Category Archives: Music

CD Review, Dum Dum Girls, Music

CD Review: Only in Dreams [2011]

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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)

Art, Black Lips, Cole Alexander, Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, Punk, rant, Video

SOTD: Black Lips- “Ain’t Comin’ Back” (2002)

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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.

Art, Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, Punk, reviews, Song Review, Video, Wavves

Wavves- “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl” Review

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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!

Art, Black Lips, Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, Punk, Video

Funny, Unofficial, Fan Created Noc-A-Homa Video

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This fan made video for the Black Lips’s new song “Noc-A-Homa” caught my attention the second I saw the “crying” indian on the side of my You Tube page. For other humorous, politically incorrect Black Lips videos featuring Native Americans, check out the 2003 classic “Fad” from their eponymous debut LP Black Lips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f23WGWyk28

Long Live Chief Noc-A-Homa!

Art, Black Lips, Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, Nobunny, Punk, Video

KLYAM Motivational Songs for the New School Year

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It’s that time of the year when all the kiddies (including myself) are heading back to school and what better a way to make the transition than KLYAM Motivational Songs!

Black Lips– “Go Out and Get It” (2011)

Nobunny– “Live It Up” (2010)

Black Lips– “New Direction” (2011)

That should give you all the inspiration and motivation you need to conquer this school year.

Yeah, this is about the only time the words Black Lips, Nobunny, and school will come together in one nicely packed sentence.

Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, News, Wavves

Wavves Scoring New MTV Series/Playing @ Royale W/ F’ED UP

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http://www.billboard.com/news/wavves-nathan-williams-to-score-mtv-hipster-1005329132.story#/news/wavves-nathan-williams-to-score-mtv-hipster-1005329132.story

This is quite interesting, brah. Whether you like MTV or not (which, I don’t) if you’re a fan of Wavves then you will at least give Nathan his due and check it out or keep your mouth shut. Nathan and Wavves have never steered us wrong, so I look forward to hearing some sweet tunes. We’ll see how this goes. Can’t wait to hear the new Life Sux EP.

P.S. as much as I hate corporations- and as a sidebar I do feel uncofortable about the fact that they label Wavves as “hipster music” and that’s why they are using it for their show. Sure, a lot of hipsters listen to Wavves, but hip or not, has nothing to do with the quality of their music. Anyway, as much as I like to bash corporate music, I’m not going to hold it against Nathan or the band for soundtracking (is that a word?) an MTV series.

————————

Wavves is playing (opening) the ROYALE on Friday, September 23 with Fucked Up, abbreviated F’ED UP here because Fucked Up is just too long of a name.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! On top of all the other exciting Wavves news, here is a video from The Daily Habit of Wavves performing one of my favorite rap/hip hop songs (“Liquid Swords”) with one of my favorite rap/hip hop artists, GZA. GZA just loves jamming with Honorary KLYAMers: Black Lips, King Khan, and now Wavves. Yeeeeee.

http://www.fuel.tv/thedailyhabit?bcpid=1065729084001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAACH-rHw~,j8yR5XKqsw4e-eydy2gZmeLPldJTuQVv&bclid=1064083716001&bctid=1129168480001

Music, Random, Rap

“Deep Ghetto On Lock”

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I used to compose hip-hop songs back in ninth grade. I had a MySpace page. I remember distributing CDs of my material in the hallways. I was cleaning out my room today in search of some remnants of my past work. All was lost, I thought. I couldn’t remember what I called myself. GMONEY, Gmags, gspinit? Ah, yes, G-Spin-It. I knew I reached some level of notoriety when a senior at the Homecoming Dance asked me if I could do a live performance of my Spanglish hit “Orgullo de Rappers”. Well in between September 2005 and September 2006, my voice changed from pre-pubescent Hispanic wanna-be to just about what a 15 year old should sound like. I know this because I recorded myself rapping over an instrumental of “Shake Your Money Maker”. These were the days. Here are the words to an unreleased, lost song from 2006.

No need for me to enter club scene
Being fifteen, I rock ya mic
Like I’m a big bad machine
Like the yellow submarine
I sink you, blink once I’ll out-think you
That’s right foo, join my crew or screw
I pull through
To pursue my dream to the extreme
I light ya beam, with whipped cream
I don’t care if I didn’t make the B-ball team
I still exhibit my scheme

I ain’t no Chamillionaire or Kanye
What I do is under pay my way to success
Suppress my progress is to recess
But what I got to confess is my guess
To be number one, without a gun
You poke fun, you’z be outdone
This is what I begun
I ain’t leavin’, believin’ that I’m achievin’
No deceiving’, rather retrieving my diamond and gold
Proven, I don’t need to be told
Let alone be controlled about how I rhyme
It’s a matter of time before I turn platinum
And succumb to a mystery
Without a doubt I’m the best rhymer
In History!

Link To G-Spin-It Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gspinit

Art, Band of the Week, Music, Video

BOTW: Adam Green

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Turn your noggin to the righthand side of this page. Who is that there? Why that is none other than the Adam Green Machine. Our Band of the Week or should I say Man of the Week. Green’s unique brand of pop music evokes laughter, tears, and confusion- often all at one moment. I admit I just started getting into him and have only heard one of his records, Friends of Mine (2003), which will be reviewed in the near future. I would say he is bigger than most of our featured BOTW artists, but if you have not heard of him, seriously give his work some sincere eartime. Whether you like it or not, I guarantee you will walk away scarred for life.

Kisses!