I like what Glen did for his end of the year song list, so I am following in this new direction.
Atlas Sound– “The Shakes,” “My Angel Is Broken,” and “Parallax” The Beets– “I Think I Might Have Built A Horse” Big Mess– “The Hook,” “No Good Time,” and “Gueule de Bois,” Black Lips– “Family Tree,” “Spidey’s Curse,” and “Don’t Mess Up My Baby,” Colleen Green– “Dance the Night Away” Fat History Month– “Old Lady Smokers,” “Things I Enjoy,” and “Free As A Cat” Girls– “Honey Bunny,” “Magic,” and “Saying I Love You,” Hunx & His Punx– “Lovers’ Lane,” “Too Young to Be In Love,” and “Keep Away From Johnny” Mark Sultan– “Just For a Moment,” “Axis Abraxas,” and “Song In Grey” Natural Child– “Easy Street,” “Hard Workin’ Man,” and “White People” The Orwells– “Halloween All Year” The Pains of Being Pure At Heart– “Belong,” “Heart In Your Heartbreak” Peach Kelli Pop “Eeenie Meenie Minie Moe,” “Do the Eggroll,” and “Doo Wah Diddy” Shannon and the Clams– “The Cult Song,” “You Will Always Bring Me Flowers,” and “Sleep Talk” Saralee– “Circle of Hands,” “Ceiling,” Silhouette Rising– “Don’t You Hear Me Calling” Smith Westerns– “Smile,” “All Die Young,” and “Weekend” Those Darlins– “Screws Get Loose,” “Be Your Bro” Ty Segall– “Comfortable Home,” “Goodbye Bread,” and “California Commercial” Wavves– “Nodding Off (Featuring Best Coast),” “Bug,” and “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl”
It looks like another year in concerts has concluded for me. I made it out to 19 shows (22 in 2010) at quite a few different venues around Boston/MA (including more basement/non-traditional club shows than ever) and three non-Massachusetts shows (all Black Lips).
1. Black Lips, Night Beats @ Bowery Ballroom – July
2. Black Lips, Vivian Girls @ Paradise Rock Club – April 3. Black Lips, Davila 666, X-Ray Eyeballs @ Webster Hall – October 4. Nobunny @ Church – June 5. Mark Sultan @ Magic Room Gallery – December
Favorite Bands That I Saw For The First Time In 2011: Atlantic Thrills, White Wires, Peach Kelli Pop, Sara Lee, Night Beats, and Davila 666.
1. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain – My excitement for this album grew steadily once the news came out that they were working on one in early 2010. The original release date set for “when school gets back in” was pushed back once Ronson joined as co-producer. As we all know by now, the band had a delightful time working with him. So it’s no coincidence that Arabia is filled with some of the catchiest songs I’ve heard in a while. The sound production is not as muddy and psychedelic as the band’s previous effort 200 Million Thousand; instead, it’s clean and clear. The songs themselves cross the kind of rock and roll terrain that the Lips have always found themselves in, including but not limited to: clangy, jangly, country, punk. This stuff is addicting (for people with an ear for it like me) and tough to remove from the record player. I guess that’s a quality that the best album of the year should possess.
2. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread – This is another one that I was counting the days until release. Ty’s last record Melted received an ‘honorable mention’ in my Best of 2010, but would have comfortably cracked the Top 5 if I redid my list a few months later. Goodbye Bread was a quintessential summer listen and still holds the test of time as this part of the country is freezing over. The thing that Ty does so well (and has always done so well) is arranging his songs. There’s optimal fuzz, hard-pounding drums, and a lingering bass line in nearly every song at some point and a lot of it is unexpected and fresh. I love the opening of “You Make the Sun Fry,” and the ever so crunchy chorus in “My Head Explodes,” in particular. Goodbye Bread affirms Ty’s status as one of the most talented song writers in modern rock and roll. At the least, it goes to show that noisy relatively straight-forward garage isn’t all the dude is about.
3. Atlas Sound – Parallax – Last year (as I just said above) I made the folly of overlooking some records. Another one of them was Halcyon Digest. Sure, it was among my Top 10, but I didn’t really appreciate as much in 2010 as I should have. With Parallax, I gave it several listens before reviewing it and over the course of listening the real beauty of it really came out. It’s mainly a light affair with several streaks of brilliance that some could dub ‘experimental’ or ‘odd’, but to me is just as pop as anything typically labeled that. Bradford knows catchy better than most. The by product of this is a mass of songs that are inspirational and healing.
4. The Beets – Let The Poison Out – The Beets are one of those bands that I regret not getting more into earlier on in my KLYAM career. After seeing them open for No Age at Wellesley College back in April 2009, I failed to do significant follow up research. Well, now I’d say I’m fairly well versed on the Beets; all the credit to them for infectious releases and superb live performances. Let The Poison Out works so well because it’s just so hard to not be hooked on the Beets raw rock, pop, n’ roll . It makes me want to start pounding on some drums while blasting it loudly. “Doing As I Do” and “I Think I Might Have Built A Horse” are sing-alongs like none other.
5. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin – You can tell this guy has spent some quality time hanging around Ty Segall. Not to say he hasn’t spent quality time with other musicians. The Moonhearts are nice. Well anyway, this album really captivated me as it fits in perfectly on a scale of Ty and Thee Oh Sees. Like those folks’ records, Mikal Cronin is quite instantaneously hooky (with like two exceptions, but those are still real good). Picking favorites is a challenge. I love “Situation” a great deal, because right from the get-go it is extremely fun. The San Fran rock ‘n roll region had quite a 2011.
Honorable Mentions
Shannon and the Clams – Sleep Talk The Orwells – Remember When Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost Natural Child – 1971 Mark Sultan – Whatever I Want The Hussy – Cement Tomb Mind Control Davila 666 – Tan Bajo
Artists: Black Lips, Davila 666, and Xray Eyeballs Date: Saturday, October 29, 2011 Venue: Webster Hall (NYC) Comments: Act I: X Ray Eyeballs: X Ray Eyeballs are a pretty sweet band. I sadly know very little of their material, so I am not totally wrapped up in their performance, but it sets the stage for the next two acts very well. I definitely plan on checking out their work in the future; I see their name pop up all the time now, it seems.
Act II: Davila 666: I have been anticipating seeing these cats for quite some time. I am a casual fan of Davila and like most other fans, I think the energy and rarely matched enthusiasm they bring to the table is probably their greatest feature. In general, they have the whole “garage rock” style down to a tee. It’s just really fun, balls out rock and roll. In particular, the crowd goes wild when they blast into “Patitas,” a favorite of mine as well. The whole performance is solid, every member gives it their all, which is exactly why they are one of the finest live acts around, for sure.
Act III: Black Lips!!!: As you all may or may not know, we are devout Lips fans and making the bi-annual trip from Boston to New York to see our favorite band is a requirement of such excessive fandom. Lips have been my number one live act for a few years now and this night is no exception. The boys in blue hit the stage, decked out in their “Raw Meat” video tinged NYPD uniforms. Per usual they erupt into the classic (and my favorite) “Sea of Blasphemy.” It never gets old! Five Lips shows deep, which I am sure to some is nothing, I can safely say “Sea of Blasphemy” should always be their opener. The crowd simulates the excitement on stage and my composure and sense of right and wrong is suspended for the next hour. Between Cole’s proclamations of DMT Parties and threats of hauling all the dope smokin’ kids off to jail, he busts out one of his best performances, spitting, kissing, and beer can headbutting in all. Jared mans the center of the stage, looking like the classic frontman (though I have never thought of any of them specificially as frontmen, just to note). His vocals on relatively new live cuts, such as “New Direction,” and “Noc-a-Homa,” sound better than ever. To the right of Jared, Ian stands proudly, dishing out all the classic Lips riffs, with that ubiquitous smile he always maintains, kind of like your crazy uncle. In the back, but always on top is Joe, bashing away at the drums with the spirit of a six year old. Joe’s vocal driven songs constantly seem to garner the greatest crowd reactions. Arabia Mountain cut, “Go Out and Get It,” is arugably their most danceable tune and appears to get that extra umph outta everyone, especially the ladies. And naturally, “Bad Kids,” the band’s biggest song makes the kids go wild more than the other songs. In general, this show focuses on their latest record Arabia more than any other Lips performance I have attended. In total, we see/hear seven songs from Arabia, which is more than any other album. This is unusual for the Lips, since their standard is playing mostly Let It Bloom (2005) songs (if you had to name one record that dominated their set lists). With that being said, this does not really affect the overall performance too much and I am actually happy to see more new songs being performed. But, a Lips fan of any and all eras (such as myself) can find plenty to admire. The group even harks back to oldies like “Stone Cold.” Of course, Halloween being the theme, the quartet unleashes some garage soaked horror classics such as “Jack the Ripper,” (though they play this off-season as well). “Wildman,” by The Tamrons is another cover I have never seen them perform live and have waited to see for a while now. One of my qualms about this show, however, is the sound quality. It is not terrible, but it could be much better. Things like that fortunately do not interfere too much with the charisma of a Black Lips show. Not the best I have seen, but definitely up there, one for the books.
Grade: 9/10
Set List (in order by album):
Black Lips (2003):
“Stone Cold”
Let It Bloom (2005):
“Sea of Blasphemy”
“Hippie Hippie Hoorah”
“Boone”
“Fairy Stories”
“Dirty Hands”
Good Bad, Not Evil (2007):
“O Katrina”
“Bad Kids”
Arabia Mountain (2011):
“Family Tree”
“Modern Art”
“Go Out and Get It”
“Raw Meat”
“Dumpster Dive”
“New Direction”
“Noc-a-Homa”
Non Album/Cover Songs:
“Make It”
“Wild Man” (The Tamrons)
“Jack the Ripper” (Pierced Arrows) ENCORE:
“Bow Down and Die” (The Almighty Defenders)
“Too Much Monkey Business” (Chuck Berry)
Night Sun is the collaboration between Cole Alexander (Black Lips) and Curtis Harding (Kirkland Underwater/Cee-Lo Green back-up singer). Those two played their first show together in Atlanta last night.
Creative Loafing Atlanta has uploaded “On My Way,” which will be featured on their 2012 debut EP.
The G’est of all G’s, Ian St. Pe, has a video out now for “Movin’ On Up,” one hell of a song that has been around for a while now. According to Filter, he is working on a Fixed Focus album. That’ll be nice, of course. But yeah, check on this video, it’s just about what’d you expect from the man:
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 