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.
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.
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!
Take notice Yahoo! that a response from Jens to an e-mail I sent two months ago is not spam! Jeeze. I love this guy!
My E-Mail:
I think you’re beautiful, but it’s impossible to make you understand that if you don’t take my hand I will lose my mind completely.
That’s not to you, but to a future girlfriend, hopefully. BUT I hope you are feeling much better my friend, you make great music. And when you are fully recovered I hope you make a stop by Boston Massachusetts for a show! You have some big fans out here buddy.
glen,
i hope that future girlfriend will not leave you over misheard words. be sure to art-i-cu-late the words heavily.
see you in boston, hope to make it there as soon as possible.
Band: The Thermals Label: Kill Rockstars Release: 2009
1. “When I Died” – 8.7 2. “We Were Sick” – 8.9 3. “I Let It Go” – 8.2 4. “Now We Can See” – 9.1 5. “At the Bottom of the Sea” – 8.5 6. “When We Were Alive” – 8.4 7. “I Called Out Your Name” – 8.1 8. “When I Was Afraid” – 8.3 9. “Liquid In, Liquid Out” – 7.1 10. “How We Fade” – 8.0 11. “You Dissolve” – 8.3
Comments: The Thermals is a band that I really really wanted to see when they came to the Middle East Downstairs on May 7th. I had to weigh my priorities…King Khan and the Shrines or The Thermals? I chose KK and the Shrines without much hesitation. My acquaintance with the The Thermals is from their song “Passing Feeling” featured on the video game MLB 2k7. Just a side note: the MLB 2k7 soundtrack was instrumental in forming my current day music tastes. In addition to The Thermals, other great songs came from the likes of Editors, Walkmen, Bishop Allen, Tapes N’ Tapes, The Stooges, and Death From Above 1979. Back to this album…it’s safe. Less post-punk than what I’ve heard in the past from them and more pop-punk. I’ve never had a problem with decent pop-punk and for the majority of the album, it is exactly that! In the end I’m not sure if the change in sound has anything to do with their switch from Sub Pop to Kill Rock Star.
Comments: I believe the late Ubangi was once called the king of the three chord garage song. I see why! Ubangi sounded like a slightly more accessible Jay Reatard. Perhaps too like super lo-fi Ramones or the Beach Boys on salvia. B Jay’s catchy tunes no-doubt made him a legend in Atlanta punk circles. Real sappy stuff as Jared Swilley would probably say.
Grades: “Another Girl Like You” (9.8); “Greasers Lament” (9.2); “Back To You” (9.7)
——— If you are more interested in reading about Ubangi and the months and days leading up to his July 1, 2009 death check out this article.
Comments: Pretty good shit from Sultan here. Nothing too exciting, yet nothing too depressing. The music is vintage, as expected. “Hold On” has the pace of an above average 50s/60s rock & roll piece. The B-side, “I Hear A New World,” is experimentally satisfying, sounding at times a bit like a mixture of a Christmas tune and a freak folk campfire classic. That said, it won’t knock you off your ass. No one said it should.
Grades: “Hold On” (8.0); “I Hear A New World” (8.6)
Band: The Thermals
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 