BigYawn

When the Pixies(312) first came back earlier this decade, it was a pretty exciting time. This was a band no one thought even talked anymore, much less talked about playing together again. But after the drugs, and the fighting, we all thought it was just four adults who came to realize they actually liked playing together. By the time the tour was over they had even recorded a new –albeit terrible –  song, and rumors were rampant about what comes next.

Sadly, in the end it appears, like so much in this world, the Pixies are in it for the cash. Their recent world tour, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their “best” album Doolittle, seemed to be all about cashing in on some of the hype from their reunion. I can’t blame them for this, and I wouldn’t say they are mailing any performances in, but it still seems odd for a band that came from a very different aesthetic background.

Mew(311) ended up opening this show, the second of a two night stand in DC. I think this was random, as Mew was on tour, and likely needed a DC date. Regardless I was happy to see the high pitched Danes. Their music is hard to qualify, but if you can imagine a mix of  70’s Moody Blues/King Crimson sung by a falsetto with an indie rock vibe, you’d be coming close. They are quirky, but when they make the right mix of anthemic prog, it really is something to listen to.

As for the Pixies, well, as I said, they don’t mail it in. I have to wonder where they came up with some of their material, especially some of the stuff on Doolittle. I mean “I Bleed?” “Crackity Jones?” Just some weird shit. But also a few of my very favorite indie rock songs of all time in “Wave of Mutilation” and “Monkey Gone to Heaven.” And they played them all, including assorted B-sides. They ended the night with an encore of other classics.

Aside from some unnecessary movie visuals, including a really boring one that played right before they came on stage, their set was great. Kim’s bass was a little high in the mix, which is saying something given the loudness of the guitars. One thing I noticed was how fat Frank Black has become. I know it’s part of his persona, but damn, lay off the deli platters backstage you know?

I’m not sure I will see the Pixies if they tour again without new material. I only saw this show because the economic principles involved allowed me to buy two tickets for less than the cost of one. I need to see some effort here, not just another go round to make some cash. If something new does come about however, I would be amongst the first in line.

A lot of things scare me about the picture at the left, of Decade 8(310), one of South Jersey’s top cover bands. A lot. What disturbs me the most? Not the guy who sort of looks like Bowie with the white tie. Not the middle guy who oddly resembles CC Deville playing guitar for Flock of Seagulls in a terrible suit. Nor is it the guy all the way to the right who is obviously photoshopped in. No, what disturbs me the most about this picture is the guy wearing a cumber-bun on his head, yeah, he has a wedding ring. Need I say more?

I wanted this review to be about the Millville High Class of ‘99 10 year reunion. The highs, the lows, more lows, all the good stuff. But as much as I, and everyone else, can trash Jersey, and talk about the people who have three kids, the ones who never left home who are working in the local prison, etc., as easy as that is, it isn’t fair. And why not? Because 95% of us come from that same place. Whatever state, whatever suburb, and in many cases, whatever city you came from, lots of people never left. They buy a house down the street from their parents, they make do with or without college. Life goes on. Yes, I moved away to the “big city.” And so did many of you. But as much as I love the convenience, and the urban lifestyle of living where I do, sometimes I wonder if I am really any better off. Cause more often that not, that guy working at the local prison? Yeah he probably makes more than you, and is going to be retired at 55. And if he can avoid alcoholism and getting raped in some sort of prison riot, he’s gonna be just fine.

I will however end this review with a few unkind words for Decade 8, one of the worst cover bands ever. For one, don’t call yourself Decade 8 and play Shakira. The math doesn’t add up. And two, whatever you call yourselves, have some respect and do not ever play “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” again. I am fully in favor of any law that allows people singing or listening to this song to be shot on the spot. Officially the Worst. Song. Ever.

It is shame my memories from this evening are largely centered around how God awful a place the Rookery is. As a relative — so to speak — of DC douche-bag establishment Smith Point, I had looooooow expectations. They were met, and then some.

Collared shirts all over, spilled beers, high heels, spilled beers, 23 year old complete assholes, spilled beer, overly-dressed-up-cleavage-popping-out ho-bags that would just as soon take it up the butt by some low level senator at a Christmas party than kiss their blue-blooded grandmother. And spilled beer.

I’m ranting now, about what I have no idea.  Such is my hatred of this place. With luck, one of these pricks will burn it down in some sort of James Spader via Sixteen Candles act of blatant ignorance. I need to move away from DC.

Why this is all a shame, is that the Remaindermen(309) may be one of the best cover bands I’ve ever heard. They didn’t cover crappy 80’s music, or Shakira, or Big and Rich. Instead it was Bowie and Bloc Party. And more music I liked, but sadly can’t remember due to the ridiculousness above. Yes, U2 and the Black Crowes were there too, but that is hardly as bad as what most bands include as staples. Cliche maybe, but not bad. All I know about these guys is that they are UVA Law school buddies. I doubt the Rookery is their general scene, and I honestly think most of the trouble left soon after they started. Some dickhead’s 25th birthday party. I have no idea how often they play, or even what city they live in, but if the Remaindermen come to a bar near you — however douchey it may be — give them a chance.

As it turns out, my girlfriend, who happens to be from South Jersey — a whole different state than say, the Jersey Shore — has a high school chum playing Frankie Avalon in the touring production of Jersey Boys. We were lucky enough to get some great seats to see the show in DC, thanks to our hook-up.

Graham Fenton, the chum in question, was pretty dead on in hitting all things Frankie. In fact, the whole cast(308) was pretty impressive. I now understand how this show has been getting rave reviews for so long. While I would not consider myself a general fan of musicals per se, the back story, and the fact that the songs were all pop hits, made it hard not to like even for those of us whom Oklahoma puts to sleep. And special props to Graham, not because I know him, but because hitting all of Avalon’s high notes has to be exhausting.

Talking with Graham, he said Frankie has declared the musical 90% accurate. I might disagree after having done some research. Some major characters in the history of the Four Seasons are virtually left out, and others were focused on more for their dramatic impact than their real life connections. This is fine considering we’re talking about Broadway, and not the Hallmark Movie Channel.

While not in DC anymore, if you get a chance to see Jersey Boys someplace else, do it.

Being on the East coast does allow for some lucky moments. Getting to see the Wrens(307) over the last five years being one of them.

Poor But Sexy(306) got lucky on this one, let’s face it. The DC band still has a way to go before anyone can see them as more then Steely Dan-styled indie rock. That might appeal to someone, but that someone is not me.

As for the Wrens, well, this may seem like a cop out, but I truely believe they say it best themselves. From their website and unedited:

The Wrens’ Authorized Biography (of sorts)
The wrens get a call in 1989 off their first demo asking if they want to open for comeback band - The Fixx. The catch is that they must sell 1000 tickets. The wrens fail to sell even 6 tickets and sadly, the Fixx cancel. The ‘80s draw to a close.

The wrens get a gig as the house band on the on Cape May/Delaware Ferry. The wrens later get fired after performing the Pixies’ “debaser” to the mostly senior citizen crowd.

The wrens move to a house in Secaucus, NJ. (The wrens will continue to live together and record at home for the next 10 years)

The wrens make their first 7”, Low (1993), and send a copy to Camille Sciara at Grass records/Dutch East India. She offers a deal over the phone, faxes a contract and they are signed in one day - becoming label mates and friends with Brainiac, Toadies and others….

The wrens issue first full length, Silver (1994), to surprising and wonderful critical acclaim.

The wrens’ first tour’s first show is in Omaha, Nebraska playing to an overwhelming five-person crowd that includes Robb, Conor, and Todd of the as-yet-unfounded Saddle Creek label/scene (Conor and Todd of Bright Eyes and the Faint respectively). The wrens and the creek become friends, and over the next few years play many shows together, have many sleepovers, and later issue a split 7″ w/ Park Ave on their Saddle Creek label.

Wrens continue to tour domestically & in Europe through 1995 and begin work on follow-up lp.

Grass records is bought from Dutch East India by insane, grudge-bearing millionaire and Chinese food aficionado, Alan Melzter, to acquire the wrens - now the label’s flagship band. The wrens release their second full length, Secaucus (1996), for Meltzer’s revamped Grass to even more wonderful critical review.

Halfway into first tour supporting Secaucus, the wrens are told that if they do not sign their ‘big buck record contract’ all promotion for Secaucus will be stopped. The wrens, frowning on strong-arm tactics, do not re-sign and as promised, all promotion (including support for a pending tour of Europe with Brainiac) is pulled. The head of the record company, infuriated, commences layoffs of involved record company personnel and vows that “the next band to walk through that door will be made famous - at any cost”. The next band through the door is Creed. Grass Records becomes Wind Up Records. Creed becomes famous at any cost.

The Wrens ditch their really-way-too-big new york law firm representation and spend second half of 1996 and most of 1997 in hilarious courtship ritual with various labels through new attorney.

In the meantime, the wrens release an ep, Abbott 1135 (1997) for Camille’s new label, Ten 23, and more critical riches follow. The wren’s music is used in several MTV programs, some independent films and a handful of compilation cd’s. And in 1998, they are asked to perform opening night of 1998 World’s Fair, EXPO ‘98, in Lisbon, Portugal.

1998: Interscope Records A&R on hearing the Abbott 1135 ep, continues hilarious courtship ritual. Sadly, A&R gets laid off in ugly corporate merger before signing the wrens. Happily though, A&R later emerges at competitor label and signs the strokes.

1999: The wrens go into hiding to write/ record next record for friends, richard & stephanie reines’ Drive Thru Records. In 2000, Drive Thru cements distribution & money deal with MCA.

Spring 2002: the wrens emerge with a new full length, the Meadowlands. And wary of more involvement with another major, happily decide to release the Meadowlands in a partnership with good friend, Cory Brown’s Absolutely Kosher Records in the Spring of 2003.

July 2002: the wrens throw drunken hoe-down to celebrate final completion of the Meadowlands. Party highlights include erasure of all Meadowlands multi-track master tapes.
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And that’s pretty much where it ended, minus the random east coast show, until recently. Their site has a lot of details on what is to come in 2010. Needles to say, this show was awesome, and loud. And awesome. A true example of guys making music cause they like to, and keeping their day jobs. Indie bands take note…

It isn’t off you see bands singing in foreign languages at the Black Cat. It really isn’t often that you see bands singing in different languages at the Black Cat within three days of each other. And when the languages are Hebrew and Russian? I knew that “2012″ movie had some merits!

No offense to Fools Gold(302), but tonight was all about the Russians. And they were everywhere. I only saw a handful of people speaking English, and the place looked near packed. I guess it makes sense, given that this is DC, and the ex-Cold War spies recognized DC has nicer winters than Moscow. And, the place was chock-full of Russian stereotypes: cash, blonds and bling. It didn’t matter what the dudes were wearing, (t-shirts, sweats, Armani) they had ridiculous shoes. And by ridiculous I don’t necessarily mean nice looking, just very noticeable.

True story, I once worked at a place selling newsletters to various entities, and one was the Russian Defense Attache. On top of always coming to the office and paying in cash (and hitting on my boss) the Russians had the weirdest voice mail greetings. I left a VM about “having the stuff they wanted,” and promptly got called by the FBI to chat about what I was giving the Russians. And this was in 2000! Who said the Cold War was over?

Ru Parasan(304) seemed like straightforward Russian rock. Due to parking issues (do the Russians all drive separately?) I only caught a few songs from them, and can’t say I was either blown away or disappointed.

Mumiy Troll(305) on the other hand, were pretty memorable. Front man Ilia Lagutenko is obviously the driving force and biggest personality behind the band. He moves around the stage almost in a prance, and his lyrics are sung in an almost whimsical style. While I do not understand Russian, it was easy to like the songs as they were very hook heavy, and the crowd was most definitely in love with Ilia and the band.

Besides Gorky Park and T.A.T.U. I was unfamiliar with Russian music in general, so this was an interesting treat. Especially because this qualifies as “indie” music in Russia. At one point Ilia played from what looked to be a full sized melodica, something I had never seen before. The band is also behind a lot of “left” causes in the motherland as well, making them a natural success to American ears. And take it from someone whose attendance at the show likely added another page to his FBI record, definitely a band worth checking out.

Let’s talk about a train wreck. This was one of the shows this year where I knew almost nothing about the bands involved. If I had, I might have thought twice about going.

I walked in while Local Natives(301) were on stage, and I was immediately hit by their resemblance to a full-out offshoot of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir, circa 1975. The mustaches, the cut-off sweatshirts, the hair, all of it spoke to bath houses and Harvey Milk. The music wasn’t half bad , as their three or four part harmonies reminded of of some of Band of Horses more out there material. (Ed. Note: I have no idea what the sexual persuasions are of Local Natives, the views here were simply describing their appearance and are not to be taken as slander in any way shape or form)

Fools Gold(302), on the other hand, did not remind me of anything quite as nice. I haven’t the slightest idea what exactly this band was going for, but the end result was more than just a little strange. Another large group of men — eh? — the band seemed to be influenced by various world music artists, David Byrne among them. Oddly, the lead singer wears a white suit as well, long after Labor day I might add. One major difference from, say, David Byrne, is that all the band’s songs are sung in Hebrew. Something you just don’t see everyday.

Besides that, they more or less sounded like a bad jam band. Obviously, that made me happy.

When I saw that this show sold out, I was a little confused. Mostly because I had no idea who the Hell Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros(303) were. As it turns out, this is all some weird made-up side-project of the lead singer from Ima Robot. This Edward Sharpe character is supposed to be some sort of spiritual leader. Yeah, I hate this stuff. And I hate this put together band of awkward hippes. “Edward” came out on stage, proclaiming to want to make love to everyone in the room. Everyone on stage seemed drunk or high, and they all danced around like the dirty hippies they are.

There must have been at least 10 people on stage, and while I didn’t like the music much, or the stupid shtick, what bothered me most is that even though the band got on stage over 20 minutes late and they still took 10 minutes in between each song to ramble on and decide what song they were going to play next. This act got old very, very fast. The music might have been better than I remembered it, but I was so overcome with the stage antics I couldn’t think straight. Still have absolutely no idea how the show sold out, or why all these people were so excited to see them. Damn cults.

(Ed. Note: While the above review would suggest I dislike the city of San Francisco, gay men and hippies, quite the contrary. I only hate hippies.)

You are forgiven if you aren’t familiar with Slumberland Records, but that doesn’t excuse you from not liking the music put out by the label. Oldies like the Aislers Set and Velocity Girl, and newbies like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart(21) are nearly impossible not to like, at least in parts if not completely. The formerly based in DC now Oakland record label is celebrating 20 years in the business, and doing a couple of shows to really celebrate. Unfortunately, none of the above bands participated, at least not in the DC version. I mean, the bands we got were ok, but, I had hopes for a special guest or two. Does this make me a bad person?

Nord Express(295) were old school Slumberland, and I only caught a little bit of their short set. Seven bands means 20 or 30 minute sets, tops. But Mike Schulman himself sat in on a song. Oh yeah, he kinda runs the label.

Brown Recluse(296) were next, and sort of sounded like the band from that movie, “That Thing You Do.” While not entirely a compliment, they were ok to listen to, and I appreciated their joking nature, and the trumpet. Very underused instrument outside of ska bands.

Frankie Rose and the Outs(297), playing their first show ever, apparently, were next. Frankie is late of Vivan Girls and Crystal Stilts(153). I like this band even less than the other two she was in. Too much chanting and awkward reverb. I appreciate it was their first show, but, ugg.

The somewhat recently back together Lorelei(298) then came on. Aside from the awkward vocals, their short set rocked. Their combination of straight out rock guitars and hooks make them impossible not to like. Lots of energy, which was also a nice boost after Frankie and co.

The also reformed Ropers(299) were next, and I admit, I didn’t know one thing about them. But, after listening to a couple of their songs they might have been my favorite act of the night. Apparently the guys got together just for these reunion shows, which is admirable. Sadly though, I may never get a chance to hear more from these fuzzy power-popsters.

Closing out the night for me was Pants Yell!(300), who play more power pop, though their music was heavier on the bass than anything else. I left before Crystal Stilts(153), cause, well, see my review on them.

No surprise, the night was great, and filled with bands with dorky front men with glasses. When I mentioned this to my GF, she said the only difference between me and them was that I was taller. I hope that means that someday I can record a record for Slumberland. This show was also a large milestone on my way to conquering the world, er, seeing 333 bands this year. Show #100 and band #300. It almost seems real now. Almost.

If you were a viral young man in the early to mid 90’s who was interested in alt-rock women, you either longed for Dolores O’Riordan or Shirley Manson. Sure you could add PJ Harvey, Courtney Love or Liz Phair to the mix, but only if you liked having sex with corpses, wanted to catch an STD, or enjoyed a woman discussing her uterus as she squeezed your nuts.

As I was saying, you had two choices, both of them were on the thin side, both had hot accents — Scottish and Irish, rrrrowrrr — and both were apparent bad-asses. As the years went on, Manson and Garbage continued to make edgier alt-rock, and Manson lives in LA and even acts now. And she did this ad for PETA. Dolores and the Cranberries(294) made some good music, and she ended up doing some solo stuff, got married (to Duran Duran’s old manager) and had kids. Oh, and she lives in a log cabin in Canada. Where am I going with this? I think I might have been too innocent to realize Dolores isn’t really all that bad-ass at all, her band just makes her seem that way. Read on to see my point…

Firs off, one has to wonder how exactly Griffin House(293) got the opening slot for the Cranberries’ US reunion tour. He is, after all, a “guy with a guitar.” At first I thought it was only this show, but it is actually the entire tour. After looking at the full schedule, it seems this tour is clearly geared toward the older crowd, as the venues in every city they play are not your average rock clubs, but more the theaters that are easily accessible. Take Ramshead Live for example, the Baltimore venue the tour hit first. It is pretty much a Disneyland for adults, with multiple levels, a ton of bars and specialty drink areas, and some actual stadium seating, if you are into that thing. I can’t say I am, or into any of it really, but there is obviously a market for it.

Getting back to Mr. House, he obviously appeals to this type of a crowd. Which likely explains why he’s in it for the long haul. I feel like a more junior alt-rock band would have suited this tour a little better, but what do I know.

Seeing the Cranberries live for the first time was interesting. It is a “Hits” tour, so I pretty much heard every song I know, plus a handful of others, including a couple from Dolores‘ solo albums. The promo language for this tour suggests they will be playing some new songs they have written, but we did not hear any. Maybe they are writing as they tour?

Regardless, it was a neat experience, and I use the word neat because it fits most appropriately. I got to hear song songs I really liked live, which was great, good clean fun had by all. But the performance itself was a bit flat, as the rest of the band just kind of stood there and played their parts without even smiling most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I understand Dolores is meant to be the focal point, and she did her best to be — the fact she is a mom and still looks like that and has the vocal range she does is amazing, but as a whole, the lack of energy on stage combined with the note for note playing of the songs makes me wonder why the band got back together in the first place. Now, to be fair, the Cranberries‘ music has never had a lot of “rock out” moments. Most of their singles have been nice pop songs. Yes they are from Ireland, and yes their lead singer usually has a punk hair cut and army boots on, but with some exceptions their music is pretty tame. And maybe that is the realization I came to while seeing this show. Sure, “Zombie” and “Salvation” are rockers, but they are still in the Cranberries’ style: unoffensive pop-rock.

I’m not trying to say this was a bad show, not by means. I enjoyed myself, but in a nostalgic kind of way. I have a hard time seeing the Cranberries as relevant anymore, though they are still far more current than say, Reo Speedwagon. It will be interesting to see what comes next for the band, if they do write more music or simply maintain a career as a touring reunion act every few years. Worth seeing either way I’d think, but more because of their history as opposed to their future.

So, for those of you who followed Dolores and not Shirley, this doesn’t invalidate those years of fantasizing over that Rolling stone cover, it just means you are just a little softer than you thought. And she should have done that photo with a fox carcass.

I read something once that said you can’t blame emo fans for liking the bands they do, because they are trying to like good music, they just aren’t quite there yet. This, I find,  is a very true statement.

There are good emo bands, and there are bad emo bands. We can argue civilly over what defines good and bad, but if you are in your 30’s like me, it should be pretty obvious who belongs where. For those of you not keeping score at home, emo is a genre of rock/punk music that by definition means  “emotive.” Yet, there other key identifiers. Does their audience wear a lot of mascara, regardless of their sex? Emo. Does a member of the band, often not the lead singer, scream a lot? Emo. Are the lyrics about pain and suffering, often regarding a failed relationship or death of a loved one? Emo. There are other identifiers, but I’m trying to paint a picture here.

So, I’ll say it, I think it is more than ok to like Brand New(292). Their style of emo, especially on record, is very unique, and their songwriting skills are tops among their peers. The band writes very intricate and complex pieces, that even a layman can see have real depth. The openers on this show? Not so much.

Crimes in Stereo(290) were very generic. They seemed like a group of young guys who should start thinking about playing different types of music. Listen guys, there is still time. Yes, as a more indie rock band you will play much smaller clubs to far less people, but at least you have a chance to build a following the right way, rather than open for bigger emo acts at large clubs you yourself will have no chance of ever filling on your own. I’m just saying.

Thrice(291) used to be a big name in these here emo circles, but not surprisingly they have started to write more straightforward, dare I say even bluesy, rock and roll. They apparently just came out with an new album, and according to the band, they played a number of songs off that album during their set. This makes sense, as the band is jumping ship before the H.M.S. Emo hits that iceberg. I can’t say their new style of music was all that great, but at least they are trying. I still resent the band for all those damn MTV2 commercials I had to sit through when I used to try to stay up and watch Subterranean on Sunday nights, but at least they are showing some diversification

Brand New were the obvious best in class for the evening. The band does not tour often, and the sold out crowd was very much all there for them, jailbate and all. I even braved a cold and rainy night for the chance to score a ticket outside — which I did — just to see them. True to form, they were loud, dark, and impressive. They played almost equal amounts from their last three albums, and included two from their debut, which is about as many as you’ll ever get. The crowd sang along with every single song, including the material off the recently released album, Daisy. This doesn’t surprise me, as these emo kids are nothing if not dependably obsessed. Hey, I wished I knew all the songs too, but, you know, I have a life.

My one complaint is that lead singer — and main song-writer — Jesse Lacey used an effects mic for a lot of the songs. This mic in effect shredded his voice, making it easier to yell and scream without actually shredding his voice. I get this, and understand why he uses it, as it is a long tour. But I felt he used it far too often, including it on songs that sound much better when he uses his unaugmented voice. This is a minor complaint, but it did effect a few songs I really like, so I feel the need to mention it here.

There is talk of this new album being about “things ending…” which has led folks to wonder about the future of the band. If this ominousness is true, and they called it quits today, I would be happy knowing I finally got to see them. But hopefully they will continue on and keep working to define their own sound, whatever over-used genre it might best fit in.