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?

Gaslight Anthem; Heartless Bastards @ Webster Hall

The Gaslight Anthem; Heartless Bastards; Good Old War
@ Webster Hall
New York, NY - March 27, 2009

This is probably the first and last time I ever go to a show with the expressed purpose of seeing a suburban punk band. The Gaslight Anthem are really, in essence, nothing more than that: a typical, mundane, Warped Tour band. But band founder Brian Fallon found a niche - he wraps the sound around a Bruce Springsteen-inspired aesthetic. This shows up in two ways: the penchant for anthem-heavy choruses and the nostalgic lyrics of a simple, blue-collar time somewhere in the swamps of Jersey. This is what happens when one of these mall punk bands comes from the Garden State, instead of the Midwest or California. And more or less, the shtick works - the guy means it, and the songs are by and large irresistible, most noticeably the triumphant title track to The '59 Sound, a cut that encapsulates Fallon's story in a nutshell. The rest of the work is more than a lyrical homage to the Boss, and is at times a littany of the music Fallon likes to champion, even if he doesn't display any kinship to it (Miles Davis?). The funny moments were when the suburbanite crowd threw half-assed middle fingers in the air, make half-assed attempts at crowd surfing, and were pretty silent at Fallon's name dropping of the Cold War Kids (proof right there that this kid has more cred than his fans).

One hopes that in addition to enjoying the fluff of the Gaslight Anthem, some kids in the crowd came away from the Heartless Bastards set as changed people, about to embark on a journey through rock like they never would have expected. With no pretense, no mission other than to play what she knows, Erika Wennerstrom took the stage and displayed, along with her backing band, how she has taken it to the next level. The HB's were a decent if ho-hum outfit a few years ago, but they have come roaring back (is this what a move from Cincinatti to Austin does?). The Mountain is a barnburner, and it seems to have elevated the stature of the previous work. Erika's voice is impeccable and gripping, her revamped band are masterful rock n' roll musicians, and the songs are both epic and pastoral at the same time. This is a band you'd want to travel the roads of America with. But be careful - she seems like a nice gal, but with those arms, Erika could punch your teeth out.

Good Old War are a Philadelphia folk-pop trio who sound like Fleet Foxes - consistent, pleasant - but unlike that other band, there doesn't seem to be one stand-out track to make you take real notice. Still, no harm no foul.

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.

Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2008: Part 3

Fair Game
The show was canceled in the middle of the year and it will be missed for two things: 1. The host, Faith Salie and 2. the music. Fair Game served as a live library of a lot of the great bands of our time, from Camera Obscura and the National to Clare & the Reasons and Magnetic Fields. How the Black Lips got on there I will never know, but I do know I miss Faith a whole hell of a lot :(

Flogging Molly
"Requiem for a Dying Song" and a reinvigorating live show at Pier 54 brought one of the marquee bands of the first half of this decade back from the bog and it felt very good.

Frightened Rabbit
"The Greys" and reports of solid live work were more than enough for this budding band from across the pond to make a mark in 2008.

The Gaslight Anthem
At the end of this year in review, you'll see a list of honorable mentions, pretty much all of which are about one songs with no real backstory. One of a few exceptions to this list, a band that gets a special extra bit of attention is the Gaslight Anthem for the title track from The '59 Sound. Take everything you like about anthem-heavy rock 'n roll, throw away all the excess and dead-eyes suburban inanity, and you have one of the great songs of the decade.

Laura Gibson
Sweet, wonderful Laura Gibson stole the show and pretty much all of the winter in early 2008 with her folk guitar, touching voice, and melancholic lyrics. She could have done near stole my heart too if wasn't for all the competition.

Sebastien Grainger
Right up there with the Gaslight Anthem and Maps of Norway, the one time one-half of DFA 1979 offered up one song that was enough to leave a lasting mark on the year and the decade. "American Names" is going to be one of those songs you give to your kids right off, to show 'em what it's like to make rock n' roll. And the best part of this very American song, is how Canadian the author is. Whatever "how Canadian" means. But oh yeah, he puts on a hell of a live show with some other songs to back it all up.

Meet The Gaslight Anthem...and Their "'59 Sound"

Meet them.

Leave it to Side One Dummy to do it again. That label has a knack for finding bands with a distinct alternative or retro sound and promoting them right into the mix of the mediocre mall-rock, douche-bag bands that dominate modern rock radio in the suburbs of America. They basically like to teach the kids out there what it's like to listen to real bands with something to offer. They did it with Flogging Molly and now they may have done it again with the Gaslight Anthem.

Yes, these Jersey boys cite Springsteen, but they also sound like the Replacements and the song itself - and it pains me to write this - is much akin to Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69". It even sounds like it's from the 80's. And that Adams song was an 80's song that sounded like an 80's anthem-rock song but was about a by-gone period. But it's ok - that wasn't the worst song in the world and neither is this one. In fact, this is one of the best songs of the year.