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CD Review: First Blood [2010]

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Band: Nobunny
Label: Goner Records
Release: 9/2010

1. “Ain’t It A Shame” – A
2. “(Do The) Fuck Yourself” – A
3. “Blow Dumb” – A-
4. “Gone For Good” – A+
5. “Pretty Please Me” – B+
6. “Breathe” – A-
7. “Live It Up” – A+
8. “Motorhead With Me” – A+
9. “Never Been Kissed” – A
10. “Pretty Little Trouble” – A+
11. “I Was On (The Bozo Show)” – A

Comments: Nobunny is a master of bubble gum pop. We learned this on Love Visions, his debut album replete with goodies like “I Am A Girlfriend” and “Chuck Berry Holiday,” among every other song on there. This record is the same way, but it’s quite a progression for Nobunny. Gone is the drum machine and extreme lo-fi production. This isn’t clean by any stretch of the imagination, but you can tell that it’s been worked on more and has more depth than Love Visions. “Ain’t It A Shame” starts out like a cut to a commercial break, but becomes a passionate “ha, doesn’t it suck what I’ve done to you?”  “(Do The) Fuck Yourself,” which is about as easy to understand as a fourth grade short story novel, should win something for being so triumphant and explicitly lucid. “Feels so good. Feels so nice. I do it every morning and night. Bite my lip, close my eyes, take me away to Paradise.” A little cowbell, a lot of power-pop, and a lot of having fun. That’s ‘blowing dumb,” the new way of saying having fun. I think. “Gone For Good” is the album’s first venture into the great musical style that is garage/punk. The chick wasn’t having it. Nobunny loves her (like he does everyone), but that just wasn’t enough! “Pretty Please Me” is an old sounding country number about the most casual of encounters. No love required! Just a little knack for kissing. “Breathe” is full of cheese and nonsensical lyrics. It’s funny and stuff, probably the least catchiest tune on here, but still always worth a listen. “Live It Up” is an excellent ode to turning things around and just start branching. Just do as many things as possible and not be afraid. Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? As people have said time and time again, “Motorhead With Me” will get stuck in your head. If it doesn’t, there’s a problem. It’s probably my second or third favorite Nobunny song ever ever! The toy piano complements the trashy guitars so damn good on “Never Been Kissed.” “Bozo” is the longest Nobunny song ever. It’s the weirdest for sure…especially when the fame circus theme “Entrance of the Gladiators” riff kicks in. After ten songs explaining the ups and downs of having (or lacking) femmes in life, we have “Bozo.” Nobunny is down for anything, y’all.

Grade: A (94)

CD Review, Entertainment, Music, No Age

CD Review: Everything In Between [2010]

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Band: No Age
Release: 9/2010
Label: Sub Pop

1. “Life Prowler” – A-
2. “Glitter” – A
3. “Fever Dreaming” – A
4. “Depletion” – A+
5. “Common Heat” – A-
6. “Skinned” – A-
7. “Katerpillar” – B-
8. “Valley Hump Crash” – A
9. “Sorts” – B
10. “Dusted” – B+
11. “Positive Amputation” – B
12. “Shed and Transcend” – A
13. “Chem Trails” – A+

Comments: No Age is back in No Age form. Once again! What that means is the same as it has ever meant for Dean and Randy: 1)  catchy noise-punk and 2) atmospheric experimentalism. The dudes could have definitely abandoned the filler atmosphere stuff like they did, to an extent, on Nouns. The instrumental sample heavy tracks on that album fit well. Not really so much the case here, but that’s fine! “Life Prowler” is a harmony of the sampler, the drum kit, and the guitar. Dean’s drums hammer away…Randy’s guitar enters a short while later. Dean sings. The samples come on. Noise. This is pretty cool introductory fare; a little taste of what the band is all about. It’s not a life changing track or even close to a great one, but it serves its purpose well. “Glitter” is the first song off this album that we all got to listen to. I’ve heard better, but it captures the “sound” so to speak of the band’s 2009 Losing Feeling EP. I really like how it comes together (via noise assault) toward the end. Y’all want punk No Age? Good. “Fever Dreaming” is moshing material a la “Brain Burner.” It shreds so great, though it doesn’t seem to be mixed as soundly as it could be.  “Depletion” is another heavy yet catchy number. “Common Heat” is slower, but still a really good track. The shaker really stands out! “Skinned” changes up so often it’s almost hard to keep up with, but that’s nearly the beauty of it. “Katerpillar” is a decent little sound collage. “Valley Hump Crash” is lyrically cheesy, but the Minutemen-esque guitars compliment the surfer rock sampling very nicely. “Sorts” is really good. “Dusted” is just as good as “Katerpillar.” And “Positive Amputation” is not too positive. “Shed” is at first a mere noise explosion, but it picks up and becomes…so so fun. I love the back-and-forth on the verses of the closer, “Chem Trails.” The firecracker sound effects are cool, as well. I contemplated not counting some of the atmospheric tracks, but in the end I decided that since they are an inevitable part of the album, I must. Had I not included them, this would be amongst my very very favorites. The songs that rock on here…rock hard. So the tell-tale question…is this better than Nouns? Nope! It’s well-rounded effort, but even the best tunes on here are a few light years behind 75% of the Nouns LP.

Grade: A- (90)

Music, News

Paradise Rock Club Renovations

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Photo: The Boston Phoenix

The deal with the Paradise is that they shifted the stage, knocked down some of the walls that separated the hallway leading to the real entrance, and made the green rooms more band-friendly. At any rate, the place is bigger (capacity-wise) and less awkward.

Check out all 22 photos at The Phoenix site: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/107186-photos-renovations-at-the-paradise/#TOPCONTENT

humor, Jay Reatard, Quotes, Random

Choice Reatard Quotes

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– “You fucking fags hated Blood Visions when it dropped ! so stop acting all “OG”! get the fuck over it!”
– “Hey dont bring me into this you fucking jar head”
– “Officer Brad I havent played epiphones in years you big dumb indian get your facts straight before you start mouthing off fat boy.. I got 4 gibson flying v’s and 3 epiphones which I retired years ago..I just get sick of you bragging about your shit gear  or how you where on the cover of MMR all the time  get over it man .. Your music sucks !!!”
– “I was making better punk rock than you guys when I was fucking 13”
– “Just leave me the fuck outta your nerd world and stop pretending to know shit..”
– “I got nothing against your wife dude I know about as much about her as you know about music (which is just about nothing)”
– “Im the fucking oprah of punk . Btw if Im fucking fat then what the fuck is Officer Brad x ? the fucking marshmallow man ?”
– “The whole idea that struggle makes you legit is bullshit keep lying  to yourself so you feel better about being lazy”
– “I have worked hard as hell playing music, touring endlessly and putting out more records than I can count but do I deserve the “hype”more than the next guy? I would say no.”
– “Comparing some dudes with apple garage band or a 4 track to flat out genius level innovators of recorded pop music  should be a crime.”
– “Man I never really knew I was singing in a British accent till someone pointed it out later ? I always seem to sing different from band to band don’t really know why it really just comes out that way and is for sure not premeditated.”

Mark Sultan, Music, music video, News

Mark Sultan – ‘Calloused Hands’ + News

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Mark just posted a slew of things on his newly re-designed website:

1. His new song “Calloused Hands,” which is reminiscent of the greatness of $. Speaking of that…
2. $ should be out on vinyl in record stores sometime in September.
3. There’s a Vimeo video for “Status,” which keeps getting banned from YouTube.
4. An explanation about the last days of The King Khan & BBQ Show. A couple of months back, I posted what Mark briefly clarified, but he details what exactly transpired.
5. The Jumbo Lions. An evolution of The King Khan & BBQ Show, or in Mark’s words: “A new, hyper-surrealist, psychedelic, rock’n’roll mindfuck…”

And finally:

BBQ is playing October 17 in Boston at the Homegrown Fest. The huh? Exactly. Apparently it’s a 21+ festival that takes place at a venue called Church. It’s a one off a thing, I gather.

Entertainment, Music, News, No Age

No Age Return To Boston!!!

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It’s been a year and a half. It feels longer, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel that long.

At any rate, I haven’t seen No Age since April 2, 2009. That’s far too long. They’ve got a new album coming out September 28. Get at that. Everything In Between is the title.

Most importantly, Dean, Randy, and the other dude are in town on November 16. They’ll be at the Middle East Downstairs, a choice venue. It is my favorite place to see a show after all and has vegan goodies for the dudes. It’s all ages gig, too! It’s a Tuesday night.

Woo!

CD Review, Entertainment, Music

CD Review: Interpol S/T [2010]

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Band: Interpol
Release: 9/2010
Label: Matador Records

1. “Success” – B+
2. “Memory Serves” – B
3. “Summer Well” – B
4. “Lights” – B+
5. “Barricade” – A-
6. “Always Malaise” – B-
7. “Safe Without” – C+
8. “Try It On” – B-
9. “All of the Ways” – B-
10. “The Undoing” – B

Comments: I started listening to Interpol a few short years ago, a few short years after their so called glory days. Paul Banks’ crazy voice was really great and the band basically shit out a bunch of excellent tracks over a two year span. Then they signed to Capitol and people accused them of sucking. The songs on their major label debut didn’t suck; they just weren’t as good. Now, the band is back on Matador. Last year Banks recorded a solo album Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper, which had a couple of really awesome songs. I think Interpol have had their day by now. They’ve already gotten to the outer reaches of their musical limit. If you can’t stand this band to begin with, good luck trying to like this! Fans will probably find a few songs particularly worthy of attention. It’s not as terrible as the online community is making it out to be. It’s exhausted and boring with a few somewhat catchy hooks here and there. It drags. I’ve always been able to tolerate Interpol at their weakest, which may be why I’m attempting to stick up for them here. “Lights” has a good build-up and becomes pretty solid. “Barricade” is the most memorable and most catchy tune on this album.

Grade: B- (83)

Bobby Ubangi, Entertainment, Music

“Sinking” – Bobby Ubangi

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Bobby Ubangi looked death in the eye for months. He was supposed to die in a timetable of six…he lasted nine. Somewhere in there, he recorded his last full length. It’s a cunning work, especially considering the circumstances. Even though death was forming for Ubangi, he never let its imminent approach eat away what he wanted to get done. That’s admirable and inspirational. After eleven straight dirty lo-fi gems, including my favorite “Another Girl Like You,” there’s “Sinking,” an introspective of what’s nearing. Here are the words:

Sinking.
Everybody knows that I’ve been sinking.
Everybody knows that I’ve been sinking.
Nobody can turn me down.

Sinking.
Everybody knows what I’ve been thinking.
Everybody knows what I’ve been thinking.
Everything’s been bringing me down.

Standing out and S.O.S is my last sign of distress.
Maybe there’s somebody near who can save me from this mess.

Sinking.
Everybody knows that I’ve been sinking.
Everybody knows that I’ve been sinking.
Everybody’s watching me drown.
Everybody’s watching me drown.
Everybody’s watching me drown.

Entertainment, Music, Random

How Popular Are The Bands?

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This by no means is an official indication of popularity…that’s something that can only roughly be estimated. This looks at number of last.fm listeners around the world.

– Radiohead: 2,872,982
– Bob Dylan: 1,511,558
– Pixies: 1,336,206
– Arctic Monkeys: 1,717,157
– Editors: 1,062,559
– Sonic Youth: 1,000,586
– Spoon: 924,767
– Morrissey: 746,011
– Animal Collective: 725,900
– Hot Hot Heat: 714,748
– Elvis Costello: 633,258
– Built to Spill: 538,664
– Dinosaur Jr: 459,611
– The Walkmen: 451,744
– Head Automatica: 299,834
– Deerhunter: 299,689
– Psychedelic Furs: 295,214
– Paul Weller: 294,751
– Louis XIV: 273,512
– The Rifles: 239,431
– Meat Puppets: 224,973
– The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: 215,931
– Sunset Rubdown: 206,829
– Girls: 202,386
– Black Lips: 190,777
– No Age: 152,179
– Mission of Burma: 152,216
– High Places: 117,942
– Handsome Furs: 102,755
– Wavves: 102,375
– Cymbals Eat Guitars: 94,518
– Real Estate: 81,680
– Jay Reatard: 80,453
– Here We Go Magic: 70,184
– The Feelies: 63,382
– The Warlocks: 63,041
– Harlem: 53,371
– Trevor Hall: 47,675
– Kurt Vile: 44,522
– King Khan and the Shrines: 42,623
– Dum Dum Girls: 42,483
– Strange Boys: 30,882
– King Khan & BBQ Show: 29,590
– The War on Drugs: 19,583
– Mark Sultan: 11,798
– Nobunny: 6,413
– Hunx and His Punx: 5,185
– Box Elders: 4,334
– TV Smith: 4,106
– Uninhabitable Mansions: 3,334
– The Dig: 2,561
– Faces on Film: 1,080
– The Big Big Bucks: 598
– The Maine Coons: 67