Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2008: Part 1

The 1900’s
The Chicago pop band picked up right where they left off in 2007 with a swell show at Union Hall in January. Are they still together though?

AC/DC
With the very first notes of "Rock n' Roll Train" there was no fooling as to who was back and back as only they can be. Angus, Malcolm, Brian, Cliff, and Phil don't get together very often these years but when they do, the world is a little bit more fun.

Action Painters
Two reviewed gigs this year - including a Bowery gig that completely trounced the Siren Festival going on earlier in the day - established Action Painters as THE band to watch in New York City. The single "Supermarket" only helped that cause. And they'll be your band to take you into 2009 should you choose to attend their New Year's Eve gig at the Lit.

The Airborne Toxic Event
If there was a Best New Artist Award on this blog, here would be your winner, with little in the way of competition. Their debut LP is certainly the best candidate for Album of the Year (if there were to be candidates). And their live show is up there with the cream of the crop. The new master of the crafty hook, Mikel Jollet has put together the most exciting band to debut from west of the Mississippi in a very long time. They'll never play Pianos again but you can say you saw them when, before they blew the lid off the world.

Be Your Own Pet
They were a bit too much when they debuted (with the grand exception of "Damn Damn Leash"). Then they released a mainstream label record this year that featured "What's Your Damage?" and "The Kelly Affair" and it was all "woah this band is for real". They even generated a bit of punk rock controversy with their label over some content. Then they broke up. Just like that. Punk.

The BellRays
At long last, the BellRays returned to New York and with textbook precision (and a new record) made the case as one of the truly heart-pumping yet soul-satisfying acts to emanate from a now very healthy Southern California scene.

The Black Keys
I'm not going to kid you. I wanted to dislike the new Black Keys record, Attack & Release. This nice and very talented but nevertheless stoic duo from Ohio is one of the landmark bands of the decade but their energy seemed to have run its course after the disappointing Magic Potion and the Chulahoma EP. And the prospect of working with Dangermouse did not translate to automatic excitement. But as it happened, the Auerbach-Carney song-construction company recaptured its old glory and Dangermouse caught the band's sound like lightning in a bottle. Fittingly enough, they've become one of the bigger bands out there and they deserve it.

Black Kids
Along with Vampire Weekend, Black Kids burned the hype candle so bright and caught an insta-backlash so severe, that candle blew out before the LP even debuted. Unlike VW however, there was little love left for this pretty annoying band from Florida. But damn if the hooks on some of the cuts fight through the incredibly dumb lyrics. Anyone who dislikes "I've Underestimated My Charm Again" needs to relax. But it is probably a good thing I didn't see them live because there has yet to be a single positive review in that department.

The Blacks
Their 2007 record, Nom De Guerre, started to gain traction (and my attention) in 2008, and while the Hipstervese was too busy trying to have the Vivian Girls' babies, this trio out of Frisco reminded us what it is like to just appreciate a hook whilst absolutely shredding your amps to beautiful pieces.

Basia Bulat
"In the Night" was one of the singles of the year sung by a Canadian folk dame of the highest caliber, cute as a button, with a fine album (Oh, My Darling) and a beautiful supporting gig with DeVotchKa to boot. If the Grammys had any decency she'd have been the big nominee this year.

The Sudden Stunning Break-Up of Be Your Own Pet

No speculations as to why here but considering how explosive the music is of the Nashville Teen Garage Punk Scene, why should anyone actually be stunned?
Well, considering they were signed to a major label, were getting solid reviews, and expanding their fanbase, it's a bit of a stunner. And it's too bad. They were a good kick in the pants to all the mall-punk bands.

Langhorne Slim, Be Your Own Pet on VIMBY

VIMBY - Langhorne Slim

VIMBY - Be Your Own Pet

Metric Performed on Fearless Music

Handshakes

Fearless Music is an inconsistent but nevertheless needed and relevant music program that airs here in New York late Saturday nights on the Fox channel. Be Your Own Pet plays tonight and the past has seen the Mooney Suzuki, the Raveonettes, and a host of others, perhaps most notably Murder By Death, which is how I found out about that band.

Sonic Parthenon Expanding

...but not without some hiccups.

The collection of videos on YouTube is now the Sonic Parthenon TV channel, located at
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=edk620

The Camera Obscura clip I put up yesterday is the first full song performance clip up but you can also check out terribly made clips of Blanche and the Dirtbombs from a couple years ago as well as something else that I myself did not make.

Blogger now has a video upload feature that also allows for podcasting (!) but either it's broken right now or it just won't accept my videos which means the Sonic Parthenon Video Podcast is on hold for now. But considering I didn't even know I could have one until this morning, that's alright.

Concert pictures now have a home on Flickr at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonicparthenon/

Currently up are photos of Camera Obscura, Last Town Chorus, the Dirtbombs, Be Your Own Pet, Les Sans Culottes, and Blanche.

Man Exposes Himself to Underage Girls: The Black Lips and Be Your Own Pet

Be Your Own Pet; The Black Lips; Imaginary Icons
@Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY - September 29, 2006

A night of hard rock n roll. BYOP's lead singer, Jemina Pearl, seemed quite disinterested in performing, and gimmick or not, I don't like that. Especially considering that when I saw this band in February, Jemina was rocking out on stage, having a great time. The boys in the band are getting quite good at their instruments and show potential to expand their musical horizons should they ever choose to do so.
The Black Lips have really defined themselves by now as a band that plays good songs badly. Songs like "Oh Katrina" really showcase the band's talents as a pure rock n roll band but their insistance on playing most of their songs out of tune and to distract everyone with gimmicks continues to hinder them. That being said though, if they have fun with it and their fans love it then so what. I could personally do without the smoke machine, the flashing lights, the spitting, the vomiting, the peeing, and the penis exposure but their fans seem to dig it. The underage girls who populated the crowd really seemed to love all that kind of stuff but considering that the leader of the underage girls in the crowd was Jemina Pearl, I guess it doesn't matter or mean anything.
Opening act Imaginary Icons are a straight up garage punk band with the successful ability to have all their songs stand out from each other. Led by Tom Dash, would you expect anything without substance? I think not.

Dirtbombs Double Deluxe Weekend

The Dirtbombs; Be Your Own Pet, The Size Queens
@Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ – February 17, 2006

Their first gig since the big show with Blanche in Cleveland for Thanksgiving, and with Mick suffering from the flu, this was not setting up to be the best of Dirtbombs gigs. But all hesitations went out the window with the opening chords. Another furiously fun night with a decent crowd, and ending again with the “Granny’s Little Chicken” jam.

Mick and Ko of the Dirtbombs

Opening act Be Your Own Pet can’t have a collective age of more than…10. These teens play punk reminiscent of old LA hardcore bands with not one iota of similarity to contemporary teens playing “punk” (AKA whiny emo boys in make up). However, I thought they were a little hardcore for my tastes.

Be Your Own Pet

The first band of the night was the Size Queens, doing their first ever performance. The best way to describe them would be the Dave Matthews Band meets the Woggles with a hint of Soul Coughing. Take that for what you will but I liked it. Though it is worth noting that the lead singer said this would be the only show of the Size Queens as they’ve been contacted by someone saying they can’t use that name. There was a solo act when we got to the venue, some young kid doing the BBQ/Biram thing but with total metal screaming voice. Great guitar but the voice is overdone.

The Dirtbombs; Be Your Own Pet, Les Sans Culottes
@Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY – February 18, 2006

The first time the Dirtbombs played Southpaw, they opened up for the Raveonettes and made a hell of an impression on an audience that clearly had a bunch of hipsters who had never heard them before. 10 months later, the Dirtbombs returned to headline their own show, a Saturday night show no less, and they packed ‘em in like Dino used to do in Vegas. Maybe it was the sound set-up, maybe it was the venue and the night, maybe it was the booze, I don’t know…but this Dirtbombs performance seemed like the best yet. Of course, there is some bias here…I handed Troy a list of songs for them to play and it got the whole band laughing. I didn’t mean to make it seem like it was a demand for all those songs, just one or two…I got sick of shouting out for “Encrypted” all the time. Mick tried to play “Kiss Kiss Kiss” as requested (maybe in honor of Yoko Ono’s birthday), then he did indeed bust out “Encrypted”. (FYI, the Dirtbombs take single requests for free, 2 songs for 20 bucks, and a package deal for 50 but you must submit it in a writing…this is a joke, do not harass the band like I did). The other highlight of the night was, in place of the “Granny’s Little Chicken” jam, a rock-out on “I Can’t Stop Thinking About It”.



The Dirtbombs at Southpaw

Be Your Own Pet seemed improved from the night before, but again, maybe they didn’t change a beat, and it was everything else around them. Though they were subjected to some jerkoff ridicule from the crowd, so maybe they fed off it.

Be Your Own Pet

Les Sans Culottes (“The Without Pants”) really turned out to be the best kind of opening act for the Dirtbombs. A pop garage rock octet from New York but faking it as Frenchies, and whose lead male singer looks EXACTLY John Lennon (there’s the Yoko Birthday thing again), there is something quite fun about French garage rock. The cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walking” was icing on the cake.

Les Sans Culottes

All Photos by Roxxan Hanson