Today's Hotness: Mike Quinn, Projekt A-ko

>> We were excited to hear from Mike Quinn, who in the prior decade fronted erstwhile Scranton, PA-based indie rock champions Okay Paddy. That band's 2006 set The Cactus Has A Point [review here] was one of our favorite records of 2006. Around the time Okay Paddy hung up its gloves for the last time, Quinn moved on to the more trad-leaning folk/vaudeville/bluegrass concern ...And The Moneynotes, which put out a couple nifty, sometimes wacky, releases including New Cornucopia!, which we reviewed here in late 2008. Well, all that set-up is just to contextualize the news that Mr. Quinn is back with an enjoyable solo set called Magico, which was released June 7.

The collection is proof positive that Quinn continues to both embrace traditional, roots-leaning styles and possesses a charming sense of humor. The uptempo, harmonica-appointed, acoustic strummer that opens the record is titled "Big Shit." We have no idea what the shambling rocker "What It Wud" is about, but Quinn's diction delivering lines like "then maybe we oughta go out to Fairmount Park, see if they got any chocolate sauce like they did before" is either aping Adam Sandler's portrayal of the undersmart or sorta satirizing a Pennsylvania accent, to brilliant effect. The highlight of Magico has to be "The Devil Has A Heart," which commences with shuddering slide guitar and buries a pretty piano melody before setting a wickedly jaunty groove. As with much of Quinn's recent work, the chorus sounds best when hollered with thick glass beer mug in hand. We've embedded the curious video for the tune above, in which Quinn appears to imagine a series of lonely accidental deaths out in the beautiful Pennsylvania wilderness. Buy Magico from Bandcamp right here.

>> It can't all always be good news, dear readers. Word came down Monday from amazing Glaswegian indie rock underdogs Projekt A-ko that a planned second album has been, ahem, scotched for now. Fronter Fergus Lowrie, he formerly of '90s luminaries Urusei Yatsura, contacted folks who had paid for a pre-order of the album last year, stating with admirable frankness that "[w]ork, births and deaths have all played a part in the delay, but the main cause has been a continuing evolution in my understanding of tone and texture. Multiple recording sessions have been ditched and each time I seem to be moving further away from any destination. Until I can work out where I’m at I can’t guarantee when (or even if) the next Projekt A-ko album will be completed." Mr. Lowrie continues working with his experimental noise outfit Obscure Desire of the Bourgeoisie and has devoted a lot of time recently to co-producing a documentary about the abstract noise scene in Scotland. "This exposure to experimental music has made me think long and hard about my own musical assumptions and experiences," Lowrie wrote. All of that said, he has left open the door to perhaps one day getting a second Projekt A-ko record completed, and we are quite hopeful this happens. The trio's debut Yoyodyne was our second favorite album of 2009.

Today's Hotness: And The Moneynotes, Wet Paint

>> Eagle-eyed surveyors of our Clicky Clicky Club Picks column may have raised an eyebrow late last week when we updated our list of recommended shows to include a date for Scranton, PA-based, rootsy indie rockers And The Moneynotes to the line-up. The septet, which includes two former members of the fabulously gifted but sadly defunct indie geniuses Okay Paddy and whose music recalls the bluegrass-ier Camper Van Beethoven stuff, released last year its debut full-length New Cornucopia!, which we reviewed here. And The Moneynotes will not rest on its laurels in 2009, however. Instead, it will release later this spring a 7" EP called On The Town, On The Vine, and a chap from the label dropped an MP3 from the mini-set in our inbox late last week that has gotten us excited about the band once again. The new jam, "On The Town," is an upbeat tub-thumper that is, at the same time, compositionally impressive. There are none of the big guitars that typically get a lot of play here at Clicky Clicky, but if you've got a jug of liquor and aim to do some hootin' and hollerin,' this is the track for you. We're also throwing in "My Kid Smokin'" from New Cornucopia!, because that is a hot number. Full And The Moneynotes spring tour dates are below.

And The Moneynotes -- "On The Town" -- On The Town, On The Vine EP
And The Moneynotes -- "My Kid Smokin'" -- New Cornucopia!
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[buy And The Moneynotes music from Prairie Queen Records right here]

03/13 -- Northern Light -- Scranton, PA
03/14 -- The Bog -- Scranton, PA
03/22 -- The Headhunters Club [SXSW] -- Austin, TX
03/25 -- Star Bar -- Atlanta, GA
03/26 -- JJ’s Bohemia -- Chattanooga, TN
03/27 -- Green Street Club -- Greensboro, NC
03/28 -- Machiavelli’s -- Bristol, TN
04/02 -- The Space -- Hamden, CT
04/03 -- Pianos -- New York, NY
04/04 -- All Asia -- Cambridge, MA
04/05 -- The Bell House -- Brooklyn, NY
04/23 -- Velvet Lounge -- Washington, DC
04/25 -- The M Room -- Philadelphia, PA
05/06 -- Bar Bleu -- State College, PA
05/09 -- Brass Rail -- Ft. Wayne, IN
05/14 -- JJ’s Bohemia -- Chattanooga, TN
05/15 -- Snug Harbor -- Charlotte, NC

>> We read with interest this recent gig review at Drowned In Sound for a Manhattan Love Suicides show. While we are big fans of the aforementioned, noisy Leeds four-piece, DIS's description of billmates Wet Paint as wielding "Dinosaur Jr.-meets-Urusei Yatsura fuzz racket" -- because that sounds awesome, no? -- inspired in us great interest. We spent some time over the weekend at Wet Paint's MySpace outpost and enjoyed what we heard. Wet Paint features members (former members? we don't know) of Absentee and Economy Wolf. The rising, London-based quartet's full-length debut, It Rots, was released by Trial & Error Recordings Jan. 26; Wet Paint has also released two singles, "Hug It Out" backed with a remix of same crafted by Bloc Party's Matt Tong was issued last June, and "Save The Whale" backed with a cover of same by Lightspeed Champion. Wet Paint is currently touring the U.K. in support of Rumble Strips, and next month it has three live dates in London, two of which are in support of the aforementioned Bloc Party. For a very good primer on Wet Paint, which seems to have fairly rocketed out of obscurity in the last year, click here and watch the three video clips at the ConverseMusic site.

Review: And The Moneynotes | New Cornucopia! [MP3s]

We were huge fans of erstwhile Scranton, PA-based quintet Okay Paddy, and when the band's excellent EP Where You Went? [review here] was chased with news the group had disbanded, we were commensurately bummed. The EP presented some headscratch-worthy moments during which Okay Paddy broached surprisingly trad-leaning folk-rock sounds. But for the most part the music still fit within the framework of the Pavement-meets-Weezer brilliance contained on Okay Paddy's ferociously slept-on 2006 full-length The Cactus Has A Point [review here, stream the entire thing at Last.FM here]. The one exception was Where You Went? closer "Open It Up," during which the singer -- not sure who's on vocals there -- affects a drunken Phil Lynott style while the band spreads out and jams on a gritty dirge. With that as the band's final word, it was anybody's guess where Okay Paddy would go next.

While the breakup was surprising, it is not quite as surprising as And The Moneynotes, formerly know as Dr. Horsemachine And The Moneynotes, a project that galvanized in 2006 and released an EP, This Year We Hunt, in 2007. After the release of This Year We Hunt, a founding member of Dr. Horsemachine And The Moneynotes departed; eventually, Okay Paddy fronter Mike Quinn as well as guitarist Pat Finnerty and drummer Brian Craig were brought into the fold and the band name was truncated. The newer band's mish-mash of bluegrass, vaudeville and folk rock can come across as mannered, like an aural costume play (indeed, the band dresses in period garb like early American barkeeps or reporters in its press photos). Fortunately a sense of play -- and some strong melodies -- imbue New Cornucopia! with just the right amount of pep and pop hooks to keep the cheekiness from overwhelming the proceedings. If that doesn't sell you on the band, then this hysterical documentary trailer (real? we don't know) definitely will.

And The Moneynotes' music is even more rootsy and traditional than the most straightforward moments of Where You Went?, although there is an overt sophistication to the compositions that, incidentally, seems to echo the new direction that Delaware septet the Spinto Band has charted (more about them later). Certain vestigial elements of Okay Paddy survive, including wonderful vocal harmonies and melodic moments that soar. But in some cases, as in And The Moneynotes' proggy, Decemberists-esque "The Pirates Confession Part III," so much is going on at once between the key and tempo changes that it is hard to keep up. It may be too much for certain, more pop-devoted Okay Paddy fans, but listeners with broader tastes will find the cleverness bracing. New Cornucopia!, which was produced by Spinto Band's Nick Krill (who also worked on Where You Went?), was issued by Scranton's Prairie Queen Records July 29 [hit the YouTube link below to see videos from the CD release show]. The band will promote the set with a series of live appearances this fall, and we list those below. Also below are MP3s for two tracks from New Cornucopia!, including the delight "My Kid Smokin'," as well as some Okay Paddy classics.

And The Moneynotes -- "Bolinda" -- New Cornucopia! [live video]
And The Moneynotes -- "My Kid Smokin'" -- New Cornucopia!
Okay Paddy -- "Dumbwaiter" -- Where You Went?
Okay Paddy -- "Your Bar's On Fire" -- The Cactus Has A Point
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[buy New Cornucopia! from Prairie Queen Records right here]
[buy Okay Paddy records from Prison Jazz Records here]

And The Moneynotes: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

09/13 -- Cafe Metropolis -- Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
09/17 -- The Bog -- Scranton, Pennsylvania
09/25 -- Zeno’s -- State College, Pennsylvania
10/17 -- Music Hall Of Williamsburg -- Brooklyn, New York
10/18 -- The Chameleon Club -- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
10/25 -- River St. Jazz Cafe -- Plains, Pennsylvania
10/28 -- The Bog -- Scranton, Pennsylvania
10/29 -- Bar Bleu -- State College, Pennsylvania
10/30 -- Casa Cantina -- Athens, Ohio
10/31 -- Mid City Grill -- Ft. Wayne, Indiana
11/03 -- The Frequency -- Madison, Wisconsin
11/06 -- Al’s Bar -- Lexington, Kentucky
11/07 -- The Green Bean -- Greensboro, North Carolina