Quasi

My Quasi review (American Gong) ran today at Blurt. Here’s a bit:

Quasi isn't exactly settling gracefully into an elder statesman slot. The band - a partnership between Sam Coomes and Sleater-Kinney/Jicks drummer Janet Weiss - has been going, intermittently, for 17 years now, with eight studio albums and a clutch of singles to show for it. Conflict was always part of the band's DNA, on a personal level, one guesses, since the two principles are divorced former partners, but also on a musical one. There's a deep divide between Quasi's witheringly caustic lyrics and its buoyant sing-along melodies, between its Beatles-pop rocksichord hooks and the surging maelstrom of its guitar freak-outs, and this chasm has only grown deeper of late.

The rest


Weirdly, the giveaway is the worst song on the album, “Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez”

We’re going away for the weekend again, starting tomorrow, up to Jackson, NH to watch Sean ski in the J2 championships. Go Sean! (who flat-out won his classic race on Tuesday at the Meet of Champions). And next weekend we are god-damned staying home if it kills us, because it’s been fun the last three weeks, but we are all exhausted.

Oh, and one more thing. If you’ve got any spare cash, go pledge at WFMU this week. They’re having their marathon, and what they do is important if you care about independent music at all.