Frank Yang Even in this age of band reunions run amuck, the returns of some outfits to active duty seem highly unlikely. Maybe the animosity between the principals is too deep for even the biggest prospective paydays to put aside, or the prospect of being regarded as a nostalgia act rather than active, vital artist is too unpalatable, or maybe the band's audience wasn't all that big the first time around and their legend hasn't necessarily grown enough in the interim to make it seem worthwhile. Any and all of these could reasonably have applied [...]
Photo by Angel Ceballos FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17th Zola Jesus (Nika Roza Danilova) has her fair share of musical talents, but her voice—the result of years' worth of operatic training—is easily her greatest asset. It's led to her unique sound and her success, including her most recent album Conastus . Earlier this month, Danilova lent her vocals to Orbital for a track on the British electronic duo's new album Wonky . Danilova, who's never been one to shy away from the dark, brings her gothic edge to [...]
Jeremy Balderson At first, it's hard to imagine what need there is for a Craig Finn solo album. After all, he gets to run roughshod over The Hold Steady records with as many words as he can manage to pair with their classic rock attack - has he really got a backlog of ideas that don't fit that broad and welcoming template? As Clear Heart, Full Eyes , out next Tuesday but now available to stream in whole at NPR demonstrates, yeah he does. [...]
[Scud Mountain Boys at Brighton Music Hall, January 14, 2012. Photo by Michael Piantigini.]
Sub Pop While far from the most earth-shattering reunion announcement by any popular measure, it was most pleasant and unexpected when word came last month that Scud Mountain Boys were getting back together for some shows in 2012. The Scud Mountain Boys, for those not in the know, were Joe Pernice's first band of note, an alt-country foursome that evolved from the rockier Scuds and preceded the more pop-oriented and only slightly less sad-sack Pernice Brothers. Their tenure ran from 1991 to 1997 and three albums, the first two of which - [...]
Band of Horses are at the Paradise on December 12 On Sale Now Truth & Salvage Co. + Musikanto | November 12 at the Brighton Music Hall | $10-$12 | On sale @... Support indie media! Read the rest at thephoenix.com . . .
Scud Mountain Boys : Penthouse in the Woods [ purchase ] Joe Pernice holds an MFA in creative writing from The University of Massachusetts where he apparently learned less is more. His lyrics are sparse. They give flavor to the often moody songs he writes, but they explain nothing. "Penthouse in the Woods" could be about anything...but I'm thinking a murder is involved. The weapon: an airtight garbage bag. The singer's guilt can't be washed off stained gloves. The song comes from 1996's Massachusetts, the last album [...]
>> You likely saw the news a couple weeks back that during Joe Pernice 's recent tour stop in Cambridge 75% of his revered, '90s alt-country unit Scud Mountain Boys appeared on stage for the first time this century. And you probably read that the band intends to play a few shows before the end of the year. Now comes news that Pernice's label Ashmont Records will reissue two "effectively out of print" Scud Mountain Boys records, The Pine Box and Dance The Night Away "either separately, [...]
Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs Low: Trust (2) Scud Mountain Boys: Massachusetts Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha The Beatles: Help! Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank the Cradle , Our Endless Numbered Days , The Shepherd's Dog , and Kiss Each Other Clean (2) Bjork: Vespertine Dillard & Clark: The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark (2) This was sort of a whatever week for me, listening-wise. [...]
Cat Power: American Flag Doris Day: That Jane From Maine Matt Pond PA: New Hampshire Scud Mountain Boys: Massachusetts Blossom Dearie: Rhode Island is Famous For You Simon & Garfunkel: The Only Living Boy In New York The Mountain Goats: Going To Maryland Nation of Ulysses: You're My Miss Washington, D.C. Ryan Adams: Oh My Sweet Carolina [...]
Listening to a little bit of #1 Record and a little bit of Radio City and a little bit of Third/Sister Lovers reminds me how varied Big Star were from record to record, and how vague it can be to describe their influence. To say they inspired the "power pop" genre is true enough, but also takes a narrow view of the band—one that begins and ends with Radio City , if not simply "September Gurls." What about all those 70s rockisms of the first album? What about the gentleness of a song [...]
Joe Pernice of the Pernice Brothers , Scud Mountain Boys , Big Tobacco and, well you get the point. The guy is prolific and is set to turn the publishing world on its ear with the release of his first novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop , through Riverhead Press . Fans in Chicago will be some of the lucky few that will get to see him read from his book and play an acoustic set of covers mentioned in the book when he hits Schubas on [...]
Here's an old mix that I made for a friend. It started out as an introduction to Alt Country, but turned into more of a mood mix than anything. It's still one of my favorite mixes that I've made. It's got some pretty sad bastard material on it, but I don't think of it as depressing [disclaimer: I have a huge appreciation for sad bastard music]. I think of it as a somewhat introspective Sunday afternoon listen. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think. Jay Farrar - "Hanging on [...]
John Lennon: God [ purchase ] The Velvet Underground: Jesus [ purchase ] The Scud Mountain Boys: Holy Ghost [ purchase ] Perhaps it's the holy trinity in song titles, if not in the holiness of lyrical content. But it couldn't be a coincidence that these three songs are among the finest songs each of these artists ever came up with, could it? Surely there is a divine [...]
It was fun while it lasted, but Sub Pop Week is coming to an end. Given that there are so many great bands on the label, there really was no way to feature all of them, but that is okay because A) I'll be able to still post the other artists later, just not for Sub Pop Week and B) The only way to really end this thing properly is with a Sub Pop Mix. By the way, what do you think of my Photoshop skills? Jealous, aren't you. So anyway, here you have it: [...]
Pernice Brothers "Grudge F*** (2006)" Scud Mountain Boys "Grudge ****" Stop the presses! Two days in a row with 2006 content! (Well, sorta.) Massachusetts native Joe Pernice has a smooth and increasingly smoky voice that recalls the Zombies' Colin Blunstone at time, a bad attitude and a gift for insidiuosly catchy melodies. In the mid-90s he applied these tools to a usually mellow country-rock, in retrospect really eschewing the "alt," as frontman of the Scud Mountain Boys . His songs [...]
The latest from The Pernice Brothers has had me on the ropes, my friends. I've been listening to it (nearly) non-stop for nearly two weeks now and have been flabbergasted as to what to say about it. It's a bit intimidating considering the weight and wit of Joe Pernice's lyrics to even attempt to scribble something together. I've already done the background here, so for now I'll just attempt to give Live a Little some due, in as few (un)eloquent words as possible. Album: [...]
A lot of good records come out today: The Crane Wife , Boys And Girls In America , and The Pernice Brothers Live A Little . For most indie rock types the first two records will probably command most of their attention as they mull over their best of 2006 lists. I'm certainly not trying to denigrate either release from The Hold Steady or The Decemberists as I think they're both pretty phenomenal (I've got tix for The Decemberists here in SF on Oct. 20th, it'll be my daughters first show), but to overlook [...]
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Video: 2:54 - "Creeping"
Sleeve: “1991″ by Azealia Banks
Tango In the Attic: "Sellotape"
