And Then Some Days We Get Awesome Mail 8

Chicago-based, fourth-wave (count on your fingers and start with Embrace or Rites Of Spring...) emo superheroes Castevet finally released its The Echo & The Light EP on 12" in mid-August. The set was originally set to see release on Big Scary Monsters early in 2010, but the quartet and label parted ways before the set hit racks, which created an opportunity for Tiny Engines to step in and deliver an expanded, re-recorded version of the goods (the iteration contemplated for release by BSM only had six tracks). You remember Tiny Engines, right? They released that amazing Everyone Everywhere full length earlier this year? Good times. Anyway, we had forgotten about the Castevet record until a very promising box arrived on our doorstep about a week ago. As you might have guessed, said box contained Castevet's fiery opus, which sounds wonderful on vinyl. It sounds wonderfuller on thick white vinyl, we might add. Approximate the joy we've been getting listening to the band's melodic, screamy and intricate jams by hitting the stream of the sparkling opening anthem "Six Parts Summer" below. Buy the EP from Tiny Engines right here. We first wrote about the band in February here.

Castevet's "Six Parts Summer"

Rock Over Boston: Bobby Bare, Jr. and Blue Giant | Middle East | 9.28.2010

[Bobby Bare, Jr. and Blue Giant at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA 9/28/2010. Photos by Michael Piantigini]

Bobby Bare, Jr: Intertubes | MySpace | Twitter
Blue Giant: Intertubes | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

YouTube Rodeo: Yuck's "Suicide Policeman" Live

From the band's Sept. 7 set supporting arena rockers Modest Mouse at the Melkweg in Amsterdam. London-based Yuck plays a few U.S. dates next month, including an Oct. 20 show in Boston at Paradise Rock Club opening for dream pop sensations The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. That's a hot bill. We're hoping our blogging schedule frees up shortly so we can get back to more regular publishing alongside Mr. Piantigini. But in the meantime you'd best mellow out with Yuck. Tickets for the Oct. 20 show can be obtained here from TicketKnob.

Rock Over Boston: Come and Wussy | TT's | 9.26.2010

[Come and Wussy at TT The Bear's, Cambridge, MA. 9/26/2010. Photos by Michael Piantigini]

Come: MySpace | Matador
Wussy: Intertubes | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter

Rock Over Boston | Teenage Fanclub at Royale | 9.25.2010

[Teenage Fanclub and Radar Brothers at Royale, 9/25/2010. Photos by Michael Piantigini]
Teenage Fanclub are one of those bands that are so irresistible that when you see them you wonder why you listen to anyone else.

Unfortunately, getting that feeling from them is all too rare these days, since they are apparently on a quinquennial album release schedule with even more rare visits to Boston. Scotland is far away, but one of them lives in Canada now - that's either an improvement or even worse. I suppose this makes it all the more special, though I will still selfishly pine for more.

Strummy pop songs with soaring harmonies are the stock and trade of a whole movement of bands, but so precious few manage to join the ranks of power pop's inspirational guiding lights. Teenage Fanclub are certainly followers of Big Star, Badfinger, The Byrds, and (of course) The Beatles, but they also now continue to inspire countless bands who've followed them.

They're here in support of their understated grower of a new album, Shadows (Merge), but only played four from it - three of those being the album's biggest highlights: "Sometimes I Don't Need To Believe in Anything," single "Baby Lee," and "When I Still Have Thee." The latter being a Teenage Fanclub classic of the highest order. They should re-press their 2003 best-of just to include it.

Already on that list is the inspirational "Ain't That Enough" from 1997's Songs From Northern Britain. I defy anyone not to feel optimistic when hearing Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, and Gerard Love harmonize it's chorus "Here is a sunrise Ain't that enough/True as a clear sky, ain't that enough." We got that and more: the sweet "Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From," an epic "Everything Flows," and, from 1991's watershed Bandwagonesque, "Alcoholiday," "Star Sign," and the I-still-can't-believe-I-Saw-It-On-Saturday-Night-Live set-closer "The Concept."

I can't imagine anyone left disappointed. This was a crowd-pleasing hits set, but it's been so long, we sorely needed it.

Radar Brothers sounded great, but played their mellow pop to a mostly-empty room, much like Versus did earlier in the week. The 6:45 (nightclub!) set time can't have been fun for them, but people gotta dance, I suppose.

-Michael Piantigini

Teenage Fanclub: Intertubes | MySpace | Twitter | at Merge
Radar Brothers: Intertubes | MySpace | at Merge

Today's Hotness: The Henry Clay People

>> Remember The Henry Clay People, supercool resuscitators of rock & roll, restorers of credibility to Los Angeles as a breeding ground for compelling music in this crazy post-pre-post-pre-post-Van Halen/Jane's Addiction world that we all live in? Well, the quintet is currently touring the U.S. in support of its addictive sophomore full-length Somewhere On The Golden Coast, which was issued June 8 by TBD Records [review]. Said tour will bring the ten-legged rock machine into the Boston market for what promises to be a thrilling headline set at T.T. The Bear's Place Oct. 17. To whet your proverbial whistles The Henry Clay People are offering a free download of the tune "Switch Kids" to all takers, come what may. We don't think the song has ever been properly released before, although it was part of a May 15, 2010 Daytrotter session that you should really download right here. This is a studio recording however, and the verse features the act at perhaps its most aggressive, pounding guitars at octaves like the late great Pilot To Gunner. And then there is a cool, burbling, backwards guitar effect breathing in a caesure at the end of the second minute. Hit the download below, you'll be glad you did. And, look, some promo house has put all of Somewhere On The Golden Coast up on Soundcloud to stream. You should hit that, too.

The Henry Clay People -- "Switch Kids"
[right click and save as]
[buy Henry Clay People music right here]

Somewhere on the Golden Coast by C3 Artist mgmt

Rock Over Boston: Superchunk | Versus | Royale | 9.22.2010

[Superchunk at Royale in Boston, MA 9/21/10. Photo by Michael Piantigini. A few more from the night here.]
Remember that feeling you used to get as a teenager when you'd go to the Worcester Centrum kinda early to see... let's say Van Halen, and on the scoreboard they'd be running through the stuff coming up there, and it would eventually cycle back around to Van Halen and everyone would go crazy? That's how I felt in the hours leading up to Superchunk's return to Boston.

No, they never really broke up, but this still felt like an event. Hell, they've been away about as long as Pavement (that is, a lifetime), and look at those guys. Those of us still suspicious of (though often giving in to) nostalgia are fortunate that Superchunk is supporting their excellent new album, Majesty Shredding (Merge), which has been so warmly received that the Boston crowd knew and loved the new songs enough that they were cheering for tracks like "My Gap Feels Weird" and "Digging For Something" nearly as much as many of the oldies. This is a great sign. Hopefully Superchunk will take it that way too, and keep this going.

But yes, they did play "Slack Motherfucker," too, which is a stone-cold, capital-A Anthem every bit as much as, say, "Born To Run," even if most people don't know it (whoever they are).

The crowd was oddly low-energy in the early going (I'm very disappointed in us for not going more crazy for "Seed Toss" in the two-slot), but Superchunk inevitably powered through it; Laura Ballance's pogoing and Mac Macaughan's manic energy that had him covering a lot of stage wound up the crowd enough that there was (of course) plenty of pogoing, a bit of a pit going for a while, and even a solitary stage dive. Just like back in the day. How great it was, also, to see Jon Wurster drumming his "regular" gig again after spending the last decade making comedy and drumming with everyone from the Mountain Goats to Aimee Mann to Bob Mould.

Mixing it up really well, the band drew pretty evenly from their entire catalog, eventually playing tracks from each of their albums with the exception of 2001's underrated Here's To Shutting Up. The encore brought a trio of cool local tributes: Mac Macaughan's recounting of a time that Boston scene godfather Billy Ruane told him that their new album at the time was nearing "Buffalo Tom-level intensity;" and covers of Sebadoh's "Brand New Love" (a long-time Superchunk cover), and 80's Boston punk legends SSD's "Glue." Late set explosions "The First Part" and "Package Thief" cemented the deal.

It's way too easy to make jokes about shows like this having early set times due to the ages of those involved, but Superchunk rendered them null and void, and with the manic aural adrenaline shot "Precision Auto" for a closer, it's doubtful anyone could go right to bed afterwards, no matter the age. (See the full setlist below).

Versus had the unenviable task of opening up this event, but I was nearly as excited to see them as the headliners. Their last time in town was at the shows for the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Jon Bernhardt's time on WMBR's essential Breakfast of Champions morning show. Which is only appropriate, because I first heard Versus' "Silver Vein" on Bernhardt's show all those years ago, but they're now firmly on a comeback trail of their own behind their own great new album On The Ones And Threes (Merge).

They're at their live best when Richard Baluyut's distortion-drenched guitar cranks up, and we got some particularly great flashes of that with tracks from the new one like the Zeppelinesque riffing of album-opener "Invincible Hero," the epic stomper "Cicada," as well as the title track before they wound down with another rarity, the slow-burn title cut to their 1996 EP, Deep Red.

Versus have a pretty chill stage demeanor as it is, and the early set times didn't do them any favors, as they opened up to a still mostly empty room. This contributed to a mostly low-key set that, like Superchunk's, did warm some as it went on and they played a clutch of their own classics, like the trio of "Circle," "Be-9," and, especially, "River" from 1995 fan-favorite, The Stars Are Insane. These were in short supply the WMBR show, so it was great to have these back on the setlist. Hopefully, their new activity will lead to a return to regular Boston visits? Please?

SCHEDULE CHANGE! Tonight was to have been Bettie Serveert's first visit to these shores in a while, but immigration issues have delayed the Dutch band. Glad to see that it was so quickly re-scheduled, though it is messing with my 90's week some. The new date is Tuesday, November 2nd at TT's. Your tickets are still good! I heaped praise upon their 2010 release, Pharmacy of Love, over here.

- Michael Piantigini

Superchunk at Royale, Boston, MA 9/21/2010:
Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything
Seed Toss
My Gap Feels Weird
Rosemarie
Cursed Mirror
Detroit Has a Skyline
Fractures in Plaster
Watery Hands
Nu Bruises
Slow Drip
Digging For Something
Driveway to Driveway
The First Part
Package Thief
Everything At Once
Slack Motherfucker

Encore:
Like a Fool
Brand New Love (Sebadoh cover)
Hyper Enough
Glue (SSD cover)
Precision Auto

Superchunk: Intertubes | Tour Diary | MySpace | Superchunk on Twitter | Jon Wurster on Twitter
Versus: MySpace | Fan Site
Merge Records: Intertubes
Bettie Serveert: Intertubes | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube