Who? KhanWood Clarke. King KHAN, Sean WOOD [Spits], and Jeff CLARKE [Demon’s Claws] What? A MoonStudio production. The joys of having your own studio. Old country music, a bit like when Nobunny picks up the acoustic
When? Sort of now, but the folks above need $$$ to get Wood to Where? Berlin Why? ‘Cause
If you take a listen to “Dirtiest Girl” (a demo), you will be greeted to fine lyrics as:
everyone knows you're the dirtiest girl in town
that you fucked every guy for sixty five miles around
but sugar you know I know my night at all
'cause it's always back to me that you seem to crawl
well every guy in town seems to know you're always at the bar
no matter which day of the week it seems to be
but after you wake up in some strange room on the other side of town
i know you'll always be coming back home to me
well i don't mind that you're a little pig around town
i don't mind at all if you like to sleep around
as long as you're home for breakfast, i don't mind at all
whiskey bottle, empty on the back seat of the car
where'd you sleep last night, I don't even want to know
as long as you're home for breakfast, i don't mind at all
“Indian men are built like brick shit houses and fuck like snakes” ends another sure to be classic, the demo “Old Gunga Din“
Black Lips: [LINK] Need I say more! A commenter said this session is a return to form so to speak of the “raw Black Lips we know and love” and that commenter is pretty spot-on. Their sound at Daytrotter is what’d you expect when seeing them live. “Dumpster Diving” lacks the toy piano and perfect timing/tone of guitar riffs found on Arabia Mountain, for instance. “Time” is more brash on here than on Arabia. Non-album tune “Make It” clearly is one of the band’s favorite songs to play and it’s filled to the brim with sloppy energy, rolling guitar riffs, improvisation of guitar solo, and such. “Go Out and Get It” feels much more punk-like live, faster and heavier than its album counterpart. I’ve heard fans of shitty music say that seeing their favorite band live was so great because they sounded just like they do on CD! Not the case with the Lips and thank God. It’s the little imperfections and added level of excitement that they bring on stage that separate them from this blandness that a lot of bands suffer from.
Bass Drum of Death: [LINK] Having not seen Bass Drum of Death live, I can’t really make a comparison like I just did with the Lips, but I will say that from hearing their debut album GB City, the dudes in this band play pretty much no-bullshit rock ‘n roll. Loud and noisy. The mix of this session captures that element of course and you can clearly tell the difference between the relatively slick production of GB City and Bass Drum in a live, more anarchic studio setting. Stand out tunes to me are “Young Pros” and “Get Found.”
Comments: The Furs played at Great Scott on April 13. I’m going to go out on a limb and say they enjoy playing in Boston to come back again as part of a larger summer tour. We fans enjoy them and look forward to the release of their third album, Sound Kapital.
Band: Arctic Monkeys Release: 6/2011 Label: Domino Records
1. “She’s Thunderstorms” – A 2. “Black Treacle” – A 3. “Brick By Brick” – B+ 4. “The Hellcat Spangled Shalala” – A- 5. “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” – B+ 6. “Library Pictures” – A-
7. “All My Own Stunts” – B
8. “Reckless Serenade” – A+ 9. “Piledriver Waltz” – A-
10. “Love Is A Laserquest” – A-
11. “Suck It and See” – A-
12. “That’s Where You’re Wrong” – A
Comments: The Arctic Monkeys emerged out of nowhere in 2006 with the release of their debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Shortly thereafter the band became international sensations of sorts. This isn’t to say that they didn’t have to cover a shit load of ground in their native UK before attaining such a status. Somewhere along the line, they got recognized and quite deservingly so. It’s not so often a group of 20 year olds can so finely construct rock n roll gems. I remember checking them out for the first time on YouTube, a relatively new website at the time. I wasn’t blown away, but I liked what I heard. Five years and three records later, the band, led by principal songwriter Alex Turner, still has ‘it’. Turner’s voice is distinctive and aside from his signature vocals, the band ain’t all that different stacked next to their pop sensible “post”-punk revival contemporaries. The Arctics flirt with many a styling on Suck It and See: the soft verse/extremely catchy chorus Humbug-esque “She’s Thunderstorms,” the slow and thoughtful on “Piledriver” and “Love Is,” top notch power pop on “Black Treacle,”the guitar-driven psychedelic “Brick By Brick” and “Don’t Sit Down,” and so on and so forth. “The Hellcat” is reverb drenched with a fitting bass line included. We’ve heard about dancing shoes and the like before from these folks and we hear about ’em again on “All My Own Stunts.” That’s a good song, perhaps one of the only to not stick out too much. That’s all right, because what follows — “Reckless Serenade” — is Arctic Monkeys at their best. The bass, rhythm, and lead are all outstanding. Sometimes Alex is quite fancy with his lyrical content, but this one is fairly easy to comprehend. Humorous from the start, “Topless models…” There might be some Side A people, some Side B people. Side A people want to rock and roll. Side B just want to sit down and have some light music playing. Or maybe after rocking and rolling to Side A you’ll get tired and just toss on B as a way to rest. Either way, this is a truly enjoyable record, with a load of memorable songs. Great summer record player listening.
Flat out, Ty Segall deserves the attention and praise that he’s recently been receiving. He went from being an underground obscurity to being a household rock ‘n roll name among those who pay attention to this kind of stuff in a couple years worth of time. He’s only 23, the age before Jay Reatard was Jay Reatard and the age 3/4 of the Black Lips were when they began approaching the brink of abounding ‘indie’ fame. As a solo artist, Goodbye Bread is his fourth full-length, impressive enough. He found the time to go to college as well! Melted was my introduction to the man; I’m not going to sit here and pretend to have known him since Lemons days. I’m sure many of his new fans can say the same. At any rate, Melted was one of the more exciting rock ‘n roll LPs I had heard in 2010. I was an instant fan of the intense, in-your-face, sad fuzz that encompassed most of the thing. Whereas Melted got heavy at any given moment in time, Goodbye Bread as a whole is a slower work, defined not only by occasional spurts that surely recall previous Ty, but by more fleshed out songwriting. Opening song “Goodbye Bread” has been kicking around for about a year. It’s amazing. Right when those drums kick in, damn, son. Also, right when that guitar solo kicks in, damn, son. Ty knows how to craft a song right. The calmness of “Goodbye Bread” is contrasted by the appropriately titled “California Commercial,” a terse, waggish pounding: “Come to California, stay inside your house” it begins. Maybe someone listening to “California Commercial” will want to stay inside a “Comfortable Home,” a place to settle down. “You Make The Sun Fry” is Goodbye Bread‘s “Caesar,” a steady fast song with a wealth of catchy instrumentation and a noice rhythm. “I Can’t Feel It” is a mid-ranger and also the first 7″ to be released in conjunction with this record. It moves quite well and has one of those splits at the end which I am a sucker for. Exactly the kind of stuff you want to end the first side of a record you’re listening to. The psychedelic, bass-heavy “My Head Explodes” may be the most well-written tune on here. I said that about “Goodbye Bread,” didn’t I? This one can take a co- position with that one. “In time I am a melody. A front for you and all to see” is just one line of many from that. The meaning? I’m not so sure. “The Floor” opens up with a near country tinged freak-out and moves along a bit like its predecessor. “Where Your Mind Goes” reminds me of — and this is a weird one — Arctic Monkeys material. Minus the Brit accents and Add In layers of fuzz unthinkable to our friends over seas. Good stuff. “I Am With You” is the longest song on the album and it sure feels it. Every now and then it’s just nice to listen to Ty wail. And there’s wailing to be had through and through, it can be a little jovial at times –> “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride”. It’s a parting slow song, reminiscent of “Goodbye Bread.” From initial listens, I can surely say this is something grand. It’s a different animal than Melted and why shouldn’t it be! Oh no…oh yeah!