Category Archives: Music
The Return of the Fuzz!
The Return of the Fuzz
Anyone out there tired of listening to the same mainstream songs on the radio over and over again? Does Coldplay sound too clean for you? Well, no need to worry, a musical elixir has arrived and it is here to stay. Within the past few years, fans and critics alike have witnessed a tornado in the revival of Garage Rock.
Garage Rock is a genre of music that emerged in the early 1960’s primarily in The United States and Canada, but certainly not limited to those two countries. Simply stated, the music was pure, raw, noisy, and often self-produced. The title of the genre literally refers to bands beginning in their garages creating the aforementioned sound and it later being reflected in their recordings. Most groups of the Garage variety have become obscure names or one hit wonders. On the other hand, British Invasion artists, like The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and the early Beatles share elements of the no holds barred style in their work. For instance, in The Beatles’ 1963 hit, “Twist and Shout,” the vocals are rather loud and raspy. For readers who are unfamiliar with Garage Rock, listen to the tune again and you will hear it!
Despite the fact that these bands never became as commercially successful as The Beatles, The Kinks, or The Rolling Stones, this did not diminish their clear influence on future generations, particularly the first wave of American and British Punk Rock bands. In fact, Garage icons, The Sonics and The Seeds have been noted for shaping the music of several Punk pioneers, such as The Ramones and The Dead Boys, respectively.
Today, we are fortunate enough to have a myriad of young musicians, who have heard and studied the music of their parents and are injecting the latter’s style with Punk Rock attitude and Pop hooks. This is where we arrive at the revival of Garage Rock. So, what makes this style so unique? Why should consumers of music pay any attention to it? Well, for starters it deviates from the normal, almost formula-driven music listeners hear in the mainstream. Much of today’s stars record radio friendly, overly produced songs. Even artists that may not fall under the banner of “mainstream,” but have garnered commercial success maintain absolutely disparate production values than their earsplitting counterparts. Popular metal bands, Rage Against the Machine and Tool profess to dedicating years recording their LPs. Garage Revival artists, chiefly, The Black Lips, King Khan & The BBQ Show, Jay Reatard, and The Dirtbombs stand in direct contrast to these aesthetics. They release material that is unpolished and often recorded in a brief amount of time. For example, The Black Lips and the King Khan & BBQ Show joined forces and formed the super group, The Almighty Defenders and recorded a self-titled, twelve song, Gospel album in just a few days. But, this isn’t foreign in the Garage world. Jay Reatard claims to have written one of his latest songs, “It Aint Gonna Save Me,” in just one hour and recorded the number in a mere day and a half!
Fans of Rock and Roll will appreciate the fact that these modern bands are resuscitating the fun, rebellion, and simplicity of the devil’s music. So, if you miss the element of shock or dare I say danger in Rock, and then give these wild hipsters some ear time.
Chris
As seen in the UMass Lowell Connector
Concert Review: The Walkmen, Here We Go Magic, The Dig @ Mid East Downstairs (9/19/09)
Bands: The Walkmen, Here We Go Magic, The Dig
Venue: Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Dig
Ben: The Dig was really good. They have great bass work. The bassist/singer looks like John Mayer but dresses and sings like the guy from Vampire Weekend [Ezra Koenig]. The guitarist/singer’s songs kind of remind me of early Radiohead. The Dig does unconventional rhythm very well. I’m getting technical here but they use weird time signatures and timing changes, and sometimes it’s hard to tell where the “center of gravity” is. But it’s a really nice change from your standard timing in music. It’s also a technique that’s *very* hard to pull off. With their stuff it’s often much harder to locate the center of gravity. That’s what really stood out about them for me. Really great, inventive rhythms.
Glen: The Dig were just as awesome Night Two as Night One and in the end probably slightly better. They changed up their set-list trivially. Both nights the song I loved most was “Penitentiary.” It has all the makings of a mainstream power pop number, yet it still maintains a very distinctive alt-country sound. The bassist/singer’s voice is very distinctive. I think the guitarist/singer’s songs were more experimental, less hard rock. An example of the heavier stuff was the song “Just Wanna Talk To You,” bringing back memories of live Louis XIV but more explosive and…better! The first night they ended with that…the second night it was second-to-last.
Chris: Pretty damn loud and noisy, so of course I liked it. They rocked out and were really passionate about their music.
Here We Go Magic
Ben: Here We Go Magic was great especially considering the drummer situation. It was the first time I heard “Tunnelvision” with electric instruments and I liked the noisy turn it took towards the end. Luke’s vocals were great.
Glen: Go Chad! Once again, I want to recognize him for truly being instrumental to HWGM’s Night Two set. Night One was ambient…Night Two still maintained ambiance, but all songs especially “Tunnelvision” and “Fangela” sounded far greater with Chad. It takes a lot for an experimental folk band like HWGM to perform a well-executed set; each band member was up to task and enthusiastic.
Chris: I liked it, but not as much as the first band. I commend Chad, the fill-in drummer for having the chops to play on par with the band. Also the bass guitarist and the pianist were sexy!
The Walkmen
Ben: The Walkmen are a tight group with a good mix of songs. Good mix of alt-country, folk, and noisier rock. Really great singer.
Glen: Showcasing quite a bit of new material (according to the band, some old songs they refuse to play), The Walkmen proved that they didn’t need to delve too deep into their repertoire to be awesome. Both nights were astonishing (mind-blowing), but Night Two took the cake! Night Two was quite similar to Night One in a lot of ways; a brass section was featured notably on “Canadian Girl,” “Louisiana,” and “Red Moon,” Ham’s veins were popping out of his neck, etc, etc. Both nights featured the best of the Walkmen (at least according to your average fan): “In the New Year” and “The Rat.” BUT only on Night Two did The Walkmen play “Thinking Of A Dream” (incredible audience reception), “Donde Esta La Playa,” and Bows and Arrows classic “138th Street.” The Walkmen are a class act and no less than one of the best active bands in today’s post-punk revival era.
Chris: They put on a fantastic show! I loved “Louisiana,” especially the horn section. My favorite song was “In the New Year.” Hamilton clearly has a distinctive voice.
Daniel O’Donnell
Sings “Here I Am Lord”:
Pictures From Night Two
Everyone dug the Dig!
Luke Temple and crew were without their drummer. A spectator standing near me from Night One named Chad, a huge fan of the band, offered to fill-in as the drummer. And he was nothing short of excellent.
Hamilton Leithauser and the horns!
Leithauser and Paul Maroon deserve an equal amount of credit for the fine show that they put on both nights. Leithauser played guitar on a few songs and sung his heart out on every song. Maroon handled lead guitar on all songs. Not pictured, but thanks and credit should go to Walter Martin (keyboards/bass), Peter Bauer (keyboards/bass) and Matt Barrick (drums) as well.
Night One: “The Rat”
Just a few notes from last night: The Dig were amazing. The bass lines on all of their songs just were, again, amazing. Pure rock n’ roll. Here We Go Magic were without their drummer and as a result they had to rely on looped guitar effects and spacey keyboards. Of course, “Fangela” and “Tunnelvision” were the most recognizable highlights. As witnessed in the video above the Walkmen played their most all-time most popular song “The Rat” followed by “In The New Year,” their hit from 2008’s You and Me. They also performed “Canadian Girl,” “Four Provinces,” “On The Water,” “Postcards From Tiny Islands,” and “Red Moon” off of You and Me. Of course a four piece horns section contributed to a few of those songs and it was awesome! They might have played “Little House of Savages,” but I honestly can’t remember! They played a three song encore. The last song of the night? What else but a 9 piece rendition of “Louisiana”! That would make Chris happy if they did that again. I just want to say that Hamilton Leithauser is the man. I’ve always thought of him that way, but you gotta see this guy live! He was pounding shit out like crazy and he’s always got that look like he is pissed, but he really isn’t.
Can’t wait until tonight!
Take a Spaceshit!
Early Canadian footage of King Khan aka Blacksnake haha and the BBQ in their first band, The Spaceshits. Enjoy!
Chris
Hopes For Tonight + Tommorow
I have the privilege (or rather the money) to see the Walkmen two nights in a row at the Middle East Downstairs (voted my favorite all-time music venue). I don’t have a lot of expectations, but I do have some hopes:
I hope for the Walkmen to play the following songs:
– You and Me in its entirety
– “We’ve Been Had” and the “Crimps” off The Walkmen
– “Red River”
– The first eight tracks off Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone
– “Yellow Kid” and “I’m Your Son” covers
– Their four Leonard Cohen covers!
– Bows and Arrows in its entirety
Okay so what’s going to probably end up happening is this: they play at least half of You and Me, “Lost in Boston” for sure, no covers, a new one or two, and a select few tracks off their other albums, including a couple that I’ve never extensively listened to before. Whatever they do (somewhere between 10 and 20 songs for sure) I won’t be complaining!
My other hope is for front row both nights. I can make some adjustments if I don’t get front row tonight (aka get there earlier tommorow night), but as always it is more desirable that way. I anticipate a pretty big crowd both nights.
CD Review: Almighty Defenders
Band: Almighty Defenders
Label: Vice Records
Release: September 22, 2009
1. “All My Loving” – 9.7
2. “The Ghost With The Most” – 9.9
3. “Bow Down and Die” – 9.8
4. “Cone of Light” – 10
5. “Jihad Blues” – 9.4
6. “30 Second Air Blast” – 8.3
7. “Death Cult Soup n’ Salad” – 8.1
8. “I’m Coming Home” – 9.8
9. “Over the Horizon” – 9.5
10. “She Came Before Me” – 9.6
11. “The Great Defender” – 9.8
Comments: There are top shelf amazing songs on this album. And then there others that are a shelf below those. Unfortunately for a good half of these songs, they sound better live than on record. On “The Ghost With The Most” the lyrics work great with the rhythm…makes you wonder how the eff this was made in a four day framework. All of the singers on this work of art use their vocal skills in a highly appropriate fashion. For instance what would “Bow Down and Die” be without Cole’s voice on the verses? What would “Cone of Light” be without Mark Sultan? Speaking of “Cone of Light”…it’s a masterpiece! It’s fast paced garage-gospel…reminiscent of early King Khan and BBQ Show minus the gospel. “Jihad Blues” is (at least partially) a commentary on 9/11 and Muslim extremism. “Just give me a one way ticket and a box cutter” screams a voice. Even the instrumental “30 Second Air Blast” is strangely okay. “Death Cult…” is just a more fucked up continuation of the previous song. More fucked up is better. The album as a whole would be better without these two filler tracks. “I’m Coming Home” is a catchy and swampy cover of a Mighty Hannibal song. The screams of “That’s all right” during “She Came Before Me” sound so so ancient. A great song to sing lead for my man Jared Swilley. “The Great Defender” is just a preacher doing his thang dubbed over a constant bass/drum part. Will we look back on this album years from now and say this was a revolutionary album? Probably not. Not every year does a concept come out like this one. The whole Almighty Defenders shtick continues to amaze me and will for a while.
Grade: 9.4
Listen to the stream here. Then pre-order or buy the album!
Atlas Sound – Walkabout
Nothing more than just a fun song! Reminds me of nice late summer days like today. It features Noah Lennox of Animal Collective.
What did you want to see? What did you want to be when you grew up?
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 