Awesome Awesome Awesome
All posts by G. Gordon Gritty
CD Review: The Great Escape
Band: The Rifles
Label: 679 Recordings
Release: 2009
1. “Science Is Violence” – 9.6
2. “The Great Escape” – 9.8
3. “Fool To Sorrow” – 9.7
4. “Sometimes” – 9.8
5. “Toerag” – 9.5
6. “History” – 9.3
7. “Winter Calls” – 9.6
8. “Out in the Past” – 9.2
9. “Romeo and Julie” – 9.7
10. “The General” – 9.5
11. “For The Meantime” – 9.6
Comments: The Rifles from London, England put out a fine album three years ago in No Love Lost. After all was said and done, five singles were released and brit-punk enthusiasts from near and afar began calling themselves Rifles fans. The band’s strain of alt-rock — somewhere between post-punk revival and Britpop — is particularly likable on The Great Escape. That’s mainly because the songs are upbeat, catchy anthems. Songs like “Fool To Sorrow” and “Sometimes” could easily hold their own as singles, reminding the ear of commercially successful 21st century revivalists like The Killers and Franz Ferdinand. The Rifles do not exactly venture into new territory with this album, but stay true to what they have always done best. The result is eleven songs that won’t scare away big fans and will certainly bring in new ones. The near amateurish simpleness of songs like “History” and “Winter Calls” might have you thinking the Rifles are your average up-and-coming British mod wanna-bes. But that’s not the case; the band have been playing gigs since 2004 and have established themselves all the while. This album exceeded my expectations.
Grade: 9.6 out of 10
Living Thing Doesn’t Die
The immortal jellyfish as described on Wikipedia:
Jellyfish usually die after propagating; however, the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the ability to return to a polyp state. This is done through a cell change in the external screen (exumbrella). The cells revert to a different state. The medusa is transformed into a stolon and the polyps into a hydroid colony.[3] The umbrella turns inside out; middle section and tentacles are reabsorbed before the polyp spawns. Stolons form two days before the polyps differentiate.[3] The ability to reverse the life cycle is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering the Turritopsis nutricula biologically immortal. Lab tests showed that 100% of specimens reverted to the polyp stage.
A Sign of the Times
When 30% of all new visitors (one day) arrive at this site after conducting an online search for “Harry Potter sucking dick.”
Mail Order Husbands
Randy Randall’s Shoulder
Dean Spunt (noagela.blogspot.com)
Hey Randy is okay. He dislocated his shoulder and was in extreme pain for an hour or so. We are on our way to Lollapalooza, we are going to still try and play if we can. Thanks to everyone
All of us at KLYAM are glad that guitar legend is okay.
Here is footage of Randy’s fall (around the 2:50 mark) caused by a beer spill.
Harry Patch (In Memory Of)
Wall Street Journal
With little fanfare this week, Radiohead made a new track available for download on its Web site. Entitled “Harry Patch (In Memory Of),” it demonstrates how the band views the contemporary music business—and how little regard it has for the conventional view of what a rock band should do.The song is a moving tribute to Patch, who was believed to be the last surviving British soldier to have fought in World War I. He died on July 25 at age 111. In September 1917, Patch was wounded by a bomb that killed three of his comrades at the Battle of Passchendaele, one of the most horrific actions of the war that saw British casualties in the hundreds of thousands during the three months it lasted. In a 2005 interview with the BBC, Patch said that he went 80 years without discussing his war experiences, even with his family.
But through his longevity, Patch became a reluctant spokesman, eventually testifying with candor to what he had witnessed in France more than four-score years ago. He said that he still had nightmares about the bomb that struck his unit.
Click here to listen: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8184000/8184802.stm
CD Review: Watch Me Fall
Band: Jay Reatard
Label: Matador
Release: 2009
1. “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” – 10.0 –
2. “Before I Was Caught” – 9.1
3. “Man of Steel” – 9.0
4. “Can’t Do It Anymore” – 8.7
5. “Faking It” – 8.9
6. “I’m Watching You” – 8.6
7. “Wounded” – 9.3
8. “Rotten Mind” – 8.7
9. “Nothing Now” – 8.4
10. “My Reality” – 9.2
11. “Hang Them All” – 8.9
12. “There Is No Sun” – 9.5
Comment: This album is quite like a lot of what Reatard has done in the past: fast paced, catchy garage punk, yet this time around it’s more accessible (though at some times a smidge more boring). “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” is in the mix for best song of 2009, while “There Is No Sun” is an extraordinary closer.
Grade: 9.1
Here’s The Good News!
Here I am sitting outside on one of the most beautiful days of the summer (sunny, 79 degrees) listening to Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” on WERS and reading “Believe!” by Richard M. Devos. At this exact moment, I am reading about good news! Amidst all the criticism of what’s going on in the world today and all the sad news of the day…
“…80 million people went to work today! The country’s plants operated today. The banks and stores were open today. All that money was handled by people who are still truth-worthy and dependable…Thousands of production lines operated today, and you’ll have their goods on your table…in a few good weeks… You turned on the radio…and there was someone to play some music for you…People are waiting in tens of thousands of gas stations to pump gas into your car to get you where you are going…the people who work hard to keep [society] moving are to be saluted!”
Song of the Day
Black Lips – Take My Heart (Acoustic) –200 Million Thousand
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 