Labyrinthitis

Slim Dunlap checked out on Dec 18.  Sad news.   I met him once.  Actually I sort-of met Tommy and almost-met Paul once but those are stories for another time.  On to Slim... Despite being "the replacement Replacement" I generally had the impression most Mats fans welcomed him with open arms.  There were and always will be the armchair quarterbacks who thought the Mats lost it post-Bob, but actually I don't think that went for most serious fans who always knew that, great as Bob Stinson was, he wasn't what made the band special.  I never saw them with Bob, but those I met who did c. `84-`85 opined that the band might well be better off without him.  Say what you will.  All I know is when I first saw him up there with them in `87, I couldn't imagine a more perfect fit. I really like Slim's two ragged-but-right solo albums ("Girlfriend" would have been a hit single in a rock-and-roll friendly world).   Back around 1996 I was on an inte...

Pretty girls keep growing up, playing make-up, wearing guitars –  Yee Loi - the freshest rock and  roll band of the moment: two teenage sisters,from Liverpool, and now their little brother on bass.  They’ve mastered their Ramones tributes and are now branching out in seemingly every possible direction playful covers, stripping Boa’s “Duvet” of its pop sheen and turning it into a “raw wail from the gut” (thanks L.B.), The Cranberries “Linger” into a moan of longing, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Bad Idea Right” into a snotty punk sneer and now Lana Del Reys “West Coast” into a  surly blues-rocker that sounds like Lucinda Willams jamming with Johnny Thunders.  More importantly, they’re already knocking out originals worthy of their influences, singer Mathilda can seemingly sing anything, and her sister Rose is already one hell of a guitarist (kudos for being hip to Jason and the Scorchers, too!).  Their breadth of interests and good taste suggests limitless possibilit...

 Alas, I wasn't able to attend the Linda Lindas SF show in November.  But some kind soul has posted the whole set to YouTube and it's well worth a shot.  The girls have switched to Gibsons and the sound has toughened up (so far they sound better live than on their recordings).  They're version of "Little Bit Of Soul" sounds cursory even at their best, but they're steadily building up a solid body of work of their own ("Never Say Never" is a great song).  Their youth, accessibility and generally nice demeanor will undoubtedly fuel detractors, but reality checkers will note that Mila handing off her drumsticks at the end of the set, rather than tossing them as I'm sure a "true" punker would have may be less menacing, but even a hardened adult doesn't want to be respsonsible for putting someone's friggin' eye out.   The set is shot entirely from stage right, so alas Mila is obscured for most of it.  Nevertheless their performan...

And now the word comes that Shane MacGowan has shuffled off.  And as my friends agreed, the only real surprise here is that he made it as far as he did. Of course, that's been said of many a rock and roll death (Keith Moon, por favor?).  Which doesn't make it any less true.  Or any less of an obvious cliche. But I come to praise and to bury.  Because lost in the inevitable tide of no surprise  will be the fact that MacGowan really was a "mad genius", as Rolling Stone called him, a brilliant writer and a soulful singer, and there was a time when The Pogues were one of the bands I listened to almost every day.  And while its become fashionable to write them off as a simply a drunken goof, a bad parody of Irish culture, blasting out lowest common denominator Irish pub songs at punk rock volume and tempos, anyone who ever actually listened to their albums would know that their musical ambition was broad and rich.  They reached for a lot, and they got ...

First things first, perennial new faves Yee Loi have a new EP out, Make Some Noise , which interestingly is not available on bandcamp, but can be had on iTunes, something called openstage with which I am not familiar, and listened to on Spotify. In any case, its something of a landmark, being their first pro studio recordings.  By way of confession I'll note that I think the productions a little overdone on the vocals and would have preferred a slightly dirtier sound.  The songs are all good but none of them is a knockout like "31 Flavours".  On the other hand, it shows off their growth and progression, and chops, making this a more than worthwhile release, and one hopes for many more.  My favorite of their most recent releases have been their acoustic take on the Ramones' "Don't Come Close" and a punked-up cover of Olivia Rodrigo's "Bad Idea" - I have no idea if the latter was intended as a joke or they really like the song (which isn'...

Somehow I only became aware this morning that the Linda Lindas have unleashed another new single, "Resolution/Revolution", and it sounds great, much tougher than a lot of the tracks off of Growing Up.  They continue to deliver the goods. Meanwhile across the sea, Yee Loi have posted not one but two live versions of "Dad's Money" - one acoustic.  Both sound fine though I'm wondering if the point of this is to prove something. Well, they don't have to prove anything to me.  YL is one of the bands I'm most excited about these days. Now as to my older idols - look I don't expect any of them to live up to my standards.  If I cleared out my collection of every artists who'd said or done anything I don't approve of I wouldn't have a single book, CD or DVD in the house.  Hell if I only cleared out the ones who were out and out scumbags I'd be down about 75% I suspect! Nevertheless, I was disappointed that my first rock and roll idol, Alic...