#1 City I Have To Get To More Often Of 2014

Philadelphia's Beach Slang at Asbury Lanes in October

Philadelphia

You'll remember that Allyson Dwyer and I had a less than wonderful experience seeing the Slowdive reunion at NYC's Terminal 5. That left me trying to find alternative locations where I could see bands who were too big for a 500-capacity venue and too small for, say, Madison Square Garden. I posted a question on Facebook about Philly's Union Transfer, and the feedback was uniformly positive. I'll have to think about it the next time a band I want to see announces that they're playing Terminal 5. I'll scan the tour announcement for Philly.

I've lived in New Jersey since I was 5, and I've only been to Philadelphia maybe a half-dozen times. I know we went there on a 5th grade field trip -- the day Ronald Reagan was shot, as it turns out. I endured a few Phillies games at The Vet with my friend and his Phillie Phan dad. We've taken a few flights out of the Philadelphia airport, and I think we spent the day there with my father-in-law once. That's it. This is made even stranger by the fact that CoolMom graduated from the University of Pennsylvania; and, save for the times mentioned above (airport, dadinlaw), I don't think she's been back there.

Take my vow never to set foot in Terminal 5 again and pair it with the great music coming out of Philadelphia, and I think my relationship with the city is about to deepen.

Beach Slang

Maybe my favorite song of the year comes from this new band made up of Philadelphia punk vets. That off-kilter, pulsing guitar sound, the Smiths references, the -- as aptly pointed out by Scotch LaRock in his review -- Replacements meets Psychedelic Furs meets Jawbreaker sound of the band, and the go-for-broke live performance all combine to make "All Fuzzed Out" a song that I can listen to over and over while singing along, bouncing my head, and pumping my fist as I drive.



Cayetana

OK. Maybe this is my favorite song of the year. Philly's Cayetana won me over when I saw them open for Laura Stevenson, and their record Nervous Like Me definitely wins my "Most Listens Of 2014" competition. The record is strong throughout. I love album-closer "South Philly," but "Hot Dad Calendar" has this great video, so...



Radiator Hospital

The prolific Sam Cook-Parrott of Radiator Hospital put out another record of quirky, lo-fi pop gems in 2014. "Cut Your Bangs" exemplifies that whole punkier version of Elephant 6 thing he does so well.



Mumblr

I used the word "uncomfortable" to describe Mumblr's Full of Snakes quite a bit in my review of that record. "Sober" is one of those uncomfortable songs about being young and powerless against your own feelings of jealousy and insecurity. It's also got some sonic references to music that I love, like Modest Mouse.



Those, and that whole Terminal 5 thing, are just a few of the reasons why I've gotta get to Philly more. I mean, I know we'll see all of these bands in Asbury Park at some point; but it doesn't seem fair to make them keep coming to me. And I think it would be good to get out there and see them in their natural habitat.

Mumblr, Full of Snakes, 2014

Album Review

A friend was lamenting the current state of pop / rock to me the other night, asking, "What happened to all of the rebel songs? What do any of these bands have to say?"

It was a good point, I thought. In both Top 40 pop and big, mainstream indie (and the intersection on that Venn diagram is getting bigger every day), there's a definite lack of edge to a good portion of the music. It's true that no band owes us "rebel songs." Maybe they're just kids who really like to play. But I also sense an element of calculation. If you want to move a lot of product, you need to be careful that you're not offending a whole bunch of people or making them uncomfortable.

Sometimes, though, art or music makes you uncomfortable. I'm going to admit to feeling a bit uncomfortable during a few moments on the latest release from Philly's Mumblr. Full of Snakes manages to capture a lot of those uncomfortable feelings that accompany the shift from adolescence to full-on adulthood. I'm not sure if it's quite accurate to say that it's rebellious to make people squirm a little bit, but it's definitely rare in the current pop / rock / indie universe.

The chunky guitar chords and Nick Morrison's up-front vocals on "Got It" recall Weezer. Morrison sings, "I'm finding where I fit. I think I'm post-race, unless I'm just an idiot." It's an appropriate introductory verse for the record as, over the course of the album, Morrison's narrator spends a lot of time finding where he fits in the post-adolescent world. His efforts even include some well-intentioned, if clumsy, attempts to prove his post-race-ness.

"Sober" does a pretty good job of getting at that uncomfortable feeling of understanding that jealousy and insecurity aren't doing you any good even as you recognize that you don't yet have the tools to contain them. "I'm freaking out. I'm freaking out, outside of your house." "Mr. Softee" could be a companion piece. This time, as the narrator "can see you inside calling me," he's a "weak and gentle older me;" and some of his youthful rage is already gone.

"Black Chicks" is a sprawling, again kind of Weezer-y, track in which Morrison sings of hating himself for his feelings and for his "whiteness," an obstacle to some of his narrator's post-race ambitions. "White Devil" (moving into a little Modest Mouse territory here) makes mention of the desire to see past race while not ever really being able to see past it. "Greyhound Station" dispenses with hooks to go a little post-rocky. With lyrics like "outside any race" and "my god is raceless with Wiccan style," it touches on some of the same themes of the other two songs. It contains the split-second use of a word that is pretty jarring. All three songs sound great. Morrison, guitarist Ian Amidon, bassist Sean Reilly, and drummer Scott Stitzer show their versatility. All three songs also kind of made me uncomfortable. Maybe that's the intent.

The album closes with Morrison's narrator worrying about the person he is. On single "Roach," he fears passing all of his worst traits along ("Our spirits don't fit in the ground. They just get carried around until I pass my sins down"). On album-closer "The Grave," he sings, "Only the devil doesn't know he's the devil, so it must be me."

Songs don't have to be about overthrowing the government or the status quo to be rebel songs. Sometimes they can just dare to poke and prod at some of the things that are uncomfortable to talk about. The world confronts people with a lot of stuff to deal with as they grow to become functioning members of society: romantic and social relationships, issues about race, learning to live with yourself or to forgive yourself for some of the fumbling ways you may have dealt with those things. On Full of Snakes, Mumblr poke and prod at all of that. It may make you a little bit uncomfortable, but I think you can take it.

Full of Snakes is out now on Fleeting Youth Records.

Philly's Mumblr Release Second New Single. Playing A Yard In Howell Basement In Jackson Tomorrow.

Photo by Pete Murray

"Roach"

At the end of last year, Chris over at Speak Into My Good Eye sent me a "Hey, you should listen to this" note about Mumblr and their double-EP cassette White Jesus / Black God. You can read Chris Rotolo's feature on the band's noisy single "Puke" over at SIMGE.

Now, Mumblr are preparing a full-length for Fleeting Youth Records. Full of Snakes is set for release on September 16th, and the band have already released two singles. "Philadelphia" has been out for just over two weeks; and, yesterday, Mumblr followed that with "Roach."

"Roach" blends some 90s-style emo with Weezer-ish hard-rock-pop (Weezer are, officially, the most influential band of the 90s now.) as lead singer Nick Morrison worries that he may ruin his future kids with his own baggage: "Our spirits don't fit in the ground. They just get carried around. Until I pass my sins down."

Both singles are available as Name Your Price downloads over at the Fleeting Youth Records Bandcamp page.

Tomorrow, Mumblr will be in someone's backyard in Howell basement in Jackson playing with some great touring and local bands (Sorority Noise, Killer Waves, Have a Good Season, Corrina Corrina, Forever Losing Sleep, more) for Yardfest Basementfest 2014.