Stuff, I Guess, from Pinkwash, Diarrhea Planet, Jackal Onasis, and Dentist

PINKWASH at SXSW in March

What I've Been Up To

This semi-retirement thing has been a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I no longer have the excuses of tasks, conference calls, or the occasional business trip to explain why the days seem to get away from me. Still feeling my way, I guess. I'll get myself on a regular posting / to-do schedule eventually; but, in the meantime, here's some of the stuff with which I've been distracting myself over the last week or so.

PINKWASH, "GUMDROP"

I first saw PINKWASH at the Don Giovanni label showcase back in 2015. The Philadelphia duo of Joey Doubek (guitar) and Ashley Arnwine (drums) took a bit of time to set up. Once everything was to their liking, they delivered a short set (maybe 4 or 5 songs) of absolutely devastating and cathartic noise.

The next time I saw them -- this past March in Austin for South By Southwest -- the sound man asked Doubek, "Could you turn down a little?"

"Um... no... I'd really rather not," was the sheepish response.

The pair released COLLECTIVE SIGH last Friday; and, just this week, released the video for single "GUMDROP." Through COLLECTIVE SIGH, PINKWASH document Doubek's coping following the loss of his mother, for whom he was the primary caregiver, to breast cancer. The song is a flood of emotion delivered through the torrent of Doubek's guitar and the artillery fire of Arnwine's drums.

The video reminds me of this thing we used to do in art class when I was a kid where we'd cover an entire sheet of paper in a water color rainbow and then paint over it with black ink. We'd use the end of a paper clip to scratch out a neon-colored line drawing on the blackness. "GUMDROP" is kind of the moving version of that, the gumdrops of the title falling across the scene and eventually morphing into pills and medication.

Check it out. COLLECTIVE SIGH is out now on Don Giovanni.



Diarrhea Planet, "Bob Dylan's Grandma"

Nashville's Diarrhea Planet -- along with Screaming Females and Titus Andronicus -- hold a special place as one of the trio of bands that were the subject of the very first post here at CoolDad Music. Since March of 2012, I've seen the band several times as they always seem to make time for a stop in New Jersey as part of their relentless touring schedule.

Diarrhea Planet's orchestral, four-guitar pop punk approach falls somewhere between big 1980s arena metal and 1990s Weezer-inspired alt-rock. On "Bob Dylan's Grandma," the band give us an origin story of sorts as they detail how a 6th grade encounter with Jimi Plays Monterey redirected a boy's interests from formula 1 and F-16s to Stratocasters.

Diarrhea Planet will release Turn To Gold on June 10th via Infinity Cat and play Brooklyn Bowl on June 9th as part of Northside Festival. Maybe they'll come visit us around here again while they're in the area.



Jackal Onasis, "Runty Little Puppy"

Credit for pointing me to this one goes, once again, to my friend Joe. I may have missed it otherwise. That would have been a shame as there's quite a bit here that slots very nicely into the "stuff I like" category.

There are the heavy, alt rock / shoegaze-y guitars of Alex Molini, the epic and expansive drumming of Jordyn Blakely, and her dreamily deadpan vocals. "Runty Little Puppy" definitely harkens back to some big 90s rock, and that's just fine with me.

Jackal Onasis will be releasing Big Deal Party via Exploding In Sound on June 24th.



Dentist, "Meet You There (In Delaware)"

Ah, Dentist. My lovely friends in Dentist. I've seen a lot -- A LOT -- of Dentist performances. When I got some previews of their upcoming Ceilings, I was thrilled to hear some things that -- to that point -- I'd never heard before. One of the new ones was the bouncy "Meet You There (In Delaware)."

It's one of those songs that worms its way into your brain and gets stuck there. In a totally good way. It's an upbeat take on our constant pursuit of fun and new experiences; but, at the same time, it acknowledges the futility of our constant quest to combat FOMO (fear of missing out).

Ceilings comes out on Little Dickman Records on June 24th. Dentist play this Saturday night, May 21st, with The Vansaders and Mack at Asbury Park Yacht Club.

CoolDad Does Austin: SXSW Day 3

James of Beach Slang tries his beer trick as Matt Pinfield looks on.

Hinds, Beach Slang, Don Giovanni Records

A slight drizzle on Thursday morning cooled things off a bit, but not much. I got up. Did my show listings and daily recap, then headed downtown.

I'd been shut out of the Hinds show on Tuesday night; so I decided to try and catch them at Frank, a small bar west of the downtown craziness, for their first of five shows of the day. The band's album Leave Me Alone is one I've been listening to quite a bit since it came out.

Getting in this time was no problem, and Hinds were great. They admitted that they'd just woken up; but for a band with 17 shows on the schedule for the week, they brought some really good, positive energy. Never stopped smiling.

Hinds from Madrid.

After their set, I walked over to Waterloo Records to catch Louisville's White Reaper. Once I arrived, I realized that the setup was kind of like the Stone Pony Summer stage -- a stage at one end of a giant parking lot. It was packed; and, while I think White Reaper are great, I was kind of surprised. Turns out that Joe Jonas and DNCE were next on the schedule, and their fans were already staking out real estate. White Reaper got to play to a large crowd holding up DNCE posters. I headed over to the flagship Whole Foods for a sandwich.

Then it was back to Frank for Philly's Creepoid, local kids Residual Kid (who were hosting the Frank party), Yuck, and Beach Slang. Oh. I didn't mention that Matt Pinfield was emceeing the Frank party! Anyway, Creepoid were fantastic. Don't miss them when they play Brighton Bar next week with The Dirty Nil and Restorations. Residual Kid surprised me. They were probably 17 years old, very good, and have obviously spent a lot of time with Nirvana and Pixies. Yuck were pretty laid back as they delivered songs from their latest album and mixed in a few that I remember from their marvelous debut.

Beach Slang were Beach Slang. Blood, guts, sweat, and drama all over a tiny stage late on a Thursday afternoon. I realized during their set that, as much as I enjoy discovering new stuff, I still just love what I love. Love them.

I headed back into the craziness of downtown for some beers with Dentist and to hit the Don Giovanni Records showcase at The Velveeta Room. I arrived as Mal Blum was setting up. Blum and the band turned in a pretty rocking set of Blum's soul-baring soungs. Following that, it was Philly's Pinkwash.

Sound guy: "That guitar's pretty loud. Can you turn it down?"

Guitarist Joey Doubek: "Um... No. I really can't."

Then he and drummer Ashley Arnwine absolutely pummeled the whole room.

Following Pinkwash, it was time for Vacation. They had about 1000 times the energy I did at that point and gave us a great set. When they were done, so was I. I could barely stand after going straight for about 13 hours. I headed back to the hotel, finally ate dinner (at the Waffle House next door), and crashed hard. It's back at it today when I'll try to catch some of the bands I missed yesterday.

Vacation

Stay tuned.

Don Giovanni Records Showcase at The Knitting Factory Brooklyn, 2/7/15 (PHOTO LINKS)

Downtown Boys played. Craziness ensued.

Night 2

The dynamic duo of Allyson and me were back at Knitting Factory Brooklyn for the second installment of Don Giovanni's 2015 label showcase. After a bit of wrangling to ensure that I had a photo pass for the show, I was inside again and took up my spot front and center. Good thing I got that pass, too; because I went absolutely crazy taking photos on the second night.

Anyway, Chris Gethard was hosting again for Night 2. He'd noted the evening before that Don Giovanni are a label that think outside the box: Take the first two nights of the showcase and put them right next to each other. Then, hold Night 3 some number of weeks later. Even better, make that third night have two separate shows to confuse everyone even more.

Joe Steinhardt: "improv'er" / break dancer

Gethard again treated us to the comedy stylings of Don Giovanni executive Joe Steinhardt. This time Gethard and Steinhardt engaged in some long-form improv involving Ikea and break dancing. Both gamely attempted to execute spins on the stage. Gold.

Recent -- like really recent -- Don Giovanni signees Alice started things off with a short set. They seemed a little nervous which was pretty charming, and they definitely have a sound that touches on a lot of stuff I really like. Looking forward to the record.

brick mower produced one of my favorite records of 2014; and, while I missed them on Night 3 of last year's showcase, I've seen them several times locally since then. They had Chris Pierce on drums like they did when they opened for The Muffs at Asbury Lanes and sounded as tight as I've ever heard them.

Post-NSC stage.

Last year, Nuclear Santa Claust played the smaller Night 1 at Death By Audio. That was the most aggressive of the three nights with The Groucho Marxists, Vacation, Tenement, and Night Birds also on the bill. Just like last year, beers -- Beers. Not empty beer cans. -- hurtled toward the stage throughout the set. The band, which includes Don Giovanni "co-honcho" Zach Gajewski on bass, were soaked. Cans littered the stage when the set was done.

Pete Stampfel, Chris Gethard

Just before Worriers took the stage, New York underground legend Peter Stampfel joined Gethard onstage. He discussed some deeply personal experiences with vacuum cleaners and, when asked what advice he had for independent bands trying to make it, said simply, "Persevere." Chris Gethard called Stampfel a "perfect man."

I'd just seen Worriers at Asbury Lanes during one of the Home for the Holidays after-parties, and I'm really growing to love their sound and the content of Lauren Measure's songs. Saturday just solidified that for me.

The next two sets continued the surprise theme of the previous night. Philly's Pinkwash set up a stack of amps for guitarist Joey Doubeck. After some technical issues, Doubeck and drummer Ashley Arnwine delivered a short (Very short. Like 4 songs.) set of room-shaking guitar / drum rock.

As surprised as I was by the intensity of Pinkwash, nothing could have prepared me for Providence, RI's Downtown Boys. The band's politically charged, bi-lingual punk rock worked the crowd to the first real moshing, stage-diving frenzy of the weekend.

Downtown Boys and friends

Downtown Boys had guitar, bass, drums, saxophones, a guy jumping around hitting drumsticks together, and lead singer Victoria Ruiz. They had rage. As Ruiz made between song speeches about gender, race, and the police, her mother stood beaming at the front of the stage. Ruiz eventually climbed into the audience and ended up being hoisted aloft in what she claimed was her first-ever crowd surf. Drummer Norlan Olivo eventually followed Ruiz into the crowd and climbed atop his floor tom as the crowd held it over their heads. By the end of the set, people from the audience had joined the band onstage for a group sing and thrash. Totally crazy. Totally cathartic.

California X did a great job following the hardest act to follow of the night, closing things out with a wall of guitar noise. The band had a lot more room to move around than when I saw them a few weeks ago at Paradise Lost, and I could actually see them and take photos this time. I held my spot at the front of the stage and reveled in one of my favorite bands right now.

At the end of the night, I told Joe Steinhardt about my amazement with Downtown Boys, and he said, "We try to bring you the future here."

Don Giovanni bring more than that. It's obvious that Joe and Zach are signing and helping out bands that they really personally enjoy. The results of that approach are obvious when you feel the good vibes at one of these shows.

Two days. Two late, late nights. One traffic ticket. Thirteen bands. So worth it.

Links to all of the pics from Night 2 are below.

Chris Gethard, Joe Steinhardt, Peter Stampfel
Alice
Brick Mower
Nuclear Santa Claust
Worriers
Pinkwash
Downtown Boys
California X