Today's Hotness: Bos Angeles, Hot Molasses

>> Just catching up with the cognoscenti on this one, but am completely bowled over: Bos Angeles, who the hell are you, and why are you awesome? The Boscombe, England-based trio -- comprised of chaps named Dick, Ben and George who apparently "met making ice cream on Bournemouth beach" -- has recorded but a single track, "Beach Slalom," and you can download the thing for free at Bandcamp right here, and we highly recommend you do. The track is melodic and spare in the same way the best, non-synth-oriented early New Order tracks are. Frank Chromewaves did a little legwork and has determined that Bos Angeles is so newly minted that its live debut is still a few weeks away: May 26 in Bournemouth, England on a bill presented by This Scene Isn't Dead. We can't wait to hear more from this act.



>> Somerville-based fivesome Hot Molasses' jittery, smiley power-pop has garnered a number of spins at the Clicky Clicky dojo. The act issued in March a sophomore EP Frankly that isn't easily slotted, and, really, it was the track "Mendoza Lines" from Hot Molasses' debut EP Molassachusetts (awesome name) that made us a firm convert, since we were huge fans of the late great Athens-spawned, Brooklyn-buried indie rock collective The Mendoza Line. Frankly offers a fizzing opener in "Too Many Volts," which touts swerving synth leads and punchy vocal interplay. "YHMT" delivers on the band's promise of treading ground similar to Canadian powerpop superheroes New Pornographers, and you will find yourself hanging on to the tune's huge, bending guitar chords in places. Elsewhere, it is Julia Dickinson's steady alto -- reminiscent of that of Velocity Girl fronter Sarah Shannon -- the provides the focal point. Hot Molasses self-released Frankly March 25; you can download the set from Bandcamp right here. According to Bandcamp, the quintet's next local appearance is July 22 at the Middle East Downstairs (although the date isn't on the Middle East web site yet).

YouTube Rodeo: The New Pornographers' "Move"

The Best Show on WFMU's Tom Scharpling follows up his hilarious video for Ted Leo's "Bottled In Cork" from last year with an equally hysterical one for The New Pornographers' "Move" from 2010's Clicky Clicky Top 10 entry, Together. Superb casting!

-Michael Piantigini

Michael Piantigini's Top 10s of 2010 | We Have Assumed Control

[Chart toppers Superchunk live at Royale, Boston, MA. 9/21/2010. Photo by Michael Piantigini. More here.]

Here it is, New Year's Eve, and I'm finally turning in my year-end list. TO MYSELF! As you may have read, El Jefe Jay Breitling will be on hiatus for a few months tending to undercover work for his secret, non-blogging identity and I'll be attempting keep up with the entire universe of music (or at least some subset thereof) for the duration. I appreciate Jay's trust that I won't turn this into some weirdo NFL coach-spouse fetish site (I won't).

Anywhos, my top 10 (Jay's is here). This has been a hell of a year for those of us who came of musical age in the 90's. My list is dominated by some great new albums by 90's heavyweights, many of whom happen to be on the Merge label. And it was hard not to be nostalgic when you find yourself standing up against the stage hanging on every "NOOOOOOO!" of "Slack Motherfucker" once again.

So here's my TOP 10 ALBUMS:
1. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding (Merge)
This album was an incredible gift. They never actually broke up, but the longer that gap between albums was, the more we got frighteningly used to a world without Superchunk. So, yeah, it's mere existence made it a contender. That it contained songs like the opening pair, "Digging For Something," and "My Gap Feels Weird," that would become instant Superchunk classics brought tears to the eyes and a spring in one's step.


2. Bettie Serveert - Pharmacy of Love (Second Motion)
As I said back in March, Pharmacy of Love rivals the Betties' 1992 debut Palomine for best of catalog honors. Driven by some especially energetic drumming, it's focused, direct, and rocking - and doesn't wander off on some of the tangents of their recent work.




3. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Brutalist Bricks (Matador)
Speaking of energetic - speaking of focused - speaking of rocking... The Brutalist Bricks IS Ted Leo and the Pharmacists finest front-to-back album yet. And let's all watch the great Tom Scharpling-directed video for "Bottled In Cork" again, shall we?




4. Versus - On The Ones And Threes (Merge)
In the near decade since Versus guitarist/vocalist Richard Baluyut disbanded the band and left New York for the San Francisco he only produced a single album (on Blackball in 2006, with his band Whysall Lane), as did bassist/vocalist Fontaine Toups (in 2004 on Teenbeat). Both have their moments, for sure, but On The Ones and Threes makes clear that the sum is greater than the parts (and near-original lineup drummer Ed Baluyut returns for good measure as well). And it's all here: the Richard/Fontaine harmonies, the the proto-indie chiming jangle, and distortion for miles. Soul-nourishing distortion.

5. Ty Segall - Melted (Goner)
I know nothing of how this San Fran garage-rocker makes records, but they certainly feel like they must just fall together. They're casual and comfortable, like slipping into your loafers or something (can we please make this a new hipster trend? OK, fine: let's say it's like throwing on your favorite hoodie). Melted is poppy 60's garage pop with one foot squarely on the distortion pedal that's as good at first listen as it is after 100.


6. Teenage Fanclub - Shadows (Merge)
It is all too easy to pine for the distortion (there's that word again) saturation of Bandwagonesque, but that was the grunge era, and hey, we've all grown in the 18 years since, right? Shadows has more than a couple of tracks that that future compilers will need to make room for on the next best-of, at least one of which ("When I Still Have Thee") is one of those inspirational Teenage Fanclub songs (like, say, "Ain't That Enough") that should have been a #1 hit on some fictional chart that mattered. These Scotsmen are multi-continental now (Norman Blake married and moved to Canada), so the recently long stretches between albums seem likely to slow even further, so treasure them while we can.

7. Bobby Bare, Jr. - A Storm - A Tree - My Mother's Head (Thirty Tigers)
Country scion Bobby Bare, Jr. has professed as much love for (and has covered) the Pixies and The Smiths as for any of the country music that underpins his style. His roots give him more heft than much of the alt-country pigeonhole he gets lumped in with - he pulls off riffing guitar orgies like "Swollen But Not The Same" equally as well as he does the old-fashioned murder ballad "One Of Us Has Got To Go." The latter co-written with his father and begins with a regretful sigh and ends with a mouthed gunshot that tips Bare's sense of humor. His last album, 2006's The Longest Meow, was recorded live in the studio (as his website puts it, "1 day 11 songs 11 people 11 hours"), but A Storm... feels a bit more studio crafted - many of the songs incorporating more synths, including for the bass parts (as in recent tours), but it seems to work more naturally for Bare than it did, say, for that last Steve Earle album.

8. The Parting Gifts - Strychnine Dandelions (In The Red)
The announcement for this collaboration with the The Ettes' Coco Hames (with Raconteur Patrick Keeler on drums) came as we were still anticipating Greg Cartwright's visit to Cambridge with his Reigning Sound, now we're hoping for a visit by the Parting Gifts too. This doesn't stray very far from either band's wheelhouse, but it's yet more great songwriting from Cartwright with performances by people who love music. Simple as that, really.


9. New Pornographers - Together (Merge)
There's a certain tightness to New Pornographer's songs that feels a little stiff to me when it isn't hitting right, but Together doesn't seem to have this problem. It still has the meticulous arrangements, of course, but also there's also a warmth and inspired vibe emanating from this one. (And it's soon to have its own Scharpling-directed video too).



10. Robert Plant - Band of Joy (Rounder)
Now here's an album that addresses something I've been complaining about. Why do yesteryear's mega-rock bands insist on having to have everything they do be so huge? Every Stones tour, for example, has to be a massive stadium production extravaganza or they just won't bother, ditto Roger Waters and/or Pink Floyd, etc., etc. The music isn't nearly as satisfying as the paycheck or the ego stroking that apparently comes with it. (I'm going to grant Paul McCartney an exemption to this complaint). The pressure was on Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant to jump into a massive tour after their successful 2007 one-off reunion, but he declined. Instead of trying to sing like he did 35 years ago, he's singing songs he's more interested in now (TWO Low covers?) like he sings now. It's more musically satisfying and a modest acceptance of the limitations and the judicious use of his voice.

TOP 10 SHOWS:
1. Superchunk with Versus, 9/21/10, at Royale, Boston, MA
See above. The audience couldn't have been more ready for this show. We NEEDED it. In an interview somewhere earlier this year, one of the band said that it seemed like people were really rooting for them on this tour. It really felt that way, and they responded in kind. (My earlier coverage).

2. Yo La Tengo with Mission of Burma, 12/5/10, at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ
My New Year's resolution: try to spend every Hanukkah with Yo La Tengo in their home base. (My earlier coverage).

3. John Roderick, 8/20/10, at Montague Books, Montague, MA
Such a cool night in a cool setting in the middle of nowhere. With artisanal pencil sharpening. (My earlier coverage).

4. Bettie Serveert, 11/2/10, at TT the Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA
Finally, after an immigration delay, Bettie Serveert blew the roof off of TT's. (My earlier coverage).

5. Grant Hart, 1/11/10, at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA
Grant Hart returned to Cambridge in the beginning of the year with an excellent new album and an upbeat show! (My earlier coverage).

6. Come, 9/26/10 at TT the Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA
Original lineup tune up for the Matador 21 Vegas fest sounded like they never left. Mesmerizing. (My earlier coverage).

7. Reigning Sound, 6/18/10 at TT the Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA
Classic 50's and 60's rock and roll/soul/R&B songcraft without an ounce of bullshit: a Gretsch, plugged straight in, some great melodies, and one of those great rock voices. Three minute gems delivered with punk rock efficiency.

8. Feelies 3/19/10, at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA
Epic two-set night from the Feelies, who previewed tons of great stuff from their upcoming album.

9. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists with Obits and Screaming Females, 4/10/10 at the Paradise, Boston, MA
Ted Leo and the always explosive Pharmacists brought the punk rock spirit back to the Paradise. Can't not leave his shows with an adrenaline high. (My earlier coverage).

10. Wrens, 1/16/10, at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA
Still managing to ride the wave of of a seven year-old album. Their chaotic live shows have been good enough to carry them for this long, but it might be about time to get moving on that new record fellas. (My earlier coverage).

Happy New Year! See you in '11.
-Michael Piantigini

That Was The Show That Was: New Pornographers at House of Blues

[The New Pornographers at House of Blues, Boston, MA; Friday, June 18, 2010. Photo by Ric Dube]

When a band piles on as many tracks on a record as the New Pornographers and wants to recreate the records on stage they'll have to pile the musicians on stage proportionally, so it should surprise nobody that up to nine Pornographers took the stage at a time at this show. What are they, E.L.-fucking-O.? I don't want to sound like one of those people who shits all over a band just because they're very popular because they were actually great, but there's something a little creepy about an act that puts this much effort into limiting their live sound to what happened on their records.

The statement that kind of a performance makes is that their recordings are as much a part of the composition as any other part. And that is just as well because this was clearly what the audience who showed up for this show came to hear anyway, who I would put into three weirdly diverse groups: guys in blazers who learned of the band from 30-second clips of songs heard in a profile on NPR; rock geeks who collect both all of their b-sides as well as comic books; and the most interesting fan segment, hoards of teenagers who leaped and danced as the band began each carefully reproduced LP cut. This was arena rock and the audience loved it.

The set represented the act's complete catalog, drawn heavily from the first half of each album, as if frontman Carl Newman is well aware that these are the tracks that fans gravitate toward before a New Pornographers records begins to sound all samey: Sing Me Spanish Techno, Up in the Dark, Myriad Harbour, Use It, Crash Years, Adventures in Solitude, Jackie Dressed in Cobras, All the Old Showstoppers, Sweet Talk Sweet Talk, Go Places, Jackie, Moves, Your Hands, Twin Cinema, My Shepherd, The Laws Have Changed, Silver Jenny Dollar, Mass Romantic, Bleeding Heart Show, Challengers, Slow Descent Into Alcoholism, Testament to Youth in Verse.

Vocalist Neko Case threatened to beat the shit out of an audience member who threw a CD on stage; sideman Daniel Bejar fulfilled his expected role by wandering around like a charmingly eccentric vagrant, pausing occasionally to thumb a guitar with his back to the audience; and a Dixie riddle cup of Jack Daniels costs 8-fucking-50 at the goddamn House of Blues, where Karen commented it's like seeing a show at TGIFridays.

Seattle-based the Dutchess and the Duke opened the show with extremely pleasant melodic folk rock, followed by San Francisco's the Dodos, who were also great and sounded like they probably come across even better on record.

-Ric Dube

Ric Dube is the host of the More Lost Time podcast.

The New Pornographers: Internets | MySpace
Dutchess and the Duke: Internets | MySpace
The Dodos: Internets | MySpace

Five More Reasons To Follow Us On The Twitterzez

This is a true story about how a rep at LiveNation gives us tickets to give away, and then we give them away, and then someone wins them, and then that persons goes to a rock show for free, and then the world spins around, and then birds sing, and then love blooms, and... well, you get the picture. When we were an up-and-comer we dug the free stuff, still do, as a matter of fact, and the only thing we like more than getting free stuff is giving free stuff. And so we were pleased when our friendly neighborhood corporate ticketing person offered us the opportunity to give tickets away. And the latest batch is hot stuff: we have a pair of free tickets to the already-sold-out Stars show June 1 at Paradise Rock Club. We have tickets to see Psychedelic Furs at House Of Blues; we saw the band there -- well, at Avalon -- so very long ago it isn't in the archives of this blog, and they were fantastic, even then, some five thousand years into their career. And then we've got tickets to The Futureheads at the Paradise June 7, New Pornographers at House Of Blues June 18, and way off in the distance for Wolf Parade July 12. We think you'll agree that is a fine slate of shows. But the only way you can win tickets from us is to follow us on the Twitterzez, where you'll find us @clickyclicky. So start following.

That Was The Show That Was: Neko Case, Crooked Fingers

[PHOTO CREDIT: Flickr User SetOutRunning | We are pleased to welcome to these digital pages D.P. Dean, our former bandmate, schoolmate and all-around cool guy. We had hopes of leveraging Mr. Dean's recent stint of unemployment into some excellent Philadelphia-based reportage, but alas even in this economy Deano is far too skilled and credentialed to stay out of the game long, and as this item goes online he is prepping for the first day of the rest of his life at a new job. -- Ed.]

One of the disorienting side-effects of being on the wrong side of 30 is the feeling, at times, that your taste in music is getting "old." Or, rather, that what once was young and hip has evolved (or has been repackaged) to fit into the "adult contemporary" bin at your local Borders. Friday night's sold out Neko Case/Crooked Fingers show at the Keswick Theater had all the trappings: plenty of grey hair in the audience, ubiquitous WXPN flyers, assigned seating.

Any worries about the music itself were easily dispelled as Ms. Case treated the Keswick crowd to a 90-minute set that leaned heavily on her new long player Middle Cyclone and 2006's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Case has really come into her own as a solo performer in recent years (and has also become quite a supporter of retired racing greyhounds, endearing her both to this correspondent and our renowned editor-in-chief [True dat -- Ed.]). She bantered easily with her bandmates and the audience, providing a fluidity to the set during her frequent guitar changes. But the key to the performance was the power of Case’s voice -— not always obvious in her work with the New Pornographers -— and the strength of her songwriting. Case's new material continues the trend away from the simple country/honky-tonk of her early solo work toward a more difficult-to-define blend of Americana.

Throughout the set, Case transitioned easily from older favorites like "I Wish I Was the Moon' and "Deep Red Bells" to newer cuts such as "Star Witness," "The Pharaohs," and "Prison Bells," while the band laid a groove behind her, buoyed particularly by Kelly Hogan on backing vocals and Jon Rauhouse on the pedal steel. Of note was Eric Bachmann jumping in on guitar for "This Tornado Loves You" to close out the pre-encore portion of Case’s set.

Bachmann and the current incarnation of Crooked Fingers (Miranda Brown playing occasional bass and adding backing vocals, Tim Husmann on keyboards and drums) had opened the show with a nine-song set featuring a smattering of tunes from Red Devil Dawn and the band’s self-titled debut, Bachmann’s recent solo record, and of course last year’s Forfeit/Fortune [review here]. Though your correspondent was hoping to hear "The Rotting Strip," or perhaps "New Drink for the Old Drunk," Bachmann more than atoned with a rollicking rendition of "Angelina," and a spirited performance of "Your Control" (which was conspicuous for the absence of headliner Case, who added backing vocals on the album version). Truly the highlight of the set (and perhaps the entire evening) was the band’s reworking of Red Devil Dawn's "Bad Man Coming." Husmann pounded out an insistent beat on the drums, while Bachmann and Brown's a cappella harmonizing turned the song into a haunting, almost-Appalachian tub-thumper. -- D.P. Dean

[Ms. Case's tour continues through April 26. Full tour dates can be lingered over here; note that these dates are selling out like crazy, so if you'd like to see the tour, you'd best act quickly and decisively.]

Neko Case: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr
Crooked Fingers: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Today's Hotness: New Pornographers, A-Sides, Dirty On Purpose

>> We're back. The Zappa bio we said we'd be reading? Superlative. Chock full of interesting information, and doesn't go out of its way to make Frank Zappa appear any greater or lesser of a man than he was. The Lydon bio? Pretty good. We think our primary qualm with it is the presentation -- the prose seems to be solely comprised of transcribed recordings, which results in very choppy sentences. It helps to imagine Lydon, who fronted both Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd., speaking the words, and you do get used to it after a while. Still, would it have killed Lydon to have succumbed to great editorial oversight? Actually, given what we read, perhaps it would. Anyhow. Both books are well worth reading.

>> That relative silence you'll hear this week belies the preparation going into what will be a torrent of amazing releases this fall: Interpol, New Pornographers, Spoon, A-Sides, Meneguar, and on and on and on. Right now it seems like we don't have a lot on our plate (the vacation helped), but we expect things are going to be crazy and full of excellent music between now and the end of October. We can't wait.

>> Let's just come out and say it: if you like the peppy new New Pornographers promo track "My Rights Versus Yours," then you will like '70s pop sensations E.L.O.'s "Turn To Stone." The New Pornographers' new set Challengers will be released Aug. 21; Electric Light Orchestra released "Turn To Stone" on Out Of The Blue in 1977. And -- because one of our favorite Philadelphia-based bands just did a WOXY Lounge Act session and will release their sophomore album soon -- let's talk about The A-Sides for a minute. First of all, hit the link supra and grab the band's WOXY session, which includes new tracks from the band's long awaited sophomore set Silver Storms [Vagrant] including "Diamonds." Speaking of "Diamonds," Spinner recently published here a link to an MP3 of the album version of the track (we detest the term "leak" when the track hasn't actually "leaked" in the traditional sense of the term, sorry AOL Music Indi... errrr... Spinner). The song is awesome -- stop at nothing to acquire it. Anyway, if you like British shoegaze dynamo Ride's "Nowhere" (the albumer ender, not the album itself), then you will like The A-Sides' "Here Or There," the album ender from the latter band's debut Hello, Hello. Here's an MP3 and a few streams to illustrate our assertions above.

New Pornographers -- "My Rights Versus Yours" -- Challengers
[right click and save as]
[pre-order one of the various versions of Challengers right here]

[Imeem player removed.]

>> Shoegazy Brooklyn foursome Dirty On Purpose report it is recording an EP with a duo whose production credits include drone rockers Dead Meadow, noise merchants Liars and The National, a band everyone likes but us. An email from Dirty On Purpose states the new recordings sound "like when you're in a room and a loud rock band is playing and it's awesome." Sounds pretty great to us. No word on a release date. Dirty On Purpose's Sleep Late For A Better Tomorrow EP and full-length Hallelujah Sirens were released on North Street in 2004 and 2006, respectively; the label will also release the planned EP.

>> Stars are aligning. It would seem, according to a MySpace missive, that Birmingham, UK noise pop trio Johnny Foreigner have gotten on one of Meneguar's fall tour dates in the UK (posted here, lest you forget). That will be one hot show in Cambridge, England Oct. 4. Now if only we could figure out a reason for our day job to send us to England that week... Meneguar releases its long-anticipated sophomore set Strangers In Our House on Troubleman Unlimited in August. Remember before vacation when we said we didn't know how "limited" the pressing of the European release of the set on Release The Bats would be? Well, our old friend Google reveals only 500 copies were pressed. You can see the track listing and cover art right here.