The Gaslight Anthem – The ‘59 Sound (Side One Dummy)
Just a little over a week ago on WXPN’s Y-Rock program, I heard a track from this album and I didn’t know what it was. It immediately stood out, though, and I knew I had to find this album.
Before I heard this, I knew the name, but figured that they were yet another mediocre, watered-down pop-punk band from New Jersey since they’d been on the Warped Tour at some point, so I filed them in my head with acts like MIDTOWN, NEW FOUND GLORY (who are actually from Florida), etc.
Needless to say, I was wrong. Very wrong. This sounds like BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN fronting a real punk band whose bass player loves THE CURE. As such, it has more in common with acts like Jersey’s BOUNCING SOULS or even SOCIAL DISTORTION and it’s the way a modern Bruce Springsteen album would sound in my dreams (as opposed to the sonic mush that characterized the otherwise strong Magic from a few years back). Give me this over the stuff I’ve heard from Working on a Dream any day!!! Furthermore, in all the press I’ve read for this, I keep seeing references to Born to Run. In truth, this sounds much more like the harder-edged stuff on The River, the 1980 album Bruce made when he was listening to stuff like THE JAM’s “Away from the Numbers”. If this sounds like it even might be up you alley, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
Despite the obvious paeans to Springsteen, I don’t think that description quite does this record justice. There are hooks out the wazoo on every track and even more importantly, a beating heart and grit missing from so much modern punk. Sure you could probably devise a good drinking game from every time Springsteen catch phrases like “Saturday night” or car references or references to years like ‘59 or ‘62 are dropped (hint: they’re dropped a lot), but despite that, this album really moves me. I can’t decide if the earnestness on display here is cheesy or just plain great. Either way I can’t stop playing this one. Essential.
As a side note, this record come out last August, but I only heard it this year. If I would’ve heard it then, it’s very possible that this could’ve ended up as my favorite record of 2008.
And as a bonus, check out a clip of them playing the album’s title track on Late Night with David Letterman last night here. Enjoy! And keep in mind that the album has even better songs.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)
Remember early ‘90s indie-pop? Noisy, poppy shoegaze? 120 Minutes as hosted by DAVE KENDALL? Their label Slumberland’s 7”s by the likes of VELOCITY GIRL and others? If you answered yes to any of these question, run don’t walk to check this one out. Every track here is great, but the one that really stands out for me is “Young Adult Friction”. It sounds like a BUZZCOCKS tune circa A Different Kind of Tension, but recorded by a late ‘80s or early ‘90s dream-pop band. This is my favorite new record of 2009 so far and I absolutely can’t wait to see them live next week.
Sonic Youth – SYR8: Sonic Youth Arf Andre Sider (SYR)
The title literally means “the other side of Sonic Youth” and sure enough, that’s exactly what this is. It’s a recording of Sonic Youth accompanied by MATS GUSTAFSON, MERZBOW and JIM O’ROURKE on July 1st, 2005 at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark.
There’s one track clocking in at over 59 minutes and it’s absolutely amazing. The closest parallel I can come up with is an ASH RA TEMPEL show (similarly, it’s one track clocking in at over 50 minutes). I have from Switzerland in 1973 in terms of its howling intensity. This still requires a suitable attention span but once the guitars and sax start howling, you’ll be hooked if you’re into this sort of thing!
Thurston Moore with Mats Gustafsson – International House (Philadelphia, PA) – January 31, 2009
Playing for a little over an hour, Moore and Gustafsson started out with one long, improvised piece that went on for 50 minutes or so and incorporated Moore’s guitar with Gustafsson’s sax, clarinet and electronic device of some sort. All in all, the show blurred the lines between free jazz, noise and experimental music unlike anything else I’d ever seen. Intense.
Flight of the Conchords (Sunday, HBO)
I’m pleased to say that the first two episodes of the new season have retained the level of humor, utter ridiculousness and absurdity of its first season.
Spectacle (Wednesday, Sundance)
I’ve been hooked on the recent episodes of ELVIS COSTELLO’s talk show. In particular, a recent episode with KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, NORAH JONES, ROSANNE CASH and JOHN MELLENCAMP was particularly enthralling with Kristofferson’s performances of “Sunday Morning Come Down” and “Me and Bobby McGhee” being particularly moving.
Graham Parker – BBC Live in Concert (Windsong)
As the title suggest, this disc covers Parker’s appearances on the BBC from 1977 up to 1991. Although the earlier stuff is the most well-known, the really thrilling stuff here is actually found among the later performances. The 1982 concert, featuring a great version of “Nobody Hurts You” )from 1979’s landmark Squeezing Out Sparks) and an even more amazing version of “No More Excuses” (from that year’s Another Grey Area), knocks my socks off. The same can be said of the acoustic 1991 session, with a particularly moving version of “My Love’s Strong” (from 1989’s Human Soul).
Visqueen – “Ward”
While searching for news about their long-delayed, upcoming new album after I pulled out their two albums to listen to recently, I came across this track on their MySpace page. It’s very true to the sound of their 1st 2 records and I assume that it’s to be included on their new album whenever it comes out.
Dag Nasty – “Trouble Is” EP (Giant)
Since I’m currently featuring a lengthy, multi-part interview with PETER CORTNER here on this blog, I feel like I should list this record. Even if you already have 1988’s amazing Field Day on either Lp or CD, this green vinyl 12” is worth seeking out for the A-side, a remix of opening track “Trouble Is” by ED STASIUM. It’s a bit punchier than the album version and as such, totally essential. The B-side features tracks on the Field Day CD (“Never Green Lane” and a cover of WIRE’s “12XU”).
Various Artists – Maximum Rock N Roll Presents Turn It Around (MRR)
This long out-of-print compilation originally came out in 1987 and was put out by the long-running punk fanzine Maximum Rock N Roll when that magazine’s founder TIM YOHANNAN was behind the opening of the now almost as long-running Berkeley all-ages punk club 924 Gilman Street. Since I’m reading a book about Gilman Street now, I got inspired to seek this out and give it a listen for the first time in many years.
This comp is probably most well-known for containing two early OPERATION IVY tracks (“I Got No” and “Officer”, both on their discography CD) and for containing several early songs by NO USE FOR A NAME, but the other, lesser-known stuff is just as worthwhile. Late ‘80s pop-punk gems like SWEET BABY JESUS’ infectious “She’s from Salinas” (which was been in my head for a week straight) and RABID LASSIE’s “Contragate” dominate here, but this comp also contains several tracks by acts like YEASTIE GIRLZ (all female a cappella rap) and STIKKY, featuring CHRIS DODGE (later in SPAZZ and of Slap-A-Ham Records).
