From The Banford File: Boston Calling In Pictures

You there. Yes, you, discerning indie rock fan. Was our five-part, wall-to-wall coverage of this past weekend's Boston Calling festival just not immersive enough for you? Well, while going over our archived notes from the weekend, we stumbled upon this neat-o photo set from shadowy freelance operative Quinn Banford. You will find therein evidence of good rock music being played, and good rock music being heard. And we think you will agree the photos of Lorde and Spoon in particular really sizzle. It seems essential to share Mr. Banford's work with you. Banford, on special assignment to Clicky Clicky yet again, had this to say about his experience in the field at the festival:

"Carrying around a camera felt a bit odd at times, especially with the flowing amounts of beers waving in the air. The poor camera had no rain coat and the lightning storm was another form of "wet" that it wasn't ready to take on. But my good lad Nick the Nikon had bold plans, and he got those pictures. He pulled through."

Previous Coverage:
Replacements Deliver Blazing Set, Spoon and The War On Drugs Also Highlight Final Day Of Boston Calling
Rain Delay Dampens Boston Calling Day Two, But The Hold Steady, Sky Ferreira And Lorde Still Shine Brightly
Classic Neutral Milk Hotel Lineup Electrifies Night One Of Boston Calling Festival
Boston Calling This Weekend: Five Key Sets To Catch By Bands That Are Not The Replacements
Boston Calling This Weekend: The Replacements Return To Boston For First Show In 23 Years

Replacements Deliver Blazing Set, Spoon and The War On Drugs Also Highlight Final Day Of Boston Calling

[PHOTO: Dillon Riley] Here it was, Sunday, the day we waited for with bated breath, the final day of this fall's Boston Calling music festival. The day we saw one of the greatest rock acts ever, The Replacements, return to our fair city for its first area show in more than two decades, along with noteworthy bands who channel in one form or another the legendary act's influences. A friend we encountered Sunday on Boston's City Hall Plaza noted the presence of a much older crowd than previous days, and we laughed nervously in agreement, wondering what that said about us, our mindset, and our own inherent age/mortality. Such concerns were assuaged -- at least temporarily -- by the incredibly vital sets of rock 'n' roll we saw; here are the highlights. -- Dillon Riley

The War On Drugs (3PM, Blue Stage)

We noted in our preview last week The War On Drugs' recent breakthrough with the release of its latest record Lost In The Dream. So it's somewhat sad to report that the general excitement surrounding the band out among the broader indiedom wasn't reflected in the Boston crowd's reaction to the Philadelphia act's midday set. Indeed, festival-goers seemed a little less than enthused, which is a shame, because Adam Granduciel and his cohort laid on the grooves nice and thick. There was a propulsive chug to some of the new record's sleepier numbers, including the title track. For his part, Mr. Granduciel employed some nimble fretwork on punchier tunes such as the album's early single "Red Eyes." A reference to the dearly departed rock radio broadcaster 104.1 WBCN fell on deaf ears to boot, prompting Granduciel to deadpan something to the effect of "Y'all should get out more." We wholeheartedly concur.

Spoon (7PM, Blue Stage)

In case you need reminding, Spoon has a lot of good songs. A lot of them. And they played quite a few of them in a challenging time slot early Sunday evening (when many minds were likely drifting ahead to the next hour's highly touted Replacements appearance). But Austin's favorite sons acquitted themselves with aplomb, however, and it was nice to see the act retains a youthful energy whilst still being able to showcase the major progression it has undertaken over the last two decades. The band's bold opening salvo was a nervy take on "Small Stakes" off 2002's critically adored Kill The Moonlight before slipping into a few hot tracks back-to-back off their latest offering They Want My Soul. No complaints here, as the new record bursts with massive hooky rock-and-roll without abandoning the experimental nature of certain of Spoon's work. A heartfelt mid-set shout-out to the beloved 'Mats, who were figuratively on deck, was well-received, too, and provided a candid and true moment of real meets real.

The Replacements (8:15PM, Red Stage)

"Yes, we are this close for the goddamn Replacements," is what we kept saying to ourselves as we hung over the barrier by the right side of the stage Sunday night. And the Minneapolis-spawned act's fiery set was everything we thought it would be, and possibly more. No, Billie Joe didn't show, and couches be damned, the recently hobbled fronter Paul Westerberg made it through the whole hit-spangled, 20ish-song set without any back issues... though he did pour salt and pepper on his guitar. The set came off like all those legendary 'Mats sets we've only read about in Our Band Could Be Your Life, all manic energy and hilariously flubbed choruses. Sure, Westerberg forgot an entire verse of "Androgynous," big deal -- the crowd knew all the words and was happy to fill in the blanks. The band snuck offstage for all of about 30 seconds before returning to run through a brilliant take on Pleased To Meet Me's "Alex Chilton," a towering love letter to the legendary and iconoclastic former Big Star co-fronter (the song was explosively delivered again Tuesday night on late night television). Turns out Nas and The Roots had sent Paul, Tommy, Dave and Josh back out for the quick encore (likely sacrificing some of their own stage time in doing so, it should be pointed out). So thanks to the festival closers for letting the boys play, and thank you boys for taking the piss out of the final chorus on "I Will Dare." The laughs helped chase away the tears of joy.

And that about wraps it up for Boston Calling 2014. On a personal note: what an amazing, scary, tiring and emotionally trying weekend. We believe Saturday's final run of Spoon into The Replacements into Nas + The Roots' headlining set may have been the best show-going experience of our year thus far, and you better believe we've seen some shit. Until next time...

Previous Coverage:
Rain Delay Dampens Boston Calling Day Two, But The Hold Steady, Sky Ferreira And Lorde Still Shine Brightly
Classic Neutral Milk Hotel Lineup Electrifies Night One Of Boston Calling Festival
Boston Calling This Weekend: Five Key Sets To Catch By Bands That Are Not The Replacements
Boston Calling This Weekend: The Replacements Return To Boston For First Show In 23 Years

Boston Calling This Weekend: Five Key Sets To Catch By Bands That Are Not The Replacements

[PHOTO: The Hold Steady, Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 2006, from the Clicky Clicky Archives]

Earlier this week, as you will recall, we waxed poetically in these electronic pages about how unbelievably stoked we are for The Replacements' triumphant return to Boston Sunday, when the storied band hits the Boston Calling stage (ahead of NYC rap legend Nas and The Roots, no less). Today we're taking the opportunity to flag for readers the rest of the acts the Clicky Clicky brain trust deems most likely to turn in festival-highlighting performances framed against the brutalist architecture of Boston's City Hall Plaza. If you remember nothing else from this piece, remember this: stick close to the blue stage sponsored by the apparently consistently satisfying air carrier (as opposed to the red stage sponsored by the credit card company fined $140 million in 2012 for deceptive marketing). Indeed, the weekend's best acts, in our opinion, are stacked up at said blue stage. And so this is where you'll catch us clapping, cheering, and outwardly displaying all manner of merriment during this weekend's festival, and particularly during the five sets highlighted below. Dig with us now below the who, the when and the why. -- Dillon Riley

___//Friday, Sept. 5th//

Neutral Milk Hotel (8PM, Blue Stage)

The indie rock institution recently emerged from self-imposed exile to a large run of reunion dates surrounding a deluxe box set release from Merge, including two nights at the Orpheum Theatre downtown that certain members of the Clicky Clicky editorial staff -- but not all of them -- regrettably missed. There's really no need to spill too much digital ink on the importance of the collective's two epoch-defining records, but suffice it to say they mean a great amount to a good many, and the track "Holland, 1945" in particular is etched in full upon the hearts of many more. Know this, though, dear readers: the current iteration of Neutral Milk Hotel is the lineup that recorded and toured behind their swansong/magnum opus In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, so it's a good bet we'll hear plenty of tunes from it. Considering how long this reunion tour has bee going on, it wouldn't be outrageous to perhaps even expect something new from Jeff Mangum and Co. We mean, it wouldn't, right? A blog can dream.

The National (9:30PM, Blue Stage)

Elder statesmen in the indie rock game who came across like self-assured pros from the get-go, The National has built up an impressive catalogue in their decade-plus as a recording entity. Theirs is one filled with a strong identity and a strong handle on a sound that borrows heavily from the darkness of British post-punk but filters it through a prism of strong Midwestern sentimentality. Much like fellow indie legends R.E.M., their records can be exercises in slow, deliberate progression. Sure, successive releases regularly mine similar territory as those prior, but one should not mistake consistency for complacency. To wit, The National's latest, 2013's Trouble Will Find Me, boasts one of their strongest collections of songs since the act's 2005 breakthrough Alligator. Also of note, guitar player Aaron Dessner has been a co-curator of Boston Calling since its inception. This year's performance will be the band's second appearance as a headliner.

___//Saturday, Sept. 6//

The Hold Steady (5PM, Blue Stage)

The Hold Steady and our beloved 'Mats are cut from the same cloth, generally speaking. The younger act's ultra-relateable songs -- featuring the painstakingly detailed lyrics of Boston College-graduated fronter Craig Finn -- are filled with loveable losers whose judgment and choices are often clouded and/or fueled by intoxicants; The Hold Steady's early shows weren't exactly sober occasions, either. Certain of the editorial contingent here at Clicky Clicky are comfortable advancing an argument that, as a recording entity, The Hold Steady were far less erratic than the 'Mats. Not unlike The National, The Hold Steady spent the '00s putting together a stream of critically acclaimed and universally -- at least within the indiesphere -- beloved records that positioned the act tantalizingly close to a break through into the overground. That never quite happened (that part like sounds familiar to 'Mats fans, too), but the band soldiers on making great records and putting on remarkable and cathartic shows. Saturday is the act's first appearance at Boston Calling.

___//Sunday, Sept. 7//

The War On Drugs (3PM, Blue Stage)

2014 has proven to be the year Adam Granduciel finally achieved the notoriety on par with that of certain of his famous Philly friends. Not that it is a contest or anything, but The War On Drugs -- a recording project overseen almost entirely by Mr. Granduciel -- is regularly addressed in the same breath as Kurt Vile, Philly's favorite über chill son and an early Drugs collaborator. However, with the release of The War On Drugs' gargantuan new record Lost In The Dream, Granduciel has stepped out of Vile's friendly but long shadow. Boasting a billowing and bold batch of songs that takes the Americana-in-space aesthetic of predecessor Slave Ambient and blows it up to widescreen HD, The War On Drugs' latest even reminds us of Spiritualized with its massive, philosophical scope, enveloping swells and sonic trickery. We've heretofore only seen the band once, at a show in Central Park in NYC a few years back, and it will be fulfilling to finally see the band post the well-earned breakthrough.

Spoon (7PM, Blue Stage)

Got a bit of a running theme here, as Spoon represent another ultra-consistent indie rock group whose work defines the aughts. While certainly taking a more calculated, minimalist approach to rock 'n' roll than the aforementioned Clicky Clicky Fest Picks, Spoon is arguably the most notable of the three in the greater scheme of things. Their transition from Pixies-indebted garage riffers/major label aspirants to whatever weird micro-genre can classify them post-Girls Can Tell can be seen as one of the most vital evolutions in the past three decades. Their latest record, They Want My Soul, their first not on indie flagship Merge since being fatefully dropped from Elektra all those years ago, documents yet another creative rejuvenation. Turning to Flaming Lips producer David Fridmann for support, They Want My Soul situates the band among new sounds and finds them blending new techniques into their established mix with winning results, and recent reports of the acts always-dependable live show are quite promising.

Related Coverage:
Rock Over Boston: Jeff Mangum | 9.9 - 9.10.2011
Review: The War On Drugs | Slave Ambient
Footage: The War On Drugs' "Baby Missiles"
Today's Hotness: The War On Drugs
Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Albums 2000-2009
Today's Hotness: The War On Drugs
Today's Hotness: The Hold Steady
Today's Hotness: The Hold Steady
Today's Hotness: The War On Drugs
That Was The Show That Was: Spoon | The Roxy
Today's Hotness: Spoon
Today's Hotness: Spoon
Today's Hotness: The Hold Steady
That Was The Show That Was: The Hold Steady

Boston Calling This Weekend: The Replacements Return To Boston For First Show In 23 Years

[PHOTO: The Replacements in Toronto in Aug. 2013 by Brad Searles, used with permission]

We don't often write about The Replacements here for the same reason people most people don't often write about gravity. The Minneapolis-spawned act is hugely important, but at this point it is largely taken for granted that the quartet's music and attitude underpin just about every square inch of indie rock. Mainstream music fans can certainly be excused for regarding the quartet as a footnote: The 'Mats rated zero gold records; zero platinum records; zero top 20 hits. They were never asked to appear on "The Muppet Show," they were banned from "Saturday Night Live" (think REALLY HARD about that). The band's original lead guitarist is dead, the original drummer would rather be a painter, and the frontman for years said he would rather stay home.

But the legend of the band has grown with each passing year since its roadies bashed out their last notes -- the de rigueur ending of many a Replacements show during the act's original run -- in Chicago on July 4, 1991. And so a funny thing happened on the way to oblivion: it basically became stupid for fronter Paul Westerberg NOT to join up with bassist Tommy Stinson again, along with some trusty old friends, and just take the money (rumored to be in the ballpark of $250,000 per show). And, thank the higher power of your choosing, some of that filthy lucre is bringing the legendary, Our Band Could Be Your Life'd rock act to town for the latest iteration of the Boston Calling music festival this coming weekend.

You've heard the legends, right? The drunken antics, the feces in the elevator, the seemingly intentional torpedoing of big gigs during the band's wild '80s. Indeed, its instincts regularly tilted toward pissing upon the polished loafers of opportunity. And so the seeds of the current reunion weren't sown by promises of the big payoff, or at least not solely so. First Mssrs. Westerberg and Stinson along with founding drummer Chris Mars got together to record two tunes including "Message To The Boys" to entice fans to buy the fairly superfluous 2006 compilation Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? Mr. Mars didn't actually drum on the 2006 recordings -- drumming duties fell to current 'Mats drummer/musical journeyman Josh Freese -- but he did contribute backing vocals. But everything seemed to go well, and well enough that the band set to recording again last year.

It is the recording sessions for the 2013 EP Songs For Slim -- which aimed to raise money to help late-period 'Mats guitarist Slim Dunlap recover from a stroke (founding guitarist Bob Stinson's body succumbed to years of alcohol and drug abuse in 1995) -- that ultimately spurred the band into its present state of sorta-being. Indeed, press for the release of Songs For Slim was almost completely overshadowed by pronouncements from Paul and Tommy indicating that playing shows under the Replacements moniker was no longer out of question. And then the 'Mats tumbled into an improbable new existence, top-lining festivals over the last 12 months, and now -- finally, Finally, FINALLY -- bringing the show to Boston once again.

Looking at this set list of The Replacements' heretofore final Boston show, which occurred all the way back in February '91, one sees the band didn't dip any further back into its catalog than "Within Your Reach," its debut LP and Stink EP ignored at least for the night (Westerberg, we should note for those that don't know, enjoyed a pretty hopping solo career after the dissolution of The Replacements, but he has not played Boston since 2006). Which is something that, unsurprisingly, distinguishes The Replacements of 1991 from the (sorta) Replacements of 2014. While giving the people what they want these days has sometimes required Westerberg to lay on a couch on stage, set lists for all the reunion gigs have included tunes from as far back as the band's first LP, which has thrilled the hardcore fans who have the pocket change to purchase the pricey festival tickets one needs in order to gain an audience with The Replacements these days. Boston fans attending this weekend's Boston Calling festival were asked to part with at least $75 for the opportunity to see The 'Mats Sunday night slotted in between Spoon and The Roots with Nas. Even so, we imagine nary a one will be complaining about the ducats when the band hits the stage.

Old-time Boston rock fans will see a familiar face on stage, of course, assuming Dave Minehan is handling guitar duties for the show. Mr. Minehan made his name in the Boston act The Neighborhoods in the early '80s and later as a noted recording engineer around town. And if Minehan's face doesn't ring a bell for the kids in the audience, it's possible that The Replacements will bring along Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong to help out on vocals and guitar; Mr. Armstrong, as obliquely alluded to supra, has been playing with the group a fair amount this festival season, and his schedule looks clear for a while. If that's a thing you would hope for, then go ahead and hope -- anything to make this week go by faster, yeah? For what it is worth, here is a Clicky Clicky's Choice of 21 favorite 'Mats tunes. Get down front Sunday night to hear some of 'em.

Clicky Clicky's Choice: 21 Favorite Replacements Songs In Discographical Order
//Spotify Playlist//
"Customer"
"Johnny's Gonna Die"
"Kids Don't Follow"
"Go"
"Color Me Impressed"
"Within Your Reach"
"I Will Dare"
"Favorite Thing"
"Answering Machine"
"Bastards Of Young"
"Left Of The Dial"
"Here Comes A Regular"
"Alex Chilton"
"Nightclub Jitters"
"Skyway"
"Can't Hardly Wait"
"Talent Show"
"I'll Be You"
"Merry Go Round"
"Nobody"
"Sadly Beautiful"
"All Shook Down"

Mean Creek Local Losers Release Show With Pile, Ovlov, Heliotropes, The Young Leaves | Middle East | 25 April

We admit that we've always been a bit uneasy about the unabashed sincerity of local indie rock luminaries Mean Creek's music. It's really our own hang-up, and one not worth dwelling on here, and the eight-year-old act's hook-heavy new set Local Losers -- a collection of scruffy tunes whose swell and sweep subsumes years of FM ministrations of Bruce Springsteen, The Monkees and The 'Mats -- provides all the incentive anyone should need to enlist in the Creek Army. Local Losers arrives and departs with the economy of a major carrier's passenger jet, touching down with the fist-pumping, feedback-spangled howler "Cool Town," catching a smoke in the pilot's lounge along with "My Madeline" (whose woozy, bending guitar leads and invigorating harmonies make the tune an album highlight), flipping through magazines over a jumbo vodka tonic while some guy shouts in your ear about the Massachusetts border, and then going wheels up again with the dreamy, yearning closer "Teenage Feeling." That final tune finds fronter Chris Keene sounding particularly vulnerable, maybe even a little scared that the FAA might breech the cockpit and ask him to blow a breathalyzer. The album proceedings are thrillingly brisk (no song goes past the crucial three-minute mark, a calculus once tied to analog jukeboxes and full-flavor cigarettes, a metric that would seem to have outlasted both), richly melodic and persistently rewarding, and the cats over at Old Flame, who released Local Losers April 8, are likely feeling pretty smart right now. Mean Creek's set was issued in a limited edition of 300 LPs pressed to 45RPM 12" flat circles of vinyl [get it], as well as CD [boink] and digital download.

Oh, right, that flyer up there... yeah, Mean Creek is having this totally epic release show Friday night in Cambridge, with a ridiculously stacked bill the very sight of which should induce queasiness and/or hyperventilation. When was the last time you saw heavyweights Pile, Ovlov and The Young Leaves all on one bill? We're looking forward to hearing new music from the lot of them, and particularly The Young Leaves, whose 2010 LP Life Underneath -- now available as a free download -- has recently gone back into heavy rotation at Clicky Clicky HQ. And Heliotropes, too? The Brooklyn-based fuzz docents are the wild card act for us, as we have no more than a passing familiarity with them, but, we mean, seriously: just look at that bill. Just look at it. Here's the Facebook event page -- how about we leave you with some streams and we circle back up Friday night at the Middle East? It's the right thing to do and the tasty way to do it.

Today's Hotness: Purling Hiss, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper, Guillermo Sexo

>> It's no secret that Clicky Clicky (whose executive editor called 13th and Ellsworth home for a while back in the day) has a strong affinity for Philadelphia and its excellent, albeit often sadly uncelebrated, indie rock. In the midst of yet another strong wave of municipal all-stars -- led, in the nation's consciousness anyway, by Kurt Vile -- we were happy to hear a cracking new one from Philly indie trio Purling Hiss titled "Mercury Retrograde." Longtime fans know the act through its '70s-echoing, un-fi hard rock, including the brilliant "The Hoodoo," the subject of this blissfully basic video. The clip's determined VHS lens flare, stoic potted plants, heroic solos and trippy effects perhaps cast Purling Hiss as a sorta public access-caliber stoner rock band. And this is what really what makes "Mercury Retrograde" so surprising, as it presents a cleaned-up sound that channels different aural touchstones. Here the band focuses on thick guitar tones and traditional rock composition (peppered with just enough indie rock grit), which suggests the work of artful everymen like, well, contemporaries The Men or even The (legendary) Replacements. Brief, sporadic solos call to mind Stephen Malkmus’ single-note solo strangulations, and paired with Hiss fronter Mike Pollize's unaffected vocals "Mercury Retrograde" makes a strong play for an immediate connection with listeners. Purling Hiss' Water On Mars, the band's fourth album in five years, will be released by Drag City March 19 on LP, cassette and CD; pre-order the collection right here. The threesome launch a circuitous tour April 4, and makes a stop in Boston at Great Scott April 9 -- an evening that will surely become a hot ticket as the date approaches, so plan wisely. Peruse the complete tour dates right here, and stream "Mercury Retrograde" via the Soundcloud embed below. Oh, there's a video for the tune to over here. -- Edward Charlton



>> Certainly mistakes were made, as this reviewer was far too focused on noise-rock, distortion and male angst to appreciate many of the worthy and talented female artists of the '90s and early 2000s. This is a thought that came to mind again and again while marveling at newly released music from the Brunswick, ME-spawned but now Brooklyn-based Lady Lamb The Beekeeper. The nom de intense folk rock of Aly Spaltro, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper's spine-tingling full-length Ripely Pine was issued via Ba Da Bing Records Feb. 19. It's one of the strongest debuts of the year, one whose barely contained emotions and electrifying instrumention recall, among other things, Hop Along's excellent 2012 set Get Disowned. During songs such as "Rooftop" and "Bird Balloons," Ms. Spaltro melds vehement, vivid vocals and wide-ranging melodies to scarred, mathy guitar work that limns her sprawling song suites. In doing so, she smartly bridges confessional singer-songwriter schemes and the buzzing history of alternative guitar music. All of which makes Ripely Pine a perpetually thrilling collection. "Rooftop" perhaps best serves as an introduction, as its time signature changes, jazzy piano flourishes, arcing violins and chaotic guitar solos expertly frame Spaltro's rich voice and the song's breezy chorus. With every element so well-realized and produced, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper's songs almost become hard to believe, as if they hit upon an idea that was there all along but which nobody else could see. For such impressive imagination, it can only be hoped that Lady Lamb The Birdkeeper is roundly recognized for this collection. Lady Lamb The Beekeeper commences an 11-date headlining tour at Brighton Music Hall in Boston May 9; the complete dates of said tour are listed right here. Order Ripely Pine from Ba Da Bing on double LP or CD here. -- Edward Charlton





>> We were very excited to see earlier this week that two of Clicky Clicky's favorite Boston musical enterprises have combined forces. Midriff Records announced Thursday that it will release later this year Dark Spring, the forthcoming fifth full-length from psych-pop veterans Guillermo Sexo. Clicky Clicky readers will recall we dropped some knowledge about the long player in January in our review of the precedent EP Bring Down Your Arms. No release date for Dark Spring has been given, but we will certainly let you know when we know, because knowing is half the battle. For now, treat yourself to another spin through Bring Down Your Arms, which is embedded below.

The Road To Somerville: The Hush Now Memos Tour Diary Dispatch 3 (Cleveland to Chicago to Minneapolis)

[In this episode of The Hush Now's Memos Tour Diary, bassist Patrick MacDonald recounts the Boston-based indie rock quintet's assaults on Chicago and Minneapolis, storied American rock and roll cities each one. MacDonald's account of communing with the Gods of the Upper Midwest independent rock scene in particular brings a smile to our face. THN is taking the long way around, touring a large swath of the U.S. over the next couple weeks en route to a hotly anticipated homecoming show at Precinct in Somerville, Mass. Oct. 22 with Soccer Mom and Chandeliers. We reviewed The Hush Now's new record Memos right here. -- Ed.]

God almighty! Kids, one thing you must learn is that if one is to be up at 8:00 in the morning one should not stay up after a show until 4:30 in the morning talking and jiving with your sound man and a half bottle of Johnny Walker Black, it just makes for a really bad morning. Trust me.

So we started our morning heading to one of our favorite cities, and that would be Chicago. Jon did the first leg of the trip with me as co-pilot; he clocked about 200 miles, I did 179 miles, and in the process I almost beat the crap out of a tollbooth in Indiana that said we had five axles (count them for any that has driven a van). We sat for 20 hot minutes until we finally got up to the toll booth, and I had to put our money into what looks like a slot machine. So while hanging out the door looking like a complete idiot trying to figure out why it's going to cost the band 30 dollars at a toll, Noel -- the man of reason that he is -- came to my rescue like some dashing knight, and the toll machine walked away unharmed [This time -- Ed.].

We rolled into Chicago and headed straight to the south side and to the HQ of Fearless Radio, where we had the best interview we have had so far on this tour. Kris, the host, was so amazing and spot-on with her questions that it made the whole experience a pleasure, as did the rest of the staff at Fearless. We also had a chance to learn some great history about the building that the station was housed in. It was once home to a car showroom back in the '40s, and has an elevator that is big enough to hold a Packard and can fit three Priuses [Prii? -- Ed.] nowadays (put you head around that). Barry and Noel each did an acoustic track, and they both nailed it. All in all a great way to start our day in the Second City. After the interview we headed to the north side of Chicago and to the Stage Bar. We had some time to kill, so we scouted around for a place to eat and found this fine watering hole. Food was ordered, drinks were drank, and a fun time was had by all. So back to the club we went.

Let me say that -- after all my years playing in bands -- this was the strangest night I have ever had. For one, the club was volcano hot, so throughout the night watching the stream of folk exiting and entering the club was like watching salmon swim upstream. Also, before any music was played (and there were four bands that night), we sat thru 12 comedians. Now don't get me wrong, we all enjoyed the interesting Midwest humor, but after seven hours in a van you just want to PLAY. The one saving grace was the MC of the evening, Mr. Flabby Hoffman. He made everything relaxed and cool and was really funny. In the meantime, we did a lot of swimming upstream with the rest of the patrons, and enjoying the birthday party for a local woman who's name I can not remember. The show went really well, we played great to a packed house, and also had the chance to hang with Adam's folks and that was fantastic, as it had been almost a year to the date that we last saw them.

After a good night sleep for all, and a fine breakfast at the Arrowhead restaurant (dine in-carry out), it was back in the van. Jon and Joel rocked the serious drive to Minneapolis. Now to me, this is almost like driving into Mecca, as this is one of the most hallowed cities for rock in the United States. Just the names of bands that called this burg home reads like a "who's who" of independent rock, before it was tagged with that horrible term "Alternative." We arrived at the club and walk in and I am floored by three things. First thing I hear is the sound of Screaming Trees; second, I look above the bar to see a framed Don't Tell A Soul poster with a broken headstock from one of the band members guitars (I will not hazard a guess whose it was because I don’t have the facts and neither did the man behind the bar); third, there was a Jayhawks hand-painted drum head with a Yo La Tengo drum head with it. So let it be said I was in heaven; this is the 400 Bar, one of the places where so many of these bands (The Replacements, The Suburbs, Husker Du, The Jayhawks) got their start, so it was really cool to stand on that stage.

After setting up the merch, searching to no avail for some grub, and passing Jon and Joel at least twice in the process, it was back to the club to check out the night's line-up. First up were young upstarts Void Of Reality, who made me smile so hard my face hurt. They brought me back to being a young musican; both Barry and I made eye contact more than once and just smiled and for the closing salvo total auto-destruction (as Pete Townsend put it) and bang the guitar is in shatters and the drums are a mess! King Tuesday was next, doing a cross between female-fronted blues-rock and rap... quite cool. Not the most-packed show, but the most enjoyable sets so far. We were in that perfect place where everything just felt right.... played a great version of "Memos." Next up was Dude Worthy, kind of funny, kind of heartfelt -- all around a good band of guitar, accordion and a little stylophone thrown in for good measure. Afterwards we headed down to First Avenue to check out the eponymous club and The 7th Street Entry, and ended the night at O’Donnovans for some fine Grain Belt beer, wings, cheese plate, football and laughs all around! Thanks again Minneapolis! -- Patrick MacDonald

The Hush Now: Internerds | Facebook | Soundcloud | YouTube

Memos Tour
10.06 -- Rochester, NY -- The Bug Jar
10.07 -- Cleveland, OH -- Roc Bar
10.08 -- Chicago, IL -- Miskas
10.09 -- Minneapolis, MN -- Acadia café
10.11 -- Milwaukee, WI -- Frank's Powerplant
10.12 -- Indianapolis, IN -- Melody Inn
10.13 -- Knoxville, TN -- Preservation Pub
10.15 -- Asheville, NC -- Fred's Speakeasy
10.16 -- Nashville, TN -- The Muse
10.17 -- Lexington, KY -- Cosmic Charlies
10.18 -- Columbus, OH -- Skully's
10.19 -- Pittsburgh, PA -- Arsenal Lanes
10.20 -- Philadelphia, PA -- The Fire
10.21 -- New York, NY -- Sullivan Hall
10.22 -- Somerville, MA -- Precinct

TOMMY STINSON | CHURCH OF BOSTON | 28 AUGUST

You say "former 'Mats bassist and current Guns sideman." We say all that plus "pop genius." See Tommy Stinson at Church in Boston, supported by Figgs guy Mike Gent, Sunday the 28th. Seriously, this is as close to Mr. Stinson, former bassist for legends The Replacements, as you are ever going to get without binoculars -- don't blow this. TICKETS. Full tour dates at Tommy's web dojo. Have you heard the shimmering new strummer "One Man Mutiny" yet? Get the MP3 in exchange for your email address below.

Be Prepared: Superchunk | On The Mouth [Remastered Reissue] | 17 August

Oh, On The Mouth, how we love you so, ever since we borrowed you from the cool quiet girl on the next cinder block-walled freshman hall over with the coal black-dyed hair and taped you, which girl we secretly credited for the huge gift of turning us on to Superchunk in the spring of 1993. Many, many years later we learned that all along it was our friend Ken's record, and so Ken deserves the credit of pointing us toward Superchunk, which in turn pointed us in the direction of myriad North Carolina bands as well known as Archers Of Loaf or as obscure as Finger. Because of their support slot on the final Replacements tour we were familiar with The Connells first, but their records sounded increasingly tame as we delved deeper and deeper into the heavier and weirder sounds emanating from the somewhat ominously monikered area known as The Triangle. We consider On The Mouth a perfect record; our only quibble is that the amazing, top-10-songs-of-all-time-list, would-be title track was left off the record and included only as a B-side to the "Mower" single.

Merge will reissue On The Mouth, Superchunk's third album, Aug. 17; the same day the venerable label also reissues a remastered version of its stunning, Albini-recorded sophomore set No Pocky For Kitty. That album's opening three cuts may be the best three opening cuts on any record ever. The two records will be available on vinyl with download coupon, on CD and digitally. Both records are already streaming in full for a limited time at the Merge store here and here respectively. If you don't yet own these records, well, we feel sorry for you. Really, we do. You can't live your life that way. Merge wants to help, and is offering a teaser MP3 of the lead track of No Pocky For Kitty, which we're linking to below. Superchunk issues its first new record in nine years, Majesty Shredding, Sept. 14.

Superchunk -- "Skip Steps 1 & 3" -- No Pocky For Kitty (Remastered Reissue)
[right click and save as]
[pre-order No Pocky For Kitty here and On The Mouth here]

Superchunk: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Today's Hotness: Museum Mouth, Pixies

>> Museum Mouth's "Outside" is 117 seconds of indie-punk perfection. Tucked into the middle of the Southport, NC-based trio's solid, self-released full-length Tears In My Beer, the tune leads with the increasingly trendy surf guitar and throbbing drums. "Outside" distinguishes itself, however, with a sing-alongy, bouncing chorus of apologies that recalls the great sounds of the Pacific Northwest underground, circa 1995. Museum Mouth intends to spend most of this month touring, although the itinerary it has posted still looks in need of some filling out. But you can catch then Saturday in Brooklyn (or can you? the date disappeared from the band's MySpazz) and later in the month back in North Carolina; inspect the full slate of dates at Museum Mouth's MySpace dojo right here. Tears In My Beer was released in March.

Museum Mouth -- "Outside" -- Tears In My Beer
[right click and save as]
[buy Tears In My Beer from the band right here for only five bucks]

>> We highly recommend the book "Fool The World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies." We were wary of reading another oral history of an indie rock act after finding the Replacements oral history "The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting" very, uh, unsatisfying. But "Fool The World" succeeds remarkably, we think because the quality of the sources is so much better. Where in the 'Mats book most of the band was unwilling to give interviews (founding guitarist Bob Stinson, of course, died 15 years ago), "Fool The World," published in 2006, has all of the Pixies present and accounted for. But better still, there are label folks, tour managers and promoters -- the extremely affable Marc Geiger, in particular, with whom we used to occasionally chat during our reporting days -- who all offer valuable and interesting insights into the rise and fall and rise again of the now legendary and reformed Pixies. However, what we liked most about the book was the very thorough history it provides of Fort Apache, the studio -- actually a series of studios -- where many early Pixies recordings (not to mention recordings by Dinosaur Jr., Radiohead, Uncle Tupelo and Buffalo Tom) were made. Buy "Fool The World" from Amazon right here. And speaking of Pixies, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that for a limited time Bradley's Almanac is giving away a recording of the quartet's Nov. 28, 2009 Boston performance of Doolittle right here.

YouTube Rodeo: The Henry Clay People Cover The 'Mats, Op Ivy

You'd think after the debacle posting The Henry Clay People's "Your Famous Friends" last week we'd be wary of posting another clip by the band. But you'd be thinking wrong. The L.A.-based act recently performed a live set at Fingertips, which we think is a record store somewhere, and at some point requests were taken, and the result is the awesome video above wherein The Henry Clay People tackle The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" and -- astonishingly -- Operation Ivy's "Knowledge." Check it out. The Henry Clay People will play in Boston June 27 as part of commercial radio broadcaster WFNX's Clam Bake event, the details of which you can peruse here. We reviewed the band's recently released sophomore full-length Somewhere On The Golden Coast right here late last month.

Review: The Henry Clay People | Somewhere On The Golden Coast [MP3]

Making rock music about making rock music is a dangerous game, and a band that attempts it best have the goods lest they be relegated to dung heaps still piled high with '70s cock rock and the output of faceless '80s metaltards. Fortunately the young and exuberant Los Angeles-based rock concern The Henry Clay People has the right amount of hooks, attitude and self-awareness to succeed brilliantly, and -- despite songs about selling guitars to pay rent; about crashing on couches; about Saturday night -- the quartet's forthcoming sophomore full-length Somewhere On The Golden Coast just might save rock 'n' roll from itself for a little while longer (as the similarly 'Mats-inspired The Hold Steady's earth-shaking Separation Sunday did five years ago).

The Henry Clay People's precedent full-length, EP and single hinted at great things, but Somewhere On The Golden Coast exceeds expectations by showing the band, fronted by the wonderfully shouty Joey and Andy Siara, can shift gears and offer more than boozy mid- and uptempo rockers. The opening prologue "Nobody Taught Us To Quit" skips rhythm tracks altogether while aggrandizing the sort of foot-shooting favored by Paul Westerberg. The ballad "A Temporary Fix" similarily ditches the drums in the first verse, and Mr. Siara's aching murmur floats among hair-raising feedback and noise and tremeloed organ. It's a surprising turn for an act best known for foot-stomping bar anthems, which, of course, Somewhere On The Golden Coast touts in spades. In addition to the ace single and EP cuts "This Ain't A Scene" and "Working Part Time," the red-hot "Your Famous Friends" and "Keep Your Eyes Closed" memorably rock with abandon.

To borrow a phrase, the greatest bands create their own mythologies, and The Henry Clay People's Somewhere On The Golden Coast boasts neccessarily short-handed tales whose genesis may or may not be founded in fact. The emphatic expostulation "we got drunk and called in sick whenever we felt like it!" tidily sums up a glory of slackerdom; "If your fancy school put you back in debt, I'd sell my favorite guitar so you can pay your rent" romanticizes trials of the rocker class. By our (unscientific) calculations, the last cool band to come out of Los Angeles was Jane's Addiction, so The Henry Clay People actually aren't only saving rock 'n' roll, but they are also restoring legitimacy to a town whose contributions to indie rock grow ever more remote. Somewhere On The Golden Coast will be issued by TBD Records June 8.

The Henry Clay People -- "Your Famous Friends" -- Somewhere On The Golden Coast
[right click and save as]
[pre-order Somewhere On The Golden Coast from Amazon right here]

06.08 -- Spaceland -- Los Angeles, CA
06.15 -- Hard Rock Live -- Orlando, FL
06.16 -- Sunset Cove Amphitheater -- Boca Raton, FL
06.18 -- Ritz -- Tampa, FL
06.19 -- The Tabernacle -- Atlanta, GA
06.20 -- The Ritz Theatre -- Raleigh, NC
06.21 -- The National -- Richmond, VA
06.23 -- DAR Constitution Hall -- Washington, DC
06.24 -- Wellmont Theatre -- Montclair, NJ
06.25 -- Williamsburg Waterfront -- Brooklyn, NY
06.27 -- House Of Blues -- Boston, MA
06.28 -- Penn's Landing -- Philadelphia, PA
06.29 -- The Sound Academy -- Toronto, Ontario
07.02 -- The Fillmore Detroit -- Detroit, MI
07.03 -- Aragon Ballroom -- Chicago, IL
07.04 -- Summerfest -- Milwaukee, WI
07.16 -- Hard Rock Hotel -- Las Vegas, NV
07.17 -- Marquee Theater -- Tempe, AZ
07.19 -- Stubb's -- Austin, TX
07.20 -- Warehouse Live -- Houston, TX
07.21 -- Palladium Ballroom -- Dallas, TX
07.24 -- Live on the Levee -- St. Louis, MO
07.26 -- The Fillmore Auditorium -- Denver, CO
07.27 -- The Rail -- Salt Lake City, UT
07.29 -- Crystal Ballroom -- Portland, OR
07.31 -- The Paramount Theatre -- Seattle, WA
08.07 -- Soma -- San Diego, CA
10.09 -- Austin City Limits -- Austin, TX

The Henry Clay People: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Today's Hotness: The Cribs, The Couriers, The Stone Roses

>> It's been a long time since we've thrown together an odds n' sods post, mostly due to our increasing use of Twitter to deal with smaller news items. You should follow us at @clickyclicky, yeh?

>> We've never fully gotten behind West Yorkshire, England-based indie rock quartet The Cribs, perhaps because they've never had a domestic record deal? Maybe they have and we're just lazy? Whatever the reason, we've been reading raves in the UK-based blogs we follow, and then there was that business about Johnny Marr -- who is sort of famous, yeh? -- becoming a full-time member of the band. They've covered The Replacements and collaborated with Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo. All that piqued our interest. However, it took the freely available, firestorm of a track "We Were Aborted" to move us from "interested in the band" to "on Ebay to look for their new record." The track -- upbeat, guitar-heavy and with the sort of desperate and shouty vocals that draw us like a moth to a flame -- is a promo cut from the band's fourth full-length Ignore The Ignorant, which was released in the UK by Wichita Sept. 7. The new record entered the UK Top 10 last week, according to the quartet's web dojo, and the band is touring the U.K. to support the record release through mid-October. We think you'll dig the track, so here it is:

The Cribs -- "We Were Aborted" -- Ignore The Ignorant
[right click and save as]
[buy Ignore The Ignorant and other Cribs releases from Banquet Records UK right here]

>> Compadre Jimmy Carl wrote us with a tip in recent weeks about a dynamite power pop track he'd heard on MIT's 88.1 WMBR-FM Cambridge by an outfit called The Couriers. This name was new to us, but it only took one listen to concur with Jimmy Carl's assessment. The New York-based quartet's "Time Away From Time" is an insanely catchy rocker that pushes a number of the right buttons, including piling every odd time signature one can think of next to each other while still delivering a lethally melodic attack. The band issued its debut --- and perhaps only -- record Stay These Couriers in 2005. How we missed this track for the last four years is something of a mystery to us, but people we can not be everywhere and hear everything! Which is why we dutifully distribute props to Jimmy Carl for bring The Couriers and their song to our attention. It is unclear whether the band is still a going concern, as the most recent show listed at its Internet Home Page was in December, and that show is referred to as a reunion show. Nevertheless, "Time Away From Time" rocks most steadfastly, it is available for free from the band, and we'll save you a trip and post it below.

The Couriers -- "Time Away From Time" -- Stay These Couriers
[right click and save as]
[buy The Couriers' music from the band right here]

>> We are enjoying listening to the expanded reissue of The Stone Roses' epic self-titled debut, but we have a hard time adjusting to the running order not including "Elephant Stone." The song was on the U.S. version of the original release, but apparently not the original U.K. version. A demo of "Elephant Stone" is packaged with the second CD of the expanded reissue, but the absence of the proper version -- which the liners to the U.S. version tell us was produced by New Order's Peter Hook -- is hard for us to get used to.

>> Very alert readers may recall that when we first met The Hush Now the band was recording its sophomore set last summer. During the evening we sat in on the sessions, fronter Noel Kelly and his cohort were tracking a tune called "The Atheist." The track was noticeably absent from Constellations, The Hush Now's sophomore set that will finally be released next month (read our review here). Well, we caught up with Mr. Kelly after The Hush Now's set supporting The Beatings last weekend and asked him what happened to the track, and he said it will potentially be used as a b-side for a forthcoming single. The quintet's single "Hoping And Waiting," taken from Constellations, has already made some waves in the specialty radio charts.

Today's Hotness: The Replacements, Johnny Foreigner

>> Venerable U.S. music publication Billboard today published details about the next slate of Replacements reissues, which will be released by Rhino Sept. 23. The four records represent the storied Minneapolis quartet's major-label efforts, namely the albums Tim, Pleased To Meet Me, Don't Tell A Soul, and the highly under-rated final set All Shook Down. Each record comes with its own complement of bonus tracks, just like the four Twin-Tone era issues released earlier in 2008, and you can read the highlights at Billboard right here. We are particularly excited to hear the demos for "Torture" and "One Wink At A Time," the latter track featuring the amazing opening line "The magazine she flips through is the special double issue..." Equally enticing is the prospect of new recordings from bandleader Paul Westerberg, who according to cryptic blog posts and published reports will release this Saturday new recordings for the knavely sum of $.49 per track at his web site. It has been widely reported, perhaps most recently in this May "Spin" article, that Westerberg has given something on the order of 60 new tracks to his manager, and one can only speculate that the material that will be made available this weekend is culled from that.

>> So we still haven't received the presser from Canadian-based label group Nettwerk about the North American release of Johnny Foreigner's terrific full-length debut Waited Up Til It Was Light. But fortunately there remain web sites out there that -- for better or worse -- continue to publish press releases verbatim. So thanks to that, and to Google, we've found the release here and learned the following compelling information. While the physical release of the full-length will not be in stores until October (precise date not specified), the set will available through digital storefronts including ITunes July 22. That is _next week_, give or take three months before the real thing hits racks. This is a smart play by the notably forward thinking label Nettwerk, because every day that Waited Up Til It Was Light is building hype in North America but not available for sale is another day during which the young and the savvy will just illegally download the set for lack of any available affordable commercial option (we can speak from experience when we say buying the import is muy, muy caro). The record was issued in the UK June 2, so it is -- at least occasionally -- out there to be had digitally despite management's best efforts. While you're counting down the hours until you can buy the record next Tuesday, we recommend reading the latest diary entry from Johnny Foreigner fronter and guitarist Alexei Berrow. You can check that out here. We reviewed Waited Up Til It Was Light here in June, and we reviewed Johnny Foreigner's American live debut here in December. A video for "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella," the forthcoming third single from the full-length, is expected to be available (again) at YouTube sometime this weekend.

Muxtape No. 12: Things I Need To Do Before The Batteries Die

Welcome to the weekly Muxtape, or at least the various scattered thoughts centering thereon. Seems like the theme this week is remarkable lyrics. Kind of a general idea, nothing like trying to prove a point about Dosh and Gastr Del Sol as we endeavored to do last week. You can listen to all the tracks here. Read on for our musings.

1. The Mendoza Line -- "Road To Insolvency" -- Fortune
(We're surprised by two things: 1) that Shannon McArdle will have a solo record out before former Mendoza Line and life-partner-in-crime Timothy Bracy and 2) that the songs at Ms. McArdle's MySpace cabin are so appealing. If we haven't come right out and said it before, we'll say it now: we always preferred Bracy's tunes to McArdle's in the Mendoza Line canon. Such as this song "Road To Insolvency." The guy can write amazing lyrics, his singing voice is rumpled to the extent of being wholly ace. But this new McArdle stuff is really very good. We saw Large-Hearted Boy hosting an MP3 from the set today, hopefully have time to do a post about it later this week. Ah, what the hell, we already wrote about the tune last week, so here it is: Shannon McArdle -- "Poison In My Cup" -- Summer Of The Whore; right click on the hyperlink and save as.)

2. The Replacements -- "Staples In Her Stomach (Outtake)" -- Stink [Expanded]
(This is the "bonus" track we were most interested in hearing from the recent Mats reissues, as it had been hyped more than once in the books we've read concerning the erstwhile Minneapolis band. And while it is slightly one-dimensional, it doesn't disappoint. It's was appended to the expanded version of Stink, but seems to be more of a piece with Sorry Ma. Another great lyric.)

3. Nosferatu D2 -- "Broken Tamagotchi" -- Nosferatu D2
(When Ben Parker yowls "the telephone is ringing!" in this track the hair on the back of our neck stands up. No one does literate and terribly exercised like Mr. Parker, whose acclaim falls far short of his immense talent. The title to this Muxtape is taken from this searing tune.)

4. Modest Mouse -- "Whenever I Breathe Out You Breathe In (Live)" -- Bootleg, May 19, Some Year
(Originally on the band's first single backed with "Broke," and while the Modest Mouse catalogue has many, many great songs, we tell anyone who will listen that they've never surpassed the excellence -- or at least the annihilating emotional impact -- of the first single. This live version is a nice take on the recording, and it was posted to some music blog a billion years ago when music blogs were shorter and lived closer to the water.)

5. The Swimmers -- "Pocket Full Of Gold (Live)" -- The Hideout, Chicago, 2008
(So we figured we'd post up another live track. We really like The Swimmers record that was finally released this year. The Philly-based quartet was giving away -- for a while anyway -- MP3s of their show last spring at The Hideout in Chicago. "Heaven" was the "big" track from the record, but we are equally as enamored with this rocker. We enjoy those plinky tones at the beginning, and the drumming on this recording sounds particularly forceful, in a good way.)

6. The Trolleyvox -- "Stomping Grounds" -- Luzerne
(And then we figured we'd keep it Philly style. This is from the T-vox's double set released last year. It's a quiet acoustic and violin-appointed thing, a ruminating vocal. This track is about a million miles away from the vitriol packaged above in the Nosferatu D2 track, and truthfully this seems more like an autumnal jam, but it's so purty we'll just leave it here.)

7. Wimp Factor 14 -- "Rebuilding Europe" -- Some 'zine comp
(We've always preferred the Eggs cover from that band's amazing Exploder! release. But even so, we were always intrigued to find and hear the original, and then it finally was posted to BCO or some such outpost of musical musicery, and we were pleased. This track features one of the best opening lines of the '90s: "I don't want to be part of your Marshall Plan...")

8. Unwound -- "Lady Elect" -- Repetition
(This record came out at the end of our college days and even now seems to sum up that period of time well. But even outside of our own context, Unwound seemed to harness the disaffected zeitgeist of the early and mid-'90s, post-grunge indie northwest. It would seem that when Mr. Cobain died, this trio, who we once saw destroy the Khyber in Philly many moons ago, stepped in to carry the mantle of the broken and disturbed. Love the subtle vibraphone -- we think that's what it is -- at the end of this track.)

9. The Sea And Cake -- "Civilise" -- The Fawn
(We referenced our strong feelings for The Sea And Cake's The Fawn Sunday, so we thought we'd throw in a track here from that excellent album. A nice gentle chorus, and wonderful pattering snare drum in the verse under spare piano and guitar. A very handsome package, and a track that could just have easily been on the more guitar-oriented set The Biz, rather than the somewhat electronically tilted The Fawn.)

10. Yo La Tengo -- "Beach Party Tonight" -- Summer Sun
(We were just at the beach. It was nice. Almost as nice as this top shelf Yo La Tengo dreamer. In a perfect world this song would lull us to sleep every night.)

11. Lifter Puller -- "Nassau Coliseum" -- Soft Rock
(We came to this pre-Hold Steady band way late, we admit. This track is amazing, as amazing as anything Mr. Finn has put his name on since. The relentless listing of cities and towns at the end leads up to a bawdy but stirring finish.)

12. The Promise Ring -- "Best Looking Boys" -- Boys And Girls
(So this sort of acts as a chaser of sorts to Mr. Finn's x-rated proclamation above, as here we have one of Davey Von Bohlen's innocent pop confections. It's no "Red And Blue Jeans," but few songs approach the greatness of that amazing track. So here we send you off with a pop song. Have a nice day.)

Today's Hotness: Robert Pollard, The Replacements, Big Science

>> Still catching up... We were minding our business early last week listening to the "tape delay" of one of the prior week's episodes of WMBR's crucial "Breakfast of Champions" program when a tune caught our ear. It was distinctly Pollardian, and so it was little surprise when the DJ back-announced that the track was from a forthcoming Robert Pollard solo set. We made a note to look for more info on the Internet, but before we even had a chance to sit down and look an email had already hit our inbox with the details. Indeed, Mr. Pollard will issue a new solo set Robert Pollard Is Off To Business June 3, and it will be released on his own new label GBV Records. Pollard's previous four records were released on Merge, and probably all within one twelve-month period, given the man's ability to churn out records like most of us churn out blog posts. Anyway, the track that caught our ear is titled "Gratification To Concrete," and it is the promo track for the new set. Download at will.

Robert Pollard -- "Gratification To Concrete" -- Robert Pollard Is Off To Business
[right click and save as]
[pre-order Robert Pollard Is Off To Business here]

>> Interesting grab bag of news for the taking in this Man Without Ties post. To whit: the reissues of The Replacements catalogue will not be available at ITunes (and presumably no other digital music storefront) prior to the release of the Sire titles in September; and apparently Paul Westerberg has taken up ice hockey. More notable tidbits at the link supra.

>> Chicago-based sort-of newcomers Big Science was slated to play its first show Friday night. Not a big deal in and of itself, as new bands play first shows somewhere every day. But the quartet's blend of Big Country hooks and Talking Heads-ish radio pop sensibilities make us believe Big Science will break big at some point. The band, which sprung in part from the ashes of defunct San Deigo post-hardcore act The North Atlantic, recently made its MySpace offerings downloadable, and we recommend snatching them all. To get you started here is the demo for the tune "My Career As A Ghost."

Big Science -- "My Career As A Ghost" -- MySpace demo
[right click and save as]
[more at the band's MySpace tent here]

>> So our initial excitement about Jim Guthrie's new project Human Highway is tempered by the two tracks recently posted at the band's MySpace yert here. "The Sound" is a playful strummer with a canned beat that sounds a bit like '80s TV show soundtrack music. It's something like Men At Work, but without Colin Hay's voice and personality. The second track, "Sleep Talking," seems to reimagine Modest Mouse's "Sleep Walkin'" without any of Isaac Brock's pilled-up melancholy. On the whole the songs seem to lean more in the direction of the prior work of former Islands guy Nick Thorburn, who is the other principal member of Human Highway. We'll be interested to hear what else the act has to offer, but for now we're not sure if it is going to excite us at all. The duo's full-length Moody Motorcycle will be issued by Suicide Squeeze Aug. 18.

I Only Talk About You: Muxtape Numero Cuatro

We're a little late with the weekly Muxtape, but we hope you'll agree the extra time resulted in an incremental increase in quality. We've unearthed rarities, elevated the under-known or under-appreciated, and celebrated the obviously worthy. Click this link to listen in, and read below for the play-by-play.

1. Mclusky -- She Will Only Bring You Happiness -- Mcluskyism
(at first it is a bit hard to believe that this is from the same band that brought us the undeniable and apocalyptic screamer "Light Saber C*ck Sucking Blues." But the band reveals its true colors with a snicker at the end of this relatively breezy pop gem when it confesses its old singer is a sex criminal. Everybody always asks us whose track this is whenever it comes on. It's that good.)

2. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A Start -- Janet Bateman -- Girls Names EP
(not the track we intended to upload -- all those girls' names get mixed up in our head. That said, every track is a winner on this Jersey band's EP, and on most of their EPs and records for that matter.)

3. Superchunk -- Unbelievable Things -- Indoor Living
(Is it a coda? Whatever it is, when Mac gets to the part where he sings "I'm starting to believe," it is transformative. We're still not sure when exactly indoor living was all the rage, but we expect it is popular with different people at different times. No Superchunk album as a whole thrills us the way On The Mouth did, but Indoor Living certainly has its share of high points, although we have to confess weathering some dissatisfaction as the pop tendencies began to creep into Mac's music around this time.)

4. Seaweed -- Bill (Live) -- Internation Pop Underground comp
(this song immediately inspired in us a desire to like Seaweed a lot. But besides this track and the cover of Beat Happening's "Foggy Eyes" on the Fortune Cookie Prize comp, we've never been able to get on board with the band. But the fact that the band has recorded what we consider to be two monumental tracks is no small feat.)

5. The Replacements -- Left Of The Dial (Live) -- More Sh*t For The Fans
(a very nice recording and performance of one of the most important rock songs ever. We hate when people cordon off the so-called "post-punk era" when making such claims. This song doesn't need to be handicapped, it doesn't need you to lace your fingers and give it a boost: it's Beatles good, it's Stones good, it's Zep good, it's Pistols good...)

6. The Joey Sweeney -- Pull The Lever Down -- Girl's High
(oh how we wish this record was released. We finally got nice digital files a couple years ago so we could rock out like it was 1995 every day. Mr. Sweeney had many great performers at his side over the years and a number of notable lineups, but he never rocked before or after like he did when he had a Radnor High School-bred rhythm section.)

7. Vehicle Flips -- Steelers' Fight Song -- In Action
(this song is heavily associated with autumn for us, but it is so good we can't ignore it the other nine months of the year. Perhaps the cold, wet weather this weekend has brought it prematurely to the fore of our mind. In Action is out of print and we had to beg the wider BCO population for a copy several years ago and thankfully someone obliged us. Sturdy indie pop, a bit more grown up than twee. Incidentally, we like to believe there is some nexus between the Vehicle Flips track "Potomac" and Eggs' "Evanston, Ill.")

8. Varsity Drag -- Summertime -- For Crying Out Loud
(we've covered Ben and Lisa Deily's Varsity Drag in recent months, and this song is strong evidence why. The funniest comment about the Drag's 2006 set For Crying Out Loud is "Wow, you can really tell the record was recorded in a...er...metal shipping container." Even the blunt recording can't dull the hooks in this tune, and as the weather warms up, we can't help but sing along even when it isn't on.)

9. Superman Revenge Squad -- Angriest Dog In The World -- God Is In The TV digital single
(unbridled emotion. Remarkably, this song about the angriest dog is among the saddest of the many sad songs written by England's Ben Parker, whose work is regularly stunning and whose musical accomplishments should certainly be more widely celebrated).

10. Hypo -- Nice Day
(this very pleasant electronic track came off a compilation whose title and derivation has long since escaped us. But Google reminds us Hypo, which we think was Japanese or at least included a Japanese singer, recorded for the small Parisian label Active Suspension, which also has released recordings by Domotic. Google also reveals to us that the Active Suspension web site now features a delightful animated Bigfoot. Check it out.)

11. The Warlocks -- Dreamless Days -- Heavy Deavy Skull Lover
(we wish this song was an hour long. So sleepy and reverby and yet riveting.)

12. Shannon Worrell -- Deep Sea Swimmer -- The Moviegoer outtake
(we've never understood what Shannon Worrell is talking about here, but the track itself seems like a lullabye. This track didn't make it on her 2000 release The Moviegoer, and we wouldn't have even known about it if it hadn't been for Mr. Mystical Beast having encountered some CDs out for the trash one day in Brooklyn and deciding to pick them up. Time was we were whiling away our early 20s in Virginia and Ms. Worrell was our boss' wife. Certain folks may recall she formerly was the songwriting and guitar-playing half of the duo September 67. We just learned that she is finally recording a new record; we'll have more about that later in the week.)

Today's Hotness: Lilys, The Cure, Glen Campbell?

>> Been busy this week with the day job, a new blog for a service organization, and testing new software for our new blogging machine, which is slated to arrive this coming week. In the meantime a lot has piled up. We guess we've got to start somewhere, so let us just jump in.

>> Alternative rock veterans The Cure aim to build buzz for their 13th full-length set by releasing a series of four singles prior to its release Sept. 13. The singles will be issued the 13th of each month preceding the Sept. date, beginning with "The Only One" b/w "NY Trip" May 13. How many times can we type the number 13 in this item, we wonder? The second single will be titled "Freakshow" and will include on the reverse the number "All Kinds Of Stuff." Incidentally, we just learned the German word for "stuff" the other day and it is really fun to say. But anyway... apparently none of the single b-sides will be contained on the full-length, which will be issued by Suretone/Geffen. The Cure plays commences a strand of North American tour dates May 9 which brings the storied British group to Boston's Agannis Arena May 12. Hit this link to Billboard for full tour dates and what little other details we didn't steal from it. An item below has covers on our mind, so to celebrate the impending tour here's erstwhile D.C. indie rockers The Dismemberment Plan's cover of The Cure's fabulous "Close To Me."

The Dismemberment Plan -- "Close To Me" -- Give Me The Cure compilation (1996)
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[buy Dismemberment Plan and Cure recordings from Newbury Comics here]

>> You Shall Know Our Discography here has ripped and posted the vinyl version of sometimes-Philly-based Lilys' crucial, out-of-print (and now apparently forever lost through the odd intricacies of a bankruptcy proceeding) EP A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns. This is likely our favorite record, period. We've even learned to love the closing noise titled "Evil Kneivil;" the population at large will likely recognize the opening track "Ginger" from its odd placement in teevee commercials for a certain luxury car brand and for a popular clothing, housewares and scent brand. Hit this link, download the set, and leave a comment thanking Mr. Discography for his public service.

>> Here's an interesting perspective from Digital Audio Insider. Because ITunes hasn't raised prices for its standard digital music files in line with inflation over the course of its five years of operations, the files it sells are actually becoming less expensive. We expect that greater adoption of broadband and cheaper storage hardware and players will ultimately drive the digital music business toward higher fidelity/lower compression audible media. But then again, it's 2008 and we suspect the market for higher fidelity files made commercially available can only be described best as "niche." That said, in 2003 dollars, which of course none of us has to spend any longer, ITunes downloads now cost a mere $.86. Still, that's akin to waxing nostalgic about how a pack of gum used to cost a dime: it doesn't put any gum in your mouth, now does it?

>> The Paul Westerberg blog Men Without Ties reports here on a No Depression item that says "Rhinestone Cowboy" s(l)inger Glen Campbell will cover the late period Replacements downer "Sadly Beautiful" on a forthcoming collection. The set will be titled Meet Glen Campbell, but it appears it will be comprised solely of covers of songs by folks including U2, Foo Fighters and Nico/Jackson Browne. Two questions: is the album title supposed to be funny? It kind of is. Also: is Rick Rubin behind this? Because it sort of has the scent of Johnny Cash's late resurgence in popularity to it, no?

>> You didn't think we'd post without mentioning Johnny Foreigner, did you? Fans of the stellar Birmingham, England-based indie rock trio can now pre-order the single "Eyes Wide Terrified" from HMV.co.uk right here. As we've reported previously, the B sides are "I Heard, He Ties Up Cats" and "What Burlesque Won't Stand." The single is released by Best Before May 19 -- about two weeks before the arrival of the band's debut full-length Waited Up Til It Was Light -- and delivery is free, we expect so long as you live in the UK. Given the poor condition our copy of the last Johnny Foreigner single, which we purchased from HMV, we think we'll wait to see who else will sell it to us.

Today's Hotness: The Replacements, The Feelies, The A-Sides

>> We devoted a portion of the weekend to cruising ecommerce sites to see if anyone is offering a bundled deal on the forthcoming reissues of The Replacements' Twin/Tone releases. While no one is offering a package deal, the best price we saw was at Newbury Comics, which will sell you the full-lengths for $13.25 and the EP Stink for $11.85 (which still seems absurdly high, since we recall getting this new on CD for like $6.99 at Repo Records back in the day). At least one place was charging list price of $18.98 for the full-lengths. Think it was Amazon. Our point is, why is no one offering a bundle deal like Matador just did with the Mission Of Burma stuff? We came very close to buying the discs off of NewburyComics.com, but then we figured we'd try our luck at the store on release day -- which is 4/22 -- to see if we can't get the discs for $12.99-ish or something. And we just discovered one more incentive via the Man Without Ties blog. Apparently certain stores will have (either for sale or as some sort of premium) a limited edition 7" on offer containing perhaps the two greatest Replacements songs, "I Will Dare" b/w "Color Me Impressed." So we're hoping like hell Newbury Comics has some of those next week, and we're going to try to duck out to the store prior to lunch to ensure we get a shot at it. Read more at the Man Without Ties post here.

>> Speaking of reissues -- here's something that hadn't been apparent to us: readers will recall we first pined for and then briskly reported on the impending reunion of seminal Jersey indie act The Feelies. Well, according to the good people over at 30 Milkshakes, there are also Feelies reissues in the offing. These will apparently be released by Bar/None. The Bar/None web site has nothing to offer on this subject, but we will watch eagerly for more news.

>> Philadelphia indie rockers The A-Sides have three tour dates lined up next week before they go into hiding to create their third set, the follow-up to last year's sophomore set Silver Storms, which was released by Vagrant. The first show is at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, Mass., i.e. right down the street. We're going to make a concerted effort to finally catch The A-Sides live, and if we do go, we're hoping that the quintet plays "Here Or There," a spacey, shoegazey jam that closed out the band's stellar 2005 full-length debut Hello, Hello. Here's an MP3.

The A-Sides -- "Here Or There" -- Hello, Hello
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[buy A-Sides recordings from Newbury Comics here]

>> So we got hip to 2008 and made a Muxtape. You can rock all 37:26 of it right here. We may make another Thursday night to tide readers over, as we expect to be off-line for the majority of what is a long weekend here in Massachusetts, USA. As of the other night we are also rocking Twitter, if that sort of thing interests you.