“I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.”
Every guy has jacked off to her at least once… you can deny it all you want, but I’m way above your tom foolery.
Category Archives: pictures
Classic DVD Review: Dinosaur Jr Live in the Middle East
Full Title: Dinosaur Jr: Live in the Middle East
Director: Philipp Virus
Artists: Dinosaur Jr: J Mascis- Vocals, Guitar. Lou Barlow- Vocals, Bass. Murph- Drums
Year: Filmed in 2005, released in 2006
Set List:
1) Gargoyle
2) Kracked
3) Bulbs of Passion
4) Little Furry Things
5) Lose
6) Forget the Swan
7) The Post
8) Budge
9) The Lung
10) The Wagon
11) Raisans
12) Sludgefeast
13) Mountain Man
14) Chunks
15) In a Jar
16) Repulsion
17) Just Like Heaven
Comments: I’ve seen Dinosaur Jr live and without a doubt they are a tour de force, one of the most powerful live bands in the world. This concert in particular is special for two reasons: 1) It was not too long after their reunion, sixteen years after the demise of the original line up. 2) This concert is shot at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA (for the most part) the home state of Dinosaur. The venue is a small, comfy place and gives the band/DVD a certain character. It makes the performance feel homey and intimate. Typically, most Concert DVDs you see feel the total opposite. Since, the Middle East is my favorite venue, I also felt a greater connection and it seemed like Dinosaur was right at home. Overall, I enjoyed the performance and the band were incredible as usual, playing mostly 80s, You’re Living All Over Me (1987) material, which naturally added its own vibes and made the concert/DVD feel all the more like the good old times of the original Dinosaur years. With that being said, the band really carries this DVD. In other words, the DVD offers very little beyond filming the band and a few crowd shots, not much more. It is akin to a youtube video and for me this is surely not enough. In terms of bonus features, we have some treats: interviews with Thurston Moore, Kim Gordan, Steve Albini, Mike Watt, Mat Dillon, and others. They provide great insight and clear appreaciaton for the group. Here, we also see the lack of dedication for this DVD, for the footage itself is given little treatment and poor audio/lightning, but once again the content saves the viewer from running away. We also see a few performances from the band and a radio station performance/interview, which are decent.
Grade: 7/10- Great band, great show, but not a great DVD per se. Still if you’re a big fan I’d recommend it, I will watch it and enjoy it over and over again, because I’m just one of those kinda guys.
Classic Concert Review: Shattered Records Tour
Artist(s): Jay Reatard, Nobunny, Hunx and His Punx, Box Elders, and Useless Eaters
Location: Harpers Ferry, Alston, MA
Date: October 2, 2009
Pre-Show Activity: Doors opened at 8, so we arrived at 8, but that was not good enough apparently. Doors were now to open at 8:30. In the meantime we shot the shit with Billy, drummer for Nobunny, whom would later play before Jay Reatard. Billy was a great guy and provided Glen and myself with insight on the real world of garage rock: Grueling tour schedules (driving in vans to and fro, none of that pussy bus shit), partying, and fun fun Rock and Roll! Having played with Jay for some time, Billy voiced his admiration for the band, particularly the incredibly fast guitar playing. He also mentioned the light and dark sides of Mr. Reatard (calm at one moment and gonzo the next); no surprise.
The Show:
Useless Eaters:
Chris: This duo composed of Reatard on bass with a fierce, energetic comrade on guitar and vocals. Clearly, guitar-driven music; vocals were weak. But, I thought it was decent, a good start to the show. I am glad to see Jay keeps busy with side projects.
Glen: Played hard punk-influenced garage rock that sounded at times like early Jay Reatard. Jay’s bass play is what made this band, but I got to complement the guitarist on his fine solos. The last song, which was at leat over five minutes long, stood out in my mind as the group’s best. Jay played the same bass line over and over again while the guitarist went through a few different effects.
Box Elders:
Chris: With this group we see a slight progression in crowd reaction. This progression would sharply follow with each group up to and including Jay Reatard. Anyway, Box Elders (I thought they were “Box Cutters” until just now haha) offered me a rare experience. Only once in a blue moon, if that, do I see a live band, especially an opening act and almost immediately find myself singing along to their tune. So, props to Box Elders for that. They displayed plenty of passion and high energy, particularly the drummer, who stood up the entire and simultaneously played keyboards the entire set! He also made goofy faces and body movements, which was funny and entertaining, to say the least. The guitarist sported a fancy, double guitar, which I have never seen in person, so that was cool. Well, I can really see their music appearing on my ipod in the future.
Glen: Really really catchy. Old sounding garage-pop, fun for the entire family! The drummer made this band in my opinion. He was quite the character, doing aerobics and stretches all whilst playing the drums with one hand and using the other to hit some organ keys. The two singers voices went well and definitely this is a band I’ll keep a fine eye on in the future. Their best two songs in my opinion were “Jackie Wood” (brought back memory of Ramones + arm aerobics!) and “Librarians” (awesome little keyboard part).
Hunx and His Punx:
Chris: Wow! Bruno Live! Which I’m sure disgusted or irritated, or possibly enticed many. For me, I just laughed my ass off in bewilderment. If you think you have seen homocore or queercore, then look again. Hunx and His Punx is just about as gay as it gets and unabashedly so. I will admit, the music was fine, but nothing special. Wit that beings said, singer Hunx (? lol) demonstrated fabulous showmanship, albeit in tight spandex, which he disrobed until her was down to a thong. The guy next to me had his face planted in the singer’s crotch…. it looked like he enjoyed it though haha. By the way, he looked like Cole Alexander.
Glen: When it comes down to it, Hunx and His Punx played some pretty awesome good music. That’s beside their stage presence which made everyone in the audience except for one guy feel really awkward. A homo-punk band taken to the most literal sense, the singer chanted about how he “likes [his] boys like meat – juicy and raw.” The singer actually reminded me of a really flamboyant Dean Allen Spunt plus an intense lisp.
Set List:
1. You Don’t Like Rock & Roll
2. Hey Rocky
3. Cruisin”
4. Teardrops
5. Do the Makeup
6. GOOD Kisser
7. Gimme Gimme Back Your Love
*On October 1, 2009, Hunx and His Punx arrived at the Holiday Inn in Montreal. How much did it cost to accommodate five individuals? Why 126.99, in case you wondering. Seth Bogard made the reservation. Yeah, next time don’t put your set list on the back of your hotel invoice. Good times.
Nobunny:
Chris: Perhaps the best band to play straight before Jay. These wild bunnymen, (yes there was a bunny!) continued the trend of charisma Hunx created. Playing loud, fast, garage punk, they garnered the crowd in to intense dancing, moshing, pogoing and just about any -ing you can think of. The guitarist (drummer, Billy’s bro) spent most of their set at the very front of the stage with and sometimes in the audience. I even grabbed one of his fluffy bunny tails, which he proceeded to Jay(ha!) with. The set concluded with some good old fashion Pyrotechnics! Unfortunately, the security stomped them out merely after seconds of ignition. I dug the last line of their performance, right after the pyro was put out, “We still have seven more songs to play.” Something to that effect.
Glen: The crowd really got into Nobunny. They fuckin’ rocked the place. Their formula for success was essentially the same as the other bands, except they just seemed to have a little something extra. The singer was really interactive, jumping into the crowd on a few occasions. The bassist also didn’t hate going up to the crowd. We met the drummer Billy! Such a cool dude…besides him dressing in only underwear. That’s what the singer did too and a bunny mask too. Apparently, the lead singer of Hunx is the lead singer of Nobunny, but I can’t confirm this. They pulled similar antics on stage, except Nobunny was far less gay. “BoneYard” was probably their biggest hit.
Jay Reatard!!!!!:
Chris: Looking back at my earlier post, “Jay Hopes and Expectations,” I can say most were ultimately satisfied in this great concert. He played over half of the favorites I envisioned him playing. He did not get pissed and leave abruptly. There was no animosity between the audience and the performers. His set was about forty minutes I believe that is the exact time or longer than I expected. Unfortunately, he did not play all of my favorites; these are songs I wish he would have played: “Blood Visions,” “Waiting For Something,” “Screaming Hand,” “Always Wanting More,” “DOA,” “No Time,” “You Were Sleeping,” and “Rotten Mind.” It seems like he will never play those really soft songs like “No Time,” “You Were Sleeping,”etc. Nahh, Jay has to maintain that unrelenting, brutal, live assault. His music live is much different than on record. I know this true of all artists, but especially true of him. Live, sometimes you cannot even tell which song it is, even if it is a number you would normally recognize if you heard the recording; it’s all heavy, great for rocking out, moshing, crowd surfing, stage diving, etc. And our crowd certainly did so. We Reatards had tons of fun bashing around and singing along to his malevolent, anti-social lyrics. “My Shadow,” “It’s So Easy,” and “See/Saw” evoked tremendous crowd response, more than any other tracks. Fans, self-included, got a massive kick out of screaming “IT’S SO EASY WHEN YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD! IT’S SO MUCH EASIER WHEN YOU DON’T EVEN CARE! ALL THESE FACES MEAN NOTHING TO ME! ALL THESE FACES MEAN NOTHING TO ME! ALL THESE FACES MEAN NOTHING TO ME!” Just taking a quick gander at the set list (which is featured below) one will notice most of the songs were from Reatard’s earlier albums, Blood Visions (7) and Singles ‘06-’07 (8, though some of those are BV tracks). This is another indication that he plays mostly raw, heavy, guitar fuzz-driven songs in his concerts, since these albums feature such music much more than his past two releases: Matador Singles ‘08 and Watch Me Fall
Glen: I was pleasantly surprised that the crowd was 10X more into Jay this time around than they were in July. He played all good ones. He’s rocked for a while and probably will for years to come. “See/Saw” certainly got me the most excited.
The following is Jay’s set list for the night; in parentheses is the album/compilation of which the song appears:
An Ugly Death (Matador Singles ‘08)
Nightmares (Blood Visions and Singles ‘06-’07 but under the name “Haunting You”)
Fading All Away (BV and S0607 as “Searching For You”)
It Ain’t Gonna Save Me (Watch Me Fall)
Trapped Here (MS08)
Greed Money Useless Children (BV)
_*_*_- Switch To Acoustic- _*_8_
All Over Again (S0607)
I Know A Place (S0607)
I’m Watching You (MS08 and WMF)
–_*_*_-Switch Back-_*_*_–
It’s So Easy (BV and S0607)
Not A Substitute (BV)
MY Shadow (BV)
Oh It’s Such A Shame (BV and S0607)
See/Saw (MS08)
Hammer I Miss You (S0607)
Faking It (WMF)
A Whisper (demo)
Let It All Go (S0607)
Final Thoughts:
Chris: My 3rd favorite concert! Behind Black Lips, King Khan & The Shrines and just ahead of good old No Age. Four solid opening bands, a lot of charisma/energy, highly entertaining. I always get really exited when I see my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES and Jay is #2 for me, so this was big time. Pure Rock And Roll Fun!
Glen: Overall the experience was similar to the best concerts I’ve gone to…and that’s always awesome!
Grade: A
Footage not from the actual concert! lol
Classic Album Review: 12 Golden Country Greats
Full Title: 12 Golden Country Greats
Artist: Ween
Year: 1995
Label: Elektra
Tracks:
1) I’m Holding You- 9
2) Japanese Cowboy- 8
4) Piss Up a Rope- 9/10
4) I Don’t Want to Leave You On the Farm- 9
5) Pretty Girl- 7
6) Powder Blue- 7/8
7) Mister Richard Smoker- 9/10
8) Help Me Scrape the Mucas Off My Brain- 9
9) You Were the Fool- 7
10) Fluffy- 5
Comments: Every now and then I take a look at my vast quantity of music and pick out an artist- take a careful look at their discography and choose an album I feel my ears deserve the pleasure of hearing. This time it was Ween and the album is their take on Nashville Country with the 1995 record, 12 Golden Country Greats. Being a big fan of Ween, I had a feeling this record had some potential and I knew a couple of the songs already, so I wasn’t totally a stranger to this release. But, at the same time Ween typically shift from one style to another totally different style and for me this is one of most appealing aspects of their art, so, I wasn’t sure if the duo could pull off a one genre LP. Also most of the reviews of this album are unfavorable, could it be a case of critics schmitics or are they on to something. Only one way to find out, listen to the damn thing! And let me tell ya, I was suprised at how stellar this record is. They really capture the country sound to a tee and still manage to spit out their distinct, silly/sick humor, Ween touch! I mean, knowing their musical aesthetics, there are no major suprises here. In other words, unlike their magnum opus, The Mollusk (1997), which I reviewed almost exactly a year ago, this is pretty much what we would expect from a Ween country album, but that’s not a bad thing. They deliver, they deliver hard. The album explores a wide variety of country styles, but still maintains an overall album vibe, even with some of the weaker tracks, which are not many. Often when I hear a weak song on an album I feel like it had no place on the record and makes the good tunes look bad or fucks up the vibe of the record, but that doesn’t happen here. Songs like “Pretty Girl” and “Powder Blue,” didn’t hit me as hard, but they still complement the sound of the album as a whole and never distract you from the album’s tone. “I’m Holding You,” is a great opener, just simple, humble, 50s (?) country ballad, George Jones esque vocals. Not being a country afficionado, I don’t quite appreciate Ween’s clear dedication to the genre. Lyrically licentious tracks such as “Piss Up a Rope,” and “Mister Richard Smoker,” are classic, nasty, hilarious, typical Ween ditties. A bit more modern and of the Ween persuasion, but without a doubt for my tastes they are the best numbers featured here; like or not like, listeners will most likely muster at least a smirk, if not a gigantic burst of laughter or for some complete shock and disgusts! Haha. I won’t go through all the songs, but most are of high quality. The only below average track is the closer, “Fluffy,” which is amusing in its bizarre nature, but doesn’t do much for me and I would have loved a more epic, savage closer. Oh well, the Ween boys succeeded at what they set out to do (at least in my eyes) and I’m ultimately glad I revisted their discography.
Grade: 9/10
Biddley bah boo, biddley bah boo, biddley bah boo bow!
Classic Soundtrack Review: American Graffiti
Full Title: American Graffiti
Year: 1973
Tracks:
Side One:
1) (We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & the Comets (1954)- 9
2) Sixteen Candles by The Crests (1958)- 9
3) Runaway by Del Shannon (1961)- 10
4) Why Do Fools Fall in Love? by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1956)- 10
5) That’ll Be the Day by Buddy Holly (1957)- 9
6) Fanny Mae by Buster Brown (1959)- 7/8
7) At the Hop by Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids (1973)- 9
8) She’s So Fine by Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids (1973)- 8
9) The Stroll by The Diamonds (1957)- 7
10) See You In September by The Tempos (1959)- 10
Side Two:
1) Surfin’ Safari by The Beach Boys (1962)- 9
2) He’s The Great Imposter by The Fleetwoods (1961)- 10
3) Almost Grown by Chuck Berry (1959)- 7
4) Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by The Platters (1959)- 10
5) Little Darlin’ by The Diamonds (1957)- 7/8
6) Peppermint Twist by Joey Dee and the Starlighters (1961)- 7
7) Barbara Anne by The Regents (1961)- 8
8) Book of Love by The Monotones (1958)- 9
9) Maybe Baby by Buddy Holly (1958)- 8
10) Ya Ya by Lee Dorsey (1961)- 6
11) The Great Pretender by The Platters (1955)- 8
Side Three :
1) Ain’t That a Shame by Fats Domino (1955)- 8
2) Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry (1958)- 9
3) I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos (1959)- 8
4) Get a Job by The Silhouettes (1958)- 7
5) To The Aisle by The Five Satins (1957)- 9
6) Do You Wanna Dance by Bobby Freeman (1958)- 5
7) Party Doll by Buddy Knox (1957)- 8
8) Come Go with Me by The Del-Vikings (1956)- 7
9) You’re Sixteen – You’re Beautiful (And You’re Mine) by Johnny Burnette (1960)- 7
10) Love Potion No. 9 by The Clovers (1959)- 7
Side Four :
1) Since I Don’t Have You by The Skyliners (1958)- 8
2) Chantilly Lace by The Big Bopper (1958)- 7
3) Teen Angel by Mark Dinning (1960)- 9
4) Crying in the Chapel by Sonny Till & the Orioles (1953)- 7/8
5) A Thousand Miles Away by The Heartbeats (1957)- 8
6) Heart and Soul by The Cleftones (1961)- 8
7) Green Onions by Booker T. & the M.G.’s (1962)- 8
8) Only You (and You Alone) by The Platters (1954)- 8
9) Goodnight, Well it’s Time to Go by The Spaniels (1953)- 7/8
10) All Summer Long by The Beach Boys (1964)- 9
Comments: This is pure, good old, fun Rock and Roll from one of the best eras of music! Since, the film American Graffiti is set in 1962 all of the music is from 1950s and early 1960s. We hear a wide variety of hits, but overall the soundtrack has a cohesive, consistent sound. Mostly hoppin and boppin rockers (“Rock Around the Clock,” “Barabara Anne,” etc.), teen oriented love and dance numbers (“Sixteen Candles,” “At the Hop,” etc.), some slow ballads (“He’s the Great Imposter,” “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” etc.), and best of all the advent of surf rock in the form of the legendary Beach Boys (“Surfin’ Safari,” and “All Summer Long,”), a genre new at the time of the story’s setting. For my money, this is one of the greatest soundtracks of all times and the music is perfectly placed in each scene, literally. It should be noted that the film’s use of music is significant in the history of cinema for it was the first or at least one of the first movies to strictly use populars songs as its sole soundtrack instead of a more conventional score. Nowadays, this is more common, but at the time it was unheard of. On the other hand, looking at this in terms of a record, the second half is not nearly as contagious as the first and not all the songs on here are as strong as some of the others, but I suppose that’s custom. The top tracks for me are “Runaway,” (the structure of this song is incredible, there’s at least four or five stand out, pop hooks) by Del Shannon, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, “See You in September” by The Tempos, “He’s the Great Imposter” by The Fleetwoods, and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” by The Platters. All in all, this is simply a great record to just kick back, relax, and rock out to!
Grade: 8/10- I highly recommend you pick this up if you’re a huge fan of early Rock and Roll and/or the movie.
Jay’s Greatest Hits?
Clearly, Jay Reatard never had any “hits,” but he had numerous memorable songs and fan favorites alike. The concept of a “Best Of” or “Greatest Hits” for Jay seems a bit odd to me, but in light of the fact that Shattered Records will be releasing one soon, I decided to make my own playlist, entitled “Best of Jay.” At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go the route of his most popular songs, which is hard to measure, or simply my favorites. Ultimately I went with the latter. Enjoy! I highly recommend looking them up.
1) See/Saw (Matador Singles ’08)
2) No Time (MS08)
3) Haunting You aka “Fading All Away”- falsely listed as “Searching For You” (Singles ’06-’07)
4) I Know A Place (S0607)
5) An Ugly Death (MS08)
6) Nightmares (Blood Visions)
7) Screaming Hand (MS08)
8) I’m Watching You (MS08)
9) Oh It’s Such a Shame (BV)
10) Feeling Blank Again (S0607)
11) My Shadow (BV)
12) Hammer I Miss You (S0607)
13) Rotten Mind (Watch Me Fall)
14) It’s So Easy (BV)
I think I’ll take Glen’s tip and limit it to fourteen tracks. What do Reatard fans think? What would be your best of?
RIP Jay…
Today marks the year anniversery of the legendary Jay Reatard’s death. Looking back, I remember when Glen informed me of this tragedy, I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was just another one of his bullshit shenanigans, only to discover it was the truth. Sadly, I just started getting into Jay’s music in the six months before his passing. Luckily however, I had the privilege of seeing him live three times and particularly had the pleasure of attending a memorable show during the Shattered Records Tour. Now, a year later Jay still remains my favorite singer and my second overall favorite artist (second to the Black Lips!) and I don’t think that will change anytime soon.
Later today, Glen and I will make more Jay related posts. Stay tuned.
Film Review: The Fighter
Full Title: The Fighter
Year: 2010
Director: Davd O. Russell
Comments: From the very first shot of Marky Mark (“Irish” Micky Ward) and Christian Bale (Dicky Eklund) in a private, documentary, interview I had a feeling I was in for something special. Which, in retrospect seems retarded, but I just had the feeling and it turns out my gut was right. Since the film was set in Lowell it was nice being able to recognize the scenery and really makes the city a character. Overall, I enjoyed this film very much, much more than most movies I see, for two main reasons: 1) It’s heart. It sounds cliched, a boxing movie with heart, but the emotion here is real. It feels real. When Dicky reaches his worst bouts as a crackhead it’s more than painful to watch. I don’t want to give away too much, but in one particular scene we watch Dicky and his family as they watch a documentary about Dicky on what it is like to truly be addicted to crack. This is easily the most chilling part of the film. Which goes into my second point. 2) The flawless acting of Christian Bale. Bale is not himself. He is 100% Dicky, it’s scary how well he plays the part. In many ways he is the film, or at least its backbone, but considering this is supposed to be a biopic on Micky Ward, Walhberg’s character that takes this flick down a few notches. Walhberg and the crew do a decent job, but they pale next to Bale; his performance criticizes everyone else’s acting. I’d be suprised if he didn’t win the acamedy award for Best Supporting Actor or at least the nomination. With that being said, it’s just not the Dicky situation lol, it’s also the film’s structure itself. It tries too hard to do too many things. In other words, it should stick to emulating Raging Bull (1980) or emulating Rocky (1976), neither of which it comes close to. At some points it seems like they are tossing a love story at us, but this storyline is never quite pursued. And most significantly, the character of Micky isn’t developed enough for me to really care as much about him as say Dicky, whom I’m far more concerned with. Considering this is the main character in the film this should be noted. With all of these shortcomings one might think The Fighter
is a bad film… no way! Far from it. This movie is better and more entertaining than most flicks you will see at the show and I’d go as far as to say this is probably one of the better films of twenty ten, certainly amongst the best I’ve seen. So, in spite of it’s somewhat shambling screenplay, I really enjoyed this film and I highly recommend it. All in all, not an “excellent” film, but an above average film filled with some moments/scenes of excellence. I’ve heard some reviewers say the film should have been about Dicky instead of Micky, after reflecting on the movie myself, I share the same sentiment.
Grade: 8/10
Here is the link for High On Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell, the actual documentary on Dicky Eklund and crack addiction in Lowell, MA. http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/high_on_crack_street_lost_lives_in_lowell/
NEW HUNX LP! “Too Young to Be in Love”
On March 29, KLYAM Fave Hunx and His Punx will be releasing their studio deubt Too Young to Be in Love on Hardly Art records. With the exception of the upcoming Black Lips LP, this record is the next big thing for me, I really can’t wait to hear it when it’s all ready to go. I’ve been a big fan of about half of the tracks based on their demos, so it should be a goodie. Speaking of which, here is the tracklist:
1) Lovers Lane
2) He’s Coming Back
3) Keep Away From Johnny
4) The Curse of Being Young
5) Too Young to Be in Love
6) If You’re Not Here (I Don’t Know Where You Are)
7) Bad Boy
8) Tonite Tonite
9) Can We Get Together?
10) Blow Me Away
New Wavves Single!
http://bananasmusicclub.com/post/2686099138/let-bananas-into-yr-heart-with-this-new-wavves
The new song is entitled “Stained Glass (Won’t You Let Me Into Yr Heart)” it is part of their split single with Best Coast, “Summer is Forever.” Both bands will embark on an epic tour in a few weeks including a stop at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club on Friday, February 4, can’t wait! In terms of this song, I’m not really into the whole psych dance 80s thing a la “Convertible Balloon” (though I actually liked that song). But we’ll see what direction they take with it.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 