The Specimens - Live @ Rics - 17 Feb 2007
7 months ago
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Growing in number
Remember when I said "fuck is the new wolf"?
Well, check out the new album by Yo La Tengo's "side project":
Before you say anything, let me point out that these guys are no trend-hoppers. Apparently the CF's have been around for 20 odd years and their extensive catalogue includes such climaxes as "Fuckin' Gary Sandy" and "More Than A Fucking". Fuck me! So if anything you can put them among the many other old bands that have reunited upon discovering that "the kids" have adopted their schtick.
This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Toronto's Holy Fuck will be fucking their way to Brisbane and playing the Zoo on December 13th, supported by fucking good local bands Taste of Teeth and Toy Balloon. And Fuck Buttons will be pressing the "f" key at the Australian ATP in January.
Something is definitely happening here. It's a genuine fucking movement. Keep your eyes peeled and send any information (in the words of People magazine: "Send us your fuck stories") to Fuck Watch c/o Is By Bus.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Howe Gelb, The Troubadour 28/10/08
A couple of weeks ago I read an interview with Howe Gelb. I'd heard of his band Giant Sand but that's all; it was just that I'd already read everything else in the magazine. The interview turned out to be amusing and thought-provoking and Gelb turned out to be witty and charming. A little bit of wit and charm goes a long way in the doltish world of rock, the vapid world of pop and especially the (mostly) unattractive, introspective world of alt-country.
Not long after that I opened up the street press and what did I see? My new friend Howe is coming to say howdy! A few downloads from the new Giant Sand album proVISIONS later I could confirm that Gelb's interview persona was not a false advertisement.
The wit is in the words - "Raggin'/they talk like a filibuster/Their words surround me/like I was Custer"; "Every girl is like a pearl/Heart strung along/then left stranded" - and the charm is in the tunes. Giant Sand's music is like its home-state Arizona, a little to the left of Tex-Mex and a little cooler. To mix metaphors but stay regional, it fizzes and soothes like a lime-necked Corona on a hot day: bitter, citric and sweet.
At the Troubadour last Tuesday we only got the frontman, his guitar and an electric piano. Gelb lived up to his rep as a laconic, Tucsonic gentleman but also revealed a penchant for moronic sonics. That is, right after hypnotising the audience with a whispered verse, in the part where Smog might do a li'l skip or Bonnie Billy might snap at his own ear, Howe would step on a guitar pedal and treat us (or himself) to the sort of wacky effects I used to giggle at when I was 13. The best one sounded like a high-pitched sitar with reverb. Obviously used to an acoustic piano, our man also became entranced by the "scat" effects on the keyboard and all up spent a good five minutes hunched over and smiling faintly at the doos and daas at his fingertips. I loved all of this and only wish some of the more po-faced troubadours of the world would take a leaf.
Blooming in the first few songs from an unassuming dude in a denim jacket and a trucker's cap to an assured showman, Gelb took the time for a chat between most songs. After removing his hat to say "thank you" (to the audible delight of a couple of the ladies in the room), he would either tell the next number's story or just open up to the floor.
Gelb: "Whaddy'all wanna hear, a song about love or a song about politics?"
Man with Queensland accent: "Love! Love! My girl left me!"
Gelb: "Who's Magill? Alright, this one's about love and politics. Well, it's kind of a love song that involves the ramifications of... well, you'll see".
Thus began a song about a returned, wounded soldier:
Later we had a song about "the smallest possible... increment of love" (which turned out to be about chromosomes) and, for an encore, a return of the wacky guitar effects for a bizarre medley of "Ring of Fire/Hey Jude". Somehow even that was witty and charming.
Not long after that I opened up the street press and what did I see? My new friend Howe is coming to say howdy! A few downloads from the new Giant Sand album proVISIONS later I could confirm that Gelb's interview persona was not a false advertisement.
The wit is in the words - "Raggin'/they talk like a filibuster/Their words surround me/like I was Custer"; "Every girl is like a pearl/Heart strung along/then left stranded" - and the charm is in the tunes. Giant Sand's music is like its home-state Arizona, a little to the left of Tex-Mex and a little cooler. To mix metaphors but stay regional, it fizzes and soothes like a lime-necked Corona on a hot day: bitter, citric and sweet.
At the Troubadour last Tuesday we only got the frontman, his guitar and an electric piano. Gelb lived up to his rep as a laconic, Tucsonic gentleman but also revealed a penchant for moronic sonics. That is, right after hypnotising the audience with a whispered verse, in the part where Smog might do a li'l skip or Bonnie Billy might snap at his own ear, Howe would step on a guitar pedal and treat us (or himself) to the sort of wacky effects I used to giggle at when I was 13. The best one sounded like a high-pitched sitar with reverb. Obviously used to an acoustic piano, our man also became entranced by the "scat" effects on the keyboard and all up spent a good five minutes hunched over and smiling faintly at the doos and daas at his fingertips. I loved all of this and only wish some of the more po-faced troubadours of the world would take a leaf.
Blooming in the first few songs from an unassuming dude in a denim jacket and a trucker's cap to an assured showman, Gelb took the time for a chat between most songs. After removing his hat to say "thank you" (to the audible delight of a couple of the ladies in the room), he would either tell the next number's story or just open up to the floor.
Gelb: "Whaddy'all wanna hear, a song about love or a song about politics?"
Man with Queensland accent: "Love! Love! My girl left me!"
Gelb: "Who's Magill? Alright, this one's about love and politics. Well, it's kind of a love song that involves the ramifications of... well, you'll see".
Thus began a song about a returned, wounded soldier:
Looking in your eyes I surrender
Such surrender is rendered justified
You stand with boot upon my fender
Reflected in my glass eye.
Later we had a song about "the smallest possible... increment of love" (which turned out to be about chromosomes) and, for an encore, a return of the wacky guitar effects for a bizarre medley of "Ring of Fire/Hey Jude". Somehow even that was witty and charming.
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