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Fucked Up with Jeff the Brotherhood and Dry Feet – First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia) – June 26, 2011
Please see my full review here.
The Smithereens – World Cafe Live (Philadelphia) – July 1, 2011
Please see my full review here.
Artcore #28, May 2011
Celebrating 25 years of existence, this Wales-based punk fanzine just keeps going. As per usual, half of the issue is devoted to older stuff (i.e. “vaultage”) and in this issue, we get wonderful features on Wipers (complete with a reprint of a short interview from MRR circa ’83), The Proletariat, Modern Method Records, HDQ and features on West German punk and UK fanzines of the ’80s as well. The newer bands covered include Young Offenders, Chicago punkers The Arrivals and Smogtown. Additionally, you get lots of record, DVD and book reviews as well as some incisive and timely socio-political commentary on the privatization of the public sector. I don’t always agree with Welly (though his commentary is right on the money in this issue) and he sure is opinionated (not a bad thing), but he’s always worth reading. Get it here.
Iceage – New Brigade (What’s Your Rupture?)
I know this super young Danish band is hyped to high heaven now, but this is a good record. Like a much more streamlined (read: shorter both album-wise and song-wise) version of British Sea Power‘s first album, this combines the post-punk of Joy Division, Killing Joke, Gang of Four, The Sound and early Echo and the Bunnymen with raging hardcore punk that actually (at least to my ears) whether accidentally or not comes out sounding more early ’90s Gravity bands like Heroin or Antioch Arrow than to say, the early Dischord catalog. There’s a menace to this band’s sound and their sound is chaotic stuff that will definitely make folks pay attention, though whether it will have staying power is something that remains to be seen.
Edwyn Collins – Daytrotter Session
This session feature Collins performing several songs from his newest album Losing Sleep along with several Orange Juice numbers along with his biggest hit “A Girl Like You”. This is a great session and you can listen to and download it here.
Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts (Matador)
On first listen, this is less a Thurston solo album than the unofficial follow-up to Beck‘s Sea Change, which is not a big surprise given that Beck produced it. In other words, this is a mellow, atmospheric singer-songwriter album. Still, it’s ultimately Thurston’s show as I can’t imagine Beck titling an album after a lyric from The Faith‘s “It’s Time”.
The Gun Club – Lucky Jim (XXX)
I’ve been listening to this amazing band a lot again lately and I could’ve picked any of their records, so I went with their last one before Jeffrey Lee Pierce‘s death. This one is really underrated and deeply, sadly beautiful.
Career Suicide – On the Radio
Not an official release, but a compilation of radio sessions from this Toronto-based hardcore band. There are lots of originals here along with covers of songs like The Germs‘ first single“Forming”. If you’ve never heard this band, this is not a bad place to start. You can find it here.
Nova Social – “Fingerprints” EP (Big Sleep)
I’ve been continuing to digitize my 7“s and came across this one recently. I picked it up back in 2002 when I saw them open for Radio 4 at Maxwells. From what I remember, they were a trio with keyboards who played power-pop very much in the vein of Ben Folds Five. The titular A-side is OK, but the real highlight here is the song on the other side “Horse Song, Part One”, which is a keyboard-driven pop song that should appeal to fans of Folds and Joe Jackson.
Dinosaur Jr Dinosaur (Homestead)
Although Dinosaur Jr definitely improved in every conceivable way (vocally, instrumentally and songwriting-wise) after their debut album, I’ve always loved this album and its ramshackle album. Featuring the most Lou Barlow lead vocals on any Dinosaur Jr album, this felt more like a collaboration (though J Mascis still wrote all the songs) than their later records, which were generally Mascis-dominated. Plus, songs like “Forget the Swan,” “The Leper” and “Repulsion” are just great.
