Author: chip midnight

In My Ear – Week of September 26

Here’s some things I listened to last week. Feel free to tell me what you listened to by leaving your list in the comment section below.

No Age
Saw these guys open for Pavement a few weeks back, can think of a few different ways to describe them:

1) “Like Times New Viking but with tuned instruments”
2) “Nirvana covering My Bloody Valentine”

Stream the new CD here.

Bad City
Love it when kids play homage to ’80s glam rock – sounds a bit like Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) fronting a heavy Winger. These guys have already toured with KISS, Slash, and The Smashing Pumpkins this year. I’m kind of hoping they don’t blow up and wind up playing in the hard rock/cover bar in the strip mall a few miles from my house sometime before the year is over.

Forgetters
My compatriot over at The Big Takeover, Matthew Berlyant, reviewed the Forgetters EP this week and thus turned me onto a band I didn’t even realize existed. How I missed this band, I’ll never know as it features Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker/Jets to Brazil fame.

LA Guns
A last minute LA Guns show was booked this week at the same club that I’m hoping Bad City will play 🙂 This version of LA Guns features founding member Tracii Guns (guitars) and Jizzy Pearl (ex-Love/Hate, Ratt). I pulled out the self-titled LA Guns debut to get in the mindset for the upcoming show (photos/review to come later this week).

Everest
Still one of my favorites of 2010. These guys are currently on tour with Guster so check ’em out if they’re coming to your town.

In My Ear – Week of September 19

Here’s some things I listened to last week. Feel free to tell me what you listened to by leaving your list in the comment section below.

The Gracious Few
Candlebox singer backed by members of Live in a Zeppelin-sounding band. Much better than I would have thought based on description alone.

The Posies – Blood/Candy
As with other bands, my favorites Posies CD is the first one I heard by the Seattle power-pop band, Frosting on the Beater. But, after years of making The Posies their second and third priority, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow have reunited and put out an album that holds it’s own against Frosting on the Beater. Can’t wait to see these guys on tour (w/ Brendan Benson and Aqueduct) in November.

Kelly Kneiser
This is the first solo recording from Glossary member Kelly Kneiser. She doesn’t fancy herself a songwriter so all the songs on this EP were written and donated by friends but Kelly delivers the charming vocals providing further evidence why she’s the secret weapon in the band led by her ex-husband Joey. The EP is available for free over on Glossary’s website.

The Organ Beats
Another freebie – not sure how long this will last so grab now if you’re interested – The Organ Beats are led by ex-Damone frontwoman Noelle LeBlanc. While Damone also flirted with an ’80s hair metal sound, The Organ Beats are a bit more straight-up rock with just a small dash of pop … probably a more marketable sound than Damone. (Click on “Buy” below and name your own price for the CD)

<a href="http://theorganbeats.bandcamp.com/album/sleep-when-we-are-dead">SLEEP WHEN WE ARE DEAD by The Organ Beats</a>

Massy Ferguson
Remember the early Son Volt material, the stuff when Jay Farrar had just split from Uncle Tupelo and was trying to make a name for himself as a solo artist? Massy Ferguson remembers that and their second full length, Hard Water (out on Oct.19), is a hearty tribute to the alt.country sounds of bands like Son Volt and Drive-By Truckers. Sample tracks on Massy Ferguson’s website (the player is on the top of the page – I highly recommend starting with “Long Time No See”).

Who else wants the Promise Ring to reunite and tour?

If the Dismemberment Plan can do it, The Promise Ring can too. Davey and Dan have a new Maritime CD coming out this fall and they’ll spend the rest of the year promoting that but by next summer, the time should be right.

(A Promise Ring reunion tour doesn’t sound too encouraging based on some comments singer Davey von Bohlen made a few months ago, but who know?)

Introducing … Blood Red Shoes

I hereby am making it my mission to turn the U.S. onto the dark and paranoid sounds of Brighton, England’s Blood Red Shoes. Truthfully, I’m surprised that the tastemaking sites that I follow on a regular basis haven’t already latched onto this duo (Laura-Mary Carter on guitars/vocals and Steven Ansell on drums/vocals) and their Nirvana-by-way-of-the-Pixies blistering rock sound. (For the record, I’ve been listening to this band since 2008’s Box of Secrets.)

While it can be said of hundreds of bands, there is little doubt that Blood Red Shoes might not be where they are had it not been for Nirvana’s Nevermind and In Utero albums. Therefore, it stands to reason that the bash-and-rock songs on Blood Red Shoes sophomore release, Fire Like This, are reminiscent of another Nirvana-worshiping duo, Local H. Both bands eschew the use of bassist yet neither suffers from the lack of the four string.

Despite all the previously mentioned bands, the band I’m most reminded of when listening to Blood Red Shoes is another overlooked UK favorite of mine, The Subways, who had the male/female vocalist thing going but who tended to favor the male vocals. In Blood Red Shoes, Carter and Ansell alternate and often swap verses within the same song.

Fire Like This will be available in the U.S. on October 5 and Blood Red Shoes will be touring on this side of the pond (for the first time?) shortly thereafter.

Tour Dates
Oct 12 – Media Club / Vancouver
Oct 13 – Sunset Tavern / Seattle
Oct 15 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Oct 16 – Muddy Waters / Santa Barbara
Oct 18 – Bootleg Theatre / Los Angeles
Oct 19 – Casbah / San Diego
Oct 20-21 – CMJ / New York City
Oct 22 – Red Palace / Washington, DC
Oct 24 – Great Scott / Allston, MA
Oct 26 – Casa Del Popolo / Montreal
Oct 27 – Horseshoe Tavern / Toronto
Oct 28 – Grog Shop / Cleveland
Oct 29 – Subterranean / Chicago