KLYAM-004: The Electric Street Queens – Live From Your Dreams We’re The Electric Street Queens KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED!
For now you can stay hard with a sneak peek of “Dontcha Wanna Work At The Brewery?” Be on the lookout for a release show as well! Don’t sue us if you go blind…
Bands: Gymshorts, Grenades In The Archives, The Little Richards, Wet Dress
Date: Monday, May 12, 2014
Venue: Opus (Salem, MA)
We don’t come out to Salem often for shows, even though it’s just a stone’s throw away from us. Luckily, tonight one of our new favorite bands Gymshorts from Providence, RI is playing at the Opus. When we first arrive at the Opus, it looks like we’ve found the wrong place. It’s a bougey, uppercrust bar, at least that’s how it is upstairs. As we make our way to the basement we discover a different setting. Iggy is on the house PA and there’s a band setting up to play.
Wet Dress – Wet Dress is that band setting up to play. Plan 9 From Outer Space is playing on a big screen behind them. I don’t know which to watch the band or the movie? Anyway, Wet Dress is a two piece featuring a dude (Chris) on vocals and guitar and a dudette (Sam) on vocals and drums.
I have never heard of them until now, but they definitely fit on this bill. All of the songs are very loud and very brief. It’s a mixture of classic punk, garage, and twee. Twee as fuck. They have this K Records element to them. I kind of like it and then it kind of turns me off at the same time, what can I say? The sound is decent, but none of the songs stick out to me. http://wetdress.bandcamp.com/
Set-List:
“Rumble”
“Vs Verse”
“Rant”
“Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl”
“All Right”
“(I’m Not Your) Manic Pixie Dream Girl”
“Brat”
“FUCC”
“Jerkoff”
“Summer Break”
“Slutever”
“Queer”
“Yr Mai Proct”?
The Little Richards – I saw these guys before at a show at O’Brien’s back in October with Atlantic Thrills. This set is pretty much the same as that one, except there’s a lot more people and they’re all over the Richards.
The Little Richards blitz through a series of speedy Ramones and pop punk inspired tunes. The crowd of fellow Northshorers eat it up, passinoately singing along to all of the songs.
I’m not overly into this style exactly (don’t get me wrong I LOVE the Ramones), but I can admire the band for putting on a good show and writing some decent songs. They always seem to be having fun and that’s all that matters. http://thelittlerichards.bandcamp.com/
Grenades In The Archives – This is pretty sludgey. It’s deafening, almost unnecessarily so. If I’m losing my hearing I want to know it’s for a good reason. Lightning Bolt kicked the shit out of my eardrums, but it was all worth it. I can’t say the same in this instance.
More importantly, it just all sounds the same. Which could be said for The Little Richards, but at least with the Richards they have the songs to back up the style. I just can’t hear any songs here. I need catchy, distinct, impressionable songs. Listening to their bandcamp now, however, the songs come through a bit more. Still, not exactly up my alley. http://grenadesinthearchives.bandcamp.com/
Gymshorts – Hail thee almighty Gymshorts. These shorts never stop. They’re everywhere. They’re in Providence (their hometown), they’re in New York, they’re in Lowell, they’re in Boston, they’re standing right behind you ready to get HIGH and STONED 24/7 and 25/7 when it’s Daylight Savings. At least the time we gain an hour. When we lose an hour, aww shucks.
As always, Gymshorts plow through the room with a batch full of insane, fuzzed out gahridge phunk for the kids to rock and/or roll to. I’m not kidding on this one. One of these Salem witches rolls right across the floor during the shorts’ set.
This band always kicks ass and takes names, but sometimes the crowd can be too mellow and square. On this evening the crowd goes apeshit, but in an odd sort of way. There’s quasi moshing, all sorts of offbeat dancing. Is this some sort of ska shit? Haha, who cares as long as people are moving. There’s plenty of time to not move when you’re dead.
Ohh yeah and one gentleman even throws his shoes off, taking one of the band members’ requests quite literally. Whatever floats your boat. Salem always gives me the willies.
GYMSHORTS! http://gymshorts.bandcamp.com/
Band: The Modern Lovers
Year: 1981
Label: BOMP! Records
The Modern Lovers, I tell you, if you didn’t find this one among your dad’s record stacks plus you have no idea what these dudes were even about, I’ll try to explain a little bit. The back cover liner notes by Kim Fowley and Jonathan Richman shed size six font mounds of text, but basically here goes: Fowley comes upon The Modern Lovers, brings them to a studio, and the group finishes these recordings in one day under Fowley utterances like “think Sun Records! Think history!” Says a New York Rocker critic, had these recordings come out in 1972, “it would have changed everything that happened in the ’70s.” Richman – who is aided on here by Jerry Harrison, David Robinson, and Ernie Brooks – is a good deal more unassuming when it comes to The Original Modern Lovers. He notes that this LP was neither truly recorded in the Spring of ’72 as is advertised nor all recorded in a single session. I remember listening to this outside last summer (I believe for the first time… at least in a long while) and my mom commented ‘who is that kid singing? Sounds awful.’ Sheez I said, if this sounds awful how do I sound? She said better. I guess that is partially what moms are for. To me OML is gold. These songs aren’t ’60s garage fratters, they aren’t heavy, certainly not pop-polished. Instead, they stand firmly on their own, some truly rockin’ numbers like the MassFamous ‘Road Runner #1/#2’ with references to Stop and Shop, ‘Astral Plane’ and ‘Girlfren’. Inspiration – Iggy and Lou – that’s the inspiration Richman cites. You’ll hear figments of those guys on here. But beyond that, The Original Modern Lovers is an “i don’t care what anyone thinks, i’m gonna have fun and do what I do in my own way, with my voice and the tons of inflections and manipulations that I can think of” situation. That way of thinking is wilder than a lot of music that sounds wilder, it allows wasteful youths to sucker in rock ‘n roll history without taking abridged shortcuts. A silent trailblazer into some DIY musical landscape that started with punk and runs riot today. I like that people could be fronting all like what is this shit, he doesn’t know how to sing, is this even music. Jonathan Richman is content, somewhere. I’m down with that.
Band: Thee Oh Sees
Year: 2008
Label: Castleface Records
This is an islandy (deserted, of course) heck of a record that if you’re down with the style, you’ll be satisfied thru and thru. I am. Minimalism dominates, but there are some fleshed out moments resulting in more of the rock ‘n roll side of the group we’d see on later releases. Brigid and John’s vocals are angelic/psychedelic, matter of fact this might be more like a Jandek in his prime LP if it wasn’t for those two absolutely delighting our ears. The arrangements are pretty sparse with light, eccentric folk guitar and a Beets esque rhthym though Thee Oh Sees do just fine with little or no drums. Like an Island Carnivale wax export from Bermuda, there’s a real personal charm that’s directly connected to nature. The birds are singing along, perhaps fully aware that this group is primitively San Franciscan. Thee Hounds capture an endearing phase of chilled out Oh Sees that your I SAW EM SHRED HARD AT PITCHFORK FEST newbie would probably be surprised and hopefully glad to hear about. Perfect for outdoors vinyl spinning – your neighbors won’t be disturbed, grandma can sneak a nap in, mom will water the plants, and you’ll be there sitting with your shirt off (or on), pen in hand, gentle breeze, and green cup of iced water. Fuck you waited eight months for this moment. BUT this is conversely ideal, winter by the fire, loved ones in full existential quarter life crisis mode. Enjoy the sun while it’s out, you island raiders.
Won’t you look what we have here – HIGH WAISTED from New York City. Legend has it that they went to Nashville, recorded in a haunted house ON ACID, and lived to tell about it. Legends are reality for these four. I’m glad because they are performing very gripping surf rock ‘n roll in the big city. The Acid Tapes are as noir as you might imagine plus dreamy, slimy, and ramshackle. What fine traits to possess in 2014! Git on listening and hey if you are around, trip yourself to Rough Trade in a few weeks (Saturday, July 12th) to catch them performing on a bill that also includes Rose Windows.
Directed by “Crazy” Alfred Matthew
Video shot by Sixdust NYC Music
Watch this video of Brooklyn’s Robot Death Kites going nuts at their Yuppie Nightmare EP release show at The Flat. I can’t think of a better way to spend the next half hour.
Give the EP a listen here: http://robotdeathkites.bandcamp.com/
Bands: Free Pizza, Babes, Gymshorts, Secret Lover, Con Tex
Date: Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Venue: Midway Cafe (Jamaica Plain, MA)
The evening begins with a quick trip to the Whitehaus to say a few hellos and meet some friendly faces, both old and new. We have a grand old meeting of the minds with a member of the band Babes, whom will be playing later tonight. His name escapes me, but he is the gentleman wearing the Buck Biloxi & The Fucks tee shirt. If you’re reading this, how are you fine sir? We shoot the shit over Jay Reatard, King Louie, and various Memphis/NOLA based bands. All goodness.
After our quick visit, it’s off to the Midway Cafe. For whatever reason, we’ve never been here before, so it’s exciting to finally step foot in the place. I always dig experiencing a venue for the first time. The Midway is fairly spacious with a large bar area, plenty of room to dance, and a fairly big stage. Not bad, we’ll have to come here more often.
Kofi Thomas, a local stand up comedian introduces all of the bands and delivers some amusing comedy of his own before the show and in between acts.
Con Tex – Con Tex is a Whitehaus Family Records folk legend. We’ve been interested in his music for a couple years now and have ran into the man at several hootenannies, but we’ve actually never seen Con Tex live. A high crime indeed.
Tonight, Con Tex is backed by a full band. Altogether, they create a ginormous rawk sound. I picture these men practicing their music off somewhere in a cabin in the woods, playing for hours. There’s this woodsy feel to the music.
I can’t quite put my finger on any concrete comparisons here, but I dig it. At its best, it evokes the atmosphere found in a Girls Of The Gravitron song. Who? Yeah, I know you don’t know them, but check em’ out. I know I also just said that I couldn’t think of any comparisons, but then I did, so what? I could also see folks interested in Led Zeppelin and 70s rock moving to this music. Who knows? There is nothing in this world, but possibilities. http://contex.bandcamp.com/
Secret Lover – Worcester’s Secret Lover always finds their way onto the finest bills. I’ve never actually gone out of my way to see the band live, but I’ve seen them many times, because like I said they often play on sick bills. Regardless, they are a fun, hip shaking inducing party band. They always get people going, thanks in part to lead singer Sally’s never ending enthusiasm. So yeah, they’re a cool band. You should give them a listen or see them around New England, which shouldn’t be too hard because they’re always playing. http://secretlover.bandcamp.com/
Blasts, that infernal train! Once again it kept us from seeing sick rock ‘n’ roll music. Especially our faves Gymshorts and Free Pizza :( as well as NOLA’s Babes :(. Babes were on tour, check them out here: http://babesuniverse.net/music.php
Video by Jolerude eh.
This band is awesome! Glad to see them in action again, even if this is a one off or whatever.
They travel far and wide to see him play and when he does, it is a show experience they do not forget. True T-shirts and postcards in his back pocket I can only assume – Noah Britton is back with a new album (which follows, as order has it, his really spectacular release Love and Fame that I wrote about last year) entitled yes I know you know FINALLY! because these songs finally sound great. Those aren’t my words; I’ve had my way with Benefit’s Bandcamp and I recognize some of FINALLY! from his recorded live sets. Check those out if you have not. The souls of sing-a-long staples “Love of my Life,” “Riding” and “Love Your Family” are kept in tact and beaming. The arrangements and production are courtesy of Dane Filipczak. Such dynamics push these songs further into beautiful abyss – pianos, toy instruments, percussion, extra voices. Noah is quite the minimalist, a master funny man, funny by way of bona fide lyrics. “Let’s sing to chickens, They like cock rock!” on new-to-me you say “You give me hope,” I sing these funny lines. Humor is not the case on “We Forgive You” well I mean it could be but I’m going to go with no. Flinty and affectionate. The cowshed burner, the closer, is that which I mentioned earlier: “Love Your Family”. If I knew anything about ’50s musicality, I would go on about that, but here we have a dreamy oldie with a striking sense of modernity. It is perfect for feeling bad about missing an ACLU Benefit set in the name of leaving early to attend to family functions and longing for the next. Well well this six songer impresses me further. Noah’s been going at it for decades, knows his capabilities, and rolls the dice – in this case working with an arranger who by the end of it seemed to have just as much fun. Cease and resist.
Link: http://aclubenefit.bandcamp.com/album/finally
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 