OFM@Vox

I wish I could remember where/why/how we first heard this band, all I remember is that it happened when we lived in our first place in LA.  We heard this first track (maybe on Morning Becomes Eclectic or something??) and loved it, and I had to get the cd.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Keeping in line with the rest of these posts, this band is also dead  :(.

04. Baby, I Know What You're Thinking

The Mendoza Line

Any band with the balls for an album cover like that right?  I mean, like Shannon McArdle's voice - but she's not exactly a looker and that is not a flattering picture.

Here are some other sample off their other albums.  I'm not sure how best to describe their sound...maybe bi-polar folk-rock?

Yes, so far all the bands I've mentioned are defunct.  It's a fuckin' shame I know.

So who was Common Rider?  Jesse from Op Ivy's next project.  They put out two full lengths, and one post-mortem split ep.  There's also a vinyl EP that I don't have...because I don't do vinyl.  Man, can you imagine all the extra pack-rattery that would occur if I was into vinyl?

His voice is definitely an acquired taste - I've met a few people who just can't stand it - but if you like his sound in Op Ivy you'll probably like at least a few of the Common Rider songs.  The sound is somewhere between Op Ivy, pop and surf-punk-rock.  It's definitely Jesse though.

Here's two tracks:

I mentioned The River & various modern updates recently  in my review of the last Gaslight Anthem album, and I thought I'd return to that briefly, just to post the 3 songs in question and see if anyone out there knows of any other direct modern takes/updates/covers/etc.

The original:

11. The River

Lyrics (from here):

"The River"

I come from down in the valley
where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
when she was just seventeen
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then I got Mary pregnant
and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care

But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
that sends me down to the river
though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride.

The Killers thematic twist/update/take from 2006:

10. This River Is Wild

"This River Is Wild"

Leaves are falling down
On the beautiful ground
I heard a story from the man in red
He said the leaves are falling down
Such a beautiful sound
Son, I think you better go ahead

But you always hold your head up high
Cause it's a long, long, long way down
This town was meant for passing through
But it ain't nothing new
Now go and show them
That the world stayed round
But it's a long, long, long way down

You better run for the hills before they burn
Listen to the sound of the world
And watch it turn
I just want to show you what I know
And catch you when the current lets you go
Or should I just get along with myself

I never did get along with everybody else
I've been trying hard to do what's right
But you know I could stay here all night
And watch the clouds fall from the sky

This river is wild
This river is wild

Run for the hills before they burn
Listen to the sound of the world
Watch it turn
But shake a little
Sometimes I'm nervous when I talk
I shake a little
Sometimes i hate the line I walk
I just want to show you what I know
And catch you when the current lets you go

Or should I just get along with myself
I never did get along with everybody else
Ive been trying hard to do whats right
But you know I could stay here all night
And watch the clouds fall
From the sky

Because this river is wild
God speed you boy
This river is wild

Now Adam's taking bombs
And he's stuck on his mom
Because that bitch
Keeps trying to make him pray

He's with the hippie in the park
Coming over the dark
Just trying to get some of that little girl play

You better run for the hills before they burn
Listen to the sound of the world
But watch it turn
I just want to show you what I know
And catch you when the current lets you go

Or should I get along with myself
I never did get along with everybody else
I've been trying hard to do whats right
But you know I could stay here all night
And watch the clouds fall from the sky

And pay this hell in me tonight
Because this river is wild
God speed you boy
This river is wild
God speed you boy
This river is wild

Now the cards are everywhere face in dust
The fairground
I don't think I ever seen so many headlights
But there's something pulling me
The circus and the crew
Well they're just passing through
Making sure the merry still goes round
But it's a long, long, long way down

And now Gaslight Anthem's take/update/etc. from this year:

10. Meet Me By The River's Edge

[I forgot to post this here first, it wound up on my general blog first, so sorry non-existent legion of readers.]

Have I blogged about these guys before?  I'm sure I must have, because I really like them.

'The 59 Sound

 Anyway, on to the album.

We have an interesting situation here in the sense that I'm actually going to recommend buying something where every song isn't awesome.

Now, none of them are bad mind you, but some do tend to "flame out" little bit (in the sense of a slowly crashing blimp, not a really gay party), but the crashes themselves are usually worth watching.

Maybe you hear them and immediately go "Hey this is just a punk rock updating of the Jersey Shore Sound, kinda like the last Killers album", or maybe you just hear the bits and pieces of a modern Springsteen kinda thing going on (in the same spirit as the Hold Steady - but coming from a completely different angle).  Or maybe you just like good modern rock and roll - which seems to get labeled as "punk rock" a lot in the genre tags.  And maybe it is, maybe the two are so enmeshed now that it doesn't matter...because I can definitely hear the punk influence here, but I'd still have to say it tends more strongly towards the rock.  Any which way you come at it, if you like flavors of rock, I think you'll really like this band and this album.

So, I'll embed what I think is the best song, and then what I think is the weakest song below so we have the whole spectrum out there.

Here's "The '59 Sound", which is either a really touching personal story, or a "great and beautiful lie".

And now here's "Even Cowgirls get the Blues", which sounds different from the rest of the album, and just doesn't do it for me.

Even cowgirls get the blues - The Gaslight Anthem '59 sound

So, somewhere in between there lies the rest of the album.

It starts off really strong with 5 good songs, then stumbles just a little bit with the almost-there-but-still-too-awkward  "Miles Davis and the Cool", then kinda does the Ellen DeGenres running-after-trip thing (sorry, can't find a vid link! :( ) for a 3 tracks.   Nothing horrible, just not quite connecting.  There is a random cameo from the Bosstones singer doing bgvs in one of the songs. I should note that nothing here is as jarring as the Killer's "Uncle Johnny".  Jesus that was a bad song in the middle of a good album.

It starts to pick back up again with"Meet me by the River's Edge", a modern take on "The River" run through the "No Surrender" blender.  In this case, our protagonists aren't going to the river as an escape, but rather as the escape  - instead of a stopgap, it's a catalyst.  It's an interesting take, and just for that it gets points.  Another random Killer's comment, since both bands are doing the same kind of thing (except in the Killer's case it was only for one album) - Gaslight does a better "The River" update than the Killers.  I think you could argue (I'm not sure I would though) that the Killer's track is a better song, but I think Gaslight does a better thematic update.  "Meet me ..." sounds much less forced than "This River is Wild" in its approach to me.  Neither can touch the original.

After that are 2 nice, mellow songs that I haven't really had a chance to get into yet. I'm usually listening on the bus, or downstairs with the giant heater running behind me, so mellow tracks are often lost on me for a while.

So, why should I buy this you say?  Don't I normally recommend against buying an album that has songs that aren't 90% stellar?  Yeah, for the most part I do.  But sometimes I make exceptions for things that are exceptional for one reason or another.

Part of that "exceptional" comes from the amazingness that is their first album - Sink or Swim.  That one is just freaking killer, amazing debut album and it's just another sign of how screwed up the music industry is that it didn't at least kinda jump off.  Maybe that's a good thing though and they'll get in "the hard way" and be better for it.  I kinda doubt it, but I'm hopefully.  We need more bands crafting songs of substance and kicking ass.

Also, I should add that the album itself is pretty damn close to 90%, even if certain tracks falter a little bit.  As a whole it just holds together.

This band hit the ground running, and I'm hopefully that they don't pull a Bloc Party on album #3, whenever that comes out.

Final Judgment: 87.3%

This was a really tough decision, and may get revised in the future.   I think for some people it's gonna be a 95% album, but those 3 songs in the middle just haven't done it for me yet, so that is gonna bring things down.  As a note, anything I rate over 85% is a "go out and buy me!!".  Sink or Swim is probably around a 92-93%.

If I were I making music in a band right now, I'd hope it would sound something like Gaslight.  Not exactly, but it's definitely the kind of vibe I'd enjoy and in the area I'd be going for.

I'll leave you with a track called "Wooderson" from the first album:

The Gaslight Anthem - Wooderson

Today brings you two songs (via me), separated by 27 years and without much in common.
The first:

06. So Long Baby Goodbye

The Blasters

It's just an all around fun song.  Great to sing along to, "blast" in the car, etc.  It also turns up at odd moments in modern media (I believe it drifted through a funeral scene in 6 ft. Under at some point, and I hear it every so often in random movies & TV).

And the second, much more current and fairly different sounding track:

6. Family Tree

TV On The Radio

It's one of my favorite songs off the new TVoTR album...which you should definitely consider picking up if you're into whatever classification they fall under (indie of some sort I suppose).  It's not as aggressive sounding as previous album, and more sonically varied I think.  It took a few plays to grow on me, then I played it basically nonstop for a few days & now I'm taking a break. 

Good stuff.

For some reason the other day I got to thinking about bands that write songs about their pets.  Probably because I was listening to the Weakerthans at some point.  Oh yeah!  It was because I was doing that little blog about them...so anyway, here's the song in question and a couple more.

First up is the Suicide Machines with Sometimes I Don't Mind, about someone's dog I presume.  Otherwise it's really creepy.

Then the Weakerthans song I mentioned, Plea from a Cat named Virtue and a track from the final Red House Painters album (Old Ramon), Wop-a-Din-Din to close things out.  Both cat tracks.  I can't say I've liked either of our cats enough to write them a song.  They've been ok I guess...well, Breakfast was really annoying and I really wasn't sad to get rid of him other than that left Zuri without a playmate.  Oh well, Z will be chasing her around the house soon enough...then we'll see if she still whines for attention!  Mu ha ha.  Hah.

05. Fluorescent Adolescent

...that came up yesterday in the car on my mp3 player:

07. I Hear Noises

Tegan & Sara - I Hear Noises

Arctic Monkey - Florescent Adolescent

Both of these songs I love, for completely different reasons.

I Hear Noises is really kind of cheesy lyrically, but I think it works really well sonic-ly as part of the whole package and is a great example of T&S having fun with their music and not taking it too seriously (something they got caught up in on the most recent album IMHO).

Lyrics are as follows, roughly:

I am disappointed
Every morning that I wake up
I am disappointed by the feeling
Of waking up next to you
You call me up, let me know that
That my sick guilt is so unwelcome
It's so unwelcome yeah

I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness in your voice
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside you

My health is failing me
So I flip on the television
And watch sad movies
And look for sad sick people like me
Call me up, and let me know that
That my sick guilt is so unwelcome
I'm so unwelcome
I'm so unwelcome

I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness in your voice
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside you

We could go
(We could go)
We could go through the front door
(Through the front door)
We could go
(We could go)
We go in through the front door
(Through the front door)
We could go
(We could go)
We go in through the front door
(Through the front door)
We could go
(We could go)
I come in through the front door
Through the front door
And the pills they will not
Will not
Will not
Will not let me go
And I will not
Will not
Will not let you drink yourself alone
Call me up and let me know that
That my sick guilt is so unwelcome
You're so unwelcome
You're so unwelcome

I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness in your voice
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside you
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside you
I hear sadness inside you

Pretty cheesy right (even if it is addressing a serious emotional state)? Well, take a listen (to the link above). I think the whole song works and work quite well. I love that 3rd line and the s-hiss on the first "sick".

Florescent Adolescent, on the other hand, has much "wittier" lyrics that snap with cynicism and bitterness. It's a bit repetitive tempo-wise, but lots of fun. I love the regular jumbly-rhyme of the lyrics thrown over the lurching gait of the drums & lead line.

You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Nothing seems as pretty as the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?

Oh the boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love when you dream them up...

Flicking through a little book of sex tips
Remember when the boys were all electric?
Now when she's told she's gonna get it
I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget it
Clinging to not getting sentimental
Said she wasn't going but she went still
Likes her gentlemen not to be gentle
Was it a mecca dobber or a betting pencil?

Oh the boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love when you dream them up
Oh, so where did you go?
Where did you go?
Where did you go? Woah.

Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You're just sounding it out
You're not coming back again.

Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You're just sounding it out
You're not coming back again.

You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights with niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Is anything as pretty as the past though?
That Bloody Mary's lacking in tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?

What is an 85% album? Well, one that's not 95% ...something that's very good, and that I recommend buying, but it may have an obvious flaw (1-2 weak songs) or have an irregular flow, etc. I'd say if you can get a deal on an online purchase of an album I put at this quality, go for it.

Here's the first one:

The Weakerthans: Reconstruction Site

The brainchild of John K. Samson, ex-Propagandhi bassist, it's maybe not what you'd expect from him (at least me with my extremely limited familiarity with Propagandhi wouldn't expect this). Very semi-mellow, sometimes each song running a bit too much alikenessintoanother. That alikeness would be one flaw, the other would be that you (me anyway) can feel how some songs come so close to kicking astronomical ass, but then just slip off kilter and still wind up very good, but shy of greatness.  But sometimes that's ok and all is good, things don't have to be perfect.  Flaws have their own kind of beauty.

Here are two tracks from this album. Eventually I'll put another one up when I do my post about songs about pets. I highly recommend picking it up if you like relaxing, yet energetic post-punk indie rock. Whatever that means.

I'm trying to remember where/how I first heard these guys and I just can't.  I think I may have heard One Great City on some indie radio show long ago in LA.