Ick’s Pick (Week XVIII): The New York Dolls – ‘Cause I Sez So
In 1973, the New York Dolls released their now-classic debut album, produced by Todd Rundgren. 36 years and one reunion album later (2006’s One Day it Will Please Us to Remember Even This), the 21st century incarnation of the Dolls reunite with Rundgren for ‘Cause I Sez So, their 4th studio album.
I admit that I was a little concerned upon hearing about this release. While One Day… was one of my picks for 2006, my initial thought was that the band might be pushing it by doing another album, Rundgren or not. But I’m pleased to report that the album laid some of these fears to rest.
Perhaps the strongest cut is the opening title track, which captures the classic, straightforward Dolls-style rock. Frankly, this is probably my vote for the album’s strongest cut.
While “‘Cause I Sez So” most successfully captures the Dolls’ classic sound, other tracks (“Muddy Bones,” “Nobody Got No Business,” “Exorcism of Despair”) fit into that strain as well. There’s also the slinky blues of “This is Ridiculous,” the trash talk response “Better than You,” the southern- (almost Latin-) tinged “Temptation to Exist,” the foreboding darkness of “Drowning” and the mid tempo tracks “Making Rain” and “Lonely so Long.”
Another track of interest is a re-recording of perhaps my favorite Dolls song (and one of their most canonical), “Trash,” from their 1973 debut. I generally am not a fan of this practice. I understand artists’ desire to revise or reinterpret their material, but I generally feel like this should be restricted to the stage or to b-sides. While Bowie has faltered on these rerecordings a few times (“Space Oddity” in the early 1980s, “Rebel Rebel” circa 2004), the revised “Trash” is actually somewhat interesting, if still unnecessary. Gone is the thud of the punk drumming style and the crunchy guitars, traded in for a low-key reggae-ish rendition. Imagine the Clash covering this song circa Sandanista!, make it slightly more laid back, and you’ll approximate the Dolls’ 2009 version of “Trash.” Certainly not an improvement or an equal to the original, but an admittedly refreshing take.
And that may be what makes ‘Cause I Sez So interesting – it’s stylistically more varied than their previous effort, and their classic albums for that matter. That’s not to say that it surpasses or quite meets their first two LPs, but it shows them making an effort to tread into different (although certainly related) territory. Artistic growth is something that I generally appreciate, and that makes this album attractive, even though I find it less immediately pleasing than One Day…. However, the new disc does give me the feeling that it will grow on me over the next few weeks, and may be in heavy rotation this summer.
In the end, the new Dolls disc is far from an embarrassment. While one can rightly contest such a classic band retaining the New York Dolls moniker when only two of its original members remain, Johannsen and Sylvain are doing their legacy justice in the 21st century, and we should be thankful that the Dolls are still with us, despite the fact that some of them are not.
3.5 / 5
‘Cause I Sez So releases TODAY, Cinco de Mayo.
Buy ‘Cause I Sez So on Amazon.com.
Take Me Out!: Franz Ferdinand @ First Avenue
First Avenue was packed Tuesday night April 28th as the lads from Glasgow took the stage. Franz Ferdinand has always been a real pleasure to see live. I had only seen them one other time–at the Fine Line in 2004–on their first tour of the US. In addition to putting on a high energy show back then, I got to hang out with several burly local Scots who were wearing kilts…the way you are supposed to wear them:)
Alex, Nick, Bob, and Paul opened up their set last Tuesday with “Jacqueline,” a slow ballad that shifts into high energy about one quarter of the way through. Immediately, we all knew we were in a for a visual treat as the immense video screens kicked on in the back and proceeded to bombard us with high def images of such beauty and wonderment that I must admit I got a some late evening wood.As they went from song to song, the visuals changed…sometimes showing band members…other times showing certain images that reflected both the theme and the style of the song. This was not simply tech geeks getting off with their new Mac. This was ART. And it was not spoon fed to us.
They played songs from all three of their albums focusing primarily on their new record “Tonight” which has several great tunes. “No You Girls,” “Ulysses,” and “Turn it On” were all played and sounded magnificent. Of course, old chestnuts like “Tell Her Tonight” and “Michael” torqued up the crowd…the frenzy of which was reached when we all shouted take me out during….”Take Me Out.”
The encore contained a track called “Lucid Dreams” which brought even more stunning visuals on the back drop and propelled all of us into the year 1967 as the chaps summoned the spirit of Syd Barrett to downtown Minneapolis. I remarked to my friends in attendance with me that I never would’ve pegged Franz as going down the psychedelic road, but they did–and in their own femmy dork style.
They closed with “This Fire” and sent all out into the night to burn our city down–metaphorically of course. I know that I did and in the process have become a different man.
Thank God.
For the next two weeks they will be playing dates out east. Check their web site for more information.
Link: Official Site
The Boss Rolls on…
Did you know that, over the past week, Bruce and the Band have covered the Ramones and the Clash? Keep up to date on all the tour premieres over at my Springsteen Tour Debut Tracker.
Photo: courtesy of Backstreets.
Review: Mike Watt & the Missingmen @ the Launchpad in Albuquerque
The extended Ickmusic family has been out catching some quality live gigs this month. Tonight, my old friend Jason gives us a detailed account of his night with Mike Watt this past Saturday down New Mexico way… – Pete
Mike Watt & The Missingmen
The Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM, April 18 2009
For those unacquainted with Mike Watt’s work, let me relate an eavesdrop from outside Saturday’s show, during a nicotine infusion:
“So, who’s playing tonight?”
“Mike Watt,” said the fan to his tagalong, “bassist from the Minutemen. You know them?”
The fan was met with a blank stare.
“He’s kinda in the Stooges now, for the last couple albums and tours… C’mon, MIKE WATT, you know him.”
The fan was met with a blank nodding head.
“Well,” said the fan, “you secretly know him.”And that may be you, dear reader. You’ve heard The Minutemen. You’ve heard of fIREHOSE or Banyan. You certainly know The Stooges, and have been meaning to pick up their latest album, The Weirdness. You sort of remember when Sonic Youth did those Madonna covers. When your friend played you that Gov’t Mule cover of CCR’s “Effigy“, your head bopped soulfully. You may have even thought guiltily to yourself, “Man, this Kelly Clarkson song actually kinda rocks.”
In other words, you too secretly know Mike Watt.
And so you find yourself, wandering into that little venue downtown, where hipsters and rockers congregate, where the 30+ crowd is pleased to discover tonight is 21+, not like that mind boggling 18+ MC5 show. You cough up a $10 cover and choke down some $9 tequilas, switch to $1.50 PBR, and make your way toward the stage to hear Mike Watt, Tom Watson and Raul Morales practice their latest rock opera.
“Really?” the girl you brought asks, “Rock opera?” The strains of Bohemian Rhapsody burn behind her eyes.
“Well ostensibly,” you answer, citing the interview read earlier in the local rag, “it’s about Walt Whitman, The Wizard of Oz, mortality, and jackalopes. But it’s not completed, or quite ready. So tonight they’re just practicing.”And then you notice the man brushing through the crowd from the bar wearing a gig bag like a backpack. “Oh, that’s Mike Watt,” you think. He takes the stage, preemptively tunes, adjusts the mic stand. And then the band explodes.
The first barrage of the power trio is so loose, rather, so… not tight, with double bass thuds popping just slightly too far behind the frenetic drums, you think, “Hmmm, they really do need practice.” But it’s a ruse. Watt screams, “COLTRANE!!!” into the mic, and they’re off. “Oh yeah, this is Mike Watt,” you say.Dear reader at this point, I should point out that I didn’t attend the show with forethought of writing this review. Hence, I have no up-the-nose, front row, cell phone pix for you, no shaky, EQued-out YouTube vids, nor even a desultory set list. I did recognize a few covers, The Stooges’ “Fun House” and Wire’s “Three Girl Rhumba”, to name a couple. But mostly I was violently entranced by the complexity of the noise, the raw punk energy of the performance. Watt appeared to be alternately attempting to swallow his tongue or spit it from his mouth like a wad of chewed Fruit Stripe. He barked lyrics like a berserker Tom Waits. Watson crafted rhythm riffs and feedback drones into a driving, irresistibly head-banging gale. I think Morales had three drumsticks. This is opera? I like opera.
I dunno. If you were writing this, how would you describe this music? Zappa conducting with a tungsten fungo bat? The Stooges dragged behind a rockabilly locomotive? Capt. Beefheart covers Muddy Waters with a timebomb strapped to his balls? You wouldn’t wax so poetic. “It’s Mike Watt,” you’d simply say, “You know. You secretly know.”
And you do. You know that Watt’s gracious low-key smile is genuine. You know that when he thanks the smallish audience for, “being so kind,” he truly means it. When he asks, over the mic, if anyone has, “a safe place for our boat (his van) and a place for us to crash tonight.” You just know it’s not odd. Mike’s on tour. Mike jams econo. When he curses, “the machines,” after his mic stand falls slowly to the stage for the umpteenth time and states, “This one’s the timber machine.” You know he’s actually punning, “the timbre machine.” When he personally sells you a t-shirt after the show and calls bullshit on the fact they’ve run out of some sizes after only two gigs, you know the band stickers he gives you really are an apology.
But most of all you know, as you step into the night, that you will most definitely show up for the next practice.
http://www.myspace.com/missingmen
http://www.hootpage.com/Upcoming “Prac’n the 3rd Opera” Tour 2009:
04-21 Houston, TX – Rudyard’s
04-22 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
04-23 Tallahassee, FL – The Moon *
04-24 Jacksonville Beach, FL – Freebird Live *
04-25 Charleston, SC – The Music Farm *
04-26 Asheville, SC – The Orange Peel *
04-27 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle *
04-29 Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre *
04-30 Richmond, VA – The National *
05-01 Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club *
05-02 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar *
05-06 Cambridge, MA – T.T. the Bear’s
05-07 Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s
05-08 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
05-09 Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar
05-10 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
05-11 Cleveland Heights, OH – Grog Shop
05-12 Detroit, MI – Shelter
05-13 Grand Rapids, MI – Billy’s Lounge
05-14 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
05-15 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
05-16 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
05-18 Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
05-19 Salt Lake City, UT – Bar Deluxe
05-20 Boise, ID – Neurolux
05-21 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
05-22 Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe
05-23 Bellingham, WA – The Nightlight
05-24 George, WA – Sasquatch! Music Festival* with Dinosaur Jr.
All I Wanna Do is Rock: Travis at the Fine Line in Minneapolis
When Travis comes to town, it’s always a special show. The previous four times I have seen them have all been very entertaining. The first time was as a warm up to Oasis in 2000. Next was headline at the now defunct Glam Slam later that year. Then we had the big show at the State Theater in which the audience was invited up on stage to dance…the entire audience! Two years ago was the infamous 1st Avenue show in which the theme from Rocky was played at the opening as the lads ran in from the front door and through the crowd (!) to get to the stage. Fran, Dougie, Andy, and Neil are terribly charming and wonderfully fun to see live, so when I saw they were coming to the intimate setting of the Fine Line in downtown Minneapolis, I was quite amped.
Their new album, Ode to J Smith, has a much heavier sound than their previous five records. It’s nice to see them moving beyond their dream pop/Radioheadesque shoe gazing meme (which, of course, I love since I am a card carrying member of Emo Shoe Gazers Inc) and really evolving as a band. As they took the stage around 10pm last Saturday night, teasing us with the first bit of the soft “Three Times and You Lose” and then cutting right into “Chinese Blues” from J Smith, it was abundantly clear that they had been enjoying their stay in Heavyosity, USA.Playing songs from each of their six albums (and returning several times to that dream pop sound), Travis wowed and charmed the crowd with their witty banter and highly interactive performance. During “Falling Down,” lead singer Fran Healey came down into the audience to slow dance with a lass and sing amongst us sweaty ones. Not to be outdone, lead guitarist Andy Dunlap left the stage and went into the alley outside for a solo! It was fun to watch the guitar tech try to get the chord for his Les Paul to give as much slack as it could. At one point, I though he might make it all the way to First Avenue.
Highlights for me were “All I Wanna Do Is Rock” (played with balls to labia ferocity)…”Driftwood” (which, after 10 years, I finally truly understand since someone in my life has become the living example of this song)…”Turn” (with Dougie taking the second verse as usual and always a treat) and a bonus, Minneapolis only “Flowers in The Window” played in unplugged style as the very last song.
They are playing dates out East for the remainder of the tour…Cleveland, Toronto, Washington, Philly, New York and Boston….and it looks to be all more intimate venues….a rare treat for yet another UK band that sells out 10K + venues across the pond. Check them out and don’t forget to stare dreamily at your trainers. 🙂
Check out Ode to J. Smith on Amazon.
Links: Official Site | MySpace
…and I took the sword from the Lady in the Lake
Resident Anglophile Mark returns to Ickmusic with a review of the recent White Lies / Friendly Fires show in Minneapolis. I need to add a “Tell Us How You REALLY Feel” category just for Mark’s colorful posts… – Pete
Friendly Fires / White Lies / The Soft Pack
April 4th @ the Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis
Friendly Fires Beginning last Saturday night, the next six weeks of my life will be filled with music from the Holy Land (aka the United Kingdom). This cavalcade of music was actually supposed to begin on March 30th with Bloc Party at 1st Avenue. But sadly, Kele (lead singer and guitarist) was sick, so the show has been postponed until May 4th, which is fine because it fits nicely between Franz Ferdinand and Keane. So, my first review of the series of shows I will see in April and May (which Pete has graciously agreed to let me write about) begins with the White Lies/Friendly Fires show at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.
It had been way too long since I had seen a show, let alone a sacred band from the Empire. The last one was Oasis in Chicago last December and, like a man with heavy balls that have not been fully drained in quite some time, I was ready on Saturday to spray my musical love all over the pit of a fucking club. Both White Lies and Friendly Fires sell out much larger venues in the UK, so getting to see them in a place with a max cap of 500 was highly appealing. I was jumping out of my skin in anticipation.
My buddy Ross and I got to the Triple Rock around 9:30pm. I had heard a little about the place trying to be a competitor of First Ave and the Fine Line, but not much. They really have a nice set up which reminded me a lot of the Urban, a popular musician’s club back in the day, because it had a bar that is separate from the music room. So you could chill out on the bar side and wait for the bands to come on, take a break from the noise, or just hang out all night where the music is playing. Ross and I chilled out in the bar and as soon as we heard the music start, we went into the other room.
The first band up was The Soft Pack. They’re a very cool band from San Diego who sound much like early Jam. The drummer plays standing up which is always tons of fun. How lucky are they to be out with two big Brit bands! I was immediately struck by how great the sound system was sounding. Yep, a musician’s club.
Next up was White Lies who really got the party started. They have a very 80’s Smiths sound to them. As they ripped through their set, I scanned the crowd to see many boy couples there. Honestly, I hadn’t seen as many men dancing since an 8th grade dance back in my Prairie School days. In fact, a girl standing next to me thought that Ross and I were a couple – asking me where “my guy” was when he went to take a piss. I politely informed her that we were not that cool. Best songs of the White Lies set were “Unfinished Business” and “Death.” Lead singer Harry McVeigh was his typical emo intense glory filled self.
White Lies Then Friendly Fires took the stage and the place turned into a bloody rager. I first heard their song “Paris” back in late 2007. They essentialy recorded this lush, shoegazing melody in lead singer/keyboardist/loop demon Ed McFarlane’s dad’s garage. It quickly became for me one of those tracks that creates nostalgia for a time that never was or hasn’t happened yet – a key ingredient in all the best music and a typical one in the sounds that comes from the Holy Land (in this case, St. Albans Hertfordshire).
They opened with “Lovesick” a hard bass dance floor corker of a track followed quickly by “Jump in the Pool”- it’s pounding effervescence shimmering over all of us. As the set progressed, the frenetic intensity of the pit grew exponentially-the band running all over the stage playing a wide variety of instruments backed with Prodigy-esque loop tracks- until the song “Paris” came and a nuclear device was summarily detonated. Everyone was screaming out the chorus, “They’ll be out for us!” at the top of their lungs. Arms, bodies, and legs were flailing all around me as I felt comforted and warm in one of the many places I like to call home.
This tour still has dates left in Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, SF, LA and SD…so basically out west. I highly recommend seeing this show in such small venues – a rare treat and one that should be honored. So go forth, take the sword from the Lady in the Lake, and buy thyself a ticket to see White Lies/Friendly Fires!
Links:
White Lies: Official | MySpace
Friendly Fires: Official | MySpace
The Soft Pack: MySpaceKingsbury, “Atlantic City” and “Southern Accent”
Kingsbury has been at the top of my listening pile for what seems like weeks but is more likely months. Their latest release Lie to Me is a beautifully nuanced post-rock work (you can download the entire EP at the bands official site). The band recently released a pair of covers Bruce Springsteen‘s “Atlantic City” and Tom Petty‘s “Southern Accent” featuring Matt Butcher on vocals. Each track is a quiet reflection on the original, capturing the essence of the lyric and definitely worth the listen.
Kingsbury – “Atlantic City“
Kingsbury – “Southern Accent (feat. Matt Butcher)“
Links: Official Site
Video: Clapton Joins the Allman Bros. for “Little Wing”
Anyone out there lucky enough to catch any of the Allman Brothers shows during their current Beacon run? They’re trotting out some great special guests: Trey and Page from Phish, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rojas from Los Lobos, and, a couple nights ago, Erick Clapton showed up for a few.
I just sat mesmerized for the last 7 minutes watching this version of “Little Wing”…
“Eruption” Zappa Style
Dweezil Zappa – “Eruption” (YouTube)
My brother-in-law sent this one over… You’ve got to love Dweezil for all his self-deprecating “aww shucks” modesty before ripping a killer version of Van Halen‘s signature crescendo. The 2009 Zappa Plays Zappa tour will be canvasing the rest of the world though June. You can find the dates as well as other goodies at the official site.
Ick’s Pick (Week IX): Bell X1’s ‘Blue Lights on the Runway’
I narrowed this week’s pick down to two Irish bands. I figured Bono and the boys have succeeded in completely saturating the U.S. media, and it was a good opportunity to shine the spotlight on another quality band from the Emerald Isle: Bell X1.
Before I get started, look down a little further in the post for the embedded media player. Bell X1 has done it right, offering a full embeddable stream of their entire album. So go on down, click play, and come on back.
Bell X1 are a Dublin-based group who started off in the early 90’s as a band called Juniper, which also featured Damien Rice. The “Bell X1” was inspired by the first plane to break the sound barrier (flown by Chuck Yeager way back in 1947).
Blue Lights on the Runway is the band’s 4th studio album since their debut in 2000. I’d picked up their 2005 release Flock due to a couple of great tunes I heard on Sirius: “Rocky Took a Lover” and “Flame”. So when I noticed Blue Lights, their debut on Yep Roc, I had to take a listen.
Glad I did! This album has some great moments…
“The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella” kicks off the album in rocking, synthy, electro-pop style.
“How Your Heart Is Wired” has an electronic-based rhythm that brings to mind Kid A-era Radiohead.
“The Great Defector” will have David Byrne fans double checking their iPod. Vocalist Paul Noonan sounds just like Byrne on this one, particularly when the chorus takes flight with the background vocals.
But it’s the album’s slower moments that really do it for me. “Blow Ins” is one of the best down tempo tunes I’ve heard all year. It takes a look at a subject that fascinates all of us: our mortality: “I am the magpie when all’s shiny and new / I can’t help myself, I pick a pocket or two / And if all time was but a day / We’d show up around midnight and say ‘Hey’… We’re just blow ins / On the storm of time / Yeah, we’re just stopping / For a while”. Noonan’s vocals shine on this one – really a gorgeous tune.
“Light Catches Your Face” and “The Curtains are Twitchin'” are two other quality slower numbers . “Curtains”, the album closer, starts off as a minimalist dirge-like ballad – piano, electric guitar and vocals – and ends up sounding like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band broke into the studio – a cavalcade of dixieland brass bursting through the final moments of a great album.
Links: Official Site
