Waiting for Eventuality....Ups and Downs--Out of the Darkness

I started listening to an anthology by an Australian Band I never ever heard of! Well at least until I saw it being advertised, probably on the Citadel Records mail order website. The band, Ups And Downs, existed in the 1980's through the early 90's and hailed from Brisbane originally. Generally the word on these guys was extremely positive. This anthology, Out of the Darkness: Sleepless, Singles, and Other Stories is a very very strong 20 song career (which includes the Sleepless mini-album in its entirety) overview which came out a few years ago on Feel Presents. Feel Presents appear to primarily be concert promoters, but they have put out some extremely nice reissues of important Aussie Bands.

But not lately. Maybe the recession has bit the hand that was feeding us. Let's hope they pick up where they left off!

Let me be clear; this is not some Aussie GBV, do it yourself band, or your requisite hard rocking Aussie garage punk group well schooled in the Detroit Arts of Iggy and the MC5. I love all that stuff of course, but Ups and Downs is a different sort of animal entirely.

The Names of the Band is......

This is big rock--tuneful, soaring harmonies well played and engineered. This could have been made by some band from America's heartland and recorded in a high priced studio in LA. I can't help but make comparison to some of their contemporaries like Died Pretty, Lime Spiders, The Church, HooDoo Gurus, Triffids, Go-Betweens, DM3, The Sunnyboys, NZs Straitjacket Fits, or Post-Kuepper Ghost Ships-era Saints. This band should be regarded in the same ranks as these bands, which I am quite familiar with. This is a pretty great collection of music which would make a great addition to anyones Antipodean music collection.



But by the time I listened to the first half of the Cd, I was wondering, What the Hell happened? This music is simply too accomplished!

How could these guys not have been globe trotting millionaire rock stars. This songs on this album are radio and video ready, the kind of stuff that sells millions. Even the critics liked them. An it was not like they were ahead of their time, or making cool music that was out of vogue like the Soft Boys.

The accompanying booklet is very well-done, filled with most of the information you need to know about the band, plus many photos. Sometimes artists are a little self-effacing about the music they have created--oh that single? It was okay, we did the best we could. But one of the sections of the booklet has the heading Where Did It All Go Wrong?



Thank goodness it wasn't something tragic like a premature death. Seems like it was a few bad choices, blame the band, blame their manager. But the notes by Lead Vocalist Darren Atkinson seem a little embarrassed about their posterity. Why?

Because they knew how good they were, and how great their songs really were. So he sort of shrugs having to explain why they may have missed the gold ring. You know, like in Westway to the World when Joe Strummer talks about the Clash splitting up. Because believe me, the music is peerless here. The notes say they charted a bit on US College radio, and they must have had some success in Australia, once they left Brisbane and moved to Sydney. Which is something most Brisbane bands did quickly. If you have read Andrew Stafford's book Pig City, you get an idea of what Brisbane was like in the day--not a place for non-conformists. I have a pretty good idea what the Saints were singing about in Brisbane (Security City). Wish Ups and Downs had made a trip to the States.

A week ago this band was a mystery to me, but it was definitely good to make up for lost time. My only regret is that this wasn't a 2-disc set. Believe me, this is music that would appeal to a broad range of rock music fans, and not just 80's music fetishists.

A very nice surprise, which made a nice weekend for me even better.

Welcome to Hotel Figueroa--Anytime of Year You Can Find It on his Website--Max Eider!

Wake Up! Slow Down!

You may not have realized it, but The Jazz Butcher, the deliriously witty band led by Pat Fish actually released a new album. I certainly just found out about it. Last of the Gentleman Adventurers.
I haven't heard it as you may have guessed, but if you rely on The Jazz Butchers past recordings, the odds are it is worthwhile. When you listen to a Jazz Butcher album its like picking up a great collection of short stories, some sad and touching, others laugh out loud hilarious, while some are wacky satiric send ups of whatever may have wound up in the cross hairs at the moment, be it President Reagan, Mark E Smith, Olof Palme, Betty Page, or even Peter Lorre.

But this is post is about his partner in crime, Max Eider, an extremely capable guitarist who has 4 solo albums to his credit. This is about his 2nd album, Hotel Figueroa, originally released in 2001.

And turning away from my recent indulgences in the punk-pop sub genre I've switched gears a bit. I present to you an entertaining excursion into a musical world of sophisticated, classy, jazzy pop songs, with a dollop of Velvet Underground balladry tossed into the mix.

If you like Roddy Frame's stripped down solo work or the Go-Betweens you would probably like this. It's an album that brings me back to those salad days of the 80's, when "Smooth Operator" by Sade ubiquitously lilted out unto the shopping plazas of most major European capitals.




If you are at least passingly familiar with The Jazz Butcher, you know how Max Eider can play. He can play in a variety of styles. Hotel Figueroa is a subdued sort of album, but with repeated plays, the rewards reveal themselves with greater clarity. Listen carefully to the guitar accompaniment and the riffs hit that sweet spot every time. He is own Glen Campbell session man in a way.

Max: Vocals, guitar and keyboards
Owen Jones: drums, percussion, accordian, vocals
Steve Valentine: Bass



And for all its fairly subdued manner, Eider tries a few things on this album. Other Kinds of Love is sort of a Samba-like pop, with what sounds like vibraphone. The Long Night sounds like a fragile lost Velvet Underground song, like a country-tinged "Candy Says". One of my favorites on the record. A guilty pleasure here is a cover of the old standard Lazy Bones, when it started my first thought was, he's not really doing this, but it turns out to have been a good idea after all.

Of course the opening track Hotel Figueroa, which is reminiscent of the aforementioned Forster-McLennan with some Chet Baker trumpet added for texture. Her Life is a quietly nuanced little gem as is the sunny harmonica embellished pop of All Your're Good For. Sweet End appears to be a Scandinavian pun of sorts.



Bottom line is, if you are asked to put something "romantic" on the stereo, take that copy of Big Black's Atomizer or Pink Floyd's Wall from your sweaty little hand, and give the talented Mr Eider  a try. I can also vouch that Eider's first solo effort, Best Kisser in the World is worth a listen also. There was a time when most of the records I owned were loud and fast, but at some point unbeknownst to me, I developed some other facets, I guess. And I'm not sure if there is a cure for this condition yet.

And please give the Jazz Butchers a try because if you are a fan of clever music injected with humor, you will want to hear everything they ever did.

Spanish Bombs--Airbag---Spain's Answer to the Ramones.... and much more!

I first heard a song by Airbag accidentally. I was trying to locate an album and found myself on the website of some European Record shop, whose name escapes me. But as the site came up on the screen I got an earfull of Roswell 1947, the first song from Quien Mato a Airbag?, their 3rd album which I still have not picked up. But I was mightily impressed with their punk pop majesty.





And I like the fact that they sing in their native tongue--so many European punk bands choose to sing in English, which I guess is becoming the modern idea of having a language like Esperanto. Of course here in the Americas, maybe our Esperanto will in fact be Spanish.

But the music stuck in the back of my head someplace. Unfortunately, it seems like there are about 50 bands called Airbag. There is a Scandinavian one, and another one that appears to be an Argentinian boy band. So I was a little confused as to which one was the right one for a while. I think that I may have originally thought that these guys were Italian.

About a month ago I picked up their first record, Mondo Cretino aka "Super Jerk". It came out in 2000 on Wild Punk Records. And it does not disappoint--if there is any disappointment, it can mainly be attributed to my High School knowledge of Espanol, long lain dormant. I have to consider this to be at least a minor masterpiece in the Punk Pop canon. Sure, they doesn't sound terribly original, but they sound great.

Adolfo: Guitar and Vocals
Pepe: Bass
Jose: Drums




Mondo Cretino is a loud, fast, tuneful exposition of the Ramones style, with a fair dollop of California Sun via the Beach Boys. They even do Surfing Airbag, a surf style instrumental. Because of the vocals, in my ears they sound a bit like Indianapolis' Sloppy Seconds with the SAP button on. They need no stinking editors--only one song clocks in over tres minutos, and that's about Batman Comics, so its quite understandable.

Though some of the short tunes actually approximate the speed of hardcore, their pop sweet tooth is evident of their slightly sped-up but basically reverential cover of Don't Worry Baby by the Beach Boys. Sounds nice to me, and the song was reintroduced to me a few years ago by Alex Chilton, who performed a snippet of the song, which was placed to the end of the Ardent Records anthology which came out a few years ago. Ran shivers up my spine.





Album starts with a classic song, Marta no es una Punk, which is right out of the Ramone songbook ala Sheena is...., and you get an idea of what these guys are about. I hear that like a lot of bands, their more recent material has shifted more to pop end of Pop Punk, but for me that's really conjecture, as this is the only album I've heard.

I definitely recommend Mondo Cretino for its energy, and hearing Punk Rock sung in Spanish is pretty cool for me. This album seems to be the easiest one to get a hold of these days in disc form (though and odds and sods record of theirs came out recently Versiones and Rarezas), but as far as mp3's are concerned getting their music probably isn't so tough at all now. So if you like what you hear, give these punks a shot.

Transistors Is This Anything? Punk Pop you Need to Know Now People

Finally got a hold of the Transistors is This Anything?, the Rangiora band's 2nd album, which was released this August on Arch Hill. I found an on-line retailer, Newzealandcds.com, which is actually a music store in New Zealand, and they have been very accommodating to me. Even when individual records advertised on the site are no longer in stock, are hard-to-find, and in many cases out of print, they have gone out of their way to locate them for me when possible. Nice people, very knowledgeable. I found them as a link on David Kilgour's webpage. Though Is This Anything? was not yet available on their site (they are in the process of updating their webpage), they got copies in stock after a request from me. It's why record stores can be so great.

Define anything....

I did a little blurb on the Transistors, when I heard Your Life Can Be So Easy on YouTube. I was so excited with the song that I could not wait to post something. Punk Pop Perfection, and a funny video to boot, with spoofs of advertising that hearkens back to the original wave of punks the 1970's and early 80's. They sound like a band that would be at home on the Dirtnap Records label.

Now that I have the entire record in my possession, I can say that this album is a beautiful thing. High energy punk pop. If you like things like, say Manchester's Buzzcocks (who they opened for on their New Zealand tour), Wire's Pink Flag, or The Clash's Green Album, or more recent bands like the sorely missed Exploding Hearts from Portland, you will find some infectious new music that you will not be able to stop playing. I even hear a little Mission of Burma in some of the music. I've listened to the album 3 times today already.

Is This Anything? is strong from beginning to end. Your Life Could Be So Easy is a marvel, but that is one great song alongside another 5 great songs. This is my favorite Punk Album of the year so far, though it does not appear to be getting the notice other New Zealand bands are receiving internationally, like Surf City, Naked and Famous. Sure they have not developed their own new unique sound, but the songs are all terrific, full of energy, but not samey sounding. The last song on the album, Dirty Diver,  has a real classic New Zealand Flying Nun sound to it--perhaps its just the reverb on the vocals. I've already listed the two aforementioned videos on my previous post so here are some more great songs!









So, all you punk rockers, check out the Transistors Is This Anything? and get on this seemingly nonexistant bandwagon that I am on. Arch Hill Records, BandCamp or the Flying Out consortioum webpage will gladly assist you, as will the aforementioned NewZealandRecords. com, i.e., a real record store.

As I said before this is one enjoyable album that has been in heavy rotation here at T-Funk since yesterday. Don't hesitate.

At Home He's A Tourist, Part 2: Record Release Party for American Pinup--Support your local Bands

So last night I went to a belated record release party for a local band from White Plains at the Capt. Lawrence Brewery in Elmsford N.Y. The band is American Pinup and their 2nd album Change Machine came out on the market September 3rd on Altercation Records.

Six-pack, nuthin' to do......

But first, a disclaimer:

I work with one of the band members, so bear this in mind as you are reading this post. And the drummer at the show was clearly not the guy in the above picture.

I don't have any of their records--yet, but I have to say that it was an enjoyable show. A band celebrating a new album release in front of family, fans and friends makes for a nice environment.
And the show took place right in the brewery itself, so it was a pretty cool and unique experience, listening to music while surrounded by beer kegs, vats, and bags of ingredients. Maybe it's not that conducive to sound quality, but I think that the people doing the sound for the gig did a nice job given the acoustics of the building.

Musically, they are a chameleon-like group, playing in a variety of styles, from punk-pop, country, ska, reggae, rockabilly, and their final song was reminiscent of the Pixies. Some of the faster rockabilly music reminded me of the Waco Brothers or Social Distortion with a female vocalist. So they are definitely not 3 chord wonders---they pulled off everything they did pretty effortlessly.





Certainly the focus of the band is Lauren West, the vocalist/rhythm guitarist. While No Doubt comparisons are inevitable, her voice reminded me a little of Patty Smyth in the early days, like that song Goodbye to You. Maybe on some of the country balladry I heard a little Neko Case, but perhaps that has as much to do with her appearance as her vocals. She is very charismatic, and is very confident in what she does. And she can belt out a song. In the above video, she has that old retro look of the old WWII posters with Rosie the Riveter.

That being said, all the genre-hopping complexity of the music requires able musicians to back her up. And the rest of the band was up to the task. Tim, the bass player seemed to propel the band forward with his energetic basswork and I would have said this even if I don't see him at work 5 days at work, when they aren't jetsetting off to parts unknown on the national touring circuit. The guitarist switched from country twang licks to punk roar with ease and the drummer pounded the skins with punk energy at times, while taking the tempo down for the quiet bits. It's pretty obvious that if you are playing ska, dub, ska-punk, two-tone reggae type music, you need a little bit of subtlety that isn't always there with punk bands.

But the band does a very credible job shape-shifting from song to song and everybody seemed to have a great time. I was really glad I decided to go.

So that's about all I have to say. Believe me, if I didn't like what I heard last night, you would not be reading this post. It would not have happened. Judging by the YouTube videos I had viewed from the first album, I thought that they were a good band with a few good songs and that they were only going to improve if they persevered. Now, seeing them live after a few years of hard work and touring they have definitely upped their game.




And I find it extremely cool to see a talented local band from Westchester on their way to making good.

So give Change Machine a listen--I think you won't be disappointed. Or give their self-produced 1st album, Strange Creatures a spin, if you like the Strongbow video.

Secondly, for all you fellow alcoholics, Captain Lawrence Brewery makes a nice Kolsch. I was surprised that an American Brewery made this, as I thought it was basically a German regional style of beer. So also please support your local Braumeisters! And they also make a seasonal Pumpkin Ale that I've heard some good things about.

Alejandro Escovedo returns to Tarrytown Music Hall and I was there!

I feel particularly privileged to be able to say I got to see Alejandro Escovedo this past Friday at the Tarrytown Music Hall once again. He was the warmup act for Shelby Lynne, though to be fair he played much longer than opening acts ordinarily do.

The man tours a lot and he seems to be getting at least some of recognition that he has earned. Certainly many musicians hold him in high esteem. Hell, when he plays New Jersey they have to put up barricades to keep Springsteen from hopping on stage with him.

Two years ago he performed along with David Pulkingham on guitar, and it was outstanding. Alejandro's a charming guy with a seemingly unending accumulation of anecdotes, a first class songwriter, and it easily was one of the best shows I've ever seen at Tarrytown. Pulkingham has a lot of musical chops, but what was really amazing how they complemented each other on stage.




As good as these shows have been, I still want to see him with his full band though.



This time around it was Alejandro with Susan Voelz, who is probably best known for her work with Poi Dog Pondering. She is a violinist, and she was awesome to say the least. They've collaborated together for years apparently, and this was a combination that really worked. At some points in the show I started thinking Velvet Underground, with the intensity of her violin reminding me a bit of the John Cale/Heroin/Electric Viola period. They did songs like Down in The Bowery, Sally was a Cop, Sister Lost Soul, and Five Hearts Breaking. He told us that Sister Lost Soul was not really about Jeffrey Lee Pierce of the Gun Club, but was actually about his ex-wife who was now deceased.

At the end of the set, he asked for the house lights to be turned on. He & Susan strode to the front of the stage and performed Rosalie without  mikes. Beautiful song, and an amazing story of enduring love behind the song.



He is such an amazing songwriter. As I sat watching the show, I was thinking that maybe 75 years from now people would still be singing these songs. In the same way The Band and Bob Dylan looked back in time to what we would call traditional music.  But the funny thing is that his songs seemed to be based in real life and about real people. Years later maybe all the specifics  will long be forgotten and disassociated from the music, but the power and emotional resonance will still remain.

Two standing ovations for an opening act is no small feat. Probably a few tears were shed in the audience. I felt a little bad for Shelby Lynne. She was alright, but I guess I'm not really into country that much. She has a big voice and I enjoyed  a lot of her songs. She seemed like a pretty gutsy person. She played guitar and had two guitarists supporting her who were extremely fine musicians. She ran the set democratically, allowing the two guys to air out their instruments, and it was fun to see them intricately and effortlessly trading licks. The guy playing slide guitar was especially interesting, and on one song he played either the mandolin or ukulele. Overall, she was well received, but I think the crowd was a little more interested in Alejandro's set. He actually came out later with Susan Voelz and did a duet with Shelby Lynne, singing All I Have to Do is Dream, by the Everly Brothers. Sweet.

It seems that Alejandro is always on tour, so if he is in your vicinity you should go out see one of our country's most accomplished songwriters live while you can. My only regret is that I wished he had better swag for sale at his gigs. And yeah, I'm still waiting for the DVD.

Cover Them Impressed! I'm in Love with that Song--Australian Replacements Tribute

Lampshade Optional....

 

 

It's hard to believe it but the Replacements are back! It seems like almost everybody comes back, if only for a limited time only. I was looking at Paul Westerberg's website and it looks like he and Tommy are really enjoying this. And if proceeds are going to help Slim Dunlap, who is very ill, it is a
 great cause.





But this post is about a tribute album from 1999. I haven't really done a lot with tribute album's but this is one I really like.

I don't have a lot of buying music stories recently. Unfortunately it involves the click of a mouse more often than not. But when I finally got around to buying I'm in Love with this Song, an all-Australian tribute album of Replacements tunes, it turned out the disc was long out of print and was pretty pricey.

One day after work I noticed someone was selling one for a reasonable price. It was late October a few years ago. The weather had started to go a little haywire here in New York. It was snowing, which is extremely unusual for us. Within a few moments, I noticed that the branches on the trees were hanging down; the snow was so heavy the branches were literally touching the ground within a matter of a half hour. Just as I went to purchase the disc, the power went down. Power came back about 5 days later, so I have mixed associations with this album. But I don't regret the purchase as much as the deferred gratification.

As far as The Replacements go, I probably identify with them more than any other band. They could be me, or people I know. Sometimes if you are in the Burbs, you kind of feel like you're from nowhere, as though you, Paul, Bob, Tim & Chris were all from the same home town. Of course I had the opportunity to see them in their prime at Mabel's in Champaign-Urbana and blew the gig off for schoolwork!

To some degree, I think every tribute is a mixed bag. They can be label showcases, sometimes they are bloated productions with a host of big stars paying tribute to another big star. Some of them seem to be slapped together a little too carelessly. It seems to me that this collection is more of a labor of love, of combination of Australian contemporaries who loved their music, and other bands who bought  their music as teenagers and were thus encouraged to pick up some guitars and raise some hell.



As far as tributes go, this is better than 90% of your typical covers collection. For the most part the songs don't stray too far from the originals--which is unfortunate. Maybe you might have wanted a few different songs represented. I probably know about half the acts on this, if only by name in some cases. Its nice that the roster of bands is not a stag party--there are some women belting out the tunes which I think is great. And I'm pretty certain that all the albums are represented. From the snotty to the sublime.

I knew from the very first song, Brad Shepherd's spirited take on Alex Chilton, that this tribute was a keeper. It's a little faster and punkier than the original--less sentimental but just as powerful. Brad of course is a member of the HooDoo Gurus, an Australian institution, so its no small wonder that he smacks this song out of the park. When I hear the song, it feels a little ironic, like we're celebrating the next generation of underappreciation, like Chilton passing the baton to Westerberg. The powers that be thought they would be America's Rolling Stones, but as it turned out they could only be themselves, brilliant, warts and all. And this tribute shows the reverence that musicians hold for this band (even halfway around the world), but also the unimpeachable quality of the songs, which rings truthfully through these interpretations.

The Celibate Rifles make an appearance here performing a sans-mandolin rough take on I Will Dare from Let it Be. Power poppers IceCream Hands do a nice version of Swinging Party. A band well worth seeking out, Brother Brick, represent well on Color Me Impressed.

Other bands that I recognize are Challenger 7 who smash through Left of the Dial with panache. The Pyramidiacs have their way with On the Bus. Pop aficionado Dom Mariani's DM3 do a nice twangy Rock n Roll Ghost. You Am I cover White & Lazy from the Replacements Stink, and its okay--I'm not sure how much you could do with this. The Finkers have fun Tommy gets his Tonsils out.




As far as groups I'm unfamiliar with go, Blood Sucking Freaks pounds out Taking a Ride with conviction. Really good take on one of the standouts from Sorry, Ma.....Half Miler's hard 90's sounding take on Here Come's a Regular is one of the few covers that strays from the songbook a bit.
And it works. Erbs & Pisces do a mashup of both sides of the Mats first single, I'm in Trouble/If only you were Lonely. Nick Barker, Michael Thomas & Jen Anderson do a nice jangly countrified version of Skyway with lovely three part harmony, a violin solo, and if I'm not hallucinating, a banjo.

I enjoyed The Scruffs doing Can't Hardly Wait--not as good as the original but much better than the movie with the same title. Eva Trout perform Androgynous--female vocals seem very appropriate here. Mandy Pearson and Love Me do a nice version of Sadly Beautiful--it's like listening to the song from an entirely new perspective. Achin' to Be is similar to the Alt-Country sounding original but with piano added to the mix.

If you haven't figured it out, I really liked this Tribute, but not nearly as much as I like the Replacements. Who knows, maybe they've another chapter to write in their songbook.


Here's another interpretation not from Australia, but from another American legend.