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Mark Burgess with The Silence Kit and The Lost Patrol – Blockley Pourhouse (Philadelphia, PA) – August 11, 2009
What an incredible show! Utilizing a pickup band that consisted of two members of THE CURTAIN SOCIETY (a fine choice since they play CHAMELEONS songs in their live set and even released their version of “Swamp Thing”) and bassist FRANK DESERTO (the winner of the “battle of the bassists” the night before in Brooklyn, where four different bassists, including ED BALUYUT from VERSUS, accompanied Burgess), this absolutely shredded.
Opening with the aforementioned “Swamp Thing” (talk about pulling out your heavy artillery early; wow!) and going through a set heavy on Chameleons rarities and B-sides like “Nostalgia.” “Paradiso” and “The Fan and the Bellows” along with more familiar material like the incredible “Soul in Isolation” and “Mad Jack” (both, like “Swamp Thing”, from 1986’s incredible Strange Times). We also got gems from the 1st album (Script of the Bridge) like “Up the Down Escalator,” “Second Skin” and “Less than Human”. And just when we thought it was over, the band came back out for an encore that consisted of “Don’t Fall,” “In Shreds” and a cover of ALTERNATIVE TV‘s “Splitting in Two” (a Chameleons live staple).
This was as close as one could get to see a Chameleons set in this day and age with the band broken up again since another acrimonious split in 2003. Wow! Just wow.
Burgess was, crucially, having a wonderful time and is apparently in love and in a really happy place in his life right now. Let’s all hope it stays that way!
The Trashcan Sinatras with Brookville – Tin Angel (Philadelphia, PA) – August 14, 2009
As far as Trashcan Sinatras shows goes, this was a really good one, but not ideal. That’s absolutely no fault of the band, though. As usual, on their first tour of the U.S. in over four years, they were in great form. The new songs from In the Music sounded terrific alongside older staples like “Hayfever,” “Send for Henny,” “I’ve Seen Everything” and “How Can I Apply?”. The set closer, “Wild Mountainside”, was beautiful and transcended the studio version. So what was wrong? Well first of all, the place was packed (this was the sold-out early show; the band played a late show at the same venue as well) and on a hot and muggy night, not that well ventilated. Thus, it was really hot in there! Also, they only got to play a little over an hour due to the curfew (the venue had to close to get ready for the late show). I just wish there was more of it. Oh well. I look forward to the next tour!
Openers Brookville reminded me a lot of the headliners and others who mined somewhat similar territory like THE OCEAN BLUE. They also did a THE THE cover. This is all no surprise since ANDY CHASE (who recorded In the Music and mixed 2004’s Weightlifting) is a member.
Joe Pernice – It Feels Good When I Stop (2009, Riverhead)
Joe’s first novel (second if you count his 33 1/3 series book on THE SMITHS‘ Meat is Murder, which is more quasi-autobiographical novella than rock criticism anyway and a great one at that) is a winner, but depressing as hell (kind of like his music) when you really think about it. It involves a just married guy on the lam, hiding out from his wife in Cape Cod and generally avoiding adulthood and responsibility while trying to make sense out of his life. Again, I can’t help but feel as if there are many elements from his own life (though we’ll never know which ones) on display here. When you read this, you feel like you’re there, as his attention to detail and flair for capturing the culture of Massachussetts (from the college-town atmosphere of Amherst to the “land of Dunkin’ Donuts” on Cape Cod) is second to none.
Voxtrot – “Berlin, Without Return…” EP (Cult Hero)
After a more than two year absence, Voxtrot are back with a new 7” on their own Cult Hero label. As such, it continues in the vein of their self-titled 2007 Lp and their Your Biggest Fan EP. In other words, there’s orchestration and this leans slightly more in the direction of orchestral-pop than straight-up indie-pop. Whichever way you wanna define it, though, one thing is clear. The hooks are abundant and the songs are catchy, which is much more than I can say for too many other “blog bands”. Let’s hope that Voxtrot can somehow transcend that designation and that their talent will shine through.
Waiting for Something (Not Rated)
This is a 20-minute mini-documentary about JAY REATARD that you can see here.
Trashcan Sinatras – Live Series Radio Sessions Volume One (Bobame)
The 8th release on their own Bobame label is a compilation of radio sessions (for KCRW and other stations) recorded between 2004 and 2005 on their Weightlifting tour, but it can also function as an alternate-universe live greatest hits album, at least up to a point . It’s all in the sequencing. Starting off with “Obscurity Knocks” (their first single), the next three songs all come from 1993’s excellent I’ve Seen Everything. After several songs from 1996’s A Happy Pocket and a rarely played B-side (“Mr. Grisly”) from the same era, the second half of the disc is devoted to more recent material from Weightlifting and what not. No less than six songs from Weightlifting follow and the disc culminates with “Wild Mountainside” (from the 2006 EP of the same name), an early version of “Prisons” (from their new In the Music) and an unrecorded song called “Astronomy” (which incidentally was played last night at the Tin Angel).
All in all, this could be a decent introduction for neophytes, but for hardcore fans, this is a nice accompaniment to their Fez live release from 2005, a compilation of songs recorded over two nights at the now defunct New York club of the same name.
Pissed Jeans – King of Jeans (Sub Pop)
On first listen, the awesomely-titled King of Jeans picks up right where 2007’s Hope for Men leaves off. Produced by ALEX NEWPORT of FUDGETUNNEL, this sound is a bit slicker and tighter than on their previous releases. Have no fear, though. The self-loathing, manic craziness and all around chaos you’ve come to expect are all still here on songs like “Request for Masseuse,” “Lip Ring” and “Goodbye Hair”.
The Chameleons – Strip (Phantom Sound and Vision)
When The Chameleons first reunited in 2000, they went back into the studio and re-recorded a bunch of older tunes as well as a few then new ones. Usually this is a recipe for disaster as most albums of re-recordings lack the inspiration of the originals. Not in this case, though. And this isn’t just some silly acoustic bootleg, either, as the title may mislead you to believe. It sounds absolutely fantastic and the versions of songs like “Soul in Isolation,” “Pleasure and Pain” and the rarity “Nathan’s Phase” have to be heard to be believed. It just proves that when “stripped” (sorry) down to their core, the Chameleons wrote great songs, even without all the reverb, production, et al.
This CD is long out-of-print and hard to find for a decent price, so thanks to my friend Peter for sending this (and their equally great 2003 acoustic album This Never Ending Now) to me.
Hunx and His Punx – “Teardrops on My Telephone” EP (Shattered)
Released on Jay Reatard’s newly reinstituted Shattered Records, this 3-song stomper isn’t a million miles from Reatard’s own sound. In other words, this is full-tilt garage and new-wave influenced punk rock. There’s much more of an overt ’60s girl-group influence here, though. The “Be My Baby” beat shows up in “I Won’t Get Under You” and “You Better Tell that Girl” reminds me more than a little (but not too much) of HOLLY AND THE ITALIANS‘ “Tell that Girl to Shut Up” (later covered by TRANSVISION VAMP). I love this 7”!
The Young Accuser – “Unsound” 7” (Sub Pop)
OK this is a weird one, especially given Joe Pernice’s past history with the Sub Pop label. Meant to accompany his novel It Feels So Good When I Stop, this is (most likely) Joe recording under the moniker of the protagonist’s band. As such, it’s much more reminiscent of say, lots of stuff on Sub Pop from the early ’90s (think of THE FLUID, TAD or even MUDHONEY) than Joe’s own records with SCUD MOUNTAIN BOYS and PERNICE BROTHERS. You can barely tell it’s him given that his voice is distorted. Overall, this is OK, but unless you’re a Pernice completist, you can probably skip it.
