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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart with Depreciation Guild and Brown Recluse Sings – Kung Fu Necktie (Philadelphia, PA) – February 8, 2009
With an excellent debut album under their belt, I was quite anxious to see if The Pains of Being Pure at Heart would be able to pull off their sound in a live setting. The answer, fortunately, is a resounding yes, though I wish they would’ve played longer than 25 minutes (no “Teenager in Love”, too) and that it was easier to see at the absolutely jam-packed Kung Fu Necktie.
I missed the first band (Brown Recluse Sings) and openers Depreciation Guild had the right sound (early RIDE or MY BLOODY VALENTINE meets RADIOHEAD circa The Bends) and are tight, but they don’t have any memorable material or hooks. If they get there, they’ll become a true foce. For now, though, they remind too much of the past without having enough strong material of their own to make a stronger impression.
Lambchop with In Grenada – Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia, PA) – February 13, 2009
To be fair, I’m not that familiar with Lambchop’s recorded output, but I like what I’ve heard. In a live setting, they sound similar, essentially a mellow chamber-pop group with occasional bursts of upbeat indie rock. The description doesn’t really do them justice, though, as they’re really a singular entity once you get the past the fact that singer KURT WAGNER’s voice can remind one of other deep-throated male singers of the past like LOU REED, LEONARD COHEN and others. Mostly, their sound make me think of the most of YO LA TENGO’s excellent 2000 album ...And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out.
Openers In Grenada are the latest new-ish indie band with a profound BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN fetish. If THE ARCADE FIRE, THE HOLD STEADY, THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM and THE NATIONAL hadn’t gotten there first (and all with much better material), I’d be more inclined to like them. Still, if Springsteen circa 1980 fronting a post-punk influenced indie band appeals to you, you might wanna check these folks out. Personally, it just makes me wanna pull out my copy of Neon Bible.
Devo – Ultracore (no label)
No, you can’t buy this in a store or even online. In fact, though I’m a huge Devo fan, I’d never even heard of this compilation until I saw it posted for download here the other day. It’s a combination of demo and live versions of mostly familiar songs from their first few albums. A few of these sound like the same versions from the essential Hardcore Volume series on Rykodisc (long out of print, unfortunately), but most were completely unfamiliar to me.
Neko Case – Blacklisted (Bloodshot)
One of my favorite albums of the decade, I also consider this to be Neko’s best album (although the follow-up, 2006’s also excellent Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, got much more acclaim). I mean, it isn’t even close. It’s the perfect midway between her more alt-country tinged earlier solo records and the singular style she employs today. Either way, this album never fails to move me and I’m spinning it in anticipation of her long-awaited new one Middle Cyclone, due out next month.
Dove – Wrecking Ball (Lost and Found)
Further proof of the embarrassment of riches that the DC punk scene of the ‘80s had to offer, I’d never even heard of this band, an offshoot of the slightly more well-known DOUBLE O, until a few days ago. Unlike most of their contemporaries, though, the sound here is oddly more similar to what some DC bands were doing in the early ‘90s. There’s much more of a classic rock and post-punk feel here than anything resembling hardcore. As far as I know, this is their only album and it originally came out in 1983. The notorious German label Lost and Found put it out in ‘92, but I missed it then. It’s long out-of-print, but you can snag it here.
The Cramps – Exorcism Night (no label)
I’m still mourning the death of singer LUX INTERIOR, so this past week I played this bootleg, recorded off a New York radio station (WNEW) back in 1978 at Club 57. The quality is so-so, but the performance is top-notch. The highlights are many, but the most notable thing here is a super early version of “Weekend on Mars”, which they would record years later as the B-side to “I Ain’t Nothin’ But a Gorehound”. Get it here.
Zero Boys – History Of (Secretly Canadian)
A few weeks ago, Secretly Canadian reissued both their incredible 1982 debut Vicious Circle (complete with the two bonus tracks that are also on the long out-of-print Panic Button reissue) as well as this cassette-only release from 1984. Although this cobbled-together follow-up is nowhere near as powerful as Vicious Circle, it’s still well worth hearing, especially now that their 1st 7” “Livin in the ‘80s” has been added to it!
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart EP (Painbow)
Before they released their debut album earlier this year, they released this self-titled, five song EP. Here are early versions of “This Love is Fucking Right!” and “Hey Paul” (both of which also appear on the album) that are distinguished from the album versions by the fact that (like on the 3 other songs on this EP) a drum machine is used. For the most part, this works, but listening to this EP confirms that the switch to a live drummer is for the best, both live and on record. One of the other 3 songs here is “The Pains of Being Pure at Heart”, perhaps the song that gave the band its name.
The Primitives – “Crash”
CARRIE BROWNSTEIN (formerly of SLEATER-KINNEY) writes an excellent blog for NPR. In one of her recent posts, she extolled the virtues of MTV’s 120 Minutes program in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. As an avid watcher of that program in the early ‘90s, I loved the post and all the videos she posted to go along with it. Among them was this absolutely classic indie-pop single. It’s so catchy that it’s stayed in my head for weeks!
Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden (EMI)
After the success of their 1st 3 albums, Talk Talk took a wide left turn with this 1987 album. Although maligned and misunderstood by their label at the time, this album (along with their swan song, 1991’s Laughing Stock) later became beloved cult classics and for good reason. This is music that barely had any precedent, combining the maturing found on 1986’s The Colour of Spring with flourishes of Krautrock, jazz, modern classical and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND while removing any traces of their synth-pop past. The result is still stunning, paving the way for what would later be called “post-rock”.
