Power Pop Roundup

As my band approaches being ready to record our next album, I find myself dialing up more power-pop records than stoner rock records. Becoming a vinyl nerd means I sometimes miss out because the latter batch of bands revel is gorgeous vinyl, while the former bands tend to be digital and CDs only, with a couple exceptions here and there.

Spotify has been a good friend here, as I use the Similar Artist feature to lead me down the rabbit hole. I don't even remember what artist started it this time around, but here's some of the good jangly- guitar rock I have been digging lately.

Crash Through or Crash by Shake Some Action! Yes the exclamation point is in the band name. I like that. The album cover even hints at a Rickenbacker like mine. You can hear the chimey guitars right from the start. This is classic sounding, soaring power pop. The vocals remind me of Jagger in spots; second track "The Only Way Is Up" has a verse that says "Am I fast enough? Am I some slow enough?" on and on. What Stones song was that? "Miss You." Anyway, this is my favorite of the batch.




Melody Records by The Mylars. This is more modern sounding. Great vocals and great melodies.  And a pretty cool cover of The Cars' let's go. These guys are opening for Rick Springfield and that's a pretty cool comparison.  The vocals remind me a TON of some band I listened to in college. Wakeland comes to mind, but there is somebody else. These cats are really good. I'd love to open for them. I followed them on Instagram and they followed us back. I should hit them up.

Welcome Aboard: by The On and Ons. More of a retro 60s feel here. Sounds like a band that plays on Little Steven's Underground Garage that I would need to look up immediately so I didn't forget. Or if The Wonders kept going for a bit more than one record. They appear to be from Australia, so I probably won't ever see them. At least we have the internet!

Crybaby by Danny De La Matyr. I am never gonna completely remember this guys name. But that's alright, I'll buy the record and that will be fine. More chill than the others here. Rainy day power-pop. A bit more produced, like in the Jon Brion-vein. His voice reminds me of somebody too. Memory is failing.





Scenery For Dreamers by Daniel Wylie's Cosmic Rough Riders. And I thought my band name was a mouthful. Crunchy guitars over Americana-y vocals. Internet tells me these guys are taking a hiatus. That's too bad they are very cool.

Tear Your Minds Wide Open! by The Galileo 7. Another retro sounding outfit. They sound British. Yep Kent. I guess their name comes from a Star Trek episode so you have to add BAND when searching for them. Worth the effort.

Favorite Non-Heavy Records of 2015

Yesterday was the heavy records, meaning metal, stoner rock, doom,  psychedelic, etc etc. Today I am going to do the comparatively mellower stuff. So this will be power pop, indie rock, alt country and that sort of thing.

The way I cull these down to ten is by thinking "If I could only listen to ten from 2015, which would they be?" So with that as the basis I narrow it down. I'd rather have this than that, even though I really like that.

Again, no order to these. Scratch that. My #1 of the album actually isn't on the list, because it is my band Braddock Station Garrison's album: A Hint of Recognition. Shameless self promotion. In fact, unlike the other list, these are bands that I would love to open for. In fact, we have played with one of them before!

The Dark Beautiful Sun by William Duke: Jangle-pop goodness. Has a real Byrds' flavor, if they stuck to playing their poppy stuff. Opening track "The Golden Ring" has a tempo change in the middle that I swear I am going to steal.

1989 by Ryan Adams: Sure, it is his Taylor Swift cover album, but that doesn't stop it from being amazingly good. I have a lot of respect for Taylor Swift. This album shows that she is a good song-writer; a cover can be well done and interesting, but the song needs to be strong or the whole thing falls apart. Ryan just puts his stamp on each of the songs, and it works. When Taylor decides to record a stripped down record, Ryan Adams should be behind the board.

Laugh In The Dark by Tommy Keene: I took my guitar player Tom to see him at Iota and he was impressed. The song-writing is just a clinic. Every track, both old and new, was fantastic. Tommy's new record is more of the same. Just great power pop songs, perfectly written and executed. I tried desperately to get on the bill when he played Iota, but to no avail.

Parking Lot Regrets by The Silverites: Disclaimer, these guys are friends. But that doesn't stop them from making the list. Again, great melodic, smart power pop songs.  Out of all the bands we play with, they are the ones I hate to follow, because it is damn hard to be as good as they were. That said, I will play with them any time, any where.

Lessons From A Shooting Star by Rene Bo: I heard this guy on a Swedish power-pop podcast that my band was honored to be included on. The thing about power-pop is that when it's done well, it really affects me musically. It makes me want to pick up a guitar and play, and write, and borrow. HA! And hearing this makes me want to write songs.

Monterey Canyon by John McAteer and Gentleman Firesnakes: Disclaimer 2, John is a friend from high school. And if his band ever got out of Little Rock and played DC I would beg to play with them. This record has a bunch more keyboards on it; has a positive 80s vibe to it.  John has a very strong vocal style that works very well with the songs. And the songs, they are great!

Earthquakes & Tidal Waves by Dot Dash: Another local band that I think are just great. These guys have an edge to them more than the others, power-pop mixed with punk in a good way, not in a cheesy Green Day way. They were the other band on the bill with Tommy Keene I was desperate to get on to, to no avail.

Kintsugi by Death Cab For Cutie: Knowing that Ben Gibbard broke up with Zooey Deschanel, you can hear where that seeps into the songs.  When it was about to come out, I read interviews where he said this would be a different DCFC album and fans might not dig it. That is true, but if you don't like it, then you really aren't interested in seeing the band evolve. It's not a drastic evolution; it feels natural for them.

California Nights by Best Coast: This record I was most torn about putting on my list, because it is very simple lyrically.  One of the things I like about the other records is that they are all smart. Clever. That isn't happening here, and that is not meant to be a swipe at them. It is what it is. But the music and the melodies and the performances are fantastic. I keep coming back to this record because it's great to listen too.

The Traveler by Rhett Miller: This record was the last to make the list and had to fight it's way out of a very good crop. But Rhett always does great stuff. Another of his power-pop records he gets to make when not with the Old 97s. It's more of that and it's just plain good.

Beauty & Ruin

Reinvention has it's place. Where many critics will chastise an act for not growing, I am not fond of change for change's sake (nor am I critic, but that is a different matter). I wrote just yesterday that if you find your groove and the songs continue to be high caliber, you should stick to it.

Take Bob Mould. His last record, Silver Age, was one of my favorites from 2012. It was a straight-forward noisy power pop record. It wouldn't be surprising if he changed things up again, exploring the darker side of things Black Sheets of Rain style or even going more electronic. But Bob Mould has other things on his mind. Namely, it's the death of his father and of his own mortality. His new record Beauty & Ruin deals with that life change.

Musicially, "Low Season" starts off as a slow burn, it's deliberate pacing giving way to the punk kick of "Little Glass Pill," which segues into the Sugar-infused "I Don't Know You Anymore." His band of Jason Narducy and Jon Wurster is top shelf.

But the lyrics bite. Take the last of those three tracks: A thousand pieces of my heart/Swept across a weathered floor/And no idea how to start/Solving puzzles from before. Side 1 of the record is labeled "beauty" but beauty is hard to find here. Take side closer "The War:" And all these songs I write for you/They tear me up, it's not hard to do/Listen to my voice/It's the only weapon I kept from the war."

The second side, titled "ruin," is where the light begins to shine. Surrounding the Replacements-esque "Hey Mr. Grey" (complete with a kids don't follow reference), it flickers through songs like "Forgiveness" (and it's Brick-In-The-Wall guitar intro), "Tomorrow Morning" and "Let The Beauty Be" before coming to a close with "Fix It" where Bob sings it's time to fill your heart with love/Fix it, fix it, full enough/Time to fix who you are."

Bob Mould's homosexuality undoubtedly caused whatever friction, whatever distance he and his father had in their relationship. This album sounds like catharsis. It sounds like closure after the fact. I don't know the back story, I don't know anything about what Bob's mindset is here, but the music shows a broken relationship's turmoil. It shows an artist dealing with heavy shit. And for a master songwriter like Bob Mould it's a powerful listening experience.

Aimee Mann and Gord Downie Side Projects

Aimee Mann has long been a favorite songwriter of mine. After Til Tuesday, who were a fine 80s band in their own right, she made two outstanding power-pop solo records: Whatever and I'm With Stupid. If you watched Melrose Place (I didn't) you probably heard "That's Just What You Are" off the latter record. She also got a lot of exposure doing songs for P.T. Anderson's Magnolia, a movie that was written with Aimee Mann in mind, and which featured all the characters in the movie singing "Wise Up." The rest of her solo output has been good but not great. Her 2012 record Charmer is probably the best of the post-Magnolia output.

Now she has teemed up with Ted Leo to form The Both. Ted Leo is considered an indie alternative (whatever that means) artist but labels aside he's a singer/songwriter. I never really got into him that much, but after hearing this record, I should give him another shot. The Both is a great collection of power pop gems. Mann is on bass and Leo on guitar and they take turns on the lead vocals. Both sound great, but it's even better when they harmonize. At first glance it seems to be a trifle, just a one-off side project of two established artists having fun, but the songs are so well written and so well played it isn't fair to dismiss it as such. My two favorite are "Milwaukee" and "Pay For It," both of which bounce along merrily with great melodies, clever lyrics and super production. What I like best is that Mann has never had a guitar player working with her as intense as Ted Leo. His playing makes the songs roar to life. They are playing the 930 Club on Friday night and I am hoping to go.

My most favorite band on the planet not named Rush is also Canadian: The Tragically Hip. I have written about them extensively before (here and here and here) so my admiration is well known. Their singer is the amazing Gord Downie. He has mellowed out a bit as he has gotten older, but he is still one of the most mesmerizing performers I have ever seen. He seems to go into a trance when singing. Hip shows are always an amazing experience.

He has just released a collaboration with fellow Canadians The Sadies called Gord Downie, The Sadies And The Conquering Sun. The Sadies are another band I never quite got into; they were always a bit more eclectic than I had patience for. I was honestly surprised when I heard about this record. Downie has done a few solo records himself, all of them interesting but all of them again eclectic and therefore not as interesting to me as Hip records. The fact that he was making a record with another band was a bit disconcerting. What about the Hip? Why does Gord feel like he needs to work with another band? Are they breaking up! GACK!!

Hopefully a break-up isn't imminent. For the time being, to get a Gord fix, this will have to do. The best track is the kick-off track "Crater." Noisy and gritty guitars drive the tune. "Los Angeles Times" is a nice mid-tempo number with a good Clarence White-esque guitar solo at the end. Ltrically it's typical Gord Downie; sort of weird, sort of obtuse, sort of rambling but clever in every way. If this was a Hip record it would be a good Hip record, but not as good as the classics.  Perhaps Gord just wanted a break from his band; collaborating with old friends and seeing what happens. I hope he doesn't forget where home is.

Here's the FANTASTIC video for the FANTASTIC "Milwaukee" by The Both:

And not quite fantastic but still extremely cool, here's "Crater" by Gord Downie and The Sadies.

Singin the (Transgender Dysphoria) Blues

A good record is a good record.

Sometimes I feel obligated to buy a band's record simply because I really liked their previous record or records. That can get a bit expensive and start to occupy a lot of real estate. The four crates full of CDs that cannot fit into my lone remaining CD rack are testament to that. With Spotify I have become more discriminating in what I actually buy. And since I only buy vinyl now, (NERD!) which is more costly than CDs, I need to be even more vigilant.

Against Me! are a sort of punk band that I was sort-of aware of.  I was never really into that scene or style, though a few songs I heard through RockBand I thought catchy enough to download for the video game. Their current claim to fame is that band leader Tom Gabel is now Laura Jane Grace. Her gender dysphoria has been a source of pain for her. She's in the process of fixing that. Good for her. I admit I don't understand it but it isn't for me to understand. She is still a person and she needs to do what she thinks is best for her.

That gender dysphoria and Grace's struggle with it is also the inspiration for Against Me!'s new record Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Emotional turmoil makes for great art, and Against Me!, a band I never really thought too much about, have gone and made one of the best records of 2014 (so far). It's a short record, around 30 minutes. It gets in, it kicks ass, it leaves. No hanging around beyond the prescribed time. Ten well-written, well-played songs. Mostly fast, mid-tempo in the middle, a slow-burner acoustic track near the end before going out with a bang.

It doesn't make me want to go back and get their other records. What I recognize here is the growth of the band. I know those other records and they are what they are. Real fans of Against Me!, of which I do not claim to be, appear to be not as enamored with the new record as with older ones. How much of that is due to Miss Grace and her struggles? Probably some. Musically though, the record is a step away from previous records. Less punk, much more power-poppy, but still with a snarl.

The anthemic title track opens things like a call to arms, followed by the rocking and catchy as hell "The Trans Soul Rebel." "Unconditional Love" has a fantastic sing-along bridge. Song title of the year may start and end with "Osama Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ." It also happens to be a nifty track with a cool little Cars-esque guitar run weaving in the depths. Side two opens with a great, straight-forward guitar riff in the song title of the year runner-up "fuckmylife666." Outrage gives way turmoil. Look at the song titles. Those are followed by "Dead Friend" and "Two Coffins." Resignation seems imminent. The album ends with "Paralytic States" and "Black Me Out." These final tracks do not represent giving up, nor are they a final howl on the way down. It's recognition of who Laura Jane Grace is. It is acceptance of that. Maybe the most difficult thing she ever had to do was accept who she really was; why does it need to be difficult for us to accept who she is?

Here they are doing "fuckmylife666" on Letterman. Not surprisingly, Dave does not say the name of the song.

You Were Right, It Has Been A While

After doing so many posts counting down my favorite records of 2013 I decided to take a little time off from writing. Well, that is not quite true. It was not an active or conscious decision. I simply did not feel like it. These things happen. Let us move on.

One of the records that came late in the year was You Were Right by Brendan Benson. He is a great songwriter whose records usually find their way onto my year-end list. Last year's What In The World did rightly make my list. This one did not, but that doe snot mean it is not a great record. I believe its failure to arrive on my list is more indicative of my harder-edged leanings this year than anything else.

You Were Right is technically less a proper album than a collection of singles he released through the year. Under that paradigm you would expect the record to sound disjointed but You Were Right does not. Instead it is concessive, strong, and while not quite as outstanding as What In The World it is still very very good.

Most folks who have heard of Benson know of him from The Raconteurs with Jack White, but Benson is one of the best power-poppers around. So that means his songs are catchy, well-written and especially clever. For this record he enlists the help of The Posies' Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow.

But like any good power pop record it is the songs that speak loudest. The vibe of the songs is especially 70s-esque, especially the slinky "Diamond." It is founded along a strumming acoustic guitar before a twitchy electric guitar line slides in guiding the tune through. "Long Term Goal" has a kind of full-bottomed pop vibe with nice reverb-y guitar chords.  "I Don't Want To See You Anymore" uses horns and chiming guitars to set up the melancholy of the song. These are just examples. I will not go into a song by song analysis. I am not good at that. I am feeling that it is regrettable I could not find a place for this record on the list. But there are only ten spots and what can you do? This is a great, mellower offering from one of the best songwriters nobody has heard of.

Here's "Diamond."

Old Favorites: Living Room Scene

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope everybody has a great holiday, eats a ton, and then hits the gym tomorrow!!

I am going to debut a new feature and I am calling it "Old Favorites." Three guesses as to what it means. You...in the back...what's that you say? CORRECT! Here I will be talking about old records that happen to be favorites of mine yet maybe haven't been played for a while.

For this inaugural post, I am listening to Living Room Scene by the late, great Dillon Fence. They are a four-piece out of North Carolina who toured the East coast extensively in the early to mid-90s. They never got any national exposure, except for a brief mention in a Rolling Stone cover story about Hootie and the Blowfish. Regardless of that, they were one of my most favorite bands whilst in college. Their sound in kind of typical alternative power-pop from those days. Hootie was one of the bands they were "associated" with; they and other bands from the North Carolina and South Carolina power-pop scene had supposedly made an agreement to take some of them on tour if they ever made it big. Hootie did so they took Dillon Fence with them. That's nice.

Dillon Fence only made three full length records, the mellow-ish Rosemary, the harder edged Outside In, and their swan-song Living Room Scene. I probably like OI slightly better than LRS, but this was the one that first got me into them. The music is earth-shattering but it is really well done. Lead singer and guitarist Greg Humphreys was the soul of the band; his voice is very reminiscent of a rockier, Faces-era Rod Stewart.

I first saw them when they opened for The Connells, another North Carolina favorite, at old WUST Hall, which is now known as the New 930 Club, though it's been there nearly 20 years now. WUST Hall didn't have many rock shows there back then. The configuration was pretty much the same as the 930 is now, but it was much dingier. The coolest part was there were murals of Baptist revivals on the walls. Back then, the U Street Corridor in DC was much more sketchy than it is now. Going down there for college kids was a bit of a dangerous thrill. We didn't know any better.

After LRS came out the band went through a bunch of members. Bassist Chris Goode left to go back to school or something, then guitarist Kent Alphin left to form Granger. Drummer Scott Carle stuck around. I saw the original line-up just once, though I wound up seeing their various incarnations about five times. I remember seeing them at old old 930 Club and meeting the band in the long hallway leading to the club. What was most cool was how happy they were to see me and my friend Eric wearing our Dillon Fence tee shirts. They were genuinely happy about it. I remember seeing them at at the old Bayou in Georgetown where we got to hang out with them for a while after the show. I also saw drummer Scott Carle as a roadie for The Connells and was very excited he remembered us and talked with us for a while. They were very nice guys but seemed bummed about not making it big.

I still spin the old Dillon Fence records, and my LRS tee-shirt is one of my oldest and rattiest but I still like wearing it. Here's the title track; hope you enjoy it!

Power Pop Round-Up

Here's a round-up of some of the power poppy kind of records I have added to the collection the last few months.

One of the records my lovely wife got me for my recent birthday is the latest from Scottish power poppers Attic Lights, Super De Luxe.  The best in Scottish power-pop has always been Teenage Fanclub, whose drummer Francis Macdonald handles production duty here. The band is kind of large, three guitarists not including one of the vocalists who also handles keyboards. All those guitars don't make for a Lynryd Skynyrd sounding album, instead we get a great bunch of 3 minute tunes. Very classic sounding Raspberries kind of power-pop. Album opener Say You Love Me sounds a bit too much like Weezer, but second track "Future Bound" has one of those choruses that make you jump. "Hit And Miss" and "Orbison" and album closer "Gabrielle" are the rest of the best of a really good set of smartly written songs.

Someone Still Love You Boris Yeltsin is an interesting band from Missouri. I first saw them when they were first on a bill with Two Door Cinema Club and somebody else who I already forgot. I have this feeling it was somebody I actually like quite a bit, but I am just spacing out on it right now. Anyway I liked them quite a bit and wound up leaving with their t-shirt. They do this jittery, lo-fi kind of power-pop.  Their new record is called Fly By Wire and it is OK. The production is a little hollow sounding, a real 80s British vibe permeates the record. The vocals are up in the high registers. Most power-pop doesn't need to be deep, but this is a bit more trifling than most. My head didn't really turn until we got to "Ms. Dot" at the end of the first side. It is a really nice, Shins-y number with a nice acoustic guitar line that lilts along. Second side openers "Loretta" and "Unearth" are nice mid-tempo numbers that bounce along. The record has the lyrics printed within gatefold of the record; I wonder why they felt compelled to do that. The lyrics aren't particularly deep, especially when compared to Attic Lights; they are the cryptic variety, back of the high-school notebook kind of stuff. One very cool thing is the vinyl disc itself; it's half red and half white and smeared in the middle thing so that when it rotates it wobbles. Very cool looking but it gives me a bit of a belly ache.

I heard of Big Eyes through a tweet from Dischord Records. They mentioned having CD copies of their latest record Almost Famous. I listened to a few tracks on Spotify and immediately found the record on Amazon (Dischord was out of vinyl). It has a harder vibe; when I shared it with my band-mate Patrick he mentioned I tend to like the crunchier, louder, more punky kind of power-pop. A buddy in college once told me the same thing, where he liked his power pop mellower and cleaner while I went the rough and teetering out of control kind. Lots of great tracks on this record, all of which would be perfect on Little Steven's Underground Garage: "Ain't Nothing But The Truth," "A Matter Of Time," "Nothing You Can Say," "You Ain't The Only One" might not have the best grammar but they have killer hooks. The record kind of blends into one another but it's hard and fast and gets in and out. Hey, that sounds dirty.

Lastly for tonight, we have Destroy This Place. I read about these guys in The Onion, where they and an article about good ways to market your band. I guess it worked because I checked them out and bought the record! Again, very noisy, fast, hooky, but with great singing and great harmonies. Great singing in that it fits perfectly with the vibe, not just screaming or yelling along but using the voice as part of the rock. Reminds me of bands like Heavy Into Jeff, bands I found hidden away in the Not Lame catalog and described as heavier Cheap Trick and Sweet.  Kind of Replacements-ish without the worry they might pass out at any moment. Bunch of really good tracks here: "Tight Sleeves," "Absorb You," "Born With Guitars In Our Hands," "Like Mice" and the killer album closer "Ghost Ride The Lightning."

Stories from the Studio

If you LIKE my band on Facebook, then you probably know that a couple weekends ago I spent about 18 hours at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington VA. This was easily one of the coolest, most entertaining weekends of my life.

My band has gotten to the point where we felt it was time to do some serious recording. Our demos, which as of this writing are still at our ReverbNation site, were done in Tom's basement by us. They sound pretty good, but we wanted to have something that sounded great, done by a real producer in a real studio. A lot of this was vanity. Like I have said before we don't have any delusions about quitting our day job. Music for us is a fun way to express our creativity and let off some steam. The experience of working at a real live recording studio was something that excited us all.

We were originally supposed to work with TJ Lipple. He was on the roster of Inner Ear producers, actually had a website, and produced a record by Boris Milic I wound up buying a couple days later when serendipitously seeing a show at the Rock n Roll Hotel. This seemed sort of like karma, so I emailed him and we exchanged messages and agreed on a date to meet at the studio just to get to know one another. The entire band came out and we met and talked and hung out for a good 90 minutes at the studio. We went away with a settled date and feeling confident that TJ would do a great job.

The first name on the list was Don Zientara. He owned and ran the studio and was the engineer for a ton of great DC hardcore and straight edge bands like Bad Brains, The Dismemberment Plan, Minor Threat, and all of the Fugazi records. When I saw his name I laughed, thinking "yeah, that guy will want to do our little record." I actually got a call from Don a few days after I sent the deposit check in. I wasn't going to answer the ring but it was a local Virginia number. "Hi this is Don from Inner Ear! Just wanted to say we got your check and are looking forward to you guys coming in!" I think I was kind of in shock. He seemed like a really nice fellow and I was looking forward to possibly meeting him at the studio.

Fate would step in. Maybe a month before we were to record TJ wrote that his wife reminded him of a prior commitment on the date we had arranged. He said we could either move the date or he could find another producer for us. We liked the date so TJ kindly went to find some one new for us to work with. A day or two later I get an email saying Don would work the board for us. Don Zientara, the guy who worked on this. And this. And this. And this.

At first I admit I was a bit intimidated. Mainly because I thought what would he think of our songs. My neighbor Steve had done recording at Inner Ear and said Don was cool and just another guy. So intimidation turned to real excitement, knowing we were going to work with a guy who had worked on some sensational albums. Like with TJ, we met up with Don a couple weeks before hand. We found him very personable and friendly. He asked if we had our demos with us, so I pulled out my iPhone. He seemed to dig the music and we parted all looking forward to recording.

So studio day came and we were all pretty psyched. Don had told us to bring everything we had and I pretty much did that. Even my acoustic guitar in case the spirit moved us. The drums took a while to get set up right because you have to microphone them just so. Don actually kicked us out of the room so that he and the intern Nick could finish the job without us milling about. So we hung out in the lounge and ate cookies and drank French press coffee that Mike the drummer brought. Every now and then Don would summon one of us so that he could test the levels. When it was my turn he had set up baffles around the amps so there wasn't too much room to spare. After about two hours we were ready to start playing.

The room itself was divided into two sections. The far end was where the drum kit was set up with around 11 microphones carefully set up. The room bottlenecks in the middle before expanding again and that is where the other three of us were set up. It was kind of cramped but not bad at all. A window looked into the control room where all the cool recording tools were. This wasn't just a guy tapping a keyboard, though there were computers and monitors, but a big giant control board with 30 some tracks available. It was very impressive, and looking at it was pretty much like reading Greek. There were chairs on a raised area behind the board so we could watch as Don fiddle about with controls.

The recording itself was a great experience. We did 6 songs in one day, averaging about 3 takes per song. We did a guide vocal track as we played to help keep the time but those vocals were naturally tossed out and we re-did them after clearing out the room of all our gear. I took maybe 2 or three tries per song; one gave me a particular hard time because I had to sing pretty high. Don did a neat trick where he would tell me to sing just the chorus on one pass and on another to sing just the verse. This allowed him to mix it together and not have me fighting for breathe in between.

It was all good-humored and fun. There was zero tension. For my part I took to Don's suggestions without any argument. At one point he said "Good, I like compliance!" I feel we were pretty easy to work with and we didn't obsess over every little point. None of the oh-I-missed-a-note-there stuff. It wasn't absolutely perfect, but we didn't need it to be. Nor could we afford it to be. I can easily see how it can take a year to make Hotel California where you just start obsessing over things, tinkering constantly to iron out the performance.

After 10 plus hours we broke for the day. Tom and I were coming back the next day to do the mix. Patrick and Mike had family duties to attend to. Afterwards Tom and me and Patrick went for beers and dinner at Hard Times. We all enthused about how fun it was, how good it seemed to go, and how much fun it was to work with a real pro like Don.

The mixing process was interesting. It was here we really got to tweak the songs. He sort of level-setted the first track and instructed us to start fiddling. Tom and I thought it sounded great and were hesitant to start but after a bit we got into it. We agreed that his solos needed to be brought up so that took center-stage at the right point. For one song I did start fretting over my guitar tone. I had a specific sound in my head and me being an amateur I couldn't really describe it. Finally Don says to be "do you want more bass, mid-range? More treble?" I didn't know what I wanted, so I just said "I want it to sound Black Sabbath-y." Don nodded and said "mid-range." He turned the knob and there it was...the opening chord to "Iron Man." Funny that the most romantic song in our repertoire, the most overt love song, is the one I wanted to sound like Tony Iommi. HA!! The best part was when Don turned to me at one point and complimented me on my singing. What an awesome thrill!

We took about 2 hours per song and were really happy eith what we had. Don put it on flash drives we had brought and also did a very rough master so that we would have something to listen to before we had it officially mastered. TJ was going to do this for us. Tom and I left with CDs for the car ride home and were both ecstatic with the results, even though they weren't finished yet.

So as of this writing the tracks are with the master engineer, who in our case is TJ. He also said some nice things when he listened to them. Hopefully by Early August we will have some real CD-ready songs for you to enjoy!

If you want to se photographic evidence, I recommend checking out our Facebook page. I have a whole album of pictures there! And be sure to LIKE US!!

Sunday On The Town

Looking for something interesting to do? Have I got a suggestion for you!! Come see my band, Braddock Station Garrison, do its thing at The Black Squirrel. This is a very cool place located in the heart of Adams Morgan on 18th Street in Washington DC, just down the street from where Jimi Hendrix did a five-night residency in 1967. History!!

The Black Squirrel has some of the tastiest burgers in town along with one of the slickest beer menus around. Plus it's an intimate little place to see a show. And did I mention it is FREE. As in NO COVER CHARGE! As in come on in, plop down have a burger and a beer (or three) and enjoy the free music!

We go on around about 9pm, so don't be late!! There's a public parking just around the corner, which we highly recommend if you are not cabbing or Metro-ing down. Come on down early to hang out!

Here's our sweet-ass flyer! Come on down and tell us how good it looks!!

So You Want To Be A Rock n Roll Star

This song sums up my feelings for today!

Hope to see you tonight!!

Never Tell Me The Odds

When I was in college I was a power pop-aholic. Anything with jangly guitars and great harmonies and hooky melodies and I was all over it. When I graduated and found a job and started earning, for me at the time, real money, I discovered the Not Lame catalog. This was a mail-order outfit that specialized in power pop. I loved going through the catalog and reading reviews that went like this: "If you like x then you are SURE to like y!" This was a paper catalog and while the internet was starting to get steam, there were not any samples to listen to online, so it was a token of faith. So CDs from bands like The Tories and The Mockers and Stonecake and This Perfect Day and Blue Van Gogh and The Mockingbirds all showed up. Rarely was I disappointed.

One of the bands I loved dearly was Canada's Odds. They stood out because they wrote catchy songs and had a unique vocal sound but they were also extremely clever in their lyrics writing. Their best record, in your chronicler's humble opinion, was 1994's Good Weird Feeling. Great tracks like "Heaven's Radio," "Truth Untold," "The Last Drink" and "Anybody Else With Me" (really there are no bad tracks on this record) make it stand up even when it's...gulp...20 years old.

In the late 90s the band went their separate ways. In the mid 2000s they reformed under the name The New Odds...some legal issues got the name held up. That record was....OK. Just yesterday I downloaded their new EP, The Most Beautiful Place On Earth, recording under the Odds name. Gone is Steve Drake (replaced by a fellow who's name I already forget...wait lemme look it up...Murray Atkinson) but Craig Northey and Doug Elliott and Pat Steward remain. The new EP is....OK. The songs aren't as memorable, though the first cut "Anything You Want" has that classic Odds sound. I can't really describe it, but like any good band, Odds have a deliberate feel, a vibe to their music. It helps that Craig Northey's voice has a distinctive nasal quality. The voice is part of what makes it OK. Maybe it's the production or maybe it's the obvious, but Craig sounds old, weary. The voice doesn't soar like it used to. Perhaps I am being mean. I am going to stop. If you like good power pop then you should download this...it's only $5. If you are an Odds fan then you most definitely get this it will make you happy.

I couldn't find any links to stuff off the new EP, so here's "Heaven's Radio" from 1994. The quality is poor but the song is still super awesome.

Shameless Self Promotion!!

You probably know that I have my own band called Braddock Station Garrison. We are a little bit power pop, little bit Americana, but a whole lotta rock n roll. We have been working on our demos for a looooong time now, and I am very happy to announce that they can be listened to and downloaded at our ReverbNation site. So, PLEASE, come check them out!

Tell your friends to listen to California Specific!

Tell your family to listen to Maria With Child!

Tell that girl you have a crush on to listen to Zero Confidence Level!

Tell that girl breaking your heart to listen to A Lot To Ask!

Speaking on behalf of Tom and Mike and Patrick, we are very proud and grateful for the support! Let us know what you think!!

Obligatory Buys

There are some bands that I will always buy their new record. As a fan I think it is important to continue showing support. Plus my music habit is close to a drug addiction, so it is a nice way of providing cover.

Some of the albums were really good...some were kind of meh.

Mirage Rock by Band Of Horses - I do not like their last two records as much as I liked their first two records. I sense a negative trend. The last two have been more by-the-numbers...less interesting.

The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind by Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds' solo stuff has always been sort of dull, especially when compared to his work with his eponymous band. The song writing here is not as great as the original three BFF records. Not a disappointment here; it is good to hear Ben playing with Darren Jesse and Robert Sledge again. They seem to bring out the best in Ben.

Algiers by Calexico - Best way to describe Calexico is if an alt-country band did the soundtrack for a spaghetti western. This one would probably have been in my top 20 if I thought that hard about it.

One Lovely Day by Citizen Cope - Clarence Greenwood writes great songs. This is another solid entry into his discography. Mellowish R&B-flavored singer-songwriter stuff.

Walking In The Green Corn by Grant Lee Phillips - Grant Lee Buffalo was an amazing band and their leader has turned in some greta solo records since he went solo. He is mellowing with age. Unfortunately it is not as interesting a sit used to be.

Love Is The Plan, The Plan Is Death by James Blackshaw - Young British 12-string acoustic player. Makes great instrumental albums with scary titles. Has experimented with more instrumentation, be it strings or keys or what. Still really pretty music.

Bringing In The Darlings by Josh Ritter - Great singer-songwriter with a new EP. This one is kind of meh.

The Dreamer by Rhett Miller - Kind of growing on me since I saw the Old 97s live.

Point Of Morrow by The Shins - I really liked this when it first came out. Still like it but it dropped out of the top 10.

Among The Leaves by Sun Kil Moon - Mark Kozelek's latest is sort of inert. I just don't dig this one.

Now For Plan A by The Tragically Hip - My second most favorite band on Earth and their latest is just sort of meh. I have thought that for the last couple of records but I eventually came around on them. Maybe I will here!

Tomorrow I will talk about my favorite metal albums of the year! YEAH!

Favorite Albums of 2012 - Number 2

Rock and roll is the proverbial young-mans-game. Slogging through a tour, night after night, eating garbage, sleeping little, wearing dirty clothes, sitting around all day waiting to play for anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes looks like it would be drag for someone old and tired like me. When my band does a show it is exhilarating, but I think doing it every night for three months would get taxing. Unless you are the Rolling Stones and fly around in your own jet and stay at the Plaza, but any life out of a suitcase even if you are Mick Jagger can get tiring.

Bob Mould - Silver Age

Bob Mould is 52 years old. He became known as the front man for Hüsker Dü, went solo for a bit, did Sugar, did more solo, became a DJ, came out as gay somewhere in there, then did this record, the best guitar pop record of the year. If you heard Sugar before then you know what is happening on this record. Last year he did a guest spot on the Foo Fighters record and it must have re-awakened the loud guitarist in Bob because this record just roars. It comes out firing and just doesn't stop. Thirty-eight minutes of power pop heaven. Bob has only a handful of tour dates in 2013 and that is sad because I would love to see him do this record on the road. But then again, he is 52 and he paid his dues with the Dü, so maybe we should appreciate him taking it easy. He's doing a bunch of shows in Australia and that isn't too bad.

Here's the lead track "Star Machine." It is in a word frakkinawesome.

Up next: Steve unveils his number one record of 2012. He is pretty sure you have NOT heard of it.

Favorite Albums of 2012 - Number 4

For me, a great album is made up of great songs, and great songs are made up of great songwriting. OK, I guess that is fairly obvious, but good song-writing is hard to find. There are plenty of records that are full of just uninteresting song-writing. For example, last night I saw Tegan & Sara open for The Killers. Tegan & Sara seemed like very nice people who I am sure would be pleasant to share a cup of coffee with, and their songs were relatively pleasant, but the quality of writing left me wanting. I underdtand they are infinitely more successful than I could ever hope let alone expect to be. But I felt the songs were too strangely structured. They ended in odd places and in odd ways. They had some really cool moments but the songs never really seemed to feel fully formed. It's one thing to explore beyond verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus but T&S aren't Yes.

Brendan Benson - What Kind Of World

That is an odd way to get to my number 4 favorite album of the year: Brendan Benson's What Kind Of World. The connection leading to this record is that Brendan is an AMAZING songwriter. A great pop songwriter. Catchy, melodic, lyrically clever, constantly have my head bobbing up and down. He as good as it gets.

If you listen pop radio, you have probably heard him, though it was not anything on this album or any of his previous solo records. He has had exposure the last few years as part of The Raconteurs with Jack White. In fact, Brendan is doing most of the singing on those records, not Jack White. This particular record came out the same day as Jack's record Blunderbuss. I wrote about that earlier in the year and I stand by my belief that Brendan's record is superior in every regard. Jack's record is too fussy, too all over the place. WKOW is straight-forward power pop, but without any sameness. That's a tough balancing act: to make a record that flows effortlessly but is not locked into the same groove. And THAT is a tribute to Brendan's great songwriting ability.

Here's "Keep Me" which is not even the best song on the record.

Up next: my favorite band ever continues to make great records.

Favorite Albums of 2012 - Number 5

I once owned a Rickenbacker 6-string. I had ordered a green one but instead a mapleglo one showed up. At first I was sad and figured I would have to send it back. But after two seconds of looking at it I was in love. What a great guitar. I got to play it live once when I did a solo show at a shitkicker of a club out in Centreville. I sold it about...6 or 7 tears ago, figuring I was never going to be in a band and might as well let it go to a good home. I sold it through craigslist. One of the dumber things I have ever done. I miss the hell out of that guitar.

I speak of Rickenbackers because the latest record from Gentleman Jesse features a pretty fireglo on the cover. Ricks, especially the 12-string model, have that beautiful and unique chimey sound. Think mid-80s REM and Elvis Costello. I bought an Italia Rimini 12-string because I didn't want to spend so much on a Rick. It's a great little guitar, fantastic value and I love it, but it ain't no Rickenbacker.

I am off on a long tangent, because ostensibly this is about number 5 on my list of favorite records of 2012, and that would be Leaving Atlanta by the aforementioned Gentleman Jesse. It's a great power-pop record, VERY late 70s and early 80s Elvis Costello sounding. It has that Rickenbacker chime I adore all over it. What's happening on this record is just straight ahead power pop. Fast catchy numbers. No slow ballads in the bunch, though a couple mid-tempo songs. It's great songwriting in support of a fun summertime record. A minute in and you will likely be bopping your head or tapping your toe along with the beat. Great songs played great will always have a place on my iPod.

Here's "You Give Me Shivers" done live and featuring that gorgeous Rickenbacker.

Next up....a solo record overshadowed by a more well-known band member, though the less known guy's record is 100 times better than the well known guy. Make sense?

PS...I might slip in a concert review because Jodi and I are seeing The Killers tonight. It will ruin the symmetry of the postings but whatever.

Favorite Albums of 2012 - Number 6

Pop music has been taken over by the likes of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber and the new assemblage of boy bands. That is all well and good. Pop music leans towards the lowest common denominator; in order to sell records you have to reach the most people and to do that you need to offend or alienate the least amount of people. Guitar bands aren't really found much at the top of the charts, except you're the Foo Fighters and they pretty get to be there because pop has to have one guitar band it likes. But their are plenty of bands with guitars that are making great records that have a space where they exist and get heard.

Nude Beach - II

After running he gamut of grunge to psych to prog to alt country, we come to indie rock band Nude Beach. Their latest record is called II and is a short little record. Ten songs of 60s inspired American garage rock; it gets in and gets out. It's not particularly deep or thought-provoking, but that's perfectly fine! Music at its essence is just having a good time, of enjoying the melody and enjoying the day; of tapping your shoe to the beat. Nude Beach do that very well. This is one of those summer day with the top down kind of records. The record nods to the power-pop forebears like The Hollies and The Beach Boys and Big Star, but retains a modern sound. I like this record much better than the Japandroids new record, which is the one  currently making it to the top of the best of lists. I think this record has more life breathed into it.

Here is the video for the lead track "Radio:"

Up next: the best record Elvis Costello never made!

Burning the Nite Club (930) Down

I saw two shows in 72 hours this week. I'll talk about the second first and the first one some other time.

One of the most entertaining live acts out there is the Old 97s. If you're not familiar (shame on you!) it's sort of country-punk from my grew-up-in-town of Dallas. This tour was celebrating the 15th anniversary of their great Too Far To Care album. Since it's the thing to do now they did the album in it's entirety start to finish. I've commented on this before, but (there's always a but) this album is so great it's fine with me.

Here's a video of them doing the album's (killer) opener "Time Bomb." It's about 5 years old but you'll get the idea.

Yeeeeee-haw!

I think Rhett Miller is one of the best front men around. He's good looking, a great lyricist, and a very engaging performer. I try (horribly) to model my stage presence on good old Rhett. I think if you're watching a band, you should be entertained. It is entertainment, right? I read that in a manual somewhere. And the Old 97s definitely enterain. High energy, lots of fun, great songs.

They did TFTC to start the show. For the second half they did (from memory) "Mama Tried," "Victoria Lee," "Murder (Or A Heart Attack),""Jagged,""Valentine," "Rollerskate Skinny," "Dance With Me," "Champaign, Illinois," "Every Night Is Friday Night (Without You)"and "Brown Haired Daughter." I might have missed something but that sounds right.

Rhett himself opened the show with a 20 minute acoustic set. Very cool. The support band was called The Travoltas. Not much to say of them except the singer has produced the 97s last few records, the keyboard player seems like a cool dude to hang around with, and they got nice suits. My neighbor said it best: "It went from cool to kitchsy to long." Another plus, there was not much dead time between sets, Very fast turnaround and I am old now so I like that.

Here be some photographic evidence of the good-time-had-by-all.

This man is Stewart Ransom Miller and he's a serial lady-killer

The Travoltas. Nice suits.

Just a little band from Texas

Groovin' on the New Aimee Mann

One of the best songwriters out there is Aimee Mann. She is probably most famous for her time in Til Tuesday and the video for "Voices Carry." This was back in 1985 or 1986. She has gone on to a great career as a power-popper, making two GREAT solo records (Whatever and I'm With Stupid), a handful of decent solo records, and soundtrack work, most notably for P.T. Anderson's Magnolia, which used "Wise Up" to interesting effect.

Her latest record is called Charmer and it's great. It's full of smart song-writing and great hooks. That's what I felt has been missing from her last few solo records. Perhaps I should go back and give them another try, but for now I'll keep the new record in the rotation. I was going to point out a couple of the better tracks, but really they are all really good.

The video for "Labrador" has a clever gimmick: it is a shot-by-shot recreation of the "Voices Carry" video. Check it out (including a cameo from Jon Hamm):

I have seen Aimee Mann twice. The second time was at the 930 Club. The FIRST time was at the old Bayou in Georgetown. That was a memorable show. One because it was The Bayou and it has been gone for many years, but more interesting to you was the crowd. There were a lot of girl-power type chicks there. The opening act was Semisonic which Dan Wilson and John Munson's band after they ended Trip Shakespeare and before "Closing Time" success. Semisonic got some rough treatment from the women in the audience, who were not particularly interested in seeing an opener of three dudes. Anyhow, Semisonic finished their set (who by the way impressed me enough to buy their EP that night) and when Aimee Mann came on stage she scolded the audience for booing Semisonic, that they were a great band and so-on-and-so-on. I thought that was a nice thing to do. She also told a funny story about Elvis Costello but that might have been at the 930 Club show.

If you like power pop, do check her out.