Beer and Pavement

Creepy Old Guys and Indie Rock Grrrls

Posted in Meta, Pop by SM on December 15, 2021

This is maybe the worst title I’ve ever written for a blog post. Please don’t get the wrong idea about me.

I am a white CIS male. If you couldn’t figure that out based on the content of my writing and interests, then you probably don’t succumb to tired stereotypes. However, I suspect my positionality doesn’t really need to be defined. I sort of feel this practice centers oneself, but I guess that’s what one does when one writes a blog, especially in 2021.

But I digress before I’ve even started.

I like indie rock. I like guitars. I like feedback and Pixies-ish dynamics. I like off-key vocals and even more off-key guitar tunings. FTR, I’m not particular to the gender, sex, race, or other identities of the musicians, but my collection is mostly a mirror image of myself.

Still, there have been a growing number of young women making guitar-based indie rock over the last decade. I don’t know if it’s just my heightened awareness over that time or there’s really a trend, but I have noticed, listened to, seen, and collected more women indie rockers in recent years than at any other time of my fandom.

It could be caused by the rise of feminism over my generation’s lifetime. Spaces are more open to women as rock guitar players. The remnants of Riot Grrrl surely has had a lasting effect. The influence of feminist thought has even changed how I view women and women musicians (although, I was always a fan of Riot Grrrl, The Breeders, Liz Phair, etc.).

It could be that for whatever reason, less of the men I used to look to for musical entertainment aren’t making the music I love as much as the women of the two generations coming after Gen X (or is it three generations?).

If I look at my favorite records of the last three years, it’s littered with new female voices playing guitar-based indie rock. Courtney Barnett, Waxahatchee, Snail Mail, Indigo De Souza, Big Thief, Dehd, Vagabon, Black Belt Eagle Scout, etc. etc. These artists are consistently making some of the most interesting music right now.

I’m not saying men are suddenly making good music. I’ve just noticed young women making most of the music I tend to like. Older men make a ton of indie guitar rock that appeals to me, but there aren’t a lot of younger, male-fronted rock bands that sound like they are on Matador circa 1994 at the moment.

So, that’s all cool. I need to diversify my record collection and play more women around my kids.

My daughter and I have even bonded a bit over it all. Indigo De Souza came along at a time when my oldest was transitioning from Billie Eilish to Nirvana. De Souza fits right in the middle of those two. Even though her latest, Any Shape You Take, includes more pop influences than her debut, I Love My Mom, my kid has tended to prefer her rockier, angstier material. Hopefully, we’ll see her this spring and continue to bond over the up-and-coming singer-songwriter.

Indigo De Souza also represents a direction a lot of these artists I’m obsessing over seem to be taking. Many of them seem to be moving away from the rock music that first attracted me toward something poppier. Thankfully, De Souza just seems to be experimenting here and there with pop songs. In fact, between those pop tracks lie some of her hardest-rocking tracks so far.

Several other musicians have taken this pop route as well. I really liked Jay Som’s debut, but her latest has gone spacier and distanced itself from straightforward guitars. The previously-mentioned Vagabon held a lot of potential for upholding feedback-driven quiet-loud-quiet song structures, only to go a minimalist pseudo-electronica path. Others such as Sasami and Japanese Breakfast turned in 90’s-era indie records only to turn up the experimental, more modern aesthetics.

This isn’t all bad. These young artists should expand and should push boundaries. And frankly, I am a dying segment of their audience – literally and figuratively. So, they don’t owe me anything. I can now decenter my musical needs…

Either way, I’m a mid-40’s, upper-middle class white dude who buys way too many records and probably has too many opinions on it all. I just like my indie rock to sound like Pavement, his like Sebadoh or GBV, challenge me like Bikini Kill, and punch me in the balls like Liz Phair. Is it too much to ask that the women of the Millennial and Gen Z share my appreciation for the era?

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For the Love of Live Shows, Wear a Mask

Posted in Live, Massachusetts by SM on July 6, 2020
The last live show I saw: Half of Sonic Youth and some other people.

This spring was going to be epic in terms of live shows for me and I never use the word epic. I was set to see Archers of Loaf, Waxahatchee, Liz Phair, Parquet Courts, and Big Thief in August. There were even several other shows to consider. I was really excited to get out and see some bands.

Then, well, you know.

At first, I figured everyone would just postpone their shows and I would make do with Instagram Live performances. Kevin Morby and Katie Crutchfield, the indie rock couple du jour, was ridiculously cute in their LA (or maybe KC) bungalow, performing mixes from each other’s catalogs or fan requests. Of course, all anyone wanted to hear was their cover of Jason Molina’s “Farewell Transmission.”

When it was all going down, I was debating going to see Archers of Loaf in Boston. First, I rarely go to Boston for shows. I really don’t like navigating that city and prefer seeing shows here in Western Mass. But I hadn’t seen Loaf in like 20 years. I really wanted to see this show. However, as the date approached, the number of cases in Massachusetts increased, particularly around Boston. I finally decided I couldn’t risk my family’s health and chose not to go. Of course, the show was eventually canceled anyway. So, at least I wasn’t out the money for the tickets.

A week later, everything shut down. One by one, shows were postponed or canceled. Waxahatchee moved to the fall. Parquet Courts is supposedly still happening in a few days, but I doubt it. (I’m not going anyway.) Liz Phair canceled, which means I’ve held tickets for three Liz Phair shows that were all canceled. And Big Thief canceled, unfortunately.

The coronavirus pandemic shut down the live music industry and it will likely continue into the fall, unless folks – meaning Americans – start wearing masks, washing hands, and practicing social distancing. As other parts of the world go back to normal, we all sit at home or ignore the evidence and go out to bars. In the meantime, live music ceases.

And it’s not like musicians and bands are giving up. I mentioned the Instagram shows put on by Crutchfield and Morby, but Instagram Live is busy all the time now. Some are scheduling live shows fans can purchase access, but a lot of these shows are happening at reasonable hours, meaning parents who have to get kids to bed can’t typically attend.

Of course, would I even want to?

Kevin Morby on Instagram Live

I live for live music. I don’t go to nearly as many shows as I used to, but I’ve been attending rock shows religiously since my first. I was late to rock concerts, but my first one was during my senior year of high school. On St. Patrick’s Day of 1993, I saw Vic Chestnut, Goo Goo Dolls (in their punk rock phase), and Soul Asylum, supporting their breakout album “Grave Dancers Union.” All the way up to last December’s Thurston Moore gig in Holyoke and that’s 26.5 years of concert going. I wish I knew the actual count, but it’s a bunch.

For longtime readers (Are there really that many of you/them?), you may remember that this blog’s biggest post was the one I wrote inspired by a strange night at a show. The post itself wondered if I was too old for music. That was almost ten years ago. I still wonder if maybe I’m getting too old for live shows anyway. Maybe this pandemic is the good lord’s way of saying that it’s time to cut out the rock shows.

So, here I sit on my back deck, worrying about the assholes who tore down a bunch of trees next door to build a house. I’m sitting out here because we actually have people cleaning our house. There are no shows on the horizon.

I say all this now and am resigned to shutting down that part of me that still longs for live rock music. If the pandemic has killed anything – well, aside from 130k+ in this country, Mr. President – it has somewhat injured that longing. Although it was novel to watch bands play stripped down versions of their songs in their living rooms, I’m pretty over it now. And as I eye that Parquet Courts show, I wonder whether it will just be cancelled anyway. I mean, I’ve already seen Pavement. (JK – You’re great PC.)

Sorry for the whoa-is-me post. I don’t mean to be a downer, but if people don’t start staying home and wearing masks, live music is doomed.

If you have a second and some money, please consider donating to a shining light in live music venues here in the Valley. Gateway City Arts in Holyoke has injected some energy into the scene over the past couple of years. They, like many other small businesses, are struggling. A lot of those shows I missed this spring were set to be at GCA. Help them out. Even if I’m too bummed to go out, that shouldn’t mean a great little venue has to shut down.

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Early Favorites Records of 2015

Posted in Records, Review by SM on July 31, 2015

A hiatus means that one misses a lot of opportunities to write about all kinds of things. For me, beer is one and records are the other. With the epic bender to empty my cellar, I don’t know that I have the time to tell you all the beers I missed blogging about. (Really, I’m a little embarrassed how much high-ABV I’ve consumed recently.) So, I’ll stick with my favorite records of this year so far. Some may still be there when I inevitably do a year-end list, but I’m not there yet. Be sure to scroll to the bottom for the Spotify playlist.

Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love

I actually reviewed this record in this calendar year, proving that I was alive as late as late January. Additionally, we took our older kid (6.5 years at the time) to her first real concert when S-K hit middle Missouri. (I really should have returned to blogging then as there were so many Carrie sightings by my family and friends. Alas, I was not feeling it.) And nothing has changed how I feel about this band or their latest album.

While it is up to debate whether or not this is S-K’s best effort (I prefer different S-K releases for different contexts), it is hard to argue that this isn’t their most complete album. From the first fat notes (“Price Tag”) to the anthemic ending (“Fade”), this record never lets up. Riding themes of feminism and activism (“New Wave”, “Surface Envy”), the rush from performing (“Fade” again), the evils of capitalism and debt (“Price Tag” again), life on the road (“No Cities”), and being an aging rock star (“No Anthems”, “Bury Our Friends), etc., No Cities does the whole “personal as political” as well as or better than any other S-K record. And the instrumentation (guitars, drums, vocals – gawd, the vocals) are just a whole other level hinted at in The Woods but never quite realized. No Cities to Love hits all the notes…no, more like pummels all the notes only to build them back again into something new and inspiring.

Viet Cong – S/T

Viet Cong are this year’s Joy Division, but that somehow seems limiting. Nah, this band is this year’s Joy Division as blended with a bunch of other Canadian bands. Take the raw power and energy of Japandroids, the anthemic dissonance of Godspeed You Black Emperor, the acidic take on modern life a la Ought, and maybe the awareness of Broken Social Scene and then toss in some lazy Joy Division bits and you’ve got yourself a review for Spin!

Twerps – Range Anxiety

I feel like Twerps just sounds like every band I liked from the 90’s as played through a filter of The Sundays. There’s lazy afternoons and meeting strange, exotic love interests, and even a bit about getting married. This is a nice, easy record to like. It’s pleasant, has a good pace, and hits all the right spots. I want every summer drive to have this album as the background music.

Krill – A Distant Fist Unclenching

Ever had a dream that goes at a persistently fast pace and no matter how you wish to take the controls and change the direction it’s going, it continues to move in a direction you’re not completely comfortable with. Then, you realize that’s how your day is actually going and it’s no dream. To me, that’s what Krill sounds like. It’s bluntly honest and downright immature at times, but it gets at that helplessness when your life is a runaway train and somehow you just reside yourself to sit back and enjoy accept the ride.

Yowler – The Offer

This year’s quiet, earnest, female singer-songwriter seems to be Yowler. It doesn’t hurt that Maryn Jones is from my old stomping grounds in Columbus, OH of course, but this little solo record (Jones is in Saintseneca) was a pleasant surprise. Quiet and haunting, Jones knows what contemplative first-year college students want to listen to alone in their dorm rooms. Or so I’ve heard. Anyway, the production is stripped down but not exactly lo-fi. It feels less experienced than Cat Power did 17 or so years ago. It’s quieter than, well pretty much everything. The only drawback is that Yowler is not yet available on vinyl. So, it’s all Spotify for me until someone imprints this on a black circular piece of plastic with crackles in between laments.

Radical Dads – Universal Coolers

Steve Keene covers (multiple!) don’t hurt, but this band fills my need for jangly 90’s guitar rawk to a t. Like many of the bands on this list, Radical Dads would have easily fit on a bill in the mid-90’s. What can I say? I’m a one-trick pony. The band continues its egnagingly feedbacked guitar onslaught I first discovered in 2013’s Rapid Reality. Additionally, it’s yet another example of the effect women in rock bands of the 90’s have had on modern performers. There’s just a better, richer space for women to occupy and I believe (well, probably a lot of people believe) this is directly due to the bands and performers of that era. Where am I going with this? I mean, Rad Dads just happen to have a woman fronting the band, but they are a powerful, 90’s indie-esque rock band and now I’ve pigeon-holed them. Whatever, the band works and Universal Coolers is a fun romp through my college years. (I feel a little cheap for that description. Just know that if you like what I like – 90’s indie rock – you’ll appreciate Radical Dads who will surely not quote any of this on their Facebook page. Of course, they just became actual rad dads and a mom or something. So, the bump they are certainly going to get from this awful write up is for nothing.)

Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Sometimes I Just Sit

It’s Courtney Barnett’s world and we just live in it. Somehow, after two impressive EP’s, Barnett has followed up with a record that should be on many, many year-end lists. She’s somehow Evan Dando, Bob Dylan (yeah, you read that right), Curt Cobain, Ben Lee, and Sheryl Crow (you also read that right) all rolled into one. Look, she’s fun and hits all the right notes while maintaining some personality. The record is solid from beginning to end. This is your album of the year. Next.

Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell

Or this is your album of the year. It feels as if Sufjan Stevens is back to doing Sufjan Stevens type things. Don’t get me wrong. I liked Age of Adz, but it wasn’t about a state and it wasn’t all whisper-y and/or whimsical with the most gut-wrenching lyrics about Jesus. This is record is that and maybe Stevens’ most personal record. There’s some things one would only expect to hear as Sujan Stevens’ therapist, not anyone with an iTunes account. As usual, the record is immaculately arranged and recorded. There are so many stories so personal, I’m almost surprised he released this album. I get the sense SS has been sitting on this album for years, waiting for the moment he was ready to put these songs to tape. And if you don’t feel it when listening to Carrie & Lowell, you are soulless or a cynic.

Waxahatchee – Ivy Tripp

Another female-fronted band that sounds like 1995, but this one is different than the others and this record is really good (as well). Katie Crutchfield nails that indie, cowpunk, alt.country thing that kept slipping into rock music and she lets on the feedback and heart-on-sleeve lyrics to boot. Crutchfield continues with that formula as perfected on the excellent Cerulean Salt with a few interesting interludes (in particular, opening track “Breathless” and “La Loose”). All that said, “Summer of Love” is the obvious choice for song of the summer.

Built to Spill – Untethered Moon

I bought Built to Spill’s latest on Record Store Day when it was released out of a sense of loyalty. When you buy a Built to Spill record, you know what you’re getting. And that’s fine. I loved early Built to Spill gems like There’s Nothing Wrong with Love and Perfect from Now On, but everything since has been hit or miss – certainly more hit, just not what those early records meant to me. That said, Untethered Moon is a look back at those years in a way in terms of both subject matter and music. This record is more than just the same old from a cherished band. It’s a reward for sticking around and buying yet another release.

Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color

 

All I read about is how Alabama Shakes don’t sound as good on record as they do live. Well, if that’s truly the case, their live show must kill every single night. There’s so much range on this album yet it’s so precise in its delivery. I don’t get what people want Alabama Shakes to be. Do they want more blues, punk, jam band, throwback, southern, etc.? Well, those people are wrong. There’s nothing wrong with this record and there’s nothing wrong with Alabama Shakes.

Don’t believe me? I encourage you to buy all these records or go see these bands when they hit your locale.

I’ll write something about beer soon enough, but this needed to be posted.

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2013: What happened?

Posted in Beer, Life, Live, Meta, Mikkeller, Records by SM on December 31, 2013

2013 Calendar from Never Sleeping

I have been absent from this blog and blogging in general. Honestly, I thought I was done with it. Life happened and time became scarce. It was time to move on…

…or so I thought.

Life happened in 2013 and sometimes there’s just no room for such frivolities like keeping a public journal or pretending to be a journalist. This is the year I started a PhD program – part-time, but a PhD nonetheless. It’s also the year we learned that we would be expecting another child around mid-February (2 months to go!). Throw on top of that a promotion to a supervisory role and a major expansion to our organization and you have a pretty busy year.

Normally, this hasn’t stopped me from writing. However, I needed to step back for a bit. This blogging thing gets in the way of living now and again. A break was in order. So, 2013 is pretty lame as far as blogging goes.

So, I’m thinking about doing this all again. Why? I don’t really know. It’s just an itch that needs to be scratched, I guess. I’m promising nothing. I won’t promise a certain quantity or quality of posts. I’m not promising anything in regards to topics. You know what I like. so, you can reasonably expect more of the same… for the most part.

I still listen to music. I have a favorites list for 2013, of course. It felt weird not tow write up a blog post on the subject, so I’ll include a bit about it. First of all, I won’t rank my favorites. I’ll just give you ten records you should check out.

The year was filled with old favorites as well as a running theme in my musical choices. Yo La Tengo released their best record in years with Fade. Especially amazing is the track “I’ll Be Around.” Another year and another Arcade Fire makes my year-end list. Unlike past releases, Reflektor is low on the thematic end, but it’s ueber-fresh. Kurt Vile’s Walkin on a Pretty Daze is my favorite KV record so far. Bill Callahan is Bill Callahan. Dream River is just another addition to what is becoming the best collection of songwriting in the modern indie era or something like that. I saw Thao Nguyen and her band The Get Down Stay Down earlier this year put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in Middle Missouri. Her record We the Common didn’t hurt either. The Chronicles of Marnia by Marnie Stern was a surprising discovery that fulfills my guitar noodling needs for another calendar year.

Then, there’s a list of records that continues a trend in my listening habits of recent years: grrl rock bands that sound like they’re straight out of 1995. Waxahatchee might be my most-listened to record of 2013. It sounds like my entire college years as seen through a small town lesbian. (I have no idea whether or not Katie Crutchfield is gay, nor do I care. I just imagine the main character in her songs to be this angst-ridden lesbian from 1994. It helps with the narrative, but it doesn’t have to be true.) Scout Niblett’s “Gun” was one of those songs I played over and over. The rest of the record isn’t filled with scrubs either. Radical Dads was a surprise find, but pretty aggressive in that 1994 kind of way. Marnie Stern is a one-womyn Van Halen. Lady and the Lamb was a last-second addition to the list, but Ripley Pine is certainly worth your time.

Of course, there are others that won’t make my list, but there always are. There are other lists I could add to this one, but I’ll just conclude with a list of memorable things and events from the year that saw me lose my blogging groove only to find it once more…

  • My beer fandom has faded a bit, but I’ve had some outstanding brews this year. Follow me at Untappd.
  • I went to Copenhagen and spent lots of time drinking my way through Mikkeller‘s lineup.
  • I watched a lot of TV. The League, Walking Dead, and Girls are highlights.
  • I don’t read enough books or watch enough films.
  • I saw Jeff Mangum perform twice, once with the rest of Neutral Milk Hotel and once solo.
  • I don’t remember whether or not I mentioned this, but we found out earlier this year that my partner is pregnant. Child 2 arrives in mid-to-late February.

Here’s to a fruitful 2014. I hope you all are well. Peace.

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