SOTD 2/24: Like the good Midwestern boys they are...The Please and Thank You's

Doing all the good Midwestern rock things that you, and I, love. Some punk, some old school rawk. some swear words. (I know, it's like I'm still 14 and it's cool to swear, but i LOVE profanity, so sue me..) These boys got it all going on, and I, for one, am excited to see what they do next - cause they're making music like it's s'posed to be made - by bringing some rock to the party..

(thanks to Can You See The Sunset for the find)

In Like Sin by The Please and Thank You's

and a bonus:

Fucking Honestly by The Please and Thank You's

and a little blast of the old school hardcore punk raucousness...

SOTD 2/22: Sounds like so many others I've loved who've come before them...How Do We Jump This High?

Gaslight Anthem, Hold Steady, even the mighty 'Mats....they all have that certain...something. Know what I mean? vocals that are poignant while being yelled. raw guitars. drummers that may be play perfectly, but what they do is exactly right at the time it needs to be...How Do We Jump This High? may be awkwardly named, but their sound is exactly what I need while I sit in here relaxing with my drink in a dark room, kids in bed, blizzard blowing outside.

See You In The Funny Papers by How Do We Jump This High?

Plus, let's face it, they just LOOK like the kind of band I'd love to see live...

How Do We Jump This High? - See Ya In The Funny Papers from If You Make It on Vimeo.

SOTD 2/20: Don't you love it when old friends return?

Broken Social Scene has released a new song, and while, let's face it, the million BSS side projects has meant that they've really never gone anywhere, this is, I think, the first new official BSS song since, oh...2005, I think? More of all you'd love about them - atmospherics, propulsive percussion, delicate harmonies...check it out:

World Sick by Broken Social Scene

and here's a taste of old BSS in case you forgot....how do you not love bands in paper bags and gas masks, I ask ya??

SOTD 2/17: more Ted Leo love

The Brutalist Bricks, coming out on Matador in less than a month. A show in Chicago on March 13th at the Bottom Lounge. Nah...I'm not TOO pumped up.

The Mighty Sparrow by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Little taste of Ted rockin' the Kelly Clarkson..



and one of my faves: Me and MIa from Shake the Sheets

SOTD 2/9 (b): Mountain Goats

i got nothin' else to say - I saw John Darnielle a few years ago when he opened for Superchunk and it was amazing how genuine, painful, and honest his songs are. Check it out.




(though he does look like your favorite English teacher, rocking out in the departmental office during lunch. it's awesome!)

SOTD 2/9: what classic rock would sound like if it were being made today by bands like The Stance, who rock, in the classic sense

Ya know, there's always bands like this - could be brilliant, but no one's heard of them, they have sharp pop hooks, just the right skronky guitar, a kinda buzzcocks-y early 80's punk garage thing going on, and in the age of the internet, you finally have a chance of stumbling across some of them, unlike the old days when a band like this would play a friend's party for beer and a chance to talk to chicks, then go back to the day job the next morning.

I love the internet for just that reason. The Stance (thanks to Quick Before It Melts) could be, one day, the Canadian Buzzcocks, but until then, I'm just gonna look for their new one "I Left Love Behind a Long Time Ago" and rock out. Classic style.

Jenny Jitters by The Stance

Link to "Strung Up" to get another taste...

and check 'em out live....love it like I do..

The Stance - Live at Stereophonic 6! from CultureHub on Vimeo.

SOTD 2/7: Romance is Boring...Los Campesinos!

or so says Los Campesinos! and yes, they have an exclamation mark at the end of their name, I normally detest the exclamation point and all it's phony enthusiasm. But Los Campesinos! LOVES it, witness their first single You! Me! Dancing! as another example of exclamation point overuse...but the band is prolific, releasing their third album in three years, and this is a bit more...mature, I think, than their previous records...I do so like them...

Romance is Boring by Los Campesinos!

and here's the genuinely odd and disturbing 'murdering your spouse' video:


compare that to You! Me! Dancing!

SOTD 2/4: and I thought The Secret Machines were gone forever

but I was totally wrong. and I'm not gonna lie, this isn't the greatest song they've ever done, but when you think, you know, they're done for, and they're not, you're happy to get what you get. The Secret Machines have a decidedly space rock vibe, with a drummer who, when you see them live, is an absolute dynamo...

so check out "Like I Can" in the newly reconfigured TSM lineup...

Like I Can by The Secret Machines

and a little blast from the past with one of my fave Secret Machines songs of all time: Lightning Blue Eyes