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Classic Album Review: Lost Sounds

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Artist: Lost Sounds
Full Title: Lost Sounds
Year: 2004
Label In the Red
Tracks:

1) There’s Nothing- 9
2) Destructo Comet- 9
3) I Get Nervous- 9
4) Clones Don’t Love- 9
5) I Sit I Watch I Wait- 8
6) Ophelia- 8
7) Your Looking Glass- 8
8) Let’s Get Sick- 8/9
9) And You Dance?- 8
10) We’re Just Living- 8
11) Mechanical Feelings- 9
12) Bombs Over M.O.M.- 9

Grade: A
Comments: I’m always glad to hear “new”- meaning music I’ve never heard before- material from my favorite artists. Being a massive Jay Retard fan, I had to check out his earlier, Synth Punk band, The Lost Sounds. This was their last record and it is simply a delight. Much of it sounds nothing like Jay’s previous and later works. This is obviously due in part to the excessive (in a good way!) use of keyboards and vocalist/guitarist/synthist lol, Alicja Trout. “There’s Nothing” is a solid opener and sets the mood for the rest of the album. In fact, the songs do not really vary in sound/presentation all that much, but I do not see that as a flaw, it works very well here. The songs nicely flow into one another, creating an entire experience, rather than simply some songs thrown together, which often happens with other records. With that being said, the best tracks are at the beginning and the end, as indicated above. Most of this record, as I mentioned before, to me, does not resemble other Reatarded music, but the track “Mechanical Feelings” really does, especially the lines “don’t count me out, don’t count me out, I’ll scream and shout, don’t count me out.” The “ohh no no no, they won’t get me, they won’t get me” in Jay’s “Waiting for Something,” but faster and more intense. Anyone? Well, for me they sound alike. The LP concludes with the triumphant, “Bombs Over M.O.M.” one cannot help but chant along to the impassioned chorous, “All the Walls are Falling, Falling DOWN!” Trout then continues to sing, “FALLING FALLING FALLING….” for what seems like an eternity. Excellent closer, one of the best I have ever heard. Most closers are weak, in my opinion, parce que, they make overly ambitious attempts to floor the listener with an EPIC! ending. BOM is just right. This record honestly sounds like it could be a follow-up to 2009’s Watch Me Fall , if Jay added synth and a feamle vocalist. In other words, it’s nothing like his earlier Reatards work and in some ways sounds futuristic, if you will. All in All, I recommend this to Jay fans and anyone else. It’s KLYAM RECOMMENDED, but I’m not grabbing that little logo lol.

Chris

Art, business, Culture Jamming, Entertainment, interviews, Music, Video

Ian’s Integrity

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I’ve always agreed with many of his views and maybe not musically, but he has inspired me lol in various ways. I think it’s reasonable to say a band is no longer “Punk” if they sign to a major label, but for me that doesn’t mean they instantly become nothing. That Rage record is quality whether there’s a little Epic sign or a little Dischord sign on it.

Chris

Art, Band Spotlight, Entertainment, Lists, Music, pictures, Video

Band Spotlight: Box Elders

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Band: Box Elders
Year Formed: 2005
Label(s): Goner, Shattered, Hozac, Grotto
Members: Clayton McIntyre, Jeremiah McIntyre, Dave Goldberg
Hometown: Omaha, NE
Genre: Cave Pop (according to Facebook page), Garage Pop, Garage Rock, Rock and Roll, etc.
Influences: Redd Kross, Jeff Barry, The Clean, Science Fiction (all according to FB page)
Influenced: Time will tell
Top Songs: Jackie Wood, Alice and Friends, Atlantis, Hole In My Head, Ronald Dean, Isabella, Death of Me
Top Album: Alice and Friends (2009, Goner)
Note: If you like BE, you will probably also dig Nobunny, Black Lips, Thee Oh Sees, The Okmoniks, Hunx and The Punx, Jay Reatard, King Khan & BBQ Show, Mark Sultan, Bobby Ubangi, Gaye Blades, and others of similar styles/genres
Note II: Box Elders are opening for the Black Lips at the Middle East on March 25!
Comments: These guys create some of the catchiest, funnest, Rock and Roll around! Their live show is incredibly entertaining, especially due to drummer/keyboardist (yep, he plays both simultaneously!), Dave Goldberg’s exqusite dance moves/antics.

I’d rather post live versions, but they just don’t do justice to the studio versions. The videos themselves, that is, not the actual performances.

P.S. Glen and other Klyamers, why haven’t we done more BS on here like WE?!

Chris

Art, CD Review, Entertainment, Lists, Music, pictures, reviews, Video

Classic Album Review: III

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Artist: Sebadoh
Full Title: III
Year: 1991
Label: Homestead
Grade: A-
Tracks:
1) The Freed Pig- 9
2) Sickles and Hammers (Minutemen)- 7
3) Total Peace- 8/9
4) Violet Execution- 9
5) Scars, Four Eyes- 9
6) Truly Great Thing- 10, Best Sebadoh Track, Hands Down!
7) Kath- 8
8) Perverted World- 8/9
9) Wonderful, Wonderful- 8
10) Limb By Limb- 8
11) Smoke A Bowl- 7/8
12) Black-Haired Gurl- 9
13) Hoppin Up and Down- 8
14) Supernatural Force- 8
15) Rockstar- 9
16) Downmind- 7
17) Renaissance Man- 8
18) God Told Me- 8
19) Holy Picture- 8
20) Hassle- 8
21) No Different- 8
22) Spoiled- 10
23) As the World Dies, the Eyes of God Grow Bigger- 9

Comments: This album is the definition of Lo-Fi! This is just about as low as it gets. We hear very raw recordings of what some slick shit would masacre into a clean, traditional pop song. Not Sebadoh! This enormously influential group/album unleash a lengthy LP of noisy, loud, quiet, and everything in between sounding numbers. Singer/Guitarist, Lou Barlow (formerly, at the time, now presently, of Dinosaur Jr) and crew utilized a Portastudio cassette tape recorder to achieve this distinct, lo-fi sound and it absolutely gives the album a certain feel/vibe. I’ll admit, this is the kind of record, you don’t listen to track by track over an over again, but there is much to be appreciated here. With that being said, there are many notable tracks. From the get go, “The Freed Pig,” is rather catchy and serves as a memorable opener. “Violet Execution,” “Scars, Four Eye,” and others continue in this fashion. Then, you have your bizzarre, quiet, incredibly lo-fi tunes in “Total Peace,” “Kath,” “Smoke A Bowl,” and several others. Lastly, there’s the “low pop” songs, as I have dubbed them lol. Two strongly stand out and thefore I have granted them the highest of scores, with a 10. First, we have “Truly Great Thing.” One of the most passionate, yet simple songs I have ever heard. First thing that came to my noggin, THIS IS A FUCKING ELLIOT SMITH SONG! Seriously, this sounds just like ES. Being a fan of him, this works very well. You could say, it is a truly great thing ;) Secondly, we have the classic, “Spoiled,” as seen/heard in Larry Clark’s disturbing film, Kids. If I was asked to point to the best example of Sebadoh’s lo-fi style, I would have to place the Burger King hat on “Spoiled”‘s little dome. The final track, “As the World Dies, the Eyes of God Grow Bigger,” showcases Barlow’s wide vocal range: from line to line he SCREAMS and then softly sings, back and forth. It’s also a very humorous ditty, my favorite line is, “EVEN MY GRANDMOTHER LOVES TO GET HIGH!” He shouts this with all his might. Overall, some songs are better than others, but it is worthy of at least one listen and has become a respectable addition to my record collection.

Chris

Art, Books, Culture Jamming, Drugs, Entertainment, history, humor, pictures, Politics, Quotes, reviews

Subversive Book Club Review: We Are Everywhere

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Author: Jerry Rubin
Full Title: We Are Everywhere
Year: 1971
Grade: A-
Why Subversive?/Comments:
The Yippie Master takes us on another visceral journey into the everyday life of a 1960s, Amerikan Revolutionary. Written, while serving a setence in Cook County Jail, WAE reveals the highs and lows of said lifestyle: Riots, conspiracy trials, police brutality, being spied/wiretapped, stoned, LSD, Molotov Cocktails. In fact, the book is dedicated to the Weather Undeground and Rubin discusses them quite a bit, amongst other Revolutionary heroes and heroines, including the Black Panthers, Dave Dellinger, the Women’s Liberation Movement, John Sinclair, Timothy Leary and more. Though this work of incendiary material is quite subversive and colorful (figuratively and literally; filled with pictures and most pages are green, purple, etc) it lacks the zaniness and “shit in the middle of a bank” attitude of it’s predescessor, Do iT!, to an extent. Sure, compared to most books, it’s far more out there, but placed side by side with other Yippie works, it’s far more serious and not as humorous or wacky. I speculate this is for two reasons. For one, Rubin, by his own words, matured… a little bit. He abandoned his machoism and homophobia. In Do iT!, he made cracks about gays and ignored women’s role in the movement/revolution. In WAE, this is not the case, hence there are no photos of naked Revolutionary hunnies, he even condemns the phrase, “getting a piece of ass.” Secondly, the times got worse, with more governmental repression, that called for more militance. People were going to jail for longer sentences (Bobby Seale, John Sinclair, etc) good folks were being assasinated (Fred Hampton), and many were forced underground or into exile (Timothy Leary, Eldridge Cleaver, The Weathermen, etc). The FBI was cracking down on dissidents, like no other time before, they even had many spies, whom posed as activists for years, thus causing distrust amongst eveyone. The government attempted to use psychological warfare to destroy the movement from within. They failed, but it still left many devastated and often fucked up their lives. Therefore, Rubin’s book is not as happy as one would expect. Though, don’t misconstrue me, it’s still quite amusing and inspirational, if incredily outdated (it’s actually outta print!) At one point, Jerry and folk singer, Phil Ochs visit Charlie Manson in prison and “rap”- Revolutionary chat- with him for hours. Go figure. All in all, this serves as a fantastic statement against corrupt and boring Amerika and instead for the creation of a better, more humane society.

Chris

Art, CD Review, Entertainment, humor, Lists, Music, pictures, Quotes, reviews, Video

Classic Album Review: At Action Park

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Artist: Shellac (of North America!)
Full Title: At Action Park
Year: 1994
Label: Touch and Go
Grade: A
Tracks:

1) My Black Ass– 10, Open up a can of whip (black) ass!2) Pull the Cup- 7
3) The Admiral- 8/9
4) Crow– 9
5) Song of the Minerals– 9
6) A Minute– 9
7) The Idea of North- 8
8) Dog and Pony Show– 9
9) Boche’s Dick– 9
10) Il Porno Star– 9

Comments: Steve Albini is Killing Me Slowly with His Songs! At Action Park delivers a full blast of audio assault and yet it’s so soothing to my ears. Albini and crew whip you with their guitars, so brutal you are wetting yourself in Kim Gordan’s panties. But, it aint rape man ahaha, it’s a fucking fix! Most artists I adore are very pop like in nature. With Albini, it’s a whole other kitten to tackle. The Albini “sound” is heavily guitar driven, mean fucking guitars complemented by pounding drums (“Crow” is a great example of this). The record opens with the beloved, fan favorite, “My Black Ass,” an immensely catchy number and one of the best guitar riffs in all of Rock music. There’s a spectacular groove that just rolls through your headphones and slides down your skin; it feels better than sex… ok, I have no authority to say that :( but, it will one day feel better than sex :). This groove thang is commonplace throughout AAP, but is best exemplified in the closing track, “Il Porno Star,” which highlights one of Albini’s greatest talents: Dark, strangely humorous, and often malevolent lyrics. Albini shouts, “Porno Star Arrives… No English… No Money.” Go Figure. Overall, I highly recommend this classic to all Albini fanatics and newbies as well. If you don’t like it, you can kiss MY (BLACK) ASS!

Chris