I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July holiday. To my Canadian friends, I hope you had a terrific Canada Day. Normally, I would be celebrating America’s birthday, but it is difficult to celebrate America’s success when we are in the vortex of a disaster of our own creation. As COVID-19 numbers cross the 50,000 new cases per day threshold and a Federal administration that has fully given up talking about or doing anything about the senseless deaths, the signs for America’s future look a little bleak right now. However, there is still hope. America can reclaim its place as the greatest democracy by taking small individual and collective steps designed to unite one another for a common purpose. That purpose I would offer is to heal and protect our communities from threats from within. If July 4th is to remain a marker for the celebration of our culture and our nation – past, present and future – then action to preserve our democratic way of life must start with us. If we fail to take action to reverse the rivers of division threatening to drown our democracy then we are lost. The fight for a society where all persons are created equal is a good place to start. Black Lives Do Matter. Register to vote. Participate. Be a positive force for change and not just a critic.
As for Tales From The Drop Box Episode 166, it is definitely a hodgepodge of old and new. I think you are going to love a number of these tracks which might have passed you by during the past couple of months as social issues predominate attention and time. You’ll also get some insight into one of my guilty pleasures, San Cisco, including why I feel guilty, along with the usual mix of new music that you should be listening to right now.
Here is what you will find in Episode 166:
Hinds – “Waiting For You” (The Prettiest Curse)
Tuff Sunshine – “We Seal Every Deal With A Kiss” (Dig Deeper, Peanut)
Rusty – “Tricker Tricker” (Dogs Of Canada)
Animal House – “Modern Romance (feat. Lucy Sheehan)” (Premium Mediocre)
All The Wasted Years – “Ship Going Nowhere” (I’m Fine)
Disq – “D19” (Collector)
Honey Lung – “Getting Off” (Post Modern Motorcade Music)
Raveslut – “Insanity” (No Escape)
Jeff Rosenstock – “Leave It In The Sun” (No Dream)
Pretty Thrills – “Scarlett” (Pretty Thrills)
San Cisco – “On The Line” (On The Line – Single)
Silver Sun – “Needle In The Ball Pit” (Switzerland)
Terry Sharp – “Put In Bay Ohio Death Bird” (The Death Choir Sings)
The Skids – “The Saints Are Coming”
Bad Cop/ Bad Cop – “Breastless” (The Ride)
I gave you time in crowded places gave you love in empty spaces waiting for you . . . Don’t let me know all the reasons that it probably shouldn’t work or let me know all the things I’ll never do.
Happy Mother’s Day! It is a special day for many of us as we take time to appreciate the primary source of nurturing and love that also gave us life. This is not to say that fathers don’t provide nurturing love, they almost certainly do, but fortunately for most of us, moms are the endless fount of love. So, for all of you moms who have given their unwavering love, support and care for your child(ren) – enjoy your day. This episode is for the moms in my life and most importantly for my children’s mom, a special woman who has raised some intelligent, talented and loving children and who puts up with this overgrown child every single day! For those of you listening to this episode, why not share it with your mom…
Typical of this podcast, Episode 158 of Tales From the Drop Box is not a celebration of Mother’s Day. It is a little softer at the beginning but it slowly builds to that unpredictable chaotic diversity you’ve come to expect. So, as always rock the crap out of this one.
This first episode of October is filled with tales by talented songwriters from a variety of perspectives. I think Tales From The Drop Box Episode 121 is a good reminder of the power of music to make you feel. From the vitriol of the Petrol Girls track “Strike” to the heartache and regret of San Cisco’s “When I Dream”, this episode is sure to trigger some emotion in you. I believe that the emotional connection is the point of this podcast i.e. my central mission is to provide you with a powerful emotional experience as a reaction to the music. Music trigger emotional response. That is, music should connect with you on both a physical and emotional level. I believe we’ve lost that connection because the mass produced music that permeates our daily lives no longer connects – it is soulless and just noise. I want this music to strike with clarity and leave you emotionally spent. I know that not every track will connect with you. My goal, each episode is merely one. One song that will lift you up, move you to cry, make you smile.
This is also a very good episode for headphones! Episode 121 is filled with late night music – the kind of music that you used to listen to when you were young – when you were lying in your bed with the lights off, just listening. I remember distinctly the excitement I felt as a kid when I discovered a new band or new song on the radio. In the later 70’s the best new music was actually played on radio and always late at night. From Rodney on the ROQ to John Peel, music was experienced with only the glow of the radio. A wave of pleasurable new sounds blasting through the headphones, all experienced eyes closed. So, if you have hesitated listening to this podcast because you don’t recognize any of the bands, take a chance. I think you’ll find that this is the rabbit hole you will want to explore, once a week, every week and re-discover the missing part of your life – when music meant something, connected, mattered and brought you . . . joy.
Here is what you’ll find in Episode #121:
Massage – “Crying out Loud” (Oh Boy)
Petrol Girls – “Strike” (The Future Is Dark EP)
Sudakistan – “Caminos” (Swedish Cobras)
The Trews – “The New Us” (Civilianaires)
San Cisco – “When I Dream” (When I Dream (Single)
Satellite Stories – “Sunglasses” (Cut Out The Lights)
Sister Disorder – “Delayed” (Away)
Joyce Manor – “Silly Games” (Million Dollars To Me)
1000 Gram – “Daydream” (By All Dreams Necessary)
The Contestants – “It’s Not” (Twelve Of Your Earth Years)
Damper – “Panic” (Damper EP)
Laser Tusk – “Mother Iron” (Traveling Light)
Blue Haze – “Bloodmagic” (Nightdive)
The Stranglers – “Golden Brown” (La Folie)
Slothrust – “Some Kind of Cowgirl” (The Pact)
Golden brown texture like sun lays me down with my might she runs throughout the night no need to fight . . . are you waiting to storm the winter palace, bro? picture yourself on the front page? do you want a fucking monument or are you here to make change?
As we approach the dog days of summer, this month’s dropbox echoes, perhaps, this time of the year. There are some summer sunny pop gems sprinkled with a little coolness portending the approach of fall (except for Pop. 1280 which is, frankly deep winter).As J is in the middle of summer school in Santa Barbara, and K is continuing to work at the golf course until he begins at Santa Cruz in September, I’m also cognizant that the dropbox is also reflective of a change in seasons. ( That last sentence was vaguely metaphorical if you ask me).
Starting off with sounds of summer, New Jersey’s Boxed Wine provide that sunny garage pop that will make you tap your feet and sing along to these sunny positive tunes. In short, Boxed Wine is the antidote for the blues. Cheap, Fun, the bands debut LP, carries on the summer dance party with this well-crafted pop gem. Why this is not on Alt98.7 or KROQ (for those of you who live in LA) is beyond me. The four piece (Chris Mactire (vocals), Ralph Nicastro (guitar) , Mike Cerisano (bass), and Steve McCarthy (drums)), really is a throwback in some ways – a traditional rock quartet lifting early Joe Jackson / Elvis Costello grooves and recombining it with early 80’s new wave. They are self- described as indie pop with dance sensibilities, but the sound is more power pop with dance – think of Grouplove or Walk The Moon’s “Anna Sun.” Opener “Into the Nite” is stunning in its catchiness and sets the tone for the entire record with all of the songs as enjoyable as the firstl. Sure, as a whole this album, lyrically, is not too weighty, but if you are looking for something to shake off the doldrums, you can’t go wrong here. Try “Into The Nite”, (http://youtu.be/RI4xQoy6Vo4 ) “On The Run” and “Overboard.”
A little different approach to dance pop, Melbourne’s Buchanan on its debut Human Spring, combines the current elements of Australia’s pop scene into club ready guitar pop a laSan Cisco and Two Door Cinema Club but Josh Simmons vocals are way smoother. There is definitely a trend developing for this kind of music, and the band already has airplay on Australia’s alternative radio – Triple J. A good change of pace if you are listening to a diet of punk rock and metal. All kidding aside, this record would fit nicely into your growing Australian record collection. Try “Run Faster”(http://youtu.be/Y53zoaFWi64 ), “Human Spring”( http://youtu.be/-fokIF1fhLs ), and “Act Natural.”
Speaking of Melbourne, Camperdown & Out have just released Couldn’t Be Better which is connected to a different aspect of Australia’s pop scene derived from the same scene that more than 20 years earlier produced the dropbox favorite – legendary Hoodoo Gurus. Yes, you heard it here first, jangle pop is back. A genre that was in danger of becoming extinct, is finding a rebirth in the recent wave of garage acts. However, the jangle pop variant which was huge on college radio in the late 80’s and best exemplified by Let’s Active, Beat Farmers, The Clean, Fleshtones, and early Smithereens, is beginning to see new life at the fringes of the alt-rock scene. Camperdown & Out are essentially a Melbourne super group – Nathan Roche (Marf Loth), Alex Kiers (Raw Prawn), David Akerman (Dead Farmers) and Chris Shortt (Royal Headache) – formed to pay tribute to their jangle pop heroes and the originators of the genre – The Velvet Underground. The subject matter of the record drifts from the normal boy-girl relationships treading into political social issue territory and literalism e.g. “Manly” is about what you would do in Manly, a beach side suburb – drinking a beer at the pub, walking down the street, sitting in the shade, lying on the sand etc. , and “Don’t Have a Dog” is about not having a dog…no surprise) which may prevent some listeners from connecting, but I found it an enjoyable turn and worthy of inclusion. Try “Manly” (http://youtu.be/gl77zL8LF40 ) , the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed sounding “Tropics of Capricorn” and “Don’t Have a Dog.”
Who would have thought that there were four bands all named Chinaski that existed on this planet? See if you can guess which one is in the dropbox this month. According to Last.fm
1) Chinaski is a chilean stoner doom psych band from Curico, Chile.
2) Chinaski is a czech pop group formed by a leader Michal Malatný. Playing for years, started as a formal “garage rock group”, nowadays they are a popular pop group in the Czech Republic.
3) Chinaski (Los Angeles) is also a post-grunge group from California
4) Chinaski is also a group from the French Riviera.
I know you want to guess Number 1 or Number 2, but its number 3 in the list and it is a darn good rock record. I’m not to sure about calling it post-grunge. Does this even make sense? So a grunge band formed after the death of the genre is considered post-grunge. Grunge may have died, but how does this explain post-hardcore, where hardcore never died? Say what you mean. I’d characterize this more like pop-grunge. Apparently, a few people have read the works of Charles Bukowski. In this case, this is a non-metal rock record with some grunge flashes, such as the opening to the burner “I Will” which leads off You Might Like This Better Than Me. Don’t be fooled with the timing of this release. You Might Like This Better Than Me isa reissue of Chinaski’s second LP which was originally released in 2001. The band was killed in the death to grunge movement and the post Gilmore Girls backlash which played a couple of tracks from the record. (See how I did that – Post-Gilmore Girls). This fits nicely into the early 2000’s guitar rock/college rock with bands like the Refreshments. Its a record I missed, and in places sounds a little dated, but still has loads of charm. Try “I Will”, “Our Song” and “Even Now.”
I miss Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, better known as Fountains of Wayne. Well, I shxx you not, The Electric Soft Paradecould be a light version of Fountains of Wayne. On Idiots, the Electric Soft Parade traverse the same musical notes as what appeared on Fountains of Wayne’sWelcome Interstate Managers, the breakout album that produced “Stacy’s Mom” and “Hackensack”. Apparently being copyists, does not please everyone. The reviewer at NME gave this a 6/10 claiming “[s]adly there’s a deal-breaking second half to this album, exemplified by a regrettable harmony overload on the cloyingly twee meltdown ‘Mr Mitchell’, a song so drippy it’s as unlistenable as a million malfunctioning taps.” So, one duff track – and that’s the deal breaker. As I’ve reiterated elsewhere, anytime you traverse into Beatles territory, you are going to get the critical slogging as most reviewers will claim that everything the Beatles wrote was gold straight from the King’s anus. Ah… that is not the point. This is a good album with a few songs you’ll play repeatedly, and like 99 percent of the other albums in your collection, you’ll largely forget.. The White brothers, Tom and Alex, are not reinventing the wheel on Idiots – their fourth album. The band which was hugely popular in England upon the release of their debut in 2002 (Holes in The Walls) dropped off the face of the earth by 2004 with troubles at the record label and a significant change in sound. The formula is simple: Successful radio band = same sound on every record. People want to hear what makes them comfortable. Few bands are successful at changing their sound and still keeping their audience. Thought cloud opens up to reveal: Rolling Stones had a freaking disco period, Neil Young had a bizarre electronic period, U2 had a dismal dance period and R.E.M. had a dramatic lack of good songs period, etc. So, on balance, there are some pop gems on Idiots, so enjoy those. Try ”The Sun Never Sets Around Here,”, “Summertime In My Heart” and “Never Again.”
As you might have already noticed, everything old becomes new again. With the resurgence of Stone Roses as a touring act, it was inevitable that some band would pick up on how good the original baggy/ Madchester scene of the early 90’s was and bring it back to life. Jagwar Ma have accomplished that feat on their debut Howlin and people are noticing (see Noel Gallagher on Jagwar Ma: http://www.nme.com/news/temples/70028 ). Jagwar Ma is based in Sydney Australia and the duo has the knack for capturing the intersection of the best Manchester had to offer, without sounding like a poor version. Gabriel Winterfield and Jono Ma play tight grooves, the lyrics are glassy eyed and not too serious, but the groove rules on this record. Try: “The Throw” (http://youtu.be/1vU6a7Haw78 ), “Come Save Me” and “Uncertain.”
You just have to know that if a member of Wire is involved with a record, that it is likely to be….well, awesome! Coming in at a blistering 35 minutes, and filled with Lo-fi psych pop ( like Tame Impala) and shoegazing (nods to the Catherine Wheel), Matthew Simms ( guitarist for Wire) side project, It Hugs Back, should be a full time occupation. On this record it is all about pacing – one song launches into the next and at the end you are exhausted. Recommended Record is the third release from the quartet and traverse quite a wide range of music. Think of it as a singles collection from the 90’s. You can spot the influences but in many ways this is a better record than some of the touchstones you could identify. Try “Go Magic”, “Teenage Hands”( Here it is live @ The Lexington, London March 21, 2013: http://youtu.be/FwpWIPOyzS4 ) and the early Replacements, styled “Big Sighs.”
Maybe its time for a missive about the transitory nature of bands and music. New York based, Zac Coe, nee’ of Fast Forward which had a life span of about a minute but left some great tracks, has moved on with a self-produced, self-released, and apparently, self-played album under the name The All-About entitled Suburban Heart.Here is an autoharp version of title track “Suburban Heart” (http://youtu.be/Gy0ztcNxORA played by Coe in what looks like his bedroom. These are pure pop tunes, with just enough variation to avoid the disease of repetition. These are definitely songs for summer. Try “Nashville”, “Suburban Heart” and “Heat Wave.”
Another one man band, Matthew Politoski, aka Animal Flag, on his second long player, The Sounds of Sleep, picks up where his debut from last year left off. If you recall, Everything Will Be Okay (2012) ended up in my Top 100 albums of last year with the brilliant song “The Management of Grief” making my singles playlist. If you recall this is essentially electronic folk music utilizing a sound collage technique. If you like the album, check out Animal Flag’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/animalflag/posts/526741247374579 to give it a shout out. I am amazed by the quality of these recordings as the technology available today produces studio quality recordings – without a studio. So, Try “You Will Always Wonder”, “Wake Up in Heaven” and “Trap of Time.”
So, that should give you a good start until the next update, and hopefully you’ll have a chance to explore some of the many gems in this month’s box. To point you a little deeper into the list, try the Dandy Warhol’s, Teardrop Explodes, Devo, and Chixdiggit! reissues as well as Wilco’s all cover songs live show.
Here is this month’s list:
Boxed Wine – Cheap, Fun [2013]
Buchanan – Human Spring [2013]
Camperdown & Out – Couldn’t Be Better [2013]
Chinaski – You Might Like This Better Than Me [2013]
Electric Soft Parade – IDIOTS [2013]
Jagwar Ma – Howlin [2CD] [2013]
It Hugs Back – Recommended Record [2013]
All-About – Suburban Heart [2013]
Animal Flag – The Sounds Of Sleep [2013]
Bronze Radio Return – Up, On And Over [2013]
Wilco – Roadcase 018 [2013]
Computers – Love Triangles Hate Squares [2013]
Mama Kin – The Magician’s Daughter [2013]
Makeshift Innocence – Yours To Keep [2013]
Little Children – Falling [2013]
Little Children – In Hau [2013]
Deap Vally – Sistrionix [2013]
Daughn Gibson – Me Moan [2013]
Throwing Up – Over You [2013]
Wiretree – Get Up [2013]
Traindodge – Supernatural Disasters [2013]
Shivas – Whiteout [2013]
Sugar Stems – Can’t Wait [2013]
Superchunk – Me & You & Jackie Mittoo bw Sunset Arcade [2013]
