The Peel World

Last weekend, after a myriad of drinks at Super Zoe's house, I headed downtown to see the house band for my drunken nights in Austin: Peel. Even though I'd seen them twice recently I was up for another show. I was guided by this simple formula: Peel + Two Japanese rock bands + Beerland = guaranteed good time. You don't need to be a Calculus professor to understand that equation.

BTW, how funny is the name Beerland? It's like opening a deli and calling it Meatland. As you can imagine, it's a dive bar but it's a fun place to spend a Friday night. It was also a good setting to see the lo-fi (yet boisterous) pop songs of Peel. They played all my favorites off their album: "Moxy Blues", "In The City", and "Workers, Wake Up". They also added some songs from their EP, August Exhaust Pipes, as well as a few new tunes. The Beerland setting had them playing with abandon. The two guitarists often smashed into each other as they bounced around the stage. The bassist, who prefers hanging off to the side, was hiding behind the speakers just to avoid them.

Check out their fun loving, low budget video for "Moxy Blues". It's like an iTunes commercial on acid:

Peel is one of the best bands Austin has to offer. I've seen them three times and each show has been better than the last. They often pull the rug from under the headliners and leave people (or least me) wanting more. Tonight was no exception.


The first Japanese band to play was The Captains. They were exactly what I expected: lots of 60's inspired rock with coordinated hand gestures and synchronized bows at the end of each song. They didn't speak much English so they just kept repeating "Thank you!" and "So happy to see you!" The best part of The Captains was their "get ups" (as they say here in Texas). Before the show they were all dressed in Boy Scout uniforms and during the setup they looked like waiters with ruffled tuxedo shirts. For their set, they went for a Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club thing. However it looked like a mix of Austin Powers and the lion tamer for Ringling Brothers. The Captains put on a good show but were no match for what came next.

Tsu Shu Ma Mi Re are an all girl band that apparently has some association to a cartoon called The Powerpuff Girls. I never quite caught the connection. Like The Captains, their English was limited, so I couldn't understand their onstage banter. No matter. They let the music do the talking for them. It was ironic to hear their high pitch, cutesy voices as they play thrashing punk rock with a Japanese twist. They knew how to put on a memorable show using a lot of classic rock moves: climbing the speakers, getting the crowd clapping along to songs, jumping into the crowd. Here's a taste of what their live show is like:

All in all, a great night out in Austin. Tonight should be just as good as Belaire and White Denim (my favorite new band) take the stage at Mohawk.

Tell Me Wye

Since moving to Austin I've been reminiscing about the days when DC was an influential music city. The scene isn't what it used to be and now even Baltimore makes more waves on the national scene. A number of excellent bands have come out of Maryland in recent years and perhaps my favorite is Wye Oak. When I read they were opening for Shearwater I alerted the wife to clear her calender and contact the babysitter. This was one show I did not want to miss.

Leading off the night was Hospital Ships, the one man band of Jordan Geiger. He's also the trumpet and keyboard player for Shearwater and singer/songwriter for Minus Story. He's a quadruple threat. The concept for Hospital Ships is pretty basic: Jordan on electric guitar playing earnest songs. On a few numbers a friend played the glockenspiel and on another someone played the melodica, but for the most part, it was a one man show. And quite a good show at that. Jordan looks like a smaller, indie version of Justin Timberlake. His vocals reminded me of the lead singer of Page France (one of those Maryland bands I was talking about earlier).

I was struck how, using only his voice and guitar, each song had it's own color. Not that the songs were all over the map. They weren't. The differences in each song were a series of subtleties that made for something unique. Hospital Ships were a great opener. Like an amuse-bouche for the meal that was to come next (sorry, I'm forced to watch a lot of Food Network).

Wye Oak are Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack. Once known as Monarch they switched names when they signed to Merge Records. Proud of their roots they named themselves after the honorary state tree of Maryland (roots! get it? Ah, never mind). Wye Oak is not a species, it was an actual tree, 460 years old when it was destroyed during a thunderstorm. Thus concludes today's history lesson...

Wye Oak's MySpace page declares "we don't play acoustic music" and they reinforced that on Thursday. Looking at them you might expect a serene and polite guy/girl duo. Not so. Their performance was stripped down and a bit rough (in a good way). It sounds corny but they were there to rock.

They opened with "Please Concrete", which violates one of PostRock's Rules of the Road: Do not open with the first song from your most recent album. However, Wye Oak was opening for Shearwater so they can claim the exception: "If you're an opening act, this is more acceptable. There's more of a need to put your best foot forward to win over a crowd that's not there to see you, so go with what works." Plus, it's one of my favorite songs so I didn't mind hearing it early in the set.

As the set progressed, two things really stood out for me: Andy on the drums and Jenn's voice. Andy handles the entire rhythm section playing the drums with his feet and right hand while he plays the keyboards/sampler with his left. Each limb was moving in a separate rhythm. He wasn't just tapping away, he bashed the hell out of drums. Just as powerful and impressive as Andy's juggling act was Jenn's singing voice. In fact, it may be the best asset they have. Her voice reminded me of Cat Power. She sings with conviction - like Patsy Cline - and it adds grit and realness to the songs.

Verdict: I like this band. A lot. If Children is one of my most listened to albums of this year. While their live performance was different than the album, I enjoyed it just as much. There's a bit of weirdness that I can't quite explain. At times, the band is gentle and disarming and other times they are raw and messy. Sometimes it all happens within one song. That's not an easy feat to pull off.

Do yourself a favor: buy this album

Addendum: Here are some of the rejected titles for this review. Potsy gets credit for most of these:

Wye Oak? Why Not.
Wye Oak: No Joke
Wye (not) Oak?
Who, What, Where, Wye Oak
Oak is it! (Coke reference)
Have an Oak and a Smile (same as above)

And my personal favorite:

Wye Oak We Get Drunk and Screw. This would have required too much detail on how my wife and I spent the rest of our evening.

Had they sucked I could have gone with:

Wye Choke
Charm City Fakes (a play on Charm City Cakes, a Food Network show based in Baltimore)

If you think of any others we missed, leave them in the comments section.

Concert Preview: The Rosewood Thieves

On Monday The Rosewood Thieves are back in Austin for a show at Stubbs. In May I saw them at Mohawk and was thoroughly impressed. During the show they asked a fan to videotape their performance of "Junkyard Julie". They filmed the song at each stop for a video they planned to create after they returned to Brooklyn. Well, below is the end product, created by none other than Erick Jordan, lead singer of The Rosewood Thieves (check out our interview with Erick).

It's a glimpse of life on the road. It's like "Home Sweet Home" by Motley Crüe for the indie set.

What the Hell is a Lamprey Eel Anyway?

One of the first bands I discovered after moving to Austin was Loxsly (that's right, I discovered them, like Columbus discovered America). I saw them open for Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin back in May. They recently put out a video for "Lamprey Eels", my favorite song off their new EP, Flashlights.

The video reminds me of Potsy and his time in the sleep lab. Also, because he likes to wear his pajamas out in public. Although the video takes a decidedly Jimbromski-esque turn when the bloody hamsters appear. Wait, that sounds like a nasty Richard Gere reference. It's not, I swear. Just watch the video already.

The Fake Accents: 07/07/07 at the Galaxy Hut

Having been to a few Fake Accents shows already I expected a good time. I looked forward to this show in particular because they were sporting a three piece lineup for the first (and presumably only) time. A new bassist has been selected but he was out of the country, forcing the remaining Accents to get crafty. That meant one thing - cover songs.

After introducing themselves as The Face Accidents they played a straightforward rendition of a Pavement song (don't know which one - I'm terrible with song names). After that I didn't recognize any other songs. I guess three or four were Fake Accents originals that weren't on "The Big Disconnect". A few people shouted requests from the album, but the missing Accent meant those songs weren't viable options. No matter. The series of cover songs suited their playing style (more fire and passion than precision) - bands such as Flipper, Jonathon Richmond, Jay Reatard, and Psychedelic Horseshit (you read that correctly).

They were clearly not used to the three piece lineup so "We'll make do" became the motto of the night. Zack and Dave shared bass duties on a few songs. Each admitted they didn't have much experience but they handled the duties just fine. As usual Pete, the drummer, pounded away with fury. He beats the hell out the drums, treats them like a red-headed step child, he's pimp like, pissed off, Moon-esque, you get the picture. Zack plays, and sings, with an intensity and brashness that you don't see enough of these days. A band like Robbers on High Street could use some of his fiery presence to liven up their show.

For the last song they handed out noisemakers then launched into a punk-rock sonic assault with reckless abandon. The entire night they walked the line between bad and brilliant. The final song had them squarely on the brilliant side of the line. Overall, I liked seeing them play covers but it doesn't beat them playing my favorites off their album along with their new stuff. If you missed this show, be sure to check out their new lineup as they open for Get Him Eat Him on July 26th.

Two reviews down, one Smashing Pumpkins review to go.

The Redwalls and Robbers on High Street

At the last minute we decided to skip the Fiery Furnaces show and head to Iota to see The Redwalls (above) and The Robbers On High Street, but up first...

Baby Teeth

It appeared they bought their shirts at the Grand Ole Opry gift shop. This is unfortunate. Shortly after we got there something busted on the drum kit. While the lead singer tried to kill time with small talk and banter, we escaped to the back patio. I'm confident we didn't miss much.

Robbers on High Street

As the Robbers prepared to go on we settled at a table not far from the stage. In fact, it was the only table in the concert room. As someone who's lazy and finds standing a chore, I was pretty happy to have a seat for the show. It gave the even a dinner theater feel (as Potsy pointed out) and who doesn't like that? As the Robbers took the stage I noticed the collective weight of the band was around 132 lbs., putting them in the Featherweight division. As for the music, they have potential to be a Cruiserweight in Indie Rock but their performance was equal to their weight class. The Crispin Glover look-alike on bass should have been a dead giveaway.

Their music is most often compared to Spoon, but they're Spoonish in a Cold War Kids way - enjoyable but fall far short of the real thing. The first set of songs with the lead singer on acoustic guitar blended together. Nothing stood out as unique or distinct. After the singer switched to the electric guitar things picked up. There was an up tick in energy but it wasn't enough to get the crowd going. They finally cranked up the rock on their final song. It included a superfuzz guitar solo that brought the crowd to life just as their set was ending. They should have started with that song and then built off of it. Overall it wasn't bad, just not very engaging. I give Robbers On High Street a Rock Club rating of 4.9.

The Redwalls

They took the stage with a confident, energetic, and some might say, pompous attitude. They're a stylish group of lads (except the drummer's frat guy look) who've embraced the rock star image. I doubted I'd enjoy these guys because of their classic rock bent. Plus, I saw the lead singer leave the bathroom without washing his hands. Seriously, wash your fucking hands already. Anyway, they started off with "Hangman". Within 10 seconds they managed to get the crowd grooving and dancing, something the Robbers couldn't manage their entire set.

Unfortunately, Jimbromski couldn't make the show. He would've loved this band. They played '60's inspired Brit-Rock with style. It's right up his alley. He also would've approved of their guitar choices. They had a Rickenbacker looking bass and the guitarist actually played a modified parallelogram. They were wise to avoid the Flying V. Personally, I enjoyed how they continued to rock as their roadie scurried around the stage checking wires and setting up guitars. When we form our band, first thing I'm doing is hiring a guy to pretend to fix things onstage during the middle of songs. There's just something classic about that (and funny).

And now for Rock Club's favorite game: Separated at Birth. This was a good one. The lead singer is a dead ringer for Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns. I thought Crispin Glover on bass for the Robbers was solid, but the Steve Nash look-alike wins. Okay, let's wrap this shit up. The Redwalls put on a lively and fun show. It went 3 or 4 songs too long, but that's better than going 90 minutes too long (check back for my Smashing Pumpkins review). I give The Redwalls a Rock Club rating of 7.1. I would've gone a higher, but the bassist said their new album was "going to drop" on Oct. 9th. I had to subtract a few points. That phrase just needs to die.

One review down, two to go. Up Next: the Fake Accents.

Start planning now...

Not that you don't read Pitchfork, but...the set times for the Pitchfork Music Festival have been revealed.

Saturday, July 14:

Connector Stage

1:00 The Twilight Sad
2:00 Voxtrot
4:00 Battles
6:00 Mastodon
8:00 Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues

Aluminum Stage

1:30 Califone
3:00 Grizzly Bear
5:00 Iron and Wine
7:00 Clipse
9:00 Yoko Ono (with special guests)

Balance Stage

1:00 Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound
2:00 William Parker Quartet
3:10 Beach House
4:10 Fujiya & Miyagi
5:15 Professor Murder
6:15 Oxford Collapse
7:15 Dan Deacon
8:30 Girl Talk

Sunday, July 15:

Connector Stage

1:00 Deerhunter
2:00 Menomena
4:00 The Sea and Cake
6:00 Stephen Malkmus
8:00 The New Pornographers

Aluminum Stage

1:30 The Ponys
3:00 Junior Boys
5:00 Jamie Lidell
7:00 Of Montreal
9:00 De La Soul

Balance Stage

1:00 Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra
2:00 Brightblack Morning Light
3:10 Nomo
4:10 Craig Taborn's Junk Magic
5:15 The Cool Kids
6:15 Cadence Weapon
7:15 The Field
8:30 Klaxons


Lots of interesting things here. On Saturday, I'll be at the Balance Stage for most of the day. Dan Deacon and Girl Talk back to back? Damn. On Sunday my only must see is Menomena. I need to do some research on some of the Sunday bands so I don't opt for the wrong stage and miss a killer show. I'll probably check out Of Montreal (last saw them at Common Grounds in Arlington) and The Cool Kids (I love the old school rap). Missing the New Pornographers would probably be a mistake.

Any thoughts on who Yoko's special guests be?

Lennon's Lost Weekend

There's a new book out called 'Lennon Revealed'. Check out this excerpt which details Lennon's "Lost Weekend", his destructive 18 month period in LA with Harry Nilsson and Phil Spector. A lot of crazy shit happened, like Phil Spector chasing Lennon around with a gun. Yikes.

Lennon and Nilsson: "Ha ha, very funny Phil.... ummm...seriously, put the gun down..."

eMusic + Pitchfork Music Festival = free music

Do you like free music? Of course you do. You're not an asshole. A doosh (take note of the Jimbromski spelling) perhaps, but an asshole you are not.

eMusic is giving away 16 songs to promote the Pitchfork Music Festival (like it needs the help). You can download the complimentary playlist here. If you haven't listened to the likes of Professor Murder, Dan Deacon, and The Twilight Sad, here's your chance. Don't miss it, asshole.

New Releases

I've been listening to the new Art Brut album It's A Bit Complicated. There aren't any truly killer tunes like "Formed a Band", "Emily Kane", or "Bad Weekend", but there are some winners. "Direct Hit" and "Nag Nag Nag Nag" are two that come to mind. Eddie Argos still provides chuckle inducing lyrics in his signature narrative style. Seems like most reviews are giving this album a B to B+, which seems about right.



I like Interpol. Not a big-big fan (for proper effect you have to say "big-big" really fast), but I enjoy them enough. So while I'm curious about their album coming out next week, Our Love To Admire, I'm more intrigued by their album cover. It reminds me of some of the videos that have graced this here blog. We here at Rock Club love all things Wild Kingdom. Nicely done, Interpol.

Illinois at the R&R Hotel, June 19th, 2007

Illinois is a love 'em or hate 'em band. You come across such instances in sports (Kobe), politics (George W.), entertainment (Tom Cruise), and even Rock Club (Jimbromski). I entered the evening in the Love 'Em camp but by night's end I had jumped ship.

The lead singer, Chris Archibald, set an early tone and it wasn't a good one. He was cajoling the crowd to sing "for he's a jolly good fellow" for his sister's birthday. He was perturbed the crowd wasn't more into it. He struck me as a mix of Johnny Knoxville and Ashton Kutcher (the Punk'd version). That is to say he was annoying. Like the onstage persona of many frontmen (Travis Morrison in particular comes to mind), you either find Archibald as charming and charismatic or tiresome and aggravating. It's all in the eye (and ear) of the beholder.

Musically, their ragged and ramshackle performance reminded me of Okkervil River, if you substituted the mandolin for a banjo. Four guys took part in the vocals (which made for some nice harmonies) and at times they really kicked out the jams. I tuned out the irritating banter enough to see the potential of the band. I wouldn't be surprised if these guys continued to get more exposure and popularity. With dates at big events like Lollapalooza, it might just happen. Their appeal to the high school and college set was evident by the numerous under 21 patrons at the show.

Earlier this year Illinois toured with the biggest "Love 'Em or Hate 'Em" band in indie rock today: The Hold Steady. They're clearly big fans of Craig Finn and crew. The bassist wore a Hold Steady shirt onstage and their touring van has "The Hold Steady" stenciled in black paint on its side. While their musical stylings aren't similar, the bands have a few other things in common: an attention grabbing lead singer with a unique vocal delivery, an energetic and carefree live show, and an uncanny ability to divide audiences into two camps. For now, I'm in the Hate 'Em camp but in time I expect many more people gravitating to the other side.

The backing band gets a 7.1 but factoring in the lead singer's 2.5 rating, Illinois garners a Rock Club Rating of 4.8.

Concert Preview: Illinois

For a band from Bucks Country, PA with only 2 EPs, Illinois gets a surprising amount of positive press. For the most part, it's deserved. They play folk rock (not exactly a hip genre) and their lead singer plays the banjo. While that sounds like a recipe for one shitty band, their latest EP What The Hell Do I Know? is quite good.

My expectations are high for this show, which usually is a bad sign. I'm hoping for something on par with the Menomena show, but fear we'll get a total bust like Dick Swift...

The Hall Monitors

A local blog that has good taste in music recommends a DC band called The Hall Monitors. I had never heard of them but apparently they put on an ass kicking show. These guys will appeal to the classic rock lovers of Rock Club. Their songs have a retro/garage/punk sound that remind me of The Black Lips. Let's check them out the next time they play in the city.

Dizzee Rascal

In 2004 British rapper Dizzee Rascal got crazy great reviews for his album Boy In Da Corner. In fact, it's one of the top 10 albums of the past 8 years according to MetaCritic.com. The only problem is the album totally sucks donkey dick. He should have changed his named to Shitty Rascal after putting that album out.

Now, I'm a fan of underground rap (MF Doom, Madvillain, RJD2, etc.) and I enjoy British hip-hop artists such as The Streets but Boy In Da Corner is crap. Hugely overhyped albums happen every year. Other examples include Arular by M.I.A. and Blueberry Boat by The Fiery Furnaces (although their 1st album is outstanding). People lauded these albums because they were different and unique, but that didn't mean they were good.

This morning I listened to Dizzee Rascal's new album Maths and English. I read a very positive review and decided to see how bad it'd be. To my surprise it was decent, good actually. Maybe I should give his first album another shot. Perhaps I just didn't "get it" the first time around. Nah, it's still crap. That won't stop me from enjoying his new album though.

Too Late...

I hate when this happens. I stumbled across a new album I really liked: Woke Myself Up by Julie Doiron. Being a diligent rock clubber I checked to see if she's touring. Sure enough, she's on tour right now. Unfortunately, she played here last week. Washington was the 4th stop on her tour. Oh well. As much as I'd have liked to have seen her, I doubt it'd have topped The Long Blondes show. Speaking of which, we need to write that review...

This is an example of....

Posting to the blog via email thus negating the "it's faster to send an email than create a post" argument.

Bands I plan on listening to today:

The View
Locksley
Elvis Costello
The Long Blondes*

* such a good show last night

The Mooney Suzuki Are Huge Assholes

At least according to this article. I found the story very amusing. It's no wonder The Mooney Suzuki are being relegated to the 3rd Division of Indie Rock.

Just a reminder, the Moonies are playing at the Rock & Roll Hotel on July 8th. I fully expect them to play at The Warehouse Next Door in 6 months and Sacklunch's basement within a year.

Fort Reno 2007

Mr. Malitz at the Washington Post has a partial list of the Fort Reno schedule. The Rock Club house band, Statehood, plays on July 9th with Greenland (I've never heard of them). If you were hoping for a Fugazi reunion or another show by The Dismemberment Plan, you're out of luck (thus far). According to the Fort Reno site, the full the schedule will be "coming soon".

June 18 -- Deleted Scenes
June 21 -- Let's French
June 25 -- The Engine Room
June 28 -- Julie Ocean
July 9 -- Statehood, Greenland
July 16 -- Beauty Pill, Len Bias
July 19 -- Carol Bui
July 26 -- Antelope
Aug. 2 -- Yell County

A Change Of Pace...

Since we're probably in for a night of formulaic indie-rock, I'm posting this for Jimbromski. It's a new 12-minute song from LCD Soundsystem. Lots of different musical styles represented here, none of them can be traced back to Dinosaur, Jr. or Superchunk.

Concert Preview: The Jet Age

The Jet Age is led by singer/guitarist Eric Tischler. You may know him from The Hurricane Lamps, the DC-based band that released not two, but five albums between 1999 and 2004. Although, it's much more likely that you don't know him at all. The other two band members are even less well known than Mr. Tischler. You need only know this: they both participated in Hands Across America.

Potsy & family at Hands Across America

Last year the band released "Breathless", which to me is a really crappy name. It seems more suited to a Bette Midler album. So, I did a little research and sure enough, Kenny G's 1993 album was "Breathless". Also, Madonna had an album called "I'm Breathless". Two strikes against The Jet Age. Fortunately, the music is much better than the title. Here's how "Breathless" is described in the Washington Post:

"The songs are ragged without being sloppy and bring to mind some of the best in the indie rock pantheon, whether it be Dinosaur Jr., with the distorted solos or Superchunk with Tischler's high pitched, enthusiastic vocals."

They also received praise from many online music sites, including Pitchfork which gave their album quite a nice review. Give them a listen at their mySpace page.