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Archive for February, 2024

Truth Club (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, February 22, 2024) [INDIGO DE SOUZA]

Posted in Indigo De Souza, Jersey City, NJ, Truth Club, White Eagle Hall on February 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2024] Truth Club

I used to really like White Eagle Hall.  I still think it’s a great venue with fantastic sound, but the people who go to show thee have really ruined it for me.

A guy preceded me into the bathroom and was enthusiastic about the show, which was cool “Bro, are you fucking stoked?”  But he brought that enthusiasm out to the floor and was shouting “rock and roll” and just being really loud (and tall). I assume he was drunk, but who knows.

Then in front of me there was a group of ten or so people who were definitely there for Indigo but who talked throughout the opening band which sucked because Truth Club was fantastic,

Any band who has a My Bloody Valentine song in their setlist is going to be interesting.  I would have love to have heard their cover of “Cupid Come,” but they didn’t play it.

From North Carolina, Truth Club is a foursome who play quiet loud really well.  Catchy melodies and big walls of sound meld into a great picture overall. (more…)

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Tyler Ramsey / Jeremy Lister (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, February 21, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Jeremy Lister, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, Tyler Ramsey on February 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 21, 2024] Tyler Ramsey / Jeremy Lister

Tyler Ramsey was the guitarist for Band of Horses for many years.  I don’t know why he is no longer the guitarist for Band of Horses.

He has released some solo albums, including this new one called New Lost Ages.

Musically the songs are interesting.  His voice is also pretty good.  But it all sounds a lot like Band of Horses, just not as good.  Sorry.

Jeremy Lister is (from what I can see) in high demand.  He doesn’t have anything on bandcamp, but he is a featured guest on lots of songs.  His bio says

he is known for his ability to write and perform across a wide spectrum of genres, from pop to folk to crooner jazz. In November 2021, Lister released his full-length big band holiday album “Happy Holidays, Everyone.”

His voice is interesting and evocative.  He reminds me of a bunch of offbeat singer songwriters like Michael Penn or more theatrical songwriters like Rufus Wainwright.

I wasn’t planning on going to this show because I had other shows later in the week.

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Arthur Conan Doyle–“The Boscombe Valley Mystery” [The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes] (1891)

Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, Australia, Blackmail, Lady Lamb, Magana, Mitski, Murder, Mystery, Regrets, Robbery, Sherlock Holmes, Short Story on February 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MAGANA-Teeth (2024)

I saw Lady Lamb back in 2019 when they opened for New Pornographers.  In my post I had singled out her bassist Jeni Magaña

fantastic bass from Jeni Magana.  Magana is also the bassist for Mitski and she has such a dynamite sound.  I could have listened to Magana play all night long.

I recently got a DM from Audio Antihero saying that since I seemed to be a fan, would I like to hear the new Magana solo record?  I initially assumed that it was a new album by the singer of Lady Lamb (Aly Splatro), it had been five years, I can’t be expected to remember everything.

The record didn’t sound anything like Lady Lamb, and that’s when I read the liner notes and saw my mistake.

Teeth is available next month, and you can hear a few songs now.  The bandcamp page says Magana describes the album

as “Witchy Rock,” … unlike any of her past works. An album about “regrowth and a new view on the world,” its sound touches on Acid Folk, Alternative Pop, and even Krautrock as she tackles the bleakest and most brutally honest subjects of her songwriting career.

I liked the album a lot and although I haven’t had time to write about albums so much anymore, I wanted to give this indie label a shout.

All other instruments: Jeni Magaña

The album opens with strummed guitar that sounds slightly-off–in an intriguingly (minorly) dissonant way that I found really intriguing.  Then “Garden” introduces Magana’s lovely full voice.  Keys float in to flesh out the sound as it builds somewhat.  It’s not really an indication of what will come next, but it does hint a little at the unusual music within.

“Beside You” introduces a starkly fuzzy guitar line and what sounds like electronic toy piano.  But most of the music fades back for the verses as an electronic drum (the snare is close to a clap sound) keeps the music going.  It’s like eccentric bedroom pop, but it sounds really clean.  The song is about 3 minutes long and half way through it’s like a full band joins in and the song explodes into fullness–with some terrific harmony vocals.

More unusual instrumentation follows on “Matter” which features not one but two (I think) clarinet melodies to introduce the song.  Then comes in a cool electronic bass sound to propel the song.  Incidentally, Jeni Magaña plays everything on the record except for drums (Jonathan Smith) and strings: Violin: Jenna Moynihan and Cello: Marie Kim.  The mixing of the clarinets and the big synth sounds works wonderfully together–in one of those moments where when the bass notes return after the middle part it’s like an old friend returning.

“Paul” strips the music back to a quiet, prepared-sounding guitar and her beautiful voice.  Magana’s voice sounds familiar in a way that I find very comforting (although I can’t place who I think she sounds like).  After a verse the song builds up with a few flutes and strings.  The melody is lovely.   And I love the return of the clarinets. (more…)

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The Dead Milkmen (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 2024)

Posted in Flag of Democracy, FOD, Philadelphia, PA, The Dead Milkmen, Underground Arts, YDI on February 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 18, 2024] The Dead Milkmen

I don’t know exactly when I first heard The Dead Milkmen.  It was obviously in college, probably when I was working on the radio station.  I think it was Instant Club Hit, which hated on all kinds of other bands that I liked.  By the time they released Beelzebubba, I was a die-hard fan.

And yet in 35 years I’d never seen them live.  True they were broken up for a chunk of that time, but still…

So, I’ve tried to see them a few times over the last few years and things always fell through.  But this time I was determined to go.  And what a great show it was.  I admit that I haven’t listened all that much to their newer records.  Although their latest album, Quaker City Quiet Pills is really good.

I thought they’d play a bunch of new stuff and a few oldies, but holy cow it was like a greatest hits night for me (although I like a lot of their songs, so I guess that would be true for any old songs, but they played songs I really like).

Opening with “Dean’s Dream,” a classic from their debut, it featured Joe Jack Talcum singing and Rodney Anonymous hiding out behind the curtain.

I had deliberately placed myself to the side of the stage as I assumed there would be a massive pit for this show.  And I was 100% wrong.  There was no pit.  Maybe some pushing, but mostly it was just everyone wanting to sing along.  But this meant that I never saw bassist Dan Stevens or drummer Dean Clean.

Oh and Kurt Vile (and his brothers) was standing right in front of me.

One of the fantastic new songs is “Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)” and that got Rodney out on the stage doing his thing.  Despite not being the young bratty punk any more, he still has a ton of charisma and knows how to get a crowd going.  And his young bratty voice hasn’t changed all that much. (more…)

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Flag of Democracy (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 2024) [THE DEAD MILKMEN]

Posted in Flag of Democracy, FOD, Philadelphia, PA, The Dead Milkmen, Underground Arts, YDI on February 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 18, 2024] Flag of Democracy

The only thing I knew about Flag of Democracy was that The Dead Milkmen song “Nutrition” ends with Rodney saying

And Mom and Dad say if I eat all of my foodI can go to the hard core show and see F.O.D

So The Dead Milkmen and F.O.D. have been friends for a long time.  F.O.D. writes intense political hardcore songs and, impressively, they’ve had the same line up for almost their entire existence:

Jim McMonagle – vocals, guitar (1982–present)
Dave Rochon – bass guitar, vocals (1983–present)
Bob Walker – drums (1986–present)

So Bob (who payed barefoot and held the sticks like a jazz drummer) is the new guy since he’s only been in the band for 38 years.

Most of their songs are 2 minutes long (except for “Aberration” (ha!) which was 5).  Even their most recent (2018) album has the same style of short intense songs like “Let’s Build a Wall” (more…)

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YDI (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 2024) [THE DEAD MILKMEN]

Posted in Flag of Democracy, FOD, Philadelphia, PA, The Dead Milkmen, Underground Arts, YDI on February 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 18, 2024] YDI

I couldn’t make the show last night, but there was no way I was missing tonight’s show.

I really didn’t know anything about YDI before this show.

I still don’t really know that much about them.  There’s very little information about the band at all.

It’s not even clear who the band members were (in one article I only saw first names).   But the summary is that in 1983 Y.D.I. (pronounced: Why-die) put out a 7” EP “A Place In The Sun” (a blistering nine-track blast of american-hardcore fury). Two years later, the band had changed to a more filthy, metallic, damaged punk. The “Black Dust” (a concoction of PCP, heroin and formaldehyde) 12”- LP in 1985 was YDIs’ final recording. (more…)

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Deap Vally (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 16, 2024)

Posted in Deap Vally, Philadelphia, PA, Sloppy Jane, Underground Arts on February 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 16, 2024] Deap Vally

My wife and I saw Deap Vally open for Garbage and Blondie back in 2017.  Here’s how I summed them up seven years ago

So Deap Vally is a duo: Lindsey Troy (guitar, vocals) and Julie Edwards (drums and vocals).  And as with many duos these days, they are able to get a huge sound out of just a guitar and drums (even during the guitar solo which can often leave a big sound feeling a bit empty).

We enjoyed their brief but loud set.  And I kind of forgot about them.  They did a project with The Flaming Lips (Deap Lips) which I knew of but have never heard.

And then a few months ago, they announced that their project as Deap Vally was coming to an end and they were going to go on their final tour.  I had enjoyed their set and thought it would be fun to see them one more time.

They were playing their album Sistrionix in full.  It also turns out that they re-recorded the album recently because their record label had the rights to it and they wanted a new version (hence 2.0).

The premise of the band is pretty simple–simple bluesy heavy rock–a few chords and occasional riff and lots of fuzz and drum.  It works pretty well, although to be honest a headlining show is a little samey.

I wonder if they weren’t playing the album straight through if there would be a bit more variety in the set.

Which is not to say that the show was bad.  None of their songs are very long and so none overstay their welcome.  Lindsey clearly has a lot of fun up there, but I feel like she might enjoy a little more freedom to walk around or, as she does from time to time, jam over by the drum kit.  But most of the songs are pretty short and there’s not a lot of jamming time.

I enjoyed the set quite a lot especially with the addition of Smashley Williams on backing vocals.  She stood in the back and kind of danced and sang from time to time and she was a fun addition. (more…)

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The Dead Milkmen / Flag of Democracy / YDI (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 17, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Flag of Democracy, FOD, Philadelphia, PA, The Dead Milkmen, Underground Arts, YDI on February 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 17, 2024] Dead Milkmen / Flag of Democracy / YDI

I‘ve been a fan of The Dead Milkmen for over 30 years and have never seen them live.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see them in their reunion days, because I didn’t know if they’d play anything old.  But I have been trying to see them now since 2022–this was my third show that I was aware of, although I know they’ve done a number of Philly shows since 2017.

The last few times I had tickets something came up but this time I was determined to go.

And then something came up.

I was selling a car and when someone came to buy it, it wouldn’t start.  And then it seemed like it was out of gas.  And then somehow the keys got locked in the car.  It was hours long and really cold.  And when it was done I just wanted to take a nap, not go to a punk show.  So I stayed home.

But it was okay because I had a ticket for tomorrow night’s show as well (just in case).

I was intrigued to see F.O.D. who I literally only know about from the Dead Milkmen song Nutrition.

And I’d never heard of YDI.  But they have a pretty fascinating history.  Which will be included in the review of their show.

 

 

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Sloppy Jane (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 16, 2024) [DEAP VALLY]

Posted in Deap Vally, Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Bridgers, Sloppy Jane, Underground Arts on February 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 16, 2024] Sloppy Jane

I was vaguely aware of Sloppy Jane before this show was announced. I didn’t realize that Phoebe Bridgers was in the band a long time ago.  I certainly didn’t know that they were a theatrical practically avant-garde sorta punk band with a front woman who was amazing.

Haley Dahl leads this band of fascinating musicians which includes a cello (Daniel Hass) two viola (one may be a violin) Ruby Wang and Isabella Bustanoby who also plays bass.

There’s also Lily Reszi Rothman on keys and flute.  Mostly hidden from my view was a drummer whose name is Kim (I couldn’t hear the last name) and a guitarist whose name is, I believe Ryan Howe.

The show began with an instrumental Overture–Haley conducted the strings and keys with some crazily wild moves, including jumping in the air.

The strings segued after some five minutes (and since I didn’t know what to expect, I thought maybe it was all like this) into “Party Anthem,” a quiet song that builds into a catchy song with lots of great backing vocals that turns into a really fun song with a lengthy “la la la” melody that everyone sang.

The song segued into the piano ballad which features the line “I pledge allegiance to Jesus and Your Living Room Floor.”  This mellow song segued into another mellow song, although this one was far from chill.  A classic murder ballad, “Judy’s Bedroom”

You cleaned the dirt from your shoes
Out of Judy Bruce’s bedroom
The gesture did not get you very far
Because when they found her dead
In the foldings of her dress there was
Fibers from the lining of your car

All with a very upbeat “la la la” section. (more…)

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Illiterate Light / Caiola (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 15, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Caiola, Illiterate Light, Johnny Brenda's, Mo Lowda & The Humble, Philadelphia, PA on February 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 15, 2024] Illiterate Light / Caiola

My wife and I saw Illiterate Light two times within a few months.  The first time was opening for someone and they really impressed us.  The next time was headlining Johnny Brenda’s.  The show was a ton of fun, although the lighting and smoke made it really hard to see what was going on.

That was four years ago and I guess I just didn’t care enough to see them again.  I don’t even know how much new stuff they’ve put out since then.

Okay, not much. One album and an EP.  They sounded pretty good, but some shows just don’t happen.

Caiola is the music of Jordan Caiola a songwriter/musician/producer based out of Philadelphia. He founded the indie rock band Mo Lowda & The Humble in 2010 and released his first solo record in October of 2020.  I am aware of Mo Lowda, but have never really been interested enough to listen to them.

He has a nice voice and sings pleasant folk songs.  He’s pretty much exactly who I’d think would open for Illiterate Light.

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