The Earlies MP3-less
Matson Jones
Among the many classic moments from Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run (my intro to Woody Allen) is his character, Virgil Stark, attempting to play a cello in a marching band, bumbling along a parade route with a chair and his cello, never able to get situated long enough to play a note as the band marches along. Well, Matson Jones is my intro into cello-based rock ‘n’ roll. And they save the cello from the geek heap that Allen left it in. There’s a definite Morphine thing going on here, with cellos in place of the saxophone and Exene Cervenka-like vocals. What these tracks are lacking in MP3 quality, they make up for in vibe.
Sparrow
Time for some band genealogy: more than a decade ago, drummer Jason Zumpano stole singer/guitarist Carl Newman from a covers band and formed, simply, Zumpano. Their debut album, on Sub Pop, Look What The Rookie Did, is pure genius. Easily one of my favorite records of the past ten years. See, while too many bands haphazardly claim to be influenced by The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Zumpano is one of the few that make the influence count. After two records Newman and Zumpano went their separate ways and formed The New Pornographers and Sparrow, respectively. It took me a while to track down Sparrow, but it’s been worth the wait.
Foreign Born
Somewhat of a misnomer, Foreign Born are from right up the way in Los Angeles, although they do have a certain anglophilic atmosphere about them. Turn the clock back twenty years and I wouldn’t be surprised to find them palling around with Echo and the Bunnymen.
Tiger Baby
I’ve always maintained the theory that no matter what kind of music you grew up listening to, you can find it, recreated somehow, someway in a current band. However, whether or not you’re open-minded to it is another story. Some people get stuck in the past and are happy to be there. Those who don’t read 3hive. So it finally hit me who Tiger Baby remind me of (and I can’t wait to play it for my wife, Alisa, who’s a huge fan of): Claudia Br�cken and her projects Propaganda and Act. Tiger Baby represent faithfully the heart and soul the aforementioned bands injected into ’80s synth pop. We’ll see if my hypothesis holds when these tracks end up in Alisa’s iPod.
Innaway
I gotta be up at 4am tomorrow morning to take my parents to LAX — they’re flying to Richmond, VA to begin their East coast road trip vacation. (My only suggestion to them is to be sure to hit Shopsin’s when they’re in New York). So I’ll be keeping this brief. Innaway makes slow, groovy, classic rock-like jams. They played live on my radio show last week, and you can catch them soon with Brian Jonestown Massacre.
Pet Sounds Ruined
The Fast Computers
You know how sometimes you want to just blow off everything? Check out of the world and do nothing but cozy up with a good book in bed? That’s me. Right now. And thanks to John Coulter and his charming pop suggestion, I’m gonna do just that…Oh, but wait! Blurbomat has been doing anything but checking out. Get a load of the new tweaks: new link/headline color, and our newest gadget: 3hive news! We’ll keep you up to date on any new MP3 links we add to the archives along with anything else that tickles our fancy. We hope we’re tickling yours…