The Hives-Black and White and Rad all over

Recently I purchased with a $10 gift card to Best Buy the latest album from the Hives entitled The Black and White Album. Since nothing really disappoints me about this Swedish 5 piece import, I had high expectations that this album would be amazing. Of course they fully delivered.

The first track and single off the record is Tick Tick Boom! This is by far one of the most catchiest songs of the year. It's such a loud and fun song to listen to. The second song Try It Again features some cheerleading yelling during the chorus. Very different for this band, but not different to the punk world (see Unwritten Law's F.I.G.H.T".  They actually have another spelling-choruse called T.H.E. H.I.V.E.S. as well!

One song that shows something different is A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors. It's 2:38 of a drum loop with some keyboard/moog parts.  A jazzy number on the Black and White album is Well All Right! Very toe-tapping and different. I like this one the more I hear it.

A strange Tim-Burton-esque song is Puppet On A String. This one features piano, possibly claves and large chimes. Very eery and unique. 

Overall, this album is a great addition to any collection. Whether you have nothing by The Hives, or this is the latest to add to collection, it's well worth picking up.

Can't you turn it off?

Look, I know this blog is supposed to be be about pop culture and in a way, this rant is. You see, I have many interests. Despite feeling myself more qualified than most to discuss music (check the degree, yo!), I'm a walking hockey encyclopedia.

I majored in music, I've played in several bands, I own several instruments, but my main passion is hockey.

The frustration that's been building has to do with my workplace.

It's the newsroom of a daily newspaper with a respectable circulation. We used to have a high turnover rate, where young reporters fresh from J-school (that's short for "journalism school") often bounce from paper to paper before settling down.

There also has been a trend of inside "promotion" from sports to news.

From being in this department seven years, I know of three managers who have moved "up" from sports editor positions and two reporters who have also moved into "real" news from the wonderful world of sports.

It seems that moving away from the Sports department is a promotion. Most people agree.

However, I know of two sports journalists - one who's been here 25+ years and another 10+ - who have not expressed any desire in covering anything else.

These two appear so very one-dimensional. They will engage people in conversation, mostly about college football/golf (the 25+year guy) and high school sports (the other one) giving off the appearance that they just don't know anything else.

Our local minor-pro baseball beat writer can talk about other stuff, and I know one of the high school writers used to cover agribusiness.

But these two people are so simple-minded in their quest to appear all-knowing. Granted, they know who to seek out with this stuff. There are many people here - especially ex-sports staffers - who want the diversion from stuff like city council meetings and shootings and will discuss these things at length with the "experts" who must be so cozy in the "wwos" that they refuse to be moved out.

Some Hall of Fame or "lower-the-bar-to-keep-it-in-the-news."

Another pet-peeve of mine is the so-called "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

It'll never see my shadow, despite my love of rock as it should be played.

Supposedly, it's purpose is "...to recognize the contributions of those who have had a significant impact on the evolution, development and perpetuation of rock and roll by inducting them into the Hall of Fame."

How on earth, does one explain how John Mellencamp got voted in?

Bob Seger? George Harrison? ZZ Top? The Ventures? Blondie? The Pretenders? Steely Dan? Jackson Browne? Isaac Hayes? Bonnie Raite? James Taylor? Buffalo Springfield? DUSTY Springfield? ARGHHH!

It seems as if every single artist that had a hit in the 50s and 60s is in there. And after that period, everyone who had more than one hit.

If the standard stays that low, such acts as the Backstreet Boys, nSync, Britney Spears, and (please-giant-astroid-end-the-world-before-this-happens) Fall Out Boy will be inducted.

I dare say, even Hillary Duff might get in.

The only band in the 2008 class that I actually like is The Ventures. However, I cannot agree on that. "Walk, don't run" was a great song, but that was their hit. And how on earth, do they get in but Dick Dale is NOT inducted?

John Mellencamp really was the final straw for me. Soon, we'll see the likes of Dexy's Midnight Runners, Toto, .38 Special and Modern English... Duran Duran's induction is just a matter of time.

Have fun with that, rock-n-roll-ruiner's hall of fame, because I don't intend to give you the time of day, henceforth.

I'm probably weird

Within the past five years or so, I've completely given up on movies.

I just stopped being interested in them, let alone paying to see them in theaters.

People ask me all the time, "have you ever seen (movie)?" and I usually get wide-eyed amazement when I tell them "no."

I think it's a combination of being way too picky and that I just would rather use the two hours doing something else. I've never been much of an observer, whether it be of music or sport. I want to do. I want to participate. I want to play.

Watching is not for me.

I'm sure I've missed a few good stories, but it really takes something I'm highly interested in to get me to sit down for a movie.

I liked the much-reviled "National Treasure" because it played on U.S. history. I'll probably see the much less-plausible sequel (when I can watch it for free) despite my anticipation of much-worse reviews.

Anything having to do with hockey is worth at least one viewing, despite the fact that I didn't care for "Mystery Alaska," "Hockey Mom" or the entire Mighty Ducks franchise. "Miracle" was good, "Slap Shot" is classic, "The Rocket" was excellent, as is "Canada/Russia '72."

I sat through "Immortal Beloved" because I love Beethoven's music, but I kinda regret spending my time watching it. I didn't much care for "The daVinci Code," either. I've completely lost interest in "wild" comedies, which means anything with Will Farrel is out. I'll never forgive him for wasting my time with "Night at the Roxbury."

Maybe I'm just burned out.

When I worked at Kwik Trip, we used to have a "turn-your-back" policy on movies which enabled me to watch nearly everything that came out on video, between 1994 and 1998.

After a while, I just got sick of wasting my time.

I can only thank commercials for keeping me informed on "what's out there," so I don't seem completely out-of-touch with pop culture, despite my hatred of it.

Time Is Running Out-What is the future of music?

So a few days ago, I read an article on punknews.org about how the Bouncing Souls are kicking around the idea of releasing a digital release instead of doing an album. The Gold Record, which was one of my favorite albums of 2006, didn't do as well as they must have hoped. I read that it sold 37,000 copies, which I would look at as a very good sale. Especially from a band that isn't in the media, on TRL or have a regular rotating music video on Fuse or MTV. So it looks like they want to digitally release something, which has Souls fans steamed.

So the last few days, I have been stirring up my feelings towards this phenomenon that is file swapping and music leaking on the web. The future is that CDs are slowly getting obsolete, and everyone will have to jump on the bandwagon, that is downloading music. The majority of the population is already embracing the change of purchasing or stealing music. Unfortunately, this will leave quite a few people out of jobs. First of all, CD duplication will not be needed anymore, they won't require album art, and record stores will be pretty damn empty. It's amazing to think about how things have changed over the last few years. Bands and artists are getting signed to labels because of a few hundred thousand downloads of a single from their myspace. Here is a small list of bands that are millionaires or at least on their way to becoming one because of Myspace
Fall Out Boy
Colbie Callet
Sean Kingston
Arctic Monkeys

Derek Grant, drummer of Alkaline Trio blogged about the file swapping and digitialization of music. He looks at it, from a career perspective. Everyone picks up songs and albums that get leaked online, which hurts record sales. The majority of the younger generations just want some songs and extra material. Hardly do you see a 15 year old looking for any vinyl or records at a store.

This rant has come to some sort of conclusion even though it went in all sorts of directions. Like life, music is ever-changing and I as fan of it am preparing myself for whatever is thrown at me.

Grammy-nominated song

Despite my love for music, the Grammys are often to be avoided.

Except of course, the year Green Day played and blew the roof off... I think there was a year when a bunch of British musicians played "London Calling."

Digressing now, the funny part was when I was curious about Carrie Underwood's song "Before he Cheats."

It's supposedly a song about a woman finding out her man hooked up with a bimbo and so naturally, she responds by destroying his possessions.

I can envision so many naive females saying "you go, girl." Yet, what I'm sure many don't realize is that the song was written for her by two men.

More power to 'em, since they're printing money based on the success of that song, but this is one of those, "how-the-hell-do-they-put-themselves-into-a-female-perspective" situations.

I never got how one "expresses" oneself by singing someone else's song. I love playing other people's songs, but I don't feel that I'm expressing myself. It's almost like agreeing with what they're saying.

Musical expression should be defined as writing and performing your own work.

Singing a song someone else wrote is like being a painter copying someone else's work.

Or like coloring in a coloring book.

August Rush-a Musical Journey that Brings Things Into Perspective

So the other night, my fiance and I drove out to a movie. Something we don't do that often due to work schedules and other nuisances of everyday life. We went to go see August Rush, which is a very interesting movie staring Robin Williams, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell and others. So basically, this charismatic Irish frontman of a band is playing a club in NY, and after his show, escapes to a rooftop of a building to get away from the noise. At the same time by chance, this young sheltered cellist plays a much bigger show, and decides to go out for some air. Both meet, and spend the night on top of a building. They both get separated the next day, and the cellist ends up having a baby. Flash forward 11 years, the child is stuck in an orphanage with a 'gift' of hearing everyday music such as chords of the telephone wires or perhaps cars on the street. He sets out on a journey to find his parents that he has never met or seen. He gets picked up, and finds himself in the city of NY, under the eye of The Wizard (Williams).

The Wizard, who houses dozens of homeless kids who ran away from their parents, exploits the child and all of the kids under his watch for money playing on the streets. The child even changes his name so the police don't find him and return him to the orphanage. Well, I would rather keep somethings to myself in fear of ruining the rest of the movie. It's an amazing movie that makes you think. The child believes that music will bring his parents together and that they are listening to him. He never gives up on it, and "loves music more then food". I highly recommend it. It totally makes me appreciate music even more then I already do.

Bands, leave the makeup in your sister's room.

What exactly, was so great about the 1980's culture...



...that inspired people in 2007 to dress like this?

The domino effect

Today, I was thinking about how certain events in my life impacted my current musical tastes.

For instance, for a very long time, I had an irrational bias against the Promise Ring. I had a long-distance thing with a girl who was into "emo." With TPR being the only "emo" band I had heard of, I bought Nothing feels good out of the used bin at Cheapo.

All these years later, because I discovered that I loved The Promise Ring, I am a huge fan of two of the bands that spawned from their breakup - Maritime and Decibully.

When I first discovered that I liked punk, all I knew was on Punk'O'Rama vol. 1, which my friend Schanen owned and readily shared with all interested.

That prompted me to follow NOFX, Pennywise, Bad Religion, Down By Law and the Offspring. He was also the one who bought Mustard Plug's Big Daddy Multitude first, and sparked my interest in ska.

One of the few friends from Wisconsin I retain, Pete, was a teammate of mine on beer league hockey team. Didn't really speak to him much, but I did speak to his best friend, Chad, a lot. I ran into them a couple years later at a public skate session and while Chad was off doing whatever, I discovered in conversation with Pete that we had identical tastes in music. However, Pete, being four years older, had the advantage of recommending good music to me.

The first two bands he mentioned to me? Unwritten Law and Voodoo Glow Skulls. UL's Oz Factor was on constant play during the summer of 1996 and got even more play after I saw them at Warped Tour '96 with Pete, of course.

Really, that whole summer was one of discovery.

Pete, being a college music writer, got us tickets to that year's Warped Tour, where I discovered the Blue Meanies and Rocket From the Crypt and not only saw NOFX and met Fat Mike, but bought another influential compilation Survival of the Fattest. From there, I got into Tilt, Propagandhi, Lagwagon, No Use for a Name, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Snuff and Bracket.

Warped was the beginning of an impressive string of shows I'd attend over the next three years with Pete.

Many say that music changed their life, but I can honestly say it did.

Follow, if you will: I bought Skankin' Pickle's Green Album, which was on Dr. Strange Records. Dr. Strange, as many other mailorder labels, included a catelog in that CD. Along with Zoinks! I also ordered Rhythm Collision's Clobberer.

While Zoinks!'s Bad Move Space Cadet is one of the greatest pop-punk albums ever, Clobberer was about the greatest thing I'd ever heard.

I wrote to order a t-shirt and the first RC record. Their singer, Harlan, wrote me back with the goods. I then started ordering as much merch from them as possible. After they got back from their Brazilian tour, I learned that their drummer had a band in Minnesota, so I ordered the CD.

Fert Mert was exactly the kind of band I've have started if I knew competent musicians. Fast songs about not being able to get a date... man, that was me Noj was singing about! I wrote to beg them to come play Milwaukee. I came to learn that they needed a drummer. I volunteered myself, then set about to learn every song on the CD (there were 49 on it... all short songs).

I tried out, made the band and moved to St. Paul.

While with Ferd, we opened for The Stereo, AMP-176 and Cadillac Blindside, all of whom I got into prior to their demise. We also played with The Fairlanes, Belvedere and Pezz. I own all of The Fairlanes' stuff, bought three Belvedere CDs over the years but Pezz blew me completely away.

So many experiences shape who we are and what we listen to. I have zero regret.

Saturday morning quote

From syndicated columnist and comedy writer Argus Hamilton:

"MTV launched MTV Arabia in Dubai for people in the Middle East. It will feature groups singing in Arabic. The only downside is, in this part of the world rap artists will have to show respect for women in order to rebel against the culture."

Axl and Slash should be spinning in their metaphorical graves

If you enjoy metal, you may or may not want to read this, pending if you consider Avenged Sevenfold (or A7X that their true diehard fans refer to them as) metal. For the last few years, these California prima donnas act like they are bigger then everything and everyone. When they started out, they appeared as another scream-o band dressed like they raided Davey Havok's closet. That was about it. Then City of Evil came out. The singer got stoked on aviators, and developed the band around image, and some familiar substance very simular to Guns and Roses. Shound G&R be flattered? I wouldn't be, but that's all Axl and the gang have goin for them. The album's success gained them a popular crowd with the Hot Topic kids as well as the TRL girls. I almost threw up when I saw them on TRL when I was at my parent's house. They were yellin "hey, we want to be number one on the countdown so continue voting for us!" . Aw. Right there with Fall Out Boy and whatever else MTV shoves down the viewers' throats.

The thing that I can't figure out, is why so many people worship these chumps. Every metal-influenced teenager thinks Zack and that other guy are the best guitar players ever. Mostly because they solo constantly on the guitar. Nothing too exciting. Dualing guitar solos. Wow. Does that sound fun? Perhaps they do each other's makeup too. That's more adorable then the dualing guitars on every song.That brings mee to their drummer. "The Rev". Another makeup-wearing wanker. He is also worshipped by many, hated by few. Mostly me. He smirks like an idiot when he plays and poses for the camera. Sure he can play double bass fast, but since when does playing double bass over and over and over again on every track consider someone talented? It's just extra noise that is overrated.

So you may be asking "why the hate for this band?" Well, 82 got me into the majority of the bands I enjoy. This is not one of them. Well, this general type of band that is. I stay away from crap like this. They don't offer anything to the music world worth while. They have nothing to say. Oh wait! Yes they do! They're pro war and pro Bush! Two things I don't support. But if you do, more power to you.

So when you go out there shopping for christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate, save your money, and stay away from Avenged Sevenfold. They'll bore you to sleep with the ever-popular guitar solos, and songs about picking up hookers in Vegas among other enlightening moments in their lives.

Live!

I used to be a major sucker for live albums. Apparently, I have 49 of 'em. And these are just CDs. I've got a few lps and cassettes that are live records, too.

I recently put them all on my work computer, here's the inventory of them all in alphabetical order:

Afterlife - Joe Jackson
...And the band played on - Live at Home - Ann Beretta
A Show of Hands - Rush
At the Key Club - Pennywise
Babylon by Bus - Bob Marley & The Wailers
BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert - The Selecter and Specials (split)
Ben Folds Live - Ben Folds
Best of and the Rest of Original Pistols Live - Sex Pistols
Bootleg A Bootleg, You Cut Out The Middleman/Live In Las Vegas - Less Than Jake
Bullet in a Bible - Green Day
California Concerts Vol. 1 - Gerry Mulligan
California Concerts Vol. 2 - Gerry Mulligan
The Complete Concert 1964 My Funny Valentine + Four & More - Miles Davis
Crunch Time - Rhythm Collision
Different Stages - Rush
Exit... Stage Left - Rush
Filthy Lucre Live - Sex Pistols
Freeway Lanes - Let's Go Bowling
Hallraker Live! - Descendents
Live at the Hollywood Palace - Unwritten Law
I Heard They Suck Live! - NOFX
Kick out the Jams - MC5
Lagwagon Live in a Dive - Lagwagon
Live - Bob Marley and the Wailers
Live in Birdland - John Coltrane
Live at Montreux 1979 - Dennis Brown
Live at Oslo Jazz Festival - The International Noise Conspiracy
Live at the Uptowner - Jack Grassel
Live at the White River Reggae Bash - Everton Blender
Live from the Middle East - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Live from Uranus - Less Than Jake
Live in '99 - George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Live in a Dive - Bracket
Live in West Hollywood - The Queers
Live plus One - All and Descendents
Live seven-track 3" - Less Than Jake
Live: From Here to Eternity - The Clash
Liveage! - Descendents
Playel Concert Vol. 1 - Gerry Mulligan
Ruin Johnny's Bar Mitzvah - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
A Sonic Documentation of Exhibition and Banter - Blue Meanies
Strapped Live - The Pietasters
Summer in the City - Joe Jackson
Sweatin' to the Oldies - The Vandals
Tested - Bad Religion
Thank you very little (disc 2) - Screeching Weasel
Tie One On! - Bouncing Souls
Trailblazer: Live - All
Two Rainy Nights - Joe Jackson
We're all together for the first time - Dave Brubeck (with Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan)

A night revisted with Decibully's Ryan Weber and Aaron Vold @ Carroll College

Last night, I was writing up an article for my short interview via Myspace with William of Decibully, whom are one of my favorite bands from Milwaukee. Lately I have been writing for Armchairs and Earphones, a DIY online magazine from West Bend, and they asked me to check out Decibully to see what they are up to. As I wrote up the article last night, I started thinking about the time I interviewed Decibully's Ryan Weber (multi-instrument extrordinare) and Aaron Vold (drummer) at Carroll College on WCCX. WCCX is a small radio station where Carroll College students could play music, talk about sports or whatever was on their mind for a few hours. I had already reviewed Sing Out America! for the New Perspective, which Carroll's newspaper, so why not see if I can get them at the radio station?
I started out the show playing a few songs such as Green Day, some new ads etc, then Ryan calls into the station "Hey we're here, look for the guy wearing a backwards blue trucker hat".
Okay. So I walked upstairs and waited. From the darkness of the parking lot emerged two gentlemen. One wearing a blue backwards trucker hat. Aaron greeted me, and introduced me to Aaron, the drummer. Both seemed stoked to be here and we walked back downstairs. Thankfully, Jill had some good expierence playing songs and CD's on the radio, which allowed me to look for the guys.

I played most of the songs from Sing Out America! and we had a lot of fun. They brought a lot of energy to the small closet-like room, which made the interview very fun. In fact, during a good portion of the songs I was playing, off-air they were cracking myself, Cheryl and Jill up. One moment which I couldnt stop laughing, is when I asked if they would like to read a PSA (public service announcment) on the air. One of the requirments to do a radio show, is to read or play 2 PSA's an hour. Dan Didier from Maritime read one the year before, so I asked if they would. Aaron and Ryan were glad to do it. In fact, Aaron wanted to read it in the form of a Beasie Boys rap. I couldn't stop laughing. My sister recorded them doing it, like a small clip from it. They heavily promoted their upcoming show too. I remember Aaron saying "Ryan, is our show at Mad Planet THIS weekend? I wasn't aware of it!?"

Before they left, they signed my SOA! CD, and hung around for pictures. I swear it was like a poporazzi moment. My sis and Jill just snapped a TON of pics, and Aaron and Ryan were posing like actors on the red carpet. Before they headed out for the evening, Ryan informed me I was on the guest list for the Mad Planet show. I was very stoked for that.

Today, Aaron sent me a message a day late and a dollar short about an interview. Like William, he also wanted to do an interview for Armchairs and Earphones but, in person. The article is due tomarrow, so there is NO time to meet up with them unfortunatly. Perhaps another time.

Getupgetupgetup

If there's one genre of music I highly regret buying too much of, it's late-90s ska-punk.

We all remember how oversaturated the market was back then, with indy bands playing punk-with-horns with upstrokey guitar.

While there were and remain some excellent bands that came out of that era the majority were just terrible bands who were just playing the flavour-of-the-day, much in the same way all the indy bands these days play "screamo."

When it boils down to it, ska-punk bands were classified as "jokey-silly" bands and those that took the lyrics seriously even if the shows were goofy for entertainment's sake.

Over the years, I've been either, selling back the silly bands' CDs or keeping them and just not listening to them.

Here's some of the bands whose albums I used to own or still do. The ratings are:

**** Will buy all CDs
*** Will buy some or have CDs burned for me, if possible
** Will only have CDs burned for me
* Would be interested in selling their CDs.

**** Voodoo Glow Skulls - One of the bands who I just couldn't get into early on, whose stage show made them one of my all-time favourites. I own every VGS CD and have no plans of selling back any of them.

** Mustard Plug - A band with only two good albums (Big Daddy Multitude and Evildoers Beware). They were about half-way between silly and serious lyric-wise and their shows never disappointed.... OK, maybe the last time I saw them, when they had a bunch of women in slutty cop outfits, that was disappointing, because they're way better than that.

*** Reel Big Fish - If it weren't for their excellent musicianship, I'd have left these guys a long time ago. This is a band that sings fun, silly lyrics, but sometimes I'm left wanting some substance.

**** Spring Heeled Jack - These guys released one album that I thought was excellent (Static World View) until their second record came out (Songs from Suburbia). SFS totally blew SWV out of the water. SFS was a rock'n'roll record with horns that sometimes deviated to ska and after hearing that and seeing them live, I wish they'd have stayed together. Their drummer's untimely death probably sealed the band's fate, though.

* Skankin' Pickle - Part of me thinks the reason I bought all their albums was because they were universally loved by people who listened to ska. Truth be told, they were awful. It was just too Sesame Street for me. Highly overrated band.

**** Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Couldn't initially get into them because of Dickie's voice sounding like Cookie Monster (speaking of Sesame Street). I'll admit, my first Bosstones record was Let's Face It, which of course, was the one that got them all the MTV time. I still believe all their records from Question The Answers to Jackknife to a Swan were their best.

**** Less Than Jake - My all-time favourite band, who puts out the greatest record ever made every time. In With The Out Crowd was almost universally panned, but it remains my favourite disc. And my least favourite LTJ record is Pezcore, which is many people's favourite. Go figure. Talk about a band that was able to progress thoughout the years...

** Telegraph - Were among one of the bands I saw open for someone else. When it comes down to it, they were very forgettable. I hung onto their two CDs for sentimental reasons, maybe.

* MU330 - Really got into them for a week or two. At one point, I owned all their records, but then dumped all but the Japan-only release of their Greatest Hits and Chumps on Parade, which was a rock record. They went back to silly ska songs after they dumped that singer, which made me leave the ship.

* Link 80 - With Nick Traina, these guys were my number two favourite band. After Nick's death, I still went and saw them a couple times, as they were still playing his songs. When they released the very metal, The Struggle Continues, my struggle with their sound ended. That CD is out of my collection, but the first two records remain. And I still think I know all the words to Killing Katie.

** Kemuri - I saw this Japanese band on the Ska Against Racism tour and fell in love with them. Bought the Roadrunner-released Little Playmate and played it all the time. The second record was very forgettable and was sold back when I could find a willing victim.

*** Mad Caddies - I really don't know how I fell off their bandwagon. I first heard of them on the Honest Don's Welcome Wagon comp and bought Quality Soft Core when it came out. It had some silly songs, but like Reel Big Fish, the musicianship was very very good. Duck and Cover had some good songs, but it kinda left me feeling underwhelmed. I have not heard anything by this band since.

**** Blue Meanies - One of my other all-time faves, they started as a weird ska-type band and got weirder, incorporating all kinds of music into their sound. They couldn't even shake me from my fandom when their major label release, The Post Wave, came out sounding very poppy. They are teasing a box set which may come out in a couple years. You better believe I'll be first in line for that.

** The Aquabats - Saw them open without knowing anything about them years ago. Was impressed enough to buy the first three records, but the third record was sold back instantly. Their silly songs were catchy enough that I've kept the first two CDs, but have hardly listened to them. In fact, just a few weeks ago, The Return of the Aquabats got stuck in my home CD player when I tried to listen to it. Maybe that was an omen.

** Buck-o-Nine - A friend got me into them, but they really weren't that good. I sold back a couple of their CDs while retaining two. I'd be interested in hearing their newest stuff.

*** Pietasters - This band really hasn't done anything for me, but I enjoy the three or so CDs I do own of theirs.

* Lets Go Bowling - I have all of their albums. Any takers? A pseudo-serious ska band that didn't quite have the chops. Again, anyone interested?

* Bim Skala Bim - Another overrated Moon Ska band. That said, Vinny Nobile was an excellent trombone player, probably the best in ska. Not his fault his bandmates couldn't write any decent music.

**** The Pilfers - speaking of Vinny Nobile, this was the band he formed with Coolie Ranx. They were an opening act for Reel Big Fish and I instantly became a fan. It was more like dancehall-punk with Coolie's vocals. This was probably one of the bands that got me so heavy into reggae.

**** Hepcat - Just an excellent traditional ska band. You can't go wrong with them, as they were about the closest thing to old school ska, like Toots.

**** New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble - I like ska and I like jazz. Nothing better than instrumental ska band covering jazz standards.

*** Slapstick - The amount of bands their breakup spawned is incredible, but they aren't as amazing as everyone would have you believe.

* Suicide Machines - One very very good record, followed by a good record, followed by crap, crap and more crap.

Well ramone me with a Mosrite

This past weekend, my Playstation 2 decided to cause me problems, leaving me with very little sub-intelligent entertainment.

Instead of making little animated hockey players move around on my television, I was semi-forced to pick up the copy of King Dork I had recently checked out from the library.

It's been out for a couple years now, and I've been meaning to buy/borrow it for some time as "Dr." Frank Portman is among my favourite songwriters and he's witty and articulate enough to pull off a novel that doesn't suck.

He totally made THE BOOK that I wish I could have read when I was in high school.

That's not to say that I completely could relate to his main character's tormented (by bullies) existence, nor his dead father and un-dignosed psycho-mother. And I don't know that any of the girls who were in my high school 14 years ago who would have, uh, endowed Tom with the kind of "gifts" they did.

However, I once was that kid who knows that he knew better than every character he runs into.

The main theme to the book was supposed to be The Catcher in the Rye, and part of the reason I hadn't yet read King Dork was because I hadn't read TCITR until just a few weeks ago. It really wasn't horribly necessary to read TCITR, but it helped with some of the references to characters in that book. Instead it was the physical book Tom finds amongst his deceased father's books that starts the "mystery" of this novel.

Mystery aside, King Dork was really an examination of the high school experience from the mind of the social bottom-feeder.

The only recommendation I can give it, is that I could not put it down, literally. I've yet to read a book that commanded my attention with every turn of the page.

Hometown Favorite Maritime Smiles Big

Hometown Favorite Maritime Smiles Big

After releasing one of the most beloved records of 2006 ( We, the Vehicles), Maritime had some pressure and early hype with Heresy and the Hotel Choir, their third full-length release.

"When you work for a long time on something, validation is always pretty exciting. However, you know that the validation will be balanced by the negative. It's natural," explains guitar player & vocalist Davey von Bohlen.

The album charges out of the gate with "Guns of Navarone," an upbeat and fun number that will have just about anyone tapping their toes and dancing. In fact, there are quite a few songs that naturally make you tap your toes. "Guns of Navarone" transitions into "Holes For Thumb-Sized Birds," which features a marching snare-style beat. It's something new and different, which for the first time, Maritime could comfortably write. Second guitarist Dan Hinz and bassist Justin Klug (formerly of Decibully), permanently joined the outfit this time around.

Heresy is a band record, made by a band in the organic environment of a small music space. The interaction is so different in
this venue, that it feels almost like a different thing altogether." One song that could easily be a single, is "For Science Fiction." It starts out with a catchy drum and distorted bass riff that will get the crowd moving.

Justin and Dan really round out the band on "Hours That You Keep" allowing Davey to pull some amazing guitar parts. One song that has a fun feel to it, is "Be Unhappy". Even with a sad title, the song is makes you smile and sing along.

So what does Davey, Justin and drummer Dan Didier do on tour with their Maritime children?

"It has everything to do with how, where, when and why we do it. We try to balance the lives of our families and that of the group as well as we can".

One can only imagine how tough it can be touring and promoting a new album. A band wants to get their new music out to the masses and further their fanbase.

So what does Davey, who's been in the music industry for quite some time (Promise Ring, Cap'n Jazz), think of the ever popular MySpace world?

"It's fine. The internet is here to stay, so it's logical that it drives every kind of promotion. MySpace seems to suffer from that "too cool too quick" thing, where the fast rise is followed by hipsters looking down their nose at it."

Overall, Hersey And the Hotel Choir is an amazing record. Catchy songs, a stable line-up and and an infamous vocals make this album worth picking up. Maritime has done it again.

Aint nothin but awful rapper baby...

So as I was making a quick drive to Pick n Save to pick up some Lite Whole Wheat buns, I flipped on the radio. No point on sticking a CD on. First channel I turned on must have been the rap/R&B station. They were playing an apparently new Mike Jones song called Turnin Heads. I tell you, he is the most unoriginal rapper ever. Even this new single, he is yellin "mike jones" before the rap begins. He is STILL rapping about girls he used to diss, are all up on him, and how they used to make fun of his belly, now they wanna rub it. He's pathetic. He even was rappin about his MYSPACE PAGE!! what is that all about?
anyway, there can't be any really good rap anymore. Possibly it's because I dislike it so much, that nothing impresses me. Eminem is finished thankfully.
Wouldn't it be different for someone to rap something other then bling, money, hoes, cars, rims, or designer threads?
SPEAKING OF WHICH, aren't these hardcore rappers supposed to be raw and have street cred? How does one have street cred when said rapper drives a Benz with the interior coated in Gucci? That's not hardcore. No gangs would allow a member wearing a Dolce and Gabbana coat. Talk about a sissy.
That's enough ranting for now.

Taco Bell gives free food to bands heading out on tour, but who really needs it?

http://www.punknews.org/article/25996
Apparently, Ted Leo + the Pharmacists, Armor For Sleep, Strike Anywhere and others were awarded 500 dollars worth of free Taco Bell on the FEED THE BEAT promotion. Ted Leo, who is a member of PETA, was outraged. His band had nothing to do with the contest, and someone sent in from a gmail account to Taco Bell. No one's quite sure if the other bands were legitiment either.

If Taco Bell can offer to give bands that don't really need the food, shouldn't they be giving it to bands that can hardly afford to tour? I would like to think setting up a promotion in a sort of "battle of the bands" formula for bands going on tour that are just starting to get their name out there. These bands that are on tour, are established enough where they could afford to pass up 500 dollars of food to some kids traveling in a busted Econoline van they bought for 2,000. Most likely, Taco Bell is looking to appeal to a different "alternative" crowd. Are emo bands going to be doing commercials for Taco Bell? who knows. Would it be funny? Oh yeah

I'll drink to that

Quickly, Ben Weasel - who is one of my favourite songwriters ever - has a new collaborative radio show which can be heard here.

In the first episode, Ben rips into Nickelback and Plain White T's modern radio hits.

He says he's never heard either band. My reply: which rock have you been living under and can I please join you?

I too, am a music snob

I was knighted "Music Snob" a few years back from my fiance because of my distaste of EVERYTHING that is radio friendly, and Godawful. That's fine. I'll admit I am. I'm totally upfront and honest with someone if they enjoy or a fan of any or all of the following:
Country Music
Hip-Hop
Metal
Sum-41
Fall Out Boy
Avril Lavigne
Nickleback
Panic! at the Disco
Good Charolette
Scream-o
and probably more...

I'm not sorry your taste in music doesn't qualify as good. I'll never line dance at a wedding put songs on my iPod that rap about rims or booty. Do I like any radio friendly stuff? Not really. Some bands that I do think are interesting that have some mainstream success are Interpol and Muse. I think both (which got big from the underground) offer catchy, yet unique songs to the music world. Does Avril off anything to the music world? No. She is just a wannabe Alanis Moresette that will fade away. Just like Scream-o....in time

Snobbery?

I will readily admit that I'm a snob when it comes to music.

Pretty much every song that comes on the radio will be dissected and torn apart to reveal it as utter crap.

However, in listening to my iPod today, I've come across some radio songs from the past 15 years that I've enjoyed.

There are two Fastball songs which enjoyed considerable airtime in the late 90s. I think everything about "The Way" was brilliant and "Out of my head" is the best Bracket song never written.

I've also got the Smashmouth song "Walking on the Sun" which catapulted them into the spotlight many years ago. My excuse there is that it reminded me of the Doors and we played it in college, with me faithfully and flawlessly reproducing the organ line.

I have two Soul Asylum songs, "Just like anyone" and "Somebody to shove" which were rock radio smashes when I was 16 and 17 years old. Mention Soul Asylum to a Twin Cities rock fan and they'll shake their head while talking about how great they were back when they were on an indy label. I disagree.

One of the slightly more obscure radio songs I have is Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" which I always thought was just a great, catchy pop song.

I think the fact that I'm having to defend having these songs makes me a snob. What do you think?

Some things never change

I remember how my music taste evolved like it was yesterday. At about 5th grade, I was into Metallica, Nirvana and Megadeath. Thankfully I didn't get obsessed with Slayer like today's kids who claim to breath, drink and eat metal. Metal was where it was at for the brothers in my family. It wasn't really the fact that everyone was listening to metal, more of that's what 82 was tuned into. I think it served it's purpose for the time that I got into it. I remember Metallica putting out their new album where they had cut their hair, and released a strange video for Until it Sleeps...I believe. It was disturbing, and I quickly dropped them like a bad habit. I also like Presidents of the United States of America for some reason. I thought they were catchy. I think Lump and Peaches were the only songs I liked. They too, got very boring and I never wanted to listen to them. When I got into Middle School, I started to find a whole new breed of music: Punk and Ska.

Unwritten Law, Pennywise and Rancid come to mind what my middle school years were like. I drew the Blue Roon cover from Unwritten Law. 82 touched it up. The music was fast, and raw. There weren't any god awful guitar solos. Pennywise was perfect for freestyle BMXing, which I started getting into my summer years of Middle School. They had amazing energy, and I loved every moment of it. I remember the kids would look at me like I was weird for not listening to their music. No one like punk or ska in middle school. I believe it was in the 6th grade that I found Less Than Jake with the help of my brother. I became good friends with somea guy who loved Marlyn Manson and Nirvana. He told me Ska was stupid because of the flute solos. I have yet to find a ska band that has a flute player in the outfit OR excessively has too many flute solos. Other bands that I became huge fans of between 96-98 where The Aquabats, Rancid, Operation Ivy, Dance Hall Crashers, Assorted Jellybeans, Voo Doo Glowskulls, The Invaders, Blue Meanies, Sex Pistols, Bouncing Souls, NOFX and a TON others. It certainly didn't hurt having 82 there to influence me into what he loved. I am forever greatful for his guidance.

Looking on the past 4-8 years, my music taste certainly hasn't made a drastic change. I still hate Metaliica, but I don't listen to ska as much...I appreciate the older stuff and some of the new stuff...My heart still gets faster everytime I put on an LTJ album, and I still have the Blue Room picture in some sketchbook from my early years. I hope that I can pass my good music taste to my kids. It doesn't hurt that my future wife also enjoys punk rock.

My "fall to my knees" moment

Like most crazy born-again Christians, I too have a "fall-to-my-knees" moment.

It was when I discovered punk rock.

I'm not all to sure what I thought punk was, but as a teenaged metalhead, I was convinced I didn't like it. I read an interview with Kurt Cobain when I was at the height of my Nirvana obsession when he was saying they weren't metal, they were punk rock. I disagreed. I hated punk, but I liked Nirvana, so they had to be metal.

At the age of 16, I was at that age where one decides what music they'll listed to the remainder of their life. I was such a big Metallica fan that I dreamed of drumming for them, should Lars quit or take a break. I new every drum part from every Metallica song. I watched Headbangers Ball every stinking Saturday night, wondering why Rikki Rachman didn't have long hair.

I got into heavier heavier metal, finding Sepultura and Pantera right before It happened. Headbangers Ball played a Rancid video.



The singer had a mohawk, they had to be punk, but I liked it.

I eventually bought Let's Go and listened to it religiously.



I think the dagger to the heart of my heavy metal days was when the long-awaited Metallica record came out. I wanted desperately to like it, but no matter how often I heard it, it just did not grow on me.

Like most punk rock fans, I found new bands through compilations and from word-of-mouth. I soon found myself a fan of Rancid's labelmates, NOFX, Down By Law, Pennywise, Offspring and Bad Religion.

I've strayed a bit from Rancid, as they've strayed a bit in the past 13 years, but I just listened to "Let's Go" on my iPod while cutting the grass today. I have decided to give their recent output a chance.

Hey There Delilah, please put a cork in it

Unlike the West Coast where my bro lives, "Hey There Delilah" made popular by rich Chicago suburban kids Plain White T's destroyed and desocrated the radio station airwaves with this mind-numbing tune in the Midwest. Specifically in the greater Milwaukee area. It was practically the "song of the summer" for every teenager from June to August. Every time this cry baby ballad came on, it made my heart sink, but not for the ohh this song is beautiful" reaction the rest of the world felt. More like "what did I do to deserve this!"

First of all, the CD the song debuted on came out in 2006. Why in the world is it surfacing in the mainstream now? The fact that this kid who wrote the song sings about a girl that should finish school, and when you are done I'll be rich living off this song and we'll live together forever is pretty pathetic.

I can handle accoustic singles and songs fine, but when you overplay the same single every day, and on every radio station, that's borderline torture. Also, since the band made it big off of this single, are they expected to play this quiet little number at every show?
I can picture it: 1500 teen girls with their MOTORZR cellphones in the air. Half the crowd shooting pictures with the 1.5 megapixel camera, half the crowd calling their boyfriends "HONEY I LOVE YOU! CAN YOU HEAR IT??? ITS SOO WONDERFUL"

Thankfully, they will fade away. When, I don't know. The sooner the better.

Teenagers scare the achy-breaky out of me...

I have a rather large problem with My Chemical Romance's song "Teenagers."

Here, in Modesto, our local Clear-Channel station plays the song every 10 minutes, and being that my wife is rather well-tuned into the pop-culture, I get tortured by the song pretty regularly.

One of my problems is when I don't like a song, I listen to individual parts of that song and disect why I don't like it.

In case you're not sure which song is "Teenagers," it's the crotch-rock-ish song that kinda resembles "Achy-Breaky Heart." The chord structure is pretty similar and the rhyming pattern is very close.

It boggles the mind, how a band of 30-year-olds can try to identify with "teenagers."

It also boggles the mind how the solo part of the song is straight out of the Poison-Bon Jovi-Motley Crue playbook.

And we consider them "punk" by how they dress.

Time to turn off the MCR, world. Two or three years from now, they'll be just a distant memory, like Yellowcard.

Welcome!

Welcome one and all to Bullying the Jukebox: A place where two brothers come together to give their two sense about the music industry. Reviews from CD's and shows will also find a place here. Keep posted for news as well.

Cheers
Mikey