Someone deciding whether or not to go see Jay Reatard at Harper’s Ferry:
“The idea of paying 50 cents a minute for rock does not equal a real show experience to me. I think lap dances are cheaper, for fucks sake!”
All posts by G. Gordon Gritty
Obscene Album Covers
Obscene or natural? Well I’ll play it casual and post it here, anyway:
CD Review: Forgiveness Rock Record [2010]
Band: Broken Social Scene
Release: 5/2010
Label: Arts & Crafts
1. “World Sick” – A-
2. “Chase Scene” – C+
3. “Texico Bitches” – A
4. “Forced to Love” – B
5. “All to All” – B
6. “Art House Director” –B+
7. “Highway Slip Jam” – B
8. “Ungrateful Little Father” – B+
9. “Meet Me in the Basement” – B-
10. “Sentimental X’s” – B+
11. “Sweetest Kill” – B
12. “Romance to the Grave” – B
13. “Water in Hell” – B-
14. “Me and My Hand” – B
Comments: I’ve always heard about Broken Social Scene, but I’ve never given them a proper listen. “World Sick” is a solid foray into the band’s discography. It’s one of those under-the-radar epic songs, similar to a Dan Boeckner-led Wolf Parade jam. “Texico Bitches” has an awesome rhythm, personally reminiscent of Uninhabitable Mansions. Another thing…I would be a little shocked if Here We Go Magic wasn’t at least a little inspired by these guys. And another thing: the band’s tempo is little bit slow or else a lot of these B/B+ tunes would be A-/A range. It makes them a bit forgettable.
Grade: B (85)
An Ode To Sonny Bryans
For a good chunk of us living in the US of A, we will never get to experience Sonny Bryans. I never heard of it until two minutes ago. But but but but but. King Khan enjoys the restaurant so much that he wrote a little song available for listen on the Shrines Myspace page. Here: http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines
Chris will definitely listen to it because Khan name-drops Mumia Abu-Jamal.
“Sonny Bryan’s Barbecue
Burning hot in my gullet
Makes me want to shave my mullet
Sonny Bryan’s Barbecue
Free ribs, free cole slaw, free Mumia Abu-Jamal!
Sonny Bryan, friend of Kobe Bryant
Missed and loved by us all.”
Walkmen On Thee Oh See
Sorry for the misspelling. I meant The O.C. I think I might have posted about this before, but I was never able to find footage on YouTube.
Go to 4:38 to see the first song and then 8:00 to hear the second. Side note: I’d love to kiss a chick during “What’s In It For Me.” Lucky bastard.
| Little House of Savages (live version) | The Walkmen | At The Bait Shop, The Walkmen perform on camera as Seth works the door while Summer arrives. |
| What’s In It For Me (live version) | The Walkmen | At The Bait Shop, The Walkmen perform on camera as Seth admits to Summer why he got the job at the Bait Shop, then he kisses her. |
Here is what lead singer Hamilton Leithauser had to say:
Singer Hamilton Leithauser enjoyed his experience filming the show, though he felt that the staged enthusiasm for the band was a bit much. “There were maybe two hundred extras on the set pretending to just love us, and I had to sing along with the music, and of course everyone else is fake playing — they’re not even plugged in,” Leithauser said. “So it was really an awkward scene for me, but I think you’re just supposed to stand there and look cool anyhow, so I just tried to do that.”
Leithauser, who was surprised the show allowed the Walkmen to play two songs, sees television performances as a solid, if ephemeral, means of promotion. “I don’t think we’ll gain fans,” Leithauser said. “I think people will buy the record though. I think a lot of people bought the record after we were on Dave Letterman and Conan, but I don’t think you can really gain actual fans who are going to really care about the band through such a mass-market thing.”
——
Just look at the fans, nobody goes that nuts over the Walkmen at shows. It’s like they are seeing Metallica or some shit hahaha.
A-L Recommendations
These are sort off-beat recommendations from bands you may or may not have heard of. Basically, these are songs that are in my library, but I hardly ever listen to them.
A – Abe Vigoda – “Hyacinth Girls”
B – Big Japan – “Life Saver”
C – The Cribs – “Men’s Needs”
D – Down AKA Kilo – “Lean Like A Cholo”
E – El Guincho – “Palmitos Park”
F – Fuck Buttons – “Sweet Love For Planet Earth”
G – Growlers – “Swallowed Whole”
H – Her Space Holiday – “Tech Romance”
I – Inner Circle – “Sweat”
J – Jesus and Mary Chain – “The Hardest Walk”
K – Kraftwerk – “The Model”
L – Last Shadow Puppets – “I Don’t Like You Anymore”
A Mistake
Chris wrote…
7) Oh It’s Such A Shame- 8.5- Decent, nothing wrong with it, but for some reason, just doesn’t stand out.
Uninhabitable Mansions
This sweet little band that put out what I dubbed the best album of 2009 is coming to the Middle East!
A side project of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah…these guys (and gal) rule.
The show is Friday May 7, 2010 Upstairs.
Classic Review: Tour Split
Bands: Jay Reatard/Thee Oh Sees
Release: 2009
Label: Shattered Records
1. “Telephone Network Voltage” – A-
2. “Blank Blogs” – C-
3. “7484” – C+
4. “Castiatic Tackle” – C
Comments: “Telephone Network Voltage” erm…”Hiding Hole.” I’m not quite sure when “Telephone” was composed, but it seems like a “Hiding Hole” demo. The lyrics are a little different and this version is particularly distorted and lo-fi. This version also features an extended guitar solo. It’s pretty good, but I think I prefer “Hiding Hole.” “Blank Blogs” isn’t a demo or an alternative version of a Jay song, it’s merely an exhausting instrumental. C’mon, guy! Thee Oh Sees sort of pick things up where “Blank Blogs” left off with an extremely lo-fi horror inspired instrumental/spoken-word piece. There is some degree of catchiness in the mess…not much though. All right, all right, all right. This is a pretty lame split.
Grade: C+ (78)
Black Lips: A Day in the Life
There’s a great feature by Prefix Magazine (just posted) that highlights a day in the life of the Black Lips before their show at the Bowery Ballroom. Included in that day? Cole painting the shirt (above) that he’d end up giving to me the next day in Boston. Word.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 