The Who Hits 50! + Slydigs – San Diego – May 27, 2016

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The Who has been one of my favorite groups since I can remember knowing about rock ‘n’ roll.  I can recall the first time I heard Quadrophenia in junior high and it has been in my main listening rotation ever since.  In high school “Baba O’Reilly”, from Who’s Next, was still played regularly at school dances and when I got to college my roommate had a GIANT promo picture of the cover art from Who Are You hanging in our dorm room.  I’ve seen The Who several times, including a trip to The Forum in the mid-’70s and the Quadrophenia tour just a few years ago.  Including this last show, if I close my eyes and just take in the music I don’t feel that the passage of time has diminished their power and musicality at all.  Sure, it’s not the same without Keith Moon and The Ox, but with Zak Starkey  on drums and Pino Palladino on bass the creative duo of Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey have found very capable substitutes.

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La Luz – Weirdo Shrine

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La Luz – Weirdo Shrine.  La Luz (Spanish for “the light”), are an all-female quartet based out of Seattle, WA.  After forming in 2012 they quickly released their debut, It’s Alive, in 2013.  Over the course of two albums now, the band, led by singer/guitarist Shana Cleveland has created a sound that deftly mixes girl-group sounds, indie rock, doo wop and of course the predominant element of their sound: surf rock.  This is indie music for surfers that don’t care about indie rock; just as it is surf-rock for indie scenesters that don’t care about surf music.  This turns out to not be a problem for me at all since I love both Surf and Indie rock.  The music goes from languid to upbeat between and within many of the songs, but always there are reverb drenched guitars and girl-group vocals.  If you’re feeling a little down in the dumps one day – grab a cup of coffee, or maybe a beer, and pop this record on.  Problem solved!

Caveman – Belly Up Tavern, San Diego – May 21, 2016

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Opening for Frightened Rabbit at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, was Caveman, an indie rock band from Brooklyn. Like a lot of Brooklyn bands that have emerged recently, their song-craft is superb, with interesting vocal and instrumental melodies, vocal harmonies and creative drum patterns.  I was reminded of a couple of “chill-wave” bands, also from Brooklyn, that I saw at The Casbah a couple of years ago: Small Black and Snowmine and thought that they would fit well on a bill together.  Really though, I would go further back to describe Caveman’s sound.  With their strong melodies and infectious hooks, the band reminded me of an updated Hall & Oates – but only if Daryl and John could also stretch out and really rock a la My Morning Jacket.

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Frightened Rabbit – The Belly Up – May 21,2016

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Frightened Rabbit, the ten-year-old indie rock band from Glasgow, writes big, melodic songs tackling complex and often uncomfortable topics. They’re touring in support of their outstanding new LP, Painting of a Panic Attack, whose songs explore dark territory, yet are delivered with energy, passion and hooks layered upon hooks.

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Records Collecting Dust

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If you are into vinyl records, and especially if you consider yourself somewhat of a collector, be sure to see the documentary Records Collecting Dust.  The film features a cross section of musicians from the alternative and punk rock world talking about and showing their record collections. There’s Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Keith Morris and Chuck Dukowski (Black Flag), John Reis (Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes), Mike Watt (Minutemen)  and many more talking passionately about the first record they ever purchased, the last record they bought and everything in between!

And don’t worry if you’re not really into punk rock for this isn’t a film about that genre.  It’s a film about records, and record stores, and how much they matter to them and to us.  One of the fun things to learn is just how wide and varied the musical tastes and collections are of these artists and how the records they purchased growing up influenced their own music and lives.

Dragons, Creepy Creeps, The Phantoms – Jan. 14, 2014

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2014 Flashback…

If anyone needed a reminder of how fun rock ‘n’ roll can still be, they should have been to this show at The Casbah in San Diego. The Casbah was celebrating its 25th anniversary and was hosting bands from throughout its storied history, along with the kind of acts that should keep the venue vital for another quarter of a century.

First up on an all San Diego bill were newcomers, The Phantoms. This group features Victor Penalosa, the current drummer for the Flamin’ Groovies, on guitar and vocals, and a fantastic backing band of Xavier Anaya on lead guitar, Chris Iandolo on bass and Jarrod Lucas (from The Dragons) on drums. They opened with the lead song from their self-titled debut album, “Baby Loves Her Rock and Roll”, which sounded like a revved up long-lost song by The Beat (Paul Collins’ not English). The Phantoms then charged through their 10 song set as if they were the headliners with songs like “Stab My Broken Heart”, which besides kicking ass throughout, ended with the opening riff to “Love Gun” by KISS. The set then ended with a garage rockin’ version of Bob Seger’s “Rosalie” and then an homage to the bassist for glam-rock heroes Mott The Hoople with “The Ballad of Overend Watts”.  These guys seem to be channeling the late 70’s/early 80’s power pop of The Plimsouls, 20/20 and the aforementioned Beat and are definitely a band keep an eye on.

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Okkervil River – “Down Down the Deep River”

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On the surface, this song off of Okkervil River’s 2013 album, The Silver Gymnasium, sounds like a buoyant, pop song.  But listen closer and you’ll discover a harrowing and devastating story about a young boy and his best friend at the hands of some “very bad men”.  When the father enters the story about half way through I am reminded of the novel,  The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, where the dad will do whatever it takes to protect his son.

This live-in-the-studio version shows just how powerful, melodic and literate this underrated rock group is.  As usual, turn your volume knob to the right before playing…

 

The Palace Ballroom – “Brass Tacks”

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Did you love the 90′s?  Everyone loves the 90’s!.  Apparently so does The Palace Ballroom, an indie/post-grunge/melodic alt-rock band from San Diego.  And really, fuck it, don’t worry about genres or labels or styles – just click the white arrow in the red box, turn your volume up, and rock out

Lion & the Lady – “Wish it Wasn’t You”

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This atmospheric track off the San Diego duo’s debut LP, The Grey, has a timeless quality to it and is perfect for when you want to just chill out.  Lion & the Lady is comprised of Al (I’m not happy unless I’m in 17 bands) Howard and Trent Hancock of ghostbird

Check out Lion and the Lady here: facebook

Cloud Nothings – “Psychic Trama”

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I do a lot of my music listening in my car (a Toyota Highlander which is basically just a life support system for a pretty awesome sound system).  I seem to usually listen with the volume somewhere between 15 and 20 (out of 40).  This album, Here and Nowhere Else, is new to me and when this song came on I instinctively reached for the volume knob and cranked it to concert level volume.  Then replayed it. This song starts with a slow build, then shifts into another gear and then just plain explodes all over place.