As we were preparing to write up our last post of the year, we realized that we hardly ever write about this band although we count them as one of our favorite acts. Oklahoma City's psychedelic acid/art pop legends, The Flaming Lips have committed to a busy 2011, the band will record and release a new song each and every month of 2011 as opposed to the traditional, work on 10 or 11 songs for a year or two. It's still unclear how these new tracks will be released or weather they will compile them for a proper release at some point. The Lips will also be sharing videos that capture the bands recording process. For now they have chosen to stay clear of a conventional follow up to last years Embryonic, in favor an ambitious recording experiment that will put music in the ears of their fans on a regular basis throughout the next year.
Wayne Coyne, Steven Drodz, and Michael Ivins will put their collective stamp on 2010, when The Lips play their fourth annual New Years Eve Freakout in Oklahoma City, where they'll perform The Soft Bulletin in it's entirety, sometime after midnight. The entire performance will be streamed live on iclips. We're looking forward to our NYE party guests reactions when they see what we can only guess will be a beautiful freak show. The way we look at it ,we'll have a house full of Flaming Lips converts by the time to 2011 hits or we'll have some extra couch space,either way come on over. Happy New Year!
We are in full on vacation mode this week and preparing to depart for the snow covered mountians. But we just stumbled onto this new Wire track, that was apparently released as an album tease a couple of weeks ago, so we had to find a minute or two to write. Post-punk architects and creators of that genres defining release, Wire will release Red Barked Tree on January 11 on the bands Pink Flag imprint. The band has been paired down to their core line up of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, and Robert Grey for the ever shifting ground of another art punk manifesto. This band never seems to stay in one sonic landscape for very long. Two minutes is the track featured above and as the title suggests, is two minutes of sledgehammer shouts and buzz saw punk.
Wire are scheduled to play The Middle East on April 3rd, it kind of goes without saying but I'll say it anyway, you should plan accordingly and BE THERE.
This definitely will not be our last post of the year, we've got few more things planed before we send 2010 packing. However after dedicating the bulk of the last week or so to our year end list (perhaps you've seen it?) we wanted to get to some news that's been sitting in our inbox and spread the word on a few 2011 releases we're plenty excited about.
Granted we don't have a ton of details to report as of yet, but what we do know is that blues-punk titans, Obits will release a new 12 song LP on March 29th on Sub-Pop called Moody, Standard and Poor. The album was recorded in Brooklyn's Saltland Studios with Eli Janey and Geoff Sanoff handling production duties. Per usual Moody, Standard and Poor features fronter Rick Froberg handling most of the vocals with guitarist Sohrab Habibion (Edsel) stepping up to the mic for two tracks. This release sits at the top of our 2011 most expected releases.
Obits - Pine onfrom 2009's I Blame You
Seattle's guitar popsters, Boat are set to return with the release of Dress Like Your Idols on March 22nd. Dress Like Your Idols, the band 4th proper full length will be once again issued by Portland, OR's Magic Marker Records and features a guest appearance from John Roderick of The Long Winters. Which makes perfect sense to us Boat's D. Crane and Mr. Roderick have the gift of creating wry, wise ass pop records, which is right in our wheelhouse. In advance of the March release of the new album the band is also planning on the releasing a single on white vinyl next month.
Dress Like Your Idols Video Promo
The long awaited full length debut from Dylan Baldi's Cloud Nothings will shortly be upon us. The self titled longplayer will be released by Carpark Records in the U.S. and Wichata Recordings in the U.K. and Europe on January 24 & 25th respectively . The album was recorded last summer in a Baltimore warehouse with Chester Gwazda twisting knobs. Gwazda has reportedly boosted Cloud Nothings fidelity to what we can only guess will be somewhere in the mid-fi neighborhood. Baldi played every instrument on the album as well as supplied his signature orca sized pop hooks throughout. Cloud Nothings will be supporting the release with a U.S. tour, unfortunately no Boston area date has been announced yet, but we're hopefully that will be corrected shortly. Check out the track Should Have from the forthcoming release below.
The task of selecting our favorite records from any 12 month period can prove to be an arduous one and 2010 was no exception , as we could have easily expanded the list to 20 and still missed a few quality LP's. In the last year we have witnessed what can only be described as a renaissance of indie rock, with the return of our favorite 90's bands like Guided By Voices, Superchunk, and Pavement as well as a promising new crop of bands like Male Bonding, Wild Nothings, and Allston's ambient punks, Young Adults. We thoroughly enjoyed what we heard in 2010 and look forward with great anticipation to the deluge of 2011 releases to come. However before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let us commemorate what we consider to be the 10 best records of 2010.
As we've done in years past we consult our music libraries in our homes, itunes, and last.fm as well as those records that always seemed to find their way onto the car stereo. We'd like to mention the following releases that were inexplicably left off the list but deserve a mention as well as a listen: Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love, Calories - Basic Nature, and Weekend - Sports , to name but a few. We've taken the liberty of embedding songs from each album featured. Thanks to Soundcloud for being good sports and making these track available to us. And now without further blabbering our favorite records of 2010.
1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor [XL Recordings]
A concept album about the American Civil War seemed like a project better suited for The Decemberists than New Jersey punk goliaths, Titus Andronicus. However it only took about about a minute for us to realize our preconceived notions were completely misguided. Although there is a conceptual theme throughout, The Monitor is about Titus fronter Patrick Stickles' love/hate relationship with his home state of New Jersey, just as much as it's about the struggles, hardships, and ideals of the Civil War. We found ourselves reaching for this album over and over and it never let us it down. The Monitor is an ambitious record no one will argue that, but it's also a flawless and impassioned one from beginning to end.
As the founding fathers of the DIY scene in LA centered around the all ages performance space, The Smell , Randy Randall and Dean Spunt have delivered hard and honest punk over the past few years without a misstep. This album continues that tradition and finds No Age a little more accessible but not less engaging or jarring. If Everything In Between is there most listener friendly album it's also their most varied, with charging punk, ambient electronics, and luminous distortion. Everything in Between is a sparkling pop record with a sense of adventure and chaos.
3. Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring [Wichita/Arts & Crafts]
A darker and meaner sounding record than their two preceding full lengths, not that those were exactly Yummy Yummy Yummy, I have Love In My Tummy, but Romance is Borring finds Los Campesinos! delving deeper into the their favorite topic, the decay of romantic relationships. This would make for a grim listening experience if the songs weren't the bands strongest to date. There are Listed Buildings and Straight In at 101 are fine examples of Gareth Los Campesinos (no one uses surname in LC!) gift of delivering comical and often devastating lyrical compositions. Romance is Boring is a near perfect cacophony of noise and pop from a band on the verge of something great.
4. Boston Spaceships - Our Cubehouse Still Rocks [GBV, Inc]
With this years reunion of Guided By Voices' classic line up it's understandable if you missed a release or two from The Fading Captain. But it would be criminal if you didn't take at least a few minutes to examine the excellence of album #4 from Pollard's Boston Spaceships. I don't know if it's the rock solid line up of Chris Slusarenko and John Moen or if it's that Bob saves his best pop songs for the Spaceships. Either way Our Cubehouse Still Rocks is dexterous record of pop, punk, and prog. Not that we want the GBV reunion to ever end, but when it does we look forward to the attention and praise Our Cubehouse Still Rocks justly deserves.
Little did we know the return of Superchunk would be this triumphant. After a nine years of inactivity Chapel Hill's indie rock institution delievered Majesty Shredding, a record that recalls the band early to mid 90's heyday of energetic guitar pop. Just when Superchunk have absolutely nothing to prove comes 11 frantic pop burst that pogo through the first few tracks, slowing down occasionally to catch their breath, only to come charging back again and again. Majesty Shredding serves as a great reminder of the caliber of band that Superchunk is, as well as nice introduction for new fans. Majesty Shredding can sit proudly next to the bands best work.
6. The Capstan Shafts - Revelation Skirts [Rainbow Quartz]
Dean Wells, the hook wielding mastermind of The Capstan Shafts recorded and released his most fully realized and focused recordings to date on Revelation Skirts. With assistance from drummer/producer Matt Lemay, Wells' delivers 14 mid-fi pop anthems in just over 30 minutes with not a second wasted. The songs are superbly crafted, concise and catchy as hell. With the brevity of Revelation Skirts we found ourselves listening to this LP multiple times a day nearly every day since it's release. Although the first spin hooked us in, repeated listens have proven that this record is completely addicting and equally as durable. Big guitars and even bigger hooks on Revelation Skirts made for one of 2010 most enjoyable listens.
Ever since being introduced to The National with their 2003 second album, Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers we've been hooked on this NYC by way of Ohio quintet and over the past few years they have barely taken a mistep, releasing excellent, albeit dark and brooding records, one after another. High Violet is both powerful and poetic often both at the same time, all while sad bastard vocalist, Matt Berringer delivers his most claustrophobic and harrowing lyrics to date. High Violet spoke to us and reminded us that things don't always work out the way we plan. Being disappointed never sounded better.
This record was a bigger surprise than Shane MacGowan's new teeth! As big fans of Clinic's kraut rock infused early records we were somewhat underwhelmed by the bands last couple of releases. However that all changed once we heard the reinvention of Clinic on their latest LP, Bublegum. With the addition of dulcimers, harpsichords, and strings the band brings a whole new dimension to the their sound. Through the album's 13 tracks the band reveals a few surprises from behind those surgical masks. Sure there's a few of the bands trademark disorientated fuzzed up stompers, but they also reveal an affinity for classic pop structures and British folk. The album works best when they employ all of these strengths on the same song, like on the stunning closer, Orangutan.
9. Walter Schreifels - An Open Letter To The Scene [AFS]
For his first solo outing, the former Gorilla Biscuits/Quicksand/ and current Rival Schools member Walter Schreifels issued a laid back record filled with acoustic pop strummers. The songs writing is sparkling and frankly is what makes the record shine, well that and Walter's weary albeit captivating vocals. I gifted this record to my brother because that's what great records make you do, they make you want to share the music and tell your friends. Open Letter To The Scene certainly qualifies as a great record.
Walter Schreifels - Arthur Lee's Lullaby 10. Pernice Brothers - Goodbye, Killer [Ashmont Records]
The superbly crafted tales of love and life that have occupied previous Pernice Brother albums is in tact on Goodbye, Killer. However with a couple of exceptions, Pernice jettisons the familiar ground of chamber pop for the more intimate and road ready acoustics and electric twang featured on the albums 10 tracks. Goodbye, Killer is a bit of grower that slowly unfolds and reveals it's incredible charm with each subsequent listen. Pernice continues to be an amazingly consistent songwiter with very few peers, just listen to Newport News or the impeccable,The End of Faith for your proof. Goodbye, Killer is a sturdy no frills record that treads the line between alt-country and pop beautifully.
We thought we'd check in to let you know that we're hard at work compiling our favorite albums of 2010 and hope to have it ready for your eyes and ears (fingers crossed) shortly. In the meantime please enjoy some holiday music courtesy of Dayton, OH's by way of Germany's Swearing at Motorists as we continue to find and post some of this seasons finest holiday tracks. Swearing at Motorists fronter Dave Doughman recent took to covering Wham!'s Last Christmas as well as the standard Silver Bells. Both songs are available for free at Secretly Canadian as well as the Swearing at Motorists' Myspace haunt.
Our favorite indie pop octet, Los Campesinos! have announced the release and publication of the bands own quarterly 'zine and music bundle, Heat Rash. As a subscriber LC! fans will receive exclusive art, writing, as well as limited edition 7" singles and MP3's. This will allow the band to write, record, and release music spontaneously throughout the year in addition to their full length release schedule.
If you subscribe to Heat Rash before December 20th you will receive two new Christmas songs, Kindle a Flame In Her Heart and The Holly And The Ivy. The band has posted the A side to this exclusive digital single on their blog and we've also embedded it below for your convenience.
Subscription details and further information can be found at the newly launched Heat Rash site.
In 2009 the criminally defunct Nosferatu D2 finally saw their one and only full length LP, We're Gonna Walk Around This City With Our Headphones on to Block Out The Noise, released through the good graces of the Audio Anti-Hero label. That record features our hands down favorite Christmas song and it's being offered for free throughout the month of December over at the Audio Anti-Hero Bandcamp Page. Sadly, brothers Ben and Adam Parker packed it in back in 2007 however Ben Parker has been releasing records under the name Superman Revenge Squad, his latest, Dead Crow Blues (Records Records Records) is an absolute stunner. Both Nosferatu D2 and Superman Revenge Squad can both be obtained at finer digital shops as well as their U.K. based labels.
Over the next couple of weeks we will be focusing on our favorite releases of the last 12 months, just like every other blog, site, and music outlet in the free world. But before we get all Top 20 of 2010 on your collective asses, we wanted to dedicate some time to file our last edition of Reviewed for this year.
Over the last couple of years we've noticed a crop of young bands revisiting the shoegazer sounds we totally fell for in the late 80's and early 90's. Some of these bands bring some fresh ideas and unique execution of those influences while other are merely retreads, yes I'm talking to you Beach Fossils. The best example of the former that we can think of comes from Ridgewood, New Jersey's Big Troubles and their debut LP Worry. The album was released back in September by Brooklyn's Olde English Spelling Bee Records and nearly a day has passed since then that we haven't felt the need to give it a spin.
Songwriters Alex Craig and Ian Drennan create a varied and captivating debut on Worry. While Craig delivers fuzzed out pop gems, Drennan turns the abrasion up to 11 for some warm and accessible lo-fi pop moments. You only have to hear about ten seconds of the opening track, Video Rock to pin point the bands love of shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, but elsewhere on the album there are some obvious nods to 90's lo-fi heroes Guided By Voices as well the early recordings of Dinosaur Jr. Throughout Worry the band manages to create something bigger than the influences, something special, a noise pop juggernaut.
Tracks like Slouch and Freudian Slips display Craig/Drennan's knack for writing the perfect three minute pop song. Elsewhere Big Troubles enter quieter territory, but are no less captivating on the gorgeous, Georgia as well as the album closer, the spaced out and aptly titled Astrology Screen Savers.
To think that this is a starting point for this promising young band is a bit a mind blower, to release an album so completely satisfying as Worry on the first attempt is nothing short of astonishing. Please don't take our word for it, listen for yourself at the Big Troubles Bandcamp page, and relish the fuzzy pop bliss within.
These are for those of us who couldn't be in attendance at this weekends Godspeed You! Black Emperor curated, All Tomorrows Parties The Nightmare Before Christmas. Not to mention those of us in Boston and elsewhere who somehow have been completely passed over on this reunion tour. The two videos were taken by the gracious YouTuber, polar1One and capture the band performing Storm, the opening song from the bands Friday night set in Minehead, UK.
Boston's Pysch Poppers Doomstar! will be taking over The Middlesex Lounge the first Wednesday of every month for what we hope will become a long standing tradition. Tonight will feature performances from Magic Magic and Hands and Knees with Noah and Spencer from Doomstar! spinning in between sets. The show is completely free and will start at 10PM tonight!
The Return of Bardo Pond & Los Campesinos! give the gift of music. On January 11th Philadelphia's six headed psych monster, Bardo Pond return with their new self titled long player via the bands new label, London's Fire Records. The album will get a UK release a full month earlier On December 6th. I don't suppose it will do us any good to question release schedules. We're just thrilled that there's new Bardo Pond album headed our way. The new album is the bands follow up to 2006's Ticket Crystals and finds Bardo Pondo in peak form ,delivering 7 tracks of hallucination inducing goodness. The album teaser Don't Know About You find Bardo eschewing the drone that occupied their earlier recordings for harmonious landscapes of crunchy reverb.
Bardo Pond will play All Tomorrow's parties Nightmare Before Christmas curated by Godspeed You! Black Emperor Butlins, UK on December 4th.
Bardo Pond - Don't Know About You
This morning while checking e-mails, and social media updates as we tend to do over our bowl of oatmeal, we were thrilled to find that Gareth Los Campesinos had posted Too Many Flesh Suppers to the Los Campesinos blog as well as Facebook and Twitter for free download. Too Many Flesh Supper is a song LC! recorded during the Romance is Boring sessions, but decided it didn't quite fit in with the rest of the LP. Although the song was issued as a b-side on the Romance is Boring 7", the song had largely gone unheard by many Los Campesinos fans. Until today that is. In addition to that track the bands site features a poster that reads, Heat Rash...coming soon. We're hoping this could suggest a new recording of some kind. But until something official is announced as to what the hell Heat Rash is, we won't pretend to have a clue.
We were just discussing this segment the other day,commenting on how we we really need to dedicate some more time and space to the discovery of new artists. As opposed to the Discover By Video segment, where we lazily share videos with a brief description in the interest of speedy posting, Introducing is a recurring feature on these pages where we take the time to point your attention to a worthy new musical force and attempt to provide a back story, MP3's, videos, and a little detail on the bands recording and touring processes. In some cases some of you may be already in the know on these artists, but at very least you'll walk away knowing a little more than you did yesterday or you'll hear another track to hook you in. And so the obsession of your new favorite band begins (we hope).
You're probable thinking, enough of the long winded introduction, jeez, we get it. And to that we humbly agree.
About a month ago we stumbled onto Kingston, Ontario's PS I Love You and their squalling pop opus, Meet Me at The Munster Station. Originally slated to be vehicle for multi-instrumentalist Paul Sauliner's pop experiments with guitar loops and keyboards quickly became a proper and dynamic live unit once drummer Benjamin Nelson signed on. Throughout the album, PS I Love You demonstrate a bit of J Mascis like guitar virtuosity over 10 tracks of boisterous pop that makes for the one of strongest debut we've had the pleasure of wrapping our heads around all year.
Currently the duo are giving away digital copies of the title track to the recently sold out Starfield 7" until Tuesday December 2nd. To grab Starfield pay a visit to the bands label Paper Bag Records and provide a few pieces of personal information and just like that through the magic of the internets the track will be yours. You will also be entered to win the Starfield prize pack that include a PS I Love You “Figure It Out” shirt, a poster, and record bag, all designed and hand silk-screened by drummer Benjamin Nelson.
Don't miss the chance to catch the formidable live act, that is PS I Love You, when the duo play Great Scott on December 6th. We recommend thatyou plan ahead and grab tix from Great Scott's preferred ticket vendor, this one should not be missed.
PS I Love You – Live Dates Nov 30 – Washington, DC – Red Place* Dec 01 – Philadelphia, PA – M Room* Dec 03 – Brooklyn, NY – The Rock Shop Dec 04 – New York, NY – Pianos* Dec 05 – New Haven, CT – Daniel Street* Dec 06 – Allston, MA – Great Scott* Dec 16 – Guelph, ON – Ebar Dec 31 – Kingston, ON – The Mansion
When you see the video for Facelove you may have a WTF moment, we sure did and to be fair Paul Sauliner is sporting something that looks like he made in 3rd grade art class. But the song is a blistering keeper, cotton balls and all!
Tonight Great Scott plays host to a pre-Thanksgiving show with the recently reunited, The Sheila Divine, Boston's pop-smiths, The Hush Now, and rising locals The Fatal Flaw. As we expected, the show sold-out earlier this week,so hopefully you saw this coming and secured your tickets to this must see show. If not, do not fret loyal readers, we have just been bestowed a pair of tickets to tonight's show. To enter to win just send an e-mail to ashgrayproclamtion.com with Sheila/Hush/Fatal in the subject line. The bands will be collecting canned food for The Greater Boston Food Bank. In a statement on The Sheila Divine's Facebook page they have recommended that you bring cans of tuna and (plastic) jars of peanut butter. Even if you're not able to attend tonight, please stop by and drop off that extra can in your cupboard to help someone who needs your generosity this holiday season
Due to the lateness of this contest we will take entries until 5PM tonight and then announce our winner. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
A big congrats goes out to one of Boston's finest bands, Hallelujah The Hills and to all those who heeded the call to arms and wallets by pre-ordered the bands forthcoming long player, at this point simply known as III. Sometime over the weekend the band reached their goal of $5,500 needed to record the new album. The campaign will still accept donations until 5:00 PM today, so although the goal's been reached you can still donate/pre-order what should be a recorded highlight of 2011.
Ryan Walsh has posted a thank you video over the HTHKickstarter page that gives you a glimpse into his dietary habits, not to mention a pretty special birthday horn solo.
Last week Ryan also posted a live version of Nightingale Lightning by tweeting "Hey, want to hear a live version of a song that will be on album III"?
Locals Only: Hands and Knees and Get Help We have found ourselves spending far too much time on Bandcamp lately. Our latest infatuation is Wholesome, the forthcoming album from Boston's garage pop darlings, Hands and Knees. The 13 track LP features several tracks the band's been playing in their set in recent months, including Throw Me From The Bridge of Flowers, and our current favorite, Sitting at the Piano Disappearing. Wholesome is a worthy follow up to last years superbEt Tu, Fluffy?, and find the local quartet delivering another album filled with concise and cathartic lo-fi pop nuggets. The album will get an official release on January 15th, but for now you stream the album in it's entirety at the a fore mentionedHands and Knees Bandcamp site, or listen below.
Hands and Knees will play The 201 in Providence on December 3rd with The Invisible Hours.
The duo of The Beatings, Tony Skalicky and Mike Ingenthron of Strikes Again, otherwise known as Get Help will play an afternoon all ages show tomorrow at Cambridge's All Asia. According to the duo's site they have been recording new tracks for the follow up to 2008's The End of The New Century so let's hope album #2 isn't too far off. The show starts at 3PM, be there. [MP3/Stream]Get Help - Far Away Now
Last spring we stumbled on to the music of Londoner, Harry Granger Howell, AKA Lonely Galaxy and his debut releaseEP1. That offering was filled with devastating bedroom pop including the 7 minute church organ ridden, Have A Heart,which we found to be completely depressing. We also count it as one of our favorite tracks of 2010. Howell's Lonely Galaxy have returned with aptly titled EP2 to close out the year with another dose of lovesick gloom over sparse arrangements. Check out a track off the forthcoming EP and the Porcelain Raft produced video for Bible Truth Depot above. It's a slow builder that finds Howell employing chiming guitars and organs with a chorus that we haven't been able to get out of our skulls all morning.
Japandroids, The Radio Dept., & Working For A Nuclear Free City Vancouver's noise pop stalwarts, Japandroids are back armed with another 7'single. Heavenward Grand Prix b/w Shame marks the third installment of the bands current single series being issued by Polyvinyl. Heavenward Grand Prix is an outtake from the Post-Nothing session and we can't figure out why this cacophonous anthem didn't make the cut. The b-side is a cover of PJ Harvey's Shame. Like the other releases in the series this is limited to 2000 copies. This time around they've pressed it on clear vinyl and can be acquired over at the Polyvinyl Store. The single will also be available at finer digital retailers on November 16th. [MP3/Stream] Japandroids - Heavenward Grand Prix
Last spring Sweden's dream pop charmers,The Radio Dept. released their third and totally fantastic Clinging to a Scheme LP to nearly unanimous critical praise. Now the band are scheduled to tour the U.S. this winter, complete with a show on February 4th at The Middle East.This will mark the bands first proper tour of America in the bands 15 year existence. Although they've played shows on our shores before, those can be described as sporadic at best. In addition to the upcoming tour the band has just released the Never Follow Suite EP, a limited edition 12" that includes two new tracks and a remix of the EP's title track. As if that wasn't enough, The Radio Dept. have just announced the upcoming release of Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 , which as the title suggests compiles the bands first 8 years on Labrador Records . The 2 disc 24 track set will be released on January 2th via Labrador/Caroline. [MP3/Stream] The Radio Dept. - Never Follow Suite (Never Swallow Fruit Dub Pistol Disco Remix)
Lastly, we would be remiss not to at least mention the terrific new album from Manchester, England's, electro-post rock leaning, Working For A Nuclear Free City. WFANFC released the sprawling, Jojo Burger Tempest back in September and for what ever reason our copy sat on our desk until earlier this month when we wised up and gave it spin. 15 tracks of the album appear on disc 1 while the title track occupies disc 2, clocking in at an epic 30 minutes. The album has proven a little hard to locate in the brick and mortars, but it can be found over the band label, Manchester's Melodic Records.
Our recent introduction to Jersey's rising, noise pop kids, Big Troubles has been a rewarding one. The band have recently released their debut long player, Worry on New York indie, Old English Spelling Bee. Over on the bands Myspace page they site such lo-fi pop luminaries as , Lilys, Guided By Voices , and Tobin Sprout as influences. That alone was enough to get us to listen, however it's the bands inventive delivery of those influences that kept us listening. Bite Yr Tongue [posted above] is fairly good representation of the bands infectious noisy pop sound. You can hear the bands debut LP streaming over at their Bandcamp site or even better, order it up over at the Old English Spelling Bee Shop.
The Paradise Rock Club| Boston, MA|11/05/10 It's taken us a couple of days to get our shit together enough to put together some assemblance of a review for the glorious night of rock we witnessed courtesy of GBV's "classic line up" on this past Friday night. Walking into the newly renovated Paradise, I could already hear the GBV chants, the energy in the room was at fever pitch with a good 30 minutes to go before the bands scheduled start time. After the farewell Electrifying Conclusion tour in 2004, I never thought I'd see Guided By Voices play live again, let alone the line-up responsible for the bands ascension from the basements of Dayton, OH in the early 90's the same line-up responsible for the recording of Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, Under the Bushes Under The Stars as well a slew of superb EP's. So when it was announced over the summer that Guided By Voices circa 96' would be headlining Matador 21st anniversary party in sin city. I was hopeful that the one off date would evolve into a full fledged tour, luckily for me and anyone else who couldn't make the Vegas trip that's exactly what happened. And so on the final weekend of The Hallway of Shatterproof Glass Tour GBV were back in Boston.
"The classic line up" featuring Bob Pollard, Mitch Mitchell, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, and Kevin Fennell hit the stage armed with a hit list of 39 songs that they would tear through in just over two hours. They were received by a mostly joyous crowd, save for a couple of nitwits throwing punches in front of the stage, seriously dudes if you can't conduct yourself in these situations STAY HOME! Having been checking out set lists over the past few weeks, I was a little surprised when I heard the opening chords of Striped White Jets for the bands opening song. However it works like a charm as an opener. From there Bob Pollard led the band through a lengthy set and as per usual his in between song banter was side splitting and spot on "we killed shoegaze and brought back harmonies", that they did. Tobin Sprout took a few turns at the mic which featured a couple of my favorite moments of the night especially during a fantastic late-set version of Dodging Invisible Rays. Toward the end of the night which consisted of several beers and tequila Pollard and GBV managed to keep the train on the track during the bands three encores that culminated with the set closing performance of Weedking. Long Live Rockathon, no more like Long Live GBV!
As the band walked off stage to the sound of the sold out crowd going ape-shit, myself included, I was overcome with the feeling that I had just seen something truly special and something I'll probably never see again, but then again, if this reunion has taught us anything it's never say never.
Set List Boston 11/5/2010 Striped White Jets Echos Myron Exit Flagger Pimple Zoo My Impression Now Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory Hot Freaks Shocker in Gloomtown A Good Flying Bird My Valuable Hunting Knife Cut-Out Witch Play Watch Me Jumpstart Awful Bliss 14 Cheerleader Coldfront Closer You Are Lethargy Play Queen of Cans and Jars Break Even Matter Eater Lad Tractor Rape Chain Buzzards and Dreadful Crows Bright Paper Werewolves My Son Cool Play Gleemer ( The Deeds of Fertile Jim) Unleashed! The Large Hearted Boy Gold Star for Robot Boy I am a Scientist Game of Pricks Smothered in Hugs A Salty Salute Encore: Postal Blowfish Hey Aardvark Quality of Armor Motor Away Encore 2: Dodging Invisible Rays Don't Stop Now Some Drilling Implied Encore 3: Johnny Appleseed Weed King
Video of GBV Performing Buzzards and Dreadful Crows at The Paradise on 11/5/10 furnished by Narlus. Great quality audio and video from a night we won't soon forget.
It still seems a little surreal to be writing about the reunion of Guided By Voices' classic line up in 2010. We just assumed that after Bob Pollard disbanded the final incarnation of the band in 2004, that would be that. So when it was announced that GBV was reuniting, let alone the 1992-1996 line up we were more than a little excited. This weekend marks the final weekend of The Hallway of Shatterproof Glass Tour and tomorrow night the band (finally) return to Boston for a sold -out show at The Paradise, the very same room where we saw our first GBV show back in 95'.
Along with Bob Pollard, Tobin Sprout played a pivotal role in the sound of the band during this period as the bands resident 4-track engineer, multi instrumentalist, and he also contributed a bunch of timeless pop songs to the GBV cannon. It's hard to imagine what albums like Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes would sound like without his contributions.
A few weeks ago we were given the opportunity to interview GBV's Tobin Sprout and we jumped at the opportunity to talk about the current tour, Tobin's career as painter, childrens author and solo artists as well what it's been like to be back on stage with Bob Pollard, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, and Greg Demos.
A big thank you goes to Tobin for taking the time to answer our questions and granting our request for this interview, hopefully I didn't come off like a total fan boy.
*Spoiler alert: the following interview contains set list information, so if you're going to either the Boston or New York shows this weekend , you've been warned.
Bryan Hamill: What inspired the reunion of the classic GBV line up, was the Matador @ 21 show in Vegas the catalyst for getting back together?
Tobin Sprout: I don't think the reunion would have happened without Matador asking us to headline their 21st anniversary show in Vegas. After that was in play the tour just made sense in that we would be practicing for one show, so why not do more? We were getting some lucrative offers from around the country, everyone in the band was ready and willing to do the tour. Bob sent out the set list and a month or so later we were together at Mitch's (Mitchell) practicing. There were a few big GBV fans in the room so when we had trouble remembering how to play one of the songs they would show us. I think they knew the songs better than we did. For the most part we had played the songs so many times on tour that it was like riding a bike, my hands just knew where to go. When Bob asked me if I would be interested in playing the shows I didn't even have to think about it, how could I say no to the time of my life? We're all still healthy, we have nothing to prove, the GBV fans are wigging out, it's gravy.
Bryan: How much time went into rehearsing for the Matador show and the subsequent tour?
Tobin: Bob sent out a song list to all of us,my son made a CD of all the songs to use to practice, but later I used the the internet. I could just go to YouTube and watch myself play them. For the most part they came back pretty quick, we had played them so many times during the tours in the 90's. The rest of the band got together a few times without me. I drove down to Dayton a couple of weeks before the tour to practice with the band and we also practiced the day before we left for the tour. Dallas and Austin were a bit rough here and there, but each show got a little tighter.
Bryan: What has it been like playing shows with Bob, Mitch, Keven, and Greg after all these years?
Tobin: It feels like we've picked up where we left off. Except for physical changes, we're all the same people. We all got along then and we get along now. I think it's easier now because we're all established in our own lives. We also have Rich, Darryl, Taz, and Steve (our road crew) to make life a lot better.
Bryan: With all the line up changes over the life of Guided By Voices, what makes this incarnation so special?
Tobin: There were line ups before this one, but this is the line up that was introduced to larger audience when Propeller sort of launched GBV into the rock world. From the first shows in Dayton, Columbus, CBGB's to the Scat tours and on until the last at Edgefest 96. This is, for the most part the line up on Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, and Under The Bushes Under The Stars. I think people want all the pieces in place, all the original parts. Not to take away from the line ups after 96, it just seems to me the first line up becomes the face of the band.
Bryan: You wrote some of my favorite Guided By Voices songs, which ones have you been preforming on this tour?
Tobin: Gleemer, Dodging Invisible Rays, and A Good Flying Bird. We also do an acoustic set which includes Awful Bliss into 14 Cheerleader Coldfront. Keeping the harmonies going we go into Quality Armor (a Bob song). I've also done Atom Eyes alone in Austin or Dallas.
Bryan: With the release of your first childrens book, Elliott and your recently released album, The Bluebirds of Happiness Tried To Land On My Shoulder you have been keeping busy, how do you decide where to focus your creative energy.
Tobin: Right now the energy is going to music. I hadn't written a lot of music for a few years. Mostly I focused on painting and the writing of Elliott and the chapter book I hope to follow up called April and Elliott. About a year ago I made myself sit down and write songs. I think I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it anymore. But after a few days it began to come together again. Elliott was my first attempt at writing a book and it was a learning experience for me. I think what I learned has improved the way I write lyrics. You only have so many lines in a song, so every word counts.
Bryan: Do you have any plans to record another solo record or perhaps compete a sequel to Elliott in the near future?
Tobin: I just released a single and I plan to write a lot of music after the GBV tour. Being away from writing music for awhile makes it feel new. I think you have to focus on what's exciting to you, because it shows in the work. Right now music excites me, next month, year, whatever, art or writing will.
Bryan: The newly launched GBV Digital is offering live recording from the current tour, does the band have any other plans to release additional recordings either from this tour or from the archives?
Tobin: All the shows are being recorded and can be downloaded at GBV Digital. There are also tentative plans for the release of GBV live shows that could include what ever I find when I go through hundreds of 4-track tapes I have as well as some remixes, outtakes, and unreleased tracks. At this point we have no plans to record new material.
Bryan: What's been the biggest difference between playing shows on this tour and the GBV tours you played on 14 years ago?
Tobin: Sleep number beds, we've been staying in really nice places.
As we were preparing to write up our last post of the year, we realized that we hardly ever write about this band although we count them as one of our favorite acts. Oklahoma City's psychedelic acid/art pop legends, The Flaming Lips have committed to a busy 2011, the band will record and release a new song each and every month of 2011 as opposed to the traditional, work on 10 or 11 songs for a year or two. It's still unclear how these new tracks will be released or weather they will compile them for a proper release at some point. The Lips will also be sharing videos that capture the bands recording process. For now they have chosen to stay clear of a conventional follow up to last years Embryonic, in favor an ambitious recording experiment that will put music in the ears of their fans on a regular basis throughout the next year.
