Goethe is right, "One should, each day, try to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it is possible, speak a few reasonable words." So this is my attempt to do just that...well, minus the poems and pictures..though who knows? They may show up, too.
With the news that Naked Raygun is playing the Metro on October 9th, my hardcore jones got to flarin' up and my need for raw guitar and pummeling drums was nearly overwhelming. Then along came We'll Go Machete - straight outta Austin and destined for greatness - who satisfied me completely. I nearly had to go get the torn jeans and Chuck Taylors on... and check out the Teutonic-ly influenced awesomeness of that cover art for the ep...
Denver's Everything Absent or Distorted is going to be gone soon, love them while you can. JP calls this song, "a wonderful slice of Americana.." and in a rare moment of brotherly collegiality, I agree...
I ain't gonna lie - I LOVE the Thermals. A lot. I'm not even gonna pretend to be objective about it. I love the stripped down arrangements, the witty lyrics, the stompin' punk energy. I wish more bands were like them and am continuously disappointed when an artsy piece of faux retro crap gets released and another thermals-like heat seeking rock missle fails to launch. But here? They're on Daytrotter...and if you know Daytrotter, you know it's a low key, quieter affair. But know what? The Thermals still rock it, even quiet acoustic-style.
Today's beauty is brought to us by Telekinesis, who is singer/songwriter Michael Benjamin Lerner, from the self-titled debut released on Merge Records. I love the lo-fi beginning and how it cranks right up into rockin' powerpop as it goes along. Turn it up and enjoy...
but for those of us who came of age in the '80s there was a band that never got its proper due: Toad the Wet Sprocket. Maybe it was the awkward name. Maybe it was that they weren't punk, they weren't rock, they weren't country, they weren't industrial - they just didn't have a clearly defined niche. But they were awfully talented and wrote timeless pop songs.
Timeless pop songs, my friends that were on full display last night at the lovely Park West. (have you been there? I haven't been for years, but I will say this - I love having a seat, a table, and a waitress bringing me drink after drink during a rock show...for sure..) Anyway, Toad was in great form last night, joking with the crowd, playing a wide selection from their discography, and just generally putting on a show that, while it may have been one of those much maligned "just making some money" heritage tours, entertained and reminded me why I put myself squarely in the Toad camp since their debut, Bread and Circus, nearly 20 years ago.
Here's a cheap-ass, taped from TV, converted to .wav file, video of "Fall Down" from the album Dulcinea that was posted on YouTube. Not a fitting tribute to how good they were last night, but I really like this song, and maybe some Park West footage will make it online (lots of folks with cameras) and I'll update later on...
and which is my favorite? Old Man Crazy Legs who dances at the 1:47 mark? or the chick who inspired the cover for Hole's 'Live Through This'? such a hard choice...
The opening band for Toad was a Chicago area guy (by way of Iowa - shoutout to the Hawkeye state) named Dick Prall. I have to confess, I'd never heard of him, but friends of ours had and spoke highly of him - I thoroughly enjoyed his set, playing the kind of music that seems, I dunno, to just not be around that much anymore, standard American rock music, know what I mean? You're not gonna like Toad or Dick Prall because they're doing something so radically different with the rock idiom, let's face it, but what they both do, they do exceptionally well and it was one fine evening... Redraw the Line by Dick Prall
but an artist named Jay Reatard? really? the catch is this: he writes insanely poppy songs that border on brilliance. sheer brilliance, really, and he plays an asskicking flying V guitar, just like my man Michael Schenker did at one of the first rock shows I ever went to in my life. this song is sort of an acoustic Clash singalong with all the martial drums, uptempo beats, and quirky vocals that a comparison like that would bring to mind...
So being on the road isn't terrible, and staying up surfing the web when you're on vacation isn't a sign of complete mental illness. is it? and if it is, I don't want to be healthy...
but in my few minutes of hijacked internet, I ran across this wonderful pop nugget from Two Hours Traffic, who, according to my go-to source for all things Canuck rock, are from Prince Edward Island, and several of the members play in another band I'll be sure to check out, The Danks. Excellent up tempo indie-ish rock with a terrific hook...enjoy..
So, Johnny Foreigner sounds like a punk rock Los Campesinos!, minus violins and non-rock instruments and the chorus will burrow into your skull like that worm did to Ricardo Montalban in one of the Star Wars movies, and it will stay there, gnawing away at you in all the good ways that you like. Promise. Plus, tomorrow? It's time to start actually having some summer.
The Clientele are frickin' awesome. I love the haromonies, there's some mariachi-like horn action, some Style Council era smooth-ass vocals and guitar strumming...and the chorus? Kills. The new album "Bonfires on the Heath" comes out in October.
I love me some Clientele. I'd have to question your sanity if you didn't, too.
Thanks to Large-Hearted Boy for the find, the band's name is Cougar, the album is Patriot. Think post-rock, indie, jazz inflected genius. I know bands without vocalists and lyrics aren't for everyone - but I don't much listen to words anyway, making the voice just another instrument to me - but this is talented, interesting, challenging music. Look it up, their myspace page has a few more worth listening to...
Doves are brilliant. More brilliant than you, me, or anyone that any of us know. Combined. Brilliant arrangements, lyrics, voice, you name it. This track is from a live performance on Minnesota Public Radio - it's, predictably, brilliant.
Drink-free was the choice for me on the 4th this year, kids. Safety first. My body is a temple, and you know, all that other good stuff. Or was it cause the party I was at only had Bud Light? hmmm..I'm gonna totally own the beer snob tag and wear it proudly. So I got to have a bunch of Mug root beer. That's how I roll...
So that means this morning's music choice (via Knox Road) is an easy one to make. Being clearheaded on a Sunday (while a rarity) especially on an 80 degree sunny Sunday like this one, seems to help make a more uplifting choice than I'd typically do. And today's band, whom I heard some from a while back, is another in a long line of rocking Canucks - ok, maybe rocking is a misnomer, they're not, like RAWK, but they put the indie in indie rock, for sure.
The Most Serene Republic's new album, "..And The Ever Expanding Universe" is out on July 14th. This song is from their debut, "Population".
I'm not the hugest Wilco fan in the world, by that i simply mean i'm not obsessive or anything. i totally respect them and enjoy their output, and the unpleasant Jay Bennett lawsuit thing, followed by his untimely death, made Wilco hard for me for a while. but listening to this tonight, i gotta say, them's some talented dudes. for sure, and Jay Bennett will be missed.
and if you never have, you owe it to yourself to love his first band: titanic love affair
while they're not Canadian, (they are, in fact, from Australia), the band Children Collide is, I have to admit, a band I'd never ever ever heard of before. But after running across them at the indie rock cafe, (thanks to them for this and the last post) I just spent an enjoyable half hour listening to them put the RAWK back in indie rock. big guitars. lots of cool guitar effects. They're a bit like your iPod on shuffle, when it only plays songs you really dig.
Their new album, The Long Now, has just been released in the US - go find it...
Bad Flirt is a poppy, chick-driven, uptempo band whose debut album Virgin Talk holds lots of promise. For you more elderly, Bad Flirt reminds me a lot of Magnapop and Velocity Girl, bands who could bring the rock, bring some tunefulness, and were driven by women singers who defined the band's sound. After hearing more of their stuff on their Myspace page, I'll just say you're dumb to not go give it a listen...
Methland by Nick Reding - being from Iowa, this exploration of the effects of the meth epidemic, the intersection of commerce, big agriculture, working class status, and the flow of immigrants into America is an insightful look at how the nation still holds the myth of our agrarian past, and ignores the realities of our economic present. You'll love it.
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway - historical fiction, or fictional history - doesn't matter. A beautiful, elegant book that details life in wartime, a war most of us didn't pay much attention to..an excellent read, go get it.
Life, Inc. by Douglas Rushkoff *Highly Recommend - I really dig it.*
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mladinow - Very interesting, but know some math...
