New Single, Video from Sweet Spirit. Trinidad Out 5/29.

Sweet Spirit by Roger Ho

"No Dancing"

You'd think that I'd have been using the last several weeks of statewide lockdown to discover new music and write about it here. Welp, it hasn't really been going that way. I'm usually here by myself at CDMHQ; and the added (but certainly not unwelcome) distraction of having the coolfamily here 24/7, coupled with the constant stream (less welcome) of pandemic news, has made it difficult to focus on my usually solitary activity of working on this site.

Instead, during this time, I've been focusing on those old stand-by things that have brought me joy over the years: bicycling, running / walking outdoors, The New York Times's daily "Spelling Bee" puzzle, science fiction, family, and my favorite bands.

Austin's Sweet Spirit are a relatively new entry in my pantheon of favorite bands. A few SXSWs ago, I was walking back to my hotel after a very long day. I checked the official app and noticed that Spiral Stairs was playing a midnight set at Maggie Mae's. Being a huge Pavement fan, I headed upstairs and caught the show. At around 1AM, I noticed the crowd starting to pack in for the next act.

"Who's up next?" I asked someone.

"Sweet Spirit!" they offered enthusiastically.

I hadn't heard of the band before, and I was completely spent. I decided to trudge my way back up the giant hill to the La Quinta and collapse into bed. Regrets as I later learned that Sweet Spirit are another project of Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen of A Giant Dog. Since then, in the last 3 or 4 years, few bands -- few THINGS -- have brought me more joy than Sweet Spirit and A Giant Dog.

Today, Sweet Spirit released the second single from their upcoming Trinidad (5/29, Merge). The accompanying, Ed Dougherty-directed video for "No Dancing" finds the band (which, in addition to Ellis and Cashen, includes Danny Blanchard, Jon Fichter, Jake Knight, and Joshua Merry) leading the students and staff of the arts program at Austin's Eastside Memorial High School through a glittery and joyful celebration of the power of music and dancing. Sweet Spirit recently raised money for the program with help from the Tingari-Silverton Foundation.

"No Dancing" comes right when we need it, I think. We can all identify with Ellis as they sing, "Wanna hear some records play / Wanna see some bodies sway" and "Keep dreaming of a future bright." We'll be done with all of this eventually. We'll have a new Sweet Spirit album and an accompanying tour during which we can all dance and sweat together.

That's a very long-winded way of saying check out this new video from Sweet Spirt and pre-order their album over at Merge or from your favorite independent record store.

Two Nights with Titus Andronicus and Control Top, 10/11 & 10/12, 2019

Titus Andronicus at Asbury Park Brewery

Asbury Park Brewery & Monty Hall

Last November, Titus Andronicus played Asbury Park's House of Independents. I, of course, made it out to that one. They also played Monty Hall in Jersey City the very next night. I had a ticket to that, too. The Asbury show was great. I was going through a real tough time then; and when Patrick Stickles got the whole room to chant "COOL-DAD! COOL-DAD!" it felt pretty nice, I gotta say.

The next night, I got in the car and headed out to make the drive up to Jersey City. I think, maybe, CoolMom had just gotten back from a business trip. My dad was in the hospital. I got to the corner of Hance Avenue and Newman Springs Road, where I'd normally make a left to head to the Garden State Parkway. I just kinda mindlessly turned right and headed back home to spend the evening with the family.

It's been a year, and I still have my ups and downs. After 38 days on the road, though, Titus Andronicus made their way back to New Jersey for two shows this weekend; and I wasn't missing either of them.

On Friday, the band played Asbury Park Brewery. Once again, CoolMom arrived home from a business trip that afternoon. We said hello to each other, enjoyed some pizza; and I headed out.

I love that the brewery has become a spot for bands who would probably otherwise skip Asbury Park on tour. It's not really my favorite place to take pictures, though. I just don't feel like I've figured it out. Something about the darkness, the blue lighting, the view into the storage / green room behind the performance area. I'm just rarely satisfied with the shots I take there.

On Friday, my thought process progressed from "I'm not bothering with a camera" to "I'll just bring the point and shoot" to "Well, maybe the crop sensor and one lens" to "I'm bringing the full frame and two lenses." I'm happy I finally settled on that.

Philadelphia's Control Top opened the show. Their debut LP Covert Contracts is one of my favorites this year, and I couldn't believe I hadn't seen them yet. They didn't disappoint. I'd put their sound somewhere between hardcore and post-punk. Lead singer / bassist Ali Carter is ferocious on the mic and delivers on the post-punk basslines. Al Creedon coaxes some wild sounds and noise from his guitar. Alex Lichtenauer is not only Control Top's virtuoso drummer, but they also run Get Better Records which features Control Top along with bands like Potty Mouth, Worriers, The HIRS Collective, Bacchae, and more.

Control Top at Asbury Park Brewery

Control Top

Carter put down the bass and made her way through the crowd during "Covert Contracts," climbing up on barstools and pallets, getting in audience members' faces to scream the song's chorus. Creedon's guitar on "Straight Jackets" sounded just as urgent as intense as it does on the record.

Super blurry and dark shot of Ali Carter in the crowd.

Control Top

Control Top

Control Top

Patrick Stickles came out a little after 9:30 and made his usual request that the crowd remain respectful and non-violent for the show -- "No macho bullshit." Just to set the tone, he started the evening with a solo rendition of "To Old Friends and New" from The Monitor. The rest of the band -- Liam Betson (guitar), Chris Wilson (drums), RJ Gordon (bass) -- joined him and launched into "Just Like Ringing a Bell," the opening track to this year's An Obelisk. Like most of that record, the song is a fast-paced rocker. The crowd got into it and went pretty hard. Everyone respected Stickles's wishes to keep things fun.

Titus Andronicus at Asbury Park Brewery

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

That remained true for the whole night. I remember, back at the old Lanes five years ago, bracing myself against the stage in anticipation of the onslaught that would follow "FUCK YOU!!!" during "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ" and still going home with a huge bump on my head from smashing it into my camera. I remember my whole ribcage being covered in bruises after an evening of being crushed against the stage at Warsaw. I even remember being picked up off the floor after ending up at the bottom of a scrum at Monty Hall a few years back. Titus Andronicus crowds have certainly grown up, at least around here.

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Stickles introduced a pair of Local Business tracks -- "Ecce Homo" and "Still Life with Hot Deuce on Silver Platter" -- by pointing out that they hadn't been played in NJ in about five years. He called it a risky move, but the crowd rewarded the band with some real enthusiasm.

We were up against an 11pm curfew at the brewery, but Titus Andronicus managed to squeeze "The Battle of Hampton Roads," "A More Perfect Union," and "Titus Andronicus Forever" in just under the wire. The crowd danced and smiled all night. I got a few more shouts out from Patrick. It all got me pretty fired up for Night 2 in Jersey City.

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

On Saturday, I got into Monty Hall at Around 8. Control Top took the stage at around 8:30 and absolutely brought it again. Carter made her way into the crowd again, kicked and screamed on the floor, got interactive with the crowd, tore off the flowy gown she was wearing over her dress and threw it into the audience. I dig this band.

Control Top

Control Top

Control Top

Control Top

Lighting was meh again, so the pics are a little dark and noisy. What can ya do?

Titus Andronicus played a set that stuck pretty closely to the one they played at the brewery. That was fine by me. Once again, the crowd was raucous but respectful. It got pretty hot inside the venue, and Stickles eventually ended up shirtless. The band left the stage following "Titus Andronicus Forever;" but, this time, the crowd managed to get them back out for an encore of "Titus Andronicus."

Titus Andronicus at Monty Hall

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

I drove home listening to sports talk radio recap the Yankees' win over the Astros in Game 1 of the ALCS. As I listened and drove, I thought about the hundreds and hundreds of bands I've covered here over the last seven years. I thought about becoming jaded and wanting maybe to pack it all in. And I thought about how, after all of that, things always come back around to where they started for me. How, after years of trying to keep this site "relevant" (whatever that means), after years of ups and downs, this whole thing is all just really about me fan-boying out to my favorite bands.

Too many pictures from both nights are up in the Flickr galleries.

A Giant Dog Cover Arcade Fire

A Giant Dog at The Saint back in July

Neon Bible

I spent about a year from the end of 2004 through 2005 with Arcade Fire's Funeral in my car's CD player. 3 years later, the band released the follow-up, Neon Bible; and, ever since, I've gone back and forth between those two albums as my favorite Arcade Fire record. Neon Bible definitely contains some of my favorite Arcade Fire songs like "Keep the Car Running," "(Antichrist Television Blues)," and "Intervention."

The stuff I listen to has changed a bit over the last 10 or 12 years. And, maybe, I've drifted away a bit from those Arcade Fire records. One of the bands I encountered and fell in love with over that time is A Giant Dog. Like Funeral and Neon Bible, the last two A Giant Dog albums (the excellent Pile and Toy) came out on Merge Records. As part of the label's 30th anniversary celebration, A Giant Dog recorded a full-album cover of Neon Bible. Subscribers to Merge's 30th anniversary vinyl series (a group that includes yours truly) received their copies on purple, marble vinyl earlier this week. At midnight on September 20th, the rest of the world will be able to stream the album in full.

In a press release, A Giant Dog lead singer Sabrina Ellis says, "Recording a cover album, we felt like actors in a movie. Taking someone else's lines and embodying those emotions, and expressing those ideas through our own selves, made us portals of human expression… and that's why the album artwork is an open butthole.*

*The awesome butthole artwork was conceived by our drummer Danny and made possible by our friend Jennine Turow."

I hadn't spun or pressed play or whatever on Neon Bible in a long time. A Giant Dog imbue this classic with their inimitable, all-out, soul-baring, heart-filling style. They take something that I -- a lot of us, probably -- know backwards and forwards and give it a fresh edge and vitality.

Check out A Giant Dog's take on "Intervention," and stream their whole cover of Neon Bible at midnight from wherever you like to do that sort of thing.

North Carolina to New Jersey. Not Much Sleep.

Superchunk at Merge 30

Merge 30 / A Giant Dog

"Was it what you wanted?" Gloree asked me during the wee hours of Tuesday morning after we'd just witnessed A Giant Dog, Dentist, and her band -- The RockNRoll Hi-Fives -- play a sold-out Saint in Asbury Park. Little Dickman and I had put together what, for me, was the show of a lifetime.

I sat there, my t-shirt drooping under the weight of my sweat, and said, "The bands are happy. The venue is happy..."

"NO!" Gloree said. "Was it what YOU wanted?"

"Yeah..." I said as an irrepressible smile came across my face. "More."

Back up a bit.

Monday's show was just the topper to six days of shows, friendship, and good times. Last Wednesday, I headed down to Carrboro, North Carolina for Merge Records' 30th anniversary festival. The RockNRoll Hi-Fives put me up in their new home for the whole weekend. We went to all the shows together. We played in the Merge 30 kickball game. Then, we met up back in Jersey for the rock and roll oven of peace and love that was the show at The Saint.

I could write a book-length review of the whole Merge 30 festival / Saint show. This is the Internet, though; so nobody really wants that. But I'll give some notes and observations.

Wednesday

Mac McCaughan welcomes the crowd to Merge 30.

Beautiful show at the lovely Carolina Theatre in Durham featuring The Mountain Goats, Hiss Golden Messenger, and H.C. McEntire. The always gracious press team at Merge got me a last-minute photo pass so that I could shoot from the pit in front of the stage. The chorus to The Mountain Goats' "This Year" -- "I'm gonna make it through this year if it kills me" -- has become a sort of mantra to me.

H.C. McIntyre

Hiss Golden Messenger

The Mountain Goats

Ran into Titus Andronicus at the after-party at Motorco. That was a theme of the weekend. Artists were out and about among the crowds, accessible, and just as into everything as everyone else in attendance. Escape-ism and The Rock*A*Teens played that one. I was in a Rock*A*Teens cover band with Gentleman Jim Norton for about 2 weeks a few years ago.

Escape-ism

The Rock*A*Teens

Thursday

Laura Ballance kicking off Night 2

Things moved to Carrboro's Cat's Cradle for the remainder of the fest. There's a big main room and a smaller back room. Since I always need to get and maintain a "good spot" for photos, I made the executive decision to cover the main room only. Regrets? Well, obviously, missing all the acts in the back room (like Will Butler, Telekenisis, Torres, Spider Bags, Mike Krol, and more) and missing out on the opportunity to schmooze with artists in the courtyard between the venues. Oh, well. That's the cost of doing a job that nobody ever really asked you to do.

I love Swearin', and I don't think I've seen them since a Shellshag release show at Maxwell's about 6 years ago. I was texting pics and video of Lambchop's set to Lambchop superfan, Renee Maskin, back in Jersey. New Merge signees, Sacred Paws, turned in a stand-out set of globally-influenced pop. I started going pretty hard during Fucked Up's set. Lead singer Damian Abraham is simultaneously intimidating and super-sweet. Once they got into selections from David Comes to Life, I lost my shit.

Swearin'

Lambchop

Sacred Paws

Fucked Up

Superchunk were otherworldly. The main set consisted of a song off of each Superchunk release in chronological order. Sabrina Ellis (more on Sabrina later) joined the band to sing her part on "Break the Glass." Damian came back during the encore for "Our Work Is Done" and stuck around, joined by Swearin's Allison Crutchfield, for "Slack Motherfucker." I was screaming into Damian's mic along with the rest of the people up front.

Superchunk and Sabrina Ellis

Superchunk, Damian, Allison

Superchunk

Friday

Kickss Golden Messenger w Andy the Grumpire

Friday afternoon was the Kicknic, organized and emceed by Jersey City's Dancing Tony. 3/4ths of The RockNRoll Hi-Fives and I were on Kickss Golden Messenger, while Evren kicked for the Ballfield Dogs. Kickss Golden Messenger won with a walk-off basekick by yours truly in the bottom of the 5th. By now, I could barely walk.

Friday in the main room started in mellow fashion with William Tyler's intricate and beautiful guitar work. He went electric -- and actually sang -- on a cover of East River Pipe's "Make a Deal with the City." Merge honcho / Superchunk guitarist and vocalist, Mac McCaughan, joined Tyler for the final piece.

William Tyler and Mac McCaughan

Imperial Teen had reunited from various points on the map to play only their second show in over two years and brought the fun.

Imperial Teen

This was the evening I was most looking forward to as it featured both A Giant Dog and Titus Andronicus. I've gone through the last couple of years with this giant, gaping hole somewhere inside me; and both of these bands are able to fill in all that space and get me a little bit (ok, a lot bit) outside myself when they play.

A Giant Dog's Sabrina Ellis lays it all out there, and -- even though I did snap hundreds of pictures during their set -- I found myself just absorbing it all during a few moments. I thought, "Geez. For a photographer, I have my eyes closed an awful lot."

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

Titus Andronicus played a set that consisted exclusively of their releases with Merge. That meant no The Airing of Grievances, The Monitor, or Local Business. It also meant that they closed out the set (before covering "I Wanna Be Sedated," that is) with the suite of "Mr. E. Mann," "Fired Up," and "Dimed Out" from The Most Lamentable Tragedy, which is one of my favorite and, for me, one of the most cathartic live music things ever. 

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Oh, I also don't want to forget to mention the mesmerizing set from Wye Oak right between A Giant Dog and Titus Andronicus.

Wye Oak

Saturday

The Spinanes

Merge held a free day party on Saturday. We bopped in and out and caught Joyero and the highly-anticipated closing set from The Spinanes. Destroyer's Dan Bejar, Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, all of Superchunk, and other artists were among the crowd.

Joyero

Saturday night was interesting. There were intimate -- And, really, even in the large space of the main room, they felt intimate. -- acoustic sets from Destroyer and longtime CDM favorite Waxahatchee. The crowd was respectful and attentive for both. Katie Crutchfield brought Mary Lattimore out for a few songs to accompany her on harp.

Destroyer

Waxahatchee w Mary Lattimore

Washington DC's Gauche are another recent signee that took advantage of the opportunity to impress. Defiant and danceable post-punk. The revelation of the festival for me was Nigeria's / UK's Ibibio Sound Machine. The crowd went apeshit. Frontwoman Eno Williams sings in both English and the Nigerian language Ibibio. Williams was visibly moved by the crowd's response to the set.

Gauche

Ibibio Sound Machine

Ex Hex closed out the festival. They've added bassist Michelle Mae which allows Betsy Wright to join Mary Timony on guitar. The new setup really works. And the hard rock riffs, high kicks, and sweet harmonies with Laura Harris are all still there.

Ex Hex

Ex Hex

Sunday

Flew home. Went to watch CoolDaughter #1 swim the 100m breastroke in the Junior Olympic finals. She finished 8th even though she was recovering from a mean stomach bug.

Monday

When Chris Dickman and I confirmed that we'd booked A Giant Dog for The Saint a few months back, I was incredulous. I knew immediately that I wanted Dentist and The RockNRoll Hi-Fives on the bill. When that all came together, it was like a dream come true.

We busted our asses promoting this one, and damned if we didn't sell out The Saint on a Monday night. The crowd arrived and packed the place out early. The RockNRoll Hi-Fives and Dentist played to a basically full house. CoolMom came out!

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

Dentist

Dentist

Once again, A Giant Dog gave us everything; and I greedily ate it up. I can't thank them enough for what they do. From the first seconds of their set to the end, when Sabrina was crawling along The Saint's bar, it was literal and figurative heat. It was sweat and wild abandon. Beautiful.

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

So, was Monday night what I wanted? The whole damn six days was what I wanted and what I needed. And I'm gonna keep heading out there, looking for it, trying to make it happen as long as I'm able.

I'm uploading the many hundreds of pics from the last week to Flickr as we speak.