All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

CD Review: Radical Sabbatical [2010]

Band: APACHE
Release: 6/2010
Label: Burger Records

1. “Bad Kids” – A-
2. “Heaven Can Wait” – A-
3. “Finger Banger” – A
4. “Pint Size Punker” – A
5. “Bloody Knuckles” – B+
6. “Outside” – A
7. “Jam Pusher” – A-
8. “Beat Myself” – B
9. “Faster Louder” – B
10. “Hospital Bed” – A
11. “OMC” – A
12. “Boomtown Gems” – A
13. “Kitty” – B+

Comments: “Bad Kids” is not quite “Bad Kids,” but it rock and rolls. Most of these song rock and roll. This is a punk record through and through if you couldn’t already tell from the titles. You’d think they were talking about you Chris on “Pint Size Punker,” but nah, she’s only 17. SHE. Anyway, the music itself is catchier than most punk records I’ve listened to this year. APACHE likes heavy doses of sensible freestyle guitaring, especially on “Outside,” the most memorable jam on this disc. The fast fast fast (FASTER. LOUDER) ones aren’t as fun as the more rhythmic power-poppers, but that’s just my preference. As far as 2010 lowbrow independent record label releases go, this LP definitely has to be near the top of that lit.

Grade: A- (91)

Props of the Day!

Props of the Day go to Today’s Hits! Yes, yes. The Rifles, a fantastic rock band, were played today on Today’s Hits, a satellite radio station that plays mostly shit mainstream music. So I’m listening to the likes of Taylor Swift and Adam Lambert at work when all of a sudden I hear… The Rifles! What has the world come to? For the better, for the better. I was in complete shock. I finally got to enjoy listening! I saw the Rifles back in September when they played to a crowd of about 70 (if that) at the Great Scott. Let’s just say there are far bigger bands I’ve seen than the Rifles that I could have guessed had a shot at being played. This was a nice surprise. The next song after “Great Escape” was “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston.

LISTEN TO GREAT ESCAPE LIVE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r3Em__1IIk

Poetry By Brooks Nielsen

Cold River
They drug me down to the old cold river
They’re gonna throw me in
Cuz I’ve been caught sleeping with the daughter
Of the only man in town who can swim
I’m facing the old cold river my back against the wind
They gon’ throw me down to the bottom of the river
Never to rise again
I sink down, down to the old cold bottom
Down, to rest with the fish
I sink down, down to the old cold bottom just as the old man wished
The sea sleeps and the moon is hanging
Something I’d rather do
But I’m facing the old cold river
Bed of eternal blue
With no reason to breathe without the right to love free
Sleep in the deep, sink like a drink
Until again when we meet
I sink down, down to the old cold bottom
Without a hope in the clouds
Down down to the old cold bottom
To rest my bones in the ground
They can’t save me
Nobody can save me
They can’t save me now
They can’t save me
Nobody can save me if I must live without
I’d rather drown
Till I rise to the wide open sky
Down to the bottom old lonely bottom
Till I rise to the wide open sky
Leaving this place where love’s forbidden
Life without her love ain’t worth living.

Sunday Mornin’ Playlist

The Marked Men! A great band that I just discovered.

Find your roots and dig them up! The sound of Phase One is soft jangle pop. The sound of Phase Two is frantic power pop/punk.

Phase One
1. The Go-Betweens “Finding You”
2. Yo La Tengo “Autumn Sweater”
3. The Pastels “Comin’ Through”
4. The Bats “The Rays”
5. The Smiths “Accept Yourself”
—————————————–

Phase Two
1. Jay Reatard “Oh, It’s Such a Shame”
2. The Marked Men “Nowhere,” “Sophisticate”
3. The Old Haunts “Hurricane Eyes”
4. Thee Oh Sees “Maria Stacks”
5. The Sermon “Time Has Come”

Concert Review: Wavves, Cloud Nothings, Young Adults @ Great Scott (6/22/10)

young adults: they were good

cloud nothings: even better

wavves: they were quite squirrely. squirrely as fuck. squirrely meaning amazing. so bored? yeah right. so fucking awesome is more like it. no hope? tons of fucking hope. we surfed our asses off. invisibly. stephen pope and billy hayes, God bless you for joining this force with Nathan. YOUR band is excellent now. king of the beach, what a fucking record.

set list:
1. Friends Were Gone
2. King of the Beach
3. To The Dregs
4. Idiot
5. Wavves
6. Green Eyes
7. Take on the World
8. Weed Demon
9. Post-Acid
10. Super Soaker
11. So Bored
12. Linus Spacehead
13. No Hope Kids (spelled ‘No Home Sids’)
—ENCORE—
14. Beach Demon

Grade: amazing — A/A- (Chris)

Glen and Chris