The Sonic Parthenon Playlist: Early 2011, Vol. 1

The first installment of this year's series of playlists is accompanied of course this year by the development of the Sonic Parthenon Show over at Thor Radio. And much of this two-volume set was hear on the March 20th episode of that program so you can hear more details there on a lot of these songs. The year has once again begun singles-heavy (only two or three LP's merit any mention) but that may change. The next few months will witness an unbelievable array of full-length albums worth thinking about - and two are getting a taste in this list as well.

Arms Akimbo - "Skins Have More Hair Than Brains"
This is NOT Elvis Costello as much as it sounds like it is. It is most certainly inspired by Declan's early work and it is all the better for it.

Charles Bradly - "The World (Is Going Up In Flames)"
Another chapter in the Daptones story, another saga of a lost voice discovered anew for the world to hear in all that glorious soul. BUTTAH!

Exene Cervenka - "Already in Love"
Her Most Humble Highness of the Country Beatnik Hardcore Punks is rolling along with a new solo record that features this deceptively soft-spoken heart-felt pop song. Maybe it's a surprise, maybe it isn't. The X gang have always excelled at being able to mix it up.

Cowboy Junkies - "See You Around"
Go figure - the Canadian crew are still going strong, and covering Vic Chesnutt. This Soul-drenched dirge harkens back to the glory days of Muscle Shoals.

David Wax Museum - "Yes, Maria, Yes"
In the line of bands like DeVotchKa comes this eclectic ensemble with a sparkling song that goes well with Mexican food.

Deerhoof - "Super Duper Rescue Heads!"
If bear is the animal most overused in Indie band naming in the last decade, then Deer is running a healthy second. I don't think that has anything to do with the fact that few of the deer bands interest me - though Deer Tick sounds good. This is the first time Deerhoof has struck my fancy.

The Decemberists - The King is Dead
Hey the Decemberists are back! After going way deep into prog territory with their last opera, Colin and company have scaled it back, going in the other direction - IT'S A POP RECORD! "Down by the River" is one for the ages - up there with the best of the Boss and Neil and the band most cited in the write-ups on this record, R.E.M.

Gang of Four - "You'll Never Pay for the Farm"
Another seminal band back in the mix, the politically studious Gang of Four occasionally try to break through with something for the actual masses they sing for.

Girls - "Heartbreaker"
I hated this band name and hated their first single to get them buzz with their stupid NSFW video. But then came this song, a perfectly executed pop number. Now I can't hate them and anyone who knows Pennypacker knows he hates it when he can't hate something anymore.

Grouplove - "Don't Say Oh Well"
I'm still a little sketchy on this band's origins - I've read items about being a supergroup and being from Crete and I don't know what. I'm pretty sure it's just a band from LA. But a good band.

The Hold Steady - "Just Saying"
Oh look at this, it's the Hold Steady. Their contribution to the Dilemma soundtrack is an original one (if they're going to partake in this, they may as well make the most of it). And it's another tight one, definitely in the direction of the classic rock that people who would actually buy the soundtrack would care to hear.

The Hold Steady @ Beacon Theater

The Hold Steady; Wintersleep
@ Beacon Theater
New York, NY - October 7, 2010

During "Little Hoodrat Friend", Craig remarked how it has now been ten years since he first moved to New York at the age of 29 to work in an office. Then he got tired of that and got into a rock n roll band. How nice. Pennypacker is facing down the barrel of the 30 gun these days and not only works in an office, he's entrenched in it. In fact, the Hold Steady had no idea that their debut at the Beacon (which incidentally was also Pennypacker's debut, a shande considering all the years) was also the send-off show for Pennypacker's trip to London (itself unprecedented). A vacation well earned from all the toiling and travails. And it's a job based in the fact that there are a lot of people out there, not working, not as lucky as a Craig Finn or an Elwood D. Heck, Pennypacker is so lucky - his girlfriend is packing his suitcase for him right now.

So yes there was a gig, sorry about that. The sound at the Beacon was a little off for the boys. They sounded like they were coming out of a treble-less radio. Like an old FM transistor. But they played well of course. Tad now shreds on just about any song. And in the great Hold Steady tradition of never giving up on the back catalog, "You Gotta Dance (With Who You Came With)" and "Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night" were home runs (meanwhile poor Craig's Twins were getting beaten by Pennypacker's Yankees).

It was also pointed to out Pennypacker that he blended right in with the crowd, a rare but increasingly common occurence. A bunch of stiffs - of all ages but generally around his - watching a bunch of guys living the dream. Uh oh - this may be adulthood. And this is our Springsteen.

Wintersleep fared much better with the Beacon acoustics but their music would have been more fitting with a headliner like David Gray or the Killers. Pennypacker nearly fell asleep. Not the boys' fault. Just after a hard day's work, and enthused by the very adult prospect of a cushioned seat, it was unavoidable.

The Sonic Parthenon Playlist: Summer 2010, Vol. 1

The Besnard Lakes - "Albatross"
An honorable mention in the spring, this song took up the first half of the summer pretty thoroughly. A vexing blend of 60's pop and distorted noise that too many other bands are overdoing to death these days.

Delta Spirit - "Bushwick Blues"
Will this song for the Delta Spirit what "The Rat" did for the Walkmen? Could it even do for them what "Last Nite" did for the Strokes? It is too soon to tell but it could and should. The San Diego Spirit have been working it for a few years now but they've never sounded like this - which is to say, like a 2000's modern rock band. This song is major.

Devo - Something For Everybody
The occasion for the new Devo LP was cause for yours truly to finally get caught up with the entirety of the Devo catalog. From about "Mongoloid" to "That's Good" I was quite pleased. Nothing was doing after that until the new record. The hit sounding "Step Up", the surprising house-beat-backed "What We Do" (with annoyingly lovely refrain), and the Obama-empathizing "Sumthin'" are the highlights.

Foster The People - "Pumped Up Kicks"
I always like to point out when I pick up a song from NPR's "Second Stage" podcast. That podcast used to typically be smothered with very Indie, very experimental sounds (though there always good folk and pop surprises). This one takes it to a whole new level. It sounds sweet and pleasant and poppy. But listen to the lyrics. It's about murdering those who like popular music. Is that how it got on there?

Fitz & The Tantrums - "Moneygrabber"
Recently there was love for Sharon Jones on here. Sharon Jones is at the head of an army of soul-reviving forces. I'm picky with this. It takes a lot for me to hear the authenticity and get caught up in it. It has happened with a select few Sharon songs and some of the Heavy. Amy Winehouse...well....Meanwhile, Fitz and the silly named Tantrums have this stupendous butt-kicker.

The Franks - "Ray Gunn Radio"
Every time I say garage rock is over for yet another spell, something keeps it moving along. The LA Franks are devoted to what's good without pandering and without doing it in the "look at us we're sloppy and proud of it, it's our image!" mold. TALENT goes a long way in this genre and it is an under-appreciated quality.

Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
The title track is what really works. It's right where Brian and the kids left off from The '59 Sound. I swear I hear Bruce himself in the backing vocals (uncredited assist?). Between them and the lower profile Screaming Females...does New Brunswick really have a real scene? I mean I know I heard about it...but really? Woah.

The Hold Steady - "Our Whole Lives"
The one song from Heaven is Whenever that I didn't hear before the album was released that has really been on repeat. And I'm not the only one taken by this album track. The host of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me played it when he had Craig on for one of the quizzes (Craig got all 3 questions right!).

The Joy Formidable - A Balloon Called Moaning
"Whirring" is one of the best songs of the year. A candidate for the top spot along side the Hold Steady's "The Weekenders" and a song to be named soon. It has it all: the build-up, the explosion, the aftermath, the regrouping, the repeat of the steps. In fact, it is just like the other two songs. This must be how I like my rock.

Mimicking Birds - "Burning Stars"
A perfectly tight well-made solid folk-pop song, no frills, no muss, just professional delivery.

The Mynabirds - "Numbers Don't Lie" and "What We Gained in the Fire"
Last time - on the Spring playlist - I wrote about John Davis' Title Tracks. This time, it's a moment (or two) for the other half of the departed Georgie James. Laura Burhenn has somewhat channeled the original Mynah Birds of Neil Young and Rick James (still can't believe that really happened) but more over has crafted her own very soulful, very Stax-ballad and folk-rock styled pop. If this is what the two former members of Georgie are doing these days, what would have happened if they had toughed it out?

The Sonic Parthenon Playlist: Spring 2010 Part 1

In continued proof that the album is dead, this period's playlist is almost exclusively singles. The two exceptions are almost unfair givens, especially considering I only listened to one of them in full for the first time today. That being said, the next playlist may very well be almost entirely made of albums as the Summer of 2010 promises to be a ridiculously productive LP season.

Against Me - "I Was A Teenage Anarchist"
I once dismissed band as a pop-punk throwaway with a take-it-or-leave-it social consciousness, but they got me. An anthem for every bitter, disappointed, idealistic, ideological lefty who remembers their youth of rage when they caught they could make a difference. Sigh. Old times.

Apples in Stereo - "Dance Floor"
Club-infused rock has become the almost dominant form of Indie rock, at least in terms of the screaming multitudes of bands (while more varied and more conventional Indie rock acts - the Spoons, the Animal Collectives, the Grizzzzzzzzzzzzly Bears - zzzz's for sleep) are considered the elite. The very cheery, sunny Apples in Stereo take a stab at the dance floor with "Dance Floor" and completely obliterate everyone else away. The record is probably good. I should listen to it. Soundtrack of the summer.

Birthday Suits - "Table Talk"
A loud, boisterous bit of speak-sing rock. Cute band name.

Julian Casablancas - "Out of the Blue"
Phrazes for the Young kind of loses its way but at least I gave it a try. This single from the Strokes singer's solo record is not only the best of the bunch, it is a killer. The opening verse is some of the most amazing lyrics I've heard in a long, long time:

Somewhere along the way
My hopefulness turned to sadness
Somewhere along the way
My sadness turned to bitterness
Somewhere along the way
My bitterness turned to anger
Somewhere along the way
My anger turned to vengeance
And the ones that I make pay
But never the ones who deserve it
And the ones who deserve it
They'll never understand it.
Yes, I know I'm going to hell in a purple basket
At least I'll be in another world
But you'll be pissing on my casket

Goldfrapp - "Rocket"
So this Lady Gaga. Everyone seems to be making a big deal of this Lady Gaga. Thing is, someone out there kind of has all that same magnetism, and that penchant for catchy, Euro club hooks & melodies, without making a fool of herself. Her name is Alison Goldfrapp. And yes that is her real name. I guess.

John Hiatt - "The Open Road"
Johh Hiatt is more of a respected songwriter than anything else which is a damn shame because he has some of the most thoroughly lasting recording work of any of his peers. From "Sure As I'm Sitting Here" to Slow Turning and Bring The Family to "Perfectly Good Guitar" and "Everybody Went Low", he has never stopped making great music. He didn't break with "My Baby Blue" a few years ago and he's done it again "The Open Road". He has always been one of my favorite artists if only because he makes a hit, it's a grand slam.

The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
You know I like it. But seriously - "The Weekenders" - should be a big hit putting the boys in stadiums. And maybe it just will. Or not. Either way, it's not Separation Sunday or Boys & Girls in America but it is good. Very very good. It is equal parts blatant pop-rock and total classic rock throwback. But there is still the deference to the bar band and hardcore punk that are the combined roots of Craig Finn's lyrics and musical preferences. It's not the Kirby Puckett-style home run of their two big documents, but it's a triple if not an in-the-park play-at-the-plate, like Stay Positive (like the end of the Twins-Braves World Series). Think I'm done with the baseball analogies?

Jaguar Love - "I Started A Fire"
I will never forget how I saw all of 15 seconds of this band at Siren Festival to walk away. It was that bad that fast. Yet, back then they also had "Highways of Gold" which was a catchy rocker once you got passed the grating high pitched vocals of Johnny Whitney (formerly of the terrible Blood Brothers). Now in "I Started a Fire", Whitney has tempered the vocals some and it makes for another hit song. I am almost sorry I hated those 15 seconds. Almost.

Damien Jurado - "Arkansas"
It took a couple of weeks after listening to this song to realize I've seen this guy. He opened for Okkervil River on The Stage Names tour. He was so serene and Indie (big I) as to fade away but that laid back style has found its footing. This almost doo-wop-ish memory is serene in the right way.

Lonelady - "Intuition"
I know nothing much except that I like this song. That goes for knowledge of the artist and life in general. The Internet gives me knowledge. Of the artist. Not necessarily life in general. Are we understood?

The National - High Violet
Upon initial listen of the whole LP, it seems "Blood Buzz Ohio" may be the true highlight. But by no means have the National struck out. "Terrible Love" - which comes off gleaming in that Pitchfork film - is exactly the National as we know them, before a few tracks establish a bit of a more inward, less dramatic affair (not so much a return to the first couple records as a new way of looking at old things). "Afraid of Everyone" represents the real new approach to this record: Matt Berninger has forsaken those Alligator screams seemingly for good. After the bass-voiced Boxer, Matt seems to have discovered a steady higher pitch for large swaths of song. It's good. But the bass in that lurking, menacingly disarming voice is the gravity of the band. To say nothing of the continued swells of symphonic fury the Dessners and Devendorffs do so well. The National's most "Chamber Pop" sounding record yet, (a label I never quite liked but maybe finally understand), High Violet ends with an incredible back-half. It looked the National were going down early in the 5th but leave it to the regional relatives of the Big Red Machine to come from behind and win in the bottom of the 9th. I told you I wasn't done with baseball analogies.

The Hold Steady @ Bowery Ballroom AND the Music Hall of Williamsburg

The Hold Steady; J. Roddy Walston & The Business
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY - April 17, 2010

The Hold Steady; The Oranges Band
@ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY - April 17, 2010

In the most notable one night-two gig cross-water event since Phil Collins played London and Philadelphia at Live Aid, the Hold Steady wrapped up a short tour as they continue to integrate the songs from their upcoming record, Heaven is Whenever. The shows were a study in contrasts, none of it to do with the band (except for having almost completely different setlists). The early Bowery show had a composed, almost subdued audience. When the band came out and Craig began with "Positive Jam" (a first in my experience), the audience was silent, in rapt attention - something that never happens at New York shows anymore. Amazing. The later Music Hall show had a more typical Hold Steady crowd - excessively exuberant in the middle but generally respectful (most mosh pits have guys sticking their middle finger in the air, Hold Steady mosh pits have guys - and gals - using their index finger). Even the types who seem liked yuppie scenesters just-to-be-there were actual damn fans of the band.

The big story of course, besides the new record, is that the Hold Steady are now Franz-less. The character that was the sharply dressed, bewhiskered, accordion playing keyboardist Franz Nicolay (who deliberately stuck out like a dandy version of a sore thumb but fit right in musically and wonderfully at that) is off to other pastures. He had to be replaced by two guys for the live show. Steve Selvidge on guitar (twin guitar attacks - at one point at the Williamsburg show, Craig had a fit of joy on having guitar solo in stereo) and Dan Neudstadt on keyboards and various accoutrement. The lack of an accordion wasn't really noticeable. The replacement of the harmonica with a guitar solo on "Southtown Girls" wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't the same.

When the band (and/or Vagrant) decided to release news of the new album, they said it would be a less hooky and sing-a-long affair. Then they promptly leaked 3 songs, two of which are not just hooky and sing-a-long but are produced slickly enough to qualify as pop songs - "Hurricane J" and "The Weekenders". The latter number - a sequel to "Chips Ahoy" as Craig pointed out at the Bowery show - is already an instant classic that belongs in the canon. And the former isn't too shabby either. The production value was striking and a little much upon first listen but "Hurricane J" is a terrific song and as expected, it - and "The Weekenders" - and the straight up old time rocker "Rock Problems" - all kill live. The shows also included other new songs from Heaven is Whenever - and these are the ones that are a little less insta-rock, and a little more sit-and-listen, namely "A Slight Discomfort" (heard at Bowery) and "Barely Breathing", "The Sweet Part of the City", and "We Can Get Together" (heard at MHOW).

It cannot be promised that all of Heaven is Whenever will be what someone like me wants it to be, but there is nothing to indicate so far - and certainly nothing in the continued caliber of the live show to indicate - that the Hold Steady are going to be knocked from their perch any time soon.

I caught the last few songs of the J. Roddy set at the Bowery and one day The Business will have to decide if they will be one of those one-note bands (a la AC/DC and the Ramones) or shock the world and change up their sound. In the case of their Lynyrd Skynyrd style-rock either choice wouldn't be a bad one. I will forever associate them with having CALLED IT. Seeing them at a Merc show, saying to myself "Hey these guys could open for the Hold Steady" and turn my head and see Craig Finn rocking out to 'em.

The Oranges Band have been around ten years but I have never heard of them. They are at times hard driving and at times a little more laid back (though not much). They are mature, substantive, and professional but also full of life and piss and vinegar. In other words, if I had seen them play somewhere small some time ago, I'd have said "Hey these guys could open for the Hold Steady" and I'd have CALLED IT AGAIN!

Craig Finn & Tad Kubler @ Le Poisson Rouge

Craig Finn & Tad Kubler
@ Le Poisson Rouge
New York, NY - November 14, 2009

Craig and Tad of the Hold Steady took part in Radio Happy Hour, a monthly event at Le Poisson Rouge that seems to fancy itself a Kevin Smith-version of A Prairie Home Companion. When not taking part in the old timey radio simile, they performed acoustic versions of "Cheyenne Sunrise" and "Multitude of Casualties" and had a chat with the show host and Chuck Klosterman, whose Fargo Rock City was recently adapted for a screenplay co-written by Craig. You may be thinking nothing has been reviewed here but I once reviewed Craig playing two songs at a Barnes and Nobles. So there.

The Sonic Parthenon Playlist: May 2009

Oops we skipped over May! Meaning we missed:

Brakesbrakesbrakes - "Crush on You"
Maybe the 90's are coming back afterall - a grungey sound with those semi-sweet mid-90's pop lyrics. Figures they're English...they just must be now getting into it.

Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Right now, Metric's Fantasies is the best record of the year. This is number 2.

Elks - "Collide"
They just could be just another one of the many bands with an animal for their name, but instead Elks choose to copy the anthemic indie rock the likes of Longwave and Parts & Labor. Tis a fine choice. Besides, there has to be someone out there not listening to Grizzly Bear.

Great Northern - "Houses"
Excellent new track from the not-a-fluke dark rockers out of Southern California. Eat it Silversun Pickups!

Ben Harper & Relentless 7- "Shimmer and Shine"
Harper dropped the Innocent Criminals and the pot-head friendliness in exchange for Relentless 7 and just rocking the hell out. Good call. He's still a sap in the lyrics department though. Actually this isn't too different from "Crush on You".

The Hold Steady - A Positive Rage
Yeah I don't know who these guys are or why they have a live record or why I play it almost every day...

I Was A King - "Norman Bleik"
Picking up where "Saints" by Army Navy hasn't really left off yet, this is a strong power pop number from Scandinavia. How do they keep doing that over there?!

King Khan & The Shrines - "Land of the Freak"
All thanks to that gig in early May, I can't stop playing this James Brown meets Greg Cartwright escapade.

St. Vincent - tracks from Actor
I haven't heard much of the new record but "The Strangers" satiated me for a spell.

Honorable Mentions: Jarvis Cocker, Passion Pit

The Hold Steady @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

The Hold Steady
@ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY - June 10, 2009

They started off - surprisingly - with "First Night". They played all of Boys and Girls America. They played "Knuckles". They played "How A Resurrection Really Feels". They sounded absolutely perfect. The crowd was packed with total fans - everyone singing along to everything, including all the b-sides (like "Arms and Hearts" and "Girls Go For Status"). No real mosh pit problems, no stage crashing, no crowd surfing, just intensity. In summation, after seeing this band many, many times - this was the best yet. And that's saying a lot.

The Hold Steady @ Irving Plaza

The Hold Steady; The Rosewood Thieves
@ Irving Plaza
New York, NY - March 30, 2009

It was fitting that the 1-year anniversary concert of New York's very revivalist rock station, WRXP, would feature the most revivalist band around - the Hold Steady. If there is one thing that this band displays over and over and over again, is what a picture perfect portrait they are of bar band/classic rock/punk. At least in terms of the sounds they are suckers for (those Tad Kubler solos are sicker than ever). On the other hand, I've come to the conclusion that if Craig Finn sang about Ingmar Bergman and sex instead of John Cassavettes and drugs, he'd really just be Woody Allen - and that's not exactly following the rock n' roll playbook. The mere fact that after 7 or 8 Hold Steady experiences I can still find this stuff relevatory, is a testament to this band's depth.
From the set list, the appearance of "Don't Let me Explode" was a nice surprise - one of these embedded Separation Sunday tracks that grow on you and bloom some years after you first heard it. And after a year on the bench, "Killer Parties" was brought onto the field (or the ice if you prefer) to resume its rightful spot as the finale - and the band brought it back in its most intense form yet, the resounding flourish ricocheting off the crowd and around Irving Plaza, a swelling of the joy that Craig also felt the need to remind us of, something he hasn't done in quite awhile.

Rosewood Thieves sound like Bob Dylan 1965-1976. That's it. That's exactly what they sound like. They're good at it. But that's what they sound like. No room for anything to else say about them. That's it. Quite a box if you ask me. But a very good box all the same.

Hold Steady Cover Springsteen OMG; Gaslight Anthem Channel Him on Letterman

Who wants to wait for that damn comp to come out? Stereogum has it.

In other Springsteen-esque news, the Gaslight Anthem were on Letterman.

Comp Crazy

Two potentially mind-blowing charity compilations will be coming out soon, chock full of new material and covers by some pretty snazzy artists. Stereogum has been covering these two developing mega-comps and here's the basic plot so far:

Dark Was The Night is an AIDS-charity comp curated by Bryce and Aaron Dessner of The National (who contribute an amazing cut, "So Far Around The Bend"). A collaboration track between David Byrne and Dirty Projectors has already been released.

The track listing:

THIS DISC (DISC ONE):

1. "Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2. "Cello Song" - The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
3. "Train Song" - Feist and Ben Gibbard
4. "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver
5. "Deep Blue Sea" - Grizzly Bear
6. "So Far Around The Bend" - The National
7. "Tightrope" - Yeasayer
8. "Feeling Good" - My Brightest Diamond
9. "Dark Was The Night" - Kronos Quartet
10. "I Was Young When I Left Home" - Antony with Bryce Dessner
11. "Big Red Machine" - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12. "Sleepless" - The Decemberists
13. "Stolen Houses (Die)" - Iron & Wine
14. "Service Bell" - Grizzly Bear + Feist
15. "You Are The Blood" - Sufjan Stevens


THAT DISC (DISC TWO):

1. "Well-Alright" - Spoon
2. "Lenin" - Arcade Fire
3. "Mimizan" - Beirut
4. "El Caporal" - My Morning Jacket
5. "Inspiration Information" - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
6. "With A Girl Like You" - Dave Sitek
7. "Blood Pt. 2" - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8. "Hey, Snow White" - The New Pornographers
9. "Gentle Hour" - Yo La Tengo
10. "Amazing Grace" - Cat Power
11. "Happiness" - Riceboy Sleeps
12. "Another Saturday" - Stuart Murdoch
13. "The Giant Of Illinois" - Andrew Bird
14. "Lua" - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch
15. "When The Road Runs Out" - Blonde Redhead & Devastations
16. "Love Vs. Porn" - Kevin Drew

Do you see Gillian Welch in there?! Gillian Welch!

Meanwhile, War Child, a non-profit designed to help children who are victims of conflict, will be boosted by a compilation record, Heroes featuring some bands who are finally putting on record the kinds of covers we would have expected. Today, Stereogum posted Lilly Allen's cover of the Clash, and Hot Chip's cover of Joy Division. Here's the rest of the hit list:

01. Beck (Bob Dylan: "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat")
02. The Kooks (The Kinks: "Victoria")
03. The Hold Steady (Bruce Springsteen: "Atlantic City")
04. Hot Chip (Joy Division: "Transmission")
05. Lily Allen (The Clash: "Straight To Hell")
06. Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Ramones: "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker")
07. Franz Ferdinand (Blondie: "Call Me")
08. Duffy (Paul McCartney: "Live And Let Die")
09. Estelle (Stevie Wonder: "Superstition")
10. Rufus Wainwright (Brian Wilson: "Wonderful/ Song For Children")
11. Scissor Sisters (Roxy Music: "Do The Strand")
12. Peaches (Iggy Pop and The Stooges: "Search And Destroy")
13. Adam Cohen (Leonard Cohen: "Take This Waltz")
14. Elbow (U2: "Running To Stand Still")
15. The Like (Elvis Costello: "You Belong To Me")
16. TV On The Radio (David Bowie: "Heroes")

At long last - the Hold Steady do Springsteen, TVOTR do Bowie, and there are more excuses to look at photos of Lilly Allen.

The records will be officially released on consecutive days: Heroes on 2/16, and Dark Was the Night on 2/17.

Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2008: Part 4

The Hard Lessons
A couple of quality gigs and toying around with some new tunes, and - even with the loss of the Anvil - Koko and Augie just refuse to surrender rock n' roll to the forces of evil.

Headlights
This very low-key band from Illinois has the potential for very big things if they churn out well-crafted shows like the one in May at the Mercury Lounge.

The Hold Steady
What more can be said on this blog about the Hold Steady? Stay Positive was not perfect, in fact, there were at least 4 better records out this year, but what did work works better than just about anything else out there right now ("Constructive Summer" is without question the best song of 2008). Combine that with a continued excellence on the touring circuit and this band that refused to go away, whose infectious devotion to irony-free vintage rock proved to be too much to scoff at, is just impervious to negativity.
As we enter 2009, it is quite clear that in the review-of-the-decade-to-come, Craig Finn and the boys are going to be right at the top, sharing the spotlight with only a few other bands at most, and if they own 2009 like they did 2008, 2007, (and in hindsight, 2006 and 2005), they could make the case for being number 1 without any sharing.

Hot Chip
Hot Chip do not challenge you to like them like a lot of other bands but they are also not the most easily digestible. Made in the Dark was equal parts friendly and uninviting. But it all came together, and Alexis is leading an outfit that taps into a wellspring of creativity, making techno-nerd-rock groove in all the right places. "Ready for the Floor" and "One Pure Thought" prove that.

Joan as Police Woman
To Survive was Joan Wasser's contribution to 2008 and it was a sterling one. Though she's been working at it for years, it was only in 2008 that people seemed to finally get something that's not hard to figure out: soul music is invincible, and Joan's take on it - smoothed, seductive, sedate, and infused with a kink of folk - is ripe for perfection. And see her live to really get it.

Jukebox the Ghost
"Hold It In" was a quality cut of 2008 and this band's sensible live show is charming.

Langhorne Slim
Langhorne Slim finally broke into the big time this year with his solid self-titled LP, well deserving after years of toiling in the NYC-based muck. From all over NPR to David Letterman, everyone was finally getting a taste of what only a select few knew before. With a couple of dandy War Eagles backing him up, the only question one had to ask was "what took everyone so long?" And it always feels good when a sincerely nice person does well in this crazy world. Truly, 2008 was the year of the well-meaning slim, whether in presidential elections or country-fried rock n' roll.

Jenny Lewis
The title track of Acid Tongue and her collab with Costello on "Carpetbagger" alone were enough to remind us Jenny Lewis is probably better off without Rilo Kiley. Though now the debate will rage whether she is better off without the Watson Twins and that is a little harder to answer (actually it isn't - keep reading).

Looker
It was a quiet second half of the year for Looker but the first was pretty snazzy, what with a good Saturday night gig at the now gone Luna Lounge and one of the singles of the year with "Gates of the Old City".

Long Blondes
It was all going great, and then it was over. Of all of this year's sudden band-break-ups this one hurts the most. It's a damn shame. But before they closed up shop, the Long Blondes left us with a decent final record, including the stellar "Here Comes The Serious Bit", and a successful live tour that included a terrific stop at the Bowery Ballroom.

Lykke Li
"Tonight" and "Dance, Dance, Dance" were the two top tracks from this very divisive bit o' pixie dust.

Shwa Losben
Brooklyn girls may not be from Brooklyn and neither is Shwa but he's allowed to live here because his pop music is so damn catchy and he knows how to put on a show.

2009 Sneak-Peak (Airborne Toxic Event, Action Painters, Orion Experience, X, Black Keys, more)

2008 isn't quite over yet - the Year in Music review has yet to be compiled (though anyone who reads this page can gather it'll be a little slimmer this year than last) but we're already getting a taste of what's coming in the pipeline for 2009, at least in terms of some early gigs (see the concert calendar for details):

• The Rosebuds and the Raveonettes are playing on January 16th, separately but hey.
• If you can't go more than a few months without your Hold Steady fix, Franz Nicolay is playing with World Inferno Friendship Society on the 9th and a solo show on the 11th
• Frightened Rabbit made a good mark in '08 with "The Greys" and they'll be at the Bowery B on Jan 17th.
• SP faves Action Painters and the Orion Experience team up again at the Mercury Lounge on Jan 22nd...with Billy Joel's daughter opening. Yep.
• Devotchka. Webster Hall. Saturday, January 24th. I may have an excuse but you won't.
• In Feb, the Black Keys return to Terminal 5. In case you didn't hear, they are one of the biggest bands in the world.
• On March 11 - the Airborne Toxic Event headline the Bowery Ballroom, going from playing Pianos to the Bowery in 13 months. That's not Vampire Weekend-fast but that is still pretty fast.
  

Rock n Roll Means Well: The Drive-By Truckers & The Hold Steady @ Terminal 5

The Drive-By Truckers; The Hold Steady
@ Terminal 5
New York, NY - November 6, 2008

A great week for America should, by all rights, include two of America's great signature sounding bands on their "Rock n Roll Means Well" tour. From the heart of the South come the stereotype smashing Drive-By Truckers, Alabama folk who make it OK for us Yankees to embrace a little bit of Dixie without the stench of trials & tribulations that have plagued other consciously-Southern bands (ahem, Lynyrd Skynyrd and uh...Lynyrd Skynyrd). Truly children of Muscle Shoals, as well as of the Dead and the Winter brothers and the immortal Allman Brothers, DBT have earned their stripes. Whether it be Patterson Hood's mix of Garcia-esque singing before punk-inflected vocal riffs or Mike Cooley's perfect southern alt-country twang (think Uncle Tupelo, John Hiatt, and a male Lucinda Williams all rolled into one), DBT crafts each song with a distinct purpose and no two songs sound alike, which is pretty significant considering how easy that can happen in this genre. The rockers work more than the slow ones, and the less jam the better, but that's this old Yankee's way, it doesn't take away from the talent.

Starting off with the ever relevant, "Stay Positive", the Hold Steady made sure to devote their set to the President-Elect. Tad Kubler wore a Bad Brains-style shirt that replaced that legendary band's name with you-know-who, and ol' Bobby on the drums simply wore a God Bless America t-shirt, reflecting the rediscovered patriotism flowing through the Fake America. Craig Finn said it was going to be a celebration and it sure was. "Massive Nights", "Banging Camp", and "Constructive Summer" were just a few of the anthems befitting the night. Though "Lord I'm Discouraged" probably didn't fit the sentiment, it was worth it for Koob's best solo.

And if it was a night for America (truly reflected in Patterson's story of his 88-year old great uncle putting away years of prejudice to vote for a black man), it was a night for the Gibson guitar company and a nice old man named Les Paul. Truly, if there was ever any doubt as to the best guitar in the whole damn world, those doubts can be squared well away thanks to this "Rock n Roll Means Well" tour.

And both bands playing "People Who Died" by New York's own Jim Carroll...well...how do you think it sounded?

This week should never end.

The Definitive Essay on Hipsters or How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Embrace Being a Vintage-Head Who Likes Certain Yuppies

So for a long time I really liked the hipsters. I really did. The music they flock to is pretty much the bread and butter of this blog, and the girls are cute. But I've recently had to directly interact with a couple of them and it's not a pleasant experience. They are incapable of communicating. The notion of socializing seems to freak them out. And they are absolutely, as a rule, unfriendly, if only because they don't expect to have to communicate. An out of town pal of mine took his virginal daylight walk down Bedford Ave around N 7th this past June and he asked, "is this some kind of weird social experiment?" Another friend of mine - one who lives among them and the native Poles in Greenpoint - pointed out that these were the kids who were the freaks and losers in suburbia and that rather than make the effort to be better at communication and general socializing like us urbanite freaks and losers, they chose to crowd around each other, develop a needlessly overworked fashion style in order to stand out, and then devolve into vacuous ninnies.

What kills me is the years-long cool factor of eye glasses and vintage clothing. It made me think they're all a bunch of nerds. They're not! They're too stupid to be nerds! They just co-opted the look! The idea of a Utopian world of hot, smart people seemed to be at our grasps, only for us to find that it was a facade. Dumb, pretty people just figured out a way to look smart, not be smart.

But what's really triggered my contempt is the rise of the keffiyeh. I became really bothered by this fashion trend of Palestinian resistance scarves for two reasons: 1) the use of scarves in the summer time because it's "cool" and 2) either the blatant association with the imagery or the lack of information in regards to said imagery. It's not a question of whether one agrees with any or all of the dimensions of the Palestinian cause. It's a question of the motivation behind it. How many of these vapid morons have actually taken the time to understand the symbolism and how many of them have given deep thought to the merits and demerits of the cause (see the Che shirt phenomenon)? Though I am by no means an "Israel is right no matter what" kind of fool, I am heartened by the rise of Israeli Defense Force shirts in the scene as the Mideast conflict plays itself out in the hipsterverse. Of course, the fear is that some of these response-wearers are themselves uninformed. But someone had to start wearing it out of substance. They had to. Either way, the fashionistas seem to have broken down into civil war, which is in and of itself maddening as it is fascinating.

A month ago, the Times wrote a piece about the end of McCarren Park Pool as a venue and the fact that the writer could not avoid pointing out the little quirks about these strange people is hilarious. It is one of the best pieces on hipsters I have ever read. In a follow-up, the Times wrote yesterday on the Sonic Youth finale, and they hilariously wrote that a hipster asked to be off the record on how they are deliberate about their look (that's a no-no to admit) but the writer also erroneously described Craig Finn as a hipster (he's not, he's a regular guy with glasses who's too literary and too normal to be a full-on hipster)! So there are a couple of examples of the so-strange-one-can't-be-objective-about-it hipsterverse.

There are those out there who will defend the hipsters as those who keep the Indie and cutting edge music and art scenes alive with their money and their scenester-ism. This is a valid point. And for a long time I would even go so far as to champion the hipsters over the boring yuppies who gentrify everything to the point of excess, leaving New York too expensive for the rest of us. But the yuppies can communicate. The yuppies can have conversations. The yuppies don't like to hoard their culture, they like to sprinkle it around (though they do like to hoard the money, which can be a problem if you're into the whole progressive communal thing). And the yuppies can provide the very funds that the hipsters do. In fact, as the yuppies move into the hipster neighborhoods, they've come to adopt a lot of the hipster look - creating some disturbing test-tube-like hybrids known as the "Yipster".

I am working on a theory to delineate people like me from the hipsters. The working label is "vintage-head". I appreciate the elements behind some of the hipster look. Turning-back-the-fashion-clock is truly the way to go. But one can be a vintage-head without being an anti-social, cliquish, spoiled brat. It is simply an appreciation for the finer things in past lives, to make a new pastiche in the modern world.

At one McCarren show I attended this summer, I met who I thought was the First Nice Hipster. In fact, she turned out to be a yipster (I figured it out because she looked the part of the hipster but had only heard of bands like the Black Lips and the Hold Steady; if she was a true hipster she'd have been well-versed in such matters, and she wouldn't have been talking to random, friendly people in the first place). And because this girl was so nice, and friendly, and social, she smashed the stereotype of the arrogant yuppie for me. And frankly, I've been meeting some very nice yuppies this summer and over the year past. And I get along with them a lot better than I do with the hipsters. So in conclusion, the Love of the Hipsters is Dead. Long Live the Vintage-Heads and Their Friends in the Yuppie/Yipster Community. May we live together in harmony and may we even intermingle and have Vintage-Yuppie/Yipster babies. And may we take back the hot-nerd look. And above all, may we be able to carry on a nice conversation. Take that you lousy hipsters! Now get me my mocha latte! And do it on the quick before I blow my lid and throw my fedora at you, see?!

(Please note the possibility that the "vintage-head" theory may a distraction from the realization that this writer may just be a plain ol' yuppie who likes fedoras and bad 1940's movie talk, and has been rejected and dejected by hipsters, and doesn't want to own up to it. If this turns out to be the case, and the writer is called on it, please see the upcoming essay "Why All Yuppies, Hipsters, Yipsters, and Vintage-Heads Can Rally Together Against the Hated Hippies".)

Dream Tickets: TV on the Radio & The Dirtbombs; The Hold Steady & The Drive-By Truckers

Regionally and Sonic Parthenon-speaking:
TVOTR and the Dirtbombs:
Fri Oct 10 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia
Tues Oct 14 at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Brooklyn (sold out)
(TVOTR is also playing another show at the Temple the next night, while the Dirtbombs play Maxwell's and Southpaw the next night and night after, respectively)

THS and DBT:
Thu Nov 6 and Fri Nov 7 at Terminal 5 in NYC
Sat Nov 8 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia
Tue Nov 11 at the Phoenix in Toronto

Both tickets are full-blown tours, check the band sites for details

Recent Radio Highlights

• Lonnie Mack was profiled on Fresh Air last week. This is the guy who did everything you heard but didn't know the name of, and he's the guy who made the one truly great song by the Doors ("Roadhouse Blues") sound good.
• James Hunter was interviewed on Weekend Edition Sunday.
• Sound Opinions had a discussion about the state of rock clubs and promotion. Pennypacker has been wanting to get into the promotion business for some time but right now, it just ain't gonna happen. If someone has any good ideas, let me know.
• Tom Waits' concert in Atlanta has been archived at NPR.
• Leadbelly profiled on Soundcheck.
  
• Bon Iver on Soundcheck.
  
• Mick, Pat, and Ben of the Dirtbombs were on WNYU last week (check the 5:00 marker).
• The Hold Steady did WFUV.
  

Stay Positive: The Pennypacker Perspective

No further review of the Hold Steady can really say anything enlightening after Mike Conklin's piece in the L Magazine a couple of weeks ago:

The amount of tolerance you’ve built up for the Hold Steady is most likely directly proportional to the amount of tolerance you still have left for the archetype of the Rock Nerd as it came of age in the 90s: male, college educated and a little bit bumbling — the obsessive record collector with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock history, the guy with all the band shirts, the guy who labored over mixtapes in lieu of being able to express emotions like a regular person, the guy who could never quite get the girl because he’d already become her best friend; the college radio DJ, the tireless booster of vinyl as the preferred audio format.

Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn has been courting that guy for the duration of his band’s career, with four full-lengths that have as their primary subject matter what is essentially a series of coming-of-age stories about teenagers in the throes of the punk rock scene — for many, including Finn’s characters and Finn himself, a brief but important stop on the road to what they will later become — set in suburbs and cities that may as well be nameless, even though they never are. He preys on nostalgia for something which has only been gone for a few years, but which, in the wake of the internet, seems like a relict of a long gone era. It’s an approach that’s fraught with problems, from the appearance of being a one-trick pony to the ongoing bout with gooey sentimentality. Unless, of course, you’re “that guy.”

That's it. That's there all there is to it. It's the reason why as of last night, the David Letterman show, one of the last places left on television to regularly hear good contemporary music, declared the Hold Steady the "best rock band in America". The Hold Steady, and their ascendancy to the critical and somewhat popular consensus, are the latest in a line of revenge-of-the-nerd bands (to steal and paraphrase a line from Mick Collins in a recent radio interview). The squares, the losers, the regular joes, the geeks, all those guys (and some gals too for sure) - who first found refuge in the Ramones all those years ago and later on in an assortment of punk and bar bands, ranging from the credible underground to the laughably mainstream (as well as the laughable underground and the credible mainstream) - are reveling and relishing in the triumph of the Hold Steady.

That being said, there is a definite incongruity going on in the gears and the works. Not many of the fans can empathize with the seemingly endless litany of stories involving massive intakes of drugs and criminal behavior (and if Finn himself ever did lead this life he couldn't be any further away from it than he is now). Not many of the fans, probably none of the fans, can say they are or know someone like Hallelujah, the chief protagonist of Separation Sunday (except me of course - I know a Holly). And among the secular sophisticates within the fan base, doesn't all the Catholic imagery go a little overboard?

Then there is the Springsteen factor. At the end of the day, despite all the inheritance from Finn's Minnesotan ancestors in the Replacements, and his references to Youth of Today and 7 Seconds, there is no question that the Hold Steady are essentially the second coming of the E Street Band, just with fewer members and a lot less soul (which isn't as much of a slight as that reads). And that's the Hold Steady in a nutshell. If Bruce is/was Dylan in a bar band, then the Hold Steady are Bruce wishing he was more punk than he actually is (again, that's not as much of a slight as it reads).

So either you love this stuff or you don't. You're either in it for the lyrics or you're not. Either you're OK with Craig invoking Billy Joel ("you catholic girls start much too late") or you're not. Either you love the "gooey" (damn Conklin stole my word for it) guitar solos from Tad Kubler or you don't. Either you love the very pop keyboards of Franz Nicolay or you don't. Either you take the time to learn the names of the bass player and drummer or you don't (Galen and Bobby).

Yours truly will make no bones about it. A ton of bands that sound like the Hold Steady, that exist either in the ether of American dives or existed on the radio through the 80's and 90's, would no way appeal to me these days. But these guys do. The occasional odes to 70's arena rock, which make me cringe on some recent records that shall go nameless, sound perfectly OK to me when coming out of this band. What makes the Hold Steady the exception are Finn's stories, his lyrics, which we've already established aren't really always that relatable. So if you run the spectrum from Dylan's ambiguous poetry to Springsteen's blue collar stories, Finn holds a strange middle where it sounds like Sprinsteen but appeals like Dylan (or is it the other way around?) and that's what makes it work for someone like me.

Stay Positive is a worthy follow-up to Boys and Girls in America and Separation Sunday (and by-and-large surpasses the Franz-less first stab Almost Killed Me). It doesn't hold the consistent punch of the last two records but that's in part because the band does try to expand its sound and they more or less succeed at each turn. The standouts are indeed the sing-a-long anthems - "Constructive Summer", "Sequestered in Memphis", the title track. They are equal in measure to "Stuck Between Stations", "Hot Soft Light", "Your Little Hoodrat Friend", "Banging Camp", and "The Swish". Songs like "Magazines and "Yeah Sapphire" are almost up to snuff of the previous secondary winners like "Massive Nights", "You Can Make Him Like You", "Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night" and so on and so forth. As an album to simply enjoy listening to, Stay Positive is certainly one of the best records of the year.

One more thing about the title track and the Conklin piece. He's right. No one can relate to that one. In fact, the song breaks a golden rule I wanted to establish in a piece I cannot finish called "The Things I Don't Want To Hear In Rock n' Roll Ever Again": the topic of being famous. I hate when artists sing about their careers. It's self-indulgent to the worst possible extent. I wanted to yell at Jack White for that b-side late last year, "It's My Fault For Being Famous" (despite it's undeniably catchy country hook). But if anything, "Stay Positive" makes for a nice companion piece to that song. Whereas the former is a bitter resentment towards the media and maybe some of the unruly, obsessive fans, the latter is a love letter to the fans (probably including a few of those unruly and obsessive ones too). And while I sympathize with the former's rage, I am warmed by the sentiment in the latter, and while that still doesn't make it possible to be empathetic, it harks back to the same good feelings that the Hold Steady supply over and over. And while most of us cannot relate to that song in particular, the vibe and emotion of the song and the overall album, the message of staying positive and who is saying it and why it is being said, it not only makes us feel good to be listening to music, it makes us specifically feel good to be back into a bar band.

Finn, Sheff, Cave, and Berryman

Who is John Berryman?

And what does he mean to Craig Finn of the Hold Steady (in "Stuck Between Stations"), Will Sheff of Okkervil River (in "John Allyn Smith Sails", and Nick Cave (in "We Call Upon The Author To Explain")? And why now, 36 years after his suicide?

Oh there won't be any answers here. This is just observation.

The Hold Steady @ McCarren Park Pool

The Hold Steady; The Loved Ones; J. Roddy Walston & The Business
@ McCarren Park Pool
Brooklyn, NY - June 29, 2008

The first Jelly NYC Pool Party of The Stay Positive Constructive Summer of 2008 was also the Tad Kubler Birthday Bash. The man himself provided some of the most intense solos I've seen him do, on all sorts of guitars, and it really made the concert. Well that, and the fact that the stormy skies let up just in time for the entire set.
THS played pretty much all of the new record and as of right now, half of it seems to be a bit on the sloppy, slow side. But as with all things Hold Steady, it may just take some time to get into. The stuff that does work already - the title track "Stay Positive", "Constructive Summer", "Magazines", "Sequestered in Memphis", "Lord I'm Discouraged" - work swimmingly (bad pool party reference). "Slapped Actress" has adequately replaced "Killer Parties" as the finale. The rest of the set was filled in by great renditions of already great material - "Stuck Between Stations", "Multitude of Casualties", "Chips Ahoy", "Banging Camp" and so on. A really rocking version of "Same Kooks" was a bit of a more-than-pleasant surprise, as was "Arms and Hearts", one of a bit too many ballads played this day but it worked very well.

The Loved Ones were a terrible mall punk band that weren't just Warped Tour bad, they were BEYOND Warped Tour bad. I'd rather see Paramore. I'm not joking. Like Dude, they were like, 30 Seconds to Mars bad. That's BAD.

J. Roddy and the Business made an impressive showing at the Langhorne Slim release party (and it certainly may have impressed Craig Finn of the Hold Steady because he was at that gig, liked them, and now here they are opening for his band). Could their brand of 70's-homage southern arena rock hold up for a second showing? Ehhhh. It worked for the first few songs but how much of this can one take? I figured they'd make for a good opener for the Hold Steady and they did but I wouldn't be in any rush to see them again.