Labyrinthitis

   A number of years ago famous rockcrit Dave Marsh sent me a complimentary note on my Steve McKay piece on Perfect Sound Forever.  Which was flattering, given Marsh and his peers were my guides through the rock and roll wilderness back when.  So I took the moment to ask him if he'd ever considered giving the MC5 the treatment he gave The Who in Before I Get Old .  He wrote back that it was of interest, but for various reasons, probably not.  He mentioned that the late Ben Edmonds had been working for years on such a book, but had left it unfinished at the time of his passing, so likely it would never see the light of day.  Shame.  I'd like to read a massive MC5 book, like B efore I Get Old or Bob Mehr's Trouble Boys , or Paul Drummond's fascinating tome on the 13th Floor Elevators, Eye Mind ;  books which told in depth the stories of the artists and analyzed their music and their place in rock and roll. MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most...

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...

Yee Loi have struck again with a new single, "Dad's Money", which is streaming but doesn't seem to be available for purchase yet.   As their first studio-refined track, there's some surprises here.  The sound is fuller and punchier, but its the vocals that really stand out.  Clearly pushed for max effect, they sound both older and fuller than ever before.  If it hadn't been for the distinct sibling harmony, I wouldn't recognize them.  There's also a distinct stretching of their vocal chops on the chorus ("where do I even begin"), which took me by surprise.  That's good, I like surprises.  And since they actually have vocal chops to stretch, it's reasonable to expect them to do so. I suppose if it was me at the boards I'd probably step it back a bit and get a little more of their usual lo-fi one-take ambience, but its time for them to grow.  And anyway it's not me. The song itself is first-rate, a worthy addition to their grow...

School's out, and current faves the Linda Lindas are in action again.  This post of a 22-minute performance and interview for KCRW radio in Santa Monica has given me great joy as they sound tighter and harder than ever ("Talking To Myself" and "Too Many Things" sounded like filler in their recorded versions - here they sound near-essential, with an almost Husker Du-like bridge.  And for any wag who wants to say they probably never heard Husker Du ... I suspect you are wrong).  More importantly, zip forward to 2:40 for one the greatest bits of audience appreciation ever.  I wonder what Beatrice's band will sound like... Meanwhile the world's other great teenage rock and roll band, Yee Loi, have announced the release of their first on-a-label single for August 24.  So stay tuned. More profound thoughts on these and other matters to come...

I'm trying to keep this blahg directed more towards newer artists, over old faves.  But the mind goes where it goes and lately I'm happy to rediscover an old fave I hadn't paid much attention to in recent years, Richard Thompson. Thompson used to be one of my main men, but it tapered off somewhere in the mid 00's and never quite picked up again, though I did keep up with all his releases as they came out.  I was disappointed in Front Parlour Ballads , the last one I actually bought a physical copy of, and since then just picked individual strong tracks as they appeared, eventually compiling them into a couple of collections.  Both of which left me unsatisfied. I do a lot of compilation CD's.  Very draconian selections by artists.  Obviously, they are highly subjective.  And there is a music-geekery part of me that says its unfair.  After all, these guys put their heart and soul into a full-length album, and I go and trash 90% of it?  Who the hell ...

I was aiming for early July, honest!  Anyway... Kim Logan is a young artist from FL by way of Nashville and now, I guess, Glasgow - or perhaps France - her online presence is slightly out of date and a little erratic - who's been kicking around for a decade-plus now and deserves to be a lot more famous.  Like a lot more. A petite, feisty redhead with a voice that can range from angelic to apocalytpic and a bad rock and roll girl attitude, she parlayed childhood indoctrination into classical music, country and blues (first concert, she says - Bonnie Raitt) into a career as an opera singer in Sarasota before selling her soul to rock-and-roll.  She also was apparently part of the estimable Low Cut Connie for awhile, and that's a badge of honor in my book. Her recording has been prolific but scattered as well; a debut album, Kim Logan in 2012, singles "Neighborhood" (2014),  "Peaches and Cream (Live at Third Man Records)" (2015), "Better Way" (2016), ...

Having watched my way through all 800 hours of Get Back , Peter Jackson's documentary built (mostly) from the raw footage resulting from the filming sessions that resulted in Let It Be , here are a few random thoughts and extemporizations... (1) It will be of little interest to anyone who is not interested in The Beatles, and in the process of how a band creates and refines songs, and records them.   (2) If there was any mystery as to why and how The Beatles split (and there shouldn't be), this clears it up once and for all. It's clear from the start they're not  a band any more.  Only Paul seems particularly motivated towards making new Beatle music (albeit, with a heavy dash of wanting said music to be done his way). John is only interested in getting high and Yoko, and seems bored with the whole proceedings.  Ringo looks bored and tired.  And George is in a snit the whole time because John/Paul won't pay any attention to his latest songs (among other t...

When I was a kid, about 13-14, I saw Tina Turner being profiled on ABC's 20/20 news series.  This would have been around `80-`81.  She was working the comeback trail, playing clubs and I guess at one point working day jobs to keep food in the fridge.  I wasn't the immersed music geek I am now at that age.  I was just getting into listening to rock radio a lot.  I didn't know much about Tina Turner.  I'd seen her on variety shows a couple of times but didn't know quite what to make of her back then. I knew there was such a thing as spousal abuse, or as we called it back then, wife-beating.  But I was shocked that such a powerful-seeming woman could have been subjected to it.  And by the gruesome realities of it she so unflinchingly shared.  And I watched a clip of her belting out an aching, gospel-y version of "Help". The music I head there didn't necessarily move me (though I later came to appreciate her version of "Help"), but her story did....

... And so I had simply  stopped listening. I told myself that the trouble was I was tired of old music,  and there was no new music that excited me. I wondered if I were coming to  the end of an era—was rock and roll no longer going to be important in my life?  Then I gave up trying to censor my thoughts. Immediately there were plenty  of records I needed to hear: Blood on the Tracks ; Loaded ; Heat Treatment and  Howlin’ Wind ; Astral Weeks ; Exile on Main St. ; The Bessie Smith Story, Volume 4 ... (Ellen Willis, Village Voice, 1977) Willis was writing about personal crisis as much as about lack of interest in current music, and about how punk rock, particularly The Sex Pistols energized and reinvigorated her passion.  But it is the first couple sentences that resonate so strongly for me. I became a passionate rock and roll fan in my late teens. With rock books and rock writers such as Dave Marsh, Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Robert Christgau et al le...