More dance punk disco funk from the Rapture. Does anyone need more than that?
The Never
The Never are the erstwhile geek rock (think Weezer) outfit of songwriters Ari Picker and Noah Smith, along with college friends Joah and Jonny Tunnell. I say “erstwhile” not just because it’s such a geeky word but because The Never’s latest LP extends well beyond geek rock to an intricately crafted multimedia project, including a 50-page illustrated storybook (featuring 40 original oil paintings by Noah himself) and a corresponding suite of songs depicting a country boy’s journey to return a nuclear bomb to the city. Word is The Never are aiming to adapt Antarctica for the stage. And, given the cinematic leanings of Ari’s latest Lost in the Trees EP, I wouldn’t be surprised if a film version follows…
The Beauty Shop
Two things: 1. Good drumming really stands out sometimes. Think “The Bleeding Heart Show” by the New Pornographers, and all those great, tight drum fills in the last half of the song. The Beauty Shop’s “Monster” is kind of like that, at least with the fills. It’s a good, solid, catchy track reminiscent of Blue Mountain’s alt-country or maybe even The Promise Ring. 2. The other thing this Champaign, IL, band reminds me of is another Illinoisian, Chris Mills. In the mid-1990s, Mills was opening up for Wilco in their earliest gigs. (I was the guy always yelling for Jeff to play “Gun.” Sorry I was so obnoxious.) He had a deep, rich, twangy voice that seemed far older than his actual age, and I used to listen to his promo CD on the El all the time and stare forlornly out the window. (Sorry I was so obnoxious!) The Beauty Shop’s lead singer John Hoeffleur has that kind of voice and it works well on the re-release of their 2004 album Crisis Helpline, due in late February.
Welcome
I love it when I walk into a record store, hear something playing and am curious enough to buy it. It doesn’t happen often enough. And when I find myself bopping to something I’ve never heard despite an apocalyptically foul mood–well, shoo-oot, bring it on! Well, Welcome was that band for me this past weekend. These folks are a girl and boy band, of Seattle, and to me they sound like the English or maybe a little Twee-ish or, wait, is that some pixie-ish guitar? I have no idea. But it’s a happy mish-mash of influences that I was glad to add to the soundtrack of my downer day. The bummer? Not available stateside until March, so I didn’t get to buy it. But the rest of the world is currently enjoying it now. Can you say import? Oh and be sure to check “This Minute†on the myspace page when you are done with what is here.
Boy/Girl
Wow. It’s not hard to see why members of the JSBX seem to be fighting each other over getting the chance to produce Boy/Girl. Hmmm, who would win Judah Bauer vs. Russell Simins? The straddling-the-line-between-lo-and-no-fi fuzzed-out blues-inspired duo-rock of Boy/Girl interprets what the JSBX would have been like on downers.
Bridges and Powerlines
NYC style power pop, a touch of 80s British post-punk rock with driving Strokes-like sensibilities, courtesy of Bridges and Powerlines. For fans of The Rakes, We Are Scientists, and like-minded bands. So that’d be me, a fan, then.
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones with a free & legal MP3. That’s fun. Yeah, I know it’s cool to be all indie and stuff… I promise next week to post some band that no one has ever heard of. (Or, maybe I’ll post Tom Waits and bring this old couple back together. There are some free tracks of his over at the Anti website.) “Elvis Cadillac,” off the forthcoming The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard, offers a taste of an album on which all of the songs are inspired by Jesus. While I’m not exactly the religious sort, if the rest of Sermon is as smooth and becoming as this song, Rickie Lee might make a believer out of me yet.
The Black Lips
Lester Bangs’ favorite song was “96 Tears†by ? and the Mysterians. John Peel’s favorite was “Teenage Kicks†by the Undertones. Both were love songs by garage bands that could barely play chords and likely couldn’t read music any better than I can. The message is clear: for the most vaunted of audiophiles, “bad†is the best kind of rock music because the whole point is that it’s supposed to sound bad to somebody, hopefully your parents and/or local law enforcement officials and church leaders. By those standards, the Atlanta group Black Lips is pretty damned good. Granted, their really-old garage sound is slightly more preening than authentic, but that seems to be purely a matter of birthdates. You don’t get the sense that they’re being anything but their goofy-ass selves when they sing about having a bad day or set off on some epic live shows of Brian-Jonestown-Massacre proportions. For that, we salute them.
Missing Numbers
Happy New Year from 3hive!
So as I was reviewing songs I had downloaded in 2006 but never posted—you know, just to see what I forgot about last year—I came across the Minneapolis band Missing Numbers hiding on my hard drive. Haunting, dark, moody, suspenseful, and darn catchy. So much music, so little time…
Uzeda
I was listening to my iPod last night on the way home and had a distinct sense of déjà vu. This sound, this Uzeda, may be from Sicily but that pummeling rhythm, freeform guitar and piercing vocals could have been coming directly from Chicago in the mid-‘90s. And for good reason: Not only are they on Touch and Go and have been since the mid-‘90s, but Steve Albini is their recording engineer. So not only do Uzeda shake the paint off the walls, but they do it in a supersonic way that only Albini can conjure. Oh, to be young and insatiable once more…