Back to school time!!! Here is a snapshot of me posing for my
senior portrait. I god I hope I make the homecoming
court!!! Class of 2011 forever!!!
I'm going to be spending my Labor Day weekend in Pigeon Forge at
Dollywood. I expect this picture is a
close approximation of what Dollywood is like, but I've never been
there before so I'm not positive.
Yet another lost photo from the cross country trip...I've only got a
couple left. It's of Bryce Canyon obviously. Sure, the
snow made it beautiful, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves,
but good goddamn was it cold. We were not
prepared for the bone chilling temperatures, so we didn't spend long
there. I want to go back.
My good man Brian got
permission from the wife to come up to the Triangle and see a little
live music. And when a
man escaping two kids comes to town, you damn well make the most of it
and pack as much fun as you can into that
evening...aka go to two shows and eat burritos between them.
We met up with our broham Ivan inside of Duke Gardens just before the
show started. It had looked a little stormy early,
and seeing as how this gig is outside that is a concern, but it was
merely an idle threat and the dark puffys floated away
to torment someone else's outdoor plans.
It occurred to me that the last time I saw Camera Obscura play was with
this same duo of dudes, which is odd as I
tend to go to shows solo. That bit of trivia has little standing
with the review of the band, but is merely a piece of infor-
mation for those scoring at home.
The band was great, but no big surprise there. They breezed
through a nice set of their mellow cute pop much to the
delight of all the young hipsters and not-quite-as-young families with
their dancing children...and let's not forget my
group, the grizzled old creepy dudes that everyone makes fun of at
shows. They managed to squeeze in nearly every
song I wanted to hear - "French Navy", "My Maudlin Career", "If Looks
Could Kill", "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heart-
broken" and "Razzle Dazzle Rose". I've never seen a bad Camera
Obscura show, but the outdoor setting, the sun
low in the sky...it was simply magnificent.
And then Brian and I headed to Chubby's to stuff ourselves silly with
burritos in preparation of the dance party that
would be happening at Of Montreal soon thereafter...
So after some Camera Obscur'n and burrito eat'n, we waddled over to the
Cradle to take in the dance pop band known
as Of Montreal. I saw these
guys a ton of times back in the late nineties and early aughts,
pre-Outback jingle explosion,
but haven't followed them a ton over their last couple of
records. But Brian wanted to go, he got us some tickets, and
there we were.
I often joke about being the old man at shows, but never has that been
more obvious than at this gig. So many young
kids, all dressed up in ridiculous clothes like it was some catalog
shoot for Urban Outfitters and American Apparel at the
same time. Some folks were even in costumes - of note I saw a lot
of people dressed as "indians" (a look the band em-
ploys on occasion), marching band members, and even one dude dressed as
The Riddler (there was no Batman to be
found).
The show was good, but like night and day from their older gigs.
They used to be a quirky pop band, lots of short
songs, and the closest they came to a stage show was a
psychedelic-style light projector. But now it's all dance pop
with multiple projectors and a team of community theater actors and
actresses doing god-knows-what all over the stage.
I don't think they played a single song from before their "Sunlandic
Twins" record, which was pretty much where I
stopped listening to them. But no matter - the band performed
their "new" disco songs quite well, the strange actors
carried on onstage in a confusing but entertaining manner, and the kids
all danced around like it was a 1995 rave minus
the glow sticks (actually there might have been a couple of glow
sticks). It was all very entertaining, though I felt a bit like
an observer than one caught up in the moment.
(Photo ganked from somewhere online. There were no horses in the
Cradle.)
"Erupt
into a Bev-Rage this summer with "Glug"! That's the slogan. We'll add
the word "Dawg" for the blacks. They like
that word, like they're friends with the product."
Built To Spill - Hindsight.
I love the new-ish Built to Spill record. It's the best thing
they've put out since "Keep It Like
A Secret".
Bonus: Nowhere Lullaby.
Morrissey - Children
In Pieces. Some tracks from the outtakes/B-sides album
"Swords". A spotty release as you
might expect, but plenty of good songs that make it worthwhile.
Bonus: Christian Dior.
Bonus: Munich Air Disaster 1958.
9th Annual Lebowski Fest
Featuring Felice Brothers and The Seedy Seeds
Executive Spare & Strike Lawn
7/16/10 & 7/17/10
So me and a couple of my goofball friends loaded into the car and drove
to Louisville for the 9th annual Lebowski Fest,
celebrating all things "The Big Lebowski". It was bands, games,
movie viewings, bowling, and what-have-you.For a
slightly more detailed, photo-heavy review of this trip, just look at this
here entry from the "Photo Journal" section of this
magnificent website.
On the first night, after my partners-in-crime had preloaded for the
event with so many White Russians that they each
ingested a half-gallon of half and half (would that mean they each had
a "quarter and quarter"?), we strolled over to the
event and watched a little live music. I forget who the first
band was because I was too busy looking at the merch table
and marveling over the fact that there were actually good looking girls
at the event, but they were some rootsy/folky
affair that neither impressed or irritated me. There was probably
a banjo involved, or at least there should have been.
But then the headliners of the Fest, The Felice Brothers, came out
and entertained the masses with their American
rock that is pretty damn reminiscent of when the Band and Bob Dylan
joined forces. Their records are decidedly
mellow affairs for the most part, but live they're a raucous group that
sacrifice a little bit of musicality for the sake of an
upbeat, engaging gig. If you held me to gun point I'd probably
claim to like the records better, but it was still a damn fine
performance. And without a doubt it easily topped any other show
I've seen in the "number of times a washboard is
used as an instrument" category. No jug blowing though, which is
obviously disappointing. When the Felice Brothers
finished playing they climbed on top of their RV parked near the stage
and joined the crowd in watching "The Big
Lebowski" in the open air. I don't have any proof but I'm betting
that's one of the best possible endings to any live
performance.
The following day's festivities were held in the afternoon under a
glaring sun, and combined with the hangovers from
too much liquored-up dairy the previous night...well, we didn't last
long. There was some local fat rapper called the
Kentucky Prophet doing his thing when we got there, and as much as I
love a fat rapper ("Disorderlies" is one of my
favorite films after all) he wasn't doing it for me. But the band
after him, The Seedy Seeds, were pretty
damn enjoy-
able. I didn't know dick about them, but apparently they were
from nearby Cincinnati and had sort of a folk-electronica
vibe. The three piece had pre-recorded beats accompanied by a
really talented drummer playing along with them, and
the other two playing some combination of guitar and banjo. I
liked it - they had the boy/girl combo vocals kinda like
Rainer Maria or Mates of State...but not shitty music like those
bands. The group also got bonus points for dressing in
costumes for the fest as "Strangers in the Alps", a reference to the
sanitized version of the film where the phrase "This
is what it's like to fuck a stranger in the ass" is changed to "This is
what it's like to find a stranger in the Alps". Brilliant
really, and a great weekend.
Superchunk
with Ryan Gustaffson
Cat's Cradle
5/21/2010
SUPERCHUNK! Let the record show that this band was, is and
continues to be one the awesomest awesomers of
all time. These are indisputable facts, folks.
But first, there was an opener - Ryan Gustafson. I remember
back in the day every Superchunk opener was another
Merge artist, but now they're tapping the resources of the local
hot-shit loose-knit gathering of musicians and bands
known as the Drughorse Collective. Not to be confused the pretty
awesome metal band from the Bay Area Drunk
Horse. All I know is I wouldn't want to be around a drugged horse
or a drunk horse, as those fuckers are scary enough
sober. And I'm rambling, so this review is going as expected.
As for what Mr. Gustafson sounds like - well, not unlike many of the
other Drughorse acts, they walk a fine line between
power pop and folky alt-country croonings. The best of his upbeat
songs reminded me a lot of Sloan, and the mellower
tracks I couldn't place a comparison, but was quite good. I liked
the pop songs the most, but with his fantastic voice he
could "sing the phonebook" as they say and it would make for a good
performance.
It was an interesting show for local kings of the scene, Superchunk...apparently
the set list was made up almost en-
tirely of requests (from the Merge staff I think, and maybe some other
randoms), which resulted in a show that was
heaven for super fans like me but much less exciting for the people I
knew there who had never seen the Chunk before.
Requests from a band by long time fans usually means one thing - lots
of old songs. They basically played the entire
"On the Mouth" album - "I Guess I Remembered It Wrong", "Precision
Auto", "For Tension", "From the Curve"...hell,
they even played "On the Mouth" which was the b-side of the "Mower"
single (and could also be found on "Incidental
Music", the second of their singles comps). Some other noteworthy
tracks that night were "Sidewalk", which the band
claimed had only been played live once, and a couple of new songs, one
("Digging for Something") which features
John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats on backing vocals, and luckily he
was at the show to provide them in person.
And also dance around the stage like a spazz, which delighted everyone
in attendance to no end.
At the end of the set and during the encores they hit some of their
highlights, "slack Motherfucker" and "Hyper Enough"
and "Water Wings"...the sort of songs that get all us old folks pogoing
around like we did back in the early nineties.
And let it be known the crowd was quite ancient - these days I'm that
creepy old dude that I used to make fun of in my
early twenties, but I was feeling pretty young and spry with this
group. But young, old, ugly or bold, I'll suffer any indig-
nation or categorization to see the glory of Superchunk live.
I was told I really needed to see Mount Moriah, so I got off my
duff and made it happen. I'd heard Heather McEntyre
sing with her other band Bellefea - good voice, interesting music, but
I didn't get too overly excited about the act. But
Mount Moriah is an altogether different beast - beautiful,
country-tinged folk with amazing vocals, impressive musician-
ship and hooks for days. An instant contender for one of my new
favorite local bands. Her voice reminds me quite a
bit of Shannon Wright, but the songs are of a much higher
quality. Quarterstick records should sign this band post
haste, assuming they are still around, which I doubt is accurate and
I'm too lazy to do the research myself. Hell, while
I'm signing them to defunct labels let's but them on Jesus Christ and
Teenbeat too. The bottom line is this band needs
to be seen or heard or ideally, seen and heard.
"When I see them all
running like that, with their things bouncing around in their shorts, I
always picture them naked,
even if I don't want to. All I see is pork swords."
Raekwon & Ghostface - Ghost
Is Back. I can't express how rad it is that Rae and
Ghost (or whatever producer/DJ
decided to do it) took the tune from Eric B. & Rakim's "Juice" and
wrote a new song for it.
Bonus: Kilos.
Skip Jensen & His Shakin' Feet - Evil
Weirdos. I think I might like the name of this band
more than their music,
but the tunes are still decent.
Bonus: Promised Land.
The Real Kids - All
Kindsa Girls. I know I've probably posted this song
before, maybe multiple times, but it's be-
cause it's one of the greatest pop songs of all time.
Bonus: Better Be Good.
The Sea And Cake - Aerial.
Sea & Cake sounds like Sea & Cake.
Bonus: Car Alarm.
***June Thirtieth
Two
Thousand and Ten***
I hope you're ready to party, cause she is. And by party I mean
waiting until the last day of the month to get an update up.
My apologies to all seven of you reading.
I've always been fascinated with ghost signs, and these people decided
to make a
website about them. Well worth a few
minutes of perusal.
Some photo journal shit above. Reviews below. My pants are
around my ankles. You know, party.
Future Islands
with Lonnie Walker, Lower Dens and
Whatever Brains
Berkeley Cafe
5/4/10
I couldn't tell you the last time I lasted through a four band
night...probably Mergefest. And like those nights, you with-
stood the discomfort of being fat, old and uncomfortable because the
bands were so goddamn awesome.
Right when I walked in Whatever Brains started
playing. I wasn't sure if they were going to be there, as they
were
listed on the bill, and then they were removed, but luckily that
information was incorrect. As I've stated before, they
remind me a lot of the Fall, if the Fall had a fairly normal singer and
not crazy-ass Mark E. Smith. I was watching them
with my man Ivan and he seems to think they have a Gang Green thing
going on, but I don't really see it. But he's
actually a musician so maybe you should take his word for it over
mine. It was a short set, but good. They manage to
sound tight and unhinged at the same time, a great trait in a
band.
I was kinda freaked out the entire time Baltimore's Lower Dens played - the singer
was the spitting image of the cute
nerdy girl from "Real Genius" and I couldn't concentrate on the music
as much as I should have. Val Kilmer was no-
where to be seen though, so at least we had that going for us. My
best approximation of their sound is "what if Siouxsie
& the Banshees became a krautrock band?" And then there was
that one song that sounded exactly like Love &
Rockets. They were definitely one of those bands that I was
really neither here nor there about for the first few songs,
but they really grew on me and I was loving it by the end of their
set.
The non-organ version of Lonnie Walker was next on the
slate. It was great as always, but I'm really missing how that
organ softened out their sound in all the right places. The set
was very Lonnie Walker-y, catchy and excitable and the
crowd ate it up. I see them so often it would be really easy to
take them for granted, but they are still one of the best
bands going in the Triangle.
Finally, the headliners Future Islands came on.
Have I mentioned that their newest record "In Evening Air" is easily
the best record of 2010? Well, it is, and I love it so much I
don't see that changing before the end of the year. It is
brilliant from start to finish, and my only gripe is the run time is
way too short. then again, you always want to leave
them wanting more I guess.
Despite the fact that Future Islands play here all the time, I'd
somehow never managed to see them perform...as great
as their record is the live show is even better. Shut off the
house lights, place a few spots on the ground shining up at
the band, and let the party commence. It was easily the most
dancing I've ever seen at a show, and the best time I've
had the Berkeley Cafe since watching SCW wrestling there in the
mid-nineties. People were throwing glow sticks all
around the crowd, the band released some balloons, and it turned into a
rave for the indie rock set. If Joy Division were
reincarnated as a dance band, this would be it, only they sound like
they got Al Johnson from U.S. Maple to do the
singing and maybe have some inclinations to sound like Erasure from
time to time. In other words, completely awe-
some through and through.
I left covered in sweat from dancing too much, ears ringing from a lack
of earplugs, and a huge smile on my face that
didn't leave for days. Upon exit saw a dude sprawled out on the
sidewalk - not sure if he was attacked by another per-
son or a gravity/booze combo. I'm going to pretend he was floored
by the amazing show that just happened to his face,
and his legs couldn't take any more.
(photo ganked online from somewhere other than my camera)
It was a bit of a last minute show at Tir Na Nog as the local leaders
of sing-a-long pop, The Rosebuds, decided to play
a free gig. I suppose it was to serve as a warm-up for their
impending appearance at the Beaufort Music Festival
(which I attended, for the record...and I know you're keeping detailed
notes so I want your record to be as accurate as
possible).
But first: Schooner! Otherwise known
as the opening band. They were their typical catchy and enjoyable
selves,
belting out their pleasant blend of timeless pop crossed with
shoegaze. They have a new EP out on Cytunes, and a
number of the songs they played this night was from that release.
OK, I'm kinda making an assumption there cause I
didn't recognize the new songs, and I haven't heard the new EP, so I
put two and two together cause I got them kind of
top notch deductive skills. I would imagine the bulk of local
Rosebuds fans (most of the crowd) already are familiar
with the song stylings of Schooner, but hopefully they won over some
new fans cause they surely deserve to be more
beloved.
The
Rosebuds had been meaning to play one of these free local
showcases for a while, and on this pleasant spring
evening it finally went down. The band has an ever-changing
line-up, but this was one that I've seen a number of times
these last few years - Brad from Megafaun on bass, and Rob Lackey on
drums. I love it when they have a bassist with
the band, maybe it's because I (crappily) play bass myself, but music
just doesn't sound complete without the low end...
as I've always said, you might never notice the bassist is there, but
you'll definitely notice when he isn't. I've said a lot of
really stupid things about music too, so let's call it a wash.
Anyways, the band played a great set, performing all the crowd
favorites both old and new. The nice thing about a local
crowd is not only do they know all the songs, but they give the group a
lot of love and feedback in the form of dancing,
cheering and for the Rosebuds especially, singing along. I'm
often irritated by crowd sing-a-longs, but it really works for
these guys because they have very specific parts of their songs that
beg for group participation.
A great night out, and here's to hoping I don't have to wait long until
I get to see the Rosebuds perform again...
So yeah, it wasn't long until I got to see The
Rosebuds again...two days in fact. The old lady and I
decided it might be
fun to take a little road trip, see part of the coast we'd never been
to before - Beaufort. I used to live in Wilmington and
I've been to the Outer Banks a couple of times, but this middle portion
of the state's seaside has always escaped me.
We spent some time driving the back roads, hitting the depressing towns
of Goldsboro and Kinston en route and
grabbing lunch in the town known as the birthplace of Pepsi, New
Bern. New Bern was mostly not depressing, for the
record.
We got into Beaufort early and the festival was already going on, some
reggae cover band playing...yup, Bob Marley!
Least they could do is throw some Desmond Dekker or Skatalites in their
mix. We wandered around town looking at
all the old houses, and there are a shit ton of old houses. We're
talking we-weren't-even-a-country-yet old. After a tasty
dinner, we strolled back to the festival site just a few minutes before
the Rosebuds were to take the stage.
Their set list was pretty typical of most of their shows, but the
setting was obviously quite different from any other gig.
Million dollar yachts and smaller sail boats surrounded the outdoor
stage, and wide selection of humanity from small
kids to the elder set, working class stiffs to the idle rich (hence the
million dollar yachts). And let's not leave out the
salty sea men, leathery and wobbly legged, most likely from a
combination of cheap liquor and not being accustom
to dry land.
The band did their best to connect with a crowd mostly not familiar
with their sound, and for the most part they suc-
ceeded. There was a crowd of surly pre-teens standing near us
that started out cracking wise and by the end of the
show they were on stage dancing during "Bow to the Middle" and asking
Kelly Rosebud for her autograph after the
show ended. It was a great night that could only have been better
if the band had dressed in "yacht rock" costumes.
(see more photos of the Rosebuds and this trip to Beaufort up in the
Photo Journal section)
"Cannibalism?
Racism? Dee, that's not for us. You know? Those are the decisions that
are best left to the suits in
Washington. Okay? We're just here to eat some dude."
Future Islands - Tin
Man. Hey, actual new music! Their new album "In
Evening Air" is the best record of the year,
easily. THE VERY BEST. I refuse to believe it will be
topped.
Bonus: Vireo's Eye.
Also - A great locally made video of a live performance by the band at
the Night Light. Let's see if I can actually figure
out how to embed a damn video.
13th Floor Elevators - Baby
Blue. You can't have enough Roky. Even Roky
covers of Them and a song (Slip
Inside This House) that I had no idea was a cover when Primal Scream
performed it. I probably should have uploaded
the Primal Scream version, but I forgot.
Bonus: Dear Dr. Doom.
Bonus: Slip Inside This House.
Lambchop - Give
It (Once In A Lifetime). A few tracks from their live
performance at last year's Mergefest, which
Merge smartly put up for sale
on their website (no idea if it's available in stores). One
of the greatest live perform-
ances I've EVER seen, and I've seen a lot of goddamned shows.
Bonus: I Will Drive Slowly.
Bonus: Up With People.
Mogwai - Batcat.
Another year, another Mogwai record. It's easy to sometimes take
great bands for granted.
Bonus: The Sun Smells Too Loud.
A couple of selections from a random punk comp I was recently listening
to...it was documenting the scene in
Connecticut and Massachusetts in the late seventies and early
eighties. 8th Route Army - Record
Burning Party Tonight. T.V. Neats - Pushing
Buttons.
***May Twenty
Ninth
Two
Thousand and Ten***
The weather is starting to get hot, and this helmet-wearing gentleman
expresses my exact sentiment on the matter.
Along similar lines: Shorpy.
I look at this site every day, it's a great source of computer
wallpaper. Maybe not so much
for regular wallpaper.
Also, my birthday is coming up soon...if you're looking for gift ideas,
I'm in the market for a Sioux
Falls Fighting
Pheasants t-shirt (XL please). It's what all the cool kids
are wearing.
I put a small chunk of crappy band photos in the photo journal section.
The first band this night was Kid Future. Now if I
didn't know better and just saw the name listed, I'd assume Kid
Future was a DJ playing some sort of electronica music. Do they
even still call it electronica music, or is everything
specified by it's specific subgenre? House, Downbeat, Jungly,
Shitbizzle, Big Poppy, Horse Penis, whatever, I'm not
good with those fancy genres. All I know is they didn't sound
nothing like that - rather, it was catchy indie pop. The
singer had a great, deep voice, which was a little surprising given he
was such a small guy. I thought he looked
familiar, and it turns out his brother is the singer for another great
local band Mount Weather (also apparently I've
played basketball with him, which means he probably scored over my
shitty defense). And where I compared Mount
Weather to the Psychedelic Furs, I'd compare the brother's band to
another great group from the 80's, XTC. They're
not a carbon copy or anything, but the keyboards and song structures
reminded me of them somehow. And those
keyboards are a huge part of the band's sound - at only three band
members and no bass, the keys really have to
do a lot of heavy lifting to keep the songs together. In this
jackasses mind a bassist would really round their sound
out, but what the hell do I know. I do know they are a very
intriguing young band I hope to see more from in the future.
Is it possible that the best local band I've seen in months I only
half-ass watched because I was busy trying to catch
the fourth quarter of an NBA playoff game? Well that was the case
with the Light Pines. I kept saying
I was going
focus my attention at the stage when the stupid game ended or was out
of reach, but the damn thing was close until
the end and actually lasted longer than Light Pine's set. So
while I can't speak with much authority about their live
show, they sounded absolutely fantastic. They didn't really sound
like anyone in particular but sounded like a lot of
things all at the same time. There were a few songs that reminded
me of Doves, but not enough so that I'd compare
the band to them as a whole. One thing that really stuck with me
was what a heavy drum sound they had - not heavy
as in heavy metal fast double-bass drumming, but just really forceful,
domineering drums that really led the direction
of the band. That probably doesn't make any sense and now it
sounds like I'm describing some dirty hippie drum
circle. Anyways, despite being distracted by Kevin Durant hanging
a loss on the Los Angeles Kobes (sadly the
Zombie Sonics eventually lost the series), this band really left an
impression on me and I can't wait to see them
again. Or see them for the first time, if you will.
I missed Midlake the last time they rolled through town, and nearly
drove to Asheville to see them last time they were
in the state but caught a case of the lazies. But this time,
there would be no missing them - they were bringing John
Grant on tour.
John Grant was the singer for
the criminally underrated band the Czars. And when I say
"criminally", I mean to say if
you haven't listened to them you should be arrested for being an
idiot. Their album "The Ugly People Vs. the Beautiful
People" is easily one of my top ten favorite records of the previous
decade, maybe even top five. Sadly, the Czars
split up before I ever got a chance to see them play, but I did get to
see Grant perform solo soon after the split and at
least got to hear him sing a few of those songs live. And now I
was going to get to see Grant again, making me as
excited as a teenage boy in a adult film superstore.
My previous live experience just had Grant sitting in front of a piano
crooning, but after the first song this time it was
a full live band experience, including members of Midlake. He had
just released his first solo record "Queen of
Denmark", and the set list mirrored most of this record (along with a
an unreleased song or two from the same era).
Grant has the best (or at least my favorite) voice going today, and I'm
here to tell you it's just as strong if not stronger
live than it is on record. The weird thing about these solo songs
are how strange/cynical/funny they are, not nearly
as serious as you'd expect to hear from a voice like his. It's
really my only complaint about Grant, that the lyrical con-
tent almost lessens the power of his voice, but who am I to second
guess a man's song choices. It was still a damn
fine show, and while I'm sure most of the crowd had no idea who he was
hopefully he won over a few new fans. He
surely deserves it.
Midlake
was a clusterfuck of awesomeness. The band had seven members, and
four of them were guitarists. Like
any good band there was a full time flutist, but there were occasions
when a couple of dudes were blowing the metal
pipe (this description also works for gay robot porn). In fact,
the greatest moment of the night was when two of the
guitarists were playing leads in conjunction with two flute solos, it
was almost as awesome as watching Jethro Tull play
in front of a mirror.
Jokes aside, they played a great set. All those guitars might
have been overkill, but it sounded magical to my ears. It
was a pretty long set, at least an hour and a half, and I'd guess they
played pretty much every song from their last two
records "The Trial of Van Occupanther" and "The Courage of
Others". Yes, everyone went nuts when they played
"Roscoe", but for good reason as it's a fantastic song. Even the
(what looked like) Marines on shore leave standing in
front of me were loving the show, in between one of their two or three
dozen trips to the bar and/or bathroom. Seriously,
they probably drank fifteen beers each - they wanted to party with some
slightly proggy art rock, and by god they did it
to the fullest.
Lonnie Walker
with Nuclear Power Pants
Tir Na Nog
4/1/10
Even at my advanced age, I still occasionally get surprised by an
opening band. Nuclear Power Pants showed up
on free night at Tir Na Nog, the rare out-of-town entry (they're from
Baltimore according to the stage banter) to an
otherwise locals-only event. They were an eight-piece band, with
five musicians (drums, bass, two keyboardists and a
sax player, but no guitarists), two female back-up singers, and a lead
singer wearing a poncho and looking like he
could be the brother to Les Savy Fav's Tim Harrington. Everyone
but the singers were dressed up in these weird pac-
man/trianglehead costumes covered in day-glo paint, and there were
blacklights everywhere, so shit was glowing like
crazy. It may take further listening to decide if the excitement
was from their live performance, the crazy outfits, the
music, or some sort of combination of those elements, but the crowd was
absolutely loving it. The music was kind of a
punk/new wave combo, maybe Devo meets Brainiac with a little Residents
thrown in there (though that may just be the
costumes forcing the final part of that comparison). Anyways,
they did a really weird and great cover of Bruce Spring-
steen's best song "Highway Patrolman", the crowd danced a lot, I took
some shitty photos and bobbed my head, and
all was well in the world.
And guess who else played that night - Lonnie Walker! I think
I've seen these guys play more often in the past year
than I've seen my family (not that there's anything wrong with
that). It was stripped down version of the band, just three
members (the non-singing guitarist dude and the keyboard lad were off
gallivanting in Europe or something). Some-
how they lost two members but got more rockin'. It was a good
show, but I did miss those soft organ lines trickling in
and out of the songs. The set list was what you'd expect (this is
code for me saying they played a lot of songs they
always play that I've never bothered to learn the names to, mostly
because my brain is at capacity due to memorizing
crap like all of the G.I. Joe character names and the complete dialogue
to "Blazing Saddles"), and Brian Corum was
the typical zany frontman he always is. You're in a good place in
life when one of your problems is seeing Lonnie
Walker play too often.
"Say, any of you
boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained
in the metallurgic arts before
strained circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin'?
"
Little Joy - Brand
New Start. This self-titled album is a damn near
perfect summer record. Of course I really got into
it over this past winter, mostly because I'm stupid and not very timely
with my musical selections.
Bonus: No One's Better Sake.
Mount Vicious - Steroid
Unicorn. It's only fitting that these guys have been
broken up for months and I'm just now get-
ting around to posting this. If I didn't have tardiness I'd have
nothing at all.
Richmond Fontaine - Montgomery
Park. These guys have a bazillion good records but it
seems like no one listens
to them. Get with it people.
Bonus: Through.
The Rantouls - Chug-A-Lug.
San Jose's finest! Not a phrase you can say very often when
talking about bands.
Wavves - Lover.
I'm still not sure if I like this band, but this song is pretty
decent.
***April Twenty
Ninth
Two
Thousand and Ten***
I decided this Netscape Composer-created shitpile needed some Betty
White, cause she's so hot right now. Hosting
SNL, starring in Superb Bowel commercials, eating hot dogs, is there
anything this lady can't do? It should also be
noted that I welcome all challengers in a "Golden Girls Trivia Contest
for Straight Dudes", cause I've seen all the epi-
sodes multiple times.
Go see "Kick Ass" - it kicks ass. I bet I'm the first person to
ever use that descriptor for this movie HAHAHA!!! It will
also remind you that Nicolas Cage can be an asset to a film, something
that could easily be forgotten over his last 15
years of work.
I put up some new photos of everyone's favorite handsome hound Burt
Reynolds, as well as a couple of photo journal
entries that are pretty goddamn boring to be honest.
Every once in a while you gotta get your giant concert on, and for me
most of the time this ends up being a Wilcoshow.
Despite my constant whining about their output since "Yankee Hotel
Foxtrot", I still continue to go to their shows and
enjoy myself while complaining to anyone who will listen about how they
play too many new songs and Nels Cline needs
to knock off all the ridiculous solos.
So the show report is this: they played too many new songs and
Nels Cline played too many ridiculous pointless solos.
And I still enjoyed myself. They actually played for damn close
to three hours, and with that much time to fill they were
bound to play some older material as well. A number of songs from
their perfect record "Summerteeth" made the list,
including "She's a Jar", "A Shot in the Arm", "Via Chicago", "When You
Wake Up Feeling Old" and the title track
"Summerteeth"; at least half of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" including "War
on War" and "Handshake Drugs" and "I'm the
Man Who Loves You"; and the real classic gems "Forget the Flowers" and
"Passenger Side". For the record, I con-
sider any show where "Passenger Side" is played to automatically be a
good show regardless of what else happens.
These good songs happened just often enough that I didn't lose my mind
when they played pretty much the entire "A
Ghost Is Born" and "Sky Blue Sky" albums. One of the final songs
they played was a tribute to the recently passed
Alex Chilton, the Big Star classic "Thank You Friends".
Given what is to be expected these days at a Wilco show, I'd have to
give a pretty big thumbs up. As a side note, this
was my first time seeing the inside of the DPAC (Durham Performing Arts
Center for those not comfortable with
acronyms) - pretty swank place. Our seats were in the front of
the top section but the seats were still great...the steep-
ness of the joint seemed to discombobulate my friend Brian who attended
with me, though that could have also been
the giant burrito he ate at Chubby's Tacos before the show. I'd
gladly go see more "big" bands here, assuming they
ever book something to my liking again.
Whatever Brains
with Naps and The Cellar Seas
Tir Na Nog
2/4/10
OK, so my idiot ass waited WAY too long to write this review, cause my
memories are hazy at best. That's what you
get for being lazy and forgetful I guess. I do remember it was an
awesome night of music from start to finish, some-
thing I would have paid for but luckily it was one of those free local
nights at Tir Na Nog. Why these things aren't
always packed is beyond me...maybe folks just aren't as cheap as I am
and don't value the power of "free".
The first band of the night was called The Cellar Seas, and it was
their first gig ever! Seeing history with my own
eyes! I play basketball multiple times a week with the
singer/guitarist of the band, Roy Bourne, and I didn't even know
he had a band...no time for chitchat when I'm raining my wet jump shots
all over the court. Nonetheless, they sounded
great, obviously well practiced, and churned out a set of very catchy,
Americana-tinged rock songs. They reminded
me a little bit of the band Richmond Fontaine, a comparison I dreamt up
totally out of the blue and not because I had
just been listening to them in my car. The Cellar-ites played the
sort of songs you would sing along to riding in your
car with the windows down on a warm summer day while writing run-on
sentences. Of course I didn't sing along at
the show, because I would have looked goofy doing it and also it was my
first time ever hearing them. Anyways,
great debut by these cats and I look forward to many more shows by them.
The middle bands was Naps and featured Brian Corum of
Lonnie Walker as well as some other local rock star types.
I have a vague recollection that Brian played the show in some manner
of one piece long johns/pajama thing, but may-
be I totally imagined that. As for the music, I quite enjoyed it
- it sounded like vintage Chapel Hill indie rock from the
early to mid-nineties with just a tinge of Silver Jews. If I
would have seen these guys opening for Archers of Loaf in
1995, they would have fit in royally. And they probably would
have had a seven inch out on Jesus Christ like all the
cool bands did.
I've been meaning to see Whatever Brains ever since I
moved back to the Triangle, but through a combination of epic
laziness and other obligations, this was my first time actually making
that happen. Damn shame it took so long, be-
cause just as I expected they were really fuckin' great. they
sounded like the bastard child of Drive Like Jehu and The
Fall, all jittery and anxious in the best post-punk way possible.
Lots of spastic, off-beat dancing both on stage and in
the crowd, just the way good shows are meant to be. It was pretty
obvious why they are getting a reputation as one of
the best local bands going right now, and I'll not be making the
mistake of waiting so long before I see them play again.
"Me and
Dot went in to adopt on account a' somethin' went wrong with my semen,
and they said we had to wait five
years for a healthy white baby. I said, "Healthy white baby? Five
years? What else you got?" Said they got two Koreans
and a negra born with his heart on the outside. It's a crazy world. "
And here are some other songs which probably are not Peel sessions,
unless they are!
Dan Auerbach - Trouble
Weighs a Ton. Black Keys singer decides to make a solo
record. It sounds exactly like the
Black Keys. I suppose you could have worse problems in life,
honestly.
Bonus: When the Night Comes.
Nobunny - Motorhead
With Me! Nobunny puts on the some of the best,
sloppiest, most bewildering live shows I've
ever seen. Go see him if he/they comes to your town.
Sneaky Pinks - Life
Stupid, I Stupid. The same description for Nobunny
fits here, though they may be broken up.
they were broken up and then they reunion'd and I'm too lazy to
research their current state.
The Thermals - I
Let It Go. I didn't listen to this most recent
Thermal's record as much as their past outings, but there
are still some damn good songs on it.
Bonus: When I Died.
Yo La Tengo - Double
Dare. I got a lot of compliments on my Yo La Tengo
shirt when I visited Costa Rica.
Bonus: Nowhere Near.
