CC200: Pedro The Lion's "Bad Diary Days"

We have to listen very hard now to David Bazan as he sings this spare heartbreaker to hear in his voice the overtones of Lou Barlow that caused us to believe that "Bad Diary Days" was a Sebadoh track when we first heard it. This happened as we were cruising northward through the broadcast range of The University of North Carolina's WXYC in the late summer of 1998, and we were transfixed by the voice. "Bad Diary Days" lays bare the narrator's simple but devastating memory of discovering his lover's infidelity. We also have to listen very hard to notice where those extra two beats cap each progression, because the flow now seems so natural. It's a testament to Mr. Bazan's vivid, direct songwriting that "Bad Diary Days" is so sad sometimes you just don't want to listen to it. Even so, the track, from the flawless Pedro The Lion full-length debut It's Hard To Find A Friend (originally released on Made In Mexico, which folded at the tail-end of the 20th century, then reissued on Jade Tree in 2001), is No. 181 on the list of our 200 most-listened-to tracks, also known as the Clicky Clicky 200.

It wasn't until returning to our brick-oven walk-up in South Phildelphia that summer in 1998 that we had an opportunity to figure out who was behind this entrancing song. The track was being spun on Drexel's WKDU and we got the DJ on the horn, who imparted that the band was called Pedro The Lion (at first we thought he said Pager The Lion, which confused the hell out of us, so we asked him to repeat it, which he did with Albertsonian intonation). Of course Mr. Bazan took his band to greater heights over the ensuing eight years until the Pedro The Lion moniker was formally retired in 2006. Bazan continues to record and tour, and his first record as David Bazan's Black Cloud (which is almost as awesome a band name as J Mascis + The Fog, but not quite) will be released on Barsuk in early 2009. More details about the record and its contents are posted at the Wikipedia page for Bazan here. Read all Clicky Clicky 200 posts right here.

Pedro The Lion -- "Bad Diary Days" -- It's Hard To Find A Friend
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[buy It's Hard To Find A Friend from Jade Tree right here]

CC200: The Mendoza Line's "The Kissing Rocks" With Radio Banter

[Photo: "William H. West's Great Achievement, The Storming of San Juan Hill." copyright 1899. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.] This live recording, on which the defunct Mendoza Line is augmented by Misra labelmates Summer Hymns, is from the preliminary, Salty Records version of the band's 2004 odds and sods collection Sent Down To AA. More importantly, it is #60 on the Clicky Clicky 200 [read all CC200 posts right here]. Well, that's probably not more important, but it is germane, as it is the reason we discuss the tune today. The climax of the song -- one of seven the band logs in the aforementioned collection of our favorite 200 tracks -- softly collapses into a loose pile of quiet undulating guitar lines after hypnotizing for several minutes. Such collapse did not have far to fall, as the airy layers of guitar, bass, organ, glockenspiel and murmured lyrics are at times just barely held aloft by accented drumming and maracas. Plus, as history has shown, The Mendoza Line existed in an almost constant state of falling apart.

The interview clip that overtops this recording's opening seconds was taken from an appearance on radio broadcaster WMBR on April 24, 2003 prior to a club performance the same night. In fact, we were the one who captured the interview off the airwaves and handed it to the curator of Sent Down To AA [thusly we earned one of our several cherished liner note thank-yous]. The entire interview is hysterical. Our favorite quip is band fronter Tim Bracy's response to the radio host's [we believe it was Keith Sawyer of the Thursday edition of the Breakfast Of Champions show] question "When did [The Mendoza Line] first become a band to you guys?" Mr. Bracy's response: "I don't know. We're hoping it'll kick in tonight."

For those of you keeping score at home, the actual Misra release of Sent Down To AA has a different running order than the Salty Records version. Misra's official release includes a demo of "Under Radar," a live, country-fried version of "Dollars To Donuts," "Trading Deadline," "Whatever Happened To You?" and "The Kids Are Out." Those tracks displaced "Closer To Me" and "Make It Art" from the Salty running order. There is a further curiosity in the Misra liner notes, which state "more Mendoza Line curios and anomalies may be heard on It'll Be The Same Without You: AA Vol. #2. To our knowledge that collection was never released, although it may have been compiled. We've sent an email to see what we can learn about it. It is possible that the collection was rolled into a rumored Mendoza Line box set that never came to fruition. Which is a shame.

Other trivia? The band first three records were released on Kindercore, and said records are out of print, and if you want to buy a copy of Like Someone In Love right now at Amazon.com it will cost you $55.50. Thing is, just the title track is almost worth that amount of money. But we digress. "On Stage Dying" is a phenomenal ballad, it's #60 on the Clicky Clicky 200, and we've posted it below. The Mendoza Line disbanded early last year after the dissolution of the marriage of Bracy and co-fronter and songwriter Shannon McArdle. Ms. McArdle released a nice debut solo collection, The Summer Of The Whore, last month on Bar/None.

The Mendoza Line -- "The Kissing Rocks (Live, w/ Summer Hymns)" -- Sent Down To AA (Salty Records version)
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[buy Mendoza Line records from Newbury Comics right here]

The Mendoza Line: Internets | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

CC200: The Dambuilders' "Shrine," A Nationwide Tangent

Melodic bass, crisp snare beats and blasts of guitar and violin. The Dambuilders' "Shrine" has everything (except, as Wikipedia points out, a traditional verse-chorus structure) and the erstwhile Boston-based quartet proves it in its first eight bars. Which is why "Shrine" is #43 in the Clicky Clicky 200. The Dambuilders formed in Hawaii 1989 and broke out in 1994 on the strength of the full-length Encendedor and various strong, contemporaneous singles and compilation appearances. There were quite a few hot numbers on Encendedor (see "Colin's Heroes," "Smell"), but "Shrine" may be the most immediate. The lyric recounts fondly a romance of the Lane Myer/Monique Junet variety, wherein indie rock provides the common ground for the couple. The real grabber of the number, even more so than the exceedingly hooky melody, is the big dynamic changes, particularly that first crushing wall of guitar and violin. There is a very nice bridge section accentuated by pizzicato violin and then fuzz bass. And then the song closes down neatly, making you wish it was at least twice as long. That's "Shrine." It's #43 on The Clicky Clicky 200; read other CC200 posts right here.

It is notable that long before indie luminary Sufjan Stevens release the state-themed albums Greetings From Michigan and Illinois, The Dambuilders launched an effort to write a song for each of the American states (including the stellar "Colorado" and the zesty instrumental "Montana"). We do not know whether the band ever completed all 50 tunes, but we do know that 15 made their way to CD on the 1996 Australian release God Dambuilders Bless America, which we'd love to track down (and which we are surprised to find recently referenced at The Phoenix). What is a shame is that Encendedor is not available at EMusic or ITunes; the latter digital music storefront does have the subsequent albums Ruby Red and Against The Stars, which were released on East/West after The Dambuilders were scooped up by the major label system. Of the Dambuilders alumni, violinist Joan Wasserman has the most prominent profile currently, as her Joan As Policewoman musical project has been well-received. Bassist and singer Dave Derby has charted a solo career under his own named and the moniker Brilliantine, and we enjoyed his 2003 set Even Further Behind. Mr. Derby's latest project, Gramercy Arms, features Dambuilders drummer Kevin March and former Luna guitarist Sean Eden.

The Dambuilders -- "Shrine" -- Encendedor
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[buy Dambuilders records at MusicStack here]

The Dambuilders: Internets | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

CC200: Human Television's "Look At Who You're Talking To"

[Update Forthcoming] The second installment of the Clicky Clicky 200 [first post here] jumps ahead 112 spots to 86, where we find Human Television's "Look At Who You're Talking To," the title-ballad to the Brooklyn-based (by way of Gainesville and Philly) quintet's 2006 set. It's about a relationship-ending confrontation. This is sad. And it does a neat job closing out the album by repurposing much of the lyrics from the delightfully upbeat preceding track "In Front Of The House" [video here].

"Look At Who You're Talking To" also has pretty amazing string arrangements, and such strong arrangements aren't something we'd typically assume an indie kid could pull off. The liner notes to the record state that they were the work of a fellow named John Fields. That's a fairly un-Googlable name, but a search turns up hits for a Fields who also worked on records from Clay Aiken, those ubiquitous teen commerce-tainment robots Jonas Brothers and Mandy Moore. So perhaps the guy is a big deal? He can certainly arrange some string. Such arrangement may also have been influenced by Look At Who You're Talking To producer Chris Zane. His is a name with which we're distinctly more familiar. You've heard Mr. Zane's work on records from Asobi Seksu, Les Savy Fav and Tokyo Police Club. One day perhaps we'll be able to track down info about how "Look At Who You're Talking To" was put together production-wise. In the meantime, just sit back and enjoy the poignant track. It is unclear from Human Television's MySpace casa whether the band has plans to release another record, and it lists no upcoming performances. Hopefully, the act will spring new music upon us soon.

Human Television -- "Look At Who You're Talking To" -- Look At Who You're Talking To
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[buy Human Television records from Newbury Comics right here]

Human Television: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Clicky Clicky 200 Steps Into The Light With Archers Of Loaf

We feel our proclivity to tie posts to a news peg has kept us from simply writing about our favorite songs. So herewith we inaugurate a new series called The Clicky Clicky 200. The series casts light upon the 200 tracks that we've listened to most, as tabulated by ITunes. Point of interest: the barrier to entry as we start the series is 27 plays, which is the amount received by track 200, The Association's 1967 pop hit "Windy," a favorite of the missus.

But we're not going to go in any set order, so the first tune we'll write about is actually #198, '90s noise-pop heroes Archers Of Loaf's "Step Into The Light." The song opened the North Carolina-based quartet's sophomore collection Vee Vee, which we were fortunate enough to receive on vinyl for free as part of the spoils of being music director in college. At the time of its release "Step Into The Light" seemed like a departure for the band, whose first album and early singles were less introspective and a touch more straightforward. "Step Into The Light," by contrast patiently plods like a long, measured series of breaths. Fronter Eric Bachmann (now a solo artist) quietly pleads "step into the light, so tired of being in the dark and all alone," but the real grabber is bassist Matt Gentling's mournful holler in the background "step into the ligggggggghhhhhhht!" Bob Weston's wonderfully naturalistic production renders the guitars bristly and the drums crisply boxy (seems like an oxymoron, here it's not), but the composition itself is a slow, airy trudge. Compared to the early Archers Of Loaf material the track borders on cinematic. We're posting the album version and a live recording below; you can also grab it and a whole mess of other free Archers downloads over at the band's Last.fm page. Incidentally, we predict an Archers reunion in the next couple of years, maybe a festival one-off or something. For now, "Step Into The Light" is #198 in The Clicky Clicky 200.

Archers Of Loaf -- "Step Into The Light" -- Vee Vee
Archers Of Loaf -- "Step Into The Light (Live)" -- Tramps, NYC, 26 Nov 1996
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[buy Archers Of Loaf records from Newbury Comics right here]

Archers Of Loaf: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr