Beach Slang, an Old Schoolhouse, and Asbury Park Brewery

Beach Slang

Weekend Recap

This was a busy weekend for me. I'm feeling pretty spent after shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; but it was one of the most fulfilling runs of shows in a while.

On Friday night, I headed to House of Independents for Beach Slang's return to Asbury Park. It was the kickoff for their "Drunk or Lust" tour; and joining the Philly band on Friday were Chicago's Pet Symmetry, Virginia's Positive No, and Neptune City's Smalltalk.

Smalltalk

There's an earnestness and melodrama to James Alex and Beach Slang that push right up against that line of being over the top. As far as I'm concerned, they hold back just enough to be great. Friday's show was kind of strange and awkward in places -- long, quiet pauses as James tuned his guitar, a false start on "Noisy Heaven," multiple interludes of Santana's "Smooth" and a few seconds of "Give It Away" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. In other words, it was vintage Beach Slang; and it was all ok -- kind of great actually -- because the band were among friends in Asbury Park.

Positive No

Pet Symmetry

Speaking of friends, between the crew at House of Independents, Smalltalk, and the people who came out for the show, it felt like a little Asbury Lanes reunion. I also spent a good bit of time with our friend Scotch LaRock; and, as he pointed out at the end of the night, it's really great how we can pick things up without missing a beat even if we haven't seen each other in months. Not something you can say about everyone in your life

The rest of the bands on Friday's bill added to the evening's good vibes. Smalltalk are a favorite around here and absolutely did not disappoint. I've seen them as both a trio and a four-piece in recent months. Both setups work great, but it's always cool to see them at full strength with Pete Steinkopf on guitar. Positive No are a band that our bud Al Crisafulli has been telling me about for a while now. They brought a refreshing level of enthusiasm to their set of noisy pop. Singer Tracy Wilson gave me and several other people in the audience a seriously heartfelt hug as the band wound down their set. Pet Symmetry brought sludgy and doomy bass riffs, nice guy humor, and guitarist Erik Czaja's dad to the stage as main support for Beach Slang.

Beach Slang

In all, it was a beautifully messy show that had a real Asbury Park feel to it.

The Yankees played the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS (brought to you by Camping World) on Saturday night, but I'd been planning for weeks to head to Metuchen's Old Franklin Schoolhouse to catch Lowlight, Roadside Graves, and The RockNRoll HiFives. It was like a bill built especially for me, and I could follow the game on my phone.

The show was one of the best experiences I've had in a long time. Lowlight and Roadside Graves have deep Metuchen connections, and the town -- young, old, human, pet -- really turned out for them. And Metuchen got to take in a great set from The RockNRoll HiFives as part of the bargain.

Roadside Graves

The whole evening just had a friendly, communal feeling that you don't always get at a rock show. The promoters raised $900 for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Roadside Graves' lead singer, John Gleason, brought his daughter up to sing the chorus of Tom Waits's "Fannin Street." We celebrated the birthdays of Graves' guitarist Jeremy Benson, HiFives' bassist and mom Gloree Centeno, and everyone else born in October (including, in my mind, my brother Jason whose birthday is today) with cake and candles. Everyone got a piece of cake. All of the bands, who I've talked about extensively here, were in top top form. The Yankees lost, and I didn't even care. Much.

Sunday night meant a delicious CoolMom-prepared dinner with family followed by a trip down to Asbury Park brewery for a show put on by Little Dickman Records. Wetbrain, Yawn Mower, carb on carb (from New Zealand!), and BLAHA (the solo project of Mike Blaha of The Blind Shake).

I'm really starting to enjoy nights at the brewery. They've been getting some very interesting shows in there, and the feeling is always pretty laid-back and low-stress. Even though there was nothing particularly laid-back about any of last night's bands, the whole place has an easy feeling, whether you're sitting on a pallet in the tasting room / performance space or hanging out between sets among the tuns or on the deck.

And the music last night was solid. Wetbrain's Rudy Meier and Nick Kaelblein performed cool, stripped down versions of the band's songs. Yawn Mower blew minds in typical fashion. carb on carb had come a long way to play their pop punk songs in a small brewery tasting room a few blocks from the ocean, and they made it count. BLAHA shook the space with their psych / garage / surf.

I headed home, as I said, spent. But I was happy. I truly live for this stuff, you know.

House of Independents was really the only place where I took pictures. Shots of Beach Slang, Pet Symmetry, Positive No, and Smalltalk are in the Flickr galleries.

Roadside Graves, Mikey Erg, and Lowlight Played Anchor's Bend, 9/18/16

Roadside Graves

CoolDad Music Presented

Just a note to say thanks to Roadside Graves, Mikey Erg (and Chris Pierce and Jason Nixon), Lowlight, Joe Chyb, Gentleman Jim Norton, MJ Schmitz, the staff at Anchor's Bend, everyone who came out to Sunday's show, and anyone else I may have forgotten. It was about 10 days of scrambling around to make this show happen following the cancelation of the third day of the New Alternative Music Festival. It was extremely cool to get to see Roadside Graves and Mikey Erg, who would've had sets that day, play that Sunday in Asbury Park after all.

In fact, it was beautiful.

Something about this one just felt really special. Seeing all those faces smiling and singing along with the bands... ...I don't know. Just felt like what it's all supposed to be about. Look for all of the pictures over on the Facebook page and in the Flickr galleries.

Roadside Graves

Mikey Erg Band

Lowlight

The Roadside Graves, Acne / Ears, 2015

Album Review

It was a game time decision for me today. I haven't been running in months, and I've been telling myself every day that I would start again. As I sat in my office this morning, I'd kind of put it out of my mind, resigned myself to another day vegetating in front of the computer. Then I checked the current weather: still only 76 degrees. I still had 90 minutes until my next meeting, so I put on my shorts and my shoes, grabbed my headphones, pressed play on Roadside Graves' Acne / Ears, and headed out.

I started out slowly as John Gleason sang over some quiet guitar, "I don't expect you to understand where I came from. I'm just happy you're listening" on "Acne / Ears." A perfect sentiment for the opening track to a record that covers so many personal moments. As the "Acne" portion of the song -- a high school misfit with literal and metaphorical acne scars -- changed to the "Ears" section, I felt myself getting kind of choked up -- and speeding up -- to the faster, louder, bathed in guitars and synths "Ears were meant to be destroyed by boys in basements makin' noise."

That continued through "Clouds," a more direct callback to some of Roadside Graves' earlier Americana folk rock. I bounced along with the song and its refrain, "I got faith. I can't give it away. Lord knows, I'm gonna die someday." I'm out of shape, so I was kind of spent at this point.

"Endangered" gave me a little break as I lumbered past the houses on Winding Way. I told CoolDaughter #2 yesterday that Labor Day always makes me kind of sad because I love summer so much. Even though it was brutally hot, I started thinking about fall as Gleason sang, "The weather affects me more than you'll ever know."

"The Whole Night" carried me through the first part of mile number two. As Gleason sang about the death of his father, I thought about my parents, each of whom lost their fathers before the age of 10. I thought about the very specific and sometimes grotesque memories -- flashes from early childhood really -- they had of those terrible times. And I thought about how lucky CoolMom and I are to still have our moms and dads, and how lucky we are to have this time with the CoolDaughters. All as I turned onto Lippincott.

Time to pick it up again for "Body." Some more weird and wild synths from John Piatkowski, and I'm starting to heat up. For a second, I thought the lyric was "Tell me if my body's too light," which makes no sense in the context of the song (It's "loud"). I thought, "Geez, I obviously don't have that problem," as I huffed and stumbled along.

"Donna (Reno)" is another slow burner. Almost like spoken word over that kind of muted, distorted guitar that reminds me of some classic rock song I can't place. The song contains some of the best single lines on the record. In the context of my particular situation -- sweating, dying -- I identified immediately with Donna's, "I wanna feel lower temperatures. I wanna see fields of green." I also identified with the self-consciousness in statements like, "Laughing always worries me. It makes me think I've done something wrong," or "I don't wear sunglasses. I'm just afraid somebody might think I'm an asshole."

What I thought was my last gasp of energy came during "Contact High Alumni," it's opening school bell indicating that we're in high school and giving a melancholy feel to Gleason's "The friends I have, you see, I will have 'em forever." I still have some from that time in my life, but not many. It's a fun song overall, though; and hello Renee Maskin: "Blue balloons, red ballloons, white balloons, pink balloons, black balloons."

Let's just say that, at this point -- through the wide-open sounds of "I Thought We'd Last," the 50s vibe of "City," and the short party that is "Saturday Night" -- I was just about done. I started walking as "Gospel Radio" began, but as the "Hallelujahs" came around, I started running again. "There ain't no static on Gospel radio" saw me spending my last reserves as I ran past the mailbox at the end of our driveway.

"Surfin'" closes things out. It's a slow one that expresses the envy we all feel for people who surf (or play rock music or, generally, just do whatever they want) free of the responsibilities of adulthood and everyday life. They just sit and wait for the next big wave to come around while we all plod along waiting for the next metaphorical one.

By my calculations, I did about 12-14 minute miles. That's a far cry from the days when I was doing half marathons and regular long runs, but it felt good. We've been going through a lot of changes here at CDMHQ. Professional changes. The kids are constantly changing. They haven't been negative changes for the most part, but change still brings lots of uncertainty with it; and it's all just felt like a weight bearing down on top of me. As I ran and listened to Acne / Ears with its songs about life's moments and changes, I felt that weight lifting. I'm not lying when I say I felt a lump in my throat more than a few times. The combination of these songs and just the feeling of getting back out there was kind of overwhelming, I guess. In a good way. I miss listening to albums this way. I hope I can keep it up.

The Roadside Graves' Acne / Ears is out now on Don Giovanni Records.

Staycation Roundup with Little Dickman Records, The Deafening Colors, and The Roadside Graves

NJ's Roadside Graves are back with a new single and an album due on 9/4 with Don Giovanni Records.

Three Things I Should Have Mentioned By Now

Two weeks off from work can turn you pretty lazy pretty quickly. It's almost like, without the specter of work-stuff hanging over my head, I'm less motivated to do anything. That's vacation for you, I guess. I've been posting less than I'd like, though; so I figured I'd mention a few things all at once. Easy for me, and you can have them all in one place.

Little Dickman Records, Summer Bummer Compilation, 2015

Full disclosure: I've come to think of our friends at Little Dickman Records as kind of CoolDad Music's extended family. We've worked together on a few things like our holiday benefit and the Sundown at the Carousel shows (Next one 8/28! Don't miss it!). They're great friends of mine, and I'd do just about anything to help them out.

That said, we initially connected over a mutual love of local music and a shared desire to promote the amazing music scene in Asbury Park. Little Dickman's latest effort in that space is a compilation album that comes in just as summer is beginning its swan song.

The label's second compilation, Summer Bummer, contains 16 tracks from some of the best that Asbury Park has to offer. The set includes new singles from Smalltalk, Corrina, Corrina, Hot Blood, The Battery Electric, Sharkmuffin, Black Flamingos. Dentist contribute "Fruit and Cake," a live set staple and the second track from their self-titled debut. The rest of the set includes psych rock (gods, The Off White, Psychiatric Metaphors), punk / glam (TV Tramps, AciD), garage rock (Ba Babes), blues rock (Amy Malkoff and The Moonshines), and some dark and brooding lonesome highway sounds (Dan Waszay). The elusive Wolfcock even makes an appearance.

The artwork for Summer Bummer was done by Battery Electric bassist / Hot Blood guitarist, Alex Rosen.

Here's the full tracklist:

"June/July," Smalltalk
"She Wanna," Acid
"Mondays," Sharkmuffin
"New Future," gods
"Holiday In Heaven," The Battery Electric
"Seventeen," Ba Babes
"Fruit and Cake," Dentist
"Shark Repellant," Black Flamingos
"Graveyard Drums," The Off White
"High Doses," Psychiatric Metaphors
"Numb Nation," Amy Malkoff and the Moonshines
"River," Dan Waszay
"I Don’t Care," TV Tramps
"Pratfall," Corrina, Corrina
"Chemical Solution," Hot Blood
"Wicked1," Wolfcock

All proceeds from Summer Bummer go to benefit Help Not Handcuffs, an organization lobbying for reform in our drug laws and a shift away from the War on Drugs to helping those suffering from addiction.

CDs are available now from Little Dickman's online store and retail outlets like Arcade Radio, Holdfast Asbury Park, and Jack's Music Shoppe. You can download the comp from Little Dickman's Bandcamp page.

The Deafening Colors, Carousel Season, 2015

Are you kidding me? An Atlantic City duo produces an album called Carousel Season that's full of images of the Jersey Shore, and I'm just mentioning it now? I'm really slacking lately. Summer's not over yet, though. And this is an album that can get you through some of those upcoming dark winter months as you wait for the warm weather to return.

The Deafening Colors are John Paul Arthur and Cris Slotoroff. Carousel Season is their sonic and lyrical homage to the Jersey Shore. Like Hey Anna's Run Koko or Coastgaard's self-titled 2013 EP, Carousel Season comes to you from those idyllic summers of the past -- the ones you remember whether you actually experienced them or not.

Reverb, delay, rumbling drums, and surf-inspired guitars on tracks like "Parkway South" and "Mary-Anne." Dream pop -- swirling, noisy, and shoegazy on "Waiting for the Axe" or lackadaisical and lazy on "Past Time." The retro sounds and "sha la las" of the title track. Images of sunscreen melting in eyes, skee ball, and Atlantic City throughout the record. Carousel Season is warm, romantic, and pining. It's a record that you can pipe through your headphones as you lounge under an umbrella on the beach or one that you can listen to -- in front of the fireplace, snow falling outside -- whenever you want to go back there.

You can grab Carousel Season over at The Deafening Colors' Bandcamp page.

The Roadside Graves, "Gospel Radio," 2015

Back when I started CoolDad Music in 2012, I created a Twitter account and started following indie rock bands and New Jersey bands. One of the first bands I followed was The Roadside Graves. I wasn't all that familiar with them at the time, but I saw that they were from New Jersey, checked out their music, and liked what I heard. Then, they kind of went quiet for a while.

Family and geography presented some obstacles to being a band, and the Graves went on kind of a hiatus. Well, they're back. The band's next LP Acne / Ears is slated for release on September 4th from our friends at Don Giovanni Records. Two weeks ago, The Roadside Graves released single "Gospel Radio" from that record; and I, honestly, can't get enough of it.

The song strays a bit from Roadside Graves' typical folk / Americana. More synths, a kind of cathartic ending / outro. And it hits me somewhere. It hits me -- like The Hold Steady, like Patrick Stickles, like Bruce Springsteen -- in that space of being a kid shaped by my Catholic upbringing. It hits me in that space of sitting in a pew next to my parents, thinking about whatever the drone of the organ pushed into my brain. It hits me in that space of not being at all religious but still finding... ...something... ...in those sense memories from church that come back to me every once in a while at odd times.



OK. Heading to the beach. Talk soon.