New Dum Dum Girls

"Lord Knows"

I love Dum Dum Girls.  Their sound, their look.  Most of all, I really like Dee Dee's voice.  I think she's gotten more and more confident as a singer, just as the band's production has become more polished, with each release.

"Lord Knows" is the first taste of their upcoming End of Daze EP, due out on September 25th via Sub Pop.

RIP Bill Doss

Bill Doss (1968-2012)

Bill Doss, a founding member of the Elephant 6 music collective and The Olivia Tremor Control, has passed away at the age of 44.

The 1960's-influenced pop from Elephant 6, which included acts like Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples In Stereo, Beulah, Elf Power, and the Olivia Tremor Control takes up a good deal of space on my hard drive, and has meant a lot to me over the last several years.  You can hear the influence of Elephant 6 on many of the most popular bands in mindie like The Shins and Beirut.

I'll say thanks to Bill Doss this evening by revisiting some of those Elephant 6 bands.

Tumblr Discoveries

Late to the Macro-Blogging Game and Late to Eternal Summers

I'm late on a lot of things, but I eventually come around.  In the few months that I've had this blog, I've been cross-posting content to Twitter, Facebook, even Google+ (Feel free to follow or like this blog on any of those, btw).  The most dynamic community, in terms of drawing traffic and interaction, has been Tumblr (Feel free to follow me there and reblog some stuff, too.), which I joined at about the same time that I created a Blogger account.  Not that there's been a great deal of either traffic or interaction at this point, but Tumblr has definitely been the most active source for that type of stuff.

I'm just not sure if people pay much attention to the long-form blog anymore.  Maybe if I started this thing about five years ago, like I always said I would, each post would draw a stream of angry, only partially coherent, anonymous comments like BrooklynVegan.  No matter, I enjoy doing things this way, and I'll likely keep it up for a while.

Back to Tumblr, though.  It's a two-way street.  Even with the hundreds of artists and record labels I follow on Twitter, I'd say most of the new music I discover now comes from Tumblr-er's posting of what they like.

Carrying through on that late on a lot of things theme, over the last few days, Tumblr blog thedreamcomparison has introduced me to a dream pop duo (now a trio, I guess) that's been around for a few years, Eternal Summers.  The band's latest LP, Correct Behavior, came out just last week.

Eternal Summers don't do that same, languid dream pop that's taken over a large percentage of the mindiesphere recently.  Their version has an almost punky edge to it that I've really been enjoying.  I've spent the last day or so listening to all the Eternal Summers I could find and grabbing a few records.

So, I'll keep long-form blogging it over here.  You can read all of this stuff via Tumblr if that's your preference.  I know I'm going to keep obsessively scrolling through that feed.  It turns up some gems now and then.

The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten, 2012

Sunday (Didn't) Run Album Review

One of the surest ways of having your motives questioned or to experience public backlash is to appear sincere.  As a culture, lately, I think we value irony and sarcasm over expressions of true emotion.  I'm guilty of this myself.  As I watch the the post-competition Olympic interviews, I can't help myself from unconsciously adding the phrase "...to earn millions of dollars in endorsement deals" to every tearful "This is a dream come true" from the winning athletes.  I think this type of cynicism works against a band like The Gaslight Anthem, at least when their work gets reviewed.

Like a good New Jerseyan, I bought Handwritten, the latest from this New Jersey band, on the day of its realease.  I haven't run with it yet, but I listened to the record throughout the weekend.

Lead vocalist and principal songwriter Brian Fallon delivers each lyric at the level of "all out."  He's so sincere, so earnest that you think, on some level, this has to be a put-on.  But I don't think it is.  The album, like its predecessors, is a collection of big, romantic rock songs full of nostalgia, "Hey-eyyy-eyyy's," and "sha-la-la's."

Lead single and album opener "45" tells you a lot of what you need to know about where Fallon is coming from as a songwriter.  His hands are shaking; his heart is bleeding; and he pours that heart into the chorus "Aaah-eyy, turn the record over! Aaah-eyy, see you on the flip side!" at a time when many of his fans probably have only a passing familiarity with vinyl records.  On the title track, Fallon once again shows his love of the old ways, singing, "We only write by the moon, every word handwritten."

Some of the best lyrics on the record, and I mean this in all seriousness, revolve around cars.  "In the deep, dark parking lot pressed up against my car" on "Mulholland Drive" or "See if you wanna, you can find me on the hood under the moonlight" on album standout "Howl" conjure some very young-in-the-Jersey-burbs images for me.

Musically, Handwritten, unsurprisingly, doesn't break any new ground.  Almost all of the songs have a big, 1990's alternative rock sound.  "Too Much Blood" even has a bit of a Soundgarden feel to it with its big guitar chords and Fallon's Chris Cornell impression.  Guitarist Alex Rosamilia has given almost every song its own distinctive and recognizable riff.  Mostly acoustic album closer "National Anthem" comes as a bit of a (welcome) surprise after ten stadium-sized rock anthems.

The Gaslight Anthem are an unselfconscious, sincere, earnest band of New Jersey romantics.  If you're someone a little more into subtlety, irony, or musical innovation, then Handwritten is likely to push all of the wrong buttons for you.  That was my initial reaction.  But after spending some time with the record, I realized that it can sometimes be cathartic to drop all of that baggage and to just try to enjoy the songs.

Look at that.  I did a Gaslight Anthem review and didn't even mention Bruce Springsteen once.  Right?

NYT In Asbury Park

George Tice Photographs The Gaslight Anthem

Is this turning into an Asbury Park blog?  I don't know, but I'm loving this short New York Times video previewing the Sunday Magazine piece on New Jersey's Gaslight Anthem.  If you've heard any of their songs, it probably won't surprise you that the guys in Gaslight Anthem really enjoyed being shot by an old-school New Jersey photographer and his amazingly cool, old-school camera in and around Convention Hall.

Five Hour Time Difference Edition

Let England Shake

Enjoy your Friday.

Rock on...

Quick Olympics Playlist

Here You Go...

I'll probably add to this as the games move along.  You know, to try and see how tenuous a connection I can make. It's on Spotify again, so all the usual disclaimers -- you need the app on your PC, you'll have to pay for it on your smartphone, etc. -- apply.  Enjoy, I guess.

For the Win

Sitting in Front of the Computer Pays Off

A few years ago, I was sitting in front of my computer, looking for local music listings or something.  I came across a piece on Redbankgreen.com, a hyperlocal around here, about a Nicole Atkins free in-store at Jack's Music Shoppe.  Monmouth County singer-songwriter, "rising star."  That piqued my interest; and, though I didn't make the performance, that one link got me started on exploring Nicole Atkins's work.

The first thing I came across was this performance on Letterman:



It's from her debut full-length with Columbia, Neptune City.  I thought the performance was great, and I snapped up her album along with her Bleeding Diamonds EP.  Both collections are excellent.  In addition to "The Way It Is," standout tracks on the album include "Maybe Tonight," "War Torn," "Neptune City," (which has a video that I really like) and "Brooklyn's On Fire!"  There are versions of "War Torn" and "Neptune City" on Bleeding Diamonds that I think do a better job of showcasing Atkins's voice than the neo-noir album versions.



Atkins also put out a covers EP, Nicole Atkins Digs Other People's Songs, in 2008.  I have a well-documented love of covers, and the EP includes a great one of The Church's "Under the Milky Way."

Early in 2011, Atkins released her follow-up to Neptune City, this time on Razor and Tie, Mondo Amore.  Gone were many of the swelling strings and other embellishments of her major-label effort.  The breakups chronicled on the album -- personal and professional -- produced a more varied, and I think even better, record than Neptune City.  With tracks like "Cry, Cry, Cry" and "My Baby Don't Lie," Atkins started to move away from the torchy personality cultivated on the earlier album.



All this is meant to be a lead-in to the fact that, after many failed attempts to catch a full Nicole Atkins show (I've seen some short, solo performances and another Jack's in-store.  CoolDaughter #1 still has the autographed, white, cardboard top from her Langosta Lounge brunch show leftovers.), I won tickets to her upcoming Stone Pony appearance on August 4th.  I was sitting in front of the computer.  I, again, just happened to notice something -- in this case, a tweet from @NicoleAtkins saying that the first reply would be the winner -- that turned into something pretty cool.

If you're local, maybe CoolMom and I will see you there.  We can enjoy a beverage together and some really good, locally-grown music.

Eminent Domain This

King Khan and the Shrines at Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, July 24th 2012

Asbury Park has had it pretty tough over the years.  Competition from other attractions for the dollars of summertime crowds and shoppers, civic unrest in the 1970's, failed redevelopment attempts, and good, old New Jersey government "mismanagement" have worked together over the years to deal the city some heavy blows.  In the last five or ten years, though, things have been getting much better.  Businesses have reopened on the boardwalk and in the downtown area.  Slowed a bit by the changes in the real estate market that have affected everyone, Asbury Park continues to improve.

The latest phase of Asbury Park's redevelopment efforts, started in 2002, calls for the city and a developer, Asbury Partners, to work together to build new town homes.  Last week, Asbury Partners released a list of seven properties that it intends to acquire, either via straight-up negotiation or eminent domain, and redevelop.  On the list:  Asbury Lanes at 209 Fourth Avenue.

Asbury Lanes has operated (I don't believe continuously) since the 1960's and currently offers bowling, burlesque shows, two bars, and both national and local musical acts.  Along with the Stone Pony and the Wonder Bar, Asbury Lanes is a big part of Asbury's musical history, and I, for one, would be sad to see it go.  After last night's -- and there's no other word to describe it -- insane performance from King Khan and the Shrines, I'm even more convinced that Asbury Park needs Asbury Lanes or someplace like it.

Another cooldad and I decided that we could handle the weeknight show, since it was local.  We grabbed a bite and a few beverages before heading over to the Lanes.  We caught the last half of openers Sikamor Rooney.  They, like Hector's Pets who followed them, were a fun, garage-rock style band who seemed to have a number of fans in attendance.

Asbury Lanes is a working bowling alley, and people bowled through the first two sets.  It has one "main" bar and a really nice second, more lounge-y bar that, strangely, wasn't operating last night.

At about 10:30, King Khan and the Shrines took the stage, complete with a three-piece horn section.  The King himself wore a sparkling shirt and a crown of green feathers on his head.  Immediately, the band started a relentless assault of punky, psychedelic soul that didn't let up for the full hour and a half set.  King Khan came down from the stage, into the crowd, several times; and the whole place took his oft-repeated advice to "freak the f*ck out!"  As a lead singer, Khan obviously takes some cues from James Brown, screaming and "Unh!"-ing his way through almost every song.

At the end of the last number before the encore, King Khan grabbed one of the ubiquitous PBR's from someone in the front, twirled it over the crowd like a lawn sprinkler, and then sent the half-empty can sailing over the audience until it found its landing spot squarely on top of my head.  I laughed, thinking about how, just hours before, I was cheering on CoolDaughters 1 & 2 at their summer camp swim meet.

For the encore, Shrines returned one by one to the stage, followed finally by a caped, shirtless, wig and bedazzled briefs-wearing King Khan.  The band powered through three or four more songs at the same relentless clip until Khan and his lead guitarist descended into the audience and disappeared toward the back while his keyboard player surfed on top of the keyboard as it was held aloft by the crowd.  Someone handed me the now abandoned mic and I passed it on as we filed out.  Khan had already made his way, still costumed, to the merch table.

I really don't have much information on how Asbury Lanes is performing as a business.  Maybe a negotiated sale to Asbury Partners is just what the owners need to settle their debts and retire comfortably.  But we will have lost something around here in the Jersey Shore 'burbs if it's no longer just a ten minute drive from sweating profusely at a kids' swim meet to sweating profusely at a crazy rock and roll show.

This doesn't give you a sense of the live show, but here's the latest from King Khan and the Shrines.

Boy George Covers LDR

"Video Games"

And it's good.  Directed by Mike Nicholls.

Ben Gibbard's Ichiro Tribute

Ichiro Is a Yankee

There was a titanic shift in the world of baseball yesterday when the Seattle Mariners traded Ichiro Suzuki to the New York Yankees before their meeting last night in Seattle.

Ichiro, a 38-year-old veteran on what I think is the youngest team in baseball, apparently asked Seattle management for a trade a few weeks ago.  He immediately went from last to first, and you could see the bounce in his step.

For Mariner fans, though, this has to be a tough one even with Ichiro's fall-off in production this year.  Ichiro is the all-time Mariner leader in hits with more than any player in baseball since he came to the States, won the Rookie of the Year and the AL MVP in his first season, and has ten consecutive gold gloves and two batting titles.  He could be, after Ken Griffey, Jr., the second greatest player the Mariners have ever had, and he was the face of the franchise.

Northwest native Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie released a tribute song to Ichiro, and it is just as cheesy and sentimental as you'd expect for a baseball-related pop song.

Welcome to New York, Ichiro.  Enjoy the puns!

New Babies Single

"Moonlight Mile"

Those Vivian Girls members, current and former, sure do keep themselves busy.  Bassist Katy Goodman's La Sera side project has an album out now for which they've been on tour.  Former member Frankie Rose also released an excellent record this year.  The current incarnation of the Vivian Girls played a few live shows together on the west coast in recent weeks.

Now, The Babies, a collaboration between Vivian Girls' principal songwriter (and New Jersey native) Cassie Ramone and Woods' Kevin Morby, have released the first single from their upcoming sophomore album.

Ramone's lo-fi DNA and Morby's alt-country tendencies mesh nicely on "Moonlight Mile," which will be available as a 7" on August 14th.

The Mynabirds, Generals, 2012

Sunday Run Album Review

The U.S. has been actively enmeshed in several wars for more than a decade.  We've seen the effects of this fact on popular culture with television series like Lost and 24 and in movies like the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy.  Surprisingly, it doesn't feel like we've heard much from popular music about the wars or, for that matter, the economic malaise of the last five or so years.  Springsteen did Magic and Wrecking Ball; Neil Young did Living with War;  and we got Iraq from Black 47.  Those guys, though, are really part of pop music's "old guard."  To my knowledge, there's been a real scarcity of music tackling our current situation from newer acts.

I'd heard that Laura Burhenn's Mynabirds project did take on these issues, and -- I guess this explains a lot -- I kind of avoided it for a while.  Having been stirred up by Woody Guthrie and Billy Bragg in recent weeks, though, I decided to take The Mynabirds' latest, Generals, out on a run with me today.

It's a tricky thing, getting political in music.  Generals strikes an excellent balance.  The martial beats and calls to arms are countered by pop hooks and Burhenn's soulful singing voice.  The album opens with "Karma Debt" in which Burhenn has us watching passively as we "hold our homes like credit cards" and let events play out between our political parties.  The refrain of, "I'd give it all for a legacy of love," which repeats on album-closer "Greatest Revenge," indicates that some biblical lessons may be at play in informing Burhenn's philosophy.  The title track is a rollicking, rock/soul, "We're Not Gonna Take It" for 2012 that I'm sure caused me to up my pace just a little as I ran.  "Radiator Sister" comes across as 1980's pop, complete with "ooh-ooh's," polluting corporations, and people "dying in the breadlines."  The electro-pop "Disarm" takes the Springsteen angle of using a relationship as a metaphor for bigger issues.  The album closes with the 1960's girl-group sounds of "Greatest Revenge," on which Burhenn sings "Love me won't you love me like it's our greatest revenge."

I hope I haven't made this album sound preachy, because it doesn't really come across that way.  Thematically, it centers around a pretty common idea in pop music:  that we should love each other.  In this case, Burhenn suggests that simple idea as a necessary condition for starting to fix the problems we all face.  Generals gets that message across through a strong collection of songs, peppered with some hard-hitting lyrics, that are deeply rooted in the sounds of American popular music.

Whatever your own political philosophy, there's plenty on Generals to make you think and to make you move your feet.

Finally Friday

Trying to Knock Off Early Today

CoolDaughter #2 is home sick, and I've had way too many conference calls this week.

When on my calls, though, I like to hit the mute button and play this track by Brooklyn-based Sleepies (produced by Ben Greenberg of The Men).  It pretty effectively sums up my whole attitude in under three minutes.

The full length, Weird Wild World, comes out on August 21st via Godmode/16oh, and I can't wait to hear it.

Enjoy your Friday.  And rock on.  Seriously.

Fang Island Streaming

Major

Don't know how I missed this until now, but NPR has been streaming the upcoming second full-length from Brooklyn's Fang Island.  I really enjoyed their self-titled debut, and Major appears to continue their mission of making everyone feel good.  The combination of seventies-style guitar and keyboard freakouts and relentlessly positive lyrics is going to make for a good running soundtrack, I think.

Major is due out on July 24th and should be streaming until then.  Check it out and see what you think.

Gaslight Anthem First Listen

Handwritten

NPR has an early peek at the big New Jersey sounds coming on the next Gaslight Anthem album, Handwritten.  In my review of Japandroids' Celebration Rock, I listed a bunch of artists that I thought were big Japandroids influences.  Don't know how I could have left The Gaslight Anthem off the list.

If GA comes back to Asbury Park's Convention Hall this time around, I think I'll make an effort to go see them.

The record's due out next Tuesday.

Guitar and Drums

JEFF The Brotherhood Do Letterman

Even with the end of The White Stripes, you have a lot to choose from these days to satisfy your need for guitar / drum duo bands.  You've got your Black Keys, your Japandroids, and your PS I Love You. They're all good in their own way (from among that trio, PS I Love You's Cure meets Hüsker Dü approach may be my favorite).

The Orall brothers from Nashville, Tennessee, though, have been at it as long as any of those guys, and I do love their garage rock / pop punk / vintage-Weezer-y sound.  Their new record Hypnotic Nights came out yesterday on Warner Brothers after several on their own Infinity Cat label (home, also, to one of the subjects of this blog's first post, Diarrhea Planet), and they hit The Late Show with David Letterman last night to get the promo tour started.  They looked very fashionable doing it, too.

Athletics, Who You Are Is Not Enough, 2012

Busy Sunday When I Didn't Run Bandcamp Discovery Album Review

Busy, busy weekend.  Friday night saw CoolMom and me heading into NYC for WoodyFest.  Then I was up at 5 on Saturday to take CoolDaughter #1 to the first day of her two-day swim meet at Princeton University.  Saturday night:  roller derby in Asbury Park.  Sunday morning:  more meet, during which I had the heartbreaking experience of consoling CD #1 after she missed her first chance to go to the NJ Junior Olympics by 0.7 seconds.  I think I also assembled some knock-down patio furniture in there somewhere.

All of this is meant as an excuse for my not going for a run at all this weekend.  Add to that that I really didn't know what to review -- I mean, really, am I going to add anything to the conversation around Dirty Projectors or Frank Ocean? -- and I was in a bind.  Then I had an idea that I think could grow into a semi-regular feature here.  You can do this, too.

I went over to Bandcamp and clicked on the "New Jersey" tag.  The first album (I think I sorted on "popularity") listed was Who You Are Is Not Enough by Athletics.  The tag list for the album reads: "alternative rock alternative ambient indie post-rock rock Asbury Park."  Sold!

Athletics are a five-piece band based, you guessed it, in Asbury Park.  Who You Are Is Not Enough consists of five songs, titled with Roman numerals I-V, spanning about thirty minutes.  The five tracks chronicle the experience of losing a loved one to illness and, likely, correspond to the five stages of grief.  Lead singer Garrett Yaeger takes listeners through each of those stages, noting hopefully on "I" that, "You're breathing softly, but so much stronger on your own," blaming himself on "II," wishing he had more to give on "III," hitting bottom on "IV," and finally admitting, "I would have died for you," on "V."

Thematically and musically, Who You Are Is Not Enough had me thinking of The Antlers' Hospice -- Hospice if it were, maybe, performed by Meadowlands-era Wrens.  The first four tracks contain lots of swirling, cresting, dream poppy guitars.  "V," the "Acceptance" track, is quieter, mostly piano and vocals.  John Cannon's drum work holds everything together nicely.

Who You Are Is Not Enough isn't what I would go to first to pick myself up out of the doldrums, but it features some excellent musicianship.  CoolMom just left for a business trip, and I think this album will go nicely with my just-put-the-kids-to-bed-and-the-house-is-quiet glass of whiskey.

This was fun.  I think I'll do it again soon.  You can still come here to get my take on all the music that Pitchfork, Stereogum, and BrooklynVegan are saying is worth hearing, but I'm going to make more of an effort to branch out and give some of these hard-working, local bands a listen.

You can check out Who You Are Is Not Enough for free and then "name your price" to download it from Bandcamp.

Happy Birthday, Woody

WoodyFest at City Winery, New York, NY, July 13th 2012

I don't know how much I really want to get into this, but let's just put this out there.  I am, unapologetically, a lefty.  That aspect of my personality also means that I have always been a huge fan of Billy Bragg.  And it was Billy Bragg, along with Wilco and Nora Guthrie, who introduced me to the  whole, fleshed-out person of Woody Guthrie through the Mermaid Avenue project.

When I bought the tickets for Billy Bragg's July 13th appearance at City Winery, I knew he'd be playing a bunch of Guthrie's songs.  Volume III of Mermaid Avenue came out on this year's Record Store Day, after all.  I didn't know, though, that he'd be just one of several performers on the third night of what City Winery was calling WoodyFest in honor of Guthrie's 100th birthday.  The rest of the bill would consist of Joe Purdy, Amy Helm, and Steve Earle.  Earle emceed each of the three nights.  I'm going to admit, I was a little apprehensive about the new development.

City Winery is an easy trip for us Jersey folks.  It sits right outside the Holland Tunnel on Varick Street, so it's almost like you just poke right into and out of the city when you attend a show there.  We'd been to a few of John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders shows as well as a Billy Bragg solo show there, so we knew what to expect:  very tight seating, a good view of the stage, Mediterranean accented bar food, and expensive drinks.  Our tickets put us right up against the stage.  We shared a table with a nice couple from Westchester who were sweating the offer that they had recently placed on a house in Asbury Park.

The show began with all of the performers on stage for a rendition of "This Train Is Bound for Glory."  It was one of those everybody-take-a-verse hootenanny type things, and it was fun.  I felt like an idiot for never realizing until that moment that Bruce Springsteen's "Land of Hope and Dreams" is basically a mash-up of that song and "People Get Ready."

After that, Earle introduced each of the performers in turn for their solo sets.  Up first was Joe Purdy.  I'd never heard of Purdy before.  Bearded, thin and very soft-spoken, he did a nice set of Woody songs along with some of his own.  His rendition of "Worried Man Blues" really brought out the desperation in that song.  Amy Helm followed, accompanied by Elizabeth Mitchell and Dan Littleton.  Littleton ripped it up on his beat-up, old Gibson acoustic, and Amy Helm sang beautifully.  "I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore" sounded great and amazingly current.

I enjoyed both sets, but things were getting a little reverent for me.  Then Earle introduced Billy Bragg.

Bragg, who often speaks as much as he sings during a set, opened with a story, from early in his career, about when he was asked to sit on a Woody Guthrie panel that included Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie.  When the time came for the "This Land Is Your Land" sing along, Bragg had to confess that, being from England, he didn't know the words.  He said, and I agreed with him, that he thought that Mermaid Avenue worked out so well because it needed somebody who didn't know the words to "This Land Is Your Land."  It needed somebody who didn't think of Woody Guthrie as some sort of saint.

Bragg's set included his usual comic banter along with "All You Fascists," "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key," "Guess I Planted," his own rendition of "I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore," and "Dry Bed," during which he had the audience sing the chorus.  That was it.  The Billy Bragg portion of the evening did a nice job of turning Woody Guthrie into a real person, but it was way too short.

Steve Earle closed out the performances.  He did a moving rendition of Guthrie's "Deportee" along with some of his own material, including "Christmastime In Washington" with its chorus of "Come back Woody Guthrie / Come back to us now."  I felt the reverence beginning to creep in again.

For the finale, Earle brought everyone back on stage along with Woody's daughter, Nora Guthrie.  Nora then did a really nice thing and introduced the Woody Guthrie archivists, who I'm sure have had a busy year helping to put together centennial celebrations and compilation albums.  "You know how this is gonna end," Bragg said, and they all, archivists included, closed the show with "This Land Is Your Land."

All in all, it was a good evening.  Those protest songs can get my lefty blood pumping, and I can honestly say that Woody Guthrie makes me proud to be an American.  I would have enjoyed about another hour's worth of Billy Bragg doing his own material and, maybe, a slightly less worshipful atmosphere.  But it isn't every night that CoolMom and I can spend an evening out pretending that we're sticking it to the man.

WoodyFest

Billy / Woody Are Just What I Need

Beginning early preparations to head up to City Winery for the last night of WoodyFest.  Maybe the combination of Woody and Billy Bragg can assuage some of my anger over the All Tomorrow's Parties news and the fact that Samsung still has my phone.

I hope Billy does this one tonight.  It's always been one of my favorites from the Mermaid Avenue collection, though, I'm sure I'll miss Wilco and Jeff Tweedy's backing vocals.

Keep fighting the good fight this Friday night.  For Woody.

And rock on...

I'll Be Your Mirror Moves to NYC, Loses Performers

A Sad Day for the Jersey Shore

One of the inspirations for starting this blog was the All Tomorrow's Parties:  I'll Be Your Mirror Festival.  Like last year, this year's festival was to be held in Asbury Park.  The format of the festival intrigued me.  The larger acts would play the Convention Hall or the Parmount, while some of the lesser-known bands would play in the bars and smaller venues of the city.  I snapped up a full weekend pass (and got a "full weekend pass" from CoolMom), and planned on seeing as many shows as I could, taking pictures, and writing about it all here.

I started to get nervous when I began reading that ATP had filed for liquidation and would undergo a reorganization.  Not to worry, though, they said, "None of the currently scheduled events or future events will be affected."

Then, earlier this week, Sharon Van Etten canceled her appearance at the festival.  I really love Van Etten's latest album, Tramp, and she was one of the main reasons I bought a ticket.  I started to get more worried.

Today ATP announced that not being affected means relocating the entire festival from Asbury Park, NJ to Pier 36 in New York City.  Oh, and Louis C.K. won't be appearing either.  The organizers cited the difficulty fans faced at finding rooms in and around Asbury Park as a reason for the move, but I don't recall any reviews of the festival from last year mentioning it as an issue.

Anyway, I went ahead and requested a full refund on my ticket.  I love New York City.  I'm going to a show there tonight, as a matter of fact.  But moving the festival from Asbury to New York takes away some of the "summer camp" vibe that they've apparently cultivated over the years.  Also, logistically, it just becomes more difficult for me.

I'm sad.  I was really looking forward to it.  I haven't heard Asbury Park's side of things yet, but I would be surprised if the city were happy about it or agreed with the "unavoidable logistical concerns" cited by the organizers.  The Bamboozle seemed to go off OK, after all.

Here's Sharon Van Etten doing "Give Out" live for WNYC.

Fill In The Blank...

WoodyFest at City Winery Tomorrow

CoolMom and I are meeting at City Winery tomorrow night to celebrate Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday, which is Saturday, with Steve Earle, Joe Purdy, Amy Helm, and Billy Bragg.

Go over to YouTube and check out just how many of Woody's songs still have relevance today.  And don't forget to give him a little nod the next time you're listening to your Dylan or Springsteen albums.

Here's a Woody Guthrie centennial activity for you.  Guthrie famously labeled his own guitars with "This Machine Kills Fascists."  Fill in the blank with whatever you'd like.  I can't play very well, so I'll get all of those jokes out of the way with "...anyone within a 100 yards."

Never Realized How Much I Liked Dirty Projectors

Really Enjoying Swing Lo Magellan

This isn't a review.  It's just an observation.  Sometimes I realize that, even though I enjoy almost every song I've ever heard from a band, I just don't own any of their music or I haven't really ever thought of them as a band that I like.

The other night, I watched the Bowery Presents livestream of The Dirty Projectors' MHOW show on my iPhone while CoolMom grumbled beside me as she tried to sleep.  I lay there mesmerized by Dave Longstreth's polarizing voice, his weird, lefty guitar playing, and the vocals from the trio of Amber Coffman, Haley Dekle, and newest member Olga Bell.  And it amazed me that, like a film director, over the years, Longstreth had assembled all of these musicians and singers to bring the sounds bouncing around in his head to life this way.

Dirty Projectors' last release, Bitte Orca, slugged it out with Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion and Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest for "Best Album of 2009" honors throughout the mindiesphere, but I didn't buy Bitte Orca until yesterday morning.  Seeing those songs performed, along with the new ones, "live" on that little screen made me realize just how good Dirty Projectors are right now.

They're weird, sure.  But it's the melding of the weirdness, the discord, the sometimes intentionally-off harmonies, with the familiar, the "pretty" that really works for them.  Swing Lo Magellan takes this effect to another level with a push toward greater accessibility in their sound.

2012 will bring new releases from Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, but I think the latest effort from Dirty Projectors is going to be difficult to top.

Frank Ocean's Album Available Early

Channel Orange

Frank Ocean appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night and blew me away.  At the same time, he started streaming his debut full-length, Channel Orange, via his Tumblr.  The album is also available for purchase, a week earlier than scheduled, on iTunes.

Ocean made big news last week on the personal side, but the record stands on its own.  The songwriting and Ocean's voice bring something to R&B that I haven't heard in a long, long time (not that I'm an expert, as you've probably figured out from much of the content on this blog).

Go check it out.  Channel Orange will be available everywhere July 17th.

Crocodiles, Endless Flowers, 2012

Sunday Run Album Review

As a kid, up until maybe 1986 when R.E.M.’s Life’s Rich Pageant came out, I was what we’d call today a classic rock guy.  I listened to WPLJ, WNEW, and WAPP while they were all “album-oriented rock” stations.  Today, I tell myself that I was always a little bit left-of-center even for someone who liked classic rock.  My preferences tended more toward The Who and The Kinks than, say, Led Zeppelin or The Rolling Stones.  I eventually moved on to The Police, Elvis Costello, and The Clash before getting fully into "alternative" music and the then wonderful WHTG.  At any rate, I never spent much time listening to The Cure or The Jesus and Mary Chain until I was older.

Maybe it’s because I feel like I missed out a bit as a teenager, but I’ve been eating up the revival of shoegaze, a genre that grew out of the sound of The Cure, The Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine.  In just the last two or three years, bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Yuck, and DIIV have carried the torch for 80’s and early-90’s fuzz.  Sand Diego’s Crocodiles are the latest neo-shoegaze band to pop onto my radar.

Though I’ve resolved lately to back off on the running in favor of cycling, in the name of cross-training and maintaining this feature, I took to the pavement on foot today with Crocodiles’ latest, Endless Flowers.

Endless Flowers is the third album from Crocodiles.  The title track, which opens the album, justifies many of the Jesus and Mary Chain comparisons that feature in almost every review I’ve seen of the record.  Rather than imitating The Jesus and Mary Chain, though, I think Crocodiles are just exploring some of the same territory as their predecessors.  Songs like “No Black Clouds for Dee Dee” (a song singer/guitarist Brandon Welchez composed for his wife, Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls), “Electric Death Song” and “Bubblegum Trash” have the post-punk sound, but also have roots in 1960’s pop like Tommy James and the Shondells or The Hollies.  The album also contains some straightforward garage rock like “My Surfing Lucifer,” “Welcome Trouble,” and, on the Amazon version anyway, “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore.”

In other words, much of Endless Flowers comes close to post-punk shoegaze pop, while the rest of it sounds like pre-punk, noisy rock and roll.  That may sound like Crocodiles have put out a record that doesn’t really know what it wants to be.  I think, though, it makes for an interesting entry in this revivalist genre, showcasing what Crocodiles can do with the same influences that inspired many of the bands that came before them.

Endless Flowers is a slightly uneven, but enjoyable blast of fuzz that can satisfy your mid-80's cravings, while it plays with some of the enduring, even “classic,” music that's been around much longer.

Staycation Is Over

Back to Work Next Week

And I'm not looking forward to it.

It was a great week of bike rides, beach, good music, good food, and maybe a few drinks.

But now it's Friday night, so be good.

And rock on...

Album Trailers

I Don't Get It

Divine Fits have realeased the second trailer to their album A Thing Called Divine Fits which is due out on August 28th via the excellent Merge Records.

What the heck is going on here?  I'm not talking about the person moving beneath the Jiffy Pop foil in the actual trailer.  I'm talking about album trailers in general.

This feels like a new thing to me, but I know it really isn't.  Word of mouth, viral marketing has been around since before the Internet.  Now, though, put out a trailer or reveal the track list (uh... whatever), and it flies all over the web thanks to people like me.

The first time I saw one of these, it was the trailer for Titus Andronicus's The Monitor, put out by XL Recordings.  At the time, I thought it was cool because it appeared kind of homemade and it was pretty obviously tongue-in-cheek.



Then, The Decemberists did a few, I think, for The King Is Dead (Capitol, this time).  They were professionally shot and showed the band working on the album in some Oregon farmhouse.



Those are just two examples, but I've been seeing these things for different albums a couple of times per week.  Now, we have this trailer for Divine Fits.  The clip is referred to as "A Film by Alexa Gerrity" and looks great, but I'm not sure how much it tells anyone about the upcoming album.



I'm not trying to knock any of these bands here.  All of them streamed or made available some other way actual songs from their albums prior to release.  Given that Divine Fits features Spoon's Britt Daniel and Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner, I'll almost certainly buy the album on the day of its release.  I'd just prefer another single or maybe a video (directed by Alexa Gerrity, even!).

I don't know.  Maybe it's just another case of my oversensitive cooldad / hipster hype alarm, but I just find the whole album trailer thing a little nonsensical.

And don't even get me started on "So-and-so reveals track list."

Kaboom!-less in Red Bank

July 3rd and No Red Bank Fireworks

I never loved the Red Bank, NJ fireworks.  The crowds were too big.  You couldn't park anywhere.  In recent years, I think there were even some issues with fights and general hooliganism.  So I wasn't particularly sad when the announcement came earlier this year that the annual "Kaboom!" fireworks in Marine Park weren't going to happen.

Now, here it is July 3rd, and I'm sitting here thinking about the fact that I complained about them every year and still went.  Every.  Single.  Year.

Oh, well.  There are still plenty of options.  While out on the bike today, I saw that preparations are well underway in Long Branch for Oceanfest, which concludes with a fireworks display.  West Long Branch will set theirs off tomorrow, as usual, and that's always fun.  It'll be interesting to see if the absence of Red Bank's (and Sea Bright's, too, I think) show drives more people to what's always been the more small-towny display in WLB.

Hope you were able to cut out of work early.  Enjoy the holiday.

Be safe and rock on...

DIIV, Oshin, 2012

Monday Vacation Day Bike to the Beach and Hang Around Album Review

For my day job, I work for a company that's headquartered in a country where people actually get time off every year.  As a result of this, I have more vacation time than CoolMom.  I took some of that extra time for this holiday week, and, so far, it's been a great solo staycation.  CoolDaughters 1 & 2 go to camp every day and don't get home until close to five o'clock, so I'm as on my own as I've been in a long time for much of the day.

It's made me a little lax on the blogging.  I resolved, therefore, this evening to sit down and finally put down some thoughts on the debut album from Brooklyn-based DIIV, Oshin.

A big part of being plugged into the mindiesphere as a cooldad is an aversion to hype.  A good deal of it preceded the release of Oshin.  In advance of the album's release, Pitchfork premiered the tracks "How Long Have You Known?" and "Doused," bestowing Best New Track tags on both.  The band went through a name change, from Dive to DIIV.  And much has been made of frontman Zachary Cole Smith's association with Beach Fossils.  All of this should have made me very suspicious of the DIIV project.  I even read several reviews that seemed to knock the band as much for being another mindie darling from Brooklyn as for anything having to do with the music.

Well, today I sat down and listened to the album.  Oshin, simply, is a collection of sounds that I love.  Layered guitars, vocals that are difficult to pick out from the rest of the mix, and lots of reverb.  Instrumental album opener "(Druun)" lets you know right away what to expect from the album:  guitar sounds favoring notes over chords and then a bit of a hook, all drenched in reverb.  "Past Lives," "How Long Have You Known?" "Follow," and beautiful album closer "Home" are reminiscent of Real Estate.  There is a bit more darkness or shoegaziness to the sound, though.  "Doused" is the album standout, and the guitars ride on top of the rhythm section like Interpol, circa 2002, though without the sometimes ridiculous Interpol lyrics.

The band mentioned the importance of their lyrics via a tweet last week, so I held the lyric sheet and followed along as I listened this evening.  None of the songs on Oshin has very many lyrics, but the album isn't all just about the wall of sound.  The record opens with Smith singing, "I was your home..." and ends with "You'll never have a home until you go home."  What goes on in between isn't always easy to decipher, but I get the sense that it deals with the simple story of people growing apart.  I've said before that I don't like to delve too deeply into lyrical content in these reviews, but I will say that there is a definite thematic unity to Oshin that will reward people who pay attention to more than just the sound.

Just sitting back, listening, and letting Oshin carry you on that sound, though, is pretty cool, too.  I plan on doing just that as I spend another morning relaxing on the beach tomorrow.

Oh, and it's good to be suspicious of hype.  Just know that some bands really deserve it. 

Kind of in Mourning Right Now

Christopher Owens  Leaves Girls

Over the last several years, San Francisco's Girls have been one of my favorite acts.  With two albums -- Album and the unbelievable Father, Son, Holy Ghost -- and the Broken Dreams Club EP to their credit, Girls melded the sounds of Elvis Costello, The Beach Boys, and even Pink Floyd to produce a small catalog that I'm sure will be viewed as essential for years to come.

Christopher Owens announced via his Twitter feed today that he is leaving the band he formed with Chet "JR" White, saying his "reasons at this time are personal."  He promises to continue making music, but it remains to be seen what form that will take.

For now, join me in a tiny bit of mourning for the loss of what Owens and White produced together and in hoping that everything works out for both of them.