Why You Wanna Go and Start This War?

While almost definitely the most maligned form of underground rock, in retrospect emo, at least the good stuff, could be seen as rock's last breath, and yes, last breaths can be pretty sloppy attempts.

I was never an emo fan, not even when I was fifteen, but of course, there were some exceptions. The big one of course being one of the last great rock bands to achieve (or at least come close to achieving) major mainstream success: At The Drive-In. Another was the Anniversary, particularly this album.

I first heard of them, of course, in 2002 when all the "real" emo kids I knew were going to see the recently sold-out Dashboard Confessional for this opening act. Something was intriguing about that, I must say. Eventually, after grappling with all the stigma around the style I picked up this CD and was pretty amazed. Granted it has its emo clichés for sure and it could get old, but after all these years I find myself going back to it and appreciating it. Of course, what I liked about it was what got the group ousted from emo royalty for sounding too much like a sixties pop group. Fuck that.

The Lawrence, Kansas group gives its audience what it craves while showing off their expansive talent that goes beyond said parameters. The record starts off strong with the drum intro to "Sweet Marie" and delivers one of the albums best classic pop tunes, the other being "Never Die Young" (though I recall having a preferred more emo version during the Kazaa era). The more typically emo tracks are great too like "The Siren Sings" and "Devil on My Side". The epics are some of the weaker ones, though with "Husam Husam" the notable exception. The arrangements all sound good and tight - even with the occasional strong harmony, even when the vocals and lyrics can get eye-rolling. In effect, of all emo music I've heard this is probably the most listenable, coming from from a classic rock/pop background, that is.

This album is an AWESOME guilty pleasure and of course, the only thing I ever owned that Vagrant released. It is a real shame the band broke up in 2004 before releasing anything else, but I heard they were junkies so what do you expect...


The Anniversary - Your Majesty (2002)

Over, and Over, and Over I'm Really Not Ready At All

Sorry It's been so long. Been feeling uninspired. However, I've been on a big post-punk kick. Specifically the branch of first-wave UK punk rock that really set the stage for "indie pop."

The Mekons have had one unique career and their legions of extremely dedicated fans and their highly unusual path from post-punk to more straightforward punk certainly prove this.

Often considered their masterpiece, this album is one of the first to be called "alt-country" - quite a feat for a British band. One member tells that prior to making this album he had been listening heavily to classic country and after a certain point the three chords of punk and the three chords of country became the same three chords. This album's sound is surely the result of that, and the addition to fiddle to the roster makes it even more prominent. This is not to say the punk has not been lost, particularly in the shambolic "Hard To Be Human Again." That song is the perfect gateway for the punk fan that will leaves them wanting more of this countrified mess.

Fear And Whiskey is also one of the great post-punk concept albums with the likes of Hüsker Dü's best works. The story here is one of a city in a somewhat post-apocalyptic world fighting a war (brought hauntingly to life in "Trouble Down South") and struggling to hold on to everything that makes life worth living: love, culture, community, and of course a good party. With that in mind, opening track "Chivalry," is the perfect intro as the ultimate anthem to a drunken, embarrassing night coupled with a hint of the depth that will follow on the rest of the record. "Country," perhaps the album's best sums up the album's whole concept as the lose souls of this city hold on.

People always make once-relevant political connections with this record about the Thatcher/Regan era. Honestly I don't hear it all that much, but that may just be because I neither really lived through that era, nor consider myself a liberal. So, if you see it that way,, great. You are probably all the more enlightened.


The Mekons - Fear and Whiskey (1985)

plus, for good measure, here's a classic early single.


The Mekons - "Where Were You?"

Classic Art has Had Its Day

Sorry it's been a while. Been busy for once and a little uninspired. Well, regardless, here's the Creation.

It wasn't just their heaviness (probably the heaviest until the MC5 came around, IMO) that made the Creation so ahead of their time. It was also their postmodern take on performance and their un-pretentious artiness of which today's artists' minds are not even capable of dreaming. Well, that and playing the guitar with a bow. Naturally, only the Germans got it.

Most informed people today know "Making Time" from the classic film Rushmore, but until then, "Painter Man" was their best-known song. These are two of their best and show the band at their peak with Kenny Pickett on vocals. The band was a staple of the original mod movement along with the Kinks, the Action, and the Who (Pete Townsend even offered guitarist Eddie Phillips a spot, which probably would have made the Who a better, yet less commercially successful band.) The band really re-wrote the rock format. With that in mind plus their loudness I would consider them beginning of "proto-punk." They do, however, keep in touch with the trends of the time with numbers like "If I Stay Too Long" and clovers like "Cool Jerk" plus the best cover I have heard of "Like A Rolling Stone." "Nightmares" and "For All That I Am" may be the quintessential mod tracks and forget proto-punk, "How Does It Feel To Feel?" is basically heavy metal in its most original form. A change of pace, "Ostrich Man"'s arrangement is a classic that shows the Creation had as much power to go in the baroque direction as their contemporaries. This is essential listening, plus one of the most bad-ass album titles which I was lucky enough to find at Barcelona's (where it is easily available) Révolver Records.


The Creation - Our Music Is Red - With Purple Flashes

Well, If I Get Drunk, Well That's Alright, If I Sleep On the Floor All Night

It's hard to believe those lyrics are the Verlaines, but it's a good reminder that even Graeme Downes is in fact one of us, if you know what I mean.

Here are their humble beginnings - before big arrangements and production, and even deep lyrics, but still the same great band. One of Flying Nun's first records, the Dunedin Double EPwas a lo-fi, creative format (2 45 RPM EPs) spotlighting the burgeoning talent of locals the CHiLLs, Sneaky Feelings, the Stones, and the Verlaines. Allof them were off to a great start. The CHiLLs tracks were wonderfully transferred onto the Kaleidoscope World LP, but unfortuantely the others were not put on similar compilations. The three songs Downes and company contribute are all great, and despite their many rough qiualities hint at the majesty of their later career. The similarities between "Crisis After Crisis" and their greatest all-time track "C.D.,Jimmy Jazz, and Me" are inmistakeable, proving this band always had it. I include only the Verlaines tracks because, I can't stand the way you need to file compilations to get them all up here together. The rest later?


The Verlaines - Dunedin Double EP (1982) (Side 4)

Hopefully I'll see you Angelinos this weekend!

What About The Problems of Our Society?

Ever since I first acquired this via New Jersey's Vintage Vinyl I had wanted to attend a dance party featuring the music of A Certain Ratio. Sunday I will finally have my way. So, if you are an Angelino and already a fan, or I am just about to make you one, be at the Echo Sunday night at 10 for Factory Night. I will no doubt be there (as well as Funky Sole the night before).

The initiated often have a poor idea of ACR based on their portrayal as Tony Wilson's boy band in 24 Hour Party People but they are actually contenders with the rest of the bunch. Appropriately named after a Brian Eno song ("The True Wheel"), ACR sounds like that artist making a Latin funk album and succeeding (although their LPs are admittedly not strong). This band put a dark ambiance around percussive dance music and pulled it off with impeccable musicianship - especially from drummer Donald Johnson. A Certain Ratio was in many ways the most definitive Factory band that ushered in the transition from atmospheric Joy Division and Durutti Column into New Order and eventually the burgeoning rave scene. This is most evident in their longer, loosely structured dance tracks like "Knife Slits Water" and "Sounds Like Something Dirty." Their more pop-like tracks are some of their best work such as the classic "Du the Du," "Shack Up," and my personal favorite "Faceless (Graveyard and Ballroom)." The explosive intsrumental, "Blown Away," is so great I am tempted to put a second pun in this sentence. White (well, 80%) funk does not get any better than this, and all for one reason: they never lost touch with the fact that they were teenage Bowie/Eno devotees from Manchester. That and an unbelievably creative sense of rhythm.


A Certain Ratio - Early (2002)

"B-Sides, Rarities, & Sessions" is not another album, but simply the second disc.

It is an enhanced CD that includes this video, which by request of poster I am not allowed to imbed, but is absolutely worth watching.

See you Sunday!

Love, Rock 'n' Roll Style

These days more and more people are realizing that the MC5's "Miss X" is the ultimate rock 'n' roll love song. While listening to an original copy of High Time, my friend Paul first made that comment, and upon the slight amount of though needed I realized he was right. Just weeks ago while watching the first episode of Eastbound & Down I saw that show's brilliant producers agreed. ...Enough to make Wayne Kramer the show's composer, so if you still haven't watched that show, there's yet another reason. So, in effect this entry is dedicated to my friends Tommy and Mike who made my love of the show possible... at least at the time at which it happened.

Rob Tyner's voice is at its soulful best and the band channels all its energy into a more focused and elegant sound than previously heard. Like the rest of the album it is rawer than the previous album, but still cleaner and more accessible than Kick Out The Jams. "Miss X" stands out as one for the ages and its sincerity will pull at the heart strings of any true rock fan. Written entirely by Kramer it justifies why he is the man most synonomous with the group even more than the mere fact that he unlike Rob Tyner and Fred "Sonic" Smith are gone and he is still around. I have looked for video footage of them performing this song, curious as to how it would translate and what would be done about the piano and organ parts, but no luck. If you have any link to such footage please share!

This is an essential record for all curious about Detroit rock as it is often considered their best and other classic songs include the opener "Sister Anne," "Poison," and "Future/Now." After a live album and one that was jsut too clean and pithy the MC5's swansong at last captured their legacy. It is perhaps the greatest testament to everything great that the Detroit protopunkers achieved.


The MC5 - High Time (1971)

I'm Gonna Leave This Party Now

The KLF really really knew their shit. If the sample of Arthur Russell (Dinosaur L)'s "Go Bang!" at the end of "Go To Sleep" doesn't prove that I don't know what will.

This group is what happened when two underground rock veterans out of the already unique scene in Liverpool decide to reinvent pop culture for the 90s and succeeded - this album's opener "Kylie Said to Jason" and Drummond's white rapping prove this. While few, at least in this country (where they were in fact pretty successful at the time) remember them, 90s mainstream culture (playing what was often called "stadium house") was in many ways created by this band whose political commentary and postmodern sound basically came from 20 years in the future. ...If only 20 years later could have music this good. If you don't believe that check out their successful mash-up from 1988 below. They made the music Kanye West would wish he could have if he had taste. There is so much to say about the KLF, I could go on forever, so I''ll just stop now and get to this album...

It is hard to imagine just what the film The White Room would have been like had it been made. Certainly like nothing else in history, judging not only by the KLF's bizarre videos but just how epic its unreleased soundtrack is. The power of songs like "No More Tears" and "Build A Fire" is undeniable and the imagine a film that could carry them will simply blow one's mind. Like in much of the KLF's work every style is sampled replicated and perfectly accompanied by standard electronic instruments of the time to create a truly postmodern sound. This could definitely be called the A Wizard, A True Star of the 1990s. This is an engaging trip through a psychedelic 90s disco from beginning to end and will surely change the way you think about music and, really all performing arts. It can stand cheesy at times, but consciously, knowing that in the short term it would be embarassing. The KLF guarenteed a legacy that would come, go, and then stay stronger than ever. One of the top artistic achievements of our time. I'll stop now.

Dedicated to

The KLF - The White Room: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1991)


The Timelords - "Doctorin' the Tardis" (1988)

Dedicated to the people of the Caucasian nations, where it is almost 3 A.M. (Eternal).

Gonna Break You Down, Gonna Pop You In The Mouth!

Just now, a friend of mine who was visiting New York City told me a bout a great concert experience he had there seeing a band called Personal & the Pizzas. It sounded like an amazing show featuring songs with titles like "You = Beat Up" and "Nobody Makes My Girl Cry But Me" and the singer whipping chains around while threatening the sound guy. The group is from San Francisco but their gimmick is being from Hoboken. They are quite similar in image, lyrics, and sound to the Ramones and The Dictators.

Here is a link to their myspace.

In a lot of ways, this is the best parody of the Northeast you could ever ask for and it's a whole lotta fun. The intro to "I Don't Wanna Be No Personal Pizza" says it all. Other great tracks to check out on there are "Brass Knuckles" and "I Don't Feel So Happy Now." "I Can Read," though is perhaps the rebuttal the Dictators would give their detractors after going Girls Crazy.

Flowers Will Spring From Every Grave

While Rain Parade's final album may not be another Emergency Third Rail Power Trip it is no embarrassment. I picked this up for a mere $2.99 (vinyl) just this weekend at Sound Sations in Westchester and was pleasantly surprised.

I hear it may have never been released on CD, which made it surprising that, even while released on Island it was so cheap (I had never seen a copy before). The most noticeable difference between this and the group's previous work is not the absence of David Roback, which in truth did not make that much difference even on Explosions in the Glass Palace, but the slicker production. It is a big change, but not one that ruins anything. In fact, I believe this album could ahve had some hits if released about seven to ten years later (rare thing to say about anything Paisley Underground). Matt Piucci and Stephen Roback's songwriting chops may have been even stronger than ever at this point, and their vocals are as great as ever. While radically different, "Don't Feel Bad" and "Fertile Crescent" - both sung by Roback, are as great as a lot of the group's stellar debut. The band plays tighter as well, which sounds great, even when compared to their previous loose sound, and it is much easier to know that they have a keyboad player than ever before. "Mystic Green" and "My Secret Country" are some great tracks as well, and this album is overall quite as enjoyable. It is ideal for anyone who thought that Rain Parade could get a little too drony on previous albums. For the others, it may be a challenge to get through the synthy intro of "Depending on You," but if you can you will be surprised at how far from grace the band fell (not far at all). Rain Parade started great and ended great, as far as I am concerned, that is not arguable.


Rain Parade - Crashing Dream (1986)

The Ultimate Rock 'N' Roll Legend

On August 15, 1990, the U.S.S.R.'s top musician Viktor Tsoi died in an massive car wreck after fishing in Latvia. Miraculously, the one thing that survived intact was a tape of his vocal tracks for the next album. With those tracks his surviving band members recorded KINO's posthumous masterpiece known typically as "The Black Album."

This is often considered the band's greatest work despite the entire musical tracks being recorded after Tsoi's death. However, it sounds as good, if not better than all the other records and it is hard to beleive it was recorded under such conditions. Like in all KINO's other works, that power to transcend not only the language, but their language's poor aesthetics (sorry) is there. However, it is at its most powerful here and every song is a winner. The band's post-New Wave sound is tighter than ever and Yuriy Kasparyan's guitar excels. These catchy and hypnotic songs stick into one's subconscious forever and permanently capture the last days of Glasnost and Parastroika. It makes you really wonder whether Tsoi's death before the fall of the U.S.S.R. was tragic, lucky for him, or even how he could have altered the Russia's unfortunate future. The dark yet hopeful lyrics reflect this unique time in world history on two of the album's best songs, opener "Кончится Лето (Summer Will Soon Be Over)" and (Красно-желтые Дни )Red and Yellow Days)," as does the plaintive "Кукушка (Cuckoo)," one of their best songs. "Звезда (Star)" is one of their best songs and has a cool, simple beat that any fan of New Order or Duran Duran would have to love. "Когда твоя девушка больна (When Your Girlfriend is Sick)" is one of the band's sweetest pop songs yet somehow fits in this heavy set quite well showing how much of a range Tsoi had as a songwriter, hinting at what kind of music he may have made if he lived to see the overly optomistic years following his death. This is perhaps KINO's best work and in many ways the best place to start with this remarkable band and proves that had Tsoi survived they would most likely have caught on outside the Eastern Block.


Кино (KINO) - Кино (KINO) a.k.a. Чёрный альбом (The Black Album) (1990)


Now, on a totally unrelated note, I had the unusual privelige to see 90s pop favorites Sugar Ray at Best Buy on Pico here in Los Angeles last night. I was informed about this by my friend Tommy who is working for Rocket Science, who works for the band. It was a fun way to relive 1999, and the band knew it would hardly be more than that and htey seemd to be enjoying themselves. The set even began with Mark "Mr. Ray" McGrath asking "who wants to hear the number one song of 1999?!" before going straight into "Every Morning." The set consisted of only a few songs including just one from the new album, one cover, and on top of "Every Morning," "Fly" and "Someday." I am sure no one was disappointed... well maybe the band was hoping for a bigger turnout, but they sure didn't show it. As tiresome as it may have gotten ten years ago, you gotta give the band some credit for doing what they know they do well, enjoying themselves, and having a good attitude. After all, weren't all thsoe hits better than anything that's been on pop radio since?

You Better Shut Up and Listen!!

If you talk to anyone who was actually on the Sunset Strip during the brief days of L.A. punk the names that will appear the most are always the Germs, X, the Weirdos, and the Screamers. Unfortunately, one of those bands didn't leave us behind with any classic records.

...And it's a shame, because the Screamers, known for their tall hair styles, may have been the best. They did have one of the most innovative sounds and performance styles of any punk band, regardless of location. Relying on synthesizer and Fender Rhodes rather than guitar and bass the band did not even broach on New Wave/Postpunk/Synth Pop and really had much more in common with the Germs than any artist of those styles. That coupled with Tomata du Plenty and Tommy Gear's drag past in SF and Seattle (where the roots of the band began as the Tupperwears) which heavily shows in the du Plenty's emphasis on performance and costume. The Screamers reflect just how all-inclusive the Los Angeles Punk scene was and, as a result, how it was one of the most important music scenes of the 1970s. To appreciate the Screamers, one must see them:


As you can see, it's pretty incredible - especially those dance moves! The big problem with the L.A. punk scene, was the despite it's proximity to the labels, it was completely ignored by the labels. The Screamers sound, in particular, was believed to not be able to translate well to recording. The music of the proceeding ten years, I believe, proved that entirely wrong. All that is left in that was are these very rough demos which are really not particularly listenable, but are the best we can do. I would just recommend watching them over and over again.

I believe both Gear and du Plenty died of AIDS, but the other two members went on to pretty significant careers. Paul Roessler played keys for the death-rock pseudo-supergroup 45 Grave (with the Germs Don Bolles and future Dream Syndicate guitarist Paul B. Cutler), while drummer K.K. Barrett works as a Production designer and has worked on all of Spike Jonze's films.


The Screamers - Demos 1977-78