Canada, you are forgiven

The New Pornographers with The Dodos, and The Dutchess & the Duke - June 23 - 930 club - $37

Senior Youth Correspondent, Andrew, fills us in on night number 2 from this week's back to back New Pornographers shows at the 930 club.

Quite unlike the esteemed Potsy, I enjoyed The Dodos quite a bit. I had heard much banter about them recently but had yet to check the tunes. I enjoy their name especially and went into Wednesday’s set looking out for themes of extinction—the fate that their plump, shrewd namesakes were doomed to eons ago.

The Dodos brought together everything that is great about today’s punk-tinged indie acts like Wavves and Japandroids—driving rhythms, melodic hooks, interesting sonic textures—without replicating the annoying aspects of those bands—inability to handle their drugs, endless droning feeback, repetitive or whiny lyrics. Whereas those two bands are drenched in distortion, The Dodos were more light in their approach, substituting glistening acoustic tones for the punishing overdriven sound of Wavves and Japandroids.

About halfway through their set, the band played two new songs that were both top notch. Drums reminiscent of Animal Collective were paired with country-infused strumming and a bowed vibraphone. I thought singer Meric Long did a good job leading his outfit and only sometimes were there hints that the band lacked self confidence. I would definitely listen to The Dodos in my free time, and would likely attend one of their concerts in the future. Solid Opener.

Never miss seeing the New Pornographers, period. Especially when all nine of them show up. NP gigs featuring both Neko Case and Dan Bejar present the listener with a veritable shmorgishborg of musical expertise and pop genius. Case and Bejar are solo artists who approach NP’s level of recognition in their own right, and when you combine their powers with A.C. Newman (who will never, ever be out catchy-ed), just watch out. Potsy was correct indeed—Bejar is a game changer. I love the fact that nothing about him has changed since I saw him with NP in 07: skulking on and off the stage, slinging a bottle of Stella, and looking like he hates the band’s guts. What a dude.

A big fear with a band that is beloved by so many (both nights sold out. I scalped for $38 day of) is that the set list will feature new stuff at the expense of what everyone wants to hear, the oldies. I like the new tunes a lot, they are great, but I love older NP stuff. Thankfully, it seemed that the band had received and decided to play a set list from a savvy fan, one Amad. Dude knew his business, and NP played a slew of classics, some of which hadn’t been played for years according to Newman. These included The End of Medicine, To Wild Homes, Mass Romantic, and The Electric Version, songs that I hadn’t heard since 2006-ish but that instantly brought back a flood of memories (memories of wishing I was as cool as the dudes and girls in the band).

They are impeccable in the live setting. I simply cannot overstate this. If you didn’t enjoy their set, I’d talk to the doctor about it today. I would say they were so good last night that I release all feelings of hatred toward their native country for what happened during the Winter Olympic hockey final. That’s real big.

In addition to their indie-pop dominance, the band’s banter was genuinely hilarious. One ongoing joke on Wednesday about Pitchfork involved Case telling the crowd that their first interviewer from the then unknown website (hard to believe right) was so young that she had to breast feed him. According to her bandmates, this caused the nubile taste-maker/faker to grow a few inches. “My milk is powerful shit,” replied the beautiful chanteuse nonchalantly.

Listen to the Wednesday show online via NPR's All Songs Considered.

Come Together

The New Pornographers with The Dodos, and The Dutchess & the Duke - June 22 - 930 club - $37

This week, we reunite with Senior Youth Correspondent, Andrew, for a look at the back to back New Pornographers shows at the 930 club.

Granted, the New Pornographers don't need any more coverage on this world wide web, and Weds night show was broadcast on NPR for all to enjoy, but we like to read ourselves write. So let's consider Tuesday night's show first.

I only caught the last song from three-piece the Dutchess & the Duke, which was too bad, because there are definitely worth your time. Apparently, my time is more valuable than yours, or I would have gotten to the show on time. Little did I know the 930 would be so punctual. The website said 8pm start for the D&TD and they meant it. Sorry D&TD, your last tune was great.

The Dodos followed, and I was looking forward to this set, having enjoyed a number of tunes off of their Visiter album. But the Dodos are pushing their more recent album, Time to Die, at this point bringing out less familiar tracks to start. I don't know any other way around this, so I'm just gonna tell you like I saw it. The Dodos were disappointing. I don't think their abilities match with their ambitions so much. Not live, anyway.

The Dodos in action - don't let the banner fool you.

They like to do some intricate music making. Lots of finger picking that probably worked out better in the studio than it did on stage Tuesday night. Meric Long struggled to pluck out every note - lagging behind a bit as some songs ran away from him. Keaton Snyder is a recent addition to the band, and he plays the vibraphone and uses a bow. That was kinda cool. Never saw that before, so there's points for that. But there was too much muddling through long songs that never seemed to go anywhere.

By the time headlining The New Pornographers hit the stage, I was starting to question the effort it took to get out to this show. I bought my ticket on my iPhone while driving on the Whitehurst freeway heading back to work from a doctor's appointment months ago. That was actually kinda dangerous. And then there was the bus ride down U Street with the nutty fat lady who wanted to sing gospel music for all us passengers. Not as dangerous, but it looked like it was going to get weirder.

But that all changed once the NP took the stage. Jimbromski and I were relieved to hear hits right off the bat. And not only was Neko Case present for the show, but seemingly-disinterested Dan Bejar is on board for this tour too. I've seen the acoustic Destroyer show before, but hadn't seen the NP with Bejar ever. What a difference that cranky bastard makes.

A.C. Newman made his remark about how he told Pitchfork that DC was his favorite city to play. I know he said it again for the Weds show (cuz I'm listening to it online right now). So that was nice. There's a good bit of banter from the New Pornographers, and Neko Case is always throwing her wit into the mix. I know people are hot for Neko, but that Kathryn Calder is quite fetching, if you don't mind me saying. Oh, and I just learned that A.C. Newman is Kathryn Calder's uncle. That is bizarre to me.

Okay, okay. Survey says, good solid show, the NP. Worth every penny. The New Pornographers have a new album out, Together.

SYC Andrew will fill us in on the Wednesday night show tomorrow. No doubt his account will be more informative than this one.

Arctic Rock: Greenland at the Black Cat

Andrew, our Senior Youth Correspondent is picking up our slack. Here's his take on the recent Greenland show.

Greenland w/ Dennis Kane
Wednesday, January 13 2010
Black Cat backstage

When you are on winter break from college, Wednesdays are a lot like other days of the week. So this past Wednesday I pretended it was the weekend and headed to the Black Cat for local heavies Greenland. Dennis Kane opened to a decently sized crowd. Dennis is the main sound guy at the Black Cat, it was nice see him have a go from the other side of the room. He played gruff garage and post punk songs backed by a three piece band that included the Mrs. on bass. His songwriting brought to mind a more fierce Bowie or a less fierce Iggy. I didn't love every song I heard, but the overall performance was solid and Dennis get points for Fender Jazzmaster usage.

New material was the order of the day once the Greenlanders took the stage. Greenland is an indie-rock/post punk quartet that channels Joy Divsion and Wire as astutely as they do Neil Young and Queen. The band opened promptly with staple "Salome" and proceeded to a handful of fresh songs the band perhaps jokingly claimed were to appear on series of 3 upcoming EPs the first of which would come out in 2012. ("Be patient, guys") Lyrical content was as engaging as the music per usual. One tune about college was right up my alley: "Baby, baby/got caught by the RA." I happen to live in the basement of my dorm so I tend not to run into my resident advisor, but still it was nice to have some of the emotional spice of college life set to reverb soaked post punk. Potsy, Slice, you still remember going to college right? The new stuff sounded really solid, including older new songs "Black Lighting" and "Coffee" (both streaming here). I discovered these guys at Fort Reno in 2006, and have been a big fan ever since. If you have not checked them out yet, do it, they are easily one of the most original and enjoyable local bands currently active.

Rock Machine: Max Levine

Andrew, our Senior Youth Correspondent is back! This time he reviews the Max Levine Ensemble.

Max Levine Ensemble
Wednesday December 23, 2009
Black Cat Backstage
Photos by Rachel Atcheson

When DC native David Combs (aka Spoonboy) is not busy spreading the word on grass roots anarchy movements or supporting local charities, he fronts the Max Levine Ensemble, one of DC’s best-kept musical secrets. The Max Levine Ensemble (MLE), a pop punk trio that follows a DIY ethic that brings to mind bands such as Fugazi, are something of a rare (relative) success in the world of DC underground punk-which despite what people say still exists, albeit not very visibly. While there is some similarity to the operation of 80s/90s Dischord bands in MLE’s anti-corporate stance and self-run, exhaustive touring of the country, they do it with a sincerity not seen in many “purist” DC punk acts.

Maybe you caught MLE at Fort Reno—they have played several summers over the past few years. The group plays super high-energy blend of pop punk and ska that incorporates politically and socially conscious lyrics. A sampling of tracks from the band’s handful of albums and EPs brings to mind Ted Leo and The Thermals. I caught MLE this past Wednesday at the Black Cat.


For a band that I had seen twice before and already knew I liked a lot, MLE still managed to put on a very entertaining show. The approximately 40 minute set saw the band pulling out new songs from a new cassette release entitled “Them Steadily Depressing, Low Down Mind Messing, Post Modern Recession Blues.” Well that’s just a mouthful! Lyrical content on those songs seemed to consist of pretty direct indictments of those responsible for the financial debacle of 08/09. The band played super tight and had a surprising fidelity to the quality of the recorded versions of their songs. Meaning they are a good live act, not that you’d be just as satisfied to stay home and listen to the records. Drumming from Nick Popovici was fast and furious; bassist “Bepstein” handled a fair portion of the singing, adding a nice change from Spoonboy’s lead vocal. Banter was at just the right level-enough to make the audience feel recognized but not so much that something stupid/annoying is bound to be said.

I think a big area of success for this band has been the accessibility of their music, especially to the younger portion of the DC scene (The band are in their mid twenties however). Upbeat, catchy pop punk is often written off as mall punk Hot Topic garbage—and often there is truth in that. MLE pair deathly serious lyrics and outlook with catchy pop punk in a way that, as mentioned before, comes off very sincere.. Sure, they have goofy nicknames and too long cassette titles, but these guys deserve some credit. They are a punk band that is still finding issues to comment on even after George W. left the White House. That plus the quality of the tunes is enough for me. Check em out!

My Favorite Band (this week) - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Andrew, our Senior Youth Correspondent, is off crushing ass at UVA but still sends in periodic reports just to make Sacklunch look lazy. He takes the reins of "My Favorite Band (this week)" with this submission:

Got a tip on this band from Charlottesville's WTJU 91.9, a remarkably good commercial free modern rock station. They are an L.A. folk rock band. The track is "40 Day Dream" and it instantly shook me from my daily college student morning activities (dicking around mainly). I checked the band's Myspace and found a live video for the track. This piece of cinema is certainly worth peeping not only for the spectacle element of a bunch of Gypsy ass folks cavorting around like a more southern version Gogol Bordello, but also for the great tune and the way the singer incorporates lines like "Somebody better pinch me, bitch I swear I'll go crazy" with a frenzy. The music reminisces a little of the freakier Tom Waits material and even a little Brandon Flowers (of Killers). Check out the vid and even the produced version of the song (myspace), which is a little more sonically full. You gotta love the gospel feel and vocal intensity on this one.

Preview: Siren Music Festival 2009

Andrew, our Senior Youth Correspondent, is heading to Coney Island for the ninth annual Siren Music Festival on Saturday. It's a free, all-ages, all-day event sponsored by The Village Voice. Through the years the festival has featured bands such as Guided By Voices, Sleater-Kinney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, and M.I.A. And now...Andrew's preview:

Siren Fest
July 18, 2009
Coney Island, NY

Here's the line up. I'm guessing the organizers put the bands in some kind of descending "importance" or "popularity" order:

BUILT TO SPILL
SPANK ROCK
THE RAVEONETTES
FRIGHTENED RABBIT
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
GRAND DUCHY
MONOTONIX
THEE OH SEES
FUTURE OF THE LEFT
JAPANDROIDS
MICACHU & THE SHAPES
TINY MASTERS OF TODAY
BEAR HANDS
THE BLUE VAN


In order of my priority: Built to Spill, A Place to Bury Strangers, Frightened Rabbit, Future of the Left, Japandroids, Monotonix. I have no interest in ravens or the Raveonettes.

Unfortunately, they split the bands between two stages. I'll be too busy with beers and oysters (apparently they're big at Siren) to be dashing between stages, so I will inevitably cast my lot with the Built to Spill stage (aka Main Stage) which is WIN for also hosting Frightened Rabbit and Japandroids but is FAIL since I will most likely miss A Place to Bury Strangers and Future of the Left, two groups I'm keen to see. I'm not the biggest fan of festivals (stampedes, dust storms, etc) but we'll see how many acts I can manage to catch. In the meantime, let me know if there are any bands I should take special care to see or, possibly more useful advice, avoid at all costs.

Wilco (The Review)*

Wilco
w/ Conor Oberst and The Mystic River Band
July 8, 2009 at Wolftrap
by Senior Youth Correspondent, Andrew
Photos by BabyStew

This show was a pretty big deal. Wilco, one of the biggest names in recent rock music, headlines a sold out show at the 7,000 seat Wolftrap, a venue that rarely hosts acts that are of interest to the serious connoisseur of modern music and a venue that probably sells out once every couple of years. It was a beautiful July evening, Wilco had just released their sixth studio album Wilco (The Album) and Jeff Tweedy is 41. Oh, and in case that didn't impress you, Conor Oberst opened, and with a full backing band, jackass.


Here's the first thing I learned: Conor Oberst is very different live with his band than on his one record. I say one record because quite frankly I never went in for all the Bright Eyes malarkey, what with all the puppy face emo hair cut photos and hype that he was the next Bob Dylan before he was eighteen or whatever. That said, I thought Cape Canaveral was a solid album. His set last night was about half songs from that album and half songs that were either new or very alternate versions of older songs of his. Basically, if you saw the show last night without hearing his record you would think he was a straight up alt country rocker while in reality his record displays a much softer, intricate set of songs. I mean Conor was down there screaming and yelling about heartbreak and life on the road, elements that were refreshing after hearing nothing but self pitying whines from his Bright Eyes stuff. His band was tight and seemed just as into it as Conor was. In fact, one of the two other guitarists on stage sang two or three songs in the set. I thought Conor Oberst was still fairly young but it turns out he is 29. Funnily enough, a friend I ran into said she looked at the stage and thought she saw a twelve year old girl. Ouch. Thanks to her iPhone we found out he is 5'6. Despite his vertical challenges Conor Oberst and The Mystic River Band put on a very entertaining show and warmed the crowd up nicely for Wilco. My personal favorite was the spacey version of the song "Cape Canaveral" that got a great response from the folks in the cheap seats.


The rest of this review might really piss off some Wilco fans. But if you read Slice's post about Spoon, it's pretty clear that harassing hard core Wilco fans is a big part of what goes on here. Wilco fans will not be angered necessarily by my review, but by my lack of knowledge about Wilco. I'll be honest about my background: saw them at 930 last year (not impressed), know and like the song Jesus Etc., have an Uncle Tupelo record somewhere. That's it. But this way at least you don't have to read me gush about how amazing they were. Think of it as a critical analysis. Yeah.

Wilco opened with Wilco (The Song), which is actually a very neat tune except for maybe the part where they kept singing "Wilco, Wilco." I found that a bit precious. Shit got epic pretty soon after, with battling guitar feedback solos and finale-esque drums and bass during the third song. That's one of my gripes with Wilco. A little noisy feedback and directionless shredding is fine, but it seemed that more often that not a song would devolve into wails before it really had gone anywhere at all. No one can deny Wilco are seasoned performers. The attention to detail and professionalism in their set was clear from square one. They played Jesus Etc., it was awesome. Tweedy alternated between acoustic and electric guitar and was just sarcastic enough with the audience to keep it entertaining. Guitarist Nels Cline was amazing to watch and displayed his fastidious skills just as he had when I saw him last year. The crowd was going nuts from the beginning. Wilco has something of a cult following in that everyone had a similar look--plaid shirts, flip flops, etc--and that Wilco appeals to such a broad range of ages--they've been classified as "dad rock" as well as "college radio." Although nothing could ever come close to a Hold Steady concert, there was a certain bro element that was fairly pervasive at this show. There were groups of dudes (everywhere) sporting baseball caps, flips, frat shirts, you know, the usual man club garb. In fact, I was seated next to a singing bro, and in front of me I could see hordes of guys jumping, pounding each other on the back, and generally enjoying each other's company. Not my scene, but it's hard to blame Wilco for that one.


The thing is I am not a Wilco fan so while I can say they are good, it is unlikely I would ever give them an A+. The crowd however was going nuts the whole time, so my opinion is, at least in the context of the show, probably a minority one. I was only half serious about harassing Wilco fans. While I would take Spoon over Wilco any day of the week, they are undoubtedly a quality act and fun to watch. I left before the encore, so feel free to add and discuss below.

* yeah, we know the Wilco parenthetical thing has been overdone but it's the best we could come up with

A Story's (Sad) End

Last night I enjoyed some time in the grass at Ft Reno with Emma Peel, ETC, and D'Carl. On the bill: Sweater Set, Funk Ark, and Pash. Also in attendance was Senior Youth Correspondent, Andrew - taking photos. Fort Reno is a good thing for DC, and I'm glad to see that folks were able to make it happen again this year (not without difficulty).

As it says at the close of the Fort Reno concert site, this summer's events have been dedicated to Clark Sabine. Statehood was a staple for DCRC when we first began, and we are sorry for the loss of Clark.

This week's clip is from last year's Fort Reno concert series:

RIP

Laura Burhenn doesn't live here anymore

Title Tracks

w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars and Sinta

May 28, 2009 at Black Cat
by DCRC Senior Youth Correspondent, Andrew

John Davis' new project, Title Tracks, took the stage at the Black Cat around 11pm on Thursday night. Davis' previous work includes playing drums in the Dischord dance-punk band Q and Not U as well as co-writing songs with Laura Burhenn for the pop duo Georgie James whose break up preceed the start of Title Tracks. Davis writes and performs all of the music on the upcoming full length (label TBD). The live band, which features ex-Georgie James members Andrew Black and Michael Cotterman as well as Merideth Munoz from noteworthy DC band Pash, appears on the two song single out now on Dischord Records.

Title Tracks is the first time Davis has exerted total artistic control over his band's music--as opposed to Georgie James where he worked with another songwriter. The new songs draw from both the more jagged edges of Q and Not U as well as the softer pop sensibilities of Georgie James. The result is expertly crafted power pop that recalls The Jam and The Byrds. Of the nine or so songs in the set many were upbeat anthems with driving choruses reminiscent of Ted Leo on Hearts of Oak. One or two songs forayed into a slower, more pensive area with spare arrangements of striclty organ and drums. The band was very tight on stage, no surprise given the rhythm section's time spent supporting Davis' in Georgie James. Highlights included "Found Out", "Every Little Bit Hurts" (the two songs on the debut single) and the lilting "Hello There."

On one hand I was sad to see Georgie James go, but the set last night really got me pumped for the future of Title Tracks. If you get a chance, check out Davis' radio show on WOXY, he spins some quality tunes. Look out for a full length record from Title Tracks as well as more shows this summer.

Crowd spotting: Justin Moyer (aka Edie Sedgwick, aka J-Mo) of Supersystem and Antelope, the singer from all girl DC punk band Partyline, Potsy.