This Is Book's Music

Personally, I don’t like the post- prefix when it applies to music. What is it supposed to mean and/or represent? So Grenades are allegedly post-punk or post-hardcore, but will this somehow be a subliminal means of telling me what to expect from their music, or what to feel? I hope not.

What I am able to say is that this Seattle group have been playing for a little over three years and will be getting a chance to unleash their post-whatever style of music when Red Cobra releases their debut album on May 7th called Heaven Is Empty. The buzz generated from their demo lead to releasing a split 12″ with Mercy Ties, and now Grenades want to throw their moniker out to more people. You may listen to the first single from the album by heading to TheStranger.com but if you wish to hear more, or perhaps you may have missed their demo, no problem. You may listen to it below via Bandcamp (or click here if the player isn’t showing up.)

March 24… Los Angeles, CA (Permanent Records)
March 25… San Diego, CA (Soda Bar) +
March 26… Santa Ana, CA (Unit B) ++
March 27… San Jose, CA (The Usuals) +++
March 28… San Francisco, CA (The Knockout) ~
March 29… Davis CA (Simi’s) !
March 30… Oakland CA (Long Haul Books) @
May 19… Brooklyn, NY (Shea Stadium) #/$
May 20… New Brunswick, NJ (Cooler Ranch) #/%
May 21… Boston, MA (O’brian’s) #/^
May 22… Philadelphia, PA (Johnny Brenda’s) #/*/=
May 23… Cleveland, OH (Now That’s Class) #
May 24… Chicago, IL (The Burlington) #
May 25… Bloomington, IN (The Realm) #
May 28… Little Rock, AK (House show) #
May 29… Austin, TX (Beerland) #/₤
June 1… Athens, GA (Farm 255) #
June 2… Charlotte, NC (Yauhaus) #
June 5… Baltimore, MD (Golden West) #
June 6… New York, NY (Cake Shop) #/¥
June 7… Brooklyn, NY (Silent Barn)

+ w/ Oh and the Whats, Dream Buddies
++ w/ NASA Space Universe
+++ w/ Plantain
~ w/ Swiftumz
! w/ Kevin Greenspoon
@ w/ Permanent Collection
# w/ Lame Drivers
$ w/ Hippy and Shark
% w/ Trash Ride
^ w/ Bent Shapes
* w/ Pet Milk
= w/ Literature
₤ w/ Simple Circuits
¥ w/ Darlings

What you see above are tour dates for The Woolen Men, who are currently on the road with a number of groups joining them. I told you about the tour last month, but a few new dates have been added since then, indicated by being in bold. Oh, you want to see what The Woolen Men look like, so that you can be sure you had seen my brief article about them? Sure, here they are:

Since the release of their debut album on Woodsist a few weeks ago, the men in The…Men have created a video for the song “Hold It Up”. If you need a bit of motivation to buy the album or see them in concert, here is what you may need.

The Woolen Men — Hold It Up from jeffrey kriksciun on Vimeo.

If the evil entity known as grunge had mutated into something else, I say it would lie in the hands of the Seattle duo Pony Time.

With an album a few seconds over the length limit of an EP, Go Find Your Own definitely has the sound of music played by two people, in this case Stacy Peck and Luke Beetham. Beethham’s vocals resides on the thin line between swagger and flamboyant, and the rock is so raw and rugged, someone might think it was ripped off from The Stooges. It is not, but it definitely has the mean punch of pop with aggressive pop power, as if each song was ready made for the charts if more people in the world were rockers. None of the songs go over three minutes, so it seems this group has an agenda to get into their songs and leave without dwelling in its sensitivity or irritability. Don’t expect a lot of carefully crafted metaphors either, a song like “First Thing In the Morning, You and Me (Hard and Heavy)” states what it has to say: wake up, clean your room, get out of the house, go somewhere, and hope you return back home by the evening. Maybe go to the store and buy some food, because you’re out of cereal or snacks. That’s it. Next song is on its way.

I like what they do because it’s just there, out in the world and in your face, loud and fucked up. That’s very Seattle, but it’s also some damn good music made by two people who simply want to play and sing until their set list reaches the bottom. Rock on.

Orphans are a Denver-based band who enjoy screaming their hearts out, vocally and musically, and Pack Mentality serves as a means to touch on not only the mentality that exists in the world, but perhaps their fans who know that unity can work if done right.

These guys are on the screamo side of things, and what they sing about touches on things that are about definition, reflection, and what it means to exist in a world where it feels like everything is falling apart at once. “Dark Satanic Mills” is a song with a lot of depth and emotion, and that’s not to say that the other three do not, but I found myself listening to this song a lot. “Bengals” begins with that comes off as a cry for help, but once the verses start up, it begins to explore a few moodier moments before the disgusting and painful wails start up again, and it sounds great. This release only makes me want to hear another EP or two, or even a full length, but I’ll take whatever they offer up.

This week, on March 17th, marks the 35th anniversary of Elvis Costello & The Attractions’ second album, This Year’s Model. The album cover is notable for featuring Costello snapping a photo with his now-well-known pair of glasses. The UK had one version with Costello holding his left hand out, along with the design being off-center and containing color bars on the right side, exactly like someone printing a magazine or album cover, but an inch off from its intended position. The US version doesn’t have the extra “error” and uses an alternate photo from the session, with Costello crouching down towards the camera for the perfect shot. It is the album that featured songs like “Pump It Up” and “(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea”. The US version featured the song “Radio, Radio”, which was my first exposure to his music when I saw the video in a special TV section build outside of a record store at Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu.

Singer Justin Timberlake was on last night’s Saturday Night Live not only as the guest, but its musical guests. A very funny show, one of the placards shown in between segments featured Timberlake with a camera and nerdy glasses, thus honoring Costello and (whether it was intentional or not, I’m not sure) the 35th anniversary of This Year’s Model.

It shows that when it comes to pop music, Timberlake’s aim is true as well.

The ladies of Oakland’s Wax Idols will be busy in the next few months, as they prepare to hit audiences with a new album on Slumberland Records called Discipline & Desire. You may listen to one of the songs on it right now, called “When It Happens”.

The band will be on the road when the album is released on March 26th, but you’ll be able to catch them at this year’s SXSW if you’re there, but if not, you have many chances to see them.

March 6… Oakland, CA (New Parish) %
March 7… San Diego, CA (The Void)
March 8… Tempe, AZ (Sail Inn) %*
March 9… El Paso, TX (Lowbrow Palace) *

# = w/ The Mallard
% = w/ White Lung
& = w/ NU, SENSAE, Audacity, and others
@ = w/ Chasms
! = w/ Radar Eyes
*= w/ TV Ghost
@ = w/ Blasted Canyons & Burnt Ones

oddczar are a hardcore punk band from Charlotte, North Carolina, and their new EP (Bitter Melody/Self Aware) is just musical savageness at its best.

Much of that power comes from vocalist Matt Brandon, who unleashes brutal screaming throughout each song, and I don’t know how he does it but it sounds amazing. Back that up with a band who know how to be heavy but also help intensify Brandon’s vocals by playing lightly and melodically, it’s not just noise for the sake of noise. It works perfectly, as Brandon’s lyrics cover a wide range of topics, it’s not just a bunch of “rah rah” and “NNGGG GGGAO GGGAO GGGAO” for the sake of sounding chaotic. Most of it is done in a mid-tempo fashion, done with a lot of groove and sounding very strong, built for speed but never going too fast (although they ride the juggernaut in portions of “One Word”).

It’s only an EP, but a full length album would be more than welcome from oddczar

A title like Though I’m Alone (Mayfly), to me, says a few things, one of them being “though I am alone in this world, there will one day be others and I will be okay. Even if there isn’t anyone for me, I will still deal with the circumstances and make it in this existence”. This is what Barrow commit in their music, on their second album that is nothing short of explosive. Forget lighting fuses, the music on this album reacts to any sense of warmth because it knows you are attracted to its beauty. It blows up in your face because of it.

What I love about these songs is that there are moments in them where things sound very demure and sensitive, and maybe that comes from their North Carolina upbringing. Then again, sometimes bands are at their best when they totally abandon their territorial roots and just slaughter anything and everything that comes their way. Vocalists Travis Schuster and Zach Tobin are able to unleash all kinds of emotions in their music, but when you also have a band that reaches those extreme highs of ambiance and exhilaration, it’s powerful and moving. The melodies these guys create are incredible, and in songs like “Wither”, “Dogwood”, and “A Dead Hum, Echoed” you want to get lost in what’s being created and never leave. Therefore, through the songs of Barrow, you are never alone.

(The vinyl pressing of Though I’m Alone can be pre-ordered directly from Mayfly Records.)

As reported in January, The Woolen Men are now Woodsist artists, and with that signing comes a new album due out on March 5th that happens to be self-titled. In other words, the album is named after the band. The Pacific Northwest trio (two gents from Oregon, the other a Washingtonian) will be doing a show in Portland next week at Mississippi Studios before preparing to do some West Coast dates at the top of spring, taking a month off (because we here in the Pacific Northwest are bums like that) before heading to the East Coast in mid-May Here is where you’ll be able to see and hear them:

February 22… Portland, OR (Mississippi Studios)
March 21… Eugene, OR (The Wandering Goat)
March 22… Portland, OR (Mississippi Studios)
march 25… San Diego, CA (Soda Bar)
March 26… Santa Ana, CA (Unit B)
March 27… San Jose, CA (The Usuals)
March 28… San Francisco, CA (The Knockout)
May 19… Brooklyn, NY (Shea Stadium)
May 20… New Brunswick, NJ (Cooler Ranch)
May 21… Boston, MA (O’brian’s)
May 23… Cleveland, OH (Now That’s Class)
May 24… Chicago, IL (The Burlington)
May 25… Bloomington, IN (The Realm)
May 28… Little Rock, AK (The White Water Tavern)
May 29… Austin, TX (Beerland)
June 1… Athens, GA (Farm 255)
June 2… Charlotte, NC (Yauhaus)
June 5… Baltimore, MD (Golden West)
June 6… New York, NY (Cake Shop)
June 7… Brooklyn, NY (Silent Barn)

You may now hear them with their song, “Head On The Ground”.

Portland’s Gaytheist are making people aware that they will be doing a small handful of shows next month as part of the Stealh Beats “No-Vada” Tour, and they’d like to see you there. They are touring in support of their album on Good To Die Records, Stealth Beats, and will be playing with a number of other bands along the way. See them, for it will be a must:

March 8… Portland, OR (Branx) !
March 9… Boise, ID (The Shredder) @
March 10… Salt Lake City, UT (Urban Lounge) #
March 11… Denver, CO (3 Kings) $
March 12… Albuquerque, NM (Peace & Justice Center) %
March 13… Tucson, AZ (District Tavern)
March 14… Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake Lounge) *
March 15… San Francisco, CA (Hemlock) +

! w/ Lord Dying, Atriarch and Nether Regions
@ w/ Wolfang and The Unhallowed
# w/ Worst Friends, Yaktooth, Rile and Baby Gurl
$ w/ Glass Hits and Joy Subtraction
% w/ Gusher and Ether Island
* w/ Totimoshi, Stripper Pussy and Dolphins-N-Shit
+ w/ Tartufi and Tigon