The Pains of Being Pure At Heart will be playing tonight at the Paradise Rock Club and unfortunately I will not be in attendance, but I highly recommend this show to all because they are one of my favorite bands right now. I might see Louis C.K. at my school (UMass Lowell); it’s not a substitute, but it will do.
Artist: The Maine Coons
Full Title: Maine Coons
Year: 2010
Label: Spent Planet
Tracks:
1) My Kinda Luv- 9
2) I Am a Motherfucker- 9/10
3) Hey Dickhead- 9
4) Ghetto Queen- 9
5) Pull the Plug On Grandma- 9
6) Hologram (Urinals)- 7
7) Uniform Choice- 8
8) Tired and Unispired- 8/9
9) Fast and Easy Livin’- 7/8
10) Can’t Follow Thru- 7/8
Comments: This is good jerkin off music. Yeah, I said it. I figured the nature of this band fit such a description. This is truly slimy Punk Slime right here, guerrila pop art at its finest. The first five tracks serve as instantaneous catchy classics. With very little effort they seap into yer psyche and crawl around for a while. Just fast, punk ditties with that gorgeous garage rockin’/ early Black Lips/King Khan & BBQ underbelly. This album has an incredible beginning, like nothing else I have seen in a while. Rarely, does an artist hit me with a ton of bricks like these guys- from “My Kinda Luv” to “Pull the Plug On Grandma,” I’m totally hooked. I love the direct vulgarity of tracks like “I Am a Motherfucker” and “Hey Dickhead,” where fans of Garage Punk, so to speak, will find themselves chanting the lyrics everytime it blasts thru their speakers. Alas, after “Pull the Plug” I am somewhat severed from the initial appeal.”Hologram” is okay, but feels more like a filler track. “Uniform Choice” and “Tired and Uninspired” are really good songs and definitely save the second half of the album from spoiling the whole LP. The last two tracks are not terrible, but simply do not cut it, at least for my money. Overall, this is a fun, invigorating, and at times fantastic record that needs to gain more recognition. Musically, I am always fascinated by the sparse production, which is relatively easy on the ears and that is not a bad thing; the simplicity of just vocals, keyboards, guitars, percussion. Two guys run this show- one on vocals/keyboards while the other bro plinks his gee tar, commands the drums a la Mark Sultan (with his feet) and shares vocals duties with his comrade. Lastly, I missed some of my favorite MC songs in “How Long Is It Going to Take For You to Find God” and “Inside You,” both of which do not appear here and I think should have replaced some of the weaker numbers. Ohh well, if you like immediate pop hooks in the vain of Black Lips, Jay Reatard, King Khan BBQ, Box Elders, Harlem, and others usually featured on this site, then I am positive you will enjoy this motherfucker. Without a doubt, the Maine Coons are amongst my new favorite bands and I hope to see them live again soon. Peace out, I gotta go kill some dickheads and then piss on their graves.
Grade: A-
That video just got me really pumped haha, so here’s an old interview for all of you Hunx fanatics out there, such as myself.
“I want you to understand that I respect the rights of the poorest and weakest of colored people, oppressed [to deny others their rights or liberty] by the slave system, just as much as I do those of the most wealthy and powerful. That is the idea that has moved me, and that alone.”
John Brown at his Virginia Court Hearing, 1858
And you Klyammy cats thought Jay Reatard was wild at Harpers Ferry, you should have seen John Brown in 1859!
Full Title: Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams
Director: Tommy Chong
Year: 1981
Comments: WARNING: YOU MUST BE AT LEAST EIGHT BEERS DEEP, EXTREMELY HIGH AS A KITE AND IN LOVE WITH EVERYTHING IN ORDER TO VIEW THIS FILM. Otherwise you will probably detest it out of sheer boredom. I can’t imagine watching this sober. Yeesh. Naturally, after the original Cheech and Chong flick Up In Smoke (1978) the series started to plummet. But, all is well if you are twizsted, at least for me. I loved how fucked up and overtly aimless this stoner essential could be. With naked ladies, crazy coke snorting, and hilarious cameos from the likes of Timothy Leary and Paul Reubens (Pee Wee!) I can safely say this was not a waste of my time, in fact it felt like I had been watching it for days.
Grade: N/A- this would be an F for obvious reasons, but given the fact that I (and hopefully everyone) do not take this at all seriously, a grade is unecessary. KLYAM Recommended? Yeah sure, if you’re really baked!
Y’all know I love this scene.
Cool fan vid! I fucking love this song, this album, and Deerhunter as a whole. A concert review of last night’s concert will be arriving shortly.
Act I: Red Mass – Red Mass was a weird/bizarre act to watch. They definitely had the “rocking” quality to them. One of the first things that I noticed was a similarity to the K-Holes. They put us in a trance of sorts with their dark/psychedelic aesthetic. Choyce, the lead singer and guitarist, had a funny hodgepodge of clothing items on — a bandanna, a large medallion necklace, and a dress shirt with tie. He was into it and so were we.
Act II: Gentlemen Jesse and His Men – Oh, Gentleman, where shall I begin? (All I needed that night) was to hear this band. A very fine band from Atlanta, Georgia. They rocked just as hard as they did when they opened a month earlier at TT The Bears. They had their keyboardist present and his little melodies added a little bit to the sound. Jesse is just the man. Great front-man. He is a Jared Swilley-like character. They’re from the same hood, yo. They sound like a classic rock act that you take your girlfriend to see and then fuck when you get back home. You highland crawler, you. I felt like eating some candy during “Butterfingers.” Fuck, what a tune. It’s as invigorating as just about all of their songs. The backing vocals were mixed a little low, but no biggie we had Jesse.
Set List:
If I Can See you (written as “If I Can C U”)
Highland Crawler
slips right into
Black Hole
What Did I Do
Shivers
Rest of My Days
Only Lonely
Butterfingers
Careful
All I Need Tonight (Is You)
I Don’t Wanna Know
Act III: King Khan & the Shrines – Sensational, you bet. This what we’ve come to expect from King Khan and that right there is terrific. Started off with “Outta Harms Way” King, following the usual instrumental, screamed his lungs out and got everyone going. As always with Shrines shows the audience was more akin to a religious cult than a rock show- everyone going wild, being mesmerized by King Khan and His Mysterious (yay a new adjective to describe these boys and girl!). Which by the way, this time around Bamboorella was absent, however her replacement sufficed. She could move and groove and she was quite attractive, but I need my bamboorella fix haha. Back to the music, the Shrines unleashed their classic, Supreme Genius material, which is exactly what I adored and anticipated. Hits such as “I Wanna Be a Girl,” “Land of the Freak,” “No Regrets,” “Took My Lady Dinner,” and more. Alright, well before I start to sound like a fucking infomercial I am going to wrap things up here. There were a few new numbers performed including “Bite My Tongue,” which I definitely can see becoming a Klassic Khan ditty in time to come. This was a great and highly entertaining show, one of the best I have ever witnessed. If you need a quick pick me up, ok a relatively quick pick me up, King Khan and The Shrines are your saviors- leave you smiling for a month. Lastly, as much as I loved this show, it was not on par with my first Shrines experience for three reasons. 1) Khan was a bit restrained this evening and though he was still his energetic, charismatic self, he was much calmer. 2) I attribute my slight lack of devotion i.e. me not feeling the “this was the best show ever!!!” kinda deal to no longer being a Supreme Genius virgin, since this was my second time seeing them. 3) It was not as loud as last time. Don’t get me wrong, it sounded nice, but the PA definitely needed some raisin’ and that would have made it all the more effective. With those minor qualms aside, fantastic show as I expected. Can’t wait to see them again and again and again.
Grade: A
Hopes: The H&E this time around is basically the same as the past two times; after seeing them twice I’ve come to expect what their shtick is. I don’t expect any surprises, but I look forward to an amazing show and hopefully one of the best I’ve ever seen. I hope they play, as I’ve stated in previous H&Es, my favorite Deerhunter song: Twilight at Carbon Lake. I would also like to hear various favorites such as, but not limited to: “Basement Scene,” “Sailing,” “Agoraphobia,” and the entire Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP.
Expectations: I expect them to put on a “stellar production” as David Lee Roth would say. I plan on hearing the classics such as “Never Stops” and “Nothing Ever Happened” amongst others.
Bill was hands down the greatest- and the British truly recognized this more than anyone else, especially Americans of all people.
Hopes: In my own little weird way I hope Khan does something like the above portrait or something equally (or more) outrageous. But, more importantly I wish to see an even greater performance, spectacle, if you will than I saw previously (which was one of my all time favorite concerts). I hope Gentlemen rock out even harder than the last two times I have seen them, playing all my favorites like “All I Need Tonight (Is You),” “Butterfingers,” “I Get So Excited,” and others. Lastly, I envision Red Mass to join my plethora of kick ass artists I have seen live and possibly become favorite of mine.
Expectations: This show is just as good, if not slightly better, than the last show, but lacks some of the intimacy of the Paradise setting. They put on a fun and/or entertaining show, but aren’t as “crazy” as they have been, which is more than ok as that’s not why I am going to see them (music clearly comes first). Gentlemen are just as good as last time, but don’t play all of my faves. And finally I expect Red Mass to be good, but probably not on the road to favoritism (a new word I coined).
In any case, I can’t wait!
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 