POWER POP! - The LAST Frontier

 

Alright, I adore power pop and it's about time I said something about it.  Nothing makes me feel quite so giddy as those jangly guitars, four-part harmonies and song structures lifted directly from the first 4 Beatles records - that and the crusty punk attitude lying just beneath the surface. It's like somebody pouring fresh squeezed orange juice down my ear canal.  Generally surfing, cruising in your sweet muscle car, drinking beers and saying Ghee Wiz with your best girl are topics of interest amongst the power pop elite.  I could filibuster about The Flamin' Groovies, The Barracudas, The Nerves, Plimsouls, The Raspberries etc. ad nauseam, but today is devoted to a very special band that nobody (to my knowledge) gives a rat fuck about, and they really should.

The Last (good luck googling them) are absolute power-pop poetry perfection.  Their first record came out on Bomp! and it was called L.A. Explosion, notice a trend...you know Los Angeles?  There isn't a bad song on this record, and it gets my dick rather hard.  It's like if the Beatles and the Byrds started freebasing crystal meth and hanging out with the Circle Jerks, yeah I know it's that good.  This is precisely why they make my nether-organs swell, pop songwriting sensibility and serious punk attitude.  Not to mention one Greg Ginn of a small band called Black Flag decided to put out their record Awakening on a pretty cool label called SST.

I highly suggest you seek out these records by any means necessary, I mean if you like power-pop.  They're actually not too difficult to find on vinyl.

Also shameless plug time!  Brandon Intelligator and the Sheriffs, LA's favorite wayward sons are playing at Echo Curio tomorrow night at 8:30 with good buddies Cassorla and Cooperation.  Come out if you're feeling saucy, lord knows I am after all that power-pop talk.

Skids

This band I feel is criminally underrated, and I was pretty sore at my pops for not showing them to me when he most certainly must have known how into them I would be.  Skids are a Scottish punk band from the late 70's, early 80's that shirk the requisite "oi" responsibilities of other Scotch scum fucks.  Rather they reach for Pere Ubu-like art rock and hard hitting 70's rock & roll with a distinctly Scottish flavor.  You can listen to their finest song, "The Saints Are Coming," off their debut record Scared to Dance here.  Mind you, this record has a dash of new wave pop that some may find irritating, not I, but some.  Either way, dare I blaspheme, this song may just be cooler than anything the Clash wrote--catalog-wise however, I'm not so sure...

Also a little extra credit, welcome to Los Angeles...

ATP Film Recap + Ongoing SXSW Coverage + Grooms

Another band worth checking out...

The 88, LA dudes, quite a bit poppier than my normal leanings but they have a Sparks thing going on, and the songs are just incredible, plus they're opening for Black Francis at the Echoplex next week.

The Yellow Dogs, they're from Iran where music is basically illegal.  I don't know how these guys walk with those boulders dangling between their legs.  Listen to the live tracks, sounds like they would probably slay live.

Also in the long line bands like the Burning Brides, Wives and The Husbands (it's purely a name joke, these bands don't particularly sound anything alike so don't crucify me, get a sense of humor, god!), I finally got around the hearing Grooms. They're playing an Aquarium Drunkard show at the Silverlake Lounge next week.  They've got the great de-tuned Sonic Youth guitar sensibilities and an energy that really explodes off the recording.

As a side note, I checked out the ATP Movie last night at Cinefamily.  It's a really well done rock documentary, and the incredible line-up of performers didn't hurt either...small guys like Grinderman, Dirty Three, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daniel Johnston, The Stooges, Shellac, Sonic Youth, Portishead, Slint...well you get the idea.  They sort of took a Monterey Pop-like stand in the sense that they presented an extremely accurate and candid expose of a moderately confusing generation of young people.  See it if you get the chance.

Preliminary SXSW Lineup Announced and Other Things...

Hello Fanatics,

The preliminary SXSW 2010 Lineup has been officially announced.  I will be attending for the first time.  Take a look at that and I'll tell you later who of that list you should know, and who you should hope fades into obscurity.

And unless you like to wear your sphincter as a hat, you know tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, and a wretched pisspot of a putrified fuck to all of my enemies.  

Friends, as a bonus I've recently come into knowledge of a scene based in San Francisco that LA's own late great Gold Standard Labs helped provide many a record for.  I bought a record a few years ago by a band called The Weegs that you've never heard of and was just checking in on them.  They are a bizarre band rooted in No Wave and a few too many spins of The Residents.  Anyway, their records are put out by a label called Hungry Eye Records.    The scene is death rock, and it's got that kind of Gothy Bauhaus, Birthday Party, Christian Death thing going on that I just can't get enough of.

Bands to check out:

-The Bellmer Dolls (opened for Grinderman apparently in San Francisco and were produced/loved by Jim Sclavunos of the Bad Seeds and G-man)

-Love Life

-The Holy Kiss

Well I've done my homework...time to do yours.  And uh...you know happy thanksgiving and whatnot.  Be sure and go check out Slang Chickens with Mini Mansions and Rumspringa this Saturday at the Unknown Theater if you're in LA!

New Lykke Li Jam-Cover of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"

Hello Fanatics!  

Just to quote Henry Rollins there...So if you go here, you can get a free download of Lykke Li's cover of the Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow."

Yes my sweet little Swedish pancake has not been busy as of late...but rest assured good people, she will be mine.

Because I haven't written about Nick Cave in a while...

Hello Children,

I just finished "The Death of Bunny Monroe" and I gotta say it was pretty awesome--the depths of sexual depravity, excessive substance abuse, all things that are good...I highly recommend you check it out, especially if you're a fan of Nick Cave's works en masse.  

Also, in more Cave news, the score to The Road, penned by Cave and menacing hobo brother Warren Ellis (I kid...I love the man), is due out upon the release of the film on 11/25.  Lord knows, I'll probably check it out, I haven't been disappointed yet by any of Cave's forays into the world of film, be it acting, writing or composing.  

In additional Nick Cave related news, Cinefamily will be doing Los Angeles a favor by screening ATP The Film on 12/1, which features performances from a few bands that I don't really like all that much: Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Animal Collective, Dirty Three, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daniel Johnston, Lightning Bolt, Battles and a small band from the UK called Grinderman.

So yeah get your asses out there, and if anybody boos Grinderman, I will get so Manson up in this motherfucker (Charles, not Marilyn).

It's a long story but basically my roommate and I went to see Grinderman at Madison Square Garden a few years ago opening for The White Stripes and basically everybody in the room looked like this:

That is to say, with the help of The DB1, that everybody there was a hot chick with their requisite douchebag of the "frat" douche variety.  And the ingrate sitting next to me (who looked astonishingly like Mr. Sunburnt Vagina above left) was mustering every bit of wind in his Busch Light ravaged belly to let it be known to Mr. Cave and his motley band that they were not welcome.  I almost started a fist fight with him, it would be my first time ever seeing Nick in the flesh, and sadly he was forced off stage by a torrential downpour of hisses and boos.  I shudder to think of it...anyway this little video is also pretty cool.

Forgotten Gem - John Phillips: The Wolf King of L.A.

From the 60's to the beginning of the 80's, not quite as much these days, you had pop artists that really embodied the essence of a city. I could go on and on but for instance in Los Angeles we had Love and the Doors amongst others (I'm talking pop music here...so X gets no mention). I've had friends tell me that if LA was a seashell and you put it to your ear, you'd hear Love's "Forever Changes," I concur.

The Mamas and the Papas are another one of those bands, but specifically John Phillips (the Papa). The man who claimed that he'd gotten high every fifteen minutes for two years, the Wolf King of LA. This record is a totally overlooked gem. It has all the twang of the Byrds' "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" without the camp (mind you that's one of my favorite records of all time). It's for those of us who like a little more junk with their country, basically me. The songs are so unbelievably good, and the elastic pedal steel oozing all over this thing makes me wish I was hanging out with John tying off in his car in Topanga Canyon (not really, don't use drugs children...).

Anyway, as a note to all you "beachy" bands these days, you don't have to sound exactly like the Beach Boys (it helps though) to feel the sand in your toes. This record is a country record for sure, but I haven't really heard country soak up the Pacific Ocean like a sponge, and wring it out directly into my ear, which sounds disgusting in practice but in principle is incredibly romantic. I would check this record out immediately if you're into that sort of thing, and also if you're not on LaLa, you probably should be.

A Couple Bands That I'm Pretty Into - Snail and ...

God Bless Henry Rollins.  Via his show on KCRW, I was introduced to a band called Snail, and I gotta say I'm really into what I heard.  The band is made up of former members of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Gene Loves Jezebel, and the Soft Boys (Robyn Hitchcock's old band).  As a side note, if you haven't heard these bands I suggest you check them out before you read any further.

Anyway, they kind of sound like you might expect them to sound--savory dashes of heavy post punk (a la Buzzcocks or like a hi-fi Swell Maps) with sprinkles of Industrial here and there and the softer moments informed by Syd Barrett (gasp!).  Check em' out, I don't know why people haven't been talking about these dudes, they've been around a while now.

Another band I really like right now is San Francisco's The Fresh and Onlys. They're a bit like if Bauhaus and Joy Division got married to the Velvet Underground and moved to the west coast instead of the U.K.  It's gloomy, lo-fi psych, goth and anybody who knows me knows I love goth--the Birthday Party is my favorite band of all time.

And just as a bonus, there's this band that features ex-members of The Fresh and Onlys called the Sandwitches that are really rad.  Thanks very much to Gorilla Vs. Bear for the heads up.  They've got an extremely twisted girl-group vibe minus the shitgaze.  Like lo-fi meets Motown...I just invented a new genre: "Lo-town!"  Well I'm officially cooler than Ultragrrrl now.

New York and other assorted rants

Hello Kids,

It's been a long time but to quote Luther from the warriors, "I've been busy!"

Just got back from NYC with the Chickens, CMJ was a cruel mistress due only to extremely ill-timed torrential precipitation and a transportation paradox that lead me to ponder why and how I'd lived out there as long as I had, or at all.  All curmudgeonly slander aside however, I really do love that town and the proverbial nuclear war I wage on my body every time I visit.

Enough rambling let's talk music.  I didn't really see much, honest.  If you're wondering what I was doing with my time, see above statement.  I saw Fool's Gold, Best Coast, Surfer Blood and the always super rad Crystal Antlers.

Anyway, the whole thing was yet another exercise in "great record - shitty performance/how are you famous."  Best Coast was extremely lackluster, Surfer Blood had the songs but the vibe didn't transfer from the record.  Crystal Antlers I've seen a few times now and they ruled, they always rule.  Thankfully, Fool's Gold kicked ass!  Check them out right away, this minute even. They're like LA post punk Israeli Afro-Beat.  Really great songs and they are totally blowing up, and they're from a small town on the west coast called Los Angeles, known for its weather, music and basketball team, but not it's baseball teams (whoa!).

Anyway, I've got more...later.

Kid Congo

So I totally nerded out on Kid Congo last night.  Check out Kid and The Pink Monkey Birds, they totally rule.  The dudes tear through old billy-fried garage riffage with serious attitude (a la Cramps etc...), clad in only the cheapest thrift store suits.  Kid would chant some whacky lyrics with a completely cheeky agenda, then they threw in some 50's sci-fi noises.  A great tribute as always to the late/great Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Club and Lux Interior of The Cramps (They played Sex Beat and Goo Goo Muck respectively amongst others).  They've got some great tunes, namely "LSDC" and "I Found A Peanut," about how you shouldn't eat peanuts you found on the ground or you'll die.

The dudes all made fun of me, and I deserve it...But I don't care! Last night was a great time, I got to meet a legend (Gun Club, Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Knoxville Girls...), discovered a great venue/bar (albeit tardily, everybody's already been to Alex's bar a billion times but me), and my fucking god they are the only bar I've been to outside of the east coast that has Magic Hat #9 on tap, which for those of you who don't know is that last bastion of my youth!

Magic Hat Brewery

As my roommate once said "It has the faintest hint of Apricot..."