DC Show Update

Gonna make this quick since it's late. I'll round out tomorrow.

9:30 Club
Sat., 7/12 (early): Alejandro Escovedo
Sat., 7/12 (late): Brazilian Girls
Wed., 7/16: DJ Shadow
Fri., 7/25: Spiritualized

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows go on sale tomorrow (Thu. 5/29) at 10am via Tickets.com.

Black Cat
Sun., 7/13: 127 (Tehran) (backstage)
Sat., 7/19: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Bellman Barker
Wed., 8/6: Neil Hamburger, Daiquiri (backstage)
Fri., 8/15: El Vez
Sat., 8/23: Oneida, Dirty Faces (backstage)

Tickets for Black Cat shows go on sale Friday (5/30) at 5pm via Ticketmaster.

3 Reasons I May Skip Dead Confederate

I'm not happy about the prospect of missing Dead Confederate at DC9 tonight. They're one of my favorite young bands going, and have impressed the hell out of me both times I've seen them.

However, there are three compelling reasons which may end up convincing me to skip the show.

Reason #1: Game 3 starts at 8pm.

Edited to add: Crap. 3-2, Penguins. Sloppy, half-hearted play until they were already down 3-1.

Reason #2: Game 5 starts at 8:30pm.

Edited to add: Crap. 106-102, Celtics. Similar story - awful performance until great (near) comeback at end.

Reason #3: Tonight's show, with 3 bands, starts at 10pm, meaning that the only band I care to see, Dead Confederate, won't be on until at least midnight. I stay up pretty late, and in New York, this would be completely fine. But considering that the DC subway system stops running at midnight, this kinda limits your options. You can drive (have fun parking), or you can take a cab (have an even better time trying to catch a cab at 1am on U Street). Have I mentioned that I don't like DC?

Edited to add: Yep, skipped it.

So, yeah, I'm probably out for this show.

Online Gambling Prop of the Day

I love gambling. Not for the actual gambling side of it -- I don't tend to gamble unless I'm in Vegas, and even then I tend to stick to the blackjack table where I can bet slowly and keep getting free drinks.

No, I love gambling for the proposition bets. The pure, unadulterated nonsense of the proposition bets.

The one thing I make sure I do every time I'm in Vegas is to go to the Imperial Palace. Their sportsbook is ancient, with handwritten boards instead of fancy new electronic ones like everywhere else on the strip, and the atmosphere is pure 1972. And the smell... oh, the smell.

But the IP is also the absolute center of the universe (in Vegas, at least) for prop bets. Wanna bet that Kobe Bryant will score more points in tomorrow's game than Barack Obama's percentage in next week's Puerto Rico primary? Wanna bet the over/under on how many American athletes will get busted for steroids at the Beijing Olympics? Odds are you can do it at the IP. And when you're bored, you can go see The Blues Brothers or search around for Nazi paraphernalia.

For those who can't make it to Vegas, but have a hankering for making nonsense prop bets, thankfully you can also find some interesting props on the internet. I was just perusing an online sportsbook to see the numbers for tonight's NBA and NHL games (Go Wings! Go Pistons!) and came upon these props. Awesome.



I may have to take some of this action. There's no way he stays out of a casino.

Seriously, Rivers?

OK, so I'm two songs into the Red Album, and holy crap... it's terrible.

What's the deal with all the advance rumors of it being a return to the band's earlier sound? Granted, the reviews haven't been stellar, but I've heard a bunch of comparisons to the Green Album, which would have been just fine with me.

But man, this is awful. I'm now on song 4. Ech.

And what the hell are these lyrics?

Dammit, Rivers. Dammit.

Edited to add: OK, song #6 ("Dreamin") is decent. Not great, but decent. Add that to the decency of song #3 (the single, "Pork and Beans"), and there's two decent songs. Awesome.

Edited again: One more. Song #7 ("Thought I Knew") is good. But it's Brian Bell singing, not Rivers. Who knew that control-freak Rivers would let someone else sing?

Grand Archives on Late Late Show

Did I ever post this? Can't remember.



I am unbelievably torn between these guys and Shearwater on June 15th. The Grand Archives is far and away one of my favorite albums so far this year, and this may be my favorite song of the year.

New Birdmonster Songs!

Head over to Birdmonster's MySpace page to hear two brand new tracks from their forthcoming album, From The Mountain To The Sea.

If you've seen the band at all this year, you've probably heard the first song, "I Might Have Guessed" (i.e., the mandolin song). I don't think I've seen them play the second song, "The Iditarod", before, but it's excellent as well.

Can't wait to see these guys on the East Coast at some point.

This Week In DC

Meant to post this yesterday, but the long weekend is playing tricks on me.

Monday
Iota: Ida, Michael Hurley

Tuesday
9:30 Club: Raconteurs, The Black Lips
Black Cat: The Bellrays, Architects, The Future Fags

Wednesday
9:30 Club: Raconteurs, The Black Lips
Black Cat (mainstage): Clinic, BBQ
Black Cat (backstage): Joe Lally, Glorytellers
DC9: Dead Confederate, All The Saints, Once Okay Twice

Thursday
9:30 Club: Filter (why?!)
State Theatre: Bill Kreutzmann, Oteil Burbridge and Scott Murawski

Friday
9:30 Club: She Wants Revenge, Be Your Own Pet, The Virgins, Switches
Iota: J Roddy Walston and the Business, Thing-One

Saturday
9:30 Club: MSTRKRFT, Will Eastman, Noveau Riche
Black Cat: Exit Clov, Bryan Cary & The Shredding Tears, Zulu Pearls

WOXY's Modern Rock 500

Completely forgot to mention this yesterday...

Given that it's Memorial Day weekend, that means it's time again for WOXY.com's annual Modern Rock 500 countdown!

The Modern Rock 500 is a countdown of the 500 best modern rock songs of all time, running more than 30 hours over three days. It runs today from 10am to Midnight Eastern, tomorrow from 10am to Midnight Eastern, and on Monday from 10am until whenever they hit the #1 song. If you miss it this weekend, they'll be replaying the whole thing in a few weeks.

WOXY has been doing this for 19 years, and I fondly remember sitting in front of a radio in high school (or sitting in my car) listening to the early-90's editions of the countdown. Ah, good times.

Anyway, head over to the WOXY Vintage channel to start listening!

How Have I Never Heard of Mrs. Miller?

DC Show Update

I'll update this list throughout the week, with new additions in italics. My "picks" are in bold.

9:30 Club
Sat., 6/14: Battles (is this new? on sale now)
Fri., 6/20: Hil St. Soul, Ayo
Sat., 6/21: Pat Mahoney, Will Eastman, The Dance Party
Sat., 6/28: emmet swimming w/ ebo (reunion show), Hypersonic Secret
Sat., 7/5: Kidz Bop
Tue., 7/8: RZA as Bobby Digital
Fri., 7/11: Steel Pulse
Tue., 7/29: The Old 97's
Mon., 10/6: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (second show added - on sale now)
Wed., 10/8: Hot Chip

Most 9:30 Club tickets go on sale on Thursday, 5/22 at 10am East via Tickets.com. However, Hot Chip tickets go on sale on Friday, 5/23 at 10am Eastern.

There's a pre-sale for the Old 97's show going on right now here. No idea when regular tickets go on sale.

Black Cat
Wed., 6/18: F Yeah Tour - Dan Deacon, Matt & Kim, The Death Set, Monotonix, Team Robespierre, Mannequin Men, Reggie Watts, Jonah Ray
Sat., 6/21: Grupo Fantasma, Bio Ritmo
Fri., 6/27: Burning Brides, Year Long Disaster
Sun., 6/29: Ultra Dolphins, Now Sleepyhead, Kathy Cashel, Eric Gamlem (backstage)
Mon., 6/30: Oxford Collapse, Frightened Rabbit, Takka Takka (previously announced and on sale, but Takka Takka just added)
Wed., 7/2: 16 Volt, Bella Morte, Hollowboy (backstage)
Sun., 7/27: Valient Thorr, Early Man, Monotonix (only listed on VT MySpace page)

Black Cat tickets go on sale on Friday, 5/23 at 5pm Eastern via Ticketmaster.

Iota
Thu., 6/19: Annuals, Hymns

Iota tickets are sold at the door.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Thu., 7/10: Elf Power, Ham 1

Rock and Roll Hotel tickets go on sale on Friday, 5/23 at 10am Eastern via Ticket Alternative.

The Most Intelligent Thing I've Read Today

Short, to the point, and absolutely spot-on.

New Birdmonster LP Due August 5th

Awesome news...

San Francisco's Birdmonster have announced a title and release date for their second album. The album will be called From the Mountain to the Sea, and will see a release on August 5th. There aren't any advance tracks available yet, but I'll definitely post one as soon as there is.

The band is also going to be in New York next week for some official business (label? mastering?), and is going to be playing an invite-only gig at Mercury Lounge next Wednesday, 5/28. To get on the list, RSVP to birdmonstertickets@gmail.com ASAP.

If you're on the west coast, the bands has three other dates scheduled right now (although I'm sure many more are coming):

June 1: San Francisco (Bottom of the Hill w/ Superdrag)
June 2: San Francisco (Bottom of the Hill w/ Superdrag)
August 7: St. Helena, CA (Music in the Park)

The Vaselines Return

As you may have heard, Scotland's The Vaselines are reuniting after nearly twenty years, and will be playing a few U.S. shows in July.

I won't pretend to have been a fan of the band back in the day, although I absolutely loved Nirvana's version of "Son of a Gun", and I was a big fan of Eugene Kelly's later band, Eugenius. Nonetheless, for some reason took me until last year to finally pick up The Way of the Vaselines (which compiled the band's entire recorded output onto one album). I shouldn't have waited so long.

Unless the band adds more dates, it looks like they're only going to be in New York and Seattle (for the Sub Pop 20th anniversary show). It also looks like I might have to cancel a trip in order to see them in New York. Hmmm...

Vaselines U.S. Dates
Wed., 7/9: Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ)
Thu., 7/10: Southpaw (Brooklyn)
Sat., 7/12: Redmond, WA (Sub Pop party)

And here's some video of the band performing the aforementioned "Son of a Gun" in Scotland earlier this year.



Edited to add: Oh, and while we're at it, here's Nirvana's version of "Son of a Gun".

New Hold Steady, "Sequestered in Memphis"

If you haven't seen this elsewhere, the Hold Steady have a new song called "Sequestered in Memphis" up at their MySpace page.

I just finished listening to it for the first time... it's OK. Love the guitars, but I'm not sure whether I like Craig's continued effort to actually sing. It just sounds weird to me, and I'm not sure whether it's because (a) I'm not used to it, or (b) he's just not that good a singer.

And even more important than Craig's vocals is the fact that it just doesn't seem like that compelling a song. The chorus is pretty uninteresting, and the horns just sound forced to me.

I'll definitely listen to it a lot more. I may even end up loving the song, who knows. But my first impression is just so-so.

Edited to add: I was able to find a streaming version using SeeqPod. Not sure if the source blog is authorized to post it, so it might get pulled at some point. But for now it seems to be working:

Joey Tempest Cannot Be Happy

Oh, and if you're a Birdmonster fan in New York, you ought to go here ASAP.

Edited to add: I am shocked and dismayed to find out that Joey Tempest is not, in reality, Joey Tempest's real name. His real name is Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson (according to Wikipedia). So I suppose the title of this post should be "Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson Cannot Be Happy".

Changeling

This looks excellent. Can't wait to see it, even if I can't stand Angelina Jolie.

On To The Cup!

GO WINGS!

Listen to Two New Takka Takka Songs

Head over to Takka Takka's Facebook page to listen to two new songs from the band - "Silence" and "The Takers".

Both songs come from the band's forthcoming second LP, Migration, which is due out on July 29th via Ernest Jennings Records.

I've heard some of the early (and final?) masters of the album, and have been very impressed. Definitely much more deliberate and laid back than I was expecting after seeing the songs live a few times last year, but it's an album that really unfolds and reveals itself with each listen.

I'll definitely be talking about this album a lot more as July 29th nears.

Ra Ra Riot Signs With Barsuk

Just saw this... Ra Ra Riot has signed with Barsuk Records, and their debut LP, entitled The Rhumb Line, will be coming out on August 19th.

That's great news for a young band that I really, really like, and who've had a challenging couple of years.

Here's some video of the band's visit earlier this year to WOXY.com:


woxy.com presents Ra Ra Riot from Soft City Lights on Vimeo.

AOL Roundup (Week of May 19)

Haven't done this in a while... keep forgetting.

The Wedding Present, El Rey
Mudhoney, The Lucky Ones
Scarlett Johansson, Anywhere I Lay My Head
The Ting Tings, We Started Nothing
Mason Jennings, In the Ever

2L2Q

I'm not a particular fan of the Legion of Rock Stars, but this one is pretty decent, if only because the original song and video are so hilarious in their own right.

Live-blogging Bishop Allen

Some minor post-show changes in italics.

9:15pm: Deleted Scenes are now my least favorite band on Earth. Please get off stage. Please.

9:40pm: It's Sunday night and the Metro stops running in 2 hours. Why is the second band not playing yet?

9:42pm: If the second band's (The War on Drugs) music is as annoying as their stage setup banter microphone testing, I'm leaving. High pitched woops and woots are really unnecessary.

9:47pm: Only Bob Dylan should sing like Bob Dylan. And even sometimes I wish Bob would shut up. Sir, you are no Bob Dylan.

9:56pm: The War on Drugs aren't bad, but I can't take them seriously due to the singer's Dylan fetish.

10:04pm: OK, now they're bad.

10:25pm: Hey! The girl (whose name I don't know) is back in Bishop Allen! She wasn't here the last time they played DC.

10:48pm: I fucking love Bishop Allen.

12:11am: My pictures came out terrible, so I won't even bother to post them. Show was excellent, but too short (about a 40-minute set and a 10-minute encore). Also not sure the Black Cat main stage was the right venue for them. I'd guess they had about 200 people there at maximum. Not terrible for a young out-of-town band on a Sunday night, but they probably would have been better served backstage.

This Week In DC

As usual, shows listed are only those that seem interesting to me... Shows in bold are shows I plan to attend.

Sun., 5/18
Black Cat: Bishop Allen

Mon., 5/19:
Black Cat: Wye Oak
Jammin' Java: Marty Willson-Piper (of The Church)
Rock and Roll Hotel: Pela, Fever, Red Racer

Tue., 5/20
Black Cat: Helio Sequence, Pattern is Movement
Jammin' Java: Laura Veirs, Liam Finn

Wed., 5/21
9:30 Club: X, Detroit Cobras

Thu., 5/22
9:30 Club: Augustana, Wild Sweet Orange, David Ford
Black Cat: Islands, Magic, Street Carnage

More Politics

The Long Blondes @ Rock and Roll Hotel, DC [5/17/08]

I hadn't really been intending to go see the Long Blondes last night. I saw them - and this weirdness - last June and, while I thought they were fine, I wasn't terribly motivated to see them again. And then there's the fact that the reviews for their new album haven't been particularly good.

However, after missing Los Campesinos on Friday, it had been a week since my last show, and I figured I may as well head to the Rock and Roll Hotel. Plus, I'd been wanting to catch opener Drug Rug for a while now.

I'm glad I did. While the show wasn't anything spectacular, it was still pretty entertaining. I mean, how can you not enjoy watching Kate Jackson slink around stage in the flimsiest of outfits? The new songs didn't impress me much, though there were a couple decent ones ("Guilt", "I'm Going to Hell"). The old songs rocked, though, and more than made up for the band's recent attempts at disco.




I was even more impressed by Drug Rug. I've been seeing their name around the web for the better part of a year now, but missed opportunities to see them in New York, DC and Austin. As my friend Matt pointed out, they have a real strong classic rock vibe going, which worked pretty well on everything except their first song, which seemed like a really bad Foghat cover. Once they started playing songs with some harmony, though, they were really quite good. Well, for the 14 minutes or so they played, at least. (At least one band member was sick so they kept the set to Jay Reatard-length.)




Tonight is Bishop Allen at the Black Cat, which I'm really looking forward to. Tickets are still available, and I highly recommend that you venture out on a rainy Sunday night.

DC Show Update

Updated in italics throughout the week. My picks are in bold.

9:30 Club
Thu., 6/26: Butthole Surfers
Fri., 6/27: Pat Green
Sun., 7/13: Jay Brannan
Sun., 7/20: Yaz [on sale 6/5] (NO! please go away!)
Fri., 7/25: Spiritualized [on sale 5/29]
Sat., 8/16: The Faint [on sale 5/17]
Wed., 10/8: Hot Chip [on sale 5/23]

Except as noted above, tickets for 9:30 Club shows go on sale tomorrow (Thu., 5/15) at 10am Eastern via Tickets.com.

Black Cat
Mon., 6/2: Sore Thumbs, Ghost Light (backstage)
Wed., 6/4: The Jet Age, Alexander the Great, Petworth (backstage)
Thu., 6/12: Sleepercar, Statehood, Avec (backstage)
Tue., 6/24: The Cassettes, Aerialist, The Mantras (backstage)
Thu., 6/26: Dianogah, Perfect Souvenir (backstage)
Mon., 6/30: Oxford Collapse, Frightened Rabbit (backstage)
Fri., 7/26: Tilly and the Wall
Fri., 8/1: Bon Iver, Bowerbirds
Sat., 8/2: We Are Scientists

Tickets for all listed Black Cat shows go on sale on Friday (5/16) at 5pm Eastern via Ticketmaster.

I haven't spoken about Frightened Rabbit much yet. If you want to hear why they're a pick, check out their fantastic WOXY Lounge Act from SXSW.

Iota
Thu., 7/3: Eef Barzelay, Ferraby Lionhart

Tickets for Iota shows are sold at the door. I've mentioned this show before, but I'm repeating it now because LA's Ferraby Lionhart has been announced as the opener.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Tue., 7/8: No Age, High Places, Abe Vigoda
Fri., 7/11: Half Japanese, Aliens, Julie Ocean
Tue., 7/15: Nomo

Tickets for listed Rock and Roll Hotel shows go on sale on Friday (5/16) at 10am Eastern at the brand spanking new - but significantly less user-friendly - Ticket Alternative site.

State Theatre
Thu., 6/5: Blackalicious
Fri., 8/29: The Motels

Tickets for listed State Theatre shows are on sale now at the State Theatre website.

Politics Is Hilarious

Random Discovery of the Day

I was checking the Rock and Roll Hotel's upcoming calendar to see if anything new had been added, and I noticed Chris Mills listed as opening for The Waco Brothers. I recognized his name from somewhere (though I'm not sure where), and have been considering picking up a ticket to this show, so I figured I'd check him out.

And he's pretty damn good. On first listen, the five songs on his MySpace page remind me a lot of Okkervil River's (less emotive) early Americana phase, which is an excellent thing in my book.

Chris Mills, "Atom Smashers"

The songs are all from his new album, Living In The Aftermath, which came out last month on Ernest Jennings/Powerless Pop, and which I'm gonna go download from eMusic right now. I recommend you do the same.

MMJ DC Tix On Sale... Next Month

Finally found info about the on-sale date for My Morning Jacket's scheduled September 3rd show at D.A.R. Constitution Hall -- according to the band's website, it's Saturday, June 14th at 10am.

That seems a bit weird, considering that tickets for the show in Charlottesville (which is the night before Constitution Hall) go on sale tomorrow.

So if you plan on going, I'd suggest keeping your eye on this page over the coming days and weeks to be safe.

Fort Reno Park Closed Immediately and Indefinitely

Via the Washington Post's Going Out Gurus blog:

Fort Reno Park, the site of an annual summer concert series that is one of D.C.'s most beloved and longest-running outdoor events, is closed immediately and indefinitely after United States Geological Survey satellite imaging reports found high levels of arsenic in the soil.
***
The closing of the park raises questions about the fate of the Fort Reno Summer Concert Series, which was set to begin a twice-weekly series of free shows in mid-June. No list of artists of dates has been announced for 2008, but many of the city's most famous punk and indie rock bands have performed on Fort Reno's stage over the last 39 years, including Fugazi, the Dismemberment Plan, Ted Leo, Q and Not U and Velocity Girl.

This sucks. This was one of the few things I was actually pretty psyched about being in DC for this summer. Hopefully they can find an alternative location.

Video of the Week

Barney Is... Wait For It... Coming Back

Yeah, it's a little overplayed, but I figured it was worth using due to the good news-

CBS has renewed How I Met Your Mother for a fourth season.

Excellent. Maybe now they can relax a bit and start writing better episodes than last night's.

Now THIS is a Rock Show

Via Brooklyn Vegan:

2 shows (9/25 and 9/26)
Terminal 5
NYC
Built To Spill performing Perfect From Now On
Dinosaur Jr.
The Meat Puppets

Tickets go on sale Friday Thursday at noon here, and it looks like they're selling two-night packages as well. I might just have to buy a ticket... odds are good I'll be back living in New York by then, and even if I'm not, I'll take the friggin' Bolt Bus.

Free New Dirty on Purpose EP

Great news from Dirty on Purpose - the band has a brand new 4-song EP called Dead Volcanoes out on RCRDLBL. And even better, it's free. Go here to download the tracks now.

The band also has a few live dates coming up, but sadly nothing in DC.

Dirty on Purpose Tour Dates
Fri., 6/6: NYC, Sound Fix Presents... Rooftop Films (Opening Party) [Info]
Sat. 6/7: Rochester, NY (The Bug Jar)
Wed., 6/11: NYC (Bowery Ballroom - opening for Swervedriver)

Mission of Burma DC Show On Sale Now

Not sure why most Black Cat shows go on sale on Fridays at 5pm, but others go on sale without rhyme or reason.

Either way, just a quick heads up that tickets for the June 28th Mission of Burma show at the Black Cat are on sale now.

I seem to remember seeing on the 9:30 Club forum that the band would be performing Vs. in its entirety, but there's no mention of that on Ticketmaster or on the band's tour page. Regardless, I'm there.

New Mudhoney!

One of my favorite bands of all time, Seattle's Mudhoney, is releasing its eighth album, entitled The Lucky Ones, on Sub Pop Records next Tuesday (5/20). The band is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and I'm glad to say they're still kicking all kinds of ass.

You can here the entire album streaming at the band's MySpace page. And here's the lead track from the album:

Mudhoney, "I'm Now"

You can pre-order The Lucky Ones from Sub Pop for a mere $12. And be sure to catch the band on tour starting next Tuesday.

Mudhoney Tour Dates
5/20: Easy Street Records (Queen Anne). Seattle, WA (free show)
5/30: Bottom Lounge. Chicago, IL
5/31: Headliner's Music Hall. Lousiville, KY
6/1: Southgate House. Newport, KY
6/2: Crofoot Ballroom. Pontiac, MI
6/3: Cafe Bourbon Street. Columbus, OH
6/4: Mohawk Place. Buffalo, NY
6/5: Pearl Street Night Club. Northampton, MA
6/6: Middle East (Downstairs). Cambridge, MA
6/7: Highline Ballroom. New York, NY
6/8: Note. West Chester, PA
6/9: Rock and Roll Hotel. Washington, D.C.
6/10: Cat's Cradle. Carrboro, NC
6/11: The Earl. Atlanta, GA
6/12: Common Grounds. Gainsville, FL
6/13: Churchill's. Miami, FL
6/14: Back Booth. Orlando, FL
6/15: Sluggo's. Pensacola, FL
6/16: One Eyed Jack's. New Orleans, LA
7/12: Sub Pop 20 Festival. Marymoor Park. Redmond, WA
Also on Bill: Green River, Beachwood Sparks, Comets on Fire
7/23: Urban Outfitters. Seattle, WA
7/31: Forum. London, England
8/2: Storas Festival. Trondheim, Norway
October: Brazil and Argentina

Hot Chip Hitting 9:30 Club

I'm not a fan, but I know there's lots of folks out there who are...

Hot Chip is playing the 9:30 Club here in DC on Wednesday, October (yep, October) 8th. Tickets go on sale next Friday (5/23) - as opposed to the usual Thursday onsales for the 9:30 Club - via Tickets.com.

I haven't yet seen a full list of US dates. From what I can tell on their MySpace page, it looks like they have the last three weeks of September and the first three weeks of October open for a US tour.

Here's their video for "Over and Over", a song I really, really don't like.

Drive-By Truckers @ 9:30 Club, Washington DC [5/10/08]

I think I've found the solution to the sound problems I've complained about at the 9:30 Club -- stick with loud bands. The louder the band, the less noticeable it is that the PA acoustics are less than ideal on the floor. And man... we got two loud-ass bands on Saturday night.

First up was Tuscaloosa, Alabama's The Dexateens. I saw the band for the first time at SXSW back in March, and have quickly become a big fan. The venue I saw them at in Austin was the backyard of a small bar, so while they sounded great (despite fighting with sound bleeding over from a party next door, as well as a CD that was still playing through the PA), I wasn't sure how they'd translate to the much larger environs at the 9:30 Club. I'm glad to say that they fit right in, and looked and sounded like they'd been playing large rooms for years. Can't wait to see them headlining in the future.

The Dexateens, "What Money Means"

And don't forget that you can still download the band's new album, Lost and Found, for free here.

The Dexateens



Next up, of course, were the Drive-By Truckers. I've only seen the band live a couple of times before, but I've now decided that I'm never missing a chance to see them again. They are, without question, one of the best live bands going right now, and they were absolutely on fire on Saturday night. The set (most of which is here) covered most of the band's history, and included covers of both Springsteen (yay!), Alice Cooper (nay!), and Jim Carroll (did that dude write any songs other than "People Who Died"?).

As you'd expect at a DBT show, the crowd was incredibly drunk. I can't tell you how many times I saw people coming back from the bar with 5 more drinks in their hands. The 9:30 Club must absolutely love these guys. The only real downside was the incredibly drunk guy near me who tried to get into a fight with a guy, and then attacked the bouncer as he was being escorted out of the club. Stay classy, fella.

Drive-By Truckers

MMJ Were On SNL

... and I forgot to TiVo it. That's why we have YouTube.

"I'm Amazed"


"Evil Urges"


Gotta say, I'm not really feeling the new album. I don't dislike it by any means, but it just doesn't really stand out for me in any way. I suppose I should see them play the songs live before making any final decisions, though.

Daddy Likes Leather

In what may be the second best news of the week, FOX has picked up a show called Sit Down, Shut Up for its 2008-2009 schedule.

The show, which is an animated remake of a short-lived Australian live-action sitcom, is written by none other than Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of the immortal Arrested Development (and the inspiration for this blog's title).

As if that weren't enough, the show will feature the vocal talents of AD veterans Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler, and counts among its executive producers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein from The Simpsons.

Sounds awesome.

(Via Hollywood Reporter and Wikipedia.)

Edited to add: Forgot to mention -- IMDB officially lists the Arrested Development movie as being IN PRODUCTION. Holy crap.

Spiritualized Playing 9:30 Club

Never been a huge fan, but I'm probably gonna have to go to this...

Spiritualized
Friday, July 25th
9:30 Club
Washington, D.C.

Tickets on sale on Thurs., May 29th (!) at 10am at Tickets.com.

Full dates:

7/19: Pitchfork Music Festival
7/20: Indianapolis, IN (The Vogue)
7/21: Nashville, TN (City Hall)
7/22: Atlanta, GA (Variety Playhouse)
7/25: Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
8/1: Cleveland, OH (House of Blues)
8/2: Buffalo, NY (Town Ballroom)
8/3: Montreal, CA (Parc Jean Drapeau)
9/6: Toronto (Toronto Islands Park)
9/17: Los Angeles, CA (Hollywood Bowl)
9/27: Austin City Limits Festival

Eugene Mirman - Not a Racist, Enjoys Fun

** Note: This post's title comes from Eugene's MySpace page. **

So my friend Matt just pointed out that the wonderfully spectacular Eugene Mirman is scheduled to do two shows at the Arlington Drafthouse on Saturday, May 31st. There's an early show at 7:15pm and a late show at 9:45pm, and tickets are available now.

And, of course, I'll be in Cleveland-freaking-Ohio for my younger brother's high school graduation. Crap.

Guess I'll just have to watch this one over and over again for the next few weeks.

Shearwater's "Rook" (NOT) Now Up on eMusic

Get thee immediately to eMusic to download the brand new Shearwater album, Rook. It doesn't come out "for real" until June 3rd.

Edited to add: What a tease. eMusic lists the album on its front page as being available, but if you go to the page for the album, you can only download ONE advance track. Jackasses. Glad I have the album anyway.

I just finished listening to it, and it's fantastic. I will definitely be seeing them instead of Grand Archives next month.

You can also pre-order Rook at Amazon. I would link to the Matador presale, except they seem to be being strict about letting blogs link to - and thereby promote - the album cover.

Bob Pollard Is Back With 300 New Projects

Well, maybe not 300, but it sure doesn't seem like Bob is gonna be spending much time sitting out on a lawn chair on Needmore Road drinking beers this year.

According to Billboard, Bob has a new album out on June 3rd called Bob Pollard Is Off To Business (probably not this business), is launching a brand new record label called Guided By Voices Inc., has yet another new Circus Devils album in the can, and a new band coming called Boston Spaceships (although he's not sure who's in the band yet).

Here's the lead track from the album:

Robert Pollard, "Gratification to Concrete"

Oh, and he's also going to be returning to the road this fall. Just don't expect him to play the old GBV hits. He claims that he wants to stick to new stuff and older "rarities". I'll take whatever you wanna give us, Bob. Though an "Echos Myron" here and there wouldn't kill ya, would it?

You can pre-order Bob new album now from Rockathon for, err, $16. There's also an exclusive web-only EP called Weatherman and Skin Goddess available - it has one song from the new album, and two other exclusive tracks.

(Thanks to Matt for the heads up!)

DC Show Update

Will update throughout the week.

9:30 Club
Fri., 5/23: The Sketches
Sat., 6/7: Jakob Dylan
Tue., 7/1: Cute Is What We Aim For
Thu., 8/21: Squeeze
Sun., 10/5: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows go on sale tomorrow (Thurs., 5/8) at 10am Eastern via Tickets.com.

Black Cat
Mon., 6/2: Sore Thumbs, Ghost Light (Backstage)
Sun., 6/8: The Cool Kids
Wed., 6/11: Love Is All (Backstage)
Tue., 6/24: The Cassettes, Aerialist, The Mantras (Backstage) [5/16]
Sat., 6/28: Mission of Burma performing Vs.
Mon., 6/30: Oxford Collapse, Frightened Rabbit (Backstage) [5/16]
Sun., 7/6: Dengue Fever, Chicha Libre
Fri., 7/26: Tilly and the Wall [5/16]
Fri., 8/1: Bon Iver, Bowerbirds [5/16]

Tickets for Black Cat shows go on sale Friday, 5/9 at 5pm Eastern via Ticketmaster, except for the shows noted as 5/16 on-sales, and the Mission of Burma show which I've only seen listed on the 9:30 Club boards.

Edited to add -- Thanks for the tip, Bumpershine!

Constitution Hall
Wed., 9/3: My Morning Jacket

Not sure as to on-sale for MMJ yet. Nor am I sure if I'm gonna buy a ticket - I may not live here then.

DC9

Sun., 6/8: The New Frontiers, Denison Whitmer
Thu., 6/12: The Gray Kid, Oliver Future
Wed., 7/2: The Smoking Popes
Thu., 7/10: Sam Simkoff (of Le Loup), Martin Royle (formerly of Washington Social Club)

Tickets for DC9 shows are sold at eTix. Only the Smoking Popes show is on sale so far.

The Red and The Black
Fri., 5/16: Tut Tut (ft. members of Beanstalk Library, Tereu Tereu)

Tickets for Red and Black shows are sold at the door.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Sat., 6/28: Datarock
Tue., 7/8: No Age, High Places, Abe Vigoda
Tue., 7/15: Nomo
Wed., 7/30: Ours, God or Julie, Plain Jane Automobile

Tickets for Rock and Roll Hote shows go on sale Friday, 5/9 at 10am Eastern via Ticket Alternative, exept the No Age and Nomo shows, which go on sale on 5/16.

... and in Baltimore...

Ram's Head Live
Thu., 6/5: Blondie
Thu., 6/26: The Hold Steady
Fri., 7/11: Alkaline Trio
Tue., 8/26: Ted Nugent
Sat., 9/13: KIX (Red light, green light, TNT, baby!)

Initial Siren Fest Lineup Announced

Will this be the last one? If so, it's a pretty solid way to end things...

8th Annual Village Voice Siren Music Festival
Coney Island, NY
Saturday, 7/19

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Broken Social Scene
The Helio Sequence
Beach House
Times New Viking
Jaguar Love
The Dodos
Annuals
Film School
Parts & Labor
Dragons of Zynth
These Are Powers

While there are only a few bands I'd love to see, there are none that I would hate to see, which is a big step up over the last few years. Well done, Siren.

Vaselines Playing Sub Pop Anniversary?

Holy schnikes, I sure hope this is true.

Although my wallet doesn't.

Hillary's Got Momentum!

Err, make that Joementum.

Great Seaport Lineup in NYC This Year

When I was living in New York - and presumably when I live there again - one of my favorite things to do in the summer was to see shows at South Street Seaport. It gave me an excuse to get to a part of downtown that I rarely went to, and to see great bands in a cool, outdoor setting.

Granted, the apocalypse seemed to come down every time Ted Leo played there, but that's a different story.

Anyway, I recently saw that they've announced a big chunk of their lineup for this summer, and it's another good one. Especially the first one. Man I miss New York.

2008 Seaport Music Festival Schedule

Fri., 5/30: WIRE
Fri., 6/27: A Place to Bury Strangers, King Khan & The Shrines
Fri., 7/11: No Age, Telepathe, Abe Vigoda
Fri., 7/18: Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las (with Reigning Sound??? nope)
Fri., 7/25: Atlas Sound, El Guincho
Fri., 8/1: Brother Ali
Fri., 8/8: TBA
Fri., 8/15: Dirty Projectors, White Williams
Fri., 8/22: TBA
Fri., 8/29: TBA
Sat., 8/30: Modern Sky Festival

Hot Water Music Still Together

I've been a fan of Gainesville, Florida's Hot Water Music for close to 10 years now. However, for some reason, I've never seen them live despite holding tickets to do so on at least five occasions.

I thought my last chance to see them had disappeared when they disbanded back in 2006, but they reformed (at least temporarily) earlier this year and have played a few shows in Florida, Chicago, New Jersey and Europe. They even played a show at South By Southwest in Austin which I somehow missed.

Anyway, it looks like I just might get another chance to see them. They announced two new East Coast shows today (NYC and Philly), and I'm holding out hope that they'll add a DC-area show before too long too. Even if they don't, though, I may just have to roadtrip it.

New Hot Water Music Dates
Fri., 7/11: Philadelphia (The Troc)
Sat., 7/12: New York City (Terminal 5)

Tickets for both shows go on sale on Saturday (5/10) at noon Eastern.

If I do end up roadtripping, it'll be to Philly. Ain't no way that the one time I ever see Hot Water Music is going to be at Terminal 5.

Remind Me Never To Listen To "The Cab"

Rolling Stone's Rock Daily blog has a list of the 5 bands that "broke out" at this year's Bamboozle Fest. Yeah, I didn't know it was going on either.

Anyway, here's what they had to say about the band The Cab:

Blurring the line between post-Fall Out Boy emo and late ’90s boy bands, the Cab’s high-energy pop is radio-ready.

Seriously, that sounds like it could be the absolute worst musical combination of all time. Mixing Fall Out Boy and Backstreet Boys? What genius came up with that one? And why didn't they throw a little G-Funk or Reggaeton into the mix for some crossover appeal as well?

For proof of just how bad it is, here's their new video.



And while I'm at it, here's some Cannibal Corpse.

Last Week In Photos

I was a bad blogger last week (ed.: only last week?) and failed to post photos or discussion of several shows I went to here in DC.

So while they're still somewhat fresh, I figured I'd rectify things now in abbreviated fashion.

American Music Club @ Iota


First time seeing AMC, and although I don't know a whole lot of their catalog, I really enjoyed their set. And, in addition to the music itself, Mark gave us some... err... colorful explanations of what each song meant. I won't repeat them here because I've tried to wipe many of them from my memory.

Julie Ocean @ DC9


Another Julie Ocean show, another great time. We even got a few new tunes, all of which sounded pretty great. Do yourself a favor and jump on the bandwagon now -- the band's excellent debut LP, Long Gone and Nearly There, finally comes out on May 29th. There's still time for you to tell all your friends that you knew them before the album came out. (Pre-order the album here for $10.)

Oh, and if you're in Philly, be sure to catch the boys at World Cafe Live this Friday, May 9th.

The Redwalls @ DC9


Until recently, I'd always lumped the Redwalls in with a bunch of other pretty-boy, Strokes wanna-be bands. Then some friends caught their set during SXSW and had good things to say about them. So I figured I'd check them out. Not bad. Nothing earth-shattering, but they had a few really good songs, and boy are they stylish.

Crowded House @ 9:30 Club



I've been a fan of Crowded House for as long as I can remember, but this was my first time seeing them. Just a fantastic set. They played for just over two hours, and mixed old and brand new songs (which all sounded pretty good). And while I don't normally like crowd participation, I was impressed just how knowledgeable the crowd was of the songs, and how effective the interplay between the band and crowd was at times. Who knew that DC crowds could sing that well?

The Kids in the Hall @ Warner Theatre
No photos allowed, so I kept the camera in my pocket for the show. That was probably a good thing, because I was too busy laughing my ass off to take pictures. The majority of the material in the show was brand new, although some old characters (the Kathys, Buddy Cole, Gavin the annoying kid, the Headcrusher) made appearances. If you have a chance to catch the show in the next few weeks, I implore you to go. And keep your fingers crossed that this isn't the last we see of them.

Kinda Sorta Frames News

So I just noticed that The Swell Season - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - have added even more dates to their seemingly neverending tour. Their current tour takes them through the end of June, and the new dates go from September 19th through October 4th (see below). They have a bit of a break during July and August (except for two August dates), and nothing at the end of the year.

So what does this have to do with the Frames? Well, the Swell Season's MySpace page specifically says:

The year ahead will see Hansard work on the new Frames album while both himself and Marketa will perform with The Swell Season at the prestigious Coachella festival on the 25th of April, Boonaroo on the 12th of June and tour the U.S. and Europe in the next few months. Evidently, 2008 is shaping up to be another busy year for the couple…

So for those of us who are a tad burnt out on the whole "oh aren't they so sweet" aspect of Swell Season shows, there does seem to be some good news on the horizon.

And, to be honest, I've been getting more and more concerned that The Frames were going to start taking a back seat to The Swell Season. I don't blame 'em for relishing the success they're having, but the fact is I want the Frames back, dammit. :^)

New Swell Season US Dates
8/9: Baltimore, MD (V Festival)
8/10: Northampton, MA (The Pines)
9/19: Boston (Agganis)
9/20: Toronto (Massey Hall)
9/21: Pittsburgh (Byham Theatre)
9/22: Columbus, OH (Palace Theatre)
9/24: Nashville (Ryman Auditorium)
9/27: Austin (ACL Fest)
9/29: Dallas (Palladium Ballroom)
9/30: Albuquerque, NM (Popejoy Hall)
10/2: Tuscon, AZ (The Rialto)
10/3: San Diego (Open Air Theatre)
10/4: Los Angeles (The Greek Theatre)

This Week In DC

As usual, shows listed are only those that seem interesting to me... Shows in bold are shows I plan to attend.

Sun., 5/4
Jammin' Java: Mark Olson

Wed., 5/5
Black Cat: The Teenagers, Team Robespierre, DJ Will Eastman

Thu., 5/8
9:30 Club: El-P, Dizzee Rascal, DJ Aaron LaCrate w/ Busdriver
Black Cat: British Sea Power, The Rosebuds, Jeffrey Lewis
Rock and Roll Hotel: The Cave Singers, Love as Laughter, Bellman Barket

Fri., 5/9
9:30 Club: Drive-By Truckers, The Dexateens
Black Cat: Polvo, Sir Arthur & His Royal Knights, The Oranges Band

Sat., 5/10
9:30 Club: Drive-By Truckers, The Dexateens

Eef Barzelay Finally Releasing CD, Touring

Great news... Eef Barzelay, formerly the lead singer of the astoundingly underrated Clem Snide, is due to release his new album, Lose Big, on June 15th via the Savoy label. You can hear a couple tracks from the album at Eef's MySpace page.

I'm thrilled that the album is finally getting released. Unless anything has been re-recorded or changed, the album has been done for close to a year. (Edited to add: Looks like two more songs were added - "Me No" and "I Love The Unknown" from last year's Rocket Science soundtrack.) If memory serves, it leaked sometime last August or September, and I couldn't stop listening to it for most of the Fall. Anyway, it's a fantastic disc, and I urge you to join me in pre-ordering it.

And if the album weren't enough, Eef is also going out for a three-week tour at the end of June, including a show here in the DC area at Iota. I'll definitely be there.

Eef Barzelay Tour Dates

6/16: Nashville (The Basement - CD Release Show)
6/18: Austin (Mohawk)
6/19: Denton, TX (Dan's Silverleaf)
6/20: Memphis (Hi Tone)
6/21: Norman, OK (Opolis)
6/22: St. Louis (Off Broadway)
6/24: Chicago (Schuba's)
6/25: Pontiac, MI (Pike Room)
6/26: Cleveland (Beachland Ballroom)
6/27: Toronto (El Macambo)
6/28: Cambridge, MA (TT the Bear's)
6/30: New York (Mercury Lounge)
7/1: Philadelphia (World Cafe Live)
7/3: Arlington, VA (Iota)

Are They Foxy to You?

The elegant bachelors return...

New Bottomless Pit!

Some fantastic news - Bottomless Pit will be releasing a brand new, 4-song 12" called Congress in June!

Congress will be available both in physical 12" form as well as digital download, for those of us without a turntable.

The band's label, Comedy Minus One, is currently streaming a song from Congress called "Fish Eyes", and it's fantastic. I loved the band's full-length debut, Hammer of the Gods, but on first listen "Fish Eyes" seems to be a more upbeat sounding song, and closer to Tim and Andy's earlier work in Silkworm. At least to my ears. Check it out for yourself:

Bottomless Pit, "Fish Eyes"

And don't forget that Bottomless Pit is touring this summer. No DC date, sadly, but I think I'm gonna try to get up to NYC for the Knitting Factory show.

Bottomless Pit Tour Dates

Thu., 5/29 @ Schuba's - Chicago, IL w/ The Buddyrevelles - Free show!
Fri., 6/6 @ Villette Sonique Festival - Paris, FR w/ Shellac, Mission Of Burma, more
Fri., 6/13 @ The Alley - Highwood, IL w/ The Effigies
Fri., 7/11 @ Knitting Factory - New York City, NY w/ The Kadane Brothers
Sat., 7/12 @ Middle East - Boston, MA w/ The Kadane Brothers & Chris Browkaw
Sun., 7/13 @ Divan Orange - Montreal w/ The Kadane Brothers
Mon., 7/14 @ Sneaky Dee's - Toronto, ON w/ The Kadane Brothers
Thu., 7/17 @ Schuba's - Chicago, IL w/ The Kadane Brothers
Fri., 7/18 @ TBD - Madison, WI w/ The Kadane Brothers
Sat., 7/19 @ 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN w/ The Kadane Brothers