Angry Angles days!
All posts by G. Gordon Gritty
Danny Johnston Gets Some Action
Zo-wowwwwww
“Jay Reatard Murdered Jimmy Lindsey”
Take a look at this article by Anders Thode, a member of the Cola Freaks and also a member of the last Jay Reatard band.
When Jacob and I were asked to join Jay on what would become his last major tour we were a little concerned about what would happen. Though Cola Freaks had landed an opening slot on one of his previous tours, we had only spoken to him briefly and we didn’t really feel like we knew him that well. We had read a lot of nonsense in the music press about him being a bad ass drunk meanie with nothing good to offer to anyone. But that was only half the truth. When he came to Aarhus to rehearse before the tour he was the nicest guy we had ever met. We were so relieved since we were about to spend almost two months with him in a van driving across Europe and a large part of the USA. As the tour dragged on we got pretty close and naturally opened up to each other. And gosh! It turned out that under the surface the rock ‘n’ roll monster was a decent guy with a lot of empathy. Though he was a fun guy to be around (for instance when he played stoned and completely retarded answering machine messages he had received from Phil Anselmo, to the rest of the van) he also seemed a little bitter. It seemed like he had painted himself up in a corner. He was trapped in the role as the bad ass rock ‘n’ roller and he didn’t like it too much. He wanted to be more Jimmy and less Jay. It was as though he knew the lifestyle he was leading would eventually end up killing him and he was fucking scared of it. He tried to resist but sadly he didn’t try hard enough and Jay Reatard murdered Jimmy Lindsey with a cocaine overdose and the rest is history.
CD Review: Our Inventions [2010]
Band: Lali Puna
Release: 4/2010
Label: Morr Music
1. “Rest Your Head” – C+
2. “Remember ?” – C+
3. “Everything is Always” – C–
4. “Our Inventions” – B-
5. “Move On” – B-
6. “Safe Tomorrow” – B-
7. “Future Tense” – B-
8. “Hostile To Me” – C
9. “That Day” – B+
10. “Out There” – A-
Comments: I had a little electronic craze back when I was a youngster. I was into the Postal Service, Dntel, and Figurine. I also was really into Lali Puna’s “Faking the Books” (the song, not the entire album). It’s been about five years since that time and I’ve pretty much moved on from the genre, but every now and then I’ll give some electronic a shot. I like a lot of the tracks on here, but they aren’t memorable. Some of the sounds are interesting like those on “Future Tense” that really do personify the future. Generally though, the less electronic, the better. The songs that have a vocal focus are cooler than the instrumental driven ones. Check this out if you like Lali Puna or electronic/spacey music in general. Otherwise, take a pass.
Grade: B- (80)
Concert Review: Editors
Bands: The Dig, The Antlers, Editors
Venue: House of Blues Boston
Date: February 18, 2009
Act One – The Dig – Love this band, man. When I saw them twice back in September, they rocked. The bassist/singer again stood out as an absolutely slick musician, keeping a great rhythm to compliment his singing. The amplification at the House of Blues really did push the pulse over the limit and, in fact, made all the instruments sound louder and more impacting than at the Middle East. “Penitentiary” and closer “Just Wanna Talk To You” stuck out to me as the two best songs from the band’s 30 minute set. The audience took notice of the band’s genius, as I heard a few people next to me comment on how good they were.
Act Two – The Antlers – Okay, so the Antlers. I’d say they were a good fit for pre-Editors opening band. As opposed to Hot Hot Heat, the band that performed before Editors in 2008, the Antlers relied on epicness. Keyboards, guitar, no bass, and loud ass drums. Most songs started out sort of slow, but by the end the band was in a full out jam and things really came together. The singer’s voice is powerful and as one kid said “angelic,” so definitely I got to say I didn’t mind them at all. Would I listen to them again? Probably not. They are probably great on record, too, considering bitchfuck and friends gave their last album a really high rating.
Act Three – Editors – This band has been a consistent favorite of mine for the past couple of years. Their live performance on this night definitely proved why. The light show is fantastic as always and as expected. That’s nice and all, but at the end of the day all four members gave it their all and gave the audience a great time. Classics like “Blood,” “Munich,” “Bones,” “Racing Rats,” “Escaping the Nest,” and “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” simply got the audience into a frenzy as did new tunes like “Papillon” and “Raw Meat = Blood Drool.” In fact, the entire set didn’t really have a disappointment in it. Tom smoothly and effortlessly moved from synths to guitar to piano. It’d be a disservice not to mention his stage antics. He loves his mics, that’s for sure. Chris played a mean lead guitar as the guy next to me consistently noted. By the way, you don’t need to remind the dude that he has synesthesia by shouting “colors” after every song and demanding multiple picks. Russell’s a fun guy. The band added in several quirks that really pushed the limits on what I thought they could do live. I really realized how much fun I had watching Editors during the encore. I started to really miss what I had just listened to. That usually means I had a great time.
Set List
In This Light And On This Evening
Lights
An End Has A Start
You Don’t Know Love
Bullets
The Boxer
The Big Exit
Blood
Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
The Racing Rats
Escape The Nest
Like Treasure
Bones
Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
Bricks And Mortar
—-ENCORE—-
Walk The Fleet Road
Munich
Papillon
Fingers In The Factories
Note: Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see the kiddie masses listening to good music. It’s kind of messed up to see them outnumber every other age group. I was once a kiddie who saw Editors so I can’t hate, but that was at a sit down venue. I don’t mind it; it’s sort of shocking since I’m used to being the youngest at most shows, 18+.
Grade: A – Definitely a Top 10 show.
Glen Does Bill Hicks Post
This bit is a great bit. Chris has been meaning to (re)post it for a while. I know he has.
Classic CD Review: Raw Romance
Band: Nobunny
Release: 2009
Label: Burger Records
1. “Your Mouth” – B-
2. “Oh Cody” – B
3. “Mask’s On” – A-
4. “Monster Kiss” – B
5. “Apple Tree” – B+
6. “Hippy Witch” – B
7. “I Am A Girlfriend” – B+
8. “It’ll All Come Back” – B
9. “Tonight You Belong” – B-
10. “Mess Me Up” – A
11. “The Gutter” – A-
12. “Vicious Circle” – B+
Comments: Nobunny loves you! This piece of music was released on cassette, which is just about as outdated as Nobunny. Unlike Love Visions, Raw Romance is chalk full of slow and modest twee pop. You won’t have much luck finding something as energetic as “Chuck Berry Holiday” on this cassette. If you just want to chill in your chair and intake psilocybin mushrooms or the like then go for this thing. If you want to go up, down, north, south, east, or west then you’ll definitely prefer Love Visions. The sound quality on Raw exceeds Love, which is something I certainly didn’t expect. It’s funny hearing an extremely lo-fi demo version of “I Am A Girlfriend,” my favorite Nobunny song this side of “Chuck.” The demo of “Mess Me Up” is mad good. Funny Johnny Cash impersonation on “The Gutter.”
Grade: B (86)
CD Review: Big Echo
Band: The Morning Benders
Release: 3/2010
Label: Rough Trade
1. “Excuses” – B+
2. “Promises” – B+
3. “Wet Cement” – B-
4. “Cold War” – B
5. “Pleasure Sighs” – B
6. “Hand Me Downs” – B-
7. “Mason Jar” – C
8. “All Day Day Light” – B
9. “Stitches” – A-
10. “Sleepin’ In” – B
Comments: Let’s get some shit straight: bands from California are pretty fun. I’ve said it a bunch of times, but it’s refreshing for a kid in Boston to hear some warm weather music. Don’t get me wrong though, The Morning Benders put together just an okay record. My favorite is “Stitches” so try checking that one out.
Grade: B- (83)
Concert Review: The Growlers, The Married Men, Forest Fire @ T.T. The Bears (2/16/10)
Bands: Forest Fire, The Married Men, The Growlers
Venue: TT The Bears (Cambridge, MA)
Date: February 16, 2010
Act One – Forest Fire – Unlike most of the bands that we see, the singer actually had an amazing voice to back up an amazing band. He also did a few song solo acoustic set which was pretty sweet. Campfire folk songs mainly, both of the depressing and uplifting variety.
Act Two – The Married Men – Picture like five dudes and one lone female who just got of work, but really didn’t. Dressed up for the junior prom or some shit like that and ready to kick some ass, they banged out a lengthy six song set that admittedly had some decent points, particularly the instrumentals. The music was a bit drawn out and stuff. The only thing they seemed excited about was their CD coming out that day.
Act Three – The Growlers – Oh shit The Growlers!!! The second Brooks Nielsen made it on stage, I could tell we were in for an experience. He was a genuinely funny man during set up, asking for one of his mics to be “wet as hell” and jokingly requesting if one of the guitarists could get some piss in his monitors, because he really had to go to pee. At any rate, the band performed two songs under your average white lights: “Sea Lion Goth Blues” and “Acid Rain.” These songs were among my pre-show favorites and it was just great to see them performed. Brooks then said “I know why people aren’t getting into us. It’s because of the lights. Turn them to fucking red or something.” And just like that Brooks was “stoked” and so wasn’t the rest of the audience and groupies/band members (hard to tell because they outnumbered the hoi polloi). Their fifty minute set had a bunch of other fun psychedelic numbers that entranced us all quite easily like “Stranger’s Road” and “Something Someone Junior.” The cross-dressing percussionist is a pretty damn random member, but he gets the job done well.
Final Grade: B+ – In terms of performance, persona, stage antics, and attitude, The Growlers definitely will long be remembered. I had an enjoyable time and I’m glad I found out about them so if they ever do come back (this was their first time in Boston) I’ll definitely attend.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 