Covering the covers

I've recently received a bit of stick from a very close friend of mine because of a perceptible contempt I have with covers bands.

I don't totally hate these bands. Especially the ones that do their covers while adding their own spin to these songs. I saw a band at Banana Joe's in downtown MPLS nine years ago that did amazing Prince covers. And of course, there's Me First & The Gimme Gimmes who are the world's greatest covers band.



So, in honor of my dear friend who loves covers and the bands that play them, here are my all-time greatest covers:

Blue Meanies - "Stone Cold Crazy" (Queen)

Guttermouth - "Happy Loving Couples" (Joe Jackson)

The Hanson Brothers - "Get It Right Back" (Maxine Nightingale)

The Hippos - "Our Lips are Sealed" (GoGos)

Less Than Jake - "I Think I Love You" (Partridge Family)

Limp - "Holiday Road" (Lindsey Buckingham)

No Use For a Name with Cynder Block - "Fairytale of New York" (The Pogues)

Mustard Plug - "The Freshman" (Verve Pipe)

The Queers - "Don't Back Down" (The Beach Boys)

Ted Leo - "Since U Been Gone" (Kelly Clarkson)

You Know What Really Grinds Me Gears??-Auto-Tuning

Here is another segment of "You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?"

Now granted I don't know much about R&B and Rap music. I mentioned my lack of knowledge in that department on my M.I.A. rant before. But every once in a while Rap/R&B and I run into each other. Whether it's on our basic TV channels, a song comes up somewhere...etc

These two larger then life singers, Kanye West and T-Pain are all over the music world, but I don't know why. I've heard some of their songs, and for some reason they use the infamous Auto-Tune on their music whether it's live or in the studio. Kanye has put himself over every musician, but he uses this stupid effect. If he's so damn good, why does he need to be auto-tuned? It makes himself look like a stupid robot? T-Pain is the same way. Another goofy user of 

the auto-tune.

And they say they're larger then life. They can't even stay in tune naturally. 

'World Travels Fast' into a soulful spin

A few months back, one of my favourite local bands Decibully was dropped from their record label, Polyvinyl, right before preparing to release their latest album World Travels Fast.  According to guitarist/vocalist William Seidel, it was one of those "it's not us, its you" moments. So Decider Milwaukee asked if they'd put it on their website for the fans to hear. Decibully graciously agreed to stream their entire album which I have listened to way too many times recently. Why let masterpieces collect "dust" on your laptop when you could share them with the world?

World Travels Fast is the follow up to the flawless Sing Out America!  The first song "Broken Glass" intros a slow crescendo & gets you absolutely in the mood for what the rest of the album will present.  Live By The Lake showcases technically creative beat from drummer Aaron Vold , some cool distorted guitar parts & some layered vocals. 

Lets Not Fight  has a simular driving beat to their single Penny Look Down from Sing Out America! None the less, it's a very cool song. It's one of the more up-tempo numbers on a very mellow album.  Something different Decibully displays is a blues/soul song entitled Baby's Mama. It's a great toe-tapper. Somewhere In The World  is one of my favourite songs. The layered vocals, catchy guitar part and chorus are pure gold. 

Overall, the album is fantastic. Decibully has always been able to perform the most unique and eclectic songs. It's well worth listening to. 

My Favourite Albums and Movies of 2008

With 2008 in the past, it's time to check out the best albums and movies in 08.
My favourite album of the year was Less Than Jake's GNV FLA. With a slew of solid songs, this was easily my pick. My favourite songs is defiantly "Conviction Notice".

Alkaline Trio's Agony and Irony rounds up second place. They moved to a major label with this album, and it worked alright for them. "Love Love Kiss Kiss" and "Do You Wanna Know" are my favourite songs.

Ben Fold's Way To Normal picks up third place. Songs For Silverman was a bit slow and lacked his famous energy he so often puts forward, but with Way To Normal, he lets loose. "Hiroshima", "Bitch Went Nutz" and "You Don't Know Me" are some of the gems.

As for movies I only have two favourite films.
The Dark Knight was absolutely amazing. Heath Ledger played one of the greatest villains of all time. His character knew how to psychologically twist you into a pretzel you didn't think could happen.

WALL-E places second. It has a great message, and a robot love story. The art was upped by Pixar, and I just loved it. They never cease to amaze me.

Straight to Hell M.I.A.!!!!

I'll admit it, I'm not always up to date with the latest singles in pop culture and music. Ask me anything about Lil' Wayne or T-Pain. I've heard of them, but mostly because they are always in trouble with the law. Anyway, I recently heard M.I.A.'s big single "Paper Planes" a lot lately, and found it resembling one of the greatest bands in the world (The Clash)'s song "Straight to Hell".

Yes, I understand rappers do "sampling". The song, aside from ripping off The Clash, is pretty stupid. The lyrics make absolutely no sense. I saw some videos of this small rapper, and she is absolutely terrible live. You can't understand what she is rapping. It may have something to do with that she is rapping over her song being played loudly over the speakers. Or maybe it's because she is terrible in general.

I don't know. No one will remember her in the next couple years 

Punk Rock Holiday songs

Everyone seems to love this time of the year. I despise the traditional holiday songs because at work, they play all day long. They rotate the same ones every time. It's enough to make you smash your head against a wall. Seriously. Well, thankfully, there are some pretty decent punk rock holiday songs that can help you through the holiday stress.

Auld Lang Syne-Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies (live)

Feliz Navidad-Voodoo Glow Skulls

Snake Oil Tanker-Alkaline Trio (acoustic)

The Grinch-Blue Meanies

Child on Christmas Day-Decibully

Happy holidays!

(these from 82)
"Merry Christmas (I don't want to fight tonight) - The Ramones

"Blue Christmas" - Squirtgun

"Christmas (Baby please come home)" - New Bomb Turks

"White Christmas" - The Impossibles

"Grandma got runover by a reindeer" - Less Than Jake

and the greatest holiday song:

"Fairytale of New York" - The Pogues or No Use for a Name.

How do we mine for gold?

I was asked a few months ago how I discovered all the music I currently listen to. For those of us who despise top-40 rock radio, it's not that easy. Here are the main ways underground music-afficionadoes discover new artists:

1. Word of Mouth

Often, when we have friends or older siblings who enjoy the same music, they'll turn us onto a new band. I didn't grow up with an older sibling, so I discovered music that my friends were listening to. In my early teens, it was borrowing a Metallica or Sepultura cassette, taping it, then buying it as soon as I could afford it. In my late teens, it was my friend and ex-hockey teammate Pete who told me about Voodoo Glow Skulls and Unwritten Law when we first began discussing music. He was so correct about both, that I still listen to both bands to this day. My roommate in Minnesota used to have several thousand CDs and I could almost always find something new and interesting in his shelves.

2. Live experience

So often, we are blown away by an opening band at a show. We'd be there to see one group, but the opening band will be just as good or better and best yet, we may never had ever heard of them. AFI opened for the Offspring during their 1997 tour and that was the first time I ever heard of that then-hardcore band. One of my favourite underrated bands is Los Infernos. I happened upon them only because all the opening bands for the Invaders at the Globe in Milwaukee cancelled. Los Infernos were scheduled to play a 21-over show later that night and agreed to play the early set. I was probably the only person in the club that liked them, as the weren't a ska band like the Invaders.

3. Incest (the musical kind)

When a favourite band breaks up, members of that band scatter to form their own bands or join another band. It's easy to say "I liked Slapstick, I should try the band their singer formed after their breakup (Broadways) or maybe the band their bass player, guitar player and drummer formed? (Tuesday)" What about Joey Cape, the singer from Lagwagon, who keeps playing in different side projects like Bad Astronaut and his own solo deal? Since Lagwagon has so many fans, he's already got an eager fanbase when he wants to do something different.

4. Compilations

One of the best way for a label to advertise unknown bands is by issuing cheap compilations. I have countless comps I've purchased for $5 or less. When I began listening to punk, I basically bought something by every band on the "Survival of the Fattest" comp put out by Fat Wreck Chords.

5. Reputation of label

When I was young and had much disposable income, I would often order by mail every new CD from certain record labels because of their reputation for releasing good music. Asian Man Records and Fueled by Ramen used to have excellent bands and both labels got a lot of my money before their quality began to suck.

6. Used CD bins

Sometimes word-of-mouth comes from places other than trusted friends or relatives. The name of certain bands will stick in your head as something you might like based on a CD review so you file it away until that magic moment you find it in a used CD bin at Cheapo, Rasputin, Atomic or Amoeba. If it's cheap enough, why not take it home? You can always resell if you don't like it.