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So what happened here?

June 10, 2022 by Paul Debraski

For nearly fourteen years I was able to keep up this daily blog of books and music.

About a year ago I got a promotion and that changed everything.  I no longer had the time to post everything I wanted to.  Heck, I didn’t even seem to have the time to read all the short stories I wanted to.  Amusingly (or not), just before this new position, I had gotten a print subscription to the New Yorker.  This now means that I (like many others) have a two-foot stack of New Yorker magazines that I haven’t even looked at yet.

For a few weeks I was limiting myself to only the concerts that I went to because that was a little easier to write about.  Although back in the good old days, I used to include photo and links, and I pretty much have neither now. And I’m several shows behind as well.

So I’m still reading books and I think I may try to post some thoughts about them from time to time.  I’d also like to think I have time to write about my concerts, but even those are proving to be challenging.

So let’s consider the blog on hiatus more or less, with occasional posts about things I’ve read or listened to.

The good thing is that I like the new position and wouldn’t change it for the world. I guess I never realized how much down time my old position gave me!

Posted in Paul Debraski | 3 Comments »

Kevin Devine (Flounder Brewin Co., Hillsborough, NJ, December 17, 2025)

December 17, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 17, 2025] Kevin Devine

I’ve been a fan of Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band for several years now.  I first saw him opening a show and I really enjoyed his brief set.  I’ve since seen him solo and with the Goddamn band.  So when they announced that he would be playing a show at a Brewery fifteen minutes from my house, I grabbed tickets immediately.

And then my scheduled surgery was moved up from January to December 10.  I assumed there was no way I could go.  And yet, a week later I felt great and figured I could surely sit for 90 minutes.  I reached out to Flounder and secured two seats and by midday I felt well enough to go.

Sadly, I am an idiot and never confirmed the start time.   I thought it started at 8, but it actually started at 7:30 and it sounds like Kevin mingled and chatted with everyone.  So we arrived around 7:45, embarrassingly after he had started.  And we clearly missed ten or fifteen minutes.  However, Kevin played 20 songs while we were there and finished a little after nine, so even if we missed a few songs, we still had a great night of music. Continue Reading »

Posted in Flounder Brewing Co, Hillsborough NJ, Kevin Devine | Leave a Comment »

Chokecherry (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, December 9, 2025)

December 10, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 9, 2025] Chokecherry

I was scheduled to have total hip replacement surgery on the day after this show.  I didn’t think I’d be able to go and then two things changed my mind.  The first is that I saw that the show was fairly short–Chokecherry was playing for about an hour.  The second was that my surgery wasn’t scheduled until the afternoon.  I had assumed it would be early in the morning, but a later appointment meant I could sleep in.  As it turned out my wife had a minor emergency after I got home that kept us up until 3AM, so it was all moot, but whatever, I’m thrilled that I got to go to this show.

I had seen Chokecherry open for Destroy Boys about a year ago and I loved them.  The band seems to consist of guitarist Izzie A. Clark and bassist E. Scarlett Levinson.  Their second guitarist and drummer were different from last time.

Warehouse on Watts is really small, so while Scarlett was setting up her gear (in a long faux fur coat), I chatted with her for a moment.  I told her how much I liked them when they opened.  And she told me that she had food poisoning that night.  I never would have guessed, although in retrospect, when she said she talked a lot less than usual, it was true given how much she talked tonight.

They opened with a favorite song from their previous EP, Afterglow–slow and moody opening with crashing choruses.  Scarlett commented that the new album is pretty sad, although the first song they played from it Major Threat is a blistering rocker with a catchy chorus.

I love that Izzie and Scarlett switch off on lead vocals for nearly every song.

Things quieted down a bit for Secrets, but this allowed them to really feature their harmonies.  I was more or less in front of Scarlett, so I could really hear her delicate higher voice.  I was a little bummed that I couldn’t see Izzie that well because I remembered that she shredded impressively.  She still sounded great even if on the other side of the stage.  Particularly on the delicate guitar intro of Goldmine.

I loved how much the crowd new the songs by name when they were introduced and Scarlett’s super high vocals on Pretty Things (which the crowd knew) were stellar.  Second guitarists was excellent, either making the sound fuller while Izzie soloed or adding some extra flourishes. Continue Reading »

Posted in Chokecherry, Philadelphia, PA, The Sewing Club, Warehouse on Watts | Leave a Comment »

The Sewing Club (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, December 9, 2025) [CHOKECHERRY]

December 9, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 9, 2025] The Sewing Club

The Sewing Club is from Nashville.  I hadn’t heard of them before this show.  When I walked in, their guitarist was at a merch table selling cute little hand sewed monsters.  He later told me he had been sewing since he was little and thought it would be fun merch given their band name. And it was!  I bought one.

The Sewing Club are a four piece of two guitars (Stephen Meaux and Justin McKinney), drummer Zach McCoy (who added great backing vocals) and singer/bassist/keyboardist Hannah McElroy.  I was in front of  McCoy and very close to their merch guitarist (I’m not sure who was who).  I could clearly see McElroy, but the other guitarist was on the far side of the stage and I never really saw him.

They opened up quietly with Sport Mode.  I enjoyed the shoegaze vibe of the song and the intensity of the guitars, but was blown away when the song started rocking out.  The loud part was simple but really catchy with the two guitars playing different parts (one lead).  Up next was Wyatt, a song that mixed the tempo up right from the start (and which had some soaring guitar lines).

I enjoyed watching the crowd around me get more and more into the set especially when Wait kicked in and ramped up the intensity.

For Bite, Hannah switched to keys.  This was a much slower and more mellow song, although the rest of the band joined in before the end.  After an unknown song (the most rocking of the set with lines something like I wish you’d die), they played a newer song that they were sure they’d screw up (they didn’t) with some fun headbanging from Hannah.

They ended their 30 minute set with Strange, a slower song that filled the room and had a killer guitar riff.  I really liked their set a lot and look forward to more music from them.

Sport Mode ∼
Wyatt¢
Pocket ∼
Wait ∼
Bite $
(Unknown)
Alright Ok %
Strange ¢


% single (2026)
∼The Sewing Club EP (2025)
¢ Care EP (2024)
$ single (2024)

Posted in Chokecherry, Philadelphia, PA, The Sewing Club, Warehouse on Watts | Leave a Comment »

The Beths (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 6, 2025)

December 7, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2025] The Beths

This is my third time seeing The Beths, a New Zealand band that’s taking the U.S. by storm.  Las time they played here they sold out Union Transfer.  This time, they sold out TWO NIGHTS at Union Transfer.

We immediately got tickets to night one and for the first time, saw them from a chair off to the side (thanks ADA seating).  Although they interact so nicely with the front, that it’s kind of a bummer to not be in on the action.

But the sound was great (I know it always sounds better further back, but I like being close).

So The Beths are a four piece: Elizabeth Stokes, singer and guitarist.  Jonathan Pearce who plays lead guitar. Benjamin Sinclair on bass and Tristan Deck on drums.  They are delightful and funny and play fantastic songs.  Liz is a great songwriter and the boys make divine harmonies.

Last time they played nearly all of their then new album.   This time they played nine out of ten songs from their newest album.  And they opened with the title track a bouncy song that had everyone delightedly singing along.

After the even punchier No Joy they played two older songs one from Expert and one from Future Me Hates Me.

Then they moved back to the new album with the super fun first single Metal.

At one point during these songs, Benjamin did something that made a tin whistle fly into the air which he caught and started playing.  Later both Benjamin and Jonathan activated the tin whistle cannon and we were delighted to see them snatch the instruments out of the air and start playing.  The also have some shakers in their songs.  Liz uses a banana shaped one.  If you go to Benjamin’s review of the following night, you can read about the amusing trick they played on Liz and her banana. Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Phoebe Rings (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 6, 2025) [THE BETHS]

December 6, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2025] Phoebe Rings

I hadn’t heard of Phoebe Rings and then I found out that she (I now know that Phoebe Rings is a band name and no one in the band is named that) was opening for The Beths on Saturday and Sunday and opening for Speedy Ortiz on Monday.

The Beths and Phoebe Rings are from New Zealand and, it turns out that Phoebe Rings and Speedy Ortiz are on the same record label.

Phoebe Rings began as the solo project of musician Crystal Choi, and is now a four-piece made of jazz students (guitarist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, bassist Benjamin Locke and drummer Alex Freer).

We arrived and had ADA seats.  Then we laughed as the tallest person in the room stood in front of us.  We could still see just fine, but it was hilarious how much taller he was than everyone else.

Phoebe Rings was delightful.  They are described as dream pop but they were a bit more like jazz pop.  I’d even go so far as to say they were like lounge music.  There was an early Stereolab vibe musically (not lyrically). Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Ted Leo (Revilla Grooves and Gear, Milltown, NJ, November 20, 2025)

November 20, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2025] Ted Leo

I’ve seen Ted Leo three times before this.  Twice with Pharmacists and once with Aimee Mann for a Christmas show.  When I saw that he was playing a solo gig at Revilla Grooves, since it’s only 45 minutes from me, I had to go.  I also happen to know the owner, who DJ’d at my wedding.  But this is the first I’d been to his store and it is impressive.  A fantastic collection of vinyl and CDs as well as a ton of used equipment.  If you’re into music, it’s worth the trip.  He knows his stuff too.

But back to Ted Leo.

Back in September, Revilla Grooves hosted the ‘Noise In Focus: 30 Years of Music Photography’ exhibition.  It’s 30 years of candid photos of hundreds of musicians (while I was there I saw MCR, Deftones, Phoebe Bridgers, Jarvis Cocker and so many more) by Ray Lego.  This was the final night of the exhibition which also included a video room containing “Unseen behind the scenes of making of Deftones’  “Sat Night Wrist” record.  The video was from a bunch of tapes Lego had saved from when the band was making Saturday Night Wrist.  It showed the guys playing and taking candid shots.  There was no sound, but it was cool to watch for a bit.

So on this closing night, Ray invited Ted Leo (of whom there were many photos) to play a 45 minute electric set.  I’d never been before and the setup was great.  There’s a small stage and the sound was fantastic.  So, standing about five feet away I got to see Ted Leo do his thing.  This seemed like a great opportunity for Ted to play whatever the heck he wanted.  And I was pretty delighted by the variety of songs he played–some that I knew and many that I didn’t. Continue Reading »

Posted in Milltown NJ, Ray Lego, Revilla Grooves and Gear, Ted Leo | Leave a Comment »

Christian Bök, “The Extremophile” (published 2025) [Ghost Box IV] (2025)

October 31, 2025 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: October 31, 2025] “The Extremophile”

It has been six years since Ghost Box III came out….

After years of demand, the Ghost Box is back! Patton Oswalt’s much-beloved spooky-story anthology returns for a fourth edition, with the same trademark production details—magnetized box lid, anyone?—that Ghost Box fans have come to expect.

As always, working with Patton on Ghost Box IV was a dream, and we can’t wait to show you the nightmares that he’s wrangled and stuffed into the box this time around.

I don’t know very much about Christian Bök except that he wrote the poetry series Eunoia which is a remarkable piece of art and poetry:

 Each poem uses only one vowel, creating sentences like: “Hassan can, at a handclap, call a vassal at hand and ask that all staff plan a bacchanal”

It’s worth checking out.

I didn’t know if he did anything since, but apparently he has been working on something called The Xenotext which Wikipedia says

Xenotext consists of a single sonnet (called “Orpheus”), which gets translated into a gene and then integrated into a cell, causing the cell to “read” this poem, and in reply, the cell builds a protein — one whose sequence of amino acids encodes yet another sonnet (called “Eurydice”). The cell becomes not only a durable archive for storing a poem, but also an operant machine for writing a poem. The gene has so far worked properly in cultures of E. coli, but the intended symbiote is D. radiodurans (“the dire seed, immune to radiation”) — an extremophile, able to thrive in very inhospitable environments, deadly to most life on Earth.

I quoted that because it uses the word extremophile, which is the name of this story.

This story is quite short and it is, simply, a list of conditions that this entity can survive in.  It’s fascinating but not terribly interesting and, indeed, not very scary.  Especially since nothing happens in the story.  I mean, the ending is “It awaits your experiments,” which I guess is an interesting setup and given some of that background above it does make it slightly more compelling, but as a story, well, meh.

Posted in Christian Bok, Hingston & Olsen, Huh?, Patton Oswalt, Poetry, The Ghost Box | Leave a Comment »

Francis Stevens, “Unseen—Unfeared” (published 1919) [Ghost Box IV] (2025)

October 30, 2025 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: October 30, 2025] “Unseen—Unfeared”

It has been six years since Ghost Box III came out….

After years of demand, the Ghost Box is back! Patton Oswalt’s much-beloved spooky-story anthology returns for a fourth edition, with the same trademark production details—magnetized box lid, anyone?—that Ghost Box fans have come to expect.

As always, working with Patton on Ghost Box IV was a dream, and we can’t wait to show you the nightmares that he’s wrangled and stuffed into the box this time around.

Francis Stevens is the pseudonym of Gertrude Barrows Bennett who I know nothing about.  I assume this story is set in Philadelphia (South Street and Franklin Hall), but that’s not really important.

The story opens with the narrator talking to a detective over dinner.  The detective mentions a case in which a doctor is accused of murdering someone.  The detective doesn’t believe the doctor did it, but he doesn’t want to reveal too many details.

As the detective leaves, he gives the narrator a very fine cigar and heads out.  The narrator waits a few minutes and then heads out as well.  It’s here that I had to wonder about the intolerance of the author.  Because the narrator is walking down the street casting aspersions on everyone he sees–all races and colors are scrutinized harshly–especially a group of young Italian men who give the narrator the stink eye like he’d never seen.

He’s freaking out about how much he hates everyone and everything and decides he needs to rest for a minute.  Then he sees a sign over a shop that says See The Great Unseen!

Thinking this is a museum of some sort, a place where he can sit and relax, he goes inside.

The owner of the place is a strange man with dark eyes and white hair.  He starts talking about photography and the process of generating color prints.  It’s either very technical or complete nonsense, but it hardly matters because the man is about to show the narrator a new technique he has achieved through the use of a membrane that he said is from South America.

When the man places the membrane over his equipment, the narrator suddenly sees…. what the host describes as all of the evils in the world that have been unleashed by humanity–included the narrator himself.

Given how disgusted he was by everyone outside, he starts to realize that he is the reason for all of the evil around him.

This story was really creepy and I really enjoyed the way it was told.  With the final chapter bringing at leas two wholly unexpected conclusions.  And I’m thinking maybe the author wasn’t such a curmudgeon after all.

 

Posted in Francis Stevens, Gertrude Barrows Bennett, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Patton Oswalt, Supernatural, The Ghost Box | Leave a Comment »

Belly: King 30th Anniversary Tour (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 27, 2025)

October 29, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 27, 2025] Belly

I really liked Belly when they first came out.  Their debut album is great and the follow up King is probably just as good.  When this tour was announced I wasn’t sure if I had listened to King all that much but when I put it on again I realized I knew it quite well.  Then I looked at other setlists to see of they were playing any of the songs from Star, and the were.  So I decided to see them.

I’ve always liked Tanya Donnelly–she’s been on the periphery of massive success pretty often.  She founded Throwing Muses with Kristen Hersh (her step sister). But I feel like Tanya left just before they became more commercially successful.

Then she formed The Breeders with Kim Deal.  But she left before they released Last Splash.  And then she formed Belly.  She had a pretty big hit with Feed the Tree.  But King wasn’t as successful and Belly broke up.  Tanya went solo.

Belly reformed in 2016 with almost all four original members.  The original bassist was replaced by Gail Greenwood right after Feed the Tree and is with them as they reunited.  Belly put out an album in 2018 which I missed entirely.

They toured in 2016 playing a set of mostly Star and King, then toured in 2018 playing mostly the new album, Dove.  And now they were back for King.

The set was great and I was delighted with how much fun bassist Gail was.  She was very chatty with the audience and when she said that the next sing would make you cry, a guy next to me said I’m crying already, and she went over and gave him a hug.  Gail also sang an amazing range of backing vocals, from really deep voices to very high pitched ones.  And her bass sounded great.

The stage set up was interesting, with Tanya and Gail right up front.  Lead guitarist Thomas Gorman was on the far side.  He was in the background a bit although he did take front stage for the few guitar solos he played.  His brother, drummer Chris Gorman was behind a pole and I didn’t see him for the whole show–but the drums sounded great.

But of course the focus is Tanya.  She exuded a coolness that I really enjoyed.  But she didn’t see aloof or above it all.  She seemed to be having a really good time.  Especially when Gail said, thanks for cheering us on even when we suck.  But they did not suck.  They sounded great and Tanya’s voice was really impressive.  She hit some high notes in the encores that really blew me away.  And the harmonies between her and Gail were fantastic.

I didn’t know every song from King.  It’s weird that I didn’t really know the first two songs all that well, but I knew the next few–who doesn’t remember the first song on an album?  And when they sang the jittery Red, I couldn’t wait to shout along with the chorus.  Silverfish sounded fantastic and Super-Connected was even better than I remembered.

After the album, they took a short break and came back with a second set of mostly songs from Star (which was great!).  I got to hear all of my favorite songs from the album, so that was super cool.  They played two songs from Dove which sounded very nice, if not a little slower.  And they ended the set with the Dive track Shiny One.  They merged that song into Jimi Hendrix’ Are You Experienced (which I see is on their B sides record, so I guess it has been a part of their set for a while) which merged back into Shiny as they headed off for the encore break.

It’s obvious that they were going to do an encore (it was on the setlist after all), but it’s always nice when a band seems to really appreciate that the people there are excited for them to come back.

I didn’t know the first song, Thief, which is a bonus song on their greatest hits album.  This was one of the songs where Tanya really showed that she could hit those high notes.  It was a quiet, almost acoustic song (she didn’t play acoustic guitar) for about half of it. And then the band kicked in to rock the rest.  The final song was Full Moon Empty Heart.  I aways assume bands are going to save the big hits for the encore–but no one seems to do that anymore. And that’s fine. But I found it odd that they picked this song to end the show.  Unless it was an opportunity for Tanya to save her voice for the end, where she–damn–really hit some impressive high notes.

I also really appreciated that this was an evening with Belly and the whole show was done by around 10:15.

I’m really glad I finally got to see them.

SETLIST
King album

  1. Puberty ♠
  2. Seal My Fate ♠
  3. Red ♠
  4. Silverfish ♠
  5. Super-Connected ♠
  6. The Bees ♠
  7. King ♠
  8. Now They’ll Sleep ♠
  9. Untitled and Unsung ♠
  10. L’il Ennio ♠
  11. Judas My Heart ♠
    Set 2
  12. Low Red Moon *
  13. Gepetto *
  14. Slow Dog *
  15. Human Child ◊
  16. Spaceman ≅
  17. Dusted *
  18. Feed the Tree *
  19. Shiny One ◊   >
  20. Are You Experienced (Jimi Hendrix song)
    encore
  21. Thief ≅
  22. Full Moon Empty Heart *

≅ Bees (2021)  [also appeared as new songs on their Greatest Hits album in 2002]
◊ Dove (2018)
♠ King (1995)
* Star (1993)

Posted in Belly, Los Angeles Power Disco, Philadelphia, PA, Tanya Donnelly, The Breeders, Throwing Muses, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

Gahan Wilson, “The Sea Was Wet As Wet Could Be” (published 1967) [Ghost Box IV] (2025)

October 29, 2025 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: October 28, 2025] “The Sea Was Wet As Wet Could Be”

It has been six years since Ghost Box III came out….

After years of demand, the Ghost Box is back! Patton Oswalt’s much-beloved spooky-story anthology returns for a fourth edition, with the same trademark production details—magnetized box lid, anyone?—that Ghost Box fans have come to expect.

As always, working with Patton on Ghost Box IV was a dream, and we can’t wait to show you the nightmares that he’s wrangled and stuffed into the box this time around.

This story was accidentally left out of my Ghost Box (that’s the real horror!).  The nice folks and Hingston & Olsen said they’d send me my copy of the story, but with the stupid tariffs that our stupid president is ruining people’s lives with, I’m not sure when it will arrive.  But I’ll post it when it does.

This booklet finally arrived and it was totally worth the wait.

I know Gahan Wilson from his cartoons with the New Yorker.  He had a dark and memorable style (he died in 2019).  I didn’t know he wrote fiction.  This story appeared first in Playboy in 1967.

It opens with some co-workers (not quite friends) having a party (drinks really) on a beachfront.  While the narrator is complaining about the various people he is with, they note two strangers approaching.

As they get closer someone jokes that they look like The Carpenter and the Walrus from Through the Looking Glass.  And indeed, the story shows quotes from the poem and the strangers begin acting like they are those characters.

They complain about the quantity of sand and they are indeed in search of oysters.  Actually, they are looking for firewood to cook the oysters, but if they found more oysters, that would be fine too.  Eventually the strangers invite them all back to their own party.

But when the narrator quotes the poem that “they cannot do with more than four” he (being the fifth) says he wants to stay behind.  But, this being a scary story, he suddenly realizes he needs to rescue his not-quite-friends.

I love Alice in Wonderland and I loved the references to it in this story.  I need to see what else he has written.

Posted in Gahan Wilson, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Patton Oswalt, Playboy, The Ghost Box | Leave a Comment »

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