Christopher Owens at the Magic Bag, Ferndale MI Jan 16, 2013

For my first live show of the year I was very excited to see Christopher Owens formerly of one of my favorite bands Girls.
He has a newly released solo record,  Lysander, and I assumed would be spreading his creative wings as a solo artist.
Well, as they say, that's what you get for assuming. Not only is Owens' studio album relatively monotone and boring. His show was so low key I nearly fell asleep. There were none of Girls signature rave ups or dramatic moments. Instead it was a tightly interwoven tale of a failed relationship played out in quiet tones.
I would not say that the new album or the live show were terrible. Rather, I would suggest that Owens would have been better served having this new music counterbalanced by the input of additional bandmates.
Let's hope this is a minor step backward for an artist I had such high hopes for.

Woke up and started my day with the ridiculously earnest but crack-like addictiveness of Life In General by MXPX(1995).  It covers 17 tracks in about 40 minutes, yeah I listened twice, and every moment is a hook.  I honestly can't help but to sing along even with some pretty inane high school aged lyrics(hell they probably sound corny to today's high schoolers).  The album is wide eyed, youthful honesty that only comes at that age where perspective(and, thankfully jaded cynacism as well) is nowhere to be found but life's reality is starting to creep in.
I have to laugh when I hear a 19 year old Mike Herrera sing "in my younger years, I used to be so free, now I don't know, whats happening to me".  He must have been writing for the 2012 nostalgia tour without knowing it.
It got me thinking about other guilty pleasures and underrated pop/punk albums.
I would submit Schatzi's Death of the Alphabet is criminally ignored and sounds great today 10 years after its release.
The Austin based band never really got it together after this album and its too bad, they were better than all the bands of this era that did make it.
Plus 44 was the Blink 182 off shoot featuring Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker.
When your Heart Stops Beating is just excellent from start to finish.  A flirtation with a more electronic sound(and an additional female vocalist) left this album with strange and unfocused marketing effort and it was merely a blip in 2006.
That said, when taken as a whole it is a better album than any other Blink side project or off shoot and vastly superior to last years effort from the (grudgingly)reformed Blink.
Varied styles, dark lyrics and sound and, of course, brutal drumming from Barker make this a minor classic in the genre in my book.

Speaking of young punk bands, the Orwells are getting a lot of play and quite a few hip endorsements.  They are pretty solid, but the songs sound pasted together with a 'lets sound like that, on this one' approach.  The real band to watch, even if it is for their eventual and assured implosion, is Fidlar.
With unabashed references to drinking, drugs and general debauchery in nearly every verse and chorus this is the kind of fun beach party punk that always makes me want to move back to California.
Wake, Bake Skate, No Waves, No Ass(Where they make distortion sound like a horn section) and Oh are my early favorite singles.  They all have a definite fuzzed out, Cali-surf punk feel to them.  Strongly reminiscent of Wavves, but already with tighter structures than the first Wavves album and an endearing lack of regard for saying the right thing.  Think early Supergrass(or Libertines) with a dash of Ramones and a lot of sand thrown in.
Lyrics like: "I feel, feel like a cokehead...I feel like shootin up, feel like givin' up...Feel like Im already 80 years old, its gettin so cold, I need a new body and I need a new soul..." laid over a manic beach guitar, fuzz and some handclaps...I close my eyes and I'm passed out in a sunny California alley already.  The beauty of music!  Good morning.

Link To: "Why Pussy Riot Matter" article

Even though the Pitchfork staff seems to sit around waiting until it's time to hate everything they have ever liked, this article was worth reading. For those who don't know, Pussy Riot, the Russian 'riot grrl' punk band, was recently arrested and sentenced to 2 years in jail for performing in protest of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The story is pretty detailed so I will just link to their run down.
PUSSY RIOT
I find it hard to believe this sort of thing still happens but since it apparently still does, the more people who are aware the better.

The Beatles

So, A Hard Days Night hit number 1 this day in 1964.
It was the Beatles 7th number 1 song in approximately 5 months.
Hearing that made me think: I wonder if, being an unintentional but irredeemable contrarian, I would have hated the Beatles if I was, say, 18 years old in 1964?
I have to believe, if forced to hear that much of any one band, I would have grown to hate them.
That said, I was born in the 70's.
And while my parents commendable musical taste gave me heavy Beatles exposure, I never had to contend with Beatlemania and therefore have an undying love for the music that is the bedrock of most of my favorite music to this day.
This is all a reminder of my favorite concert from this time last summer when I was lucky enough to see Paul McCartney at Comerica park in Detroit.
It was a sweltering night and the, at the time, nearly 70 year old McCartney, put on the kind of performance you could only hope for from a rock and roll legend.
Enjoy a sample:

Wavves Live

Doing a little catching up.
Saw Wavves/Fucked Up at the Magic Stick in Detroit with my brother.
Had a great time and enjoyed Fucked Up more than I thought I would.
Wavves was great.  Very tight and, dare I say, professional by their standards.
Wavves are a band getting better with with release.  I can hardly wait til the next full length.
The show was full of energy throughout and it finally overflowed as kids(hey, I'm just an old punk) stormed the stage.
I laughed hysterically as Nathan and the boys tried in vain to keep playing before finally giving up and joining the chaotic fun.

Arctic Monkeys killed it

I was starting to write an article when "Suck it and See" came out saying that the Arctic Monkeys were the best active rock band in the world at this time. I would be remiss if I didn't at least put it in print tonight. Their scintillating 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor' carried into the Beatles 'Come Together' was absolutely the highlight of the Olympic opening ceremonies.
I don't sit around hoping for bands I like to get bigger very often. But in the Arctic Monkeys case I honestly believe they should be.
So let's hope tonight is the start of people realizing the genius of Alex Turner and the greatness of the Arctic Monkeys.

Wavves/Strokes/Beach Boys

Ok, really quick...I was just reading a few sites this morning and was pleased to see the real demo versions of the Beach Boys long lost Smile lp, the intended follow up to ultimate classic Pet Sounds, will be released in their entirety as originally intended(along with a massive amount of outtakes etc.). The project was eventually scrapped after being derailed by Brian Wilson's advancing mental illness.
These are the sessions that spawned "Good Vibrations". If you don't think that's a big deal, listen to the intro or verse 2 and forget the chorus. This is rock and roll poetry delivered with a grace that is unimaginable for mere mortals. Oh, and not to mention, one of the most sublime bridges in music history...

While Brian Wilson's re-imagining of the material was gorgeous and a wonderful gift back in 2004, this will be infinitely more revealing and rewarding. One of the few, 'could have been's' that will actually come to be; remarkably so, over 40 years later.

On a more contemporary note, I was also struck by the demo versions of 3 Wavves songs that have bubbled up from a 2009 session. These are songs that weren't finished and have never, and, presumably, will never, appear on record.
They are simply better than most anything that will ever be put out by the bands peers.

Listen Here

How the fuzzed up Cheap Trick/Descendants crossbreed baby "Hula Hoop" didn't make the last album I don't know and while Pitchfork's description of 'punky' is a bit off, the 3rd track, "Glued", is a mid-tempo swinging, harmony saturated number. Only Nathan Williams can write a song this pretty and have you not realize that, in the midst of what is really a love song, the best offer he can make is that he will "melt in to my shoes for you."
Speaking of Williams and his love, Best Coast auteur Bethany Cosentino, I think I would rather they break up.
I like Williams better when he is unhappy and I think I hear her influence rounding his corners a bit after listening to "King of the Beach" for all of these months.
I do dig her contribution on the Go!Team record though..check out "Buy Nothing Day" here:


And, finally, the Strokes new album Angles was delivered Tuesday. I have been through it 8 to 10 times so far and will give a complete rundown as soon as I have digested completely.

So far I do love "Gratisication"


and for reminiscence, "Under Control", the Strokes at their very best: