Band: The Strange Boys Label: In The Red Records Release: March 3, 2009
1. “Woe is You and Me” – 9.4 2. “They’re Building the Death Camps” – 9.4 3. “Should Have Shot Paul” – 9.6
4. “MLKs” – 9.5 5. “This Girl Taught Me a Dance” – 9.7 6. “For Lack of a Better Face” – 9.6 7. “Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up” – 9.5 8. “No Way for a Slave to Behave” – 9.8 9. “Poem Party” – 9.7 10. “To Turn a Tune or Two” – 9.7
11. “Most Things” – 9.6 12. “A Man You’ve Never Known” – 9.8 13. “Then” – 9.6 14. “Who Needs Who More” – 9.6 15. “Probation Blues” – 9.8 16. “Death and All the Rest” – 9.6
Comments: Former label mates with the likes of Black Lips and Jay Reatard, The Strange Boys possess all attributes of vintage garage rock. Sounds similar to a cross between The Almighty Defenders LP and Black Lips!. The cow-punk of “Should Have Shot Paul” is as refreshing as can be for such an old-time melody. The thing too about these songs are they short and sweet…at times I feel like I want to hear perhaps another verse or the chorus again. “This Girl Taught Me a Dance” sounds like R&B inspired Bob Dylan, particularly in vocal delivery and lyrical structure. It’s probably a shame that not many will come to realize how good an album this is. If you aren’t the old time rock and roll type, you might cast this off as just another attempt at reliving the past. Well you know what? Sometimes we need to bring back the old times! I don’t remember the old times too well (they are ~ forty years my senior) so it’s kind of an amazing thing to hear a modern band do this kind of stuff. I asked someone in my house: “What decade does this sound like it’s from?” “The Sixties” was the response. I’m not shocked. This is easily the best sounding album coming from this style of music in 2009.
Boston Herald
BOSTON — Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean has announced that he is going back to school to earn a degree from Berklee College of Music.
The former frontman for The Fugees before going solo said Friday the school has a flexible program tailored for him that includes on-campus classes and online courses at berkleemusic.com.
Jean is scheduled to attend his first class on Monday. His curriculum this fall includes courses in ear training, theory, improvisation, and guitar.
The Haitian-born artist said he left college after only one semester to pursue his career and going back to school has always been a goal.
The 36-year-old is scheduled to release a remix CD coming out on Nov. 10 called “DJ Drama Presents Wyclef Jean AKA Toussaint St. Jean.”
Comments: A very eclectic band drawing influence from what seems like a myriad of styles, from hard rock to experimental to pop. In that, I feel a very strong sense of overload. There isn’t much consistency on this album, at least in the first eight songs. One minute can be light, up-beat outsider music while the next can be heavy screamo. This kind of uncertainty and unexpectedness turns me away from what potentially could be very good music. Some website allocated the title “Best Album of 2009” to Clues and I’m wondering how that could possibly be. There are some really quality tracks on here (the last three!), but there are some really really average ones too. If the first eight tracks were more like the last three, Clues would really be on to something.
By: Glen Maganzini
Keyword is “Experiences,” which takes slightly more into account how fun the show was than how awesome the bands were. Like Jay Reatard was funner than Walkmen, but Walkmen were the better performers. The opening acts for Reatard were simply better than the Walkmen show.
The Best
1. March 2009 – Black Lips/Gentleman Jesse & His Men/Mean Creek – Grade: A+
2. May 2009 – King Khan & The Shrines/Mark Sultan/Homosexuals – Grade: A+
3. October 2009 – KK+BBQ/Dum Dum Girls/Downbeat 5 – Grade: A+
4. April 2009 – No Age/The Beets/Lemonade – Grade: A+
5. October 2009 – Jay Reatard/Nobunny/Hunx and His Punx/Box Elders/Useless Eaters – Grade: A+
6. September 2009 – Walkmen/Here We Go Magic/The Dig – Grade: A+
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 