; Good Riddance, H20, Lonely Kings and Creep Division (a Good Riddance side project) play Palookaville Sunday; Tuesday, Vincent's Ear appears on Merlin's "Idle Hands" Christmas show (4-7pm on Free Radio 96.3FM). [ Santa Cruz Week | MetroActive Central | Archives ]