The Sonic Parthenon Playlist: Early 2010

Acrylics - "All of the Fire"

Right as 2009 wound down, the last new jingle I heard that I responded to was this local act that I thought was a pure Deli Magazine discovery but turned out was a Stereogum-prepped hit-to-be (ain't that a modern music phrasing). Reminds me of Fleetwood Mac but likable. There's also this band out there from Los Angeles called Music Go Music who sound like Abba. What is going on?

The Bravery - "Slow Poison"

Big cheese mainstream modern pop-rock...in a good way. I would never sell this to your grandkids as gold but it sure beats the heck out of whatever else is really popular these days. Who is that anyway? What's her name? The blond girl with the grammys that Kanye hated on? Whoseits...

Basia Bulat - Heart of My Own

The LP is not dead! Basia Bulat has constructed another, maybe even stronger, full length album of songs for a winter's night. Particularly listen to "The Shore". Good lord.

Dawes - "When My Time Comes"

The full album listening is hours away but it can no longer wait. The word must be spread - with harmonies as pristine as some thing in nature to fulfill this analogy, and with more than a friendly helping of inspiration from the likes of The Band, here are Dawes and one of those laid back but effervescently powerful numbers. You'd so expect them to be another beard-and-plaid band but they ain't. How about that?

Editors - "Papillon"

Everyone I hear or read in regards to the new Editors record say they sound very different. I don't hear the difference. In fact I continue to hear the band that does Interpol better than Interpol. They put out something good each time, and they do it again with, at the very least, this Factory Records tribute which should not be confused with the Airborne Toxic Event song of the same name.

Hot Chip - One Life Stand

See? Again. Rumors of the album's demise were exaggerated - though not greatly and admittedly eventually will be true...maybe. The resilient boys in the Hot Chip will not give up on the ol' complete documentation of efforts and why should they? Clubbing, by all accounts, would be a dead art form if not for these Brits. The title track alone is enough to merit the love.

The Low Anthem - "Charlie Darwin"

It took a better part of a year to finally give a solid listen to just this one song after hearing show after show via the interweb of this very stark, crisp band. By the end of the year I'll have the whole record down (it took 8 months to finally listen to the entire Fanfarlo record and that turned out delayed gangbusters). As deeply intellectual and heartfelt without pretension as it can get.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Higher Than the Stars"

Not quite ready for another album, the Pains couldn't let this one wait or slip by. A good old fashioned single! It still remains to be seen if this band is a continuous sound or a more varied enterprise but this indicates some consistency and that's very fine for them.

Patrick Thomas - Build Me A City

After catching this chap at Rockwood, I was mightily impressed. The record is fine, especially something called "Spring Street Baby" which is like Randy Newman down in the Big Easy on a Saturday Night.

Willowz - "Destruction"

I've seen Willowz twice. I saw the goods but I was underwhelmed. Something wasn't gelling. Lo and behold, some years on, they are still going. And not only are they going, they have ARRIVED. "Destruction" is a no-fooling-around rock song, just a few minutes in the mess o' glory. Good work kids. You won me.

Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp"

Didn't loathe that first Yeasayer album but I wasn't exactly all over it like the vast majority of the Indie rock world. They were the thinking man's answer to Vampire Weekend (bill buddies once upon a time FYI) but that didn't necessarily mean they were better. Well hold the phone Charlie. Check this out. While large chunks of the accompanying album leave much to be desired, take this song, wrap it up, and send it to everyone you know because already I can't see a better song coming out this year. This is something else. What a wallop. It sounds like the best of their Brooklyn cohorts in MGMT, with whiffs of the Flaming Lips and the previous album's sound to boot. Just a perfect song. Stick up for yourself, son!

Honorable Mentions:

ALO - "Man of the World"
Cute Lepers - "Smart Accessories"
Lightspeed Champion - "Marlene"
Two Door Cinema Club - "Eat That Up, It's Good for You"

Looker, Scott Biram, Others on VIMBY

Carbon/Silicon
The Budos Band
Dappled Cities
The Willowz
And a profile of the First Unitarian Church venue in Philadelphia

Return of Double Giggage: Electric Six, Uncle Monk, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir

Electric Six; The Willowz
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY - November 16, 2007

It could not be resisted. With the previous gig being so early, and the Bowery Ballroom so close, how could a seventh Electric Six show be passed up? Sure, Horton Heat was in town, sure VHS or Beta were doing their own dance-rock thing, sure there were a ton of great gigs in the night but there is only one (or six, rather, or actually when you really think about it, nine or ten) Electric Six. It was well worth going. For possibly the first time in seven reviews, not counting any possible drunken blackouts, Valentine and the gang did "Electric Demons in Love". From the first record, the second track, the one that truly establishes the band as Disco Metal and arguably remains their finest song. Forget "Danger! High Voltage!". This is the track that should have been the hit and should have made this band as big in the U.S.A. as it is in Europe, if not bigger. But speaking of bigness, for the first time in about four or five reviews, the show was not sold out and packed to the gills, and the mosh pit (featuring only some of the regulars) was more subdued for larger portions of the show than previously. Could the U.S.A. Six Success have peaked? Or was everyone home because of the news Valentine broke? That Larry King had died? (Dick did seem actually serious about it but of course as we know now, Larry is alive and well. Cleveland, Hello!) Anyway, this is one of the best, if not the best, Electric Six performance ever reviewed and not just for "Demons". Exuberant, extra saucy highlights also include the new "Dance Pattern", the classic "Dance Epidemic", "I Buy The Drugs", "Future is in the Future", "Improper Dancing", and "Rock n Roll Evacuation", which had Valentine's latest political ramblings, that while New York will have to (probably) pick between its current senator and its former mayor for President, that as poor as that choice is, it's all better than Bush. And finally, after years of ranting by D.V., we got one good, fist-shaking wail of "Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush!" Loved it.

Dude, I don't know what it is about the Willowz man. They look like they should be doing some country bumpkins from hell thing, some Little House on the Prairie meets Black Sabbath type deal, but they really just do garage. Maybe it's the singer's voice? Maybe it's a lack of substantive follow through on the opening licks? I don't know. They aren't that bad, but there is something definitely missing. But kudos to them, they were fun to laugh and dance with in the balcony during the Six set. But word of caution guys: When people in the audience heckle you, do not taunt them and threaten to fight them. It is unbecoming. Especially when you have a charming gal in the band.

Uncle Monk; Scotland Yard Gospel Choir; Used To Be Women; Alec Scott
@ Knitting Factory Old Office
New York, NY - November 16, 2007

So yeah this is the first review of a living, breathing Ramone. The last original Ramone no less. Tommy Erdelyi performed his sincere, fun, and frankly, good, bluegrass duo material. There's not much to wax on about it. It was straight forward mandolin and acoustic bluegrass. By Tommy Ramone. You can't beat that.
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir are a great Chicago bar band that do it in a folky and stompy fashion. Lots of Indie pop sensibilities but with a nod to the more basic elements of good live rock. It's official by the way, Chicago has arrived. The city is now teeming with great bands and its an eclectic brew. The next few years ought to be a lot of fun.
Used to be Women seem to want to be an alt-country, contemporary hard rock mix but they sound more like the latter and it's a little unorganized and not in that good, punk way. It's kind of hollow.
Oh, Alec Scott. Alec, Alec, Alec. You are true to your soul, I'll give you that. It was something to hear this young acoustic soft pop-folk performer talk in length to the audience about his songs, especially when he lectured the crowd about the merits of Michael Moore and how he was inspired to write "The White House Is Corrupt" because of the big man. Now, political debates about Moore aside, the point here is that Mr. Scott talked to the crowd as if the crowd had no idea who Michael Moore is. This was the first clue that young Alec has a lot to learn. Later, he feebly tried to get the crowd to sing along. And then finally, he nervously rambled on about the sound guy, his two bandmates on bass and sax respectively, and himself. And that's just it. He was nervous. I hope. Anyway, this Dave Matthews thing he's going for needs more metaphor and poetry if it's going to work. If you're going for a Woody Guthrie, tell-it-like-it-is approach, just do that. Pick and choose, young friend. Pick and choose.

CMJ Send-Off

The Mooney Suzuki; Margaret & The Nuclear So & So's; The Willowz; The Dansettes; The Changes
@ Rebel
New York, NY - November 4, 2006

I remember three years ago when the Mooney Suzuki sold out the Bowery Ballroom on a Monday night. Now they 3/4's filled the new (and great looking) club Rebel, which is about a fifth or a sixth of the size of the Bowery, on a Saturday night. Take that for what you will. I've seen the Suzuki three times this year now. The first time, very early in the year, had them testing out new songs, and it wasn't THAT bad, but it wasn't great. The second time, not quite at the halfway point of the year, was a super-short set with a brand new bass player and they were still feeling out their new ways. Last night, however, the Suzuki were back in form. Playing mostly their established stuff, they were solid through-and-through. The new songs sounded a lot better, but it will be interesting to see how they turn out on the new record.
Margaret & The Nuclear So & So's were stale indie pop.
The Willowz came on stage looking like Southern Mountain folk, so I expected either hippy dippy music or something like metal. Instead, it turns out they're from California and they play garage rock with a high-pitched singer. Lots of promise but still working on it.
Them nice goils and boys in the Dansettes stunned the hipster crowd with their Motown/soul revival and that's a good thing.
The Changes started off the night and very nearly stole the whole night. Recalling equally The Smiths as well as a bit of the Jam and a tiny bit of the Replacements, these Chicago pop-rockers mixed dance-beat background with solid pop-hooks. But the last time I heard a band sound this good with this kind of music, The Golden Republic, the record turned out to be a completely different story. So there's a caveat for you.