Quick Hits - Hardcore Part 2

To remind everyone: back in February, I posted Part 1 of the hardcore music I got into after reading American Hardcore: A Tribal History by Steven Blush. You can read the rest of the preamble and excuses there, the second half of the review here. In alphabetical order:

• Bad Brains - I Against I. Now here is an album where I can get behind the Bad Brains. "I Against I" is a great opening track, and you can hear how great these guys are musically on tracks like "She's Calling You." A very nice album all around.
  Verdict: Recommended. CD rack.
  
  
• Black Market Baby - Coulda... Shoulda... Woulda. Remastered compilation. Another DC hardcore outfit, this band had only one proper album release. Pro: sounds like a truly "in the moment" experience, reflecting the energy of the scene and the state of music at the time. Con: sounds like a truly "in the moment" experience that I wasn't part of. So it remains stuck in the early 80's for me.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Sell-back 1.

• Dag Nasty - Field Day. The first song ("Trouble Is") instantly alerts you that this is going to be something really special. This album doesn't really qualify as hardcore, more as heavy power pop, which is probably why it's as good as it is -- it's even bluesy at times. And it has excellent, smart lyrics too. The song "Dear Mrs. Touma," says allmusic.com, "might be the band's high-water mark, and one for punk in general" -- what can you say to that? I was going to criticize "Never Green Lane" for being a completely wimpy effort, but with a refrain like "I remember your mouth/You never kept it shut," I found there was more than enough vitriol to... well, to keep my mouth shut. It was almost impossible to find, but I'm really glad I did.
  Verdict: Highly recommended (if you can find it). Portable CD case.
  

• Duh - Blowhard. I had high hopes for this one. The best songs are "Solo Hanneman", which lasts for 9 seconds, and "Solo King", which lasts for 5 seconds. The other 34:50 last interminably.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Pile of Death/"The Peaches File".

• JFA - We Know You Suck. Compilation. JFA (a.k.a. "Jodie Foster's Army") put a hardcore twist onto what was known as "skatepunk." Too bad I don't skateboard. They actually have a song called "JFA" -- IMHO, you can really only only do a song with your band name in it if your band is called "Damn Yankees." The surf guitar songs resonate with me, but otherwise -- not bad, just not my cup of tea.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Sell-back 1.
  

• Nomads - Showdown! (1981-1993). 2-disc Remastered Compilation. This album was very difficult to track down and thus the main reason that Part 2 took so long to come about -- and here I had always heard Swedish hardcore was easy to find. Who knew?
  
  The opening track, "The Way (You Touch My Hand)" I instantly recognized, although I'm not sure from where. This was 1981? Sounds like Nick Cave if he picked up the pace a bit and picked up a surf guitar sound. They're really a garage band -- most of their materials are either covers or "originals" the take bits straight from other songs -- and Disc 1 is a lot of fun and very listenable. Disc 2 is more "demos and rarities for the real fans" but still has nice nuggets throughout. In any case, this album is not really hardcore (at least my perception of the genre), but a great listen for fun, familiar sounds.
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD case.
  

• J Church - The Horror of Life (2007). No, this band (essentially Lance Hahn and a cast of rotating characters) was not in the book. No, they did not even exist during the hardcore era. No, this is not even listed in alphabetical order. But as I listened to this album, I realized that it belonged in this list as the contemporary embodiment of the values espoused by hardcore back in the day.
  
  I have yo-yo'd back and forth on this review. The best songs here have the best names: tops is "If I Have to Dance Then I Don't Want Your Revolution", followed by "Vampire Girl Prefers Me Alive"(which I'd like even more if it were a bitter, rather than happy, song), and "We Play Secular Music." So it's good. However, I would pick up J Church's 2000 classic One Mississippi (a power pop album) or 2004's Society is a Carnivorous Flower (harder, punkier power pop) before this one. So it's not that good. However, this is better than 95% of the stuff out there. So it's better than most and definitely worth checking out, especially of you like the more frenetic stuff.
  
  Lance Hahn is amazing -- he's currently on dialysis (and may need a kidney transplant), yet he still is putting out albums and running his own label. (In case that isn't enough, he has been hospitalized because of an enlarged heart and high blood pressure, and has seen his business and apartment both burn to the ground in the last 5 years. Not sure where the bitterness comes from.) Go out and support him, people!
  
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD case.
  

Snilch

The Loomers - Today Tomorrow (2006)

Albums given to you by friends are a tricky thing. Half the time they are gold, but half the time... well, you can form your own mental picture.

So when my friend Andrew gave me The Loomers Tomorrow Today, I was doubly concerned, as he has racked up somewhere between 10,000 and 11,000 hits on this site (seriously -- he's lost his mind) and thus I might be dooming my blog readership if this album turned out like the "other" half of the time. And it's not in my nature to not rail against something if it's not up to par... so you see my dilemma.

Fortunately for me, Andrew may have poor taste in blogs to obsess over, but he does have an excellent ear. The Loomers are a very good listen and definitely recommended. They fall somewhere in the folk-rock genre, tending more towards the fun and whimsy side. I'd almost call it a "children's album," but that would be denigrating the musical chops here -- this is a very pleasant, light, fun (there's that word again) romp with some very nice highlights ("Have a Ball," "Hard to Believe," and my favorite, "Pocketful of Change"). Sometimes the lyrics are slightly cliché (to be fair, sometimes this is clearly on purpose, like on "Love Right Now"), but at this point I'm trying to find something to criticize so you all don't think I've gone completely soft. A very nice listen and one that I'll enjoy again in the near future.

Merch rating: I definitely will go see these guys when they play in Davis Square again. I'll buy the next album but probably not any other merch.

CD Placement rating: This goes into the CD Rack.

Peaches - Impeach My Bush (2006)

I want to thank whoever screwed up when I was ordering The Nomad's Showdown album and mistakenly sent this masterpiece in its place. I've heard varying things about Peaches and her music, and this golden opportunity just planted itself (as if by fate) in my lap for a musical journey. And what a short, strange trip it was.

This is my second listen, which at least doubles the amount of time this album deserves -- and it proves that this is truly as god-awful as I thought it was the first time. The tough part is deciding whether the music is more insipid than the lyrics or vice versa. I'd reprint some of the words, but there may be kids reading. Here's the PG-13 version: "Love me" or "I will love you" or "You and your friend will love me" or "I will love you, your friend, and another friend to be named later," etc. There not a lot of subtlety, thought, or originality here. The music is equal -- trite, thin, and repetitive. But if you are vapid, soulless, and dumb enough to still think that Hussein was behind 9/11 (don't laugh, 41% of the country still believes this), this may be the ticket for you.

Merch rating: I got this album for free, and that was way too expensive.

CD Placement rating: I may be re-naming the "Pile of Death" the "Peaches File." I probably won't sell this, because I believe karma would find a way to repay me shortly thereafter, like by running me over with a bus. On the flip side, this would be a great album for someone trying to stretch an hour into seeming like a whole day. Maybe even a week.

Quick Hits

Here's the latest on a few albums I've checked out recently. In alphabetical order.

• Menomena - Friend and Foe. 2007. Like Of Montreal's piss-poor offering detailed in an earlier post, this was recommended by Pitchfork. Much like that album, it's got great packaging. At least here there are a couple of tracks that are interesting ("Muscle 'N Flow," "Wet & Nasty"), and it's well-produced. But it's by no stretch a "great" or even "very good" album. I'm starting to work up an opinion on what it is that Pitchfork likes these days, which has changed from where they were at a couple of years ago (and where I am still at, apparently). Maybe I'll even write about that soon.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Sell-Back Pile 1.


• On - Make Believe. 2002. The full extent of my musical man-crush on Ken Andrews (frontman for Failure and Year of the Rabbit) will become readily apparent over the next number of posts. This is the second album of what was essentially a solo project of his, On. Ken is a great producer as well as an excellent musician, and thus at the very least his stuff all sounds great. Ken also understands what type of music best suits his voice and plays to that dirty guitar sound, all the while keeping his indie pop sensibilities about him. This is a bit more electronica than his other offerings, and not what I'd consider his best stuff, but still better than most music out there. Check out the very nice cover of "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around."
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD Case.
  
  
• Scanners - Violence is Golden. 2006. Yet another winner from the "Under the Radar in '06" column. When I first heard the opening track ("Joy"), I was sure I had found a complete classic. While the rest of the album does not hit that high point, and repeated listens have not taken this album to a new level, this is still a very good album. Think The Yeah Yeah Yeah's with more traditional rock/pop structures. I will be buying their next album (whenever they release it) when it hits the stands -- this has lots of potential.
  Verdict: Recommended. CD Rack.

• Shapes of Race Cars - Apocalypse Hurts EP. 2004. I ended up with this album in some "3 albums for $10" offer from CD Baby. This is the best of that lot. The first track, "Angry Books," is great -- nice 2-guitar interplay and oddly sung vocals that work very well. The rest? Extremely formulaic and generic, but what can you really expect for 3 bucks? It's not great when the cover of "Tainted Love" isn't worth keeping.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Sell-back pile 1.

• Ultravox - Systems of Romance. 1978, remastered in 2006. Think of this as the electronica cousin of Killing Joke's debut -- I think KJ fans will like this one as well. It really was ahead of its time. It's not as strong front-to-back as Killing Joke, but this is an excellent album in its own right.
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD Case.

- Snilch

Hell on Wheels - The Odd Church (2006)

It occurs to me that perhaps I have wasted my life mastering the English language. Let's start here:

Åsa: "She said: I saw you last night on the telly/I heard you on the radio/"
Rickard: "And I picked up your signals up through the hairs that are my aerials. That lately have been working so, so"

What does this mean? Who the hell knows. It's got a great little guitar sound and great percussion running underneath it, and great echo vocal effects on top of it. Get on and enjoy the ride!

Here's another line:

Rickard: "Someday soon I'm going to leave this wicked circle/"
Rickard and Åsa: "My days are getting awful and dull/"
Rickard: "And condemn myself back to Scandinavia/"
Rickard and Åsa: "Where the ashtrays are full"

What does this mean? Dude, their names are Rickard and Åsa. I could probably swear at them in English and they would give me directions to the Dairy Mart. Good old Rickard sounds so much like Frank Black that... well, he just sounds a lot like him. (I was an English major and I can't express myself as well as our fjörd-loving, grammatically challenged friends in my native tongue. Of course, I am also an idiot.) Back to our Nordic heroes:

Rickard: "This recorder has stopped recording/It's been 15 years it's still not working/You have got to stop your mumbling/My ears have already been cut off"

All right, it's not exactly broken English. In fact, if there were one mother reference in the above lyric, I might seriously consider that this whole project just might be a big, fat Frank Black/Kim Deal joke. Although if that were the case, I'm sure Åsa's boyfriend Orld, her brother Njörd, and cousin Erik might have something to say about this to Black Francis and Mrs. Murphy.

CD Placement Rating: This is the third great album I've heard in a row. Directly to the car CD changer. Think Pixies with an accent, great guitar riffs and well arranged indie rock/pop. You will like this. Yet another great call from All Music's column "Under the Radar in '06."

Merch Rating: Åsa is now living in our house until she gets her green card. I gave Rickard my Abba box set and some roofies to quell his nerves. I co-signed Orld's car loan once I listened to "As We Play". (Any song with a refrain the begins with "The Act We Act....") And Johan (the drummer) has finally restored honor to a name so long ago besmirched by The Smurfs (stupid Pee-wee....)

- Snïlch

The Frames - The Cost (2007)

When you've heard what you consider to be a band's best album, the next album is a tricky thing: it's generally a trend towards either further greatness or "Use Your Illusion" spectacular disappointment. (Hint: it's more often the latter.) And when it's one of your favorite bands that has a "best one yet" moment, there is a lot of anticipation and trepidation when the next album falls.

In my case, The Frames' album Burn the Maps was (IMHO) the most consistent album the band had produced, and their best -- a great mix of their low-key and up-tempo strengths.

Thus, as Ireland's second-favorite sons released The Cost, I was a bit skeptical. When I heard it was significantly more low-key than Burn the Maps, I got worried. But (as the sucker I am), I still bought the album.

This album is, in fact, much more laid back than Burn the Maps, but there's such an intensity to Glen Hanard's performance (lead singer, guitar) backed with such beautiful melodies... well, I start gushing like a little schoolgirl, apparently. Think great lyrics and voice, backed by a charged up folk band (or quieted rock band), with well-placed strings and piano. Just a great, solid, almost Americana sound, with arrangements from sparse to almost orchestral. An all-around great sounding and well-performed album.

This is one of those albums I should not like, but I do. I love it. Absolutely a band at the top of their game -- eight of the ten songs are absolute gems (I'm listening to the album now and I've changed that number five times). And the other two are also very good.

And now, here's some trivia that should make you really care about the band:

• Glen Hansard played one of the band members in the 1991 movie The Commitments -- the red-haired guitarist Outspan Foster. He also appears (as the lead) in the Sundance Audience Award-winning film Once, which came out this year, in his only other acting role.
  
• "The Frames" band name comes from Hansard's habit of fixing the bicycles of his friends as a youngster.
• All of The Frames' albums have gone at least Double Platinum in Ireland.
• The Frames put on a hell of a live show.
  

Now that last one is not actually trivia, but it is a fact. My friend Denis and I witnessed what is still one of the five best shows I've ever seen live. I'd suggest going to see them live if you can -- hopefully they stop playing the Somerville Theater and play The Paradise again and make it a proper rock show.

Merch Rating: The beauty of having two ratings systems is that I can do whatever the hell I want to. In this case, the CD Placement rating doesn't work because I simply wouldn't play this in my car -- it's too mellow -- although (in terms of quality) it certainly deserves to be there. (Sean is trying to convince me that the new Eliot Smith CD should be played in the car, which I will trust him on, but generally I find low-key = driving off the road.)

I'd buy their next album, a t-shirt, go to the show (hopefully not at Somerville -- great venue, wrong band), and buy albums there I don't own by them. If they sold Frames socks, I'd probably buy them too. In short... listen to them, you idiot.

Warmest,

Snilch

Jill Cuniff - City Beach (2007)

So it's been awhile, which I blame on work. I'll try to play catch-up, as I've been listening to a lot of very good stuff lately.

First up, we have Jill Cunniff's release, City Beach. I'm surprised it's taken her this long to release something -- when Luscious Jackson broke up after releasing their final album (Electric Honey) in 1999, they ostensibly did so to pursue solo projects. However, this is only the second such project (the other being keyboardist Vivian Trimble's Dusty Trails s/t album in 2000), and the first from either of the principle songwriters (Gabby Glaser's solo album is due out later this summer).

In the Cunniff/Glaser debate, I've always cast Cunniff in the role of Grant Hart and Glaser as Bob Mould. (Not good for Cunniff.) Luscious Jackson may not have been as prolific as the powerhouse Hüsker Dü duo, but they did put out two EP's (including the first ever release from the Beastie Boys label, Grand Royal) and three albums over a seven-year span. And some produced some excellent music - definitely one of my favorite all-time bands.

So now that I've heard City Beach... I'm changing my view on her role. Cunniff is a very talented songwriter, and it's pretty clear that a lot of what Luscious Jackson was all about was directly due to her. This album is very chill, very relaxed, a perfect summer album. And with a name like City Beach, one guesses is that what's she's after. I wish she hadn't waited eight years to make her first post-Luscious album, but it's worth the wait.

One question, then -- why the hell would you release a summer album in February? For a small release that will probably not be getting a lot (if any) radio play, this seems like a perfect example of what we call "lack of momentum."

In any case, the album is great. Some of the songs sound a lot like the lo- to mid-tempo indie rock/quasi funk/quasi dance groove that was Luscious Jackson ("Apartment 3" was probably written during the Luscious days; if I heard it out of context, I would have guessed it was on Fever In Fever Out). Others have an almost Brazilian bent that is totally distinct from that style. Her voice is extremely strong, and the music is well produced. As she says during "Warm Sound": "Let's start the century again/at a slower place." I'm not a guy who typically embraces the chill side of rock, but if it sounds like this, I'll take it. Highly highly recommended if you like music that doesn't suck.

CD Placement Rating: (If you've forgotten about the ratings, they're explained in the right-hand column.) This one went directly into the car CD changer. The high moments (like the ramp up on "Eye Candy") play great as "album flow" songs, but don't necessarily pack the same punch (or stand up) as singles.

Merch Rating: I will buy her next album pre-reviews, and probably anything else she puts her hands on as well. If she toured with a band, I'd go the show and buy a t-shirt and any additional music merch they had there. I probably would not see her solo acoustic (which is how she has been touring), as I don't see how this would hold up in that format.

- Snilch