Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Surfer Blood


So I play in a little band called Slang Chickens, and we're going out to CMJ in a few weeks. We're playing the SESAC showcase with none other than the super sick Crystal Antlers, and naturally inclined by curiosity I checked out who else is on the bill.  I was pleasantly surprised to find our buddies The Depreciation Guild and the supremely rad Surfer Blood.

I'd never heard Surfer Blood, and if you're aware of how I'm always bitching about fads, these guys are a pretty great cure.  They're not "gazers," they're not "stoners," and while maintaining elements of the Beach Boys (uniquely so), they are not necessarily "beachers."  They're not lo-fi or electro or garage or psych, so what the fuck are they?

They're awesome.  Really crunchy guitars intertwined with great power pop hooks.  They don't really sound much like anybody except, well, Surfer Blood.  Yes, the delivery and perhaps reverb-y treatment of the vocals is reminiscent of the Beach Boys, but they don't really sound like the Beach Boys.  If I had to make a comparison, it's like Bruce Springsteen and Tommy Tutone meets The Thermals...or something.  Watch these dudes blow up pretty quick, they don't have a label and they're playing a million showcases at CMJ.  Then they're doing quick little tours with Art Brut and Japandroids.  Get into it, you will thank me later. 

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Torch and Toast Vol. 1



I'd like to introduce a new series called "Toast and Torch."  A large part of my life at this point has been spent loafing about drinking beers with other idiot philosophers I like to call my friends griping at the lack of recognition of someone or other, while other "artists" bathe in undeserved worship fueled by drooling idolatry.  Now is the chance to take my battle to the interwebs where I can laud my under dog homies, and crush those fettered products of the crunching hype machine, see them driven before me and hear the lamentations of their women (Conan...seriously underrated movie btw).

Today's topic: NYC Proto-Punk Scene - The Testors vs. Patti Smith
TOAST - The Testors fucking rule!!!!  They were rocking the speed punk thing years before anybody, like...1976 (Yeah I'm looking at you Misfits).  And yes, you could say the Damned, Dead Boys or the Ramones might have been their closest counterparts, but I feel like nobody thrashed quite as hard as the Testors.  Plus...they got banned from Canada, that's pretty punk dude.  The Pistols never were barred from playing an entire continent...It's no wonder one of my favorite lables ever, Swami, reissued their largely forgotten catalog (btw listen to any John Reis project, and you'll hear the Testors), and it's probably the reason anybody in my generation knows them.  All "they did this first" statements aside though, they wrote some pretty great punk/garage songs and paved the way for hooky melodic punks like Husker Du and the Misfits.



TORCH - Patti Smith - good, not great...entirely overrated.  She sings like Tom Verlaine undergoing a rectal exam.  Fine...punk singers aren't supposed to be "good" per se.  But at least, unique?  And without recalling sounds akin to severe pressure on one's anus.  Punk rock's poet laureate?  I think not.  Everybody raves about her lyrics, I don't see it.  Leonard Cohen, Dylan, those dudes were poet laureates...also small guy Nick Cave circa 1979 with the Birthday Party, punk rock poetry at it's finest.  Horses is a good record, meaning it has 3 or so good songs on it...which does not equate to "one of the greatest albums of all time" status as one would be led to believe.  I would go so far as to say Karen O does Patti Smith better than Patti Smith does. I'm not saying the world would be a better place without her, I'm saying enough with the vacant worship already kids...

Monday, September 28, 2009

Couple Things...



Last night I was at the Longhair Illuminati thing at the Knitting Factory, I saw little bits of some pretty mediocre bands, but two bands really blew me away--Tweak Bird and The Living Suns.

Tweak Bird, is pretty sick, like the Melvins fronted by two unison screeching Geddy Lees.  As a duo, these guys definitely pay the tone bills, and man were they tight.  Some may write them off as Big Business biters, but really when it comes to metal these days, you could throw an anvil and land on a band that sounds EXACTLY like the Melvins, so no worries dudes.

Living Suns rule, they're super psychedelic without drifting totally into the "stoner" vibe, they're actually pretty punk.  Maybe hippie punks?  I don't know, just check em' out, they're badass.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Brel

I've been busy lately, also the internets seem to be devoid of information that pleases me. So to fill that conspicuous gap, here's my all time favorite Jacques Brel video.  Here's a flow chart as to what Jacques is to music...

Jacques Brel > Scott Walker > Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Eno, Nick Cave etc. > Music as we know it

That's an oversimplification, but not too far from the truth.



I also went to see Blind Boy Paxton on Monday night.  Very cool, extremely authentic old timey music, I expected nothing less.   A great unique unexpected twist was the "DJ" set in between sets.  They literally pulled out two crazy old turntables and started spinning old timey 7"'s, crossfading and everything (with microphones of course).  Oh yeah and he's not actually blind, but I ain't mad atcha'!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Happy 75th Leonard! and Deracine


First off, Happy Birthday to Leonard Cohen, 75 years old today and still more of a badass than just about anybody I can think of.  Dude collapsed on stage but he's still continuing to tour, because he's just a stud like that!



I went to see Deracine  (dare-a-sheen-ay) and my buddies Mikki and the Mauses at the Bixel House Friday night and it ruled pretty thoroughly.  Haven't been to a good ol' fashioned punk show in a while and it was refreshing.  Being splayed against the walls of a 10 x 10 living room, thrust into the back fat of inebriated young men and women, ripped in twine by the duality of wanting to both annihilate and hug someone at the same time, and all the while your ears are bleeding and there's malt liquor and sweat in your mouth that you're certain doesn't belong to you.  Good times.

Deracine ripped my face off, they're a Japanese trio built upon the most astounding controlled chaos.  The bassist and drummer held it down amidst the ferocious stops and starts while the third member precisely smashed on what looked like something you might have seen in the war room of an old Bond movie, it was two keyboards and a mish mash of effects and samplers on a table that triggered perfectly distorted samples and actually took the place of a guitar quite nicely.  Top that off with about a 10 minute set time, and you can be damn sure I walked out of there a fan.

Also going to see Blind Boy Paxton tonight @ Redwood Bar and Grill.  I'm stoked.

Friday, September 18, 2009

In Honor of Rosh Hashanah


Yes, today is the dawn of the year 5770.  My family celebrates in true style by gorging themselves on succulent savory treats and letting the wine flow like beer.  We may chant a prayer or two that nobody understands, but hey that's tradition and if you've ever seen Fiddler on the Roof, you know it's enough to make an entire village break out in song.


Thus I bring to you some of my favorite videos from the holy semitic quartet, none other than Neil Diamond, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and of course Leonard Cohen (If only Nick Cave were Jewish).


Avalanche in 88'


Lou rockin out with the coolest dudes of ALL TIME, no debates


Neil playing some dark-ass Solitary Man in 71'


My favorite Dylan song, It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Swedish Meatballs - Miss Li and Lykke Li


I was watching some TV this morning before I hit work, and the new iPod Nano 5g commercial came on--I was instantly mesmerized by the background song, life-changingly so. My attention was snagged with something that neither Feist, Jet (poop), Coldplay (guano), U2, Chairlift, CSS, or even Sir Paul could deliver. So I did a lil' research as I am want to do. I uncovered one Miss Li, and boy am I glad I did.



I am aware of the irksome nature of the entire iPod campaign so take that for given while watching, but I'll be goddamned if it hasn't helped Apple sell a couple of those things. Anyway, the song is Bourgeois Shangri-La, and it's like a swing-singer fronting the Sugarcubes, or something like that.

There really must be something in the water over there--with the (somewhat) recent influx of Swedish imports like Peter, Bjorn and John, Jens Lekman, Robyn, Jose Gonzalez etc. at the forefront of everyone's consciousness. However, today it's all about the girls, two Swedish girls to be exact, perhaps relatives? Miss Li and Lykke Li.

If ever a crush was harbored by a boy for an unobtainable girl, Lykke Li is mine. This video's been around for a while, it's the live band version of Breaking It Up.



The song is phenomenal, production inspiring, her dance moves are spastic, and she is hawt as usual. I would douse myself in cod liver oil and steam roll in the nude through a Moroccan tannery just to fondle a ballet slipper she used once when she was 5 (really? creepy...).

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Mint Chicks


I love these dudes! So bummed that they don't get the respect and attention they deserve. The other day, I was talking to some of my friends about the scene in Portland and was confused as to why the only band making any headway is Glass Candy. The stars aligned last night and I had a dream which featured my favorite Mint Chicks song "Post No Bills." When I drove to work this morning, it came on my iPod shuffle...coincidence or divine intervention? I vote the latter! They're originally from New Zealand, hailing from the beyond legendary Flying Nun scene which gave us bands like The Clean and Tall Dwarfs. Anyway, as of the last few years they've relocated to Portland. I saw them for the first time maybe in 2004 at the one of the danker undercarriages of New York's music scene, the Delancey. The lead singer was hanging from a tube in the ceiling singing upside down while the band ripped through what could only be described as At The Drive In machine gun power pop. I was so into it, I ordered their record online the very next day



Either way, they're up to some really great things these days, their last record Screens is pretty epic. Veeeerrry power pop, but with a bizarre kiwi infusion all their own. You can stream those lovely sounds here.

Nick Cave shaved his mustache and tickled the ivories with one of my all time favorites, the Warren Ellis fronted The Dirty Three.  


Also lest we forget, Sheriffs tomorrow at 3 Clubs. Come on down!

Monday, September 14, 2009

...Just a Little Bonus



hehehe, you know...it was staged, but seriously like that dude needs any more bad PR. Definition of selling your soul...

Blind Boy Paxton


Enjoyable weekend.  I was kicking it with a friend of mine the other day and he turned me onto this kid Blind Boy Paxton. He's 20, he's from Watts, and he's legitimately blind.  Apparently this dude has an encyclopedic knowledge of early blues, swing and jazz and man does it show. Homeboy plays guitar (like a motherf***er), tears up the banjo, fiddle, harmonica and washboard, and he sings like an ornery, grizzled old bluesman.  He is truly reminiscent of masters Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, Skip James and Hobart Smith, though in spite of the obvious influences, he infuses the music with a soul all his own, and it's pretty damn refreshing.  I think he and Adam Stephens of Two Gallants should get together and have an old timey geek out...then again I would probably have to invest in a pretty healthy supply of Depends to thwart the subsequent pants browning. All poop jokes aside, Blind Boy plays Monday nights at the Redwood Bar and Grill.  I'm gonna check it out next week I think.

In other news, I will begin the shameless self promotion portion of this blog, which leaves a taste in my mouth akin to that of ipecac.  I've posted a new track up on The Sheriffs myspace page, the Sheriffs being my band.  It's a rough demo of a song called "Half a Lifetime."  We're playing at 3 Clubs on Wednesday night at 10:30pm.  It's my favorite bar in town, and I've actually seen several really great bands there, not to mention it's where I met David Yow (whom I will be seeing with the Jesus Lizard next month ) and the dude from The Imperial Butt Wizards (yeah you read it right).

If you would like that track, or any tracks, please feel free to email me Brandon.Intelligator@gmail.com 




Thursday, September 10, 2009

New Richard Hawley - For Your Lover, Give Some Time


Richard Hawley is pretty much the modern embodiment of classic cool.  He takes all the finest elements of the gothic godfathers like Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker and Lee Hazlewood and blends them up into something all his own.  He is a brilliant orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist and lyricist, and shit, he played with Jarvis.

So anyway, here's a track called "For Your Lover, Give Some Time" off his new record "Truelove's Gutter" out on Mute, one of my all time favorite labels, and home to one Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds.  The album drops 9/22 and you better bet your life I'm gonna pick it up!  I really dig this track.  It's sparse, i.e. sans percussion, with beautiful harp lines and typically poetic Hawley lyrics. I love how magnificently dreary his songs are--not in a depressing manner, but rather like sitting alone in an English countryside pub observing the pissing rain pounding the windows through the rim of your snifter of brandy, while taking assertive puffs from a pipe stuffed with cherry Cavendish and contemplating only life's deepest quandaries...something like that.


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Anthony Bourdain/Girls


I've decided I'm gonna try to add food to the Intelligator, intermittently, because truthfully music and food are my only two loves in this world.  I just recently had a delicious bowl of pho, and I've worshipped the man for quite some time now, thus I combine the two and give you Tony chowing on some serendipitous pho in Vietnam.


I'm gonna go see Girls and Cass McCombs  tomorrow night at the Bootleg theater which I've never been to.  I love Girls so much...I'm not gonna make the joke...that is amateur hour and I fancy myself a purveyor of high comedy.  They do a bit of an Elvis Costello meets Pavement sort of thing.  Really great songs, and seems like they really care unlike some of their overhyped shitshow lo-fi-slave brethren that shall go unnamed.  They are going to blow up fo sho.  Cass is the shit as well.  All highly recommended listening.

Tonight there's a show at the Troubadour, headlined by LA's (and my) favorite noise-grinder sons, Health, and opening the show is the new Stone's Throw signee, Dam Funk.  Everybody's been raving about this dude and I think his shit is sexy as lace underwear (on a victoria's secret model, not just sitting there inanimately).

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

FYF Fest Wrap-Up (Wavves Blow)/The Pine Hill Haints (Rule)


Hello kids, hope you all had a very eventful and restful Labor Day weekend.  I attended FYF Fest as promised and boy do I have a hell of a report (I'm one of the 100 billion jerk wads with a computer and internet access, and thus an online report is obligatory).

I will start with The Good: No Age obviously crushed it, but absolutely the finest performance I've ever seen from them, Kudos to Dean and Randy.  They played two new jams that were for sure their most delectable to date.  Their new EP entitled "Losing Feeling" drops October 6th on Sub Pop.  You can stream it for free here...lord knows I've pre-ordered it.  Next, the other "no" band, Nobunny, totally slayed.  Gallons of raw youthful energy, great Nuggets-y garage punk songs, impeccable comedic stylings, and ridiculous but somehow non-kitschy animal masks (take notes Load Records).  Also an honorable mention to Tim and Eric, the dudes rocked out unapologetically with their slapstick schtick and managed to torch an entire field full of hipsters and their "experimental garage rock" and their "cut-off shorts and tatoos."  Awesome job indeed.



The Bad: jesus Wavves, you let me down man.  I have been a champion of this band since day one, ever since the breakdown I've had my doubts.  One can only be so apathetic before one crosses out of the realm of "punk rock" and into the ubiquitous world of "shit."  Nate my friend, you have elegantly waltzed into the latter.  Great hooks dude, I wrote hooks when I was in 7th grade, and I sang them better too.  The key difference, one side of my head wasn't shaved, and I actually had talent.  Zach Hill, what are you doing drumming for this loser?  The machine gun prog/math percussion thing did not juxtapose well with the poop singing/strumming.  Get back on the road with Marnie Stern ASAP!  Times New Viking, another huge let-down.  Really great recordings, Hershey stain performance.  Remember when I said this shitgaze thing will be over soon, exhibit A: FYF Fest 2009.  (Dis)Honorable mention to the Thermals...a big walloping "meh" to them, I've seen them and their one good song before.

The Ugly: Gotta give props to Har Mar Superstar for still being horrible after all these years.  And Fucked Up, though I actually enjoyed them a fair amount, my second time seeing them as well.

More Honorable Mentions: Peanut Butter Wolf put on a pretty sick performance and brought hip-hop to the "cut off jeans" "kids with tatoos" crowd.  Crystal Antlers were great as usual, though I've seen them quite a few times now.  Strange Boys, I'm keeping my eye on them.  Goddamm I love Lightning Bolt but I'll be a monkey's uncle if that wasn't the worst possible venue for them ever!  On a stage, outdoors...Way to go Sean, I hear you're promoting that Mika Miko stadium tour, hope it goes real well brosef.

Sick band of the day is The Pine Hill Haints from Alabama.  Thanks to Aquarium Drunkard for the tip!  These guys are so damn rootsy and country/bluegrass, but so punk at the same time!  They're a delightfully sordid hodge podge of redneck hillbillies with some astonishingly compelling and earnest lyrics.  Basically, I dig them, alot.

Friday, September 4, 2009

FYF and Woven Bones


Tomorrow I'm gonna be rolling out to the FYF Fest.  Plenty stoked, gonna get to see Wavves finally, along with Times New Viking, Nobunny and Woods.  Not to mention nostalgia performances from No Age, Thermals, Mika Miko and Dios.  If you still haven't got tickets, you can get them there, or via ticketweb.

It also just wouldn't be a day if I didn't turn you on to a band.  I'm really digging Woven Bones.  I was reading an interview with Brandon Welchez of Crocodiles (and ex Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower) and he mentioned they were one of his favorite bands right now.  They've got a record coming out on Zoo Music this month and they're on tour with The Spits.  They kind of sound like The Jesus and Mary Chain punking out with the Cramps.  Very cool indeed.  They are one of a company of bands in that scene including Crocodiles, The Mayfair Set, Dum Dum Girls, and Reading Rainbow doing a sort of 'Gazer lofi psych punk.  Thoroughly enjoyable though I give the fad another year before it overstays it's welcome.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss



I feel like nobody outside of a tight-knit community of high desert freaks/locals of the downtown L.A. pirate-bar scene knows about the duo that is Captain Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss.  Captain Sean is of course the nefarious frontman/chippendale of country-damaged punk bands Throw Rag, Charley Horse and Sun Trash.  Zander Schloss is most famously recognized as a part of the legendary L.A. punk outfits The Circle Jerks, the Weirdos and once upon a time he toured as a multi-instrumentalist with some dude named Joe Strummer of a little band called the Clash.  Rumor would also have it that his character "Kevin the Nerd" from the cult film "Repo Man" was the character upon whom Napoleon Dynamite is based.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Forget everything I've just written because this duo exhibits few elements of the aforementioned bands.  What they do is an exceptional breed of the most gritty, witty and simultaneously gut-wrenching country music I've ever heard.  With Sean's trademark growl set to the divine jangle of Zander's 12-string guitar, they unleash surprisingly cherubic harmony and absolutely timeless melodies.  I mean, they have a song called "Good Pussy," which I assure you has nothing to do with Sean's well behaved feline pet, but rather the raucous pursuit of women and its similarities to mind altering substances of varying degrees of quality.  At the same time, they have another tune called "Song About Songs," a Zander solo piece, which I dare you to hear and not weep like a menopausal woman.  


They will finally be making it over to the east coast, two dates in New York 9/25 and 9/26.  For all you kids out there, you really should attend, you won't regret it, I swear.  Check them out here.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Screaming Females



Check out The Screaming Females, they're from Jersey and they rock the Brooklyn scene.  It's nice to see a chick punker doing something other than "shitgaze" these days.  Check out the jam "Boyfriend," it's almost a bit like a more garagey X-Ray-Spex if Polly Styrene were to damage her larynx, badly.

P.S. This is just awesome.   Here Nick Cave reads Chapter 10 from Bunny Munro.  What a badass.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Magic Kids


So I finally got around to checking out this band The Magic Kids and I gotta say they are quite tasty.  The jam up on myspace, Hey Boy, has a Beach Boys throwback vibe with scrumptious hints of Phil Spector production, sprinkled faintly with early Zappa spastics.   And much like their pals The Smith Westerns with whom I'm currently obsessed, they're also just a bunch of little kids.

They've got a 7" coming out 9/21/09 via Goner that's available for pre-order from Rough Trade.  Can you dig it?