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After seeing Quintron’s DrumBuddy operating in real life, I needed a better idea of what the thing was actually doing. I got it now (more or less).
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Dth with Chris Rehm - Honesty is God
Songs to Sleep Next to
While listening to the new record from Dth, Songs to Sleep Next to, I had one of those pleasant space-outs where you’re not really paying attention to what’s happening around you, but everything around you seems to come together somehow. I thought someone was driving back and forth by my house, blasting the Whisper Song with the bass turned all the way up, but then I realized it worked too well to actually be environmental sound. This low frequency sound, heard first on the song “You Are in the Grass” and multiple times later on as the record progresses, is just an important piece of the collage of Songs to Sleep Next to. This is one of those records that you should be checking out on a real nice pair of headphones.
The thang’s streaming online at Bandcamp, so head over there after you check out the track above, “Honesty is God,” featuring Chris Rehm, an artist who, like Dth, was also previously featured on An Uncontrollable Urge.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Datus - Tanyas
Vitiate (Limbic Systems)
Vitiate, the newest EP from Datus, is a collage of heavy textures. Electronic squeals, polyrythmic drums in which a serious Tony Allen influence can be discerned, and thick loads of fuzz all knotted together during six songs of complex noise and power. Datus previously put out three cool EP’s, each of its own sort of theme, and this time, it’s as if they’ve dropped each element that previously would have been it’s own EP into a pressure cooker, focusing and fusing these parts together to create some sort of powerful monster of sound.
High points for me included the strange beehive of tremendous noise that is “Tanyas” as well as the masterful drumming on “Cuckold.” But really, it’s one of those “you have to listen to it all the way through to get the full effect” things, so just set aside 25 minutes of yer time and kick back. Get melted. Y’know.
Pick up Vitiate when it drops July 23rd. You’ll be happy you did. And remind me to remind you about Datus’ August 2nd show in Brooklyn.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Jackson Bennet - Little Brain
I figured I should take a break from reading Preacher and listening to Didjits records to fill you in on some more stuff about which you should know.
Jackson Bennett’s got a SoundCloud page of all the stuff he’s gotten together this year so far, and previous to that, he’s recorded a record called Buoy, which you can find here. My favorite cut so far is “Little Brain,” but maybe that’s because I’ve been listening to a lot of Raunch Hands and Lazy Cowgirls lately… I might just be in that kind of mood. Not that they’re that aurally similar, but there’s a certain feel to the guitar that appeals to me in a similar way. Some of the other sounds you’ll find of Bennett’s are a bit more digital, and that’s cool too, but there’s something about the more organic feel to “Little Brain” that I think taps into whatever it is I really, really like about rock music.
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Full-screen that.
I never know what I’m supposed to be looking at, and I love it.
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The Oblivians/Andre Ethier at The Knitting Factory
Just in case you missed it, The Oblivians, supported by Andre Ethier, put on a free concert Thursday night at the Knitting Factory. Although I’m not a big fan of corporate involvement in music, I guess I should show some appreciation to Scion for sponsoring the event, not only because I didn’t have to pay money to go, but also because they were giving out free Black Lips/Pierced Arrows splits, and I snagged two of them. So, that was cool of them. But enough shilling. Let’s talk about rock.
Andre Ethier, photo courtesy of my crappy phone camera.
Opening up the night was Andre Ethier, with whom I was pleasantly surprised. To me, his set sounded like the psychedelic sounds of Bob Dylan. Ethier had the kind of stream of consciousness vocals that few people can really pull off, and when you hear someone do it right, it’s really something special. Whoever was on lead guitar duty that night was really driving it home. I’m hoping that’s not the last I’ll hear from Andre Ethier.
The Oblivians - another picture taken with my phone camera. Anyone want to be my photographer?
The fucking Oblivians. If you’re not with it, the Oblivians fucking rock. That’s all you should need to know in order to be caught up with what’s going on. They hit the stage, and annihilated for an hour and fifteen minutes before taking a couple of minutes off before the encore. I lost count of how many songs they played (can you blame me? they’re all a minute and a half long) but I did manage to keep track of how many fights broke out: three and a half. That half fight was when a girl poured her beer out on a guy’s head… it would have been a fight, but they were both too scared to hit someone of the opposite gender. Of course, things never got past a bro-style “hold me back!” exchange, as the crowd seemed to be able to completely separate aggressive-types, so things only seemed energetic, not dangerous. Exactly what you want at a punk rock show.
Each member of the group got to have several turns leading things, and everyone seemed to know exactly what’s up. After their reunion tour last year, they seem to be in fantastic shape; the band rocked exactly as hard as I’d always hoped they would. When Greg Oblivian sat behind the drum kit so Jack O could have a turn on the mic, things got both sloppier and cleaner, somehow at the same time. Greg’s drunken southpaw style on the drums was loads of fun to watch, and Jack’s songs had their own unique punch to them that I really appreciated; “Strong Come On” might be the best minute-and-thirty seconds of music of all time. For the encore, the guys brought up a friend to play some organ, and, of course, they continued to kick everyone’s asses.
If you ever get the chance, you need to see the Oblivians. They did mention they’d all just moved up to Queens, by the way… I’m hoping we’ll be seeing them around more in the future.
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The Roar of the Masses Could be Farts: The Pack A.D. - We Kill Computers
Corey from Sex Sux (Amen) and I have decided to destroy you. Here’s how we’re going to do it: collaborative blogging. Knowing Corey to be a fan of theirs, I asked him to check out The Pack A.D.’s most recent record, We Kill Computers. Over on Corey’s blog, we talked about Woven Bones’ new one, In and Out and Back Again. Once you’re done here, head over and check it out. Now, take it away, Corey.
Corey: I had forgotten about my favorite Canadian garage punk duo, Becky Black and Maya Miller, even though they dropped a couple excellent LP’s last decade on Mint Records: Tintype and Funeral Mixtape.
The girls are burning down British Columbia on this record: the vocals from Becky are more biting, confident, and angry and her guitar playing is heavier and noisier. Maya’s thrashing drums complement Becky’s downright evil fire she is spitting. Check out the best tracks, “Crazy” and “K Stomp,” and you can feel Becky’s snarl right in your mouth.
The mostly blues-inspired song writing from their earlier records occasionally got repetitive. On this record, they choose to branch off a little more, diving into heavy rock and punk territory.
In retrospect, The Pack AD’s earlier records showed off promise, and, since they weren’t over-hyped/were over-looked, they’ve been able to organically develop into a motherfucking powerful force.
David: I’ll be honest, I got this record when it came out a few months ago, and I didn’t even make it all the way through. It seemed over-produced, and, when the basis for most of a group’s appeal is based on raw energy, too much time in the studio can really dull that edge. But it’s been a while, and I figured since their previous two records were nasty, I should give this one another shot.
I guess my real issue the first time around was just that their visual aesthetic seems to have changed a bit in between this record and the last, going from hairy tomboy southern (yeah, I know they’re Canadian) thugs to a cleaner, hipper look, and I expected that to transfer over into their sound. But, now that I’ve had some time to remember I shouldn’t really give a shit about what they look like, I can recognize that I made up that “over-produced” bit. I was expecting to be able to start a debate with Corey over this record, but it looks like I fucked up. I don’t know if I see as much improvement in between Funeral Mixtape and We Kill Computers, but my original appraisal was definitely misguided. It’s a solid album. Go fuck yourself, me-from-the-past!
I don’t know how I missed it the first time around, but the first cut, “Deer” fucking stomps. It’s riffy, and there’s just enough space to make that riff really land hard. Is it me, or is “Crazy” just a reworking of “The Hardest Button to Button?” Can’t go wrong starting in that territory.
Corey: Haha I actually tried listening to it a little while back and got bored but you forced me to listen to it again and it’s pretty good, right? Fuck us.
David: Yeah, I think the main issue is “Cobra Matte” sucks. I think that’s as far as I got the first time, and this time, I got up to that song and was still like “what the hell?” It’s not that bad, but it’s sucky.
Corey: Yeah that “Cobra Matte” sucks.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Birthdays - I’ve been growin
Word is Birthdays — remember? — is coming out with a split cassette soon along with Vacation Dad, Many Mansions, and Panda Teeth. The cut you’ll find above, “I’ve been growin,” is taken from that release, and if you’re not already checking it out, you should be. It swirls, grinds, and groans, and makes me feel like I’m somehow making the best of my time back home. There really isn’t a better way to spend a Monday evening than sitting at the library, reading comics and spacing out to this tune. True story: once I realized I’d been staring at a stranger for five minutes while in my own little Birthdays-inspired trance, she looked up and it turns out we went to high school together. Whoops.
Anyway, you should go have your own Birthdays-inspired trance embarrassments. And while you’re at it, check out the tour dates on the MySpace. Birthdays and Vacation Dad are hittin’ the West Coast in July/August/September, and I think they might need some space, so if you’ve got any ideas, drop a line.
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