On Saturday, September 24, KLYAM fave Girls will be hitting up the Paramount Theater. Up until this point, I have never heard of this place, should be interesting though.
Category Archives: Girls
Chris’s Best of 2010: Concerts
Inspired by Glen’s post here is my list of the greatest concerts (16 damn I saw 21 last year, I’m slacking!) I had the pleasure of seeing in Twenty Ten; if I see anymore I will add them accordingly.
A+ :
1) Black Lips and Box Elders at the Middle East Downstairs- March 25 (best concert ever!)
A:
2) No Age and Needy Visions at the Middle East Downstairs- November 16
3) Wavves, Cloud Nothings, and Young Adults at the Great Scott- June 22
4) King Khan & the Shrines, Gentlemen Jesse and His Men, and Red Mass at the Royale- October 13
5) Deerhunter and Real Estate at the Royale- October 16
A-:
6) Deerhunter, Kurt Vile, and K-Holes at Royale- October 13
7) Nobunny and Maine Coons at the PAs Lounge- June 29
8) Spoon, Deerhunter, Strange Boys at the House of Blues- March 27 (formerly an A show)
B+:
9) Girls and Dum Dum Girls at the Paradise Rock Club- April 1
10) Those Darlins, Strange Boys, and Gentlemen Jesse and His Men at T.T. the Bears- September 17
B:
11) Harlem and Girlfriends at the Great Scott- April 25 (formerly a B+ show)
12) 1964 the Tribute at the Merchantsauto Stadium- August 16 (formerly a B+ show)
B-:
13) Uninhabitable Mansions and the Big Big Bucks at the Middle East Upstairs- May 7 (formerly a B show)
C:
14) Kurt Vile, Real Estate, and Sore Eros at Harpers Ferry- July 23
N/A: I don’t grade my friends’ bands, but in any case I had fun at these shows.
15) Silhouette Rising and The Scouflaws at the West Side Social Club- July 2 (I actually saw countless SR shows, but I can’t remember any of the exact dates except this one)
16) Gold Star Morning at Bull McCabe’s- October 30
Glen’s Best of 2010: Concerts
It looks like another year in concerts has concluded for me. I got to see 22 shows (25 in 2009) at quite a few different venues and three happened to have taken place in New York City (reppin’ Queens). While I’m not so sure 2010 can top 2009 in terms of overall favorite shows, I think it’s safe to say I had a great time concert-going. Looking back, I’m going to rate shows based on three factors: opening bands, headlining band, and experience. A great experience for me is a combination of a great venue, a great crowd, and second-by-second fun. I tend to be pretty analytical about this kind of stuff, so for math people the weighting is as follows: 20% opening bands, 20% experience, and 60% headlining band. Also, I’m usually stricter when it comes to these end of the year tallies.
A
1. Black Lips – Temptress, NYC [95]
2. No Age – Middle East Downstairs [95]
A-
3. Black Lips – Middle East Downstairs [93]
4. King Khan & The Shrines – Royale [92]
5. Wavves – Great Scott [90]
6. Nobunny – PA’s Lounge [90]
B+
7. The Walkmen – Royale [89]
8. Editors – House of Blues [89]
9. Spoon – House of Blues [87]
B
10. Paul Weller – Apollo Theater, NYC [86]
11. Girls – Paradise Rock Club [86]
12. Beach House – Paradise Rock Club [86]
13. Harlem – Great Scott [85]
14. Deerhunter (AUG) – Royale [85]
15. Those Darlins – TT The Bears [84]
16. The Growlers – TT The Bears [84]
B-
17. Deerhunter (OCT) – Royale – [83]
18. Uninhabitable Mansions – Middle East Upstairs [82]
19. Mission of Burma – Paradise Rock Club [81]
C+
20. Vivian Girls – Great Scott [79]
21. Black Lips – The Shank, NYC [78]
22. Kurt Vile – Harper’s Ferry [77]
Garage Explosion – Excellent New Documentary!
Watching this documentary, you might feel like you are reading this website. There are shots of living and deceased (literally/not literally) KLYAM regulars like Black Lips, Jay Reatard, King Khan & BBQ Show as well as shots and interviews with other great musicians and performers like Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Davila 666, The Dirtbombs, The Magic Kids, Hunx and His Punx and Box Elders. What is garage rock? For Jay Reatard, it was about grossing people out. For Joe Bradley, “it’s about keeping it simple, stupid. That’s what we’re [Black Lips] are trying to do. It’s about fun and entertainment.”
VICE goes around interviewing some of the most notable and downright prolific names in garagerock. Part 1 examines the scenes in Memphis and Detroit.
Part 1: http://www.vbs.tv/watch/vbs-music-specials/garage-explosion-part-1-of-3
Part 2: http://www.vbs.tv/watch/vbs-music-specials/garage-explosion-part-2-of-3
EP Review: Broken Dreams Club [2010]
Band: Girls
Release: 11/10
Label: True Panther Sounds
1. “Thee Oh So Protective One” – A
2. “Heartbreaker” – A
3. “Broken Dreams Club” – A+
4. “Alright” – A-
5. “Substance” – A
6. “Carolina” – B
Comments: “Thee Oh So Protective One” is Girls first major composition. There are an array of horns, shakers, and other instrumentation that Girls have not historically taken a crack at. Another thing is the outwardly Latin American feel. “Heartbreaker” continues in the same spirit, though with far less instrumental explosiveness. I must say the lead and rhythm guitars on “Heartbreaker” are up there with the best of what we heard on Album. Typical Owens lyricism from the get-go, but most especially apparent on the slower “Broken Dreams Club.” It’s not just that Owens is lonely. It’s more macrocosmic than that. The world “keeps going nowhere” with wars, poverty, and broken dreams abound. “Substance” reminds me of the scene in Nice Dreams where the dude asks the other dude for the “key” to get him out of the nut house. Timothy Leary puts the “key to the universe” — LSD — in the dudes’ mouths and they go for a “simple ride.” “Carolina” doesn’t really pick up until the song is six minutes deep. Even then, it hardly picks up. Don’t worry though — the first four tracks are pretty spectacular. This is a really good record.
Grade: A- (92)
Song Review: “Heartbreaker”
Band: Girls
Release: 11/2010
Featured On: Broken Dreams Club EP
Comments: Listen to this song and you won’t confuse it for anybody other than Girls. Girls are Girls. They’ve got the suave bass lines, the jangly acoustic guitars, and even a little bit of piano thrown in the mix. This song is good stuff. “When I said that I loved you, honey, I knew that’d you break my heart” is typical Christopher Owens fare. Add a strong guitar solo at the 3/4 mark and you’ve got a real song in your ears. It’s not as amazing or heavy as “Lust for Life” or “Morning Light.” It’s more of a “Lauren Marie” type of tune.
Grade: A-
Free Download: http://www.truepanther.com/#/blog/girls-broken-dreams-club-ep-mp3
Acoustic Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZGkq47iqB4&feature=related
KLYAMER Shuffle
So, I put my ipod on shuffle and here’s what I got:
“Johnny Thunder”- The Kinks
“Subway Train”- The New York Dolls
“The Politics of Starving”- Against Me!
“Goodbye You Lizard Scum”- Bill Hicks
“I Fought the Law”- The Clash
“Truth or Dare”- The King Khan & BBQ Show
“Soul Love”- David Bowie
“Rock For Light” Bad Barins
“God Dammned”- Girls
“Hey You”- Pink Floyd
I recommend other KLYAMERS to do the same just for fun, don’t lie!
My Favorite Singers
In no particular order after the first few.
1) Jay Reatard
2) Mark Sultan
3) Black Lips- Jared Swilley, Cole Alexander, Joe Bradley
4) John Lennon
5) Joey Ramone
6) King Khan
7) Zack De La Rocha
8) Bradford Cox
9) Kurt Cobain
10) Beat Happening- Calvin Johnson and Heather Lewis
11) Roy Orbison
12) Paul McCartney
13) Lou Reed
14) Lou Barlow
15) Freddie Mercury
16) Paul Simon
17) David Bowie
18) Seth Bogart aka “Hunx”
19) Paul Westerberg
20) Morrissey
21) Clayton McIntyre
22) Dean Allen Spunt
23) Jim Morrison
24) Roger Daltrey
25) H.R.
26) Glenn Danzig
27) Jello Biafra
28) Maynard James Keenan
29) Thom Yorke
30) Johnny Cash
31) Tammy Wynette
32) Patsy Kline
33) George Jones
34) Johnny Rotten
35) J Mascis
36) Michael Nau
37) Animal Collective- Panda Bear and Avey Tare
38) Nathan Williams
39) Bobby Vinton
40) Karen Carpenter
41) Dean and Gene Ween
42) Darryl Palumbo
43) Sonic Youth- Thurston Moore, Kim Gordan, and Lee Renaldo
44) Pixies- Black Francis and Kim Deal
45) Ian Mackaye
46) Steve Albini
47) David Byrne
48) Ronettes
49) Supremes
50) Beach Boys- Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love
51) Tom Gabel
52) Conor Oberst
53) Win Butler
54) Bob Marley
55) Leonard Cohen
56) Elvis Presley
57) Daniel Johnston
58) Perry Farrell
59) Elliott Smith- can’t believe I haven’t mentioned him yet!
60) Nick Cave
61) Frank Zappa
62) The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello)
63) Alex Turner
64) Shane MacGowan
65) Chino Moreno
66) Jesus and Mary Chain- Jim and William Reid
67) Meat Puppets- Cris and Kurt Kirkwood
68) Christopher Owens
69) Kip Berman
70) Milo Aukerman
I’m probably forgetting many others….
Matador 21st B-Day
If anyone is in Vegas from October 1 to October 3, you might as well buy tickets for this. You know. Lots of good bands.
WHO IS THIS GUY?!
FIRST PERSON TO CORRECTLY IDENTIFY THE INDIVIDUAL BELOW WILL WIN A PRIZE.
REASON I ASK IS BECAUSE THIS FUCKIN’ GUY IS IN EVERY HUNX MUSIC VIDEO, GIRLS VIDEO, AND HARLEM VIDEO. SURE ALL THOSE BANDS ARE ON MATADOR, BUT WHO IS THIS FUCKIN’ GUY?
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 