- teecomb in Pitchfork Leaks Some of the 2008 Lineup Animal Collective rocks so hard. It’s has great melodies and most people who hate on it have only heard one era of them that didn’t...
- Mark in SonicBids & CMJ 2007: Anatomy of a Scam? …Meh. Sonicbids is a total scam. Our band was stupid enough to fall into it to. It didn’t take us long to figure out that they keep...
- Matt K in Just a small complaint… Agreed whole-heartedly. Nice observation.
Rock N’ Roll’s logical extremes have reached institution status. Debut albums by Napalm Death, Discharge and GISM- the earliest purveyors of grindcore, long considered to be the most brutally, blurrily abrasive conflagration of punk, metal and hardcore- have all reached their twenty year mark. Surrounding that, there’s been every brand of industrial, experimental and noise music, all on the fringes- never fully partaking in, but never completely separate from- pop and rock music and culture. Just hang on to that thought for a moment.Â
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I’d recently acquired a copy of The Enchanters Vs. Sprawlburg Springs, Brian Costello’s novel concerning the brief rise and fall of exurban Florida punk contenders. I got it by drunkenly answering a couple of trivia questions about Upton Sinclair (I knew he ran for office on the Socialist ticket and that one of his heroes was Jesus.)Â
 I’d also recently read Grab On To Me Tightly As If I Knew the Way, Bryan Charles’ novel about a disaffected adolescent Midwestern indie rocker and his portensious self conflicts. It’s probably at your local public library, if you care. You should probably visit your library sometime anyway.Â
 Finally, I didn’t see the Coughs at the Empty Bottle during the Wire’s Adventures in Modern Music festival, nor have I heard their new album, though it can be downloaded. However, I’d seen them before, and had read a review of the show in the Reader, and in essence this is more of a review of that review than it is of the Coughs. Also, it fits, albeit loosely, into what I’m getting to.Â
 Again, I’ll tie this altogether. Just hang on, okay? Read more »
When I took “History of Pop Music” as an undergrad (I speak in the past tense because I graduate in December. Send me money!), my professor started the class on the first day by saying, “If anyone mentions green day, you fail the course.” The class laughed and nodded, and so did I. We were intelligent, educated scholars-in-training, and we turn our noses up at such detritus.
Don’t we?
Snobbery like this, coupled with the band’s recent collaboration with U2 (any musician/band who does that receives swift and scathing disgust from me), sort of sums up how I feel about green day these days. But as I laughed along with the class, I silently made the amendment: “But dookie fucking rocked!” Because it did! Fuck scholarly music appreciation, fuck all chords aside from The Three, fuck tha police…ok that last one doesn’t fit. Sometimes I get carried away with obscenity. Whatever. My point is, that album soundtracked junior high/early high school for me, I’m not ashamed to admit it. And even if you hated green day with unbridled passion, I bet they soundtracked a part of your life at some point in the 90’s, too (mostly because they were inescapable during that decade).
But wait! Don’t freak out. International Superhits! (the title does unfortunately include the infamous/meaningless ‘!’, which superstarcastic does not support, but I’m trying to look past the forced enthusiasm.) is not a new album with new songs. It’s a collection of old songs, and Bono is nowhere in sight (the planets align in our favor. fyi: I am working on having Bono destroyed a’la my chemical romance).
So I put on the album, and I’m immediately thrust into 1994, seventeen and strung out on confusion (except I was 13. But for the next 8 or so years, I was perpetually 17 and strung out on confusion). Blatant drug references (methamphetamine, anyone?)! Power chords! Masturbation! Complaining! Mostly about masturbating! Oh, high school. Read more »
So, yeah, a couple weeks ago i was found here lamenting the lack of coverage (or the nonexistence?) of quality noise-oriented rock tunage in the blogging universe these days, as everyone seems to be too interested in screamo or sensitive singer-songwriter twee-pop to care. So, i thought i’d give you guys a little taste of what the hell i’m talking about. In that post i listed a few current-day still-active noise-rock bands worth your time, attention, money, and panties. This time, we’re gonna head into the private Wayback machine what is my head and revisit some of my favorite noisy bands from the formative years of my now-impeccable music taste–i.e. the 1990s. (There was plenty of amazing noisy crap happening in the 70s and 80s that inspired this stuff, and hey, maybe i’ll go back that far next time. But back in the 80s i had my head stuck up my ass and in a sea of AquaNet and leather banging my head to Poison and Warrant, so you’ll excuse me for sparing you those formative years, capeesh?) If you’ve never purposely stuffed a single discordant note into your ears, you could do worse than starting with these bands, which i gobbled up with voracious abandon back in my early 20s.
So, I was trolling around the Trashcan Sinatras site when I popped into the downloads section and read something that I still haven’t recovered from. You know that Qwest commercial where they play “Got To Get You Into My Life” (a song about marijuana, as the rumors go)? Well, apparently the Paul McCartney impersonator is none other than Frank Reader, lead singer for my beloved Trashies.
I’m currently dealing with a range of emotions - one the one hand, Qwest is raping the Beatles, on the other hand, Frank Reader’s getting paid (can’t argue with it - those guys deserve a little monatary recognition), on the third hand, he’s not getting paid to sing Trashcan Sinatras tunes, but on the last hand, at least Qwest isn’t raping the Trashcan Sinatras.
While I ponder this you should go download the live version of “The Genius I Was” recorded live at LIPGLOSS on Oct. 15, 2004.
NME.COM is reporting that The Pixies are planning to re-enter the studio and record their first album since 1991’s “Trompe Le Monde”. This will also mark the end of The Pixies legacy which has been ailing since the re-united band began playing shows again in 2004. Can’t wait for that “Monsters of the 90s” show with Jane’s Addiction, Summer 2010.
Many, many, many bands comfort themselves with ‘we are too good for our own good’ to account for their lack of success. Too obtuse for the mainstream, yet too mainstream for purists, it’s a purgatory for bands unable to transcend the limits they impose on themselves.
But the exceptional Soulvasq from Gary, IN, doesn’t have to worry being stunted by its superlative abilities. The band’s almost-too-good-for-their-own-good 7-song disc Out Past Ours, self-produced on their own label hOle in the plOt prOduCtiOns, has plenty for everyone to feast on. Anyone who can’t be bothered to try doesn’t deserve such a fine local treat.
The brainchild of roommates Mark Vasquez (bass, guitars, vocals) and Dave Solar (vocals) makes music for musicians, served with heaping scoops of humor, asperity, and infectious funk. Like a smart and articulate drunk, Soulvasq isn’t out to impress anyone with their complexities – they just don’t know any better.
The ontology of the band is nearly impossible to understand. Composers Solar and Vasquez share a voluminous resume of former bands, as well as current side projects (like the Gwen Mitchell Experiment), and are the only players to appear on all seven tracks. Present on most of the disc are the other two official band members, drummer Phil Goodrich and guitarist Chris Gardner, who giddily fill in the holes that Solar and Vasquez leave open. It’s hard to say where their contribution stops and the legion of guest musicians begins, but these chefs all make a fine soup.
The band somehow avoids using hooks without slipping into ponderous meandering. Track 2 ‘Call It Something Else…’ is ostensibly simple, but the song’s structure never repeats (verse, bridge, chorus? Forget it!), and the R&B background vocals and sweet acoustic guitar keeps it likeable. Interesting song if you want to pay attention, but still enjoyable if all you want is a dainty something-or-other. Read more »
