Atlanta, GA: Home of 1906 Race Riots, Bands That Sing About Phone Booths

A very short post after a very busy week. I will introduce you to one song, and then call 'er quits.

The Carbonas are famously known as Gentleman Jesse & His Men's real band. They are famously known as a band that plays frenetic garagey punk, and, famously, probably have seen Chipper Jones walking down the street at least once.

If you bring up William Tecumseh Sherman at one of their shows, they spit on you.

They also sing this song called "Phone Booth." And here it is. Track #91.

Big, Blusterly Southern Fried Rock from the Quaint Mississippi Community of British Columbia

Just a quick post today from a band I had meant to include in some earlier playlist, but must have forgotten.

The band in question is Black Mountain, from Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, which rumor has it is only a million minute drive from Tennessee.

Proggy southern rock. I guess. I don't know. "Proggy" and "southern rock" are not the same thing, but the combo still sounds right. Then again, people use "penultimate" wrong all the time, and I think "on accident" sounds correct, so don't take my word for it.

Personally, I think they'd object to the southern rock label, but they ain't here. And the song I've posted--"Stormy High"--is probably the most convincingly so dubbed. The fact that this whole embarrassing episode is betraying my ignorance of that genre aside, I can also just play it safe and call it psychedelic. That'd work too.

Anyway, it's a good song. So enjoy some traditional hickory smoked British Colombia Pacific salmon and a nice, full glass of bubble tea, and sing yerself a song 'bout bein' raised up down yonder in Port Coquitlam.

Woah Black Betty, wham-a-lam, indeed. Track #90 on the player.

This is a good band.

"Don't Need No Human Race": Alternatively, The Great First Tracks, v. VI. "Sonic Reducer" by The Dead Boys.

Simply because my friends' band covered it, and I was about a year behind most of them on jumping on the punk rock bandwagon circa 1994, "Sonic Reducer" was one of the first punk songs I ever heard. I'm rather sure I'd heard others...knowing them, probably some Fugazi, Clash, and, somewhat out of left field, Splogeness Abounds. "Two pints lager and a packet of crisps please," indeed.

But the first track off of the Dead Boys' Young, Loud & Snotty made the most immediate impression on me. It still does. I find it to be one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard.

There is a small genre of songs that I absolutely love because, although it's difficult to articulate, it's almost as if I can feel society collapsing a little bit because of them. There are certain punk rock songs that seem as if they can make the world melt just a little, turn hypocrisy back on its perpetrators, show bullshit for what it is. Yes, there are certain punk songs that--more than any other genre of music--really do seem as if, for a brief moment, they can "tear the whole fucking thing down."

Of course, it's all an illusion, and the threat to all mankind is a bit overblown. Rather, they sink you into a pit of nihilism and misanthropy. But sometimes, misanthropy feels pretty damn good, when you need it. When you're in the right mood, it makes you feel powerful in your awfulness. It may be indulgent, but for fuck's sake, people need indulgences sometimes.

"Search & Destroy" by the Stooges does that. "Bullet" by the Misfits does that. "Bad Man" by the Cockney Rejects does it, "Borstal Breakout" by Sham 69 sure does. The cover of Wire's "Mr. Suit" by the New Bomb Turks kind of does it. They peel the paint off the walls. As much as it shames me to admit it (and believe me, it really does), maybe even "Fuck Forever" by Babyshambles does it too. Maybe I should delete the last sentence.

And "Sonic Reducer" does it most of all. This Dead Boys classic is not kidding around. It reminds me why, as much as I love Pavement, and Cat Power, and the Raveonettes, and Wolf Parade...that when I really need music that cuts through all the pretention and bullshit and to have a sheer, immediate, visceral impact on me, it's still this music I listened to when I was younger.

"Sonic Reducer" was actually written for Cleveland's own Rocket from the Crypt and not the Dead Boys, but was never recorded in the studio by that band. When Rocket from the Crypt broke up, Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys formed in its wake, and the Dead Boys recorded this for their debut album. The Dead Boys moved from Ohio to New York--a sin, if you ask me--but you have to go where the action is, I suppose. But it does give a little fuel to my theory that most of the artistic output NYC takes credit for is done by people from somewhere else. Then again, if you were to say that about Boston and the Pixies, I'd block my ears, hum to myself, and pretend not to hear you (but you'd still be right). The Ramones were really from New York, and The Real Kids were really from Boston, so let's call it even (though, that's really, really not "even," Bosstowne).

An anthem for angry losers everywhere, and still one of my favorite songs.

I don't need anyone

Don't need no mom and dad

Don't need no pretty face

Don't need no human race

I got some news for you

Don't even need you too

I got my devil machine

Got my electronic dream

Sonic reducer

Ain't no loser

I'm a sonic reducer

Ain't no loser

People out on the streets

They don't know who I am

I watch them from my room

They all just pass me by

But I'm not just anyone

Said I'm not just anyone

I got my devil machine

Got my electronic dream

Sonic reducer

Ain't no loser

I'm a sonic reducer

Ain't no loser

I'll be a pharaoh soon

Rule from some golden tomb

Things will be different then

The sun will rise from here

Then I'll be ten feet tall

And you'll be nothing at all

I got my devil machine

got my electronic dream

Sonic reducer

Ain't no loser

Got my sonic reducer

I ain't no loser

I said sonic reducer, sonic reducer

yeah, my sonic reducer, sonic reducer, sonic reducer...

Goddamn. Track #89 on the player over there.

Dedicated to Stiv Bators (RIP, and he was in the Water's movie Polyester, by the way), Cheetah Crome (who cowrote the song), and those other 3 dudes.

Previous entries in the great first tracks have been:

(I) "Disorder" by Joy Division

(II) "I Just Wanna Have Something to Do" by The Ramones

(III) "Ghost Rider" by Suicide

(IV) "A Salty Salute" by Guided by Voices

(V) "Ohio River Boat Song" by Palace Music

Oldies But Goodies.

Here's just a quick post reintroducing a few songs I put up here way back when, but deleted because I thought the player o'er yonder could only handle a few at a time.

#84 & #85: "The Cops Are Comin'" & "Self Conscious Over You" by The Outcasts, from the Northern Ireland post.

#86: "Making Room for Youth" by Social Unrest, an early 80s California hardcore band.

#87: "Parasites" by Ugly Casanova, the Isaac Brock sideproject.

#88: "The Swimmer" by Frank Black & The Catholics.

If you'd like any of my verbose introductions, all of these songs were originally on playlists back in June in the ol' archives.

Boy, Don't It Drone.

Herein I introduce you to a couple of bands that drone like nobody's business. The first drones like the Velvet Underground, the latter like My Bloody Valentine. If My Bloody Valentine droned. They kind of fuzzed. Maybe they did both.

First up, we have The Black Angels, from these states united. Austin, Texas, specifically. They are very, very good if you like this sort of psychedelic material, and I sure do.

Tracks #78, 79, & 80: "You On the Run," "Vikings," and "You in Color," all off 2008's Directions to See a Ghost.

Next up, we have a band from Leeds, Englandland, United Kingdom of Happablap and Northern Blahdiblah, that I just discovered, called The Manhattan Love Suicides. They drone and/or fuzz.

The first two tracks, #81 & #82 over yonder, are both originals off their self-titled debut, which I'm pretty sure came out this year. "Things You've Never Done," followed by "Skulls." How very nice.

Lastly, #83, they've done a nice if run-of-the-mill cover of a great Beat Happening song, called "Indian Summer." So here it is. This is also off their self-titled debut. "Indian Summer" is totally like my second favorite Beat Happening Song. My first favorite is probably "Bewitched," because it's stone cold. Yeah, Beat Happening were awesome.

Please to enjoy.

First of Many, Or at Least Some: The Rich White Males

Okay, so I had a very busy week and was not able to update the ol' silly project (also, strangely, known as the capital of BrokenCYDE hits on the intrawebbing, which is kind of funny because I only mentioned them, disparagingly, once).

So, I'm probably going to put up a few posts today to introduce you to some halfway decent music.

First up: Over the last 8-10 months or so, I've slightly regressed back into a high school version of myself. I still like to hear Mirah gently weep about intimacy, certainly, but I also need to hear Glenn bellow about zombies on a regular basis too. In addition to revisiting some of the old classics (The Only Ones' self-titled debut being a particular favorite at the moment), I'm also actually trying to find undeceased punk bands that I actually like, all of which are probably comprised of musicians younger than I am.

So, I happened to stumble upon this band from San Diego called The Rich White Males, and I was pretty impressed. For some reason, the usual disclaimer (at least for me) is: "If I'd heard this in 1996 I would have loved it." And that's kind of defensive bullshit, honestly. I like it right now. I don't need to excuse that I'm merely recognizing what a 16 year old version of myself would have liked if only he'd lived this long. No, I like it. Me, the old man.

Pretty classic snotty pop punk fare fo the non-SoCal variety, which is good for me, and interesting because they're from as So in Cal as you can get.

First up, #76 on the playlist, is "Clean Up" off We Ain't No Musicians 7". Very catchy with a frenetic finale.

Next, we've got "Drop the Bomb," off the same 7", track #77 over yonder. I'm guessing it's a 7", anyway, because I got it off eMusic. See? I paid for it, calm down everybody.

"I don't care if they drop the bomb on me, I don't care if they drop the bomb, cuz at least they'll kill that girl," is how the latter goes, which kind of sums up the lyrical content of every song I listened to between 1994-1997.

Please enjoy. Tracks 76 & 77.

The Greatest Band in Sudbury History? Sorry, That Guy Who Plays Bass for Phish.

And I don't even have to apologize to They Might Be Giants, because both Johns were actually from Lincoln, and went to Lincoln-Sudbury due to Sudbury's charity for its much smaller--and only slightly richer--neighbor.

In fairness, the frontman was from Mattapoisett, which, quite frankly, sounds made up. But the other 4 were all Sudslingtonbury, all the time. You can tell by their aloof demeanors, occasional harumphs, and general superciliousness.

Yes, I'm talking about the one and only The Lombardies.

This band proves a few points. One, that my dear old friends from home managed to put together a garagey pop punk band that could stand with any "real" band of that genre (a definition "real"=I didn't know them personally). If you like this stuff, this was a legit, good band. They got some kickass reviews. They put on a great show.

Point two: it goes to show that what the Black Lips said about "Bad Kids" ain't true. "Ain't no college grad kids"? This band counts among its members a neuroscientist, a Manhattan ad man (I think), and law review top-o-the-class lawyer type. My apologies to the other two blokes, but we've lost touch.

So, first up, here's the song "Bad Kids" from the Black Lips. It's a great song, but they never met The Lombardies. It has nothing to do with anything, but you can find it as track #71.

Or maybe they just weren't bad kids at all, which is more likely, but less fun to falsely reminisce about. I mean, now that I think about it, they were occasionally given a hard time by the crusty punks of the world (The McVeighs, August Spies, Pinkerton Thugs (edit: Whoops, I think I meant to say Toxic Narcotic...perhaps the first time in history anyone wrote "Pinkerton Thugs" when they meant T.N., etc., etc., I'm looking in your direction) for wearing khakis and 3 button shirts on stage. But in a way, that was more punk than trying to look like an extra in Return of the Living Dead. Remember?

Incidentally, The McVeighs' band name aged worse than any in history, other than the late, great 1914 glam metal band from Rostov-on-Don, Czarism is Here To Stay.

Incidentally, Return of the Living Dead is enjoyable for a sucker like me who manages to both be obsessed with zombies but fearful of blood and gore, and Juwanna Mann is in it.

On to their music: the first two tracks, if memory serves, were inspired by yours truly in some small way.

The first is called "Women Are the Problem," which I apparently said at some point. While I've now been beaten half to death by all these gender studies courses I keep being forced to take by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as part of one of my several plea agreements, I might still say something like that occasionally. It is track #72.

The second song I'm posting is "Third Rail for You," which more or less derives from myself telling a young lass I knew that I should toss her on the "third rail" of Boston's own decrepit MBTA. You know, the one that electrocutes you. I was kidding, I swear. This song has a bit longer of a backstory: there were very briefly plans for me to front a band called The Plug Uglies. We were all going to wear suits and ties. Steve & I even sat down to try to start to write a few songs. One was "Who the Fuck is Mumia Abu Jamal?" inspired by the fact that I'd been handed literature about him and didn't know who he was. Yes, that's how songs get written, at least when I'm involved. I have since learned who Mumia Abu Jamal is, and I'll say this much: (a.) he didn't get a fair trial, due in part to systemic racism and a heavy bias against his radical activism; (b.) he totally did it anyway. Sorry. Track #73.

Long story short, it became apparent after our one recording session that this band wasn't going to work. I wasn't a musician. All I had to do was sing of course, but I think my voice hadn't dropped yet at 16. Not long thereafter, the Lombardies came along, those bastards. I have no recollection as to whether any part of my original lyrics or the original music for that aborted super group actually made it into this version, but I'm going to say a safe guess is no.

The next two songs have nothing to do with me, I swear.

"I Wanna Take Advantage of You Baby" and "Mystery Girls" are my two favorite songs by my ol' friends. Please enjoy. If I recall correctly, "Mystery Girls" is named after a long gone and temporarily minorly famous Cambridge, Mass. based punk radio show (from the 80s, maybe? I can't pretend to have ever heard it). And "I Wanna Take Advantage of You Baby" has led to every member of the band having restraining orders filed against them by everyone, ever. They can be found in positions #74 & #75 on that playlist.

I was never as dedicated to the Lombardies as I was to the previous entity with some of the members and a couple other friends of mine, The Grovers or Grover Clevelands. That is, I went to literally every Grovers show save one, and I didn't do that for the Lombardies. But they were really good. It has only dawned on me in the last few years that they were such a tight band and that actually going for it--at the age of 16-17, for fuck's sake--and recording an album that got pressed and got out there was awesome. So take your National Honor Society and shove it up your ass, losers, and try really accomplishing something for a change. Like coming up with an idea like "Third Rail for You," starting a band, having that band disband because you can't do anything, then having a new one take that idea and make an actual song out of it!!!

LOMBARDIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"My Heart's A Boat in Tow": Alternatively, The Great First Tracks, vol. V: "Ohio River Boat Song" by Palace Music

When it's time from work to go, and in my boat I row, 'cross the muddy Ohio, when the evening light is falling...

There are few songs quite as beautiful as "Ohio River Boat Song," penned by Will Oldham--not for a Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album, not for a Palace Brothers, not for Palace Songs, and not even for Palace. No, this one is for Palace Music, dummies. There aren't many tracks I would use so flowery a word as "majestic," but this surely qualifies. You can listen to Track #70 on the player and find out for yourself. When Dave Eggers dreamed up the title for A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, I'm guessing he must have been listening to what is--in my opinion--Will Oldham's finest moment of many fine moments. Other than his Union Army Lt. General beard circa 1863, displayed above, which would win any finest moment competition, not to mention a Rasputin lookalike content.

Most of the "great first tracks" (in old LP lingo: "track 1, side 1") have, y'know, kind of rocked. This song certainly doesn't rock.* (*Important footnote: Anyone ever heard "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox" by Guided by Voices off Propeller? It begins with a large crowd chanting "GBV! GBV!" It's then followed by this wonderful stage banter: "Is anybody ready to rock? This song does not rock." Anyway, that kind of sums up every indie rock show I've ever been to. But back to the point, huh?)

"Ohio River Boat Song" is a tremendous, slow, brokenhearted track that sets up the remainder of this collection of Palace Music singles perfectly, from "Come In" to "Lost Blues"...and who could ever forget the unforgettably named "Untitled [Live]"?

The lyrics remain powerful even without the music, which is something you can't say for a single Sha-Na-Na song.

When it's time from work to go, a

nd in my boat I row

'cross the muddy Ohio,

when the evening light is falling

And I look towards Floyd's Knobs,

where the afterglories glow

And I dream on two bright eyes with a merry mouth below

She's my beauteous Katerina,

she's my joy and sorrow too

Though I know she is untrue,

oh but I cannot live without her

For my heart's a boat in tow

and I'd give the world to know

If she means to let me go

as I sing the whole day through

Katerina, your lovely hair

has more beauty, I declare

Than all the tresses there

from Smoke Town to Oldham County

Be it black, red, gold, or brown,

let them hang to lengths below

They mean not as much to me

as a melting flake of snow

And her dance is like a gleam

of the sunlight on the stream

And the screeching blue jays seem

to form her name when screaming

But my heart is full of woe,

for last night she made me go

And tears begin to flow

as I sing the whole day through

Whenever I have to write a paper or read something ugly and technical, I think of this song...and when compared to the UCC, it becomes even more lovely. This song has brought some light into dark times, I'll say that much.

Bonnie Prince Billy, ya done good. Track 70 on the imeem player.

But I can't wait for them to lay some drum 'n bass shit on this track someday. That'll be sweet.

"And She Probably Lives in Tahiti": Alternatively, Another Pointless Jay Reatard Comparison

So, Jay Reatard is pretty popular these days, I think. He's one of those very, very few punk rockers whom P*tchf*rk have anointed as being worthy of mention. That's not a surprise, an issue, or the point of this post--I just checked, and they listed the Ramones s/t album as the 23rd best of the 1970s, which even if everyone agrees numbering musical "bests" is pretty hollow, is insane. But they're more into that 70's Can bullshit, which is cool, just not really my cup of tea.

Anyway, Jay Reatard and The Black Lips have been given some attention, and I think that's because of their current indie-cred record labels (Matador (now, at least) and Vice respectively). So, even if you're more on the purely indie tip, you've probably heard of him. His current barrage of singles being released on Matador have been fairly highly spoken of, and there's been several attempts to compare him to those old greats of years gone by. I kind of agree with what seems to be the general sentiment that he sounds more like the English poppy punk bands of the 70s than the Ramones or their successors like The Queers. I've heard his original band sounded a bit more like that, but I've also heard they sucked (unverified...I've never heard them). I've had a friend mention that some of the better solo Jay Reatard tracks would slip into a Buzzcocks or Eater album without skipping a beat, and I think that's true.

But there's another old English punk troubadour that he reminds me of: Wreckless Eric. Or should I say Wreckless Eric! Please click this link to the picture, seriously.

In addition to being a power pop/punk solo artist, I just think they sound a bit alike. Wreckless Eric recorded his most well known material in the late 1970s, and his self title debut released in '78 really did have the cover that the link above leads to.

The first 3 songs are by Jay Reatard: Song #65 is "Nightmares" off 2006's Blood Visions, #66 is "It's So Useless" off 2008's Singles '06-'07 (as odd as that sounds to say), and #67, "Don't Let Him Come," is also off the compilation, which is a cover of Australia's own Go-Betweens.

Then we've got Mr. Wreckless himself. Both of these tracks are off his 1978 self-titled debut album. First, we've got "There Isn't Anything Else," which reminds me a lot of Mssr. Reatard, just a bit less herky jerky. It's track #68.

The second song has less of a kinship, perhaps, but it's the most famous Wreckless Eric song, occasionally appearing on the sountrack of a terrible comedy. It's called "Whole Wide World," #69 on the player, and I think it ranks in a comfortably within my favorite late 70s English power pop songs, along with "Another Girl, Another Planet" by the Only Ones (track #48 on this player), and "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones. Yeah, this song doesn't really fit the whole comparison thing so well, but if I was going to bring up Wreckless Eric, Esq., I had to put up this song.

So yes, there you have it. If we're all about waste of time comparisons between some dude from Tennessee and who he might sort of remind you of or whatever, why not make room for this one?

When I Behave Nobody Cares, When I Behave Badly Nobody Dare...Cross Me...

I felt like capping off the weak by adding a single track that I quite enjoy.

As you may notice, I don't spend too much time posting songs by or thoughts on currently hyped bands that have just dropped records. Plenty of other places do that far better and with far more dedication than I ever would. Besides, the bloggy bloggy hype thing is one of the reasons I secretly hate indie music anyway. For example, Black Kids were never good (sorry), so the recent change of heart by those P*tchf*rk idiots is not remarkable, even though it's all their fault that anyone ever heard of this band. Tapes 'n Tapes are as boring today as the day some asshole reviewer heard their first album and had his world strangely rocked, so the longevity of their popularity remains a mystery, and The Fiery Furnaces--as I have said before--are the worst band in the world.

So I don't really care to comment on just released material, unless I truly cannot control myself. Hence, I will be talking about a track from Islands' newest record Arm's Way, which is already at least 2-3 months old and is not exactly a hot topic. That's how I prefer it, personally.

For those who don't know, Islands is a Montreal band that emerged with 2/3 of The Unicorns, and is currently down to 1/3 of them. Trouble in paradise, you say? I don't know or care, because I don't find musical ensemble soap operas interesting. Chamber music quartets, yes. That being said, the lil' picture of the band I included is not accurate, as at least two of those dudes don't play with them anymore. They have at least two musicians who graduated from McGill's Faculty of Music, so on that count I suppose I should beam with pride.

The song, "I Feel Evil Creeping In" was introduced to me when I saw them live in support of their debut, Return to the Sea a couple of years ago. I thought it might end up as one of those live set songs that the band tires of when they actually get around to making their next record, so I was glad to see it make it's way onto this album, because it was one of the highlights of the show.

Demonstrating the lack of taste of everyone, I don't think this track made much of an impression on most people, which is funny, because it's the best song on the album.

I, on the other hand, love the steady build and the stone cold lyrics disinterestedly delivered.

You can find this song as Track #64--a/k/a the bottom--of the imeem player.