Mission of Burma with Sleeper Agent – First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA) – February 18, 2010
Opening with “The Setup” (from 2004’s OnOffOn), Mission of Burma played a typically terrific set that focused on material from their last three records (including last year’s The Sound, The Speed, The Light), though we did get “Academy Fight Song” and “That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate” towards the end of the set and “Fame and Fortune” towards the beginning. There was an attempt at the much-covered “That’s When I Reach My Revolver”, but sound problems preventing them from finishing it.
Sleeper Agent is the new band of former GOVERNMENT ISSUE and FACTORY INCIDENT singer JOHN STABB. However, it sounds like neither of his former bands. Instead, it’s a full-on early ’80s post-punk sound in the vein of THE FALL or perhaps even KILLING JOKE, whose “Kings and Queens” (from 1985’s Night Time) they covered on this evening along with the PIXIES classic “Break My Body”. I eagerly await their recordings.
Fucked Up with Kurt Vile – Barbary (Philadelphia, PA) – February 17, 2010
Perhaps even tighter than the last time I saw them and just as nutty (yes, frontman PINK EYES did swallow a part of a streamer that hung from the ceiling after attempting unsuccessfully to affix it to his belly and yes, kids stage dived off his back), Fucked Up played a short but very powerful set that culminated with an unexpected cover of THE SEX PISTOLS‘ “Bodies”, with Pink Eyes adamant in his declaration that it’s a pro-choice song.
I like Kurt Vile a lot on record, but his solo appearance disappointed on this evening. There were some technical problems with his set and the set didn’t seem to gather any momentum. I’d prefer to see him with a band again.
Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy (Matador)
Had I acquired this earlier last year, it’s quite possible that this would’ve ended up in my Top 10. It’s just a hypnotic, psychedelic mix of JOHN FAHEY-worshipping freak folk fingerpicking goodness, late ’70s/early ’80s BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN/TOM PETTY/GRAHAM PARKER melodies (particularly on the first track) and ’90s indie rock.
The dB’s – Repercussion (Albion)
I scored a vinyl copy of the original UK press on Albion the other day. Perhaps my favorite dB’s album from a strictly compositional point-of-view, CHRIS STAMEY‘s songs on this (his last album with the group) are absolutely magical, from the opener “Happenstance” to the moody “From a Window to a Screen” (an obvious nod to ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS‘ “From a Whisper to a Scream”, released in the previous year on 1981’s Trust) to the autobiographical “Ups and Downs”. He was just on fire on this album, though PETER HOLSAPPLE‘s songs (particularly “Neverland” and the horn-fueled “Living a Lie”) were no slouches, either. It should also be noted that this Lp’s track order is completely different from the otherwise excellent reissue of their first two albums on the Collectors Choice label.
The Decemberists – Metro Theater (Sydney, Australia) – January 16, 2010
A friend sent me a link to a stream of this concert and I was intrigued because they covered THE GO-BETWEENS classic “Bye Bye Pride” since it was their first time visiting Australia. Although the cover is OK, with singer COLIN MELOY forgetting some lyrics and what not, the show in general affirms what we all already know. The Decemberists are not only one of the greatest bands of our generation, but an incredible live band to boot. One day, there’ll be as much reverence for them as there is now for the R.E.M. or ROBYN HITCHCOCK (two prominent influences) albums and shows of the ’80s.
You can listen to and watch it “here”’:http://decemberists.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ae21e715e4a42f12fa4e0ed80&id=3f2e0048e3&e=888cbbd606
The Dwarves – Blood, Guts and Pussy (Sub Pop)
While I don’t defend the lyrical content of this 1990 album (originally released as a 7”), it is unquestionably their finest hour and in my opinion, from a musical standpoint one of the finest hardcore punk records of the last twenty years. The difference between this and most other hardcore punk records is not only their excellent pinpoint precision and musicianship (particularly the guitarist HE WHO CANNOT BE NAMED), but their sense of songcraft and melody, which undoubtedly come from their previous identity as the Illlionis garage band SUBURBAN NIGHTMARE. Check out the nod to “Surfin’ Bird”, for instance.
Graham Parker and the Rumour – The Up Escalator (Stiff)
Although this album was released in the U.S. on Arista in 1980 and has been reissued five different times, I’m listing the Stiff version for a specific reason. I have the Arista Lp and the Razor and Tie reissue, which adds the bonus track “Women in Charge” (originally the B-side of “Stupefaction” and a cassette-only bonus track), but have never owned the Stiff Lp. I knew it had a different track order, so as an experiment, I made an iTunes playlist with the UK track order. As such, it’s a little disorienting hearing “Love Without Greed” follow “Stupefaction”, for instance, but this album is great, a huge personal favorite of mine and one of Parker’s best any way you slice it.
Codeine – The White Birch (Sub Pop)
Back in 1994, during my freshman year of college, I saw this great, overlooked New York slow-core band play in my school’s cafe. They were absolutely mesmerizing. Like THE FEELIES a decade earlier (and well, now, since their improbable reunion a few years ago), they were all tension and no release, building up a head full of steam (to borrow the title of a great Go-Betweens song) with each song by going up and then coming back down again. Since I was a broke college student at the time, I could only afford the 7” they were selling and thus never heard this album until I picked it up the other day.
While not as strong as their first album, 1990’s awesome Frigid Stars, this 1994 effort is still worthwhile. They thank GASTR DEL SOL and Louisville in the insert and DAVID GRUBBS played guitar on two tracks, so if those names mean anything to you, you pretty much know what you’re in for. Now I just wish I had a cleaner copy as even after cleaning it, this record made dust accumulate on my needle when I played it on each side!
Void – Potion for Bad Dreams (Touch and Go)
One of the great things about the explosion of mp3 blogs in recent years is that I’ve had the opportunity to hear legendary, unreleased albums that I’d only heard about before, but had never actually had the opportunity to hear. After I found this a few years ago, I rejoiced because I’d heard about it since the early ’90s. The rumors I’d heard was that Touch and Go never released it because it was a terrible metal record in the vein of AC/DC. After listening it to it once or twice, I dismissed it as bad metal and didn’t return to it until a few days ago. When I saw JONATHAN SCOTT rave about it, I decided to give it another chance.
Well, it most certainly is metal-tinged, but it sounds absolutely nothing like AC/DC (a great hard rock and not metal band). As such, while not a great album, it stands out from the pack of absolutely horrid crossover attempts by former hardcore bands (such as the 2nd DYS album or SSD‘s Break It Up). Jonathan says that it sounds like “14 year old mental patients playing MOTLEY CRUE“, but to me some of this has a very heavy MOTORHEAD/NWOBHM feel. It’s odd to hear singer JOHN WEIFFENBACH a bit more restrained than on their incredible side of their split Lp with THE FAITH or their earlier recordings and at times, it sounds like guitarist BUBBA DUPREE is playing something totally different from what the rhythm section is, but yet most of it kinda works. Again, if you’re new to Void, please start with the Faith/Void split Lp (one of the finest hardcore records ever), but do check this out if you’re into them and have never heard it. Get it here.
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
And speaking of early ’80s hardcore, I’m putting this in here because of this awesome skit with DAVE GROHL (who played on the show as part of musical guest THEM CROOKED VULTURES), SNL regular FRED ARMISEN (former drummer of TRENCHMOUTH) and guest host ASHTON KUTCHER.
The video is here.
