Thursday, April 08, 2010

No Future, Know Clutter

Another real new Fall album, Your Future Our Clutter, will be released on April 26 by Domino Records. It includes a cover of "Funnel of Love", a song that I blogged about here. A track-by-track description of YFOC is available at The Quietus. A vinyl single with a non-LP version of the song "Bury" will be released on Record Store Day.

A Balloon Called Moaning, the 8 song EP by The Joy Formidable, remains tied with YFOC for worst title of 2010. The cover is ugly too, but the band's music is beautiful. Black Bell Records will release it in the US this May 4th (on CD and vinyl), and The Joy Formidable will perform on the East Coast in May. Details here.

Freedy Johnston recently visited Daytrotter, and he played several of his new songs as well as "Bad Reputation" (not a Joan Jett cover).

The Figgs have announced the May 11 release of a new album, The Man Who Fights Himself. The ten songs will include the recent single "Casino Hayes". The tour starts May 15 in NYC, following an April tour in support of Graham Parker and his new album, Imaginary Television.

The next Wintersleep album, New Inheritors, will be released on May 18. Welcome to the Night Sky, the last record by this Canadian band, was one of my favorites of 2008, and I stand by that assessment. That is all.

Wintersleep: New Inheritors (download or listen below)

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4/08/2010 11:22:00 AM 0 Comments

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Our Future Looks Cluttered

The umpteenth album by the Fall, "Your Future - Our Clutter", has been pushed back from November 2009 to January 2010. A single called "Slippy Floor" will be released on December 7th on Action Records.

Acute Records has announced This is Still It, a Method Actors compilation CD to be released in "very early 2010". The comp will focus on the 1980 and 1981 recordings of the Athens duo, up to and including the Little Figures album. My very second post on this here blog (almost four years ago) was about the Method Actors, and their song Halloween was the first thing I digitized from vinyl to mp3. So I'm seriously geeked out about this CD reissue.

One of my other favorite bands, the fabulous Figgs, are hoping to finish recording their next full length in January for release in April 2010. Meanwhile, you can order "Casino Hayes", a new 7" single by the Figgs on the Peter Walkee label here. The vinyl single includes a download coupon.

The reunited Rival Schools will have a record in mid-2010, per this statement from Walter Schreifels: "The new record is finished and we are negotiating with record labels for a spring/ summer release date. I think we nailed the transition from our last and long ago record to something forward thinking."

ADDENDUM: I forgot about Transit Transit, the Autolux album that is supposed to be released in January 2010. Any year with these great bands in it can't be bad. Here's to 2010!

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12/02/2009 09:22:00 AM 5 Comments

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

A Fest for the Rest of Us

I'm thinking about making the drive from Atlanta to Gainesville, FL for the Fest 6. Over 180 punk and metal bands from all over the map will converge upon Gainesville from October 26 to October 28 for three days and nights of club gigs and house parties. Music lovers can attend all three days for just $50.

Georgia bands venturing to the Fest this year include Savannah metal mavens Baroness; Athenian math-rockers We Versus the Shark; and one man band Matt Kurz.

The big draws for the Fest this year include reunion shows by Naked Raygun, Seaweed, and Small Brown Bike. These festivals seem to be a trend these days: Raygun is also playing Chicago's RiotFest in November (with SLF and 7Seconds); the Marked Men are at GonerFest this month; and the Figgs will hit Moonfest the same weekend as the Gainesville thing.

My goal is to see the Figgs, the Marked Men, the Riverboat Gamblers, the Ergs, the Methadones, and the High Tension Wires (who are essentially the Marked Men plus the singer from the Riverboat Gamblers). I've waited years for the Figgs to come back to Atlanta or Athens. Since they don't seem to be touring, I guess it's my turn to make a road trip.

Figgs: She's Fine
Marked Men: Fix My Brain
High Tension Wires: I Heart MAO Inhibitors

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10/10/2007 11:50:00 AM 4 Comments

Friday, January 05, 2007

Figgs Featurette: Pete Donnelly

The Figgs' other prolific songwriter (Mike's cohort in the "Slimmer Twins") is the multi-talented Pete Donnelly. Pete is a tremendous bass player who is also talented with keyboards and other instruments. He is a big fan of the Kinks (the Figgs have covered "Father Christmas", "Johnny Thunder" and "Village Green"). Pete D. has also played bass in the Candy Butchers and has done some engineering work for major label artists, as well as producing and playing on the Death Vessel album.

Wait on Your Shoulders is one of my most favorite Figgs songs, and I love to hear them perform it live. I get chills when Pete and Mike harmonize on the refrain, a celebration of freedom and indolence: "Cuz it won't have happened to me/ All day long, I'll be enjoying/ Hanging around in a tree/ Taking a load off my feet." The song is from the band's last album as a quartet, The Figgs Couldn't Get High.

Happy is not a Stones cover; it is a track from the Figgs' first cassette album, Ginger. The song was also the A-side of the "My Mad Kitty" single.

Powder King is the 7" single version of a Pete D. classic that was rerecorded for the band's only major label album, Banda Macho.

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1/05/2007 12:30:00 PM 5 Comments

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Figgs Featurette: Mike Gent

One of the reasons I love the Figgs is for their live shows, but I haven't been able to see them onstage for several years since they don't visit the South very often. On record, you can't appreciate the tight interplay that the band displays onstage. They have been playing together for almost 20 years!

What the records demonstrate better than the live show is the songwriting. The Figgs have two great songwriters in Mike Gent and Pete Donnelly. (Nothing against drummer Pete Hayes, who has written "The Bar", "Wiser Goldfish" and "Je t'Adore"). Mike is clearly a music fan as well as a musician, and his original songs reflect his tastes for classic Stones and the "angry" singer-songwriters of the New Wave era (Joe Jackson, Graham Parker, and Elvis Costello).

On the Figgs' new album, Follow Jean Through the Sea, Mike adds "Regional Hits" to the stack of great songs he's written about the music industry (which include "FTMU", "Tint", "Simon Simone" and "J-Card"). One of my favorite Gent songs on the new record is "City Loft Home", which demonstrates his mastery of economical storytelling (sample couplet: "Fought with my addictions/ Served with an eviction").

Mike Gent also writes and performs with the Gentlemen, a Boston-based quartet that includes members of the Gravel Pit. They have released three fine albums. Here are a few of Mike's earliest songs. "My Mad Kitty" was the b-side of the Figgs' first single, and it's a cassette dub of a scratchy 7". I did my best to clean it up.

The Figgs: My Mad Kitty (1992)

The Figgs: Floored (from the band's first cassette, Ginger).

The Figgs: Go Before (from a 1993 single produced by Adny Shernoff).

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1/04/2007 12:08:00 PM 7 Comments

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Figgy Pudding

Dashing to the store, in search of triple A's
I hope they're open Christmas Eve, or my kids cannot play

Buying everything to make their Christmas right
I overspent, forgot the rent; next month will be tight

Oh, triple A's, double A's, nine volts, C's and D's,
Everything I bought this year requires batteries

Oh, MP3, DVD, HDTV too
I couldn't find a PS3, so I got a PS2

No Nintendo Wii, no PSP, XBox 360 too
Elmo's gone from Amazon; I can't even find a Zune!

Figgs: Christmas Shake

Figgs: Merry Christmas Girl

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12/24/2006 07:18:00 AM 5 Comments

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Records I Bought and Liked This Year

By no means an exhaustive list of the best of '06. In reverse alpha vision!

You Am I - Convicts (soon to be released domestically by Yep Roc)

Paul Westerberg - Open Season (Underneathica loves ten inch records)

Alan Vega, Alex Chilton and Ben Vaughn - Cubist Blues Redux
(10th anniversary reissue of this unlikely trio's 1996 collaboration, with a bonus disc of live recordings)

Uzeda - Stella (I didn't write about this Italian band, but they rocked me)

Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional (another nice reissue)

Sparklehorse - Dreamt in the Belly of the Man on the Silver Mountain

Radio Birdman - Zeno Beach (classic Aussie surf punks return)

Pernice Brothers - Live a Little (the demo disc was a nice gift to fans)

Pere Ubu - Why I Hate Women (David Thomas brings back the rock)

Mission of Burma - The Obliterati (wayWAYway better than onOFFon)

Anne McCue - Koala Motel ("Sweet Burden of Youth" was the best song title of '06)

Marked Men - Fix My Brain (I can't get these songs out of my head)

Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (you don't like it? I don't care)

Figgs - Follow Jean through the Sea (they're jumping again!)

Duke Spirit - Cuts across the Land (I know it came out last year in the UK)

dEUS - Pocket Revolution (another unexpected return)

Buzzcocks - Flat-Pack Philosophy (same as above)

Richard Buckner - Meadow (oh so sadly beautiful)

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12/21/2006 09:49:00 PM 4 Comments

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Forgive Me If I'm Loaded

I am so excited that I literally couldn't sleep last night. The Figgs will release their tenth full-length album, Follow Jean through the Sea, on November 14th on the Gern Blandsten label. The only thing that would be better than a new album would be a tour that brings the band south of the Mason-Dixon line. You can stream "Jumping Again" from the new album here.

Because I recently read this, I'm posting this.

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10/05/2006 12:20:00 PM 2 Comments

Monday, July 10, 2006

Wanna Rollerskate?

Another great show was put on by the Atlanta Rollergirls last night. Despite the valiant efforts of Demi Gore and her teammates, the Denim Demons could not overcome the mighty Apocalypstix. The Stix had a 30 point lead after the first period, which they increased to 70 points by the end of the second period. I think the final score was 137 to 47. Lola Lixxx, Foxfire, and Viva Hate led jam after jam. There was a great Turbonegro cover band called Das AssJugend during the breaks.

This coming Saturday (July 15) from 10am to 12noon, there will be a meet-and-greet for prospective Rollergirls at the All-American Skating Center in Stone Mountain. If you or someone you know wants to be a roller derby queen, pass it on!

The Figgs: Rollerskate
The Figgs: F--ks Off

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7/10/2006 03:08:00 PM 3 Comments

Friday, June 09, 2006

Separated at Musical Birth?

I was listening to some more old Figgs songs, and this one (a Young Fresh Fellows cover) reminded me of a character from another song. "She came down from the Ozarks, to the big city Memphis world." Is the "Hillbilly Drummer Girl" related somehow to the "Arse Kicking Lady from the Northwest" who came down from Kentucky with "a fresh pack of Luckies and a Bowie compilation tape", as described by the Australian band You Am I? The Ozark Mountains aren't in Kentucky, I know.

Is anyone in the Atlanta area going to the Atlanta Rollergirls bout this Sunday night? It will be my first time. The Toxic Shocks will battle the Apocalypstix, and Atlanta band the Swear will provide the halftime entertainment.

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6/09/2006 09:00:00 AM 4 Comments

Friday, June 02, 2006

When Your Favorite Band Doesn't Break Up

More than any other band together today, I love the Figgs. I own everything I have been able to get my hands on by the band. I have seen them three times, including the show at the Point in Atlanta when they met Graham Parker, and a later show at the EARL where I stood in the audience between David Cross and a dwarf. No, I was sober.

There was a time when it seemed like the Figgs were going to conquer the world. After their phenomenal 1994 debut LP, Low Fi at Society High, they moved to Capitol Records for Banda Macho in 1996. The single “Girl Kill Your Boyfriend” didn’t sell, and they got dropped. On their next single, J Card, Mike Gent complained about a movie soundtrack deal that fell through and sang, “Do you ever think that we should pack it in?” No, please no! Don’t pack it in, I thought to myself.

Instead, the Figgs served as the backing band for Graham Parker on his “Last Rock and Roll Tour”, and performed new and old GP songs across the US. This tour was documented on a wonderful live CD released in 1997. They also started playing in other bands: Mike Gent in the Gentlemen; bassist Pete Donnelly with Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers; and drummer Pete Hayes with Steve Shiffman and the Land of Nod.

The Figgs Couldn’t Get High came out in 1998. It turned out to be a farewell for lead guitarist Guy Lyons. Once again, I hoped the band wouldn’t give it up. The Figgs were now a trio, and released For EP Fans Only in 1999, and really hit their stride with the full length Sucking in Stereo in 2000. Another full length called Slow Charm followed in 2002, and a two CD set called Palais in 2004.

The Figgs backed Tommy Stinson for a live tour in support of his Village Gorilla Head album, and they backed Graham Parker again for his 2005 Bloodshot Records release, Songs of No Consequence. Pete Donnelly also produced and played numerous instruments on the Death Vessel album (hello, hipsters!).

If you see a copy of Low Fi at Society High in a discount bin, pick it up. You will hear some great songs and manic playing in the vein of This Year’s Model and Joe Jackson’s first two albums. Guy Lyons was an incredibly reckless guitarist, influenced by Greg Ginn and Sonny Sharrock.

After Guy’s departure, the Figgs inevitably had to simplify. Mike can make a mighty noise on his Gibson SG (raise your hand if you’ve heard one of his freakouts on “Shut” or “Chevy Nova” at a Figgs gigg). But the songwriting and musicianship became more direct in their emotional impact. Sucking in Stereo is a terrific collection influenced by the white R & B and garage rock of the 1960's, especially the early Kinks. (The Figgs have covered both “Johnny Thunder” and “Village Green”.) The Figgs continue to make solid records, and they put on tremendous live shows. Two live shows are available at eMusic, as well as the double CD Palais. Their latest live release, Continue to Enjoy the Figgs, is available here.

Here are a few rare Figgs songs. Go Before proves that Pete Hayes is an awesome rock drummer. The flip side of this 1993 single, Let's Get Arrested, appears on many of my mixtapes alongside Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge".

Sully was apparently a reject from the Low Fi sessions. Pete Donnelly knows how to write some unusual melodies, and Guy Lyons follows his bassline note-for-note on this song before taking off for uncharted waters. This Phaser Sounds Divine was part of a split single with the band Prisonshake. I love Mike Gent's lyrics. The song is a vignette about buying an effects pedal, with a passing reference to Hendrix bassist Noel Redding, and for "a middle rhyme" Gent grabs "Pink Flamingos with Divine".

Let me know if you like these songs. I've got LOTS more, and I'd love to hear from Figgs fans.

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6/02/2006 11:57:00 AM 10 Comments