SOOL at Stage 33 Live

BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Experimental pop collective SOOL, described by the Boston Globe as one of “the cleverest and most idiosyncratic bands” around, is a musically schizophrenic hodge-podge of experimental curiosities that you can dance to.

SOOL has been recording and making music since 1994, traversing genres in a “pin-the-tail-on-the-cosmic-monkey” approach. Their music has been featured in independent films, TV shows, and international ads.

Underlying any preposterousness is the fact that these are top-notch players who happen to enjoy getting weird.

SOOL, which plays live only sporadically, is Kevin Quinn and Neal Spaulding of the 80s underground psychedelic-pop band The Dead Monkeys, plus musician/producer/studio-rat Pete Weiss. For this show, the original drummer of The Dead Monkeys, Ken O’Keefe – who now lives in Japan – joins the fun. It’s The Dead Monkeys original lineup plus Pete Weiss, or the SOOL original lineup plus Ken O’Keefe. A win either way.

This will be their first show of a tiny tour. It will be louder than most shows at Stage 33 Live. Dancing will be encouraged.

This is a 6 p.m. show on Thursday, Aug. 15, presented in association with community radio station WOOL-FM. The band will do a radio interview in the next room on WOOL-FM at 5 p.m., ticket holders are invited to come early and heckle them live on the air.

At the band’s request, tickets are discounted from the usual price. Only 40 tickets will be sold; advance tickets guarantee entry. Advance tickets are available through www.stage33live.com.

Stage 33 Live is located at 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls, Vt. The event will be recorded and filmed.

Stage 33 Live is a casual and intimate industrial-rustic listening room in a former factory hosting local, regional, and national performances and presentations of original material. No bar or kitchen, the stage is the mission. More information about the nonprofit, all-volunteer project, and this and other upcoming events, online at www.stage33live.com.

WOOL-FM “Black Sheep Radio” is a full power, noncommercial, volunteer-run community radio station supported almost entirely by memberships. Find them at 91.5 FM in the broadcast footprint, or stream them online from www.wool.fm.

Stage 33 Live gratefully acknowledges the help of so many individuals without whom none of this would be able to happen, and institutional support this season from The Island Corporation, the Vermont Arts Council, Guilford Sound, WOOL-FM, the Rockingham Arts & Museum Project, and Chroma Technologies to help fund improvements and maintenance, and generally smooth out a lot of the rough edges. Stage 33 Live is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and all donations are deductible to the fullest extent. Volunteers run the thing from stem to stern.