Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2007: Part 3

“Hero of Nineteen Eighty Three” by Peachfuzz
One of the few Little Steven pushed songs caught this year, this one was the best of the lightly picked bunch. A killer hook and fun lyrics made this bit of nostalgia a keeper.
Hear it here

The Hold Steady

• Live Show
  
• Record: Boys and Girls in America
• Song: “Hot Soft Light”
  

Like the previously mentioned Camera Obscura, the Hold Steady’s recent release came in 2006 but they dominated 2007. And I mean, DOMINATE. In a year in which more pop oriented and more delicate bands took center stage on the Parthenon calendar, this Minneapolis/Boston/Brooklyn/Ybor City bar band, with lyrics described elsewhere as “dense” and appropriately so, led the charge for fun, loud rock n’ roll. And unlike other bands that exploded into the Parthenon universe, the Hold Steady nagged and clawed. “Stuck Between Stations” was perfectly fine but not immediate, back when Boys And Girls in America was released. But in January, the arrival of “Hot Soft Light” changed everything. The raw power, the concrete structure, even Finn’s distinct voice, it all came together and that was it. The rest of the material, going all the way back to The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me and the Lifter Puller days, slowly made its way to the rotation and by the end of 2007, there was at least one Hold Steady song being played on an average of one a day. The redundancy in the lyrics may be Finn’s only flaw and it doesn’t really matter. See them live and that’s the end of everything. They’re a little too big for clubs these days (and the Dirtbombs will always dominate the club circuit anyway), but in the realm of midlevel bands, that live space between say, the White Stripes and the Dirtbombs, the Hold Steady fill the void. In fact, they not only fill that void, they own it, and it doesn’t look like anyone is going to take it away from them. Oh, and Franz Nicolay for President.
SPTV: Live at Terminal 5

Stuck Between Stations
Chips Ahoy
Live at El Rey - "How A Resurrection Really Feels"

“I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” by Black Kids
The major theme of 2007, broadly speaking, was the beyond-comprehension fast rise of blog-hyped bands. Later on, read the story of Vampire Weekend, which came earlier in the year, but for now read the saga of Black Kids. This Florida dance-pop band were unheard of weeks before CMJ but thanks to a demo and an Arcade Fire connection of sorts, they were the most hyped band of the marathon, pushed by the big reads in particular. The band was so new, they even admitted to not even being prepared for playing live. And the performance was indeed trashed, but everyone involved is still pushing on with the band and for good reason: Beyond all the hype, this song is damn good. Catchy beyond belief without being nauseating, this is a good signature sound to have and if they get the live show in order, this may be more than Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. This could be…hell, Vampire Weekend.



“If This Ain’t Love” by Nicole Willis
For all the rage of that English broad who need not be mentioned, and even for all the rightful love of the exquisite Miss Sharon Jones, this old soul ditty slipped through and entertained, if at least for a few weeks.


“Intervention” by Arcade Fire
Everyone else will go on about Neon Bible, but this was the one real stand-out song on that record. Is it “Rebellion”? No of course not, very little in this world compares to “Rebellion”. But it’s good enough for a mention.


Jesus and Mary Chain

• Live Show
  

One of the great bands of the 80’s reunited in 2007 and took the reunion on the road, however briefly. They may not be the most exciting, party-your-ass-off band in the world, but if you want the roots of the great thinking music going on these days, it traces in good part to these Scots. A band with the gloomy fuzzies, you gotta love ‘em.
Live on Letterman:


The Knitters

• Live Show
  

As long as Dave Alvin does sick solos behind the fun harmonies of John Doe and Exene Cervenka, there will always be room for the Knitters. Dagummit.
"Wrecking Ball" live in Boston:


Langhorne Slim

• Live Show
  

How good was country rocker Langhorne Slim on that August night at Europa? This episode of SPTV is getting a third airing:


Les Sans Culottes

• Live Show
  
• Record: Le Weekender
  

It was a good year for Les Sans. Several solid gigs in support of a solid record, Le Weekender, led by the towering, massively wonderful smash “Les Enfants Terribles”.
Let's tie in LSC with another 2007 moment, the loss of Lee Hazelwood:



Little Amber Bottles by Blanche
2004’s If We Can’t Trust Doctors remains some of the greatest 40 minutes ever made in history. With that precedent, it was going to be near impossible for Blanche to top it, and though they didn’t get there, they made a hell of a stab at it. Also, through no fault of their own, the drama of getting this LP released and the start-and-stop shenanigans around that, took a lot of the wind out of the excitement for this one. That all being said, it is still a great album, led by last year’s fantastic “What This Town Needs” (which had a fantastic video released this year). If only “At Least I Didn’t Quit” found its way onto the record, this would have been closer to perfect.


Looker

• Live Show
  

One of the finer discoveries of 2007, though it was more a case of taking the initiative than just stumbling across yet another band. And what a pay off. Fun, snappy pop-punk and now even the Brits are hearing about it. Big things are in store.
WavedRumor's video of the same song at CMJ kicks the SPTV clip's ass from here to Pluto:


The Love Me Nots

• Live Show
  
• Record: In Black & White
• Song: "Move In Tight"
  

Let it be known here and now for all time: Only 3 bands that have ever requested the friendship of E.D. have turned out to be good. The dance-band Gorbachov, from Ireland; the BellRays – yes THE BellRays; and Arizona’s the Love Me Nots. Arguably the last band standing that has a good retro look, the LMN’s are breaking hearts out west most of the year. In 2008, they need to make a return trip East.

Live somewhere not in New York

Mercury Lounge
One of New York’s most reliable venues had a great year with two Yarrows gigs (though the house sound guy at the second gig can go suck a lemon), hosting the In The Red showcase at CMJ, being home to the discovery of Action Painters and Wormburner, and allowing Franz Nicolay to strum in a more simple, calm setting.

Metric

• Live Show
  

I’d still be shooting myself in the foot for missing Heavy Trash but Emily Hanes was just too vexing to ignore. It was worth it. One of the best gigs of the year. The sound was perfect, even for Webster, the light show was out of control, and everyone was cool at this gig.
"Dead Disco" at Webster Hall, via The Cocoon:


“Modern World” by Jesse Malin
Little Steven’s Underground Garage was barely heard at SPHQ this year but here’s yet another showcased track that stood out and nagged away. That program has still got it.
Video (of sorts)

Mondo Topless

• Live Show
  

What would a year in music be without Mondo Topless performing live somewhere? They never stop being good.
SPTV:


“The Moneymaker” by Rilo Kiley
Sure, Under The Blacklight was just about the most god-awful piece of crap released this year. Well…not really…but close. And this much-hated song is actually one of the better ones. And sure, the porn stars in the video were ugly as hell but that was just to make sure everyone knows how hot Jenny Lewis is. Campy fun on an otherwise overcooked turkey.


Morrissey

• Live Show
  

Stephen Patrick charms the socks off everyone, including all live show virgins. And the fact that he ended the show with a recent track that drove the fans mental proves he’s lost very little in the way of steps over the years.
And here it is!:

September 2007 Concert Calendar Highlights

September is packed tighter than a train in India so here are just a few highlights and remember to check the calendar to get all the listings:

-New York legends Dinosaur Jr. play Webster Hall this Monday.

-New York legend Patti Smith christens the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday.

-Peter, Bjorn, and John play Maxwell's one night next week and Roseland Ballroom the next night.

-Saturday September 8th is particularly notable:

• Modest Mouse at McCarren
• Vampire Weekend at the Music Hall
• The Ditty Bops playing two shows at Irving
  

-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah resume their touring with a show at the Music Hall on the 10th.

-The Noisettes come back to town for a couple of shows the weekend of the 15th and 16th and Apples in Stereo will be playing two shows spread out over almost a week starting that weekend.

-The week of the 17th has several free shows at 7 World Trade Center including a double bill of the Hold Steady and Old 97's as well as M. Ward and Nick Lowe.

-The Black Lips play the Bowery and the Music Hall that same week.

-Friday the 21st is a killer night:

• Metric at Webster Hall
• Heavy Trash at Luna Lounge
• Les Savy Fav at the Music Hall
• The Subway Band at Lucky Cat

-Rilo Kiley, despite their new album being hated, have sold out two shows at Webster Hall the weekend of the 22nd.

-Okkvervil River play the suddenly very good Webster Hall on Friday the 28th.

-There are also shows in September featuring the Arctic Monkeys, Joseph Arthur, Cheater Slicks, The Frames, Holly Golightly, Interpol & Cat Power, Nellie McKay, Devendra Banheart, SCOTS, Kaiser Chiefs, Iron & Wine, Animal Collective, localheads the Bamboo Kids and Star Spangles, and many many more.

The Great Rilo Kiley Disco Freak Out: The Pennypacker Perspective

So by this point, who hasn't had an opinion on Rilo Kiley's new album? It appears most of the feedback is extremely negative but there is a small contingent of critics who like the record, including Joel Levy at Rolling Stone, the man who is the closest thing left to cred that magazine has had for a long time (in an interesting review on the RS video podcast, he noted that he hated the record the first time listening, but loved it by the third time).
The first few songs on the record aren't that bad. The openers "Silver Lining" and "Close Call" should fit OK in the Rilo catalog and have enough of the good stuff that made Jenny Lewis' work with the Watson Twins last year so appealing. The biggest shocker to the world is that - sorry - "The Moneymaker" is a good song. It doesn't quite sound like anything else on the album, it's the one true rocker on the record, and it's undeniably catchy. If it suffers from one ailment, it is the same ailment that plagues the entire record: the lyrics are pretty stupid. After "The Moneymaker", it's pretty much all downhill. Rilo Kiley tries to imitate two very different bands in the middle of the record - "Dreamworld" is an ode to Fleetwood Mac and "Dejalo" summons the Miami Sound Machine. Both fail pretty badly. Again, there are catchy hooks but there are no teeth behind those hooks. Not to mention, - big shock time - Fleetwood Mac were not good. Hell, if you ignore Gloria Estefan's later work, the Miami Sound Machine were actually a pretty damn good band. But that doesn't mean they needed to be imitated here. The album just spirals downward to the very last song, a horrible tween-pop sounding song called "Give A Little Love". Dreadful.
But even though it is pretty much a pop music disaster, does it really matter? The big secret that no one seems willing to talk about is that Rilo's work can be inconsistent. Some of the earlier records have some real dull moments. The one thing that has been the band's consistent strength is the songwriting. The loss of that on this mainstream label release is a bigger problem than the slick production and pop hooks that came in. If that had remained, this really wouldn't or shouldn't have been such an outrage to so many people.
But hey judge for yourself. Here is the video for "The Moneymaker" and here is the video for "Silver Lining". And please try to be objective and not be biased in favor of the band just because you may find Jenny Lewis or any other member of the band attractive.