When the Cave Comes Alive!!!---An Emerald City--Circa Scaria!

An Emerald City is an amazing New Zealand band that I have neglected to mention until now. I first heard about the group when I stumbled upon Graham Reid's site, Elsewhere, which I would definitely recommend taking a peek at. He definitely has interesting taste in music. I was quite fortunate to get a physical copy of their first album, Circa Scaria, since for at least the time being the item is hard to find. But the album is readily available in digital format, so no worries as to obtaining the music. But I must say the Cd artwork is quite gorgeous.

 

 





Circa Scaria came out in 2009 on  the label Banished By the Universe, which appears to be run by members of the band. The label seemed to be a bit of a mystery to me, but at the letter end of 2013 they have reorganized with a bona fide website and a new distributor. In addition to An Emerald City, there is an interesting and diverse roster of bands, including Mountaineater, James Duncan, Alizarin Lizard, Rackets, and Bond Street Bridge. Well worth checking out the site.

 

For me, An Emerald City is probably one of those odd circumstances where a band is actually playing a type of music that I always wanted to hear but to a great extent has been denied to me. A

mixture of improvisational world music based around Arabic, Indian, African sources combined with noise.

 

Musically they are simply astounding. Trance inducing percussion, at times dubby, capable of subtlety, fantastic use of dynamics. For all comparisons you could make to Kiwi antecedents like Bailter Space, The Clean, Dead C and Roy Montgomery, they have at certain moments that sinister sound of early era Live Skull, or Mission of Burma, or Sonic Youth. With improvisational chops like the Sun City Girls. Or Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman's Songs from the Victorious City. But these name checks only semi-describe what is going on here.

 

Amazingly Circa Scaria was recorded in an unusual studio. Actually, not a studio at all, but within the Great Cave of Whatipu on the West Coast of Auckland! Per the liner notes, the album was recorded live over a two day period. So they are definitely trying some ambitious things. And succeeding.

 

Reuben Bonner: Guitars, Voices, Percussion

Rob Croft: Oud, Darabukka, Electronics, Sitar, Percussion

Ede Giesen: Persian Long Necked Lute, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Voices

Sam Handley: Organ, Guitars, Percussion

Reyahn Leng: Drums, Tabla, Percussion

Felix Lun: Violin, Percussion

 

I was absolutely floored by this album. This is definitely music that more people need to hear, music of the highest artistic calibre. I'm amazed how all the disparate elements here mesh together so well. I wound up getting their other releases (eponymous ep and their 2nd album, Fourth), and they are all great. Circa Scaria--one of the most revelatory recordings for me in 2013, though it came out 4 years earlier.





Methadones----21st Century Power Pop Riot---Reinterpreting the 20th Century Masters

Happy 2014 everybody!

Hey, even inveterate punk rockers can feel the urge for the crunch of power pop. Though Chicago punks The Methadones are not talking about first wavers like Raspberries, Big Star, or Badfinger here. They mean "New Wave" classics, which is just the sort of music they are reverently honoring on 21st Century Power Pop Riot.

Don't Want to Argue, Don't Wanna Budge.....

Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe, Paul Collins and the Beat, The Records. Bands they heard and were inspired by.

Yeah, covers. There seems to be a bit of this going on lately. The difference on this 2006 release from Red Scare Records is that is one of the good ones! Basically we have harder, more punked out versions of the originals. But they don't try to destroy what they love, the monstrous pop hooks remain intact. If you've heard Down By Law cover The Proclaimers' 500 Miles or Big Country's In a Big Country you get the spirit of this, of what my fuss is all about.

Dan Schaefer: Lead vocals, Guitar
Mike Byrne: Guitar, Backing Vocals
Mike Soucy: Drums, Backing Vocals
Pete Mittler: Just Bass



The whole record sounds inspired, like a fantasy bar band. In addition to the aforementioned bands, there are some groups that had one hit, like The Jags, Back of My Hand. Great song. My college band used to play a version of this also. Of course The Jags had other songs that were pretty good, but that's how they are remembered.

And there are bands that everybody should know more about, like Vancouver's Pointed Sticks. That band holds there own with the best punk bands of the era in my opinion. The Methadones do their magnificent Out of Luck. They cover a song by Minneapolis' Crash Street Kids also, into you. They are a band that made only one album in the 80's, which apparently has never been reissued! And Off Broadway's Full Moon Turn My Head Around. I never heard of them before, and now I definitely need to investigate.



One of the high points on 21st is their version of Scandal's Goodbye to You. I always liked that song, but wasn't thrilled with what music the Patti Smythe did later on. The Methadones hand the mic over to the capable Annie Soviette of The Soviettes on this, and she and the band absolutely crush. I like version 2.0 better than the original.

Other covers of note are their amazing take on The Record Starry Eyes, with a smoking hot guitar take on the classic riff. You can't really beat the original, but they do it justice. The same can be said on Nick Lowe's Heart of the City. Cheap Trick is represented here also, with crunching run through. He's A Whore. Not as memorable as Big Black's version, but not bad at all.




Nice song selections here, with a good balance of new wave standards and lesser known songs. The Methadones rip through this setlist with enthusiasm and heart. What more could you ask for?