Roots, Part 6: (Winding) Ways

Alex Adler, George McTernan, C-Mac

There was another barren period, this time also lasting about three years, but it was perhaps even more barren and a lot of it had to do with not even having an instrument with me when I moved to LA in June of 2009.  That changed slightly over a year later when my family visited.  I needed the thing back no matter what, but it was heightened by the possibility of the Funbeatles losing a member.  Luckily for everyone other than me that never happened.  The bass was useful when I moved to Alameda at the end of 2010, though, but I would not be in a proper band until the following Spring when I returned to LA.

That band was Ways, also known as Winding Ways and sometimes The Ways.  It was led by my college friend Alex Adler who had amassed a large quantity of songs, ideas, and titles, all of which impressed me, such as "Inner Moon," "Alive In Well," "(Oh) Family," "Ocean Vision" and many more.  Just looking forward to playing again, we began and all too quickly found drummer and recent transplant from New England George McTernan.

We began weekly sessions at Echo Park's ultra-hip rehearsal space Bedrock (where less than a year later Super River would be) and got to work on this wide body of songs.   Some of the first were "Zero The Astronaut," "On Pleasure Pier," "Discipline" and "Vice/Versa."  The band's influences were mostly of the 80s and 90s rock type like grunge, shoegaze, and American Underground, though with some space-rock in there too.  Some more specific inspirations were the Wipers, Meat Puppets, and Bobb Trimble, with Adler's dominant guitar style evoking a lot of John Frusciante, Curt Kirkwood, and Trimble.  Those four early songs were recorded in early May by Paul Igaz in his legendary basement with him on drums.  I unfortunately do not have these demos at the moment which is tragic as they may be the best recordings and Igaz' drum style is quite different from McTernan's which offers a very different interpretation of these songs.

Brady Nelson played with us a few times on synth, but we were unsure how needed that was and schedules were not ideal.  Through that Summer we kept playing and our setlist grew and grew into an exciting little show.  That show was finally put on display at the embarrassing Highland Park venue Mr. T's Bowl with current Los Angeles buzz band Spaceships and a "punk" band called Dog Teeth or something, who I guess has a cassette or something.  I found them unpleasant, but Spaceships was great.  We got that show through their bassist Schuyler Stone, also of Benefit Friends (who departed that November for New York) who also, through them got Super River a nice show at Silver Lake Lounge a year later.  It went well for the most part, other than my amp being a bit too loud and my mic being way too loud as the sound guy was not expecting my screams on "Pheonix" which on a good night like that were pretty ear-piercing.

We recorded nearly every rehearsal to varying success.  The vocals were often far too low.  We used some kind of good machine I've seen before, but an iPhone probably would have worked better as it did for Super River.  There were also some really great videos made with the help of Adler's room mate Hee-Jae Park, but those have been taken down.  These are probably the rawest recordings I will share.  Not our best performances nor best sound quality and I think I may even be out of tune on "Vice/Versa," but this is the best I have of the band in its original form.

"Misery City" is probably the most pop-oriented song, with a dark beachy vibe.  Keeping with the nautical theme, common in Adler's work is the ballad "On Pleasure Pier," which was always a lot of fun to play, even at its slower tempo.  "Phoenix" was maybe our heaviest songs and definitely the heaviest here.  It has a rare complexity and was more complicated than most, which made it a lot of fun to play, in addition to the screams.  "Vice/Versa" is another emotional rocker, one where it's hard to find a point of reference, though.

The first song we did together "Zero The Astronaut," is obviously pretty spacy and at its best was a hypnotic piece that we would jam on for a while live despite its radical shifts.  Also a lot of fun on bass.  "Discipine" was a loud fast punk track, sort of like a stiffer Wipers.  "Greener Paper" was also fun and one of our shortest songs that always reminded me of Nirvana for some reason, though I really can't hear it.

The band folded in late 2011 as Adler and McTernan's inability to agree on drum parts worsened and the early days of Super River made me unable to focus on any other projects - I even wrote a song partially inspired by this, also included here.  It is one of the few Super River tracks with me on lead vocals.

I think all these songs have a lot of potential and just needed some fine-tuned dynamics to be classics.  Luckily, Adler has stuck with most of them on his own as Zero the Astronaut - available here.  So far he has recorded "Misery City" and "Solitude" which I have also included.  I was lucky enough to lend my bass to "Solitude," though to see it live, and on the old video was ideal with vocal harmonies provided by George and me.  It was truly something exciting and I have a lot to look forward to from Alex Adler.

THE ORIGINAL WAYS +related

Next:  The lost bands, the future, and the best of friends.

Roots, pt. 5: The Comfy Men

C-Mac, Marty Skeels, Alex Halatsis, Arran Rogerson, Paul Igaz

The Next four years were pretty empty musically.  There were some bands that kept the end of high school interesting that I will discuss in more detail later such as Down/B, the Hispanics, and The Tangles, but once I left Basking Ridge it almost seemed like my days as a musician were over.  That was of course until my first visit to Alameda.

The previous Summer was when that small Bay Area's music scene really began to blossom and I was lucky enough to visit Paul Igaz and Alex Halatsis in the early days and get back to playing some music.  The musicians involved were the three of us plus Marty Skeels and Arran Rogerson.  It should be by now known that the other four went onto become Flash Gilmore & The Funbeatles, one of the finest bands of our time.  This record was made in about one day, I think the second time we played together over Winter break 2007-2008.

It should be noted that the greatest inspiration of this music was not good friends, partying, or seeing "America done right" for the first time, but rather an odd invention designed by Paul:  The Manstroller.  Yes, a stroller for men.  It was constructed out of a regular shopping cart-stroller hybrid and adapted into its new form by Halatsis, Igaz, myself, and local legend Jordan Pollard.

Pollard removes a bar.

I remove another bar.

The Manstroller gave this record - like the Funbeates' Debauchery Playground, a unique 8-track piece, its title, image, and general idea.  It was recorded in Paul's basement, one of the best-sounding locations in which I have ever played music on an analogue 4-track and contains a healthy balance of original songs, improvisations, and classic covers.  The titles are, as is the band name, unofficial and I only name them for reference, and that they are widely agreed upon, rather than the nebulous and forgotten tracks on The Power of Rawk.  Other band name ideas included the Robots and my personal FAvoite, The Gadzooks.

We open with "I Don't Know" demonstrates the band's power of creating a song out of nothing and not caring if it makes sense, so long as it sounds great.  Would you believe?

Next up is the classic title track.  This has been a beloved classic of the Alameda scene since its debut and was even redone true to form by the Funbeatles. It's got some great riffs, and I think is my best work, personally on the album.

Following a cover of "You Shook Me All Night Long" is "When We're 80" a pervy creep-emo send-up about lusting for a much younger girl - especially considering this is a song by 20 year-olds.  It is also quite memorable and catchy.

We moved into more experimental territory with the next track, an improvised song with vocals I call "Where Did She Go?" and then an interesting cover of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, pt. 1" with great synthesizer from Marty and Alex's aggressive goof-punk that define the record distracting from my sloppiness on the bass.

The record is then closed with two jams.  The first one being quite short with some crazy vocal yelps and a return to the guitar for Marty, and the second being the longest track (though still less than 6 minutes) that I would not hesitate to describe as krauty.

In a lot of ways this band never ended.  With Sam Rogerson in my old place they recorded another record about a year later before becoming the Beatles and later Flash Gilmore and the Funbeatles.  I was a fixture of their audience and played with them on occasion with this band practically reforming for the creation of their song "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" and the idea of a few more.  Then that ended and we had Sunfighter, The Comfort Creatures, The Darflers, The Perennial Babymen of Alameda, the Last Nights, and many more.

DOWNLOAD:  The Comfy Men - Manstrollin' (2008)

Next up:  Pre-Super River days in Los Angeles with Ways.

Roots, part 4: Love Athena

I was originally going to outline the storied history of BATWÖLF here, but I have opted to end with an article about all the lost bands in one - the ones whose recordings are missing, probably permanently, or never even existed.  So today instead we have what is probably the highlight of this series:  Pudge Athena.

Love Athena's history started off real ugly.  It began one night in the Fall of 2003 when the core trio of The Shears auditioned drummer Peter Cross.  Suspicious something was going on, Alec got a ride over from Sam's mom (which she no longer remembers, if you can believe that) as the four were playing.  We reminded him that he was brought in temporarily and explained we had no intention of ousting him.  Rather we thought a switch to guitar would be beneficial for everyone involved, especially as he has been bringing a guitar to practice each time for quite a while and Sam's interest in keyboards was growing.  After a few songs as a quintet, sounding better than ever before Alex exited in tears and took the name The Shears with him.  It began a dark period between the musicians, but also a new band known as Love Athena.

That was some intense stuff and no fun to write, but that's my side of the story and it always has been.

Most of the practices from then until late Winter were held at Cross's house in Upper Montclair and we came up with a lot of great songs, even as egos were beginning to battle more and more.  We played one show at the Bloomfield Ave. Café in December and another in Alex Dinsmore's garage afterwards.  There was also a show in Sam's basement, but I don't remember if we played.  That night got really dark too.  Really dark.  This was such an awful time, mostly, to be completely honest.

Cross proved to be unreliable and a poor personality match for the band and that spring we brought in classmate Will Floyd on drums.  He was a lot better, not to say Cross was weak, but I can't remember.  I believe it was with him that we recorded the five demos for the planned album Modern Art and the Spaceage Supersuit.

DOWNLOAD:   Love Athena - Modern Art and the Spaceage Supersuit demos (2004)

"A Shot In The Dark" was one of our first forays into synth-heavy arrangements and one of our best songs.  The lyrics, while mostly abstract and at times allegedly ripped off from a friend of Alec's who recorded with Sam are some of the most personal.  Though at a high frequency the synth part is incredibly catchy and moving and make up for some of my goofier moves on the bass.  Aidan's guitar style is defined here and it, along with the steady beat keep this from falling into the then-trendy disco-punk sound.  This is also perhaps the only song from this era with harmonies.

"Autograph" is a rawer and more aggressive take than heard on ¡Swing Pad! and the positively monstrous guitars and heavy drumming make it a superior version in my opinion, to say nothing of the improved vocals, though the clean guitar lead does more to distract than enhance the song.  Luckily, it's pretty low int he mix.

"Morning Glory" also benefits from this rawer performance and production.  Both extended lead guitar and vocals do a lot more for the song as does the faster tempo, which makes it a more fun listen, but less hypnotic than time suggests would have been idea.

"Strawberry Shit" was really something else, and probably the closest thing we came to prog, though 90s indie, funk, and even screamo come into the mix as well... oh and vocoder.  I think there are five-different sections and as weird as this song is it's exciting and definitely the most fun out of these five.  I say this a lot, but there's really nothing else out there like this song at all and you'll need to hear it a lot before you believe it.

Ending this set is "Flying Guillitines" which is another older song that goes back to the days of the Shears, and possibly even Hurtu.  Aidan based the riff off "Stairway to Heaven" if you can believe that.  That Hüsker Dü-esque riff and its accompanying bass line are the charms of this track as the lyrics are more weepy teenage boy stuff in line with The Power of Rawk's "11" and the whole thing gets a little repetitive.  Definitely the sloppiest performance of the five too, but it was always fun to play, probably was cool live too!

The Summer of 2004 slowed things down a bit, but Sam and I kept working on new material with more and more keyboards and dynamics.  Unfortunately, none was ever recorded, but I remember it being some of the finest music I would be involved with making for many, many years.  Ego-related tensions grew and grew until a massive falling out at the end of the Summer.  I went onto Down/B with Jason Paskow, Tim Baumgarten, and Taylor Green, the Hispanics with Tim King, Adriand Ricelli, and Alex Talbot, and then The Tangles with Will Lulofs and Jeff Nazareno before heading out to Boston for school.

NEXT:  Alameda's the Comfy Men.

Roots, pt. 3: Mr. Disco

First and foremost, a wish of a happy birthday to the lovely and exhilarating Super River frontwoman Kathryne Dameron-Johnstone.  In other Super River news, The Ball Python Manual is nearing completion and of course we area all very excited for its release.  It is a dark new direction that captured the feelings of 2012.  I am quite impressed so far.

Kathryne smothered with love from her bandmates and brand-new brother-in-law Daniel Johnstone.

And now onto out main subject, Mr. Disco.  This article precedes Love Athena because the recordings predate the Love Athena recordings I will share.  The band itself began about five months before Mr. Disco.

Mr. Disco began in theory in March of 2004 when faced with a two-week break from school that would affect myself, Sam Deutsch, and Aidan, but not current Love Athena drummer Peter Cross.  Sam and I got the idea of creating a two-man project that would just be for fun and simply rip off Lightning Bolt who were then riding high with the recent release of The Wonderful Rainbow.  Luckily, our music ended up being quite different from the Providence band's.

Sam and I assumed the aliases Arthur Disco and The Lummox, respectively, and began with an impromptu performance at a party hosted by Bobby Tarantino one Friday night in Prince Edward Point, Basking Ridge, NJ.  Liam played that last night, I think with Jason Paskow and Bobby T in a band best known as Bobby T and the Classic Rock Junkies which at one point also included former Shears Alec Signorino and later Jesus Cookie (with Paskow) Jason Sobieski.  First though, Mr. Disco debuted with a brief set dedicated to Ernie Keebler with myself on bass and Sam on drums.

Days later we recorded Larry David Salad Bar at Sam's where I began to play my busted old bass outfitted with an untuneable string and an acoustic guitar string nicknamed "the Machine" played through Sam's distorted Marshall.  All three tracks were recorded and improvised live with samples and synths added later.  The track order on the EP is the same order in which the songs were recorded.  Younger siblings Aidan McEneaney and Jenny Deutsch were also present with the latter being left in disbelief that there were not separate guitarist and bassist.  This is a testament to the power of "The Machine."  This would be the extent of the band's recorded output.

Luckily the band played another live show at The Montclair Kimberly Academy's After Class Thespian Spectacular (ACTS).  The audience was even less welcoming, but we had a fantastic time performing a new piece entitled "Midnight in the Garden of Salad and Breadsticks."  This title was even printed on that afternoon's program.  It was a miracle we were allowed to perform after a rusty set at the rehearsal the afternoon before in front of the often tyrannical Dominique "Domdom" Gerard," but these were the golden years of MKA.  Mr. Disco was informally retired afterwards.

DOWNLOAD: Mr. Disco - Larry David Salad Bar (2004)

"Liam, Show Us On The Doll Where He Touched You" is clearly a warm-up and the record's least impressive track.  It has a surfy vibe and opens with a sample of an AppleTalk transcription of a woman who accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment and concludes with a Charles Bronson PSA.

"Cicada Season" is undoubtedly the strongest track and is one of the darkest heaviest songs you will hear.  Straight out of hell, really, and that's why we agreed that nothing fit better than a sample of a Hitler speech at the song's peak.  No idea what that's about.  We just took a fearless approach in making some very dark music and as odd as it can feel I can't deny that music is very chilling.  This is an achievement and fans of heavy rock should not miss it.  The fun vibe of the band returns at the end with a sample from a Deathwish film.

"Who Do You Sell Ketchup to a Ketchup Salesman" is good too, though clearly steam is being lost and the growing song lengths shows this.  It opens with an exchange between John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn and then kicks in with Sam's classic heavy beat.  Unfortunately the drums are a bit too loud which detracts from some cool riffs.  I don't know what the end sample is, but it's pretty funny.

The one flaw with this record is that it's a bit quiet, so you're going to have to crank it up.  It's a pretty concise little piece of noise-metal and another example of the rare talent possessed by the teens of Basking Ridge in this era.  Listen without prejudice, as they say.

EDIT:  This is a response from Liam Carroll about his performance the night of Mr. Disco's debut:

Excellent piece, although the gig in Bobby T's basement went a bit differently: myself and the Jasons performed sans Alec and Bobby, calling ourselves Automatic Stop (after The Strokes song of the same name). We played first that night, and even though we practiced our asses off for a week, our set was a disaster. We only played two songs, and they both went terribly for various reasons. Then you guys played that totally improvised set afterwards, and I was honestly in shock at how good it was, and dismayed you guys were that much better than us with 100% less practice. I was trying to take The Classic Rock Junkies in a noisier direction anyway, which led to me getting fired from the group, but that's a whole other story.

Roots, pt. 2: The Shears

Much as I love The Power of Rawk being at the top of the page it's time to move on.  I have a lot on my plate to write about, such as this Will Stratton benefit album.  Though I wish that likes of Super River, pow wow! and SWade had been invited to participate you should still download it and donate as much as you ca because I don't know of a better cause.

So back to other personal stuff.  The Shears.

This section began in the Summer of 2003 when the guys over at Barfbag Records such as Alex Dinsmore underlined the fact that Hurtu needed a permanent drummer.  We agreed, but for the interim would pulled in Basking Ridge multi-talented personality Alec Signorino.  He also brought a much better name with him - the Shears.  This name is derived from Billy Shears of Sgt. Pepper fame, and somehow everybody knew that immediately.

The Quartet began work on mostly new songs largely penned by Sam Deutsch and then set off Summer Music Programs in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.  Only it was the core trio on this trip.  The first week they were matched with Tim Nelson whose musical endeavors I cannot recall, but whose brother Andy played bass for Philly hardcore group Paint It Black, best known for their contribution to a Tony Hawk video game.  With him they recorded ¡Swing Pad! named after the perpetually dark and messy dorm room that Sam and Aidan shared.  It was the party palace of the program for the next two weeks with the best video games, DVDs, and music around.  The next week, the band took it easy with old friend Jeff Ziga of Little Baby's Ice Cream fame on Smokin' in the Girls Room.

Sadly, I don't have uploaded album art for these inside joke-heavy works at the moment, but hopefully will get them up soon, along with Shabazz! the similar EP I recorded with Aidan and Jeff the year before.

¡Swing Pad!

Opening this EP is an update of The Power of Rawk's "Parallel Lines," now with geometry homework-inspired lyrics.  It's a lot better than the original thanks to the addition of vocals, though the lead guitar is still probably the best part.  The group also reveals their classic riff-based formula on this track.  That was something that concerned me as many expected more changes and typical verse-chorus structure, but they were not hip to real pun/folk.  

Then there is "Morning Glory" with it's similar structure.  It is one of the most legendary Shears songs that was probably the first new one after the completion of the Hurtu LP.  This was the first recorded version and naturally the weakest, though certainly the cleanest and the biggest production with the organ accompaniment.  What makes this song so legendary though was the next version with the infamous and controversial "my name's Alec and I'm gay..." line, sung naturally by Signorino later that summer.  Ridiculous psychedelic fantasy lyrics are matched with blaring leads and a powerful descending riff.

"Autograph" is another one that would go onto be re-recorded in tighter, more enjoyable versions later, but this one is still a winner, the first with more than a riff and certainly the best lyrics on the record.  I love this song and this is the one to hear first.

I finally get to take back the mic on closer "I Hate You," a track you could call the "ultimate Ramones song," despite the fact that it is an original.  It is simpler and even more concise than any song that great band recorded.  It doesn't even need vocals on the chorus.  All teenage punk should sound like this, but how many teenagers have such great taste?

Smokin' in the Girls Room

The loose and fun vibe on this album is emphasized with the opening with the Ziga-sung cover of "Sk8er Boi" capturing the zeigeist of Summer Music Programs in 2003.  If you want to know the truth about this hit song here it is.  The bridge is one of the great examples of Aidan's unique style of guitar playing, somewhat reminiscent of Daniel Ash and Alex Heerman.

This is followed by the hilarious and directionless political outrage of "Society" which shows the more inclusive aspect of this record by featuring a fantastic solo from Aidan and yours truly on background vocals.  It is a simple Pavement-style indie rocker that puts modern double-aged 90s worshippers to shame with all the humor of good ole S.M.  A must-hear for the line "I don't need your Medicare, old people gonna die anyway."

It keeps going with "Pretty In Pink," which has aged better than I would expect.  Like the movie version it has sax, played by Aidan, but in a totally different way.  The drums are a bit off because that's me, but it wasn't too bad and this could be Sam's best vocal performance of the summer.

The album closes with "Guitar Art," an instrumental envisioned by Ziga that captures all of the quartet's bombastic and ironic tendencies for old fashioned metal excess.  I believe that's Aidan on drums!

These two EPs allowed this era of the band be forever intact with a clean sound never possible before and after.  They excel in capturing both the pure idea of these wonderful songs and having the playful attitude and humor of Sam and the McEneaneys.  This is not outsider music like The Power of Rawk, it may be somewhat crude, but this is some of the best music I have ever heard by such young kids and after such a long connection to Summer Music Programs that says a thing or two.  It's no surprise the members went onto such great things.

DOWNLOAD The Shearssssh (2003)

Following the audition of a drummer Signorino departed the band and took the band and took the name with him.  That was the end of the Shears and the beginning of Love Athena, but you will have to wait for that...

Roots, part 1: Hurtu - The Power of Rawk

In late 2002 or early 2003 with the departure of Adrian Ricelli, Xyster dissolved and left Aidan McEneaney, Sam Deutsch, and myself to become Hurtu.  This was a brief period before the addition of Alec Signorino and the name change to the Shears.  In the summer of 2003 Deutsch and the McEneaneys recorded the EPs ¡Swing Pad! and Smokin' in the Girls Room with stand-in drummers Tin Nelson and Jeff Ziga (former Affirmative Action Jackson and Knives Out, later founder of Little Baby's Ice Cream).  While those recordings were mostly tight and professional, this is a noise-lo-fi mess.  Afterwards, with the departure of Signorino for "The New Shears," the core trio became Love Athena, working with drummers Peter Cross and Will Floyd.  Both band's work will be posted later with a more in-depth history.




















It was a tumultuous time and this recorded document crudely captures this unique transitional band, perhaps at its worst, but should be interesting for fans of outsider music, especially that made by teenagers.  It has a rare combination of teenage stupidity and art-damaged pretension, to the point where distributors Barfbag Records features several warnings, such as "Explicit Content," a warning about long gaps of silence, and another about the extremely violent threats dispersed throughout the record (though no one complains when Wu Tang does it).  There was never a track list and some of these songs may have never had titles at all.  Some did and those are recorded and here is the analyisis.

So with that that album begins with "1:  You Wanna Die?," the first of four of the threatening tracks performed by Aidan in his heavy metal singer alter-ego.  They are all some of the of the most explicit and hilarious manifestations about early-teen angst and this first track is the only one with full musical accompaniment, making it one of the album's most listenable "songs."  Batwölf may or may not have played it live.  The character is first introduced and luckily the music hides the other members' laughter.

"2:  Creep Street" is an instrumental that goes back to the earliest days of Xyster originally composed by myself, Tommy Holden, and Adrian Ricelli.  As the Popes, Aidan and I recorded that as well in a professional setting in the Summer of 2002.  IT owes a heavy debt to the Fall's "Mansion" and is one of the best places to hear the use of cheap multi pedals.

"3:  The Power of Rawk III" is another instrumental based on "What Is Love?" with a blistering lead from Sam that used to be my favorite song on the album.  It doesn't really hold up as well, I must admit.

"4:  Parallel Lines" is yet another instrumental, also led by Sam's guitar.  It gained its title later when lyrics were added and was eventually recorded as such on the ¡Swing Pad! EP, to be shared next time.

Track five is another threat from Aidan, this time directed towards me.  The laughs are not a problem and his love of prolonging torture and saying "Shut up, bitch!" is exposed as well as his misunderstanding of the word "arsenal."

Six's drum track is one of the coolest sounds on the whole record and the bass playing on this fuzzed-out reggae track is solid, but otherwise it's a failed experiment, though I have to admit a bold one, mixing such elements together.  It's bad teenage heartbreak, but has to be heard to believed, tough I suppose it may not be too different from nu-metal, especially 311...  That was not the intention.

Next up is "Flavia," a long comedy jam.  It is the only song recorded completely live with guitar, bass, and drums, and even more surprisingly only one of two songs featuring Deutsch on vocals.  IT's an absurd love song to a girl who may not have deserved such treatment.

"Lost on Gilligan's Island" I think had the most potential to be a great song.  It's lyrics are still kind of funny, in a really cute way, I can't remember exactly what I was going for, but I think it just came to me title first.  It's a mess but the idea is there and it has the best home-made feeling to it with my "wait, stop" beginning the song.  The drums are more shambolic than I still think is possible, but there is some tune and a lot of playfulness yet if you stripped it of that it's some top-notch noise rock.  The actual song section concludes with piano credited to Ben Folds and the following "silence" is actually Aidan talking shit on Nirvana.  If you can get through the whole thing you still won't believe it was for real.

The ninth track is maybe the best-realized song, a sludge-metal, on which I think I played everything.  It's simple and I think it would be cool to play again.  Some find it boring and the timing of each instrument sucks, but there is one moment where the solo is absolutely transcendent.

"Crop Circles," on the other hand, is probably the biggest mess on the album with horrible over-driven bass leading the whole thing and deafening clipping drums.  Maybe some potential in there too, but who cares?  If you can hear anything resembling music in there you will know for sure that this is Sonic Youth-aping, but hey apparently that's what everyone wants, so you'll probably like it.  I, however, hate it and I love outsider music like this.  Actually, Aidan's screams are kind of cool, mine too, or Sam's whatever that is...

The unnamed eleventh track is also somewhat well-realized in terms of instruments playing together (though the drums could use some work).  It sounds like it was recorded live, and I vaguely remember that being the case.  I felt pretty good about this one at the time, and structurally, I still do though the lyrics are god-awful weepy teenage boy garbage, but I was trying!  I noticed I had drowned out my vocals, so they cranked up a little high to compensate and all three of us sang on this one and Sam's may be the most pleasant sound on the whole album.  Aidan's have a real unusual rhythm that I still think is pretty cool too.  I was the only person who had any faith in this song, but it's really a pretty decent grunge rocker, theoretically.  With the right pedal it could have even been "Mudhoney-esque"

Twelve is the return of the heavy metal singer and is the best view into the deranged mind of a 12 year old boy with its mix of homophobia and homoeroticism.  If you can get over that it's probably the funniest one, especially when he talks about cutting off your penis and feeding it to his dog.  Then it takes the left turn with "ever since you signed up for the army" and it's self referential qualities which just grow and grow.  What's real and what is just black humor?  Either way it's gonna BURRRRRN YOOUUUU!

"13:  Smokey Bear Plays With Matches" is another old one.  The concept/lyrics came from Jonathan Lee in Mr. Clark's Comm. Arts class in spring 2001 and the music was from Panaphobia members Bo Liu and Doug Chee.  All that time makes this probably the strongest song on the album.  A loud, heavy, noise-blues tune which is the most apparent result of teenagers imitating Captain Beefheart probably ever recorded.  If any track needs to be heard on this album, it's this one.

In conclusion I accept, and grow tired of the heavy metal singer's threats, and he is eaten apart by his insecurities as I turn into him.  It's pretty jail.  Think about it.

I don't know what machine this was recorded on, but it was a cheap digital 12-track.  Production began at the Deutsch's West Orange McMansion and concluded after they relocated to a townhouse in the Cedars, Basking Ridge.  The guitars were a Mostrite Ventures II, a Fender Cyclone II, an Epphone Explorer and possibly an Epiphone Casino.  Basses were an Ibanez Jazz and Precision hybrid and a Fender P.  Drums and amps were a mixed bag and at some point everybody played every instrument, that was important to me.

Ultimately this album is pretty unlistenable, but it did live up to my artistic vision as something of a historical document.  I think it stands up to other teenage outsider music like The Shaggs Philosophy of the World or Todd's With Love... From Me To You or the younger crowd of Eyeball Skeleton, but is a lot more fun and with a far, far greater awareness of the whole expanse of rock music.  Just look at the artists I reference here, this is not in retrospect.  This is a fact, the experimental/noise rock of Can, Sonic Youth, Captain Beefheart, etc was as much an influence as Weezer, Mudhoney, and At The Drive-In as the lo-fi challenges of Sebadoh, Guided by Voices, and Pavement.  I put this out here because it needs to be heard and be out in the universe.  It's just too funny not to.  You have enjoyed worse, I know that for a fact.

YOU WANNA DIE!? 

Next time:  The Shears.

New Jersey

So, I have said a lot about New Jersey in this time and for good reason.  Some of the best music of all time has come out of there.  Music from the future, and the really strange thing is that as much as people talk about Maxwell's, Hoboken, Bruce Springsteen, the Misfits, etc., it was oddly enough the small town of Haledon which has the most significance.  Everyone knows the Feelies and many know that's where they come from, they just played Hoboken a lot.

Additionally, many other great bands came out of that Feelies spectrum.  Bands as great and influential on the right artists.  All you need to do is listen to Ridgewood's Real Estate to know that.  So as I have been absorbing such groups lately, both on record and in person I needed to assemble a little playlist for the uninitiated.  I only have what I have so its far from complete and I tried to make it short enough to fit on one CD.  So Here are some flaws:  Nothing from Wake Ooloo, who I have not even heard yet, and this song by Speed the Plough, which may be the greatest song of all time.  I also left out Crazy Rhythms because if you're reading this we can assume you are already familiar with this.

So, these bands...

It starts with the Feelies led by Glenn Mercer and Bill Million.  After the end of their time with Stiff records they were left unoccupied but with a wonderful home studio where they encountered the Trypes (and Yo La Tengo).  The Trypes were John Baumgartner, Toni Peruta, Marc Francia, and Elbrus Kelemet.  Mercer then joined on production.  Eventually so did Dave Weckermen, Brenda Sauter, and Stanley Demeski.  When the Feelies reunited they took those three with them and the remaining members formed Speed the Plough.  Sauter (and I believe Demeski) came back though.  Sauter also joined Wild Carnation with husband Richard Barnes and drummer Chris O' Donovan - both of whom would be members of Speed the Plough.

Then there is Yung Wu, which was essentially the Feelies plus John Baumgartner, but with Weckerman on vocals/songwriting.  These songs cover about 25 years and all but one is original.  If you ask me this is how music is supposed to sound.  Here is the order I planned if anyone wants it that way...

1.  The Trypes - (From the) Morning Glories

2.  Speed the Plough - River Street

3.  Wild Carnation - The Road to Bielefeld

4.  The Feelies - Waiting

5.  Wild Carnation - The State You're In

6.  Speed the Plough - Love Song

7.  The Feelies - Too Far Gone

8.  Yung Wu - Big Day

9.  Speed the Plough - Cardinal Rules

10.  The Trypes - Belmont Girl Is Mad At Me

11.  The Feelies - On the Roof

12.  Wild Carnation - The Rising Tide

13.  Speed the Plough - The Roof Is Off (The Stars Are There And It's Mighty Cold)

14.  Yung Wu - Aspiration

15.  The Feelies - The Undertow

16.  Wild Carnation - Acid Rain and 'The Big One'

17.  Speed the Plough - Big Bus

18.  The Feelies - Invitation

The Trypes - A Plan, Revised (Demo)

DOWNLOAD

This should increase interest in my dream project which I forgot to mention to John and Toni (nee Peruta) Baumgartner to write the long-overdue story of this music scene tentatively titled We All Live on the Western Side:  The Overlooked Story of New Jersey Indie rock with The Feelies Speed the Plough and Yo La Tengo.  Dreams...

A week or so of live music.

It's been a while, but since completing my already inaccurate album lists I have not been so sure what to do.

I saw a bunch of great shows though, starting with last Saturday which I guess was June 29.  That day it was the 4 Knots music festival.  I did not get there when it began and I did not pay attention to all the artists like the seemingly abrasive Marnie Stern and someone else whose name I cannot recall.  I wanted to sit down at that point.

Parquet Courts, photo by Liam Carroll

I got there just in time for Parquet Courts, who I had been most excited to see since hearing their great track "Stones and Starving."  I was not yet familiar with the entirety of their debut Light Up Gold as I was unable to find a copy until after their set, but the album is both a stoner and New York City classic.  A rare combo, but this was the band destined to make it.  The live set lived up to that.  It started off a bit slow and I was even getting worried they would not live up to that aforementioned song, but in their brief set they quickly turned it around.  They concluded with "Stoned and Starving" which extended to about ten minutes with some awesome noise and some great vocalization from A. Savage.  If you're not hip to this band yet, changed that around, they're something special, both live and on the record and they have a great dynamic.  I was particularly fascinated with their drummer, but they do have one hell of a frontman too, and as you can tell a Thurston Moore type on the other guitar - always a good thing.

Next, the Men played.  That was okay.  I can't say I get the big deal (if there even is one and my favorite aspects of their set were the fact that they described themselves as "pigfuck" on the program and they ended with a cover of  "I Wanna Be your Dog," which was helped by guests on vocals and sax.  As the name implies, it was a bit macho and they had no songs.  At their best I just kept thinking "Parquet Courts did this kind of thing much better."  Afterwards I voiced this and my friends all agreed.

Kurt Vile and the Violators, photo by Tommy Holden

I skipped the next band whose name I still forget, then Kurt Vile began.  He looked great and most of his band looked similar.  I had been wanting to see him since just barely missing him at Big Sur just before he blew up (too early in the morning) and he and his band lived up to just about any expectations you could have.  He rocked out, he droned, made noise, and let his band take a break to play acoustic on his own.  It was all there and of course his band was extremely talented.  I have to admit I am a bit behind on his material, but of what I know he covered a lot of his different sounds from his whole career and it all sounded great to me and the rest of the audience.  It was perfect music for the sun's descent on the New York Harbor, I just wish I had more energy for it because it was pretty powerful.  Vile really knows how to keep a crowd going and his vision and professionalism is unquestionable.  It was a shaking set and I could not have asked for more from the artists.

Then we moved on to Bowery Electric to see Diamond Doves.  Several bands were playing that night, but we only saw two.  First there was No Sky God which was unbelievable (not in a good way.)  The first thing I noticed was that the bass player had 5-strings.  That's one of the worst signs there is.  Also he looked scared.  The frontman looked like Chuckie Finster if All Growed Up was a horror show - so you can imagine the hair... and the glasses... and the mustache...  Their lead guitarist was your typical arrogant lead guitarist that thinks its all about him and he was sort of right as he was the best to listen to, though he had no dynamic... not like that it would have made it better.  The drummer, who apparently was new was wearing a baseball cap that matched his shirt.  He also had a tie and a crash with holes in it.  They had a song called "Homophobia."  If you want to be confused look them up.

Diamond Doves was great though, maybe the best set I saw that day.  They may or not have been missing a member, either way it was one less than usual, but whether or not he is still in the band is unclear.  That gap was filled mostly through heightened integration of electronics coming from both a laptop and their phenomenal drummer's rig.  In fact, if you haven't heard of Nick Kinsey before you should keep your eyes and ears open because he may be the greatest drummer I have ever seen.  This show was also extra special as the long-reclusive Elvis Perkins made his low-profile return with his former bandmates and made this an excellent show that points to some great things int he future for both artists.

The Feelies.  Photo by Alec Signorino.

 Then it was Thursday, July 4.  After a lovely day of swimming in Hoboken and getting on of the best views I could imagine of the Hudson River fireworks we headed to Maxwell's for the first of the three consecutive Feelies shows - their last (supposedly, probably) at the legendary venue.  This, of course, was unbelievable.  There was no opening band, and the quintet opted to do two sets.  They played material from all over their career, including much more from Crazy Rhythms than the first time I saw them.  From that album, you had the title track, "Raisred Eyebrows," "Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except for Me And My Monkey)," "Moscow Nights," and in one of four encores, "Fa Cé La."  As always, the band looked col and was on fire, especially their rhythm section.  Unfortunately, it was hard to see Dave Weckermen, but he was working as hard as the great Stanley Demeski and as obvious as it is I should mention how amazing "Too Far Gone Was."  They had their guests too with John Baumgartner lending accordion to one track and Glenn Morrow from the Individuals joining them ont eh first encore of cover tunes like "I'm A Believer," and "Real Cool Time" (I think.)  The encores were mostly covers and in addition to the more obvious ones like those mentioned before and"Paint It Black," and they surprised us with "See No Evil" and R.E.M.'s "Shaking Through."  The Feelies continue to be one of the best live bands around and gave their home bas just what it deserved.  They also give us fans what we deserve, materialistically with one of the most impressive merch tables I have ever seen.  You can probably get some lovely items as Feelies coffee mugs and pint glasses somewhere online and should!

The Feelies with the drummer of Gentle Giant.  Photo by Liam Carrol.

Then I went to my final show at Maxwell's just last night, surpassing any live music expectation I had in this life and seeing the Flamin' Groovies.  Unfortunately though, there was an opening band this time.  They were called Daddy Longlegs and they are on Norton records (whose founders were there.) So you can imagine exactly what they are like.  They had good energy but no bass and I had heard it all before.  Their maraca player/drummer was the oldest one and the guitarist looked like Scott Baio as Johnny Thunders.  The singer/harmonica player looked like Ginger Baker.  He could play, I mean they all could, but bands that think that rock died before their parents got pubes aren't really cool.  Show us something new!  It just goes to show that there are two kinds of Groovies fans:  Those who love them because they're from the past and those who love them because they're from the future.  Even when they were brand new in 1967 you could love them because they were like Chuck Berry and Bo Didley or you could love them because they're like Big Star and Television.  Being firmly in the latter I just wanted these clowns off the stage no matter how good they were at playing "good, real" rock and roll and I was ready to get back to my Vampire Weekend and Caravan records.

Flamin' Groovies.  Photo by Liam Carroll

Then the future boys came onstage and all was saved.  While Cyril Jordan may have looked creepy at first in his wig and pedophile glasses he quickly proved himself to still be the koolest guy around and he, Chris Wilson, and a now very Miyagi-looking George Alexander kicked as much ass as possible.  No matter how great of a show they play and even considering that there are only two guitars and no Roy Loney you will always need more Groovies at the end.  So with that said I will admit I really wish they played "Yes It's True" and "Tell Me Again," and a few more covers, especially, "Please Please Me," which had been in my head all day.  They did do some Chuck and "Feel A Whole Lot Better," which was stunning and was the best I could have hoped for with the Byrds sadly gone, and I did not even think this would be possible.  Plus, they did do "Please Please Girl," so what can you demand?  Another early/mid show highlight was "You Tore Me Down" which was a big dream for me along with the maybe even better "I Can't Hide."  Jordan is great onstage and tells all kinds of great stories behind the songs and the other memories around them such as on "First Plane Home" and "Slow Death" and "Shake Some Action" - two of the last, and obviously best songs of their set.  After all the encores the Feelies had done I was hoping for a lot more, but we just got one single-song encore.  It was the best we could have hoped, and then some, especially as Loney-era songs were nowhere to be found (other than Slow Death") when they kicked into "Teenage Head."

Thank God this happened.

The Age of Ending Eras

Paul and I were saying this is what I describe int he title.  This refers to the end of Basking Ridge, the End of Hoboken, and much else.  Also, I have been on the same computer for eight years until today and that is a pretty big deal.  So, in tribute to that I thought I would list my top 50 most played songs on itunes on that old horse.  This is since, I believe, March 31, 2011 when my hard drive was replaced.  Of course, a lot of music was listened to on vinyl and CD, but here is one thing to look at...

47.  "War & Wedding" - Tobin Sprout
47.  "Wondering Boy Poet" - Guided by Voices
47.  "You Tore Me Down" - Flamin' Groovies
45.  "Map Ref. 41˚N 93˚W" - Wire
45.  "Because I Love You" - Masters Apprentices
41.  "Paper Girl" - Guided By Voices
41.  Draft Morning - The Byrds
41.  #1 -  Animal Collective
41.  "Fireworks" - Animal Collective
41.  "Brother Sport" - Animal Collective
38.  "Sitting By The Window" - Moby Grape
38.  "Living In A Child's Dream" - Masters Apprentices
38.  "Interest Position" - Guided By Voices
37.  "Derek" - Animal Collective
35.  "Indian Fables" - Guided By Voices
35.  "Winters Love" - Animal Collective
32.  "You're Everything on Earth" - The Outsiders
32.  "I've Loved You" - the Music Machine
32.  "Before We Begin" - Broadcast
31.  "Swim" - Surfer Blood
29.  "Hardcore UFO's" - Guided by Voices
29.  "Babes In The Sky" - Flamin' Groovies
27.  "Girl, You're Blowin' My Mind" - Jan & Dean
27.  "Bluish" - Animal Collective
25.  "Cardinal Rules" - Speed the Plough
25.  "The Letter" - Arthur Russell
23.  "Phenomenons" - Twin Sister
23.  "(From the) Morning Glories" - The Trypes
22.  "Gene Ciampi" - Twin Sister
18.  "Outdoor Miner" - Wire
18.  "Falling and Laughing" - Orange Juice
18.  "The Key Losers" - Guided By Voices
18.  "On The Tundra" - Guided By Voices
16.  "Pop Zues" - Robert Pollard With Doug Gillard
16.  ""Unbroken Chain" - The Grateful Dead
15.  "A Plan, Revised (Demo_" - The Trypes
14.  "The Glorious Land" - PJ Harvey
13.  "To Be Over" - Yes
12.  "I Remember Learning How To Dive" - Animal Collective
11.  "Easy" - Real Estate
10.  "Seeing" - Moby Grape
9.  "Here Without You" - The Byrds
8.  "Sinmply Thrilled Honey" - Orange Juice
7.  "What Would I Want? Sky" - Animal Collective
6.  "Is She Ever?" - Guided By Voices
5.  "How Loft I Am?" - Guided By Voices
4.  "What You Want" - My Bloody Valentine
1.  "The 15th" - Wire
1.  "The Last Living Rose" - PJ Harvey
1.  "Huffman Prairie Flying Field" - Guided By Voices

Wow, was not expecting a three-way tie for #1!  Listening to the new Surfer Blood.  It rules!

The Bats and Wild Carnation - Maxwell's June 3, 2013

So, I am sure anyone reading this knows that Maxwell's announced that it is closing at the end of July yesterday.  I had heard that it was happening, but it was pretty hard to believe.  Appropriately, I was already planning to be  there that night for New Zealand's finest with one of the many great Feelies-related Jersey groups.

It started on the early side, which was great.  After a couple drinks at Helmer's, we arrived even earlier to find Robert Scott decked out in Amoeba gear in front of the venue.  A while later Wild Carnation took the stage and the usually quiet Brenda Sauter mentioned the closing of the historic venue and they began with their song about Maxwell's "Wednesday night at 8 PM" or something like that (she wasn't sure at first either).  Their set was pretty phenomenal, particularly the second song, "The Rising Tide."  Their guitarist was especially impressive, playing a Gretsch and having some of the best  tone I had  ever heard, evoking all the best of the American  Underground in one, plus a good amount of Fripp in there.

The Bats were even better, as they should have been and they played a perfect blend of material from their whole career.  With so much great material, you can't get everything you want, even with a long set, and there was definitely a lack of material from The Law of Things, but they did play "Smoking Her Wings," a definite highlight.  Some others were "Mir" and the batch of Daddy's Highway material at the end such as "North By North," "Block of Wood," and most importantly "Treason."  Everyone was pretty much on  and their accents were as usual, adorable, though more vocals for Kaye Woodward would  have been nice.  Paul Kean was very entertaining and as someone who had never seen the band before I had no idea he was such a key part in stage presence.  MalcolmGrant is a whole lot of  fun top watch too, and his role in the band is always under-appreciated, but not after seeing them live.

Both bands lived up to my lofty expectations and that really eased the pain of the CBGB of New Jersey going away and leaving Hoboken a completely barren yuppie hellhole.  Being a musician from that state is  a real privilege and the audience was filled with some  of our best.

A Conclusion to You

So this big portion of my life has come to an end, and I am more than ready to move on.  This project took place over a very transitional point in my life and was written all over the country.  I am glad that's all over.  There are a few ways I wanted to end.  First, this is not the last time I will do this.  Already  there is along list of album that should have made it, but did not.  Second I would like to talk about some great artist that never made it.  There is the Fall, who has made so many amazing album, but none  of whom made it.  Great band, check them out if you somehow have not.  My favorites are Live At The Witch Trials and This nation's Saving Grace.  Look at when those came out.  I can be forgiven.  Then there are great bands, mostly from the 60s that never released any LPs, like the Creation or the Action, but also in other decades like the Clean.  Then there are artists like Arthur Russell who pretty much never released anything in their lifetimes.  Third, there is this:

Top 3 albums of 2013 so far.

I have listened to more than three and liked more than three.  I just started listening to the new Vampire Weekend and that's something.  Also the new Deerhunter.   That's something else and makes me glad I underlined bassist Josh Fauver so much in previous Deerhunter reviews.  Also the Flaming Lips, still gotta catch up.  These three, in no particular order are ones about which I feel comfortable writing now, in no particular order.

My Bloody Valentine - m b v
22 years later and it finally happened.  I did not rush myself into hearing this and I'm glad I did not.  Still, it is phenomenal, as pretty much everything the Irish group has made.  My one complaint is it sounds less like a group effort.  You will notice Kevin Shields' name over the credits more than usual and I don't think that's really a good thing.  Still, he is capable of much more with the other three, obviously.  It's definitely a bit of a grower and with Shields' diminishing ears the bass is lower than ever, but still the overall sound might be an improvement.  It shows a progression from the last album and is much better than the disappointing Wire cover they recorded in between.  Loveless it is not, and I mean that in a good way for a band whose reputation has soared for decades thanks to that masterpiece.  It's a grower and I still can't say too much in certainty and surely that is part of the plan.  It was worth the wait and I would dare to say it's better than Isn't Anything, at least for me.  Another great sonic achievement.

Yo La Tengo - Fade
Twenty years in the classic lineup and the Hoboken trio still can't do wrong.  As great as all of their albums are this one hit extra hard with it's quality.  Perhaps it was a little extra energy on pop songs like "Well You Better."  I sorely had not listened to many of YLT's 00s albums and they were left off the lists.  I have heard them now and know that was one of the biggest omissions.  In a way, that's good because they are hard to write about.  Like this one they are one of the best bands ever just giving their fans even more proof.

Guided by Voices - English Little League
The Reuinited GbV continues to get better and better on their fourth album.  Many saw this as the biggest improvement and I, after a few listens am inclined to believe.  It is all solid and focused and even the skip-able songs prove their charm on repeated listens, as with all of GbV's best albums.  Pollard is catching back up with Sprout on songs like "Flunky Minnows," but Sprout is still at a new peak with songs like "Islands (She Talks In Rainbows)" - easily the album's best.  The quintet is playing more like a band than ever.  It is obvious on every song that rather than Pollard with four buddies this is a band, and a band that by now has recorded more albums together than any other lineup of the band.  This one also rocks harder than the last three overall with songs like "W/ Glass in Foot" and obviously, "Know Me As Heavy."  If this continues, we may have another Alien Lanes on our hands very soon.

Here is the geographical report I was taking all this time, in order:

1. United States:  306
1. California:  62
1. Los Angeles:  42
2. SF Bay:  15
3. San Diego:  3
2. New York:  50
1. New York City:  47
3. New Jersey:  27
4. Ohio:  21
1. Dayton:  16
5. Massachusetts:  15
1. Boston:  7
6. Georgia:  15
1. Athens:  11
7. Minnesota:  14
1. Minneapolis:  9
8. Texas:  14
1. Austin:  6
9. Illinois:  10
1. Chicago:  8
10. Washington:  9
1. Seattle:  2
11. Maryland:  9
12. Colorado:  6
13. Oklahoma:  6
14. Tennessee:  5
1. Memphis:  4
15. Idaho:  5
16. Michigan:  5
17. Oregon:  5
18. Arizona:  5
19. Virginia:  4
20. Pennsylvania:  4
21. North Carolina:  2
22. Wisconsin:  1
23. Kentucky:  1
24. Florida:  1
25. Hawaii:  1
26. Rhode Island:  1
27. New Mexico:  1
2. United Kingdom:  132
1. England:  116
1. London:  64
2. Manchester:  8
3. Cambridge:  7
4. Liverpool:  6
5. Birmingham:  4
6. Oxfordshire:  4
7. Sheffield:  2
2. Scotland:  10
3. Wales:  5
4. Northern Ireland:  3
3. Germany:  13
1. Düsseldorf:  5
4. New Zealand:  10
1. Christchurch:  6
2. Dunedin:  3
5. Australia:  9
1. Brisbane:  3
2. Perth:  3
6. Iceland:  7
7. Canada:  6
1. Vancouver:  2
8. France:  6
9. Ireland:  4
10. Sweden:  4
11. Japan:  3
12. Brazil:  2
13. Russia:  2
14. Netherands:  1

Obviously, some places are overrepresented by one artist - particularly Dayton, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Idaho, or one time, in the case with Germany.

Finally done.  Maybe I will talk about something else another time.  Now, after almost three months, I can go back to listened to whatever I damn well feel like again.