Double-booked again...here's my Blurt review of the new Abe Vigoda.
I am unbelieveably frazzled these days and not at home much, so the "pick three records" at random extravaganza may need to wait until Saturday.
Abe Vigoda
Skeleton
(Post Present Medium)
www.postpresentmedium.com
Noisy, pop-crackling Abe Vigoda comes from the same vegan DIY punk scene as LA’s No Age (whose members run the Post Present Medium label), so it’s no surprise that the band wraps insouciant melodies in fiberglass splinters of abrasive distortion. What might be a surprise is how well the band incorporates LA’s multicultural heat into its short, sharp implosions. “Hyacinth Girls” slips a Third World-ish hip shimmy into its punk rock pogo, an island blast of sunshine into its distorted guitars, and “Bear Face” has a bit of Konono No. 1’s hallucinatory groove in its call-and-response structure.
You wouldn’t think that urgent DIY noise and laid-back tropical rhythms would mesh, but it’s a surprisingly happy blend. Think of this band as a punk squat incongruously perched on tropical seashore, pasty-white dudes catching some rays and pouring over Lonely Planet as they figure out which bus to take from here.
Standout Tracks: “Bear Face”, “Hyacinth Girls” “Lantern Heights” JENNIFER KELLY
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Rock and roll will never die…it just gets really sleepy
My straight-up review of the straight-up rock band Skybombers. They’re out of Melbourne, Australia, where they put sticks in the air and count “1, 2, 3, 4” without an iota of irony, god bless them.
Skybombers
Take Me To Town
(Albert Productions)
US release date: 13 May 2008
UK release date: 13 May 2008
Once more for old time's sake
Rock and roll will never die, we are told, again and again, as a steady stream of oldies flits by on radio shows (most of them, ironically enough, by dead or retired rock stars). The rebellion that is rock is forever in danger of slipping into a coma, canonized by Mojo and enshrined in any number of television ads. But the thing is, rock and roll never will die, because it will be reinvigorated repeatedly, given CPR by bratty young punks with today’s lock on melody and mayhem. The Skybombers, out of Melbourne, Australia, are just another in a long tradition that started with the Beatles, the Who, and the Stones, and has lately wound through Oasis, the Strokes, the Libertines, and the Arctic Monkeys.
All of which means that there is nothing much new about Take Me To Town, from its blustery power chords to its raggedy vulnerable vocals to its twitchy and angst-filled rain of strumming. For god’s sake, there is even a track called “Teenage Dreams”, a blistered barrage of guitar fuckery and pulsing bass that the boys of Skybombers may well be singing—and rather sick of—in their reunion tour a decade or two hence. And yet, however straight-up Skybombers’ approach to garage-into-stadium rock may be, it is undeniably fun. It always is. That’s why we keep coming back.
More here: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/60218/skybombers-take-me-to-town/
“Always Complaining”
A media player with some additional songs is here:
Skybombers
Take Me To Town
(Albert Productions)
US release date: 13 May 2008
UK release date: 13 May 2008
Once more for old time's sake
Rock and roll will never die, we are told, again and again, as a steady stream of oldies flits by on radio shows (most of them, ironically enough, by dead or retired rock stars). The rebellion that is rock is forever in danger of slipping into a coma, canonized by Mojo and enshrined in any number of television ads. But the thing is, rock and roll never will die, because it will be reinvigorated repeatedly, given CPR by bratty young punks with today’s lock on melody and mayhem. The Skybombers, out of Melbourne, Australia, are just another in a long tradition that started with the Beatles, the Who, and the Stones, and has lately wound through Oasis, the Strokes, the Libertines, and the Arctic Monkeys.
All of which means that there is nothing much new about Take Me To Town, from its blustery power chords to its raggedy vulnerable vocals to its twitchy and angst-filled rain of strumming. For god’s sake, there is even a track called “Teenage Dreams”, a blistered barrage of guitar fuckery and pulsing bass that the boys of Skybombers may well be singing—and rather sick of—in their reunion tour a decade or two hence. And yet, however straight-up Skybombers’ approach to garage-into-stadium rock may be, it is undeniably fun. It always is. That’s why we keep coming back.
More here: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/60218/skybombers-take-me-to-town/
“Always Complaining”
A media player with some additional songs is here:
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Repeating myself all over again
Maybe a week and a half ago, I put up some videos from three spazz punk bands without much in the way of analysis or verbiage. Today, just the opposite, words, words, words, and not a bit of TV.
(Though feel free to reach back into time for the accompanying images here: http://30secondsover.blogspot.com/2008/06/three-punknoise-bands-ive-been-thinking.html)
A record review from this week’s Philadelphia Weekly (www.philadelphiaweekly.com)
Abe Vigoda
Skeleton (Post Present Medium)
Rating: Excellent, like John Oates’ mustache.
Part of the noise-pop phenomenon centered around L.A.’s the Smell, Abe Vigoda have none of the world-weariness of their ’70s actor namesake, but rather jitters like a Montessori class on an Easter egg hunt. There’s a world-ish shimmer to this band’s splintered melodies, south-of-the-border rhythms breaking through eerie distortion. Vocals also drift in from sunny distances, leading a far away parade against a Day-Glo array of keyboards and drums. You feel every minute as if songs like “Bear Face” will open up, and yet they remain bright, inscrutable and full of wordless joy. (Jennifer Kelly)
And a coupla show previews:
No Age
Thurs., July 10, 8pm. $10. With High Places + Abe Vigoda. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 215.733.9623. www.r5productions.com
Even No Age’s records—whether last year’s singles or this year’s Nouns—are like grabbing onto the business end of a power wire. Live, this L.A. duo sputters and spazzes, guitarist Randy Randall locked in an epileptic fit of up and down strumming, drummer/singer Dean Spunt bouncing up and down on the seat, arms flying in frantic eighth-note banging. The energy is all punk and noise, but the songs themselves hide broken shards of poplike melody, glittering once or twice, then disappearing into a firestorm of aggression. (Jennifer Kelly)
Titus Andronicus
Mon., July 14, 8pm. $8-$10. With Wye Oak. Circle of Hope, 1125 S. Broad St. 215.468.2726. www.circleofhope.net
Titus Andronicus, the Shakespeare play, begins with a ritual murder, winds its way through rapes and dismemberments and ends with pretty much everyone dead. Titus Andronicus, the Jerseyite punk band, begins with pogo rhythms and mindlessly catchy choruses, winds its way through cheerful images of death and dismemberment and ends up with a bouncy chant of “Your life is over.” That’s “Titus Andronicus,” the band’s brilliantly oversimplified take on the bard’s least-known tragedy—Shakespeare not just for dummies, but for beer-swilling spazzes. Who says the kids aren’t learning the classics these days? (J.K.)
(Though feel free to reach back into time for the accompanying images here: http://30secondsover.blogspot.com/2008/06/three-punknoise-bands-ive-been-thinking.html)
A record review from this week’s Philadelphia Weekly (www.philadelphiaweekly.com)
Abe Vigoda
Skeleton (Post Present Medium)
Rating: Excellent, like John Oates’ mustache.
Part of the noise-pop phenomenon centered around L.A.’s the Smell, Abe Vigoda have none of the world-weariness of their ’70s actor namesake, but rather jitters like a Montessori class on an Easter egg hunt. There’s a world-ish shimmer to this band’s splintered melodies, south-of-the-border rhythms breaking through eerie distortion. Vocals also drift in from sunny distances, leading a far away parade against a Day-Glo array of keyboards and drums. You feel every minute as if songs like “Bear Face” will open up, and yet they remain bright, inscrutable and full of wordless joy. (Jennifer Kelly)
And a coupla show previews:
No Age
Thurs., July 10, 8pm. $10. With High Places + Abe Vigoda. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 215.733.9623. www.r5productions.com
Even No Age’s records—whether last year’s singles or this year’s Nouns—are like grabbing onto the business end of a power wire. Live, this L.A. duo sputters and spazzes, guitarist Randy Randall locked in an epileptic fit of up and down strumming, drummer/singer Dean Spunt bouncing up and down on the seat, arms flying in frantic eighth-note banging. The energy is all punk and noise, but the songs themselves hide broken shards of poplike melody, glittering once or twice, then disappearing into a firestorm of aggression. (Jennifer Kelly)
Titus Andronicus
Mon., July 14, 8pm. $8-$10. With Wye Oak. Circle of Hope, 1125 S. Broad St. 215.468.2726. www.circleofhope.net
Titus Andronicus, the Shakespeare play, begins with a ritual murder, winds its way through rapes and dismemberments and ends with pretty much everyone dead. Titus Andronicus, the Jerseyite punk band, begins with pogo rhythms and mindlessly catchy choruses, winds its way through cheerful images of death and dismemberment and ends up with a bouncy chant of “Your life is over.” That’s “Titus Andronicus,” the band’s brilliantly oversimplified take on the bard’s least-known tragedy—Shakespeare not just for dummies, but for beer-swilling spazzes. Who says the kids aren’t learning the classics these days? (J.K.)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Going out tonight
So I’m dragging the family to see Chicha Libre and Dengue Fever play Northampton tonight. You might recall (or you might not), that I interviewed Olivier Conan about his Peruvian-influenced Chicha Libre a little while ago for PopMatters (Link: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/52753/now-hear-this-chicha-libre-new-york/)
There’s a Chicha Libre radio performance from WYNC here, if you’d like to hear for yourself:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2007/11/14/segments/88804#
What do they look like? Like this:
I know far less about Dengue Fever except that a) they are from LA, b) the bass player is also in Radar Brothers and c) the singer is Cambodian.
So, how about a video, eh?
Or two?
There’s a Chicha Libre radio performance from WYNC here, if you’d like to hear for yourself:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2007/11/14/segments/88804#
What do they look like? Like this:
I know far less about Dengue Fever except that a) they are from LA, b) the bass player is also in Radar Brothers and c) the singer is Cambodian.
So, how about a video, eh?
Or two?
Monday, July 7, 2008
Monday again…how did that happen?
That three-day weekend flew by didn’t it?
It was a pretty good holiday, though, all in all. Sean and I went strawberry picking on Thursday afternoon, got 7 pounds of berries…the real kind, the kind you can smell from ten feet away, not the plastic things they sell in supermarkets. So we made a strawberry pie and strawberry smoothies and that was good. You can never have too many strawberries.
On the 4th, Sean astonished me by getting up at 7:30 a.m. to run the “4 on the 4th” roadrace down in Keene. I was pretty sure he would bag out, but he didn’t and we had a pretty good time. He took about nine minutes off his last year’s time, finishing at 31:28, not bad for a 13-year-old (though there are some freakishly fast 13-year-olds out there). The woman who won was 54! And ran the thing in under 21 minutes, 5:20 or so per mile, pretty amazing. I did a 28:31, which was fine, but not great.
So, then we did not so much until the fireworks, except I listened to the Jay Reatard singles about four times in a row, damn, what a fun record! (And how dark and twisted underneath). Next day I continued to punish my fading body with a 20 mile run, the first in the current marathon training schedule (I’m running DeMar in Keene on September 28th). And we had dinner with some friends that night, which was particularly great, but probably too dull to talk about. (Now I start worrying about boring you, right?)
Anyway, it’s all over, so let’s catch up on the music stuff. First, my not-entirely-enthusiastic review of the new Wire at Dusted today:
Wire
Object 47 (Pink Flag)
Even though this is Wire's 47th recording (counting EPs, singles, live albums and god knows what else), the band's reputation still mostly rests on its three groundbreaking albums in the late 1970s: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154. When people say that something "sounds like Wire," they mean it sounds like these three records – either brash and fast and loud like the first two, or tentatively melodic, experimental and synthy like the third. They forget, for the most part, that Wire itself didn't sound like Wire for much of the late ’80s and early ’90s, that in those dance-influenced, synthetic years, Wire actually sounded more like New Order. A series of fractious post-2000 reunion recordings – the three Read and Burn EPs and the summing full-length Send – may have allowed us to forget that Wire had its pop side, its new wave side, its technology-fascinated dance side. If nothing else, Object 47 serves as a reminder that no one should ever assume they know what the next Wire album will sound like, only that it will differ from the last.
More: here: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4400
Wire is giving away an mp3 of “One of Us”
http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/mp3/One_of_Us_from_Object_47_by_Wire.mp3
And also, a review of Will Johnson’s split Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel recording, which is low-key and excellent.
South San Gabriel/Centromatic
Dual Hawks (Misra)
A two-disc set contrasts two overlapping bands headed by Will Johnson, the four-piece, raucous Centro-Matic and the quieter, string-embellished South San Gabriel. Both CDs have stunning moments, the South San Gabriel one right up front with the luminous "Emma Jane," a whisker-stubbled, ruminative ballad. Despite lush fingerings of acoustic blues guitar and baroque turns of cello and viola, the song remains spare, its arrangements giving space for Johnson's rueful, sigh-damaged voice. "Of Evil/For Evil" feels denser and more threatening, as Johnson murmurs ominously above slow-marching piano notes and trilling, edgy strings. The Centro-Matic disc is looser and less premeditated but no less compelling, with key players talking and laughing in between fuzzy, distorted takes. Best cuts here include urgent opener "The Rat Patrol and DJs" and country-rollicking "Twenty-Four." Johnson slips telling lyrics into the slow songs and the rockers, injecting emotional resonance and intelligence into two very fine discs.
Standout Tracks: "Emma Jane," "Twenty-Four" JENNIFER KELLY
Here’s Centro-Matic’s “The Kite”
http://www.misrarecords.com/MP3s/Centromatic_i_the_kite.mp3
And South San Gabriel’s “Trust to Lose”
http://www.misrarecords.com/MP3s/Trust_To_Lose.mp3
It was a pretty good holiday, though, all in all. Sean and I went strawberry picking on Thursday afternoon, got 7 pounds of berries…the real kind, the kind you can smell from ten feet away, not the plastic things they sell in supermarkets. So we made a strawberry pie and strawberry smoothies and that was good. You can never have too many strawberries.
On the 4th, Sean astonished me by getting up at 7:30 a.m. to run the “4 on the 4th” roadrace down in Keene. I was pretty sure he would bag out, but he didn’t and we had a pretty good time. He took about nine minutes off his last year’s time, finishing at 31:28, not bad for a 13-year-old (though there are some freakishly fast 13-year-olds out there). The woman who won was 54! And ran the thing in under 21 minutes, 5:20 or so per mile, pretty amazing. I did a 28:31, which was fine, but not great.
So, then we did not so much until the fireworks, except I listened to the Jay Reatard singles about four times in a row, damn, what a fun record! (And how dark and twisted underneath). Next day I continued to punish my fading body with a 20 mile run, the first in the current marathon training schedule (I’m running DeMar in Keene on September 28th). And we had dinner with some friends that night, which was particularly great, but probably too dull to talk about. (Now I start worrying about boring you, right?)
Anyway, it’s all over, so let’s catch up on the music stuff. First, my not-entirely-enthusiastic review of the new Wire at Dusted today:
Wire
Object 47 (Pink Flag)
Even though this is Wire's 47th recording (counting EPs, singles, live albums and god knows what else), the band's reputation still mostly rests on its three groundbreaking albums in the late 1970s: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154. When people say that something "sounds like Wire," they mean it sounds like these three records – either brash and fast and loud like the first two, or tentatively melodic, experimental and synthy like the third. They forget, for the most part, that Wire itself didn't sound like Wire for much of the late ’80s and early ’90s, that in those dance-influenced, synthetic years, Wire actually sounded more like New Order. A series of fractious post-2000 reunion recordings – the three Read and Burn EPs and the summing full-length Send – may have allowed us to forget that Wire had its pop side, its new wave side, its technology-fascinated dance side. If nothing else, Object 47 serves as a reminder that no one should ever assume they know what the next Wire album will sound like, only that it will differ from the last.
More: here: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4400
Wire is giving away an mp3 of “One of Us”
http://www.pinkflag.com/assets/mp3/One_of_Us_from_Object_47_by_Wire.mp3
And also, a review of Will Johnson’s split Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel recording, which is low-key and excellent.
South San Gabriel/Centromatic
Dual Hawks (Misra)
A two-disc set contrasts two overlapping bands headed by Will Johnson, the four-piece, raucous Centro-Matic and the quieter, string-embellished South San Gabriel. Both CDs have stunning moments, the South San Gabriel one right up front with the luminous "Emma Jane," a whisker-stubbled, ruminative ballad. Despite lush fingerings of acoustic blues guitar and baroque turns of cello and viola, the song remains spare, its arrangements giving space for Johnson's rueful, sigh-damaged voice. "Of Evil/For Evil" feels denser and more threatening, as Johnson murmurs ominously above slow-marching piano notes and trilling, edgy strings. The Centro-Matic disc is looser and less premeditated but no less compelling, with key players talking and laughing in between fuzzy, distorted takes. Best cuts here include urgent opener "The Rat Patrol and DJs" and country-rollicking "Twenty-Four." Johnson slips telling lyrics into the slow songs and the rockers, injecting emotional resonance and intelligence into two very fine discs.
Standout Tracks: "Emma Jane," "Twenty-Four" JENNIFER KELLY
Here’s Centro-Matic’s “The Kite”
http://www.misrarecords.com/MP3s/Centromatic_i_the_kite.mp3
And South San Gabriel’s “Trust to Lose”
http://www.misrarecords.com/MP3s/Trust_To_Lose.mp3
Thursday, July 3, 2008
King Khan and the Shrines kick out the jams
Super fun garage-rock-soul from Montreal-via-German King Khan, a frequent fellow-instigator of Mark Sultan. I reviewed it for Blurt yesterday morning and it went up, still smoking, in the afternoon...here's a bit of my purple prose "a 16-cut singles compilation ...splic[es] Sonics-style howls to Stax-y surges, tambourine-man beats to searing MC5 guitar riffs."
The rest can be found here: http://www.blurt-online.com/reviews/view/172/
And just for fun, here's King Khan, the Shrines and the Sun Ra Arkestra...all together.
King Khan and the Shrines "Burnin' Inside"
The rest can be found here: http://www.blurt-online.com/reviews/view/172/
And just for fun, here's King Khan, the Shrines and the Sun Ra Arkestra...all together.
King Khan and the Shrines "Burnin' Inside"
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Why did I ask for this?
Is it just me or is “Grammy-winning” a synonym for “chunk-blowing”? I’ve spent the last few days listening to this NPR sanctioned, adult-alternative fodder. Now I’d like my week back
Los Lonely BoysForgiven
(Sony)
US release date: 1 July 2008
UK release date: Available as import
by Jennifer Kelly
Slick corporate rock, Texas style
For Los Lonely Boys’ first album, the Garza brothers called on outlaw country legend Willie Nelson for extra guitar (and extra credibility). For this one, the third in the Los Lonely Boys canon, they’re hauling in John Mayer producer (and ex-Blues Brother) Steve Jordan. Dr. John guests on a couple of tracks, lending the warmth of Hammond B3 to “You Can’t See the Light”, the chill of Wurlitzer to “The Way I Feel”, but sunk so far down in the mix that you can hardly hear him. Even by Grammy-award-winning standards, this is ultra-safe, ultra-commercial pap, blues rock with every bit of scratch and grit vacuumed out.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/60407/los-lonely-boys-forgiven/
Maybe you will like it better than I do?
Los Lonely BoysForgiven
(Sony)
US release date: 1 July 2008
UK release date: Available as import
by Jennifer Kelly
Slick corporate rock, Texas style
For Los Lonely Boys’ first album, the Garza brothers called on outlaw country legend Willie Nelson for extra guitar (and extra credibility). For this one, the third in the Los Lonely Boys canon, they’re hauling in John Mayer producer (and ex-Blues Brother) Steve Jordan. Dr. John guests on a couple of tracks, lending the warmth of Hammond B3 to “You Can’t See the Light”, the chill of Wurlitzer to “The Way I Feel”, but sunk so far down in the mix that you can hardly hear him. Even by Grammy-award-winning standards, this is ultra-safe, ultra-commercial pap, blues rock with every bit of scratch and grit vacuumed out.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/60407/los-lonely-boys-forgiven/
Maybe you will like it better than I do?
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