From Norton’s Website: Ten spectacular new recordings featuring members of the Black Lips, Gentleman Jesse and his Men and the Carbonas! Nine originals plus an amazing Sanford Clark cover! Pretty Boy / You Were With Him / His Girl / We Are Only Gonna Die / Jesus Didn’t Try Hard Enough To Save My Soul / Cry Of The Castrati / O So Far Away / I Wanna Join The James Gang / Still As The Night / Don’t Get Married
Long live the Rifles! This sounds like a song that would be in FIFA.
Band: Jacuzzi Boys
Release: 9/2011
Label: Hardly Art
1. “Vizcaya” – B
2. “Automatic Jail” – B-
3. “Glazin” – B+
4. “Cool Vapors” – C+
5. “Libras and Zebras” – C
6. “Crush” – C+
7. “Silver Sphere (Death Dream)” – C
8. “Zeppelin” – C-
9. “Los Angeles” – B
10. “Koo Koo With You” – C-
Comments: Upfront disclosure: I did not expect a softie album from the Jacuzzi Boys. Now, softie to one may be hardcore punk to another. This is a lite album, though, a diet rock ‘n roll. Traditional pop hooks are everywhere on Glazin’…make no mistake. It’s just that No Seasons, the band’s debut from 2009, possessed these hooks and then some. We live in times where bands with even the most marginal independent label support can spend longer time in a studio setting and complete a nicer sounding record. Sometimes, though, nicer sounding comes across as forced. The late great Jay Reatard didn’t find any remote worth in arranging a block of time for recording. He recorded whenever he felt like it. True, many bands don’t have 24/7 access to sophisticated home recording equipment, but Jay’s point holds. I feel like the experimentation that Jacuzzi Boys endeavor in is a result of them having that extra studio time available. In the end, they stick with internal familiarity. Mid-album songs like “Libras and Zebras” and “Crush” don’t sound like anything the Jacuzzi Boys have done, but by that point in the album it’s as if “oh yeah, I’ve heard something like that a few tracks ago, but it was better.” With “Silver Sphere,” we have an excessive song on our hands folks. It drags and stuff. I sense a bit of cheesiness with Glazin’. It’s fun to be fun and the Jacuzzi’s seemed to have carried that kind of spirit in the making of this record, but where’s the “Smells Dead” and “Island Avenue” circa 2011?
Grade: C+ (77)
This was one of the most entertaining Nardwuar interviews I have ever seen. So, I guess the Black Lips have rivals in the urination department. Just watch the interview.
Can’t wait for Friday- Hunx and His Punx @ T.T the Bears!
Band: Dum Dum Girls
Release: 9/2011
Label: Sub Pop
1. “Always Looking” – A+
2. “Bedroom Eyes” – A
3. “Just A Creep” – A-
4. “In My Head” – A-
5. “Heartbeat” – B+
6. “Caught in One” – A-
7. “Coming Down” – A+
8. “Wasted Away” – A-
9. “Teardrops On My Pillow” – B+
10. “Hold Your Hand” – B
Comments: Quick thing that I’ve noticed right off: Dee Dee’s voice goes full-circle in the sexiness/appealing category. “Always Looking” is an Austin Powers 4 sound-track candidate with swampy guitar and even a happy-go-lucky clapping part. FELT! HEART! Haven’t heard that kind of stuff since The Go Team! In terms of stuffiness of hooks and all that stuff (pun intended), this album gets high marks. I’ve always thought Dum Dum Girls had some serious development potential when I saw them open twice for KK+BBQ. It was a relatively new band at the time so things live weren’t as “hitting” as on record. But this record is much fuller than I Will Be. We get better harmonies, better vocal focus. As various press releases indicate, Only in Dreams is about relationship emptiness and life emptiness. Despite this subject matter, it never really gets in the way of fun rock ‘n’ roll. It gives Dee Dee a much better platform as a song-writer. Make no mistaking Dum Dum Girls with their girl group contemporaries. The middle chunk of songs are fine pieces, but it’s not until “Coming Down” that things pick up. This song is powerful (as I’ve mentioned in a previous review) and will knock you on your ass if your susceptible to this kind of excellence. Upon showing it to someone, they quipped… is this a live recording? Not so much the case, though the distorted/washed guitars make one wonder. I am fan of this. Puts more focus on the beautiful songwriting. Bridge is perfect: “I THINK I’M COMING DOWN. HERE I GO…HERE I GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” It does indeed have the same chord progression/vocal stylings as Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” but builds on it in a very modern fashion. As a rule, I Will Be packs more immediate punches, more in your face(ness) than Only in Dreams. Only in Dreams takes its time and this just goes to show to you how far this band has come. Going from Sub Pop rookies, to King Khan and BBQ Show openers, to Girls openers, they’ve spent quite a bit of time covering a lot of ground while getting their music out there. And great for them. They are headlining The Paradise in October. Check this out, check that out.
Grade: A- (91)
I was shocked to see that this song has never been posted on this site! What is up with that? What is the world coming to? This is the Lips’ first single, “Ain’t Comin’ Back” and damn is it exquisite. Vintage Lips- even in their early days they contained all of the Punk Slime that makes them the Black Lips; especially Cole’s little, out of control, six year old vocals. Excellent. Every fan MUST hear this.
P.S. ya ya with all the recent, perhaps excessive Lips posts, we’re starting to look like a Black Lips fan site, which in some ways we are and always have been, but in other ways we’re something totally different. Always keep that in mind and check out everything we have to offer, you would be surprised how much shit from all areas of art, entertainment, news, politics, and just about anything else you can/will come across on KLYAM. One could find posts on Carl Jung, G.G. Allin, how to swallow pills, famous supreme court cases, Anarchism, and an in depth analysis of two girls, one cup… God, the list is endless! I guess I like to think of it as a life appreciation site, but that sounds really, really gay and not in a “it’s not that I think you’re bad looking, u don’t like Rock and Roll!!!” kinda gay, I mean the Un-PC, “this is lame… this is so gay” kinda gay. Alright, I should probably quit while I’m ahead.
Yeee kid Wavves! “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl” is the latest release from honorary KLYAMers, Wavves. This is a sneak peek at the the forthcoming EP Life Sux. I am definitely digging this tune, very catchy, very sincere. I’d say Wavves fans will probably enjoy this, but it’s not a carbon copy of anything they have done in the past and that’s a really good thing. That’s something I think everyone forgets about Wavves, how much they switch up their sound from record to record whilst still maintaining an incredible pop sensibility that destroys nearly every other current band in the universe. This track is absolutely likeable and I plan on listening to this over and over again, but I wouldn’t say this is top tier Wavves material. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a really solid track, but we’re talking Wavves here, I don’t need to enumerate the classics, y’all should know em! So, naturally my standards are higher. I guess I’m just looking for something else that isn’t quite there, I don’t know, but this one isn’t of the same caliber as their best. With that being said, it is an otherwise terrific song and also a great “End of Summer” tune to nicely transition from the beach to the classroom. Sonically, Wavves is on top of their game, not too foreign for them, but it works. It’s not King of the Beach, but sounds just as nice. You’re hooked from the first few seonds, the guitar riff is certainly memorable. At the end of the day, I get the impression that meeting Dave Grohl means something more to him than just an autograph. To me, Wavves has always been more than meets the eye. On the surface it looks like your typical hipster fare. Typical emo, whiny, teeny bopper stuff. But, what that really is, is honesty. Instead of trying to be something they’re not, they vulnerably are themselves, and in this way they can take on the world.
Grade: Light 7 to strong 8, this track is seriously growing on me, excitement is brewing in the air!
“Family Tree”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i5JV-PZcD4
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