Getting Good Tropical Sleep

August 26, 2010 at 9:03 pm | Posted in 7 inch, Music, Powerpop | Leave a comment
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I seem to be on this late 70′s power pop kick lately and Tropical Sleep continue that kick. Tropical Sleep is the latest vehicle of Dan Wood who’s previous band the Pets set the bar pretty high with their Misdirection album. Talk about an album packed full of two minute blasts that are kinda Kiss and kinda Cheap Trick. It’s pretty relentless, but in a good way.  The first Tropical Sleep single comes in the latest batch of  Trouble In Mind singles and reminds me a lot of early Nick Lowe.  Two sides that leave me wanting more Tropical Sleep.  The band will in Seattle on 1 October for a gig a the Funhouse.

stream: Tropical Sleep – (Hadita) Girl With The Diamond Tooth (buy it from Trouble In Mind)


mp3: Nick Lowe – Heart of the City (from the Jesus of Cool)


mp3: The Pets – I Can’t Keep Myself Straight (from Misdirection)


The latest batch batch of four singles on Trouble In Mind includes Tropical Sleep, Hex Dispensers, Night Beats and Sticks N’ Stones. all of them are available from the label direct.  Keep your eyes peeled for new ones from Wounded Lion, Personal & the Pizzas and an album from the Liminanas all coming in October.

In other power pop news Paul Collins (the Beat) and Seattle’s Cute Lepers will be at the Funhouse 2 October for a double dose of the stuff.

Gentleman Jesse With the Radio On

August 24, 2010 at 6:24 pm | Posted in Funhouse, Gigs, Seattle | Leave a comment
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Gentleman Jesse & His Men at the Funhouse, Seattle | 22 August 2010

Sunday night Gentleman Jesse & His Men brought their adrenaline fueled pop to Seattle’s Funhouse. Jesse Smith, the former bassist of Atlanta’s Carbonas, writes songs that are both immediate and infectious. His album Introducing Gentleman Jesse from 2008 is a study in classic post-punk powerpop From its Elvis Costello inspired cover to its nods to everyone from the Kinks to the Nerves to Joe Jackson to Jonathon Richman Smith has done his homework.

Sporting a flashy red Rickenbacker, and a gaggle of girls in front of the stage dressed in their Joan Jett-West Side Story-girl gone bad clothes, Jesse and his Men banged through most of the Introducing album as well as some new ones including both sides of their upcoming single on Douchemaster. His band has both changed and expanded since recording the album. Drummer Dave Rahn appears to be the one only remaining from that period. The remainder of the band was made up of guys from The Barreracudas who played the openers with their take on the Ramones. Most of the band was already warmed up, but it didn’t take long for Smith to break a sweat blasting through the set at breakneck pace. The songs were delivered machine gun style with one ending and the next beginning without a breath, break, nor thank you. We weren’t there for dialog, we were there to rock and Smith’s short sharp and jagged songs more than supplied the goods.

mp3: Gentleman Jesse & His Men – She’s a Trap (from the upcoming Douchemaster single)


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Gentleman Jesse & His Men tour dates:
Aug 24 Compound, Provo, UT
Aug 25 Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO
Aug 27 Hi Tone, Memphis, TN
Aug 28 Discoteca, Chattanooga, TN
Sep 2 Saturn Bar, New Orleans, LA
Sep 3 Club Downunder, Tallahassee, FL
Sep 4 New World Brewery, Tampa, FL
Sep 7 The Atlantic, Gainesville, FL
Sep 8 Bottletree, Birmingham, AL
Sep 9 The Earl, Atlanta, GA
Sep 10 The Earl, Atlanta, GA
Sep 11 The Grey Eagle w/The Strange Boys, Asheville, NC
Sep 12 Glenn Danzig’s House, Nashville, TN
Sep 14 Local 506 w/The Strange Boys, Chapel Hill, NC
Sep 14 Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
Sep 15 Black Cat, Washington, DC
Sep 16 Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
Sep 17 TT the Bear’s, Boston, MA
Sep 19 Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA
Sep 19 Kung Fu Necktie w/ The Strange Boys, Philadelphia, PA
Sep 19 Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA
Sep 20 The Shop, Ithaca, NY
Sep 21 Casa del Popolo, Montréal, QC
Sep 22 The Garrison, Toronto, ON
Sep 23 PJ’s LAGER HOUSE, Detroit, MI
Sep 24 Now That’s Class, Cleveland, OH
Sep 25 Main Event, Cincinnati, OH
Sep 26 The Summit, Columbus, Ohio
Sep 27 The Brass Rail, Fort Wayne, IN
Sep 28 Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
Sep 29 Cactus Club, Milwaukee, WI
Sep 30 Turf Club, St Paul, MN

New Holiday Hymns From Vic Godard

August 23, 2010 at 8:56 am | Posted in Cult Heroes, mp3, Music | Leave a comment
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Vic Godard is an unassuming postman by day, cult hero by night, and now writer of show tunes with Irvine Welsh. Blackpool is the title song from a production that apparently didn’t go over too well in the limited run it had in Edinburgh back in 2002. Nevertheless, Godard didn’t want the songs he wrote for the production to be forgotten, and has seen fit to release a four song EP called Blackpool. They were all co-written with Irvin Welsh. The title song has a carnival, Bert the Chimney Sweep, Dent May feel to it and is quite charming if I do say so myself.
The EP is currently available on through the man himself. Also, prepare yourself for an album of new songs from Godard on 11 October, titled We Come as Aliens will.

mp3: Vic Godard – Blackpool (order the EP from Vic for £5 + postage. Details at his MySpace)


In other news, Domino Records announced this morning the details of the 6 CD Orange Juice Box set. Details, track listing and pre-order information at Domino.

Bare Wires Blitz

August 17, 2010 at 9:47 pm | Posted in Comet Tavern, Gigs, Seattle | Leave a comment
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Bare Wires at the Comet, Seattle | 17 August 2010


In his book The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll, Robert Forster lists 10 truths of rock. Rule number ten states that the three-piece band is the purest form of rock and roll expression. Oakland, California’s Bare Wires evidently know this.  The guitar, bass and drums equaled more than the sum of it’s parts last night, filling  the place with sonics that most bands would need a second or third guitar to accomplish .  The drums cracked and the bass rumbled while Lead Wire Mathew Melton’s guitar blasted out of a six foot tall amp and created a breeze in the otherwise stuffy Comet Tavern.

The new album Seeking Love hints at glam rock, but live Bare Wires are pure unadulterated 70′s glam from their haircuts, to their silky women’s blouses, to the power chords being dispensed and the poses rendered. Melton and his band look like they just got off the boat from 1974.  Melton’s look with his moppy curls and mustache treads a very fine line of cool rock god and creepy guy.  The band blasted through most of Seeking Love as well as a couple new songs (apparently they’ve got another album nearly ready to go) and seemed to get caught up in the energy of their own songs. Melton literally threw his guitar aside for another after breaking a string, and bassist Fletcher Johnson somehow lost his shoe midway through the set.  The small (It was a Monday and they just played the Funhouse last month) but enthusiastic were got caught up in that same energy, but I couldn’t help but think how much better this show would have been if wild beer swilling moshing crowd of last month’s Ty Segal gig would have shown up for Bare Wires.  All in good time, because after the garage overload of the last few years, I’m definitely ready for 70′s glam revival and bands looking to Sweet, Slade, Mott the Hoople and Cheap Trick, and Bare Wires are poised to be leading the pack.

mp3: Bare Wires – Romantic Heat (from Seeking Love on Castle Face)


This was the second gig of a lengthy tour that will take the Bare Wires to the East Coast and back. Here are the dates.
Aug 18 – The Aquarium, Fargo, ND
Aug 19 – Triple Rock, Minneapolis, MN
Aug 20 – The Vault w Real Numbers, Ramma Lamma, Milwaukee, WI
Aug 20 – Cactus Club w/ A Frames, Headache City, Milwaukee, WI
Aug 21 – Crown Tap Room w Real Numbers, Chicago, IL
Aug 22 – Landlocked Music, Bloomington, IN
Aug 23 – Black Sparrow w/ The Boy Toys, Lafayette, IN
Aug 24 – The Lager House, Detroit, MI
Aug 25 – Case University w/ Tyvek, Cleveland, OH
Aug 26 – Now Thats Class, Cleveland, OH
Aug 27 – Monster Island Basement, Brooklyn, NY
Aug 28 – Bruar Falls, Brooklyn, NY
Aug 29 – M Room, Philladelphia, PA
Aug 30 – Velvet Lounge w/ Mabye Baby, Washington, DC
Aug 31 – The Station, Carrboro, NC
Sep 1 – Little Kings, Athens, GA
Sep 2 – Star Bar, Atlanta, GA
Sep 3 – Glen Danzig’s House, Nashville, TN
Sep 4 – Murphy’s w/ River City Tanlines + The HUMMS, Memphis, TN
Sep 6 – Ole Tavern, Jackson, MS
Sep 7 – Saturn Bar, New Orleans, LA
Sep 8 – Notsuoh, Houston, TX
Sep 9 – Beerland, Austin, TX
Sep 10 – Beerland, Austin, TX
Sep 14 – RIPS, Phoenix, AZ
Sep 15 – Bar Pink, San Diego, CA
Sep 17 – The Smell, Los Angeles, California
Sep 18 – The Juke Joint, Anaheim, CA

Cinema Red and Blue

August 16, 2010 at 9:11 am | Posted in mp3, Music, Supergroups | Leave a comment
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This kind of came out of nowhere, though there was a gig at the Cake Shop in New York last year that Bill mentioned.  Cinema Red and Blue are mostly made up members from Comet Gain (David Fek sings all the songs) and Crystal Stilts.  The makeshift band also employs the services of Amy Linton, Hamish Kilgour and Gary Olson.  When you daydream about all star lineups, no doubt a few of these names enter into your imagination.  Throw in some covers by the likes of the Chills, Julian Cope and Vic Godard and you won’t want to wake up.

There’s an album due on 28 September on What’s Your Rupture.  In the meantime here is the cover of Vic Godard’s Same Mistakes that appeared on his album The End Of The Surrey People back in 1993 which was produced by one Edwyn Collins. I digress, Cinema Red and Blue was recorded at Olson’s Marlborough Farms studio.

mp3: Cinema Red and Blue – Same Mistakes (order the album from What’s Your Rupture)


mp3 snagged from Austin Town Hall.

Dolly Mixture, Liechtenstein and the Importance of Being Sensible

August 10, 2010 at 10:32 pm | Posted in 7 inch, Girls, Music, Nostalgia, Reissues | 3 Comments
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For a band that released a few singles, a posthumous EP and only 1000 copies of their only album, a three disc box set might seem like overkill for an obscure all girl band from the UK. Dolly Mixture may have been better known at the time of their existence as Captain Sensible‘s back up singers. Captain Sensible of the Damned had two hit singles in the early 80′s away from the Damned. Both (Happy Talk & Wot) were campy, nudging in on Ian Dury territory and of course over the top, but more importantly employed the backing vocals of the Dolly Mixture.

mp3: Captain Sensible – Wot (from Captain Sensible The Collection)


mp3: Captain Sensible – Happy Talk (from Captain Sensible The Collection)


Dolly Mixture were a force to be rekoned with in their own right, mixing the pure pop of 60′s girls groups with a bit of glam, mod and punk. They were a precursor to indiepop and can claim a direct influence on the Riot Grrrl movement. They were an all girl band who stuck to their guns, not caving to major label males’ demands that they let men play the music on their records leaving them to just be pretty faces. It’s sad to think that this is one of the reasons they were forced to self-release their debut album the double record Demonstration Tapes which actually only contained demos. Listening to it today, it sounds perfect as ‘just’ demos though maybe a little warbled because of less then pristine storing of the masters. Their voices still shine through and are pure as the driven snow, the guitars, strings and percussion evoke a Tamala/Motown sound that probably would have been lost if they had been produced. One of the three discs in the box set contains the Demonstration Tapes double LP (the album was also reissued on vinyl as an extremely limited edition of 300 copies as well). The second disc compiles their singles and the third disc contains a few covers, some demos and tracks that fell between the cracks.

mp3: Dolly Mixture -Everything and More (from the box set Everything and More)


mp3: Dolly Mixture – How Come Your Such A Hit With the Boys, Jane? (from the box set Everything and More)


The liner notes were written by Bob Stanley of St. Etienne. Stanley is a long-time fan and even counted Debsey Wykes at one time as a member of the St. Etienne’s touring band. There Wykes met Paul Kelly who compiled the songs for this box set restored them from crusty old tapes and did the layout for the release. You may remember Wykes and Kelly were in Birdie together in the late 90′s and early 00′s. Birdie put out two rather nice records that kind of continued along the Dolly Mixture path but added in a little Free Design and not surprisingly some of the mellow dance vibe of St. Etienne.

mp3: Birdie – One Two Five (from Some Dusty)


So you may ask, what kind of influence does a band that existed for a few fleeting moments 30 years ago have on today’s bands. You need look no further than Sweden’s Liechtenstein. Yeah, there are quite a few bands out there today that you could tag with a Dolly Mixture influence, but Liechtenstein, besides being a trio of women who play their own instruments, harmonize and make pop songs that can sound sweet and innocent on one side and then on the next cop a punk attitude. Their debut CD Survival Strategies in a Modern World came out last year on Slumberland, but not ones to rest, have just released a new 7″ single on Swedish label Fraction Discs.

mp3: Liechtenstein – Passion For Water (from the new Fraction Discs 7″)

Belladelic

August 5, 2010 at 10:35 pm | Posted in La France, mp3, Music | Leave a comment
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Les Bellas‘ Belladelic has been sitting in some dusty corner of Perpignan, France completed and unreleased for over three years.  As legend has it, the record was to be released by some unnamed California label specializing in garage, but the label reneged and the record never happened.  Fast forward three years to the present day.  Les Bellas are long gone, having moved onto other gigs (most notably the Liminanas who have been mentioned before around here), but two French labels in SDZ and Les Disques Steak have come along to rescue of this nearly lost nugget.

On my first listen of the album, I kept thinking that each song was a cover because they all sounded drenched, steeped and aged in a gauzy garage sound that so many bands go for these days , but can’t seem to get the real echo and reverb out of their garage band software.  Les Bellas feel like they actually existed in the 60′s and somebody warped them to the 21st century.  The sound isn’t compressed for optimum headphone listening, it’s geared to making you hear the organ swirls, bursts of horn, sandpaper blocks, buzzing bass, jangling guitars and backing vocals.

Both sides of the record start out with songs sung in French and are probably my two favorites for that fact.  I Love You on the A-side and Belladelic on the B-side feature Nadege Figuerolla  singing in French over a  beefy ye-ye beats.  The remainder of the songs are in English with Figuerolla and Giom Picardand trading their boy-girl vocals, but surprises still ensue, like the deft use of horns on songs Drown, A Dream That Slips and Sad Morning that bring to mind Love on Forever Changes and even a slight indiepop influence.  They do a pretty good Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra imitation on country tinged Mistrial Blues, and I wasn’t totally off base about the covers either.  Their version of  the Cryin’ Shames‘ It’s a Crying Shame is pretty raw and stellar, and I think I prefer their version of Wanda Jackson‘s Funnel of Love to the one the Fall did on their recent Your Future Our Clutter album.

This may be the most nuanced ‘garage record’ I’ve heard in a long time.  Some might accuse it of jumping on the bandwagon with its girls and garage combination, but keep in mind that Belladelic has been in the can for years.   Les Bellas use a large pallet in their songwriting, but  have a knack for incorporating the various styles into a cohesive unit that makes you wonder what that California label was thinking when it passed on this.

mp3: Les Bellas – Belladelic (from Belladelic. Vinyl available from Les Disques Steak)

You can also download mp3′s of their first two singles from Profet Records.

Throwing Back the Apple

August 2, 2010 at 7:09 am | Posted in 7 inch, Forced References, Music, Vinyl | 2 Comments
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The Pale Saints first album Comforts of Madness still gets played in my house.  Their second record In Ribbons does too, but not as much.  I don’t really count their third album Slow Buildings because it was made after Ian Masters had left the band and pales in comparison to their first two.  Two recent singles that arrived in the mailbag this week kind of remind me directly or indirectly of Pale Saints.  Neither one has a singer that can hit the crazy heights that Ian Masters regularly scraped in his heyday, but both captured a certain magic that the Pale Saints certainly grasped for a few fleeting moments in their day.

Weed Hounds from New York sound like In Ribbons era Pale Saints, Singer Laura Catalano kind of reminds me of when Meriel Barham joined and began singing (remember their version of Mazzy Star’s Blue Flower?).  Their scruffy sounds jangles in places and then soars evoking the lower-fi Comforts of Madness Saints.  If you like this song the band have a demo and another single up for download.

mp3: Weed Houds – Skating Away From the Cops (from the Beach Bummed single on Iron Pier)

Florida’s Electric Bunnies throw down a dirty, slithering single via Sacred Bones.  Comparing it to the Pale Saints is probably a stretch, yet there’s something. It’s probably the B-side I Swear I’ll Never Let You Go with its odd time signature that evokes the weirder parts of Comforts of Madness,  like A Deep Sleep for Steven or the amazing Fell From the Sun. The Electric Bunnies debut album from last year was scatter-shot with some amazing moments and then some that made you raise your eyebrow and wonder what they were taking. It was never dull, intermittently jarring and sometimes brilliant. Their new single doesn’t really stray from that mindset, though it could be accused of being a little more straightforward. The a-side will probably get comparisons to the Jesus & Mary Chain, but there’s something a bit more peculiar and unpredictable about the Bunnies that keep you guessing.

mp3: Electric Bunnies – Pretty Joanna (from the Sacred Bones Single)

And a few from the Pale Saints

mp3: Pale Saints – She Rides the Waves (from Barging Into the Presence of God/Mrs. Dolphin)

mp3: Pale Saints – You Tear the World In Two (from Comforts of Madness)

mp3: Pale Saints – The Sight of You (from Comforts of Madness)

mp3: Pale Saints – Baby Maker (from In Ribbons)

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