Concert Review: LFO, Rookie of the Year, Go Crash Audio, Kiernan McMullan @ The Masquerade, July 9, 2009

Comeback tour. Nothing is more terrifying and thrilling, more potentially awesome or potentially problematic, than learning that a band you loved ten years ago is getting back together for another round.

Oh, LFO. In 1999, I heard the song "Summer Girls" (you know: "I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch/I'd take her if I had one wish/She's been gone since that summer, since that summer") and assumed that they were a boy-band spoof. The cheery bubbliness and standard-saccharine-summer sound paired with the non-sequitur and sometimes weirdly personal lyrics? It could not be real; it was too perfect to exist. And, at the same time that I was falling in love with Christopher Guest films, I fell in love with LFO. I mean, really: how can you NOT love a boy-band that sings "Sometimes we swim around like two dolphins in the ocean of our hearts!" It was glorious boy-band parody and paired delightfully with my rapidly-growing appreciation for clever music in general.

I found out, many years later: LFO is not parody.

Oops. Too late: I was hooked, and if I couldn't laugh with them, I'd keep laughing by myself. Knowing that they weren't in on my joke did not make the music any less enjoyable, and it IS enjoyable music--the hooks are catchy as all hell, the voices aren't bad, and as I said, the lyrics just kill me.

When I found out that LFO was going to launch their comeback tour in Atlanta--their first public performance as LFO in eight years!--I bought a ticket instantly. But as the day of the concert came, I found out a few unsettling things: One, the ticket price had been dropped from $25 to $5, which could not possibly bode well for how many tickets had already been sold. Two, the venue was Heaven at the Masquerade, a fantastic, fascinating venue but one whose bread-and-butter is metal and hardcore shows, not peak-in-the-nineties radio pop. Three, I'd checked out the MySpace pages of a couple of the opening bands, and had recoiled at what I'd heard. And four, they'd performed that morning on a morning-news-in-Atlanta show, and they sounded awful, bad-karaoke awful. Trepidatiously, I parked at the Masq, found beer, and showed myself in.

I showed up just as the very first act, Kiernan McMullan, was finishing. He's a shaggy blonde kid that looks like every crush you ever had in high school, and I regret missing his set: although his Jack-Johnson style doesn't stylistically hold my interest, he had genuine guitar chops and a decent voice, and from what I heard (his last two songs), he was worlds better than the other two opening bands. Several girls in the audience (about 20 people total at this point) knew his lyrics were singing along to his songs, a good sign for him. He'd later rejoin the stage to play guitar and sing back-up for LFO.

The next two bands, Go Crash Audio and Rookie of the Year, were completely interchangeable and both pretty awful. I hung to the back of the room for Go Crash Audio's set, wherein the vocalist's increasingly whiny cries for the handful of people in the cavernous room to "Get excited!" and "C'mon dance!" were slightly less off-putting. I moved up into the audience for Rookie of the Year, to be in-place for LFO, and observed that the lead singer for Rookie of the Year wears his mullet sideways. This is a completely fair description: Business on the right, party on the left. Rookie of the Year, despite playing very basic, standard-issue emo-pop, had six members, four of whom played guitar simultaneously. Here's a riddle: Why would any band need four guitarists and a bassist to play that style of music? The riddle's natural answer: each of them only knows one chord.

(To whichever members of Go Crash Audio and Rookie of the Year are in charge of obsessive self-Googling: Sorry dears. I recognize that I am not your target audience.)

LFO's backing band (a full ensemble of guitars, bass, drums, keys, and synth) took the stage, and then LFO--the three singers, the three guys that comprise the entity of LFO--leapt onto stage, to the cheers of dozens of girls! (I looked behind me. "Dozens" is correct, between 60 and 100 people. The room can hold 1500.)

If they were put off by the small crowd, they did an excellent job of not showing it, launching into a very high-energy set. They sounded much better than they had on the morning show--they sounded like LFO!

And they looked fine, actually. (You always worry, on the comeback tour, whether a band will try to pull off their old look, or if they'll succeed.) The only one I know by name is Rich Cronin; he's beaten a rare, particularly nasty form of leukemia in the last few years, and his bouncing back into stage performance is a genuinely admirable achievement. His performance was less explosively athletic than his bandmates', and he performed in sunglasses to mask a less-than-summery pallor, but he got his job done. The other two dudes, muscular and tattooed and high-energy, spent the set leaping onto amps, playing air-guitar, and dropping to their knees to sing into the eyes of the most Abercrombie girls in the front row.

And they sounded fine, actually. Their voices aren't as youthful as they once were, but it'd have been unfair to ask that of them. Everybody was on-pitch and on-rhythm, and the backing band was very well-rehearsed and spot-on. Sort-of-hilariously, they did not remember a lot of their lyrics. There was one guy--the cute married one, as opposed to the douchey-looking one or Rich--that picked up the slack whenever the other two clearly forgot the words and stopped singing, and it happened more than a few times, including during "Summer Girls."

Highlights:
--They sang three different songs that mention the success of "Summer Girls." For those of you playing along at home, "Summer of My Life," "Story of My Life" (yes, two different songs), and "Hey Radio," the third of which I absolutely adore. At least two of their songs also referenced Rich's ex-girlfriend Jennifer Love Hewitt.
--They played every LFO song that's ever had a moment's radio play, closing with "Every Other Time" and "Summer Girls," as well as a few of my non-radio goofy favorites like "Alayna" and "Six Minutes." (If ever I am in a band, I will insist that we cover "Alayna." It is the song that perfectly encapsulates the Christopher Guest-ness ridiculous-typical-boy-band quality of the band.)
--They played "Dandelion" into "No Woman No Cry," which bizarrely worked. (Fun fact: "Dandelion" has been karaoke-covered by the illustrious musical mind of Nicole Richie. Oh, to move in the circles of the pointlessly famous.)
--One of Rich's side projects is an aptly-self-described "frat rap" duo called Loose Cannons. They did a Loose Cannons song called "Watch You Dance." Hilarious.
--About three songs into the set, I realized that the douchey-looking guy's jeans zipper was down. That's an inauspicious start to a comeback tour if ever there was one. I managed to catch his eye and make the universal gesture for "XYZ," the mime of holding a button in place with one hand while yanking up a zipper with the other. He got it, and made a show of zipping his fly on-stage. Well played-off.

The final word: I had a fantastically fun time. I was worried that it would be depressing or demoralizing, or just straight-up terrible, but LFO rose to the occasion despite the dismal turnout. They were just as enjoyable as I remembered from high school, and for exactly the same reasons: blithe cheesy cheeriness paired with whacked-out lyrics and genuinely fun hooks. I have a hard time seeing them ever doing another tour after this, but given the opportunity, I'd certainly see it again.

Oof

Oh man. I was going to have a concert blog? I was going to do that, wasn't I.

Well. Maybe I should look into that.

M is For March is For Music

I did my regular review of upcoming Atlanta shows, and have discovered that March 2009 is going to be a very, very busy month. Obviously not all bands that will be touring in March have booked their tours yet, nor have most of the smaller venues filled their calendars yet, and given that, the number of great shows I anticipate is terrifying.

March 04: Flogging Molly @ The Tabernacle
March 06: Tokyo Police Club @ The Earl
March 21: Ani DiFranco @ Variety Playhouse
March 24: Decemberists' new album (yes, this is a music event)
March 26: Matt & Kim @ The Masquerade

And of course, the venues aren't even close to booked. The Drunken Unicorn, which has a show nearly every night, only has half a dozen dates booked for March so far; the Variety and the Earl have even fewer. Several bands I love are overdue for a tour in general and an Atlanta visit in particular.

Hey, bands? Atlanta is truly lovely in the spring. Come visit. (Although maybe not all the same weekend.)

Concert Review: MC Frontalot with MC Lars and YTCracker

A couple weeks ago, I went to see MC Frontalot, with MC Lars and YTCracker, with my friend JD. This should have been an incredibly fun show, and parts of it were, but poor planning on everybody's part made the overall night kind of a bummer.

Poor planning on the booking agents' front:
MC Frontalot has a documentary called Nerdcore Rising that they're showing in cities on the same nights as the tour; the idea is that you're supposed to be able to attend the movie and then go to the show. However, they put the Atlanta movie in Midtown and the concert in Marietta, more than thirty minutes' drive away. JD and I watched the film, then dashed to the car and sped up to Marietta, arriving just minutes before MC Lars and YTCracker started. We missed the first three bands entirely. And the movie theater? Had maybe fifteen people there, all of whom did exactly what we did.

Poor planning on the performers' front:
MC Lars and YTCracker performed as openers for MC Frontalot. However, their set went on for well over an hour, nearly an hour and a half. They demanded a lot from the audience physically--nearly every song had some variation on put-your-arms-in-the-air or everybody-jump or call-and-response, and by the time their set was finished, the audience was visibly exhausted--and didn't really have the energy to respond to headliner MC Frontalot.

Poor planning on the venue's front:
Nobody told the performers that there was a midnight curfew. MC Frontalot, the obvious main draw, didn't take the stage until nearly 11:30. He did literally three songs and was just warming up when the venue managers told him he had fifteen minutes left. True to their word, four songs later they chased him off the stage. Laaaame. I can't recommend the venue, Swayze's: not serving any beverages, let alone alcohol, is kind of whack, but it's an all-ages rock venue in the suburbs, so I can forgive it that--it's trying to do something that most people aren't willing to try to do. However, not warning the performers of a midnight curfew and allowing the headliner to take the stage with only a half hour to perform? Is entirely inexcusable. That was a major fuck-up.

All this said, I really enjoyed MC Frontalot himself. In the movie Nerdcore Rising, there was a section about the appropriation of black culture by white people, and it would be impossible--nay, silly--to deny that this is what's going on in certain facets of nerdcore music. However, I think it's certainly possible for a white dude to rap without being a parody of rap, and that's what MC Frontalot does--in his own styled fashion, with his own vernacular, with his own choice of instruments and samples. When I watch MC Frontalot, I don't feel like I'm watching Weird Al Yankovic send up Jay-Z. Furthermore, MC Frontalot's music is, on the whole, pretty cheerful; he raps about the delights of being a gamer and a geek, and he leaves the bitter-nerd out of it. MC Frontalot has a great stage presence (although I wish he'd lose the headband-light) and a great voice, and to his credit, he was utterly gracious about the curfew screw-up.

YTCracker, on the other hand, came across as a hateful asshole. I was wholly unimpressed with his sweatpants-and-obviously-no-underwear ensemble (eww) and his stage-swagger and vocal cadence, which did feel like a parody of mainstream rap, and an unkind one at that. He and MC Lars performed several fun songs, but their set was overshadowed for me by their bitter us-versus-them songs about other subcultures. "Signing Emo," "Hipster Girl," and "Generic Crunk Rap" each left me rolling my eyes; making fun of pop subcultures is rarely funny to me, both because it's overdone and it feels like shooting fish in a barrel, and their not-particularly-original send-ups felt jeering and bitter rather than teasing from one dumb-in-the-eyes-of-others subculture to another.

(Technically, these are all MC Lars's songs, although the two were splitting frontman duties for the evening. However, MC Lars reminded me too much of Jason Segel to allow other opinions to form; I spent the set pretending it was Marshall from "How I Met Your Mother" on-stage rapping like a dork, and it delighted me.)

So. I'd go see MC Frontalot again, but only if YTCracker isn't on the ticket as well. I've heard that his shows at more conventional, non-all-ages venues have gone better; I didn't make it to his sold-out show at the Drunken Unicorn last time he was in Atlanta, but next time he comes through I'll definitely see about going again. I'd love to see him in a better venue and under better conditions; he's a performer that deserves it.

Album Review: Bass Communion III

My copy of the reissue of Bass Communion III finally came in the mail yesterday, which makes me very happy since a) I'm a Steven Wilson fanboy and b) This was one of the very few records of his that I had yet to obtain a copy of (it has been out of print for some time and very difficult to find).

Bass Communion III was really just a selection of leftovers created between 1995-1999 that didn't get included on the first two albums. This means that it doesn't really have the single tone that most every other Bass Communion albums have. It's also kind of a transition album between the style of the early albums (warmer and more melodic), and the more moody drone pieces that would come following this.

In fact, the leadoff track, "Amphead", is a definite nod in the direction that SW would take starting with Ghosts On Magnetic Tape (which is probably my favorite ambient album of all time). I'd heard a lot about "Amphead", and it definitely lives up to the hype. The whole 13:17 piece is done entirely by processing the static from an open guitar pickup. It's just amazing how much can be done with a single source, and the way this piece builds and layers, growing darker and darker in tone before resolving and lightening back up again is outstanding. Probably one of the best Bass Communion pieces I've ever heard, and highly recommended for the drone lovers out there.

The rest of the album is far easier to get into if you're not an ambient/drone fan. Slut 2.1, another highlight, actually has beats! Starting with a deep repeating bass beat and fuzzy bass line with a great Theo Travis flute line looped over it, the track slowly builds with some reverbed guitar, spoken word samples, and weird keyboard effects, as the basic track loops. Killer stuff, especially the ending.

This comes with the new reissue of BC II/III (in the same package) on Beta-lactam Ring Records. Pretty cheap, too, for a Bass Communion release anyway.

New Album Review: Marillion - Happiness Is The Road

The late, great Frank Zappa once noted, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." I completely agree with him. But I also figure that reviewing stuff is fun, and it might inspire other people to check out some pretty cool stuff, so thus this blog.

I'm going to start out with a review of Marillion's new double LP Happiness Is The Road, released just a few weeks ago. As this is Marillion's 15th studio album, it's pretty hard to not let albums 1-14 color my views here. Marbles (2005) was nothing short of brilliant (I'd rank it in my top 3 or 4 Marillion albums), but they followed that up with last year's Somewhere Else, which is hands down my least favorite Marillion album.

And now here comes a new one so soon afterwards--and a double album at that. Needless to say I approached this new entry cautiously, though still caved in and bought the expensive Deluxe Pre-order version of the album anyway (the packaging is stunning--kudos to Carl Glover for another fine job). And the result...

Absolutely blown away. A real return to form for the boys, and surely an entry in my end of the year Top 10 of 2008. Not so much a double album as two distinct single albums, with two different vibes.

The first disc (titled Essence) is one great big piece of music, and very strong. They haven't tried this sorta thing since Brave, and I was really happy to see them give it another go. I'm particulary impressed with just how well everything holds together--it isn't 10 songs with some transition effects between them. Everything from the lyrics to the choice of tones used on the instruments really feel cohesive. The overall tone is very low key, down tempo, and textural, but at the same time being very melodic. The first couple of listens I really felt like I was just kinda floating along through the album as I focused in on just enjoying the mood. Highlights for me were "Liquidity," "Wake Up"(I love the abrupt shift in tone towards the beginning), and "Trap The Spark," but it really does feel like one song and should probably be treated as such.

The second disc (titled The Hard Shoulder) is a collection of the material that didn't really fit on the first disc. I'd say that this one isn't quite as strong as the first disc, but is nonetheless a great listen. Overall we're looking at a more upbeat affair than Essence was, but while still being Marillion. Particular highlights here are "Asylum Satellite #1" (love the build up to the end where H sings "We can see the madness perfectly from here"), "Whatever Is Wrong With You" (Marillion usually sucks at trying to do catchy rockers, but I love this one), and "Real Tears For Sale."

This is exactly the sort of album I love. It starts out being pretty good, and then slowly sneaks up on you the more you listen to it as you start noticing all of the little details in the production and the melodies start to stick with you. Love the way it sounds too. Everything has its own distinct spot in the mix, and Pete's bass tone sounds particularly nice.

My big complaint with this album is Steve Rothery. Where is he? Where are the solos? His role on this one is very subdued, and I've gotta admit that I'm a little disappointed by that. I know that H is constantly trying to shed the neo-prog label that the band built up back in the Fish days, but a few guitar solos wouldn't have hurt.

Overall, a true return to form. Perhaps not as good as Marbles or Brave, but definitely a product of the same band that made those masterpieces. I'm seriously looking forward to Marillion Weekend if Montreal this February now!

What Made Milwaukee Famous: The Sugarhill Sessions EP

The phrase "pop sensibilities" gets overused, but it applies fully: The new EP The Sugarhill Sessions by What Made Milwaukee Famous (from Austin, not Milwaukee, for those playing along at home) is equal parts smart and adorable. Featuring re-recorded, acoustic versions of five songs from their first two albums, this EP is a perfect introduction to WMMF, especially since the EP is available as a free download from Barsuk Records until November 17th.

My two favorite tracks on the EP are "Sweet Lady," originally on the 2006 album Trying to Never Catch Up, and "Self-Destruct," from this March's What Doesn't Kill Us. The EP starts with "Sweet Lady," a jangly, silly-sweet song with playful piano and acoustic guitar parts, conjuring the image of a wacky-plan win-her-back montage from a sitcom. If Don McLean had recorded "Everybody Loves Me Baby" in 2008, it might have sounded a lot like "Sweet Lady." Fair warning: you will be dancing in your chair and singing backing vocals to this song. "Self-Destruct" is reminiscent of the way sad ballads are fielded by the Barenaked Ladies, and I mean that with praise; it reminds me of being thirteen years old and wistfully listening to "Call and Answer," and it's at least as strong a song. There's nothing lovelier than a pop ballad that eschews cliched lyrics, and the strength of the music and vocals steps up to match.

Although the EP certainly has its stronger and weaker songs (sorry, but "Cheap Wine" gets on my nerves), it's overall a great listening experience, and if you've heard of What Made Milwaukee Famous but haven't checked them out yet, you can't do better than this charming five-song EP. Download from Barsuk.