Our old friends The Hold Steady have just released the first song from their upcoming album, Stay Positive. And it sounds like.....exactly what you think it would sound like. Though I have to say, Craig Finn's voice sounds a little better. It's almost like he's singing. Almost. Please do enjoy.
The Hold Steady - "Sequestered in Memphis"
Courtesy of The TapeIn what I hope will be a recurring series here, below you'll find a series of questions I am posing to my fellow Rockists. I'll ask, they'll both answer, and then we'll move on to the next question.
1. If your wife was going to cheat on you with one of the Beatles (in their prime), which one would you prefer it be?
Rob: Ringo. Did he ever have a prime?
G.L.: I'd have to say George. I think he'd be the least disease-ridden, you know, down there.
2. Would you rather have a few beers with:
a) Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse
b) Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses
c) Britt Daniel of Spoon
d) Patterson Hood of The Drive-By Truckers
e) Craig Finn of the Hold Steady
Rob: e) But only while walking around.
G.L.: I'd like to say Isaac Brock, but I'd be seriously concerned for my safety. Dude's weird. So, it's Craiggers for me, too.
3. True/False: Wilco will one day be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Rob: False. Well, at least not while Tweedy is alive. His head may literally explode.
G.L.: False, unfortunately.
4. True/False: Jeff Tweedy will act like he doesn't care about being snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Rob: True.
G.L.: I think a better one would have been, "If Wilco are somehow inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jeff Tweedy will act like he doesn't care." True.
5. Where would you rather spend Memorial Day weekend?
a) an Octopus' garden
b) a yellow submarine
c) in the sky, with diamonds
d) back in the USSR
Rob: d) Who likes bread and milk? Not this guy.
G.L.: Only with Maxwell's silver hammer (and sickle), right? But seriously, an Octopus' garden. Depending on the shade of course.
6. How do you feel about world music?
Rob: Isn't all music world music? Why do ugly people who can't write songs get the whole genre?
G.L.: I guess I like a lot of things that could be considered world music, but I think I see what you're getting at. Those afro-cuban-psyche-flamenco albums that they sell at Starbucks make me want to barf.
7. Which of the following musicians googles him or herself most often:
a) Jeff Tweedy of Wilco
b) Bob Pollard, formerly of Guided by Voices
c) Will Sheff of Okkervil River
d) Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power
e) Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre
f) Neko Case, of the New Pornographers (when she feels like it)
Rob: c) But only to see if the blogs are commenting positively on his bangs.
G.L.: Gotta be Chan Marshall.
Better band name:
8. The Kinks or The Kingsmen
Rob: The Kingsmen
G.L.: The Kinks.
9. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin or Clap Your Hand Say Yeah
Rob: SSLYBY
G.L.: Same here. Better name, better band.
10. Ra Ra Riot or Ra Ra Rasputin
Rob: Both are Ra Ra Retarded.
G.L.: Who? We're way to cool to be talking about either of these bands.
11. The Knobs or The Slits
Rob: Seriously, GH?
G.L.: Push.
12. The Bad Livers or The Drive-By Truckers
Rob: DBT, but only because we're seeing them tonight. (Answered 5/9/08)
G.L.: The Truckers, hands down.
Not your typical Rockist outing as it was a) not located in a gentrifying neighborhood of the District of Columbia, b) featured an Oscar-winning male-female duo rather than some scruffy mustachioed dudes from your favorite college town music scene, and c) was really more of a date for me and my girlfriend. But some of you (us) still like this stuff, and, at any rate, there were a few purely Rockist moments that would be worth reporting regardless.
The Swell Season are basically just Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's project that turned into the 2007 hit indie flick Once. Before Once, Hansard was/is in Irish band The Frames -- who are huge over there despite their only tepid reception stateside -- and Irglova was an unknown Czech teenager (she's now 20). On this tour, The Frames are along as a backing band, but just as often he plays solo or she plays solo or just the two of them play together. They're a funny couple onstage. She's barely half his age and shy, while it's pretty apparent he was born to perform in front of an audience.
If this tour is still something of an introduction -- "Hey America! Remember us? We're a real band, it wasn't just a movie!" -- then the set's undeniable high point, the Oscar-winning tune "Falling Slowly", is their nightly victory lap. In Richmond, they soaked it up and stretched the song out, and Hansard took the last few bars to recount the whirlwind feeling of the past year (something like that when what you've been striving for actually comes true, 99% is incredibly happy and the other 1% wishes nothing had changed). The movie's best scenes -- when the drums kick in on "When Your Mind's Made Up" and grab the studio engineer's attention, when Hansard plays their recordings for his father and Pops replies "it's just so good, son" -- are quietly triumphant, and "Falling Slowly" was the tune that matched that feeling best.
As far as Rockist material, during the set proper, Glen and Marketa did a spirited, harmony-laden duet on The Pixies' "Levitate Me" that was a lot of fun and had me searching for a new copy of Come On Pilgrim the next day (Glen interjected "this is a Pixies song" halfway through -- a decidedly un-Rockist thing to do). And then The Swell Season closed with "Ireland's greatest songwriter" Van Morrison, doing a fine cover of "Into the Mystic." Hansard's voice doesn't suit it as well as you might think, but the harmonies were good and the couple got the crowd to sing the horn parts.
We now resume your regularly scheduled Rockist programming...
The Swell Season - "Into the Mystic"
Who would have thought that it would be raining on Bike to Work Day? Probably the same people that predicted it would rain on Sunday. Let's not get all huffy and start complaining on how sucky the rain and Nissan Pavilion/Live Nation are and how awesome yet awful Radiohead is. Just be glad that those of you who missed the show might have another chance (in the armpit of America).
"Ladies love the feel of the wheel." Get me a mustache, roller skates and rapist sunglasses STAT!
Heh. Neil Young is immortalized... as a spider.
He now joins the ranks of other rockers with bugs (or dinosaurs) named after them.
Roy Orbison
Mark Knopfler
The Beatles
The Ramones
and many more.
Congrats, Neil. TRS will never squash a spider again.
To round out our weekend of rock, the Rockists traveled in our fuel efficient vehicles out through the set of Deliverance to good ol' Brostow, VA. G.L. and I enjoyed our 4 hour car party while the heavens opened up around us. Luckily, I had mistakenly bought pit tickets and G.L.'s coworker had extra pavilion tickets so our group got to stay (semi) dry. Suckers...
I heard there were a lot of people who weren't able to make it into the show due to 2 hour waits to park and closed roads. That blows and our hearts go out to those not in attendance. We were quite lucky to get in there quickly and out of there (relatively) quickly.
The show was amazing. I have been waiting over 7 years to see these guys and it wasn't worth the wait (why would anyone wait 7 years to see a show?), but it was worth the weather. The songs were flawless except for Johnny messing up the beginning to Faust Arp... twice. Did anyone else notice Thom shouting "Barack Obama" during "The National Anthem"? I know G.H. did.
All I Need / Jigsaw Falling Into Place / Lucky / 15 Step / Nude / Pyramid Song / Weird Fishes/Arpeggi / Myxomatosis / Idioteque / Faust Arp / Videotape / Paranoid Android / Just / Reckoner / Everything In Its Right Place / Bangers + Mash / Body Snatchers // Like Spinning Plates / Optimistic / Karma Police / Go Slowly / Planet Telex // Fake Plastic Trees / National Anthem / House of Cards
Great, long, and (sometimes) painfully loud show from Rockist heroes DBT. Let it also be noted that The Dexateens opened with a full hour-plus set that was worth the price of admission in its own right. Their newest album, Lost and Found, is quite good and downloadable for free (legally) on their website. I also picked up one of their previous releases, Hardwire Healing, which is very strong as well.
Anyway, the Truckers were their usual selves. Not having Jason Isbell around sort of cuts out the pretty-melody, radio country stuff, leaving the group to just obliterate your eardrums for as long as they (and you) can take it. On a number of occasions, lead singer Patterson Hood waxed with varying degrees of eloquence on how much he loved the 9:30 and how DC was always so great to his band. Seemed pretty genuine to me. As you'd expect, the setlist was strong and varied, though I can't believe I missed Cooley's "Self-Destructive Zones" on Saturday night. And you almost sense that they just can't resist the urge to play "Let There Be Rock" and "People Who Died" in the encore -- the crowd just eats it up too much. My vote for the night's best song? A tie between "Guitar Man" and "The Company I Keep", with Shonna's "I'm Sorry Houston" making a good run for it.
The Drive-By Truckers - 9:30 Club - May 9, 2008
Putting People on the Moon / Where The Devil Don't Stay / The Righteous Path / One of These Days / The Company I Keep / Play It All Night Long (W. Zevon cover) / Gravity's Gone / The Living Bubba / Checkout Time in Vegas / You and Your Crystal Meth / Goode's Field Road / A Ghost to Most / I'm Sorry Houston / Sink Hole / Dead, Drunk, and Naked / Guitar Man / Lookout Mountain // 3 Dimes Down / Zip City / Let There Be Rock / World of Hurt / Buttholeville > State Trooper (B. Springsteen cover) > Buttholeville* / People Who Died (J. Carroll cover)*
*with members of The Dexateens
