Friday, June 04, 2004
"Needle in the Hay"
Morning Commute:
Bad Astronaut, Acrophobe
Big in Japan, Destroy the New Rock
I am insanely jealous of teenage suburban punks. They all have a Britannica-like knowledge of local and up-and-coming punk, emo, and hardcore acts, and they all have managed to see no less than three of these bands in the last week at no less than three VFW's in their or other local municipalities. That must be the life: mom drops you off at the local hall show and you drop $3 to see 11 bands in the span of four hours. All your friends are there, hell, half of your friends are in the bands you are there to see, and somehow every single one is signed to some label that not only you have heard of, but has managed to make a name for itself with other teenage suburban punk scene three states away. So grass roots. While that part of it appeals to me on a "gee, I wish I was still a teenager level", the part that appeals to me most as an adult is the access to a seemingly limitless number of new bands to call your own.
I guess it's not all bad, though. There are still some bands/labels etc. that are at the forefront of the "next big thing" while keeping a relatively low profile. If you cite MTV or your local Clear Channel radio regime as your main source of new music, today's post may fly under your radar, but if you are at least a curious music consumer or perspective muso, you will recognize at least one of the following parties in the following sentence: Honest Don's is a sub-label of Fat Wreck Chords, the indepenedent "So-Cal" label started and run by Fat Mike of NOFX. Aside from releasing the albums to be discussed in the next few paragraphs, "Fat Wreck" also just put out "Rock Against Bush!": a great album for a great cause.
I was introduced to the Honest Don's label(s) through my old drummer. When the band we were in first got started, we all spent a few evenings playing CD's for each other in order to figure out where we each were coming from and where our sound would eventually go. In retrospect, this mostly helped us ot breed early and mutual contempt, but one of the nicer side effects was my realizing (like I stated in the paragraph above) that there was another musical scene or universe that I was yet to tap. All three of the guy I was starting the band with were in some way linked up with the rock journalism world, so they, of course, knew of and had already cast judgement upon eleventeen bands that had yet to release their first LP. While some of the guys were harsher than others, I always respected their opinions, even when they stated them so harshly that it seemed they were actually trying to belittle me as a listener. I'M NOT BITTER OR ANYTHING!!! Honestly: they did mess up my tastes pretty bad and to this day I am not sure whether I like and don't like what I do and don't because of what I believe or what I was expected to believe before I was in that band. While I am pleased that they reminded me not to let go of the passionate, loud-as-hell, rock that I adored in my youth, I am dissapointed that after six months removed from those guys I still can't approach "lighter" music I used to adore (Moxy Fruvous, early Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds) without thinking it's "gay". All anger aside, my old drummer always had something new for me to listen to - and I was ususally the second kid on the block to know about it.
Both my drummer and I were always excited that despite how incredible, and sometimes downright concept-y and epic, this disc was, Bad Astronaut considered this an EP and more of an overture to their upcoming full length. Anyone that does know their 2002 debut LP, Houston, We have a Drinking Problem, know that their sneak preview EP, Acrophobe served them well. I have always loved the sound of this disc. The guitars manage to roar yet maintain the clarity of every note on every string. The vocal: present (though not too far forward in the mix) and overwrought, but never to the pointing of bordering on pop-punk. I guess in its purest sense, this is a pop-punk record. In the wake of the watered-down sound alike MTV2 scene we have been left with in the wake of the success of Blink 182, pop-punk has become a dirty word, so I would like to think that Bad Astronaut leans more the the pop side of things. They don't come of as bratty - they even come off as educated in the realm of popular music. Does a "punk" band covering an Eliott Smith tune (the title of this post) not say it all. The drums sound live, the bass is audible (rare for a powerpoppunkwhatever record these days), and the little piano and synth bits not only add a touch of class, but broaden the texture and emotional palette used by the band. There's only one shitty bit on this record, really. While the album's opener is raucous and grand, letting you know what you're in for, the last track falters by adding five minutes of answering machine babble. Hardly enough to deter me from this disc, I usually just skip this track.
Now: Imagine the original pop-punk sneer Buzzcocks meets The Who's Live at Leeds,Who's Next-era bombast. You get Big in Japan. Bass in your face, ridiculous drumming, a great twin guitar attack and a record choc full o' anthems and singalongs. I could write another huge diatribe about this record, but I think opening track of side two (the title track, "Destroy the New Rock") says it all. "Let's wage war in stereo in the name of the old scenario! Show contempt in analog in the name of the brand new underdog!"
I hope that my glowing comments have inspired you to go out and pick this should-be-on-pop-radio disc, but that's really not why we're here, now is it? I have this memory: I am driving up around where Rts. 287 and 80 meet in Jersey. I might be on my way to rehearsal, maybe coming home. Either way, the band is on my mind. I have a great apartment, lots of money to spend, a great girlfriend in Brooklyn, and a whole life in front of me. Most importantly, I am rocking out to Bad Astronaut and/or Big in Japan. It was a really simple and hopefully expectant time in my life. I felt almost as free as a teenage suburban punk. While a lot of those things have gotten even better (living in Brooklyn myself, WITH said great girl), the band, the money, and the idea that someday the two of those will be intertwined is gone. I don't live in sadness, but I've yet to find what I am chasing after now. I hope I've made the right decisions. I haven't gotten pre-release wind of any new albums in the Honest Don's catalogue. I haven't come any closer to rock stardom - though I am starting to come to terms with that one. Damn music and its nostalgic properties. And to think: these albums are side projects from other bands...
Bad Astronaut, Acrophobe
Big in Japan, Destroy the New Rock
I am insanely jealous of teenage suburban punks. They all have a Britannica-like knowledge of local and up-and-coming punk, emo, and hardcore acts, and they all have managed to see no less than three of these bands in the last week at no less than three VFW's in their or other local municipalities. That must be the life: mom drops you off at the local hall show and you drop $3 to see 11 bands in the span of four hours. All your friends are there, hell, half of your friends are in the bands you are there to see, and somehow every single one is signed to some label that not only you have heard of, but has managed to make a name for itself with other teenage suburban punk scene three states away. So grass roots. While that part of it appeals to me on a "gee, I wish I was still a teenager level", the part that appeals to me most as an adult is the access to a seemingly limitless number of new bands to call your own.
I guess it's not all bad, though. There are still some bands/labels etc. that are at the forefront of the "next big thing" while keeping a relatively low profile. If you cite MTV or your local Clear Channel radio regime as your main source of new music, today's post may fly under your radar, but if you are at least a curious music consumer or perspective muso, you will recognize at least one of the following parties in the following sentence: Honest Don's is a sub-label of Fat Wreck Chords, the indepenedent "So-Cal" label started and run by Fat Mike of NOFX. Aside from releasing the albums to be discussed in the next few paragraphs, "Fat Wreck" also just put out "Rock Against Bush!": a great album for a great cause.
I was introduced to the Honest Don's label(s) through my old drummer. When the band we were in first got started, we all spent a few evenings playing CD's for each other in order to figure out where we each were coming from and where our sound would eventually go. In retrospect, this mostly helped us ot breed early and mutual contempt, but one of the nicer side effects was my realizing (like I stated in the paragraph above) that there was another musical scene or universe that I was yet to tap. All three of the guy I was starting the band with were in some way linked up with the rock journalism world, so they, of course, knew of and had already cast judgement upon eleventeen bands that had yet to release their first LP. While some of the guys were harsher than others, I always respected their opinions, even when they stated them so harshly that it seemed they were actually trying to belittle me as a listener. I'M NOT BITTER OR ANYTHING!!! Honestly: they did mess up my tastes pretty bad and to this day I am not sure whether I like and don't like what I do and don't because of what I believe or what I was expected to believe before I was in that band. While I am pleased that they reminded me not to let go of the passionate, loud-as-hell, rock that I adored in my youth, I am dissapointed that after six months removed from those guys I still can't approach "lighter" music I used to adore (Moxy Fruvous, early Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds) without thinking it's "gay". All anger aside, my old drummer always had something new for me to listen to - and I was ususally the second kid on the block to know about it.
Both my drummer and I were always excited that despite how incredible, and sometimes downright concept-y and epic, this disc was, Bad Astronaut considered this an EP and more of an overture to their upcoming full length. Anyone that does know their 2002 debut LP, Houston, We have a Drinking Problem, know that their sneak preview EP, Acrophobe served them well. I have always loved the sound of this disc. The guitars manage to roar yet maintain the clarity of every note on every string. The vocal: present (though not too far forward in the mix) and overwrought, but never to the pointing of bordering on pop-punk. I guess in its purest sense, this is a pop-punk record. In the wake of the watered-down sound alike MTV2 scene we have been left with in the wake of the success of Blink 182, pop-punk has become a dirty word, so I would like to think that Bad Astronaut leans more the the pop side of things. They don't come of as bratty - they even come off as educated in the realm of popular music. Does a "punk" band covering an Eliott Smith tune (the title of this post) not say it all. The drums sound live, the bass is audible (rare for a powerpoppunkwhatever record these days), and the little piano and synth bits not only add a touch of class, but broaden the texture and emotional palette used by the band. There's only one shitty bit on this record, really. While the album's opener is raucous and grand, letting you know what you're in for, the last track falters by adding five minutes of answering machine babble. Hardly enough to deter me from this disc, I usually just skip this track.
Now: Imagine the original pop-punk sneer Buzzcocks meets The Who's Live at Leeds,Who's Next-era bombast. You get Big in Japan. Bass in your face, ridiculous drumming, a great twin guitar attack and a record choc full o' anthems and singalongs. I could write another huge diatribe about this record, but I think opening track of side two (the title track, "Destroy the New Rock") says it all. "Let's wage war in stereo in the name of the old scenario! Show contempt in analog in the name of the brand new underdog!"
I hope that my glowing comments have inspired you to go out and pick this should-be-on-pop-radio disc, but that's really not why we're here, now is it? I have this memory: I am driving up around where Rts. 287 and 80 meet in Jersey. I might be on my way to rehearsal, maybe coming home. Either way, the band is on my mind. I have a great apartment, lots of money to spend, a great girlfriend in Brooklyn, and a whole life in front of me. Most importantly, I am rocking out to Bad Astronaut and/or Big in Japan. It was a really simple and hopefully expectant time in my life. I felt almost as free as a teenage suburban punk. While a lot of those things have gotten even better (living in Brooklyn myself, WITH said great girl), the band, the money, and the idea that someday the two of those will be intertwined is gone. I don't live in sadness, but I've yet to find what I am chasing after now. I hope I've made the right decisions. I haven't gotten pre-release wind of any new albums in the Honest Don's catalogue. I haven't come any closer to rock stardom - though I am starting to come to terms with that one. Damn music and its nostalgic properties. And to think: these albums are side projects from other bands...
