Dublin's #1s Release 1st album! Gritty Pop Punk from Dublin

A few weeks ago my package arrived from Deranged records in Vancouver. Yes, finally the #1s have released their debut album. Highly anticipated in some circles--guilty as charged am I. So let me jump on this bandwagon, if one in fact exists.

I've already done a post extolling the virtues of this Dublin 4-piece. If you like The Undertones, The Clean, The Records, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this today! Sure there is nothing terribly new here, but what they do here, they do well.

Look at the cover quickly and you would think they were posing for the cover of Tiger Beat magazine. Like 4 dapper young Danny Bonaduces. The things you have to do for world domination.

This a pretty great debut, compiling a lot of the great singles they have made, some of which are probably impossible to get. Most of the songs are pretty energetic and gritty. Though rough around the edges they have a keen pop sense, like early Teenage Fanclub somewhat, though I detect a little Dinosaur Jr influence in the terrific song Sharon Shouldn't (see prior post).

They don't sound much like U2 or Cranberries, so they probably won't be appearing on any Irish music documentaries on public television anytime soon.

I'll just post one song here, the brashly melodic Heartsmash! I think the song is about unrequited romantic infatuation, but it could also be about Professional Wrestling.




Great stuff here. Eddie Kenrick on vocs, Sean Goucher on guitar, Cian Nugent bass, and Conor Lumsden, drums. Buy the album, buy the t-shirts and beer coozies.  The album is available from Deranged Records and Static Shock Records in Europe. Well done. 10 songs in 20 minutes--tight editing here.

Cian Nugent appears to have a few albums out himself, he of Cian Nugent & the Cosmos. I'm listening  to a few of his songs right now. The music is quite different from #1s. It sounds like contemplative instrumental folk music. Not bad at all, really, but what I've heard seems pretty laid back.

The Undertones had John Peel in their corner. Since such influential giants like Peel no longer walk the earth (sadly), the little guys like me have to pull their weight. So check these guys out. You'll be glad you did!

Don't Freak Out, But Be Prepared----Bloods---Golden Fang EP

You know what? I haven't even gotten my mitts on a copy of Sydney three-piece Bloods new EP (yet), but I can't wait to say something about the band. I've seen and heard some of their tunes, and I think I'm hooked. Their combination of pop crunch, punk drive, and Stoogelike attitude is a winner. In fact, their EP Golden Fang is not all that new, having been released about a year ago.

In that long gestation and migration period, from recording, to factory manufacturing of product, to my American eardrums, Dirk, MC & Sweetie have earned a lot of critical praise in Oz. And why not? To paraphrase enforcer Ross Rhea from the immortal movie Goon, they've got The Stuff. The Shit. The Grit. For a long time I have intended to do a bit on that stellar Do The Pop! anthology of Australian music, and I thought about using the old line that the 1978-88 period being the "Golden Age" of Australian rock music. With all the new bands out there I can't be sure that the Golden Age isn't now! And I'm still playing catchup to the great music made in-between. You can't stop the future, and if you don't grasp this, you simply have stopped listening.

Oh, yeah. Do the Pop!--absolutely great anthology. Don't hesitate. Seriously.

But 2 minutes + of punk-pop excitement are worth a thousand words. See if you are into this as much as me. You might think that I have Stooges on my mind merely because Bloods share a song title with Iggy & Co. You know, that hardwired human tendency to have to associate things for the sake of association. But Bloods don't really sound like the Stooges---it's just their vibe that I can't overlook, the confident swagger.

But of course, the hard rocking Detroit-Australia connection is no mere matter of conjecture, it's a scientific fact. Someday they will probably have a show on the History Channel stating that it could only have been aliens that brought the Detroit sound so many thousands of kilometers from home. You never know.




Here's another one just for kicks!

You can get a lot of their music at BandCamp, plus Bloods merch, like pizza-inspired clothing and totes. So far I only see Golden Fang available in vinyl or download. Supposedly they are working on their first full album as we speak. I think we'll be hearing a lot more from these guys. Soon.

Black road long & I drove and drove....Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at Hammerstein Theater

Not too long ago I went to see a comedy show with friends around town, and one of my friends confessed that seeing this famous 80's comedian was sort of a "bucket list" event for him, though hopefully we all have some good years ahead of us.

I suppose that's how it is for me with Nick Cave. Probably ten years ago I purchased tickets to see him perform. The show was postponed due to illness, and eventually rescheduled. At the time, I was so preoccupied by work, that I finally remembered that I had a show to see, only three days after the concert. Lately, I've tried to get tickets, but usually by the time I realize he is doing a North American tour, every venue on the East coast from Atlanta to Toronto is sold out, and I really don't enjoy scalping tickets. The funny thing is, most people I know have no idea who he is--I would venture that an artist of his pedigree must be as famous as AC/DC or Men At Work in his homeland of Australia.

Well this time, Nick & the Seeds are touring without a new album & in New York between college semesters, so I hit paydirt & bought a standing room seat. I drove down to the venerable Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan and I was glad I did. Though I don't grouse about set lists, for me, him not having a new album to promote became a great opportunity for me because the show was a veritable greatest hits showcase. He played songs off of nearly every album, including his first two albums, From Her to Eternity, and The First Born is Dead. From concept to execution, I was always deeply impressed with "Tupelo", so seeing him perform it live was a treat. My only regret was that they did not do any Birthday Party songs. I saw this on YouTube & was hopeful.... but no real regrets. Though I would not have been disappointed if Chris Bailey came on stage and dueted with Nick on Bring It On, or Ed Kuepper hopped on stage as a guest axeman.




Nick Cave is a formidable live performer, still riveting after 30 years of touring. He paces the stage hyperactively, zooming in and out of focus, alternately interacting and at times stalking the audience. His guise is both theatrical and visceral, taking on different roles, from carny to confidence man to preacher to killer. And while he can croon like a jazz stylist, he still can yowl like a psychotic tomcat. While watching him perform, I was thinking how this sort of show could come off as a parody or as lame, but with his out-sized stage presence and gravitas he brings to each song/tale, he pulls it off. Nick and the audience are co-conspirators. It's fascinating to see how he contorts himself on stage, with his tall gangly physiognomy, twisting & twitching in the air, dancing, jiving, then lunging forward into the audience, laying hands upon them. Jingle, Jangle. Unlike everyone else in the audience, I found myself staring at his gyrating shadow on the black curtains on the right side of the theater. The Bad Seeds are one hell of a backing band, but with the exception of Warren Ellis (he of the Dirty 3), they really keep themselves in the background. At times I thought I was watching a Broadway musical. I would be surprised if they weren't cooking up a plan to put together a Nick Cave show ala Mamma Mia! I think it would have a lot of potential---all the tension in those Jim Thompsonesque murder songs, plus all the tender ballads he has amassed over the past 20 years or so.

Below is video from my concert experience. Shiny shirt, crazed like Evil Neil Diamond. Song Sung Red my friends....


From Her to Eternity!



People Ain't No Good!



Jubilee Street, from Lift High the Sky...




Other songs I got to see were God is in the House, The Ship Song, Mermaids, Stagger Lee & The Mercy Seat, to name a few.

Well I don't know if I am so obsessed with bucket lists, really. I just like seeing a good show from time to time. And this one was A-list.

Maybe grabbing a bunch of shows and mixing them all in a bucket is more appropriate to food, as the culinary bloggers on those commercials for KFC can attest. It feels a little like soul stealing, or idle fodder for the watercooler.

These last threes videos can attest to the power of a great live show, where the entertainer and the audience are working together. This was an amazing show, for the most part a band just performing without a bunch of silly props. Thanks to all the fans in the audience holding up their cell phones for 2 hours you can catch a glimpse of what I was seeing. But it still isn't the same. Visceral, theatrical, intellectual, psychotic at times--not many people are capable of bringing what he does. And its obvious he puts in tremendous effort to have become the songwriter and entertainer he is. If anyone out there has these sort of lists laying around, think long and hard about including a Nick Cave show in there somewhere.

Maus--Classic 90's Icelandic Alt-Rock--Lof Mér Að Falla Að Þínu Eyra!!!

I'm probably beating this story to death, but I remember seeing Maus, the great Icelandic alternative band. Only not on stage. I saw them in Hljomalind, a really nice record shop in Reykjavik. No longer open I've heard. They had just released their first album and I suspect that they had just got out of school and they rushed inside to see how sales were. They were so young then.

After the band cut out, the store clerk asked me if I wanted to hear the album. I said, sure. And I have to admit I was very impressed. The band had a lot of chops, and the music was nice and loud, but really accomplished. Of course I bought the album. It seemed to me that these guys were onto something that could only get better.

And you know what? They got a lot better.

Meeces to Pieces

Because today my focus is their 3rd album, Lof Mér Að Falla Að Þínu Eyra,  which came out in 1997 on the Sproti label. I think I saw somebody list this as #15 on a list of classic Icelandic albums, and though I am nothing more than a novice when it comes to Ice-Rock, I am not at all surprised about the high props. But that is domestic consumption of course, where this band was hugely popular. I don't hear a lot said about this album--I suppose at that time there weren't a lot of people internationally that wanted to hear a group with Icelandic lyrics to their songs. They cut some music in English, but the Great Pop Crossover Potential, as so many other Icelandic bands sought, proved too elusive for them. Read Dr. Gunni's splendid Blue Eyed Pop book for the whole history of  "World Domination or Not."

Of course, in this new millenium, the Icelandic music scene is the focus of much international attention, so it is a very different world today than the 90's. People are more likely to accept the notion that excellent music can come from anywhere. And the music scene has also developed and grown more sophisticated, realizing quantum leaps in diversity and quality, and of course marketing.



Maus:
Birgir "Biggi" Orn Steinarsson: Gitar, vocals
Daniel Þorsteinsson: Drums
Eggert Gislason: Bass
Pall Ragnar Pálsson: Gitar




I was trying to figure out how to describe this band and they sounded so very familiar but I couldn't grasp the connection. I then read that Roger O'Donnell of The Cure guested on this album---it was that very familiar keyboard sound I was hearing.  But certainly I would not be writing this post if they were merely band of Cure clones.They still manage to rock fairly hard in places, but with a highly developed pop-sense. Even though I don't know what they are singing about, I am really enjoying this album.  They are just a very skilled band, and that gives them the latitude to mix things up and do a variety of interesting things, though there is no doubt that they are definitely a band of their era.

Maus has been inactive since 2004, though band members have been involved in various projects.
Who knows? All bands seem to reunite--it's what bands do.

Overall, Maus' Lof Mér Að Falla Að Þínu Eyra  is a pretty terrific album. Unfortunately I'm not certain where you could get yourself a copy these days. The title apparently can be translated as "Let Me Drop into your Ear", which in my opinion is extremely sound advice.

Burning Light into Scars---White Lung---Deep Fantasy

Just for laughs, I decided to finally talk about an album in the same year that it was released.

Grind your bones to sand.........

Deep Fantasy by White Lung.....



I know that this is getting a lot of attention from various sources, but this is such a superb record that everybody ought to be talking about it, even me. Now that they have gotten released their 3rd album on a big indie label, Domino, let's hope that this sends this band to a higher level of public consciousness. No one expects a Franz Ferdinand level breakout, but this release is serious, serious stuff.

Angry, melodic hardcore from Vancouver. At this point, it is as Canadian as Maple Syrup. But they are not followers, but actively trailblazing with scorched earth and extreme prejudice, adding to and embellishing a renowned Northern pedigree.

One of the pitfalls of hardcore is that a lot of the bands wind up sounding the same. Speed is the guilty party here. And not all of the bands have interesting unique things to shout about. True, it is often as much about community as the music. But then again there are a lot of mediocre bands to found in any of the many subgenres out there. But there are always exceptions...., which is why we still listen.

Certainly White Lung are by all accounts taking a genre and reinventing it. In addition to loud and fast rules, there is a lot of great guitar pyrotechnics going on, like a revved-up version of the great NYC band Live Skull, or even the noise synchronicity of classic Leatherface. And I'm unsurprisingly reminded of Penelope Houston and the Avengers. I'm just listening to the powerful visceral sounds coming out of my headphones right now, and I know that it will be over before I realize it--10 songs in 22 minutes, not a lot  of proggy guitar noodling here.




And in this case, lead singer Mish Way, has a lot to say. And these lyrics are very very personal and on her owns terms. The imagery seems to be about relationships gone worn, about humiliation and abasement, about hard-won life lessons. But also about fighting back. But those are just my impressions. Let me just say that she is a formidable front woman, with kind of unique power we've seen in say, Kurt Cobain. had. And as far as impressions go, this is an album you will not sit on the fence about. You'll either dislike it or absolutely embrace everything they are about. Deep Fantasy will grab you by the throat. For me this album is like a breath of fresh air on the music scene.

Mish Way: Vocals
Anne-Marie Vassiliou--Drums
Kenneth Williams--guitar/bass

If you love punk rock, or great rock music in general, this is the shit, folks. I can't wait to see them live!

 

Welcome to this Place, it's got so dull....Power of Dreams' Immigrants, Emigrants, and Me!

So, I'm listening to the first album by Dublin's Power of Dreams, Immigrants, Emigrants, and Me, released in 1990 on Polydor. And once again I scratch my head in wonder.



100 ways of killing, 200 ways of breaking........

I  have often been perplexed, that in the wake of the international transcendence and ultimate global domination of U2, i.e. Bono and Soggy Bottom Boys, why I suddenly did not come face to face with a glut of Irish bands in that era. So many, that there would be dozens upon dozens of terrible bands signed plus a handful of keepers.

Certainly with Nirvana breaking out in the 1990's, record people invaded Seattle like Seal Team 6. I have this image of industry executives parachuting in, with the Space Needle in the backdrop, briefcases filled with contracts, with the intention of signing every band in a 50 mile radius. Congregating in a fashion similar to the results of throwing red meat into a Shark tank.

I can't honestly believe that some of that did not happen on the Emerald Isle. Of course we had Fatima Mansions/Microdisney, Frank and Walters, A House, My Bloody Valentine, Roller Skate Skinny and of course a band that should be known by those that read this blog, Whipping Boy. Yeah, there were others, I know.

But I've listened to Immigrants, Emigrants, and Me, this aforementioned 1st album for about my 10th time, and I am fairly amazed that this album did not strike a chord with the music fans in the U.S. I was not aware of them until recently at all. The explanation I keep seeing in my investigations, is that there was a timing problem. That what happened was a so-called "U2 backlash", where people were fed up with the band, and consequently some otherwise worthy bands were ignored. But in a country like mine, where so many people take a great pride in their Irish heritage, I would have thought they would have gone down as smoothly as a well-drawn pint of Guinness.



One listen to this album, and I think you would agree that the songs were made to be sold in mass quantities and given heavy radio rotation. The band plays melodic, moody pop, with anthemic choruses. You could make some comparison to U2 in their sound, but I could also make comparisons to REM, The Smiths, even the Hoodoo Gurus, so I suppose it means that their music was relevant to the music of that era. I mean, they do have their own special charisma. I like how they sing out "tink" instead of "think" on their songs.

From top to bottom a very solid album, with some especially nice tracks, like Stay, Where is the Love?, and The Jokes on Me. I particularly like the tune Mother's Eyes, with its melancholy jangle.




From what I've found out, Power of Dreams was big in Ireland, U.K., Japan and in a few European countries. In many lists of the best Irish rock albums of all time (by critics and polling within Ireland), you would likely find this album featured prominently. Not in the top five (there you would probably find Whipping Boy rubbing shoulders with Van the Man and Bono), but nonetheless, being on the list is a testament to the quality of the music, and the enduring reverence for a nearly 25 year old album by the music fans of Ireland.

Power of Dreams:
Craig Walker: Guitar/vocals
Keith Walker: Drums
Michael Lennox: Bass

So if you were interested in Irish bands, or good 90's bands, I would highly recommend Power of Dreams Immigrants Emigrants and Me. The music is top notch pop. The only thing I could say negatively is that there is a tendency in most songs to have choruses where one line is repeated over and over again, which gives the otherwise excellent songs a certain songwriting pattern. A few years ago deluxe 2 disc version of this album came out in limited qualities, but that has long sold out. Finding a copy of that may be cost prohibitive. I have been trying.

These days, the band members are involved in various other projects, though there have been reunion shows now and again. Craig Walker has a band called Mineral, but still is continuing with Power of Dreams, as you can see by checking out the bands functioning website. Maybe this band has slipped through the cracks as it has for me, but it isn't too late to make up for lost time!

They Shut Down the Dock, Thrown our Lives on the Rocks! Skull Orchard Revisited--Jon Langford's Welsh Multimedia Extravaganza!

When I heard some of the detail of Jon Langford's reissue of Skull Orchard, I knew I had to get on board with this. But what exactly is this product?

Is it a mini Coffee table book, the sort of thing you find reviewed in the NY Times book review a few weeks before Christmas?

Or is a CD reissue, with some of the most elaborate liner notes you could ever hope to find?

Though I'm usually not one to equivocate, it's pretty much "all the above" plus a whole lot more, my friends.



For my purposes, first and foremost, it is a reinvention of the original Skull Orchard album from 1997, with the inclusion of the Burlington Welsh Chorus, which I think is a very traditionally Welsh thing to do. Though the music has to do with Wales (Newport most specifically, his hometown), I feel that the songs touch on issues that affect us here in the US and around the world, while name checking Cymru icons like Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey John Cale, places  like Cardiff Bay, Newport's transporter bridge, soccer clubs, pubs, and abandoned coal mines.



"Tom Jones Levitation"


Secondly, its loaded with Art by JL, his sort of take on Folk Art, Populist Art, Insurgent Art. I used to see placards like these in gift shops when I went on vacation when I was a kid. But of course, he has used the form for his own ends--someone unfamiliar with his art might very well view the paintings as something else. And of course, if any of you art aficionados like his work, plenty of his paintings and prints are for sale at Yard Dog.

Thirdly, it is a family affair of sorts. I don't know if this qualifies as scrapbooking. His brother David provides an interesting compendium of Welsh culture and history, plus some choice family anecdotes.

His father Denis supplies photographs also. So, while the Langfords still are a long way from being deemed by media outlets as the Welsh version of our own celebrated, Jackson Family, all of this entertaining, intelligently done, and definitely made me laugh in spots.

Fourthly, it's literature! Jon has included a short story involving Herman Melville's Albino Whale, chopped up in pieces through the book, which I found interesting. And of course, there are the song lyrics, which qualify as poetry.

I know that some of you are thinking of all the elaborate limited edition reissues circulating these days. I think it may have started in rock with that gigantic Stooges reissue, which must have included every single outtake from Fun House. (I sometimes think everything the Stooges ever did must have been put to tape, with all those live releases out there.) But many of these new super deluxe reissues carry such a high price tag! And I doubt many of them are half as wildly idiosyncratic as Skull Orchard reissues. The price for this multi-media mini event is quite affordable in comparison. And what you get is well thought out, not merely fan fodder. This, I say, is a product for the discerning musicophile. I mean, who creates things like this? Certainly not to get rich....

I guess I'm reminded a little of the super elaborate children's album Harmelodia by the Rheostatics, where they made the artwork, wrote the songs, and put together a narrative designed to get children excited about music. I reviewed that one a while back if anybody is interested....

Techheads might be disappointed that there are no DVDs, holograms, iphone aps, Newport: Transporter Bridge the Video Game,etc., but understand that S.O.R. came out a few years ago. Maybe that will be a part of Skull Orchard 2.0 in 2020.

Of course Jon Langford has just come out with a new one, which has gotten great reviews, Here Be Monsters. He, and his Mekons (Waco Brothers, and of course the mighty 3 Johns) have pretty successfully continued to put out rewarding music over a long period of time, while staying true to their ideals and expressing their views on important issues, without the sort of pandering or self-aggrandizing posturing that many a lucrative career has been based upon.

Skull Orchard revisited, in a nutshell is a pretty amazing little item, somthing that any fan of the arts should appreciate. I don't believe there is anything quite like this, so grab one while you can.


Here's a taste of his latest recording, Here Be Monsters! Support our artists, please.