Waxahatchee Played Asbury Lanes w/ Radiator Hospital and Allison Crutchfield, 11/7/14

I Can Play 'Em, But I Could Never Write 'Em

I made a joke yesterday about Waxahatchee's "Grass Stain," saying it was one of the few songs that I, barely a guitar player at all, could cover. Its guitar part is simply the picked out notes of the power chords D5, A5, G5, E5. I didn't mean it as a dig at Waxahatchee. One of the things I love about Katie Crutchfield's project is that I can learn her songs simply by watching her play them on guitar. Musically, her songs are all very simple; but there are few people that can write or sing with an honesty like hers.

Last night Crutchfield brought her short, "solo" tour to Asbury Lanes where she was joined by Keith Spencer, Radiator Hospital (aka, Sam Cook-Parrott), and her sister, former bandmate, and former housemate Allison.

Katie Crutchfield did a set that included songs from both of her Waxahatchee LPs. She played the simple melodies and chord progressions while Spencer, almost hiding at the rear of the stage, embellished things with his Telecaster. On some of the new songs, she played keys while Allison joined her to add vocals. Katie Crutchfield has promised a new direction for the next Waxahatchee record, and it would appear that keys and maybe some electronic sounds will be part of that. She was more relaxed than I'd seen her in the past. Maybe a break from touring and a fresh excitement over new material are having a positive effect.

Allison Crutchfield opened the evening playing songs from her recent -- and quite good -- Lean Into It EP with help from Sam Cook-Parrott on bass. The songs also have an electronic focus with synth and programmed beats, but the skill for pop songwriting that she and Cook-Parrott have displayed on their other projects is still there.

Cook-Parrott then did a set as Radiator Hospital, joined by Allison Crutchfield on vocals for a few songs. Radiator Hospital has been prolific over the last two years, and the set showcased Cook-Parrott's knack for lo-fi, bedroom pop. "Your Boyfriend," a standout track from last year's Something Wild, was a request and got a nice reception.

Waxahatchee was the highlight of the evening, though. The new songs, not being guitar-centric, had a different feel from her past work; but Crutchfield's songwriting and voice -- especially when doubled with her sister's -- are the real hallmarks of Waxahatchee. Maybe I'll have to go out and get a keyboard, so I can learn these songs when the new record's out.

Here are some of the shots I got last night. The rest are at Flickr.

Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) and Mish Way (White Lung) Trade Songs

"Wrong Star" / "Coast to Coast"

Perfect Pussy are playing Asbury Lanes tonight with Potty Mouth. That got me thinking about how, back in December, Perfect Pussy teamed up with Ceremony, Sleepies, and White Lung for a show at NYU that I had every intention of attending but failed to make. So somewhere in the back of my brain, Vancouver's White Lung were floating around.

Waxahatchee are coming to Asbury Lanes in November, and I'm extremely excited for that one. My love of Waxahatchee is well-documented here. So that was another thing that was kind of just sitting there in the back of my mind.

Then I noticed that White Lung's Mish Way and Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield did this little acoustic session thing that Noisey posted last week where they traded off performing each other's songs: White Lung's "Wrong Star" and Waxahatchee's "Coast to Coast."

Mish Way's vocals remind me a little bit of Courtney Love here, and I think that one of the things I love about Waxahatchee songs is that I can learn them on the guitar by just watching Katie play.

I don't know. It just struck me as a kind of weird and mystical occurrence. Not really, I guess. I just like this. Here are the two videos.

Have a great final weekend of summer. CoolMom's probably gonna be out with me tonight, so this is a really good night to come and say hi. She's awesome.

More New Swearin'

"Dust in the Gold Sack"

On Saturday night, at the Screaming Females / Waxahatchee show at Asbury Lanes, a friend decided to test my fandom.

"Quick, CoolDad. Name all the Crutchfield bands."

"Waxahatchee, The Ackleys, Bad Banana, P.S. Eliot, Swearin'... ...and Great Thunder!"

Those are all the ones I know about anyway. What can I say? Both Crutchfield sisters are doing stuff I love right now.

Allison Crutchfield's band with Keith Spencer and Kyle Gilbride, Swearin', released another track today from their upcoming Surfing Strange LP, which is due next month. They're keeping the streak alive.

I'm looking forward to this one.

Waxahatchee Announces New Album

Cerulean Salt

Waxahatchee, a.k.a. Katie Crutchfield, has announced that the follow-up to last year's American Weekend will be called Cerulean Salt.  I missed American Weekend for most of last year; but since I found it, it's grown into one of my favorites.  It's a starkly beautiful break-up (or, maybe, never-actually-got-together) record, and we're lucky to be getting new music so soon.

And speaking of new music, we also get the first taste of the album in the form of new song "Peace and Quiet," which features a bigger sound than any of the songs on American Weekend.

Cerulean Salt is due out on Don Giovanni Records on March 15th.