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.

Come to Axum's Lounge! See my band bring it!!

My band Braddock Station Garrison returns to the stage this Saturday, April 26, at Axum's Lounge at 1934 9th Street NW in Washington DC. We are first up at 8:30pm. Being old we like going early. Let the young whippersnappers play at midnight. There are lots of cool restaurants in the neighborhood so come on down and make an evening out of it!

We are playing with some great local bands. We are particularly fond of Exit Vehicles. I used to work with Adam many moons ago and am excited to share the bill with his band.

So far we have had three shows with our new bass player Jim. We were very sad to see Patrick leave but it was a good life-altering opportunity for him and his family. Finding Jim was a God-send. He is an experienced touring musician, a great talent, and a really nice guy who fits in perfectly with the rest of us. He brings a unique style to the proceedings. We are lucky to have him part of our little group.

Our CD High Water was recorded and mixed by Don Zientara and is available digitally at iTunes and Amazon and CDBaby and at Bandcamp. It's also streaming on Spotify. We'd be most appreciative if you considering getting yourself a copy. We'll have physical copies and tee-shirts too at our shows.

Here we are doing "Hey Cindy" at our show at Empire in Springfield VA. Come check us out!!

Vally Girls

If you like The White Stripes and/or The Black Keys (though apparently they hate each other) there is no reason for you not to check out Deap Vally. What sets them apart from the one-guitar-one-drummer schtick is that they are both ladies. Usually when I hear about a band I go over to AllMusic to read about them; when I got to the line about forming an image around halter tops and short-jeans-shorts I was pretty much sold. Couple that with the story that guitarist Lindsey Troy met drummer Julie Edwards in what is a total rocknroll move: a crocheting class the latter was teaching.

The released an EP called Get Deap! and followed it with an LP called Sistrionix. The EP contains one song that did not make the LP.

What's the music like? It rocks. It's sleazy, it's scuzzy, all those adjectives used to describe rock at it's most primal. Or at it's most elemental, primitive. The song titles reflect that: "Gonna Make My Own Money," "Baby I Call Hell," "Walk Of Shame," "Bad For My Body," and "Woman of Intention" stand out. it isn't earth shattering, it isn't particularly new sounding. They don't jerk off on the guitar like Jack White does, they aren't perhaps the most technically proficient. But they do riff and they lay down a clobber of a beat. There are no plaintive acoustic numbers. There is a George Jones talking bit in side 2 opener "Lies" where they say things like "I thought we agreed/You wouldn't have the need to spread your seed." OK.

A bass player wouldn't hurt but whatever. I enjoy the record. It goes by quickly, which is in now way a bad thing. It isn't the worst of all things: boring. It's fun. I imagine they'd be a trip to see live. This is another band that should be getting played on Little Steven's Underground Garage. I often say they should swap their 3:1 old/new ratio.

Here's the quoted "Lies." Enjoy!

All's (Matthew) Good

Music is not only a source of enjoyment for your humble writer nor a source of inspiration but also a source of admiration. I do not categorize it as something as trite as "selling out." Whatever that means. Not many artists get the chance to sell out. Most stay under the radar and eventually fall away. Artists who stick with it, who keep doing their thing no matter that it does not seem to be reaching any kind of critical mass. Or that they barely keep hanging on. I admire that tenaciousness. Artists like Bill Mallonee and Grant-Lee Phillips and Mark Kozelek and Aimee Mann. I respect these artists because they know who they are and they make music reflective of that.

Matthew Good is another such artist. Maybe the prime example of them. He is from Canada. He used to front a band called The Matthew Good Band. After a few excellent records he dropped the Band from the act name and just went with his name. That is fine, his presence has been the driving force. His popularity in his native Canada has always far eclipsed that in the United States. He has won Junos, he has had videos on MuchMusic. That was where I first discovered him in the late 90s. "Hello Timebob" and "Giant" and "Strange Days" from his brilliant Beautiful Midnight were on regular rotation and were my first real exposure to him. He does not play the states too terribly often. My old roommate and I trekked to Pittsburg to see the MGB play one time. The other time I saw him was solo and caustic at Iota in Arlington, VA.

His latest album is called Arrows of Desires and it is classic sounding Matthew Good. Great guitar lines and sing along choruses. A lot of attitude and a lot of anger. It is a very anachronistic record, much like the muscle car that graces the album cover. The vibe is still 90s alternative. For someone who grew up on that you get no complaint from me. 

In his lyrics, in his interviews, in his writings, there is a lot of energy and a lot of anger. Anger at how the world works. Anger at the successful who have their success on the backs of others. Anger at the politicians who are ruining his country, who are ruining the world. Anger for the kids who can't go to school without fear of being shot down. Anger at how life has treated his characters, whether they are auto-biographical or not.  You might not agree with everything he says, you might not agree with anything he says, but you have to as a fellow human being appreciate the passion behind it.

He has always come across as a curmudgeon, as someone you might NOT want to have a beer with because you might just want him to shut up. I am not clever enough to analyze the lyrics. I think when anybody does that, no matter how clever they think they are, it is impossible not to project their own issues, problems, worries into them. After nearly 20 years Matthew Good is still doing his thing his way. He had a taste of success but it never happened. But he has been able to carve out a great little career of great songs put onto great records. Arrows of Desire deserved a space on my top 10. It is as good as anything he has ever done. And that says quite a bit if you know the rest of his discography.

Here's "Guns of Carolina." Give it a listen. You might be surprised.

Favorite Records of 2013 - Number 6

The words Elephant Stone immediately call to mind The Stone Roses, that hard luck British band that spawned a million mop-headed imitators. Canada's Elephant Stone sounds like they owe thanks to The Stone Roses but they do not imitate that band at all. They are excellent at creating a sound all their own. Twelve-strings, keyboards, sitars, grooves. It works.

There are great grooves at work here. "Heavy Moon" has this slinky rhythm that gets the head bobbing. "Setting Sun" and "Masters of War" have that great classic sounding twelve-string guitar work. "Hold Onto Your Soul" is a total Teenage Fanclub homage. That's not a bad thing because the Fannies are an awesome band themselves. The sitar gets broken out half-way through the record. I am listening to the record as I write this and I couple pretty much just name each sopng and tell you how great it is. "Looking Thru Baby Blue" has a hyper-Pink Floyd kind of feel, especially in the organ line.

I guess this gets lumped into the psychedelic, trippy category. But it is not weird psychedelic. It is much more like a kaleidoscope. Most psychedelic music mellows you out; this will brighten you up.

Here's the most groovy cut..."Heavy Moon."

Up next...the most progressive of this year's favorites, from one of the artists I most admire.

Push The Sky Away

If a bunch of serial killers were gathered in a room and Nick Cave walked into that room, the murderers would mutter to one another "who is that creepy guy?" Nick Cave has to be one of the oddest and most uncomfortable looking fellows around. But he is also one of the more interesting musicians around. He's been fronting The Bad Seeds for many-a-many a year. Their latest record, and the first featuring none of the other original members, is called Push The Sky Away.

Nick Cave records have run the gamut from loud to mellow but always have a vibe of danger surrounding them. There is something sinister going on in the vinyl's grooves. The new record is far on the mellower side, but not mellow like sitting with your girl holding hands; mellow in wondering whether your girl might be about to kiss you or cut your throat. It has a distinct Leonard Cohen vibe; songs that are lyrically driven, with the music energizing the words with dread and darkness.

The album opens on a note suggesting one of those new bourbon commercials, or maybe a late night Cinemax flick. "We No Who U R" burns gently with drums and bass and a synthesizer dripping notes like water. Throughout the record guitars are used to softer effect; strings and gentle horns fill in the spaces. There are some great songs, like the album opener and best of the bunch "Jubilee Street." The first side is great, but the second side is a bit more difficult to digest, less memorable in terms of tunes and melody, more experimental and lumbering. A companion piece to "Jubilee Street" called "Finishing Jubilee Street" misfires. The centerpiece of the second side is "Higgs Bosun Blues," which name checks everybody from Robert Johnson to Hannah Montana, and comes across as more silly than anything else.

Here's the great video for "Jubilee Street." The inherent creepiness that is Nick Cave is on full display. Be warned it does have some nudity. Thankfully not Nick.

That said, it's a solid record. One perfect for bad moods or moods verging on bad. If you like Nick Cave you will probably like this one.

Strange story, in addition to coming with an additional 33 with two extra songs (neither of which really are great), there was a razor blade in the package. This was obviously some sort of quality control issue  from the manufacturing plant, but I did think that this was a Nick Cave record after all, so it coming with a razor blade isn't really that much of a surprise.