Thursday, August 27, 2015

8/27/15

Last night I had the awesome pleasure of watching Lake Street Drive perform their radiant live show - if I had to bet on any band about to pop off in the mainstream/top 40/award-show category, it's them.

I started listening to them in the spring and loved the retro vibe - which is what instantly draws in the listener, until the grooves and vocals  keep you sticking around. There's clear Motown inspiration in the harmonies, swing beats, and vocal adornments, not to mention lovesick blues aplenty. But - and I think this is why their shows sell out worldwide - there's something so fresh and modern about them. Perhaps that's because of the members themselves. They show clear joy in what they do, the gender balance is refreshing in a four-piece, and their style is ultimately trendy. 

Singer Rachel Price is the bandleader and it's a role she was born to play. The show opened with her sultry vocals a capella, joined by the three members clustered around the microphone. Very 40s, just like her fabulous curled blowout. I was in love with her. So was the rest of the crowd.

Price's showmanship and dance moves are top-notch, and she manages to walk that fine line between performer-as-diva and performer-as-entertainer, commanding attention but never crawling for it. Just effusive, blissful energy - and her between-song chatter was solid-but-subtle real-talk about weekend partying and sexual frustration. It is clear she adores her bandmates as much as they adore their instruments.

The guitarist doubles as the trumpet player, and stand-up bass player Bridge Kearney is a master at taking the classical instrument to rock show levels, soloing and segueing from the band's originals into, of all songs, Van Halen's "Jump."  The drummer was positioned side-stage and lit from above, so you could see his motions clearly and it added energy.My favorite track was the ballad, of course, called "Just Ask," but I loved the closer and soon-to-be-single "Hell Yeah."

Seeing this show was not on my to-do list when I woke yesterday, but I couldn't have been happier to attend. Singing a little, dancing a little, and laughing a little to Lake Street Drive was an unexpected surprise, like so many other wonderful moments in this life.




"If you draw the line baby,
I will walk the walk

But I may sow some seeds baby
And I may pick a lock
My door is always open
If you find you wanna talk
And when you're good and ready
We can go as deep as you want

So just ask,
Baby just ask
I'll do anything for you
All you gotta do is ask
So just ask
Baby, baby just ask
I'll do anything for you
All you gotta do is ask
."

~Just Ask
Lake Street Drive, Bad Self Portraits

Friday, August 21, 2015

8/21/15

"I beat my,
Myself black and blue

You cut your,
Yourself up it's true
Tell me why
There was no follow through
Where the hell I went
When I went krazy without you
Krazy without you.
"





A little edgy, uptempo pop rock can really get you through a Friday afternoon. I discovered, via YouTube, the latest from Matt Skiba and The Sekrets, a band I did not know existed. Matt Skiba is really talented, and also really busy. 

The record is 32 minutes of riffs and hooks and top-of-range high notes. It's like a peppy version of The Smiths in some way, with retro-throwback rhythms and dynamite rhythms. I could maybe do without the "k" trope - it's even embedded in their lyrics! - but I suppose I ought to give it up for attention to detail. In a way it speaks to the adolescent moodiness a rock musician has to encapsulate, and his voice carries with a goth-like flatness that makes it somehow forgivable. There's a specific style to hear, and to see, yet it's subtle enough to avoid the kind of dramatics I've gotten a bit too old for with modern acts. Skiba, after all, is an adult, and so even in pop punk/pop rock format, there's a maturity to speak of.

Across "Kuts" there's a healthy dose of guitar solos, and a ton of synth production that feels current and trendy and now. The focus isn't on the frills, but the feel, like the building chords and bridges that collapse into sad little scenes of hearts in pieces and broken souls. It's like someone poured The Cure through a 2014 indie pop filter, and blended in some early 2000s emo. I will take it.

I'm familiar enough with Alkaline Trio to know I'd appreciate the sound of Skiba's own creations, but I'm unfamiliar enough with Skiba's (massive) catalog to feel like I've discovered something. At the end of a week, before a series of unknown hours and unknown situations and all the space and opportunity that can provide, these are the sounds that keep me from the same old traps and tracks, and embracing what is new and now, and fresh.

"You came crawling from the wreckage
You were stumbling through the dark
You were trying to send a message

You were trying to leave your mark
I was busy playing in traffic
I was dizzy from the spin

Blindfolded with my arms out stretched
They called my next of kin

And I went off the rails without you
I went off the rails it's true...

You came roaring from the ocean
You were swept onto the land
You had nothing but your broken wits
And a fistful of sand

I was softly speaking backwards
In my ancient mother tongue
There was nothing left to do but laugh
At what I had become

And I went off the rails without you
I went off the rails it's true...


I beat my
Myself black and blue
You cut your
Yourself up it's true
Tell me why
There was no follow through
Where the hell I went
When I went krazy without you
Krazy without you.
"

~Krazy
Matt Skiba and the Sekrets, Kuts

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

8/18/15



Listening The Frames is such a gift for your ears. Knowing they've been around since the mid-90s, their catalog has a nostalgic quality, but the songs themselves feel timeless in structure and supreme melody. They're often incredibly sad and heartbroken, but nonetheless alive, with a hunger for feeling, even in desperation.

I came across this performance in a YouTube spree this evening, and the refrain has slipped from my lips ever since. It's the kind of song that makes me want to pick up a guitar and play something simple, find a full band to chime in and send the message through. Not only is this a beautiful song, and an impressive performance with one hell of a referential interlude and mash-up ending, but Glen Hansard's opening monologue is too charming for words. Tough to beat those final harmonies too, from a song I never heard til now, the kind that are soft, subtle and haunting just before the applause cuts in and the lights come up. Those moments on stage, the kind that are so full of fleeting magic, are what can make a 16-year-old song sound fresh and familiar, wonderful and warm.

"Star, star, teach me how to shine, shine
Teach me so I know what's going on in your mind

'Cause I don't understand these people
Saying the hill's too steep, well
They talk and talk forever
But they just never climb

Falling down into situations
Bringing out the best in you
You're flat on your back again
And star, your every word I'm heeding
Can you help me to see?
I'm lost in the marsh

Star, star, teach me how to shine, shine
Teach me so I know what's going on in your mind
'Cause I don't understand these people
Saying the world is sleeping
They toss and turn forever
But no rest will they find


Star, teach me how to shine

Star, star, teach me how to shine, shine
Teach me so I know what's going on in your mind."

~Star Star
The Frames, Dance The Devil

Friday, August 14, 2015

8/14/15

"Twice a week I pass by the church that held your funeral
And the pastor's words come pouring down like rain
How he called you a sinner and said now you walk with Jesus
So the drugs that took your life aren't gonna cause you any pain
I don't think he even knew your name
And I refuse to kneel and pray
I won't remember you that way


I lit you a candle in every cathedral across Europe
And I hope you know you're still my patron saint
I tried to forgive, but I can't forget the cigar in his fist
I know that they were heartsick, but I need someone to blame
And I know how they blamed me
I know what you'd say
You'd tell me it was your fault
I should put all my arrows away.


I'm sure there ain't a heaven
But that don't mean I don't like to picture you there
I'll bet you're bumming cigarettes off saints
And I'm sure you're still singing
But I'll bet that you're still just a bit out of key

That crooked smile pushing words across your teeth

Cause you were heat lightning
Yeah, you were a storm that never rolled in
You were the northern lights in a southern town,
A constant fleeting thing.

I'll bury your memories in the garden
And watch them grow with the flowers in spring
I'll keep you with me."


August is hands-down the strangest time of year. The slow, gorgeous fade of summer begins, fall creeps in around the edges, and every few years or so, my life turns upside down. Given that cycle has continued here in 2015, with the most significant sentimental loss I've ever faced, I'm ready to move forward, and with that comes the corresponding soundtrack. I am undeniably, unimaginably excited for the new record from The Wonder Years this fall and the subsequent tour - so much so that writing down sentences about it makes my finger tingle and I smile to myself. Some things don't change, and that's the way I feel about this band.

With just two songs out, I can already tell "No Closer to Heaven" is going to be an epic, dramatic album - the kind that "The Greatest Generation" was and continues to be. I see l some of my friends and acquaintances roll their eyes when I tell them I'm still - yes, still - really into pop punk and emo music. They're especially shocked if they've only been familiar with my folk and indie obsessions. But I can't get over the heightened aggression and flair for dramatic. I can't stop wanting my heart torn out I cannot stop being impressed by Dan Campbell cutting right to the quick of it, and saying it like it is.

I've been binging on "Cigarettes and Saints" today, and I've decided this song really crushes it. There's some kind of triumph behind that first guitar line, crystal-clear and resonant as it fades, only to come back in a patient pattern before the song erupts. The structure overall is drawn out, but purposefully so, like a funeral march, and the second half of the song begins with an anxious tone before finding its footing. "My whole generation got lost in the margin," Campbell sing-screams in the climax, and I can't help but think how me as well as the 17-year-olds playing this probably feel that way, too. The way he says "I know they blamed me," breaks my heart. What kills me most about this song is the overloading of religious imagery without reverence. The candles he lights feel significant, but futile, the pastor's words are empty and fleeting. And yet our narrator forges ahead, he vows to fight the forces that trigger these sad events, swirling in shame and regret and sadness all the awhile. What a feeling. What a story. I can't wait for more.



"These wolves in their suits and ties
Saying, "Kid, you can trust me"
Charming southern drawl, sunken eyes
Buying good will in hotel lobbies
Buy fistfuls of pills to make sure you don't hurt no more
You don't gotta feel anything

Got their fangs in our veins
Got their voice in our head
Got our arms in their grips
No, we can't shake free

This goddamn machine, hungry and heartless
My whole generation got lost in the margin
We put our faith in you and you turned a profit
Now we're drowning here under the waves
(We're no saviors if we can't save our brothers)
Drowning out under the waves
(We're no saviors if we can't save our brothers)
Drowning out, drowning out...

You can't have my friends,
You can't have my brothers.
You can't have my friends,
You can't have my brothers.
You can't have my friends,
You can't have my brothers.
You can't have me
No, you can't have me.

~Cigarettes and Saints
The Wonder  Years, No Closer To Heaven


Sunday, August 2, 2015

8/2/15

The new Citizen full-length is the best damn rock music I've heard in some time. Love the grooves, the heavy bass, the tendency to shout versus scream with just enough of the latter to feel appropriately hardcore. Their debut two years back made quite the splash, but I only really got into the single, "The Summer," which is a fierce and forceful kissoff:



"I watched you burn and I felt it. 
You’re spitting words like you’re someone else. 
And I watched you run, I was screaming and following you down. 
It seems I’m stuck in the promise you made, I’m counting out.

I don’t want to know, 
I don’t want to know.
If I could catch you once, I’d see you right through.

You said you’d stay, and you promised, I finally see you out. 
Why’d you wait for the summer to chew and spit me out?
I sit awake and wait impatiently. 
The same mistakes are waiting to be made

I don’t want to know, 
I don’t want to know.
 If I could just write you off, I’d see you right through."
~The Summer
Citizen, Youth

Citizen's second effort- "Everybody Is Going to Heaven" - certainly feels darker and more mature, but with the same channeled rage. The first slowdown on track four, "Heaviside," showcases their melodic tendencies well, then it's back to brutal, dark chords and distortion for days.Swapping vocal styles works for this band in so many ways - there's Manchester-esque emo flavor before screamed choruses, and the variety adds depth to a sound that's an approachable kind of heavy. I have listened to this record three times today, and the break from maudlin (bless them) songwriters is welcome. This is a powerful collection of ten songs, sure to played excellent live.

"I've placed the boards across your windows
I've nailed your hands so you can kiss the floor
A blanket suffocates the things you know
Numb yourself, like you did before."

~Numb Yourself
Citizen, Everybody is Going to Heaven

I love their inclination to hold back - not every song throws down in a bust though they're more than capable of pulling it off. I listen for that patience, and for when it breaks. I listen for the confident aggression that feels a little more grown than a lot of other bands I seek out when looking for something with bite, and yet remains interesting musically; I listen for those off-center melodies, something that sounds so nu metal and energizing and full. These songs are vivid and harsh, not quite violent but almost there. They're just enough to power up and power through a messy, busy day with a messy, busy mind.



"I am coming clean with myself
My darling, my darling
Now that I've shed my skin, you can tell I'm brighter than ever
The flood has washed my bitter design
Polished in every way
I am coming clean into love
I'll die if you let me
I am coming clean with myself
My darling, my darling
Now that I've seen the world through your eyes, I'm brighter than ever before
Bandaging all of me


Selfish me
So bittersweet
A suspicious love for the sake of us
Suit yourself fittingly
My arms are opened up
Suit yourself fittingly
The haze surrounds only us"

~Weave Me (Into yr sin)
Citizen, Everybody is Going to Heaven