I’m normally a patient guy. I coach a soccer team of sixteen 3-5 year olds for crying out loud. But I get impatient in two areas: waiting for new albums to come out, and waiting for my rare eBay purchases to arrive. We here at 3hive just love the Swedes; in fact, I’d expand that to all Scandanavians. In the midst of Sam’s Swedish shoegazing frenzy this past week, I finally lost patience in waiting for the new Citizen Bird album to come out before I put them on 3hive. (Plus, I didn’t want him to beat me to them, cause you know, that happens here at the 3hive; insults and fisticuffs have been know to fly.) I’ve read anywhere from spring 2004 to spring 2005 for the release of their sophomore effort. While Swedish but not exactly shoegazers, they do follow in the footsteps of Loop, Suicide, Spacemen 3, Stereolab, and the Stooges, with their throbbing rhythms, pulsing Farfisas, and fuzzy guitars. That should hold me over until the album finally comes out. Now if I could only do something about the USPS…
Benzos
It’s been one of those weeks. The kind of week you can only get through thanks to beautiful pop and/or German ska. As for the German ska, I’ve been relying on the Ska..ska..skandal series from the ’90s. And for the pop, there’s Benzos. They play a soaring, shimmering pop (they even say so on “Glass Souls,” off the soon-to-be-released Morning Stanzas) that’s somewhere between Radiohead and The Autumns. And to get me through coaching my first peewee soccer game today…well, I’m not sure anything can do that.
Timonium
Stunningly sublime, or sublimely stunning? How about both? The perfect music for a warm spring day. So highly addictive that even one listen starts a dependency. Fortunately, this is one addiction you should feed.
The Aluminum Group
I’m an idiot. My brother had borrowed my turntable, and while he had it I was just jonesing to listen to Wire’s “Another the Letter” from Chairs Missing. So he returned it, I got it all hooked back up (or so I thought), put the Chairs Missing album on, pulled the needle over and…nothing happened. There was no spinning of the vinyl. I spent a half hour messing around with the darn thing before I realized that…get a load of this…I hadn’t plugged the power cord in! Power restored, I also threw on Severed Heads’ Come Visit the Big Bigot and Modern English’s After the Snow. I could have just listened to The Aluminum Group’s “Motorcycles,” a near perfect blend of the best of those two bands’ sounds, and saved myself some trouble.
Big Betsy
I know it’s not actually St. Paddy’s Day just yet, but it’s a perfect Irish day here in Memphis. Cold, about 40 degrees, with a stiff, strong wind that goes right through you. There’s also a light rain that comes and goes. Like I said, a perfect Irish day. Since I lived in Ireland for a few years, I go a little overboard with my celebrations, wearing my 1996 Ireland national soccer team jersey to work and forcing my family to wear entire outfits of green. Another way to celebrate is going to hear Big Betsy play at Murphy’s Pub, and if this song ain’t Irish, I don’t know what is.
Love As Laughter
Sam Jayne was the singer/guitarist of Lync. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I still have a special place in my heart for Lync. But this is not about Lync; it’s about the progression (or perhaps, regression, depending on your point of view) of Sam Jayne from the northwest indie rock of Lync and the early days of Love As Laughter aka LAL to the full-on rock ‘n’ roll assault of “Temptation Island” from LAL’s last LP Sea to Shining Sea. So what will LAL’s rumored 2005 album on Sub Pop bring? Listen in the order below and then start placing your bets.
Valet
Valet is a Minneapolis band who released their fine debut album The Glamour Is Contagious in 2002. Their latest, Life on the Installment Plan, came out last year, but “Cop Stories” from the former features a hauntingly wonderful melody, the kind that gets stuck in your head, and in this case…that’s a good thing.
The Slackers
Welcome to another installment on Ska Saturday, or, as those rude girls and boys call it, Skaturday! I’m in New York City right now, and I just can’t help but think of the great ska that has come out of this city: the Toasters, the Scofflaws, the Boilers, NY Citizens, Steady Ernest, Too True, the Slackers, and many others that I won’t list here. So join with me in enjoying the Slackers as I stroll the streets of New York.
Printed Circuit
Can there be a better name than Printed Circuit for an electronic band? Casio keyboards, Nintendos, the Space Shuttles, Commodore 64s, Sean’s iPod, Ataris, even the new Mac mini — they’ve all got printed circuit boards. But don’t think Printed Circuit lacks a soul; au contraire, Claire Broadley of Leeds, who is Printed Circuit (and Catmobile Records), has a soul of pure pop. She just expresses it through silicon and transistors and electrons.
Marbles
Robert Schneider has a special place in my heart. It’s not just the perfect pop he has cranked out under the monikers of the Apples in Stereo, the Marbles, and Ulysses. You see, he’s such a swell guy. Many years ago, I left Utah with my girlfriend to drive to Denver under the guise of visiting my sister, when in fact, I wanted to see the Apples. By the time we reached Denver, my girlfriend was my fiancée, and the first thing we did upon arriving was head to the Lion’s Lair (oh yeah, it was a dive) to see the Apples with special guests, The Drags. While we didn’t tell them we just got engaged, we did tell them we made the trek from Utah just to see them (and my sister, in case she’s reading). They embraced us as dear friends. The love affair will continue when the Marbles play Memphis on March 24th supporting their new album Expo and Clem Snide.