Tuddd's Muddd

Today, This Happened

[details to come]

Raveonettes at Music Hall of Williamsburg, April 21, 2011

[Raveonettes performing "Forget That You're Young" during the encore at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 4/21/11]

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• This was the eleventh time I've seen The Raveonettes live / I think they're on the short list of Greatest Bands in the World / Chain Gang of Love is my single favorite album OF ALL TIME.  Their new album Raven in the Grave is one of the two finest albums I've heard so far this year.  Yes, they are awesome.  [OK, that's out of the way.  Click here for a lengthy post / show review re: The Raveonettes from a few years back.]
• Pregame: many bowls, and a healthy portion of Cindy's seizure-inducingly great pot brownies.
• If y'haven't seen this yet, have a gander.  It was purchased 11 days ago by my good buddy Beaf at the Dallas Raves show.  [If you look closely, you'll notice that the poster is from their 2007 "Loud and Intimate Electric Duo Tour," which consisted of 6 total dates, of which I saw two.  After the Southpaw show, I saw a guy get run over by a taxi.  Ask me about it sometime!]
• OK.  Very glad they're playing at Music Hall... almost exactly a mile from my doorstep.  After a nice brisk walk I got to the venue at about quarter after 9, and, thankfully, said aforementioned brownie had already kicked in by the time I got inside.  Took a squeege and headed upstairs, where I found plenty of room along the left side of the floor... no house lights between sets, which (believe me) is going to be noticed by the dude who's practically tripping face.
• I enjoyed the opener, Tamaryn, whose shoegazy-meets-dreampoppy bag was the *perfect* soundtrack for me at that moment, what with the loopy, reverby goodness being augmented by my very own auditory hallucinations.
• Setbreak revealed the Raveonettes' new stage setup: dueling 3-piece drum kits at both sides of the stage, with one of the drummers switching off between drumming and rhythm guitar for most of the set.  Also, they brought their own special light show, being comprised of 6 vertical white fluorescent lights and 3 little groupings of multicolored light thingies. 
• Raveonettes opened their set with "Recharge and Revolt," with both of the drummers playing guitar, Sharin on bass, and Sune on vocals... this was probably the first time I've ever seen the Raves perform a song without Sune playing an instrument. 
• Setlist included songs from their entire recorded career, with the wealth of new stuff [6 new songs!] sounding awesome amongst the old chestnuts.  When a band has as many great songs as the Raveonettes do, it's easy to get wrapped up in the "man, why didn't they play..." game post-show, but the setlist was pretty fucking solid.  [See below for said actual setlist.]
• Set highlights for me were Chain Gang's "The Love Gang;" hearing two of the best new songs, "Apparitions" and "Evil Seeds," played back to back, Sune's solo during "Love in a Trashcan," and the awesome little noisy jam they did in "Attack of the Ghost Riders."  
• If I had to submit an entry into the fictional "What Do You Think Is the Perfect Song?" survey, it would probably be "Dead Sound."
• Stuff that complimented my brownie buzz nicely: the massive "wall of sound;" the flawlessly executed light show; the disco ball (I've seen probably damn near a hundred shows in this room.  How the hell did I never notice the disco ball before?!); the patient, attentive crowd.  It's pretty tough not to fall at least a little in love with Sune and Sharin when you see them live.
• The set ended, appropriately with "My Time Is Up," from the new record, and the encore closed out with Sharin switching over to guitar for "Aly, Walk With Me." 
• Probably the best show I've seen all year. 
• go HERE if you want better pics from this show.  Tuddd out for now......

 

Setlist:

1.) Recharge and Revolt

2.) War in Heaven

3.) Let Me On Out

4.) Dead Sound

5.) Noisy Summer

6.) Love in a Trashcan

7.) Lust

8.) Apparitions

9.) Evil Seeds

10.) Ignite

11.) The Love Gang

12.) My Tornado

13.) Attack of the Ghost Riders

14.) Heart of Stone

15.) My Time Is Up

ENCORE:

16.) Forget That You're Young

17.) Aly Walk With Me

My Weekend - Aminal at Lit, Come at Bell House, and Monogold at Union Pool

    3 nights, 3 shows.  Ain't no thang / that's how I roll, beetchez.

    So, we got to Lit a bit early, and headed across the street to Kabin, one of my least favorite bars in NYC... my buddy Devin was already trashed so I had some serious catch-up to do.  Several pints later (and, regrettably, a 'conversation' about evolution with a gravely-misinformed, semi-literate racist piece of garbage later) we headed back over to Lit and down to the basement.

    I had missed Aminal's set when Devin's band, the newly (as of last week) rechristened Big Shots, played with them at UC Lounge about a month ago.  Anyway, tonight I caught the full set, and these bastards have got some honest to gawd straight motherfuckin' TALENT.  I'm not going to tidily try to pigeonhole their music into one convenient category, because I'm pretty sure that would be missing the point entirely.  Instead, what I was hearing veered chaotically between prog, funk metal, and some parts that reminded me of all the alternative rock radio I listened to in the '90s.  Needless to say, I enjoyed the shit out of it.

[Go HERE to hear Aminal's track, "Krill."]

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    The post-Aminal party ran late and had me hurtin' Saturday... I wound up not getting out of bed until 3:30 PM.  I knew this Come show was going to be an earlier affair (doors at 6) and with the rain coming down in buckets Saturday night, I wound up driving over to Gowanus for this show with a sack of White Castles in tow.

    At some point in or around summer '07 [uh, I think?] I was totally obsessed with Come's fantastic first album, 11:11.  I'm pretty sure that said obsession coincided with the bizarre period of my life where I was running a door factory out on Long Island, which makes perfect sense because 11:11 is pretty damned bleak and disheartening at points (although it still manages to rock), and working at a door factory is fucking depressing shit, especially when your boss is a vicious wifebeating multiple felon scumbag.  Anyway.

    I totes missed out on Come the first time around during the '90s.  Actually got into their shit when I saw Thalia Zedek open up for Dinosaur Jr at this show years ago.  Over the years I saw Zedek's solo band four times total, including this one at Tonic in early '07 and this one at Bowery in '09.  So, it's pretty safe to say that I celebrate Ms. Zedek's entire catalog, and I was pretty psyched when I randomly noticed that Come would be playing Bell House.

    Got there towards the end of the opening act, D. Charles Speer, who were just finishing their set of what seemed to be uptempo rockabilly instrumentals.  No complaints from me there.

    Eleventh Dream Day took what seemed like forever [remember, I was hung over as fuck] setting their gear up.  Not gonna lie, I really didn't care for their music.  Most of it sounded like tired '90s tropes, and the stuff that didn't totally suck sounded like Neil Young retreads.  Meh.

    Come's set, however, did the trick.  Much to my delight, they performed over half of 11:11 as well as reaching back to several other notable highlights from their career (including personal favorite "In / Out" from Don't Ask Don't Tell).  Zedek's raspy vocals effectively clawed their way somewhere between her own insistent, hard-driving chording and the more twangy, bluesy riffing of Chris Brokaw, with the ensuing turmoil driven onward by drummer Arthur Johnson's shifting rhythms.  This was EXACTLY what I thought the Come live experience would be like.  Well done. 

    [See directly below for the setlist.]

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    My third time seeing Monogold this year [brief review of a previous show located somewhere in this slovenly mess], only this time I pre-gamed with one of my friend Cindy's insane pot brownies.  Having seen Godspeed at Terminal 5 last month (and having had my Godspeed live experience thoroughly augmented by said baked goods), I figured "what the hey" and threw down accordingly.  I had a feeling that my exhaustion would combine with Monogold's heavily reverbed poppiness and the splendid acoustics of the room at Union Pool to create a superior listening experience, and I was right.  Yay!

    Seriously, do your ears a favor and see these guys live, and check out their new record, The Softest Glow, which is really fucking good.

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    Yes, I'm pissed about Mogwai canceling their NYC dates, but fret not.  I still get to see the Raveonettes Thursday night at Music Hall, Austerity Program with The Netherlands at Charleston Friday, and Crocodiles Saturday at Music Hall. 

    And where are my manners... HAPPY 420 Y'ALL'S!

 

More Cheeseburger Info n' stuff

So, as you may have already heard, Cheeseburger has an album coming out in a few weeks.  [FUCK YEAH, etc.]  Go HERE for more Cheeseburger goodies, including preview clips from songs off the new album, the Superjail-themed video to their awesome new single, "Winner," and some other shit.  RAWK THAT SHIT.

[also, if anyone has any clue what happened to all of my lighters, hit me up.]

NEW CHEESEBURGER ALBUM MAY 3RD!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!!

[Don't look now, but I've actually posted something for 4 straight days.  WHEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!}]

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    So I noticed last week that Cheeseburger's second album is FINALLY coming out, and soon.  FIGGITY FUCK YEAH, Y'ALL!!!!  That's the album cover above.  From bandweblogs.com:

Cheeseburger Serves Up Sophomore Album

Another Big Night Down The Drain

Cheeseburger, the Brooklyn-based party band that has made quite the name for itself in the New York music scene with its party-popping self-title first album, announced the release of its sophomore album, Another Big Night Down the Drain.

The 11-song release from the band's new label, Williams Street Records, will drop May 3, 2011 on both CD and digital download.

Original band members Joe Bradley (vocals), Luke Crotty (Drums) and Christy Karacas (Guitar) are now joined by Jayson Green (vocals), Christian Gordy (Bass) and Eric Dufresne (Guitar) on the release, and the result is a bigger sound, but the same riff heavy garage punk vibe that fans have come to expect.

Cheeseburger's self-titled 2006 debut was released to worldwide acclaim, as critics were awestruck by their frenzied and gritty garage punk sound garnering the band's comparisons to the likes of the Stooges and the Dickies.

As the editors of Pitchfork put it, "Rather than copy some Motley Crue Cliché and wind up sounding like Jet or Louis XIV, Cheeseburger toy with rock archetypes the way a big cat teases its prey."

Another Big Night Down the Drain boasts all of the same brawn but adds even more bite. The record's bigger sound transports this group of party seekers to a whole new level musically, with a thematic album telling the tale of one poor sap's adventurous night on the town.

Tracks on the album include:

1. Party Song
2. Winner
3. Big Night
4. Tight Jeans
5. Jellybean
6. Bobby's Theme
7. Deep In The Cups
8. Gina
9. Suzy
10. Roll Like That
11. Good Time Charlie

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Ummmm, AWESOME!  If you haven't heard the single, "Winner," go to their MySpace here to hear it free, or go to eMusic here to buy it, or hit up iTunes or whatever the fuck. 

Some thoughts:

• This has been a sucky year for music.  Hopefully this shakes shit up.
• Not going to belabor you with the cartoonish levels of my Cheeseburger fandom, but if you want to read 20 or so posts that (at least tangentially, at most solely) involve Cheeseburger, click here at your own risk. 
• A bunch of these songs are older songs they've been playing for at least 4 or 5 years... I remember "Tight Jeans" and "Suzie" being played all the way back at this show.  
• New version of "Jellybean" should be tight.  "Bobby's Theme" was the piano-led ballad at the end of the first album. 
• Speaking of "Jellybean," check out an earlier version (along with a couple other tracks) in this Tugggets post I made awhile ago.  
• If you want to hear Christy talk about Superjail, Cheeseburger, and other shit, go here and click on the "CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE ON-DEMAND ARCHIVE" button.  Then click thru until the part where the interview starts. 
• Uhhhh, what else.  I gots to get rollin' but hopefully Cheeseburger plays some area shows.  MAKE IT HAPPEN, DUDES!
• Should some local shows materialize, hopefully nobody pukes on me this time. 

 

7 Shows, 6 Days, 100+ Alcoholic Beverages, Edibles Galore, a Zip of Insane Upstate Outdoor, and Yes [drumroll pls], A FUCKING SPALDING. [PART I]

   

    [^heheheheh]

    So, recently, I attended 7 show in 6 days, as mentioned above.  Not too shabby a showing, if I do say so myself... in fact, that might actually be a personal record of some sort.  [On that tip, who th' fuck knows / cares.]  Over said 7 shows and 6 days, a ton of bands were seen (including Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Colin Stetson, Harvey Milk, Occultation, Fang Island, Hollerado, Monogold, Goes Cube, Austerity Program, Rosetta, Naam, Liquor Store, Wild Yaks), dangerous amounts of substances were consumed, acquaintances were renewed with old friends, and an unfair amount of fun was had.  Frankly, I have no clue how I managed to avoid getting really sick / throwing my back out / collapsing due to sheer exhaustion throughout this whole debacle because I'M REALLY FUCKING OLD.

    Anyway, deets onward: 

Goes Cube, Austerity Program, Rosetta and Naam at Studio at Webster Hall, Wednesday March 9, 2011

 

• Met up with my buddy Jimmy Dogshit for some booze (including appletinis, an unfortunate tradition of ours) and mediocre burgers at the Pour House.  Our waitress resembled a wholesomer version of British pornstar McKenzie Lee, whose work, coincidentally, I had, er, "enjoyed" just minutes before arriving at the Pour House.  SCHWING!
• Rolled up to Studio towards the end of Naam's set.  Wish I had more to report on these guys (because I've been told they're worthwhile), but sadly I don't.
• Rosetta was up next, and they underscored their reputation as being "the hardest band in the world to mic."  Their set at Santos in January opening up for Kylesa during one of the blizzards really converted me from "casual fan" to "ardent admirer who has no qualms shirking responsibilities to go out and see 'em on a random weeknight."  The sound sucked ass (I know, unusual for a Studio show) but the sweaty performance made up for it.
• Let me tell you, considering this was the first night of a planned HUGE fucking binge, you would think that I would've had the brains to actually take it easy on Night #1 instead of going balls to the wall.  But, as I have terrible judgment and generally do things ass-backwards, I wound up getting fucking SHITFACED.  Greyed out, and although I have no idea exactly how much booze I drank, I do know for a fact that I spent all $100 cash I had on me on booze at the show (mixed drinks were $6, beers were $4, and rock-bottom whiskey shots were also $4, so you do the fucking math), and wound up having to actually card my last two rock-bottom whiskey shots and beers.  And when I got home for some reason I had 7 empty plastic shot glasses in my pocket.  "THESE'LL COME IN HANDY!"  As mentioned earlier, a shabby performance by me this was not. 
• Austerity Program's set was next, and allow me to report (it ain't no secret): the house was thoroughly ROCKED.  They played the entirety of their fucking stellar EP from last year (#9 on last year's Best Albums list) as well as "Song 20" and... uhhhh... was that it?  Fuck, I don't remember, but let me tell ya, it sure makes for great drunken thrashing around.
• Goes Cube finished off the evening with exactly the type of skullfuckingly brutal performance that I've come to expect since I started seeing them live 5 years ago.  [Goddamn, how many times have I seen these guys live?  15?  20?  I'm not in Brooklyn at the time of this writing so I can't consult Tuddd Archives for the answer, but it's somewhere up there.  [edit: apparently it's 15 times, although that assumes that Tuddd Archives is actually accurate, which is highly unlikely.] Shee-itt.]  Anyway, their set drew liberally from what seemed like all of their most recent releases: 2009's Another Day Has Passed LP, last year's 7", the digital recording from Coextinction Recordings, and, of course, their forthcoming LP, In Tides and Drifts (which ain't out yet, but which, of course, I dorkily pre-ordered).  Since Goes Cube singer / guitarist David no longer lives in NYC, I was surprised at how insanely tight their set was, and the great sonics of the Studio space really highlighted Kenny's superb drumming and Matt's nimbly holding down the low end.  Obviously I'm a huge fan of these guys' music, and it was great to hear that this was the brand of fury they'd be truckin' down to SXSW.  RAWK.
• Anyway, tried to spit game with two Norwegian (uh, I think?) chicks post-show / failed miserably / wound up drinking Heinekens in the back of a cab during the ride home.  Woo Fucking Hoo.  Woke up the next morning with a head-splitting hangover (and a vexing case of bangover ta boot). 

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Liquor Store at Death by Audio, Thursday, March 10, 2011

 

Nuff.  Fucking.  Said.

Friday, March 11th: Monogold at Glasslands AND Fang Island at Bowery Ballroom.

--and--

 

    Two shows in one night?!?  Why, that's just FUCKING BONKERS!!!!! 

    Well, not really.  Actually it's more about the combination of lucky scheduling and way too much time on my hands than anything else.  But nonetheless, I'm not exactly sure when was the last time that I pulled off two shows in one day.  Hmmmm.  Possibly it might have been in September '06 when I saw Mastodon at Webster Hall early, then Comets on Fire at Knitting Factory late.  Not gonna lie, that was pretty fucking badass.  ('Twas a good day indeed.)  Anyhow, the way this night shook out, I already had tix for Fang Island at Bowery, but I figured out I'd check out Monogold's early opening set at Glasslands before heading in to Manhattan, knowing that Monogold would be setting out in the van and driving down towards South by Southwest literally the moment their set was over.  Good shit.

    I first saw Monogold's live show at their Public Assembly record release show in mid-January - holy shitballs are they a good band, and man, was that a fun night.  They have a "current"-ish Williamsburg indie pop sound without the gayness of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart or Grizzly Bear or whoever,  while creating well-crafted, tuneful music that makes the kids want to shake they shit.  I've also been enjoying the bejeezus out of their newest album, The Softest Glow, as a nice change of pace from the usual steady diet of Melvins>Sleep>Melvins>Sleep>Melvins>Sleep playlist that more often than not can be found blaring out of my car stereo. 

    Monogold's set on this night was great, as it was the first time I saw 'em.  Frankly, they're another band that proves that I Don't Know Jack Shit About What Makes Music Popular, because they should be fucking huge.  My personal favorites from the set were "Dead Sea Minerals" and "Ivory Tusk, Golden Teeth"... check below for studio versions of these two sick motherfuckin' jams:

 

 

    I wished the gents my best on their SXSW journey and basically ran the fuck out of Glasslands the moment their set was done, heading southward back to my apartment briefly to crush a couple bowls of dank.  Sadly, this brief (yet hyper-necessary) dalliance meant that I'd get to Bowery towards the end of opening band Hollerado's set, which I regretted; I'd seen them open up for (and blow away) Black Lips (who fucking blow) in this same room in September '07.  Anyway, by the time I stumbled into Bowery, Hollerado was in the middle of a positively rippin' jam based on ZZ Top's "La Grange," and they looked to be having a great fucking time... again, I wish I had made it there a bit earlier, goddamn it. 

    Snuck way up front amongst the assembled 12 year-olds for Fang Island's set.  Of course, I'm on record as being a Fang Island booster from way back in the day.  Don't believe me?  Here's a short, sweet, and to the the point list of accolades I've heaped on these guys:

• First time I saw them live, in December '08, I wrote a glowing review.  [Read that shit.]
• Second time I saw them live, in April '10 at Maxwell's, uhhhhh... looks like I didn't write them up or anything that time around, but my buddy Devin shot this video of "Daisy" at the show.  Honest Injun.
• When it came time compile a list of my favorite songs of oh ten, Fang Island scored the year's top slot, with an unprecendented *four* songs in the Top 25.  Impressive!
• And, as befitting an album with so many fantastic songs, Fang Island's Fang Island topped my "Best Albums of 2010" list.   

Right on cue, this night's Fang Island set did not disappoint.  In fact, my only real complaint about the previous two times I'd seen them -- sour vocals -- seems to have been largely remedied.  And the larger Bowery stage allowed the three guitarists to bust out some hilariously over the top ARENA RAWK stage moves.  The setlist consted of most of Fang Island (YAY!), with few older ones and one new one thrown in... I was hoping they'd have six Andrew W.K.s come out to reprise his glorious operatic vocal coda from "Patterns on the Wall" but alas it wasn't to be... but even without that highly unlikely occurrence going down, this was one of the finest sets that I've seen all year. 

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OK, dank-time.  I will try to get a post up about Saturday / Sunday / Monday's shows and goings on but I can't promise anything... heading to Costa Rica on Wednesday for what's sure to be the Douchiest Bachelor Party Ever With the Douchiest Group of Douches That Ever Douched.  Tuddd out.

 

Tapes 'n Tapes at Music Hall of Williamsburg, February 4th, 2011

    [Above is the setlist I snagged after the show.  Yes, it's largely illegible, so scroll down if it be setlist ye seek.]

    First, watch this.

    Done?  Good!  Happy 2011, [insert ethnic slur here]s! 

    Just got back from tonight's Tapes 'n Tapes show.  Pretty stoned, very drunk, and just poured myself a(nother) quart of vodka / soda / splash 'o cran, so I'm not sure how coherent this post is going to wind up.  In other words, it's doubtful that I'm going to want to write much here, because I got places to go,  people to see, and things to do [all lies].  Just a few notes:

• I wasn't sure I was going to even make it into this show since the MHOW website said it was SOLD OUT before I left Long Island to come back to Williamsburg.  When I rolled up to the box office, however, it just so happened that they had *ONE* ticket left, which I bought the fuck out of.

• Third time I've seen this band live, and third time that they've had ABSOLUTELY INEXCUSABLY BAD concert sound.  First time I saw them live I bitched about the live sound; second time I saw them live I bitched about the sound, and this time around things were no better.  Drums and keyboard were WAY too loud; bass was overbearingly muddy and shitty sounding; guitar was practically inaudible.  What a fucking crock of shit. 
• These guys have been royally cornholed by Pitchfork since the initial honeymoon, and unfairly so.  Not on the same level as Black Kids, but face it, Black Kids were (are?  Do they still put out (awful) records?) a total joke, and compared to most of the absolute fucking garbage that the kids seem to be just gobbling up these days, Tapes 'n Tapes are fucking Led Zeppelin multiplied by the goddamn Beatles.  Despite them having fallen out of favor with the tastemakers, these guys still write some damn fine songs.  Like everyone else, I loved The Loon, but I've always thought Walk it Off had a bunch of good shit on there (though, admittedly, it was horrendously produced).  I'm kinda meh on the newest record (which came out last month), Outside; came into this show thinking there were only 3 good ones on the new one, but I liked a bunch more of the newer shit in the live setting than I expected I would have. 
• Another band that simply doesn't know what their own best songs are.  How these guys get off scot free without performing "The Iliad," "People You Know," "Time of Songs," "Headshock" and "Le Ruse" EVERY FUCKING NIGHT is beyond me.  
• "Jakov's Suite" is just a great show-ender.  Hopefully these guys will get big enough where they can actually afford to destroy all of their instruments at the end of every set while while "Jak"king off. 
• Wow, that pun was horrible.  Time for some nitrous, perhaps.  G'night, shit-eaters.

 

SETLIST [fwiw if I'm remembering correctly the set was a little over 80 minutes with the encore]:

Beach Girls [from the first independently released Tapes 'n Tapes EP, which I still haven't heard, hint hint]

Conquest

Just Drums

Demon Apple

10 Gallon Ascots

Hang Them All

Hidee Ho

Cowbell

Outro

One in the World

On and On

Lines

Omaha

Badaboom

The Dirty Dirty

Saddest of All Keys

Insistor

Manitoba

Freak Out

 

Encore:

Jakov's Suite

 

Video from Liquor Store at Europa, October 21, 2010 (part 2)

 

More footage from before, incorporating Devin's footage, mine, and, uh, JCVD. 

Video from Liquor Store at Europa, October 21, 2010

 

Yup, that's my shabby camera/camerawork capturing this none-too-shabby band (again).  And yes, I bought a copy of their 7" despite not owning a record player. 

Video from Liquor Store at Death by Audio October 16, 2010 [with Patrick Stickles]

 

I shot this at tonight's show... another great Liquor Store set.  Patrick Stickles from Titus Andronicus hopped up onstage for guest vocals.