Them Crooked Vultures - The Crooked Vultures - It's John Paul Jones [Zeppelin] on bass, Dave Grohl [Nirvana, Foo Fighters] on drums and Josh Homme [Queens Of The Stone Age and Eagles Of Death Metal] on guitar and vocals. That's a hell of a mix, on paper. Josh Homme, because his singing and guitar work has such a distinctive melodic style, tends to dominate the songs. And so a lot of it sounds a lot like QotSA. And that's fine, because I like QotSA. Grohl is a monster drummer, and he doesn't let up on this. Jones has never been a really flashy bass player and he pretty much keeps to the background here - which is fine since Grohl and Homme provide plenty of flash. Good stuff, especially if you're a Queens Of The Stone Age Fan.
Three raquos: »»»
Rogue Wave - Permalight - Two albums ago, Rogue Wave was a low-key, slightly psychedelic, folk-rock band - strumming their quirky somewhat-melancholy songs on acoustic guitars. Now, they're a shiny alternative pop band with keyboards and loud electric guitars. The change happened with their last record, "Asleep at Heaven's Gate", when they ditched the strummy acoustic folk feel of their first two records in favor of a bigger, louder, thicker sound. But that record felt tentative, as if they weren't sure about the new sound. It never really rocked, and it didn't have the intimate feel of the previous stuff either.It just kinda sat there. Well, they're over it now. This one comes out swinging, loud and proud: happy chirpy keyboards are everywhere; the drums are tight, precise, compressed; the guitars are loud; dynamics! background vocals! A few of the songs actually rock - though in a giddy, singsong way. It's better. They're not the Rogue Wave of their first records (the one that I love), but they've committed to this new sound and that makes them a better Rogue Wave than they were last time out.
Three raquos: »»»
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder - Their first record was unexpected and quirky and catchy. This one is long on quirky but way short on catchy, and the sound is no longer unexpected. So, it just kinda drags.
Two raquos: »»
Bauhaus - In The Flat Field - Wow. Wha wha wha what a great re re record. I'm pretty bummed that I waited 30 years to get it. This would've kicked ass in college. The drums and bass lock down the song; Peter Murphy sneers and bellows his horror-show lyrics; Daniel Ash's guitar howls and screeches over all of it. That's the formula, and they mostly stick to it - maybe a little too tightly. Plus this is the re-issued version with all kinds of extra songs and takes, so it goes on a lot longer than the original. Still, the formula really works - the parts are all great, and work great together. You just need to be careful to not take too much of it at once.
Four raquos: »»»»
In the Flat Field is a great record, and I have not listened to it in many years. I ought to go through the vinyl in my basement and find it, and get a USB cord for my phonograph, and add it to my music library.
(If memory serves this was one of the first records I got after I started hanging out with the punk rockers in sophomore year, and the reason I got it was that it was the only record in the slim, slim “Independents” section of the Modesto Tower Records that looked interesting. And also possibly I had heard the band’s name mentioned.
Rob Caldecott
Great read as usual. Definitely going to give Clap Your Hands Say Yeah a miss (I love their first record so don’t want to be disappointed) and will give Bauhaus a spin. The only tracks of theirs I have are a cover of ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and a track called ‘She’s In Parties’ – both from separate 80s compilations (one of them, ‘Dark Side Of The 80s’ is very good as it goes.)
I can’t stop listening to ‘High Violet’. Best record I’ve heard in ages. My 2010 playlist is woeful and I am a little ashamed of myself. The only new albums I’ve bought this year are:
1. The National, High Violet.
2. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs.
3. Spoon, Transference.
4. Kings Of Leon, Come Around Sundown.
5. Vampire Weekend, Contra.
6. The White Stripes, Under Great White Northern Lights (which is a live album so no new tracks!)
Mmmm. That’s about it. Craptacular for a music lover like myself.
Rob Caldecott
Just bought Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter so that’s 7 2010 albums in my list! If I keep this up I might make double figures by Dec 31st!
I really like Them Crooked Vultures, but yeah I like QotSA. I saw the Foo Fighters last year here and QotSA opened (one of only like 4 dates last year they played together) and Grohl took the drums for a song, with no announcement of that fact, just quietly appeared behind the kit.
I haven’t heard that Bauhaus record in ages. I am sure my vinyl copy is scratched to death. Had a bit of a goth period there in the 80’s.
Rob’s right, High Violet is a supreme record. Might be my record of the year. Frightened Rabbit, Grinderman, Ted Leo, and The Fall are my other fav’s this year, off the top of my head.
Seems like there was not much of a distinction between punk rockers and goths in Modesto of the mid-80’s — the alternative music community at Davis High was small enough that people could listen to Bauhaus and Dead Kennedys and Sex Pistols and still talk to one another…
alternative music community, new wave kids? i’m jealous!
punk and goth were completely unknown in my home town. we had two musical camps: metalheads and everybody else. IIRC, there were only three radio stations: one for what we now call “classic rock” and two that played Top 40. it wasn’t until 84, when we finally got MTV, that we started to catch up with the rest of the world.
House! You were lucky to live in a house! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture, ‘alf the floor was missing, and we were all ‘uddled together in one corner for fear of falling.
In the Flat Field is a great record, and I have not listened to it in many years. I ought to go through the vinyl in my basement and find it, and get a USB cord for my phonograph, and add it to my music library.
(If memory serves this was one of the first records I got after I started hanging out with the punk rockers in sophomore year, and the reason I got it was that it was the only record in the slim, slim “Independents” section of the Modesto Tower Records that looked interesting. And also possibly I had heard the band’s name mentioned.
Great read as usual. Definitely going to give Clap Your Hands Say Yeah a miss (I love their first record so don’t want to be disappointed) and will give Bauhaus a spin. The only tracks of theirs I have are a cover of ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and a track called ‘She’s In Parties’ – both from separate 80s compilations (one of them, ‘Dark Side Of The 80s’ is very good as it goes.)
I can’t stop listening to ‘High Violet’. Best record I’ve heard in ages. My 2010 playlist is woeful and I am a little ashamed of myself. The only new albums I’ve bought this year are:
1. The National, High Violet.
2. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs.
3. Spoon, Transference.
4. Kings Of Leon, Come Around Sundown.
5. Vampire Weekend, Contra.
6. The White Stripes, Under Great White Northern Lights (which is a live album so no new tracks!)
Mmmm. That’s about it. Craptacular for a music lover like myself.
Just bought Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter so that’s 7 2010 albums in my list! If I keep this up I might make double figures by Dec 31st!
woah, now. don’t go too fast!
I really like Them Crooked Vultures, but yeah I like QotSA. I saw the Foo Fighters last year here and QotSA opened (one of only like 4 dates last year they played together) and Grohl took the drums for a song, with no announcement of that fact, just quietly appeared behind the kit.
I haven’t heard that Bauhaus record in ages. I am sure my vinyl copy is scratched to death. Had a bit of a goth period there in the 80’s.
Rob’s right, High Violet is a supreme record. Might be my record of the year. Frightened Rabbit, Grinderman, Ted Leo, and The Fall are my other fav’s this year, off the top of my head.
Seems like there was not much of a distinction between punk rockers and goths in Modesto of the mid-80’s — the alternative music community at Davis High was small enough that people could listen to Bauhaus and Dead Kennedys and Sex Pistols and still talk to one another…
That was true in Des Moines, Iowa as well. Though the new wave kids (Square Pegs!) were, well, square pegs. I had my feet in all three camps.
alternative music community, new wave kids? i’m jealous!
punk and goth were completely unknown in my home town. we had two musical camps: metalheads and everybody else. IIRC, there were only three radio stations: one for what we now call “classic rock” and two that played Top 40. it wasn’t until 84, when we finally got MTV, that we started to catch up with the rest of the world.
House! You were lucky to live in a house! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture, ‘alf the floor was missing, and we were all ‘uddled together in one corner for fear of falling.
floor?
we lived in a pond. our floor was frog shit and algae!