Drive-By Truckers

All you Steve Earle fans out there should love the dirty Southern rock played by Drive-By Truckers. Listening to Earle’s “CCKMP” and “Putting People on the Moon” by the Truckers on a continuous loop could potentially produce one of the most serious bummers imaginable. If you like what you hear, their Southern Rock Opera released in 2001 on Lost Highway Recods is an amazing piece of work offering precisely what the title suggests. Thanks to Chuck and Tim O. for the tip on the Truckers.

Continue reading “Drive-By Truckers”

The Damned

Nothing like downloading The Damned on a Sunday afternoon… I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to The Damned (Clay couldn’t believe I beat him to it), but you just don’t expect some of your old favorites to be this on top of things. I was turned onto The Damned years ago by a good friend who had amassed a huge vinyl collection, which I believe included, close to, if not, everything The Damned had released. I spent many hours at his house taping albums and recording mix tapes of The Damned. Then in 1993 his home was among hundreds burned in the Laguna Beach fire, burning along with it, yes, all that vinyl. I don’t know if I’ve ever really repaid him for turning me onto some great music, so hey, Randy, gimme a call and bring your iPod…

Continue reading “The Damned”

Thee More Shallows

Ahhh, it feels great to be back sharing the sharing. We were having some ugly hosting problems, and during the downtime many of you dropped us lovely “missing you” notes. One letter, from Ander W., expressed sheer dismay at the fact that we hadn’t posted Thee More Shallows. As I mentioned to Ander, Thee More Shallows and their beautiful, Bay Area blend of whisper rock was at the top of my to-do list. At the top of your to-do list should be “purchase More Deep Cuts by Thee More Shallows.” Dee Kesler and company spent almost three years working on this album, so if you buy it for, say, thirteen dollars, you’re paying the band .011 cents a day for their efforts. A small price to pay for this work of art.

Continue reading “Thee More Shallows”

The Unicorns

These Montreal hipsters do — oops, I mean, did — play a lovely brand of ’80s-tinged rock/pop/dance music. Slated as the next big thing, they instead split up. What can I say? It happens to the best of them, but that’s still no excuse to pass over these songs. Get those feet a-dancing!

Continue reading “The Unicorns”

The Constantines

Guess I could have waited until the new Constantines album comes out in October to post these guys, but I’m putting them up today as “the band that played twice within an hour of my house in the month of July and I missed them both times.” Ah well… In the month of July, my daughter took her first trip to NYC and went #2 on the potty for the first time; Sam and I used power tools in his backyard in July; Jon aged gracefully into his next decade in July; Clay recovered from daughter #3, and so on. Catching live the intense art punk of The Constantines would have been a great addition to this list, but, come to think of it, I actually wouldn’t mind a little down time.

Continue reading “The Constantines”

The Jessica Fletchers

The summer’s already a month over, but the annual search for the perfect summer anthem is still ongoing. That is, until now. This Norwegian quintet takes that famed Scandanavian rock ‘n’ roll swagger and applies to the ultimate song about the summer. “Summer Holiday & Me” is the best holiday soundtrack since Team USA’s “Halloween.” Life requires a soundtrack? So does the summer…

Continue reading “The Jessica Fletchers”

Art Brut

Sardonic, Mark E. Smith-esque romps which, as my dear British colleagues say, “take the piss” out of “Top of the Pops” and other beloved mainstream icons. Unfortunately, these tracks are demo versions of sorts — several versions removed from the album takes, wherein the guitars typically come out in full force. Also on the Art Brut site are some really interesting remixes/mashups/covers (“Brutlegs,” as they call them), including a rap version of their uncharacteristically tender love song, “Emily Kane,” and “My Sharona Formed a Band,” which is fairly self-explanatory.

Continue reading “Art Brut”

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.

Continue reading “Matson Jones”

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.

Continue reading “Foreign Born”

Mission of Burma

I swear the punk rock kid in high school — the big one, John (?), not the skinny one, Adam (Sam might remember this better than I do) — had “Mission of Burma” stencilled on the back of his black leather jacket. Naturally, I thought it referenced World War II in some way. And so, with thoughts of John and the ’80s in mind, I’d like to dedicate this post to Jared, fan of bands that were around long before he was conceived. Although his Favorite Song Ever, Mission of Burma’s “Academy Fight Song,” isn’t available in the free and legal MP3 form (a video of this song is, however, on the band’s homepage), these tracks from, oh, last year, when Jared was 17, are pretty kicking too. Enjoy.

Continue reading “Mission of Burma”