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This was an excellent bill full of early ‘80s Hoboken-based stalwarts featuring only the third show by The Bongos since their reunion last year. They were clearly the highlight, playing really well and not missing a step. However, Glenn Mercer and Chris Stamey, both playing a sets comprising their entire careers, were also terrific.
I don’t have the new reissue of this classic album, complete with bonus live tracks and a new version of “The Bulrushes” produced by MOBY, of all people, but I did pull this one out in preparation for their recent show in Hoboken and boy is it great. Along with the first 2 DB’S albums and THE FEELIES’ 1st album Crazy Rhythms, this is one of the best albums to come out of the early ‘80s, jangle-pop scene.
After several albums of weird, atmospheric electronica, this is a pleasant and unexpected surprise given both how different it is from Caribou main man DAN SNAITH’s previous work as well as how good it is. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy his last album The Milk of Human Kindness, but it’s just that I’ve already played this far more and that I REALLY like this one a lot. This record is clearly inspired by the “sunshine pop” of the late ‘60s. THE ASSOCIATION, FREE DESIGN and even THE BEACH BOYS have been thrown around as comparisons here, but what I hear even above comparisons to individual bands is a record rooted in 1967, the moment when things were still poppy, but the world (and even more mainstream groups) all seemed a little bit more psychedelic. As such, any of these songs could’ve been placed on Come to the Sunshine, Rhino Handmade’s collection of sunshine pop and soft-psych songs recorded between 1967 and 1969, or even on The Who Sell Out.
Along with its companion piece Mono (recorded under the GRANDPA BOY moniker), this is by far Westerberg’s strongest solo work. In fact, I consider it to be as good as some of THE REPLACEMENTS classics. It’s certainly more consistent than say, Tim or Pleased to Meet Me, though of course it doesn’t have the same full-band dynamic. Nevertheless, this is an absolutely amazing collection of songs with Westerberg rediscovering his brilliance after ten years of so-so solo work. Furthermore, while I’ve enjoyed the records he’d done since, absolutely none of them have the brilliant songwriting of this one. Nevertheless, it’s an important record in his career as he’s recorded and released as much music in the 5 years since this came out than he did in the 10 years preceding it. Furthermore, it’s an important record for Vagrant, a label previously (and to a large extent, still) known for pop-punk. Since then, their signings have included the likes of THE FUTUREHEADS, THE HOLD STEADY and THE LEMONHEADS.
One of my favorite albums of all-time, this is also The Go-Betweens’ greatest album. It’s one of the most beautiful and emotional records in my entire collection, with GRANT MCLENNAN’s passing last year making his songs (such as the exquisite “Quiet Heart,” “Streets of Your Town” and “The Devil’s Eye”) that much more melancholy and honestly, a bit difficult to listen to without tearing up. Although this is really McLennan’s album, ROBERT FORSTER also contributed some great material to this album as well, including “You Can’t Say No Forever”.
After the controversy generated by my fellow Big Takeover blogger STEVE HOLTJE’s recent post on their take on “My Girl” (here retitled “His Girl”) and how Pitchfork dropped the ball on it, I had to check this out. It’s a total barnburner, like everything else I’ve ever heard on the great Daptone label, and I also think they’ve improved since I saw them a few years ago at Southpaw. Nevertheless, this is 10 tracks of deep, instrumental ‘70s-inspired funk and Afrobeat.
Before I saw this reissue at AKA Music the other night, I didn’t even know it existed. In fact, the only Alleycats material I knew was their Dangerhouse singles as well as the live version of “Nothing Means Nothing Anymore” from the movie Urgh: A Music War. It turns out that this late ‘70s LA punk band actually released another single and several albums on a different label before breaking up in the early ‘80s. This collection compiles material from those releases and was allegedly put out by (or with the consent of) bassist and backing vocalist DIANNE CHAI. Anyway, unlike most of what was on Dangerhouse, this has heavy new wave and post-punk overtones, but it’s no less enjoyable. Any fan of this era of music should enjoy it. You can read more about this release and The Alley Cats here.
Following last year’s stark and brilliant The Drift, this score to accompany a dance piece is some of the most minimalist, bare-bones music I’ve ever heard. At times it reminds me of everything from JOHN CAGE’s excursions into silence and its use in composition to JOE JACKSON’s Willpower album (specifically its first track “No Pasaran”) in its use of contrasting sounds to jar the listener after a lull of foreboding near-silence that makes one wonder if there’s something wrong with the stereo or the file in question. I’ll readily admit that I’m far from an expert in this sort of stuff, but I do really like it. At only 4 pieces of about 6 to 7 minutes each in length, it’s also an easier pill to swallow for those who want to check out Walker’s more recent experimental work without investing in the time to listen to The Drift or 1995’s Tilt, both full-lengths.
And even though it’s all instrumental and as such is missing his distinctive voice, it’s unquestionably Scott and as such fans of his recent work should like it.
Inspired by the speedy, late ‘70s new wave of early XTC or maybe THE MONOCHROME SET, this French band’s debut reminds me an awful lot, just in terms of the raw energy as well as its inspirations, of the first FUTUREHEADS album. I don’t know what they’ll do about LP2, but if it’s as good as LP1, I look forward to hearing it.
Do you view FLIPPER’s debut Generic as a work of genius? Do you think that BLACK FLAG were actually BETTER with HENRY ROLLINS singing and when they got heavier and more metallic, like on My War or Slip It In? Do you miss the days when THE JESUS LIZARD walked the earth? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this is the band for you! This sheer ugliness (and I mean that in the best way possible) reminds me of all of the above bands as well as of the early ‘90s hardcore band BORN AGAINST (themselves inspired by some of the same influences) except for the fact that their angst comes out of day-to-day existence in the 9 to 5 world and as far as I can tell isn’t concerned with politics. Regardless, it’s remarkable to see a young, newer band still playing this sort of stuff. When punk has become a joke and a fashion, it’s heartening to see the real stuff still being played!
