Blog: Rock Star Journalist

In reading Ian F. Svenonius ' Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group (out now from Akashic Books ), you're privy to to what is perhaps the most clever take-down of the rock 'n' roll genre thus written. If you can make it through the rather high-minded, yet overly arch and pretentious opening chapters of the book, you're treated to what is simultaneously a mockery of all that is rock 'n' roll, yet still managing to be remarkably sound advice. Part I, "True Secrets Revealed," is entertaining, but while the concept of [...]

If there were any bands which could be said to epitomize the sound of the Replay Lounge and its attendant label, Replay Records , it would have to be the two which took the stage there on Friday night, December 28. This was the kickoff for a short tour featuring Mouthbreathers and Rooftop Viglantes , and the two garage-punk acts represented our college town rather well on a cold winter night. I said it on Twitter that night, and I'll say it again: the Replay Lounge is perhaps most exciting and fun on nights [...]

The night after Christmas, the Bottleneck played host to Krampusfest 2012. A free show, it featured some loud, loud music. Loadblower pulled out (make your own jokes), and I disappeared before the Melting Point of Bronze played. Nevertheless, this free show was hopping with folks sucking down drink specials and enjoying some heavy tunes. I showed up later than I'd originally expected, but was happy to walk in to discover that I'd not missed Sister Rat . The noise trio's not played that many shows yet, and they're still a little rough around the edges. As they got further [...]

Microcosm Distribution split with Microcosm Publishing earlier this year. In addition to that split of companies, Adam Gnade and Jessie Duke split Portland for the small Midwestern town of Lansing, Kansas (my hometown, as a matter of fact). They now reside at the Hard 50 farm, and run the distro out of a warehouse on Lansing's Main Street. Duke and Gnade have also recently launched Pioneer Press , an independent publishing company. Being as how they've got all that going on in such an unlikely location, we reached out to Duke via e-mail with some questions. [...]

In all of the discussion about the vinyl resurgence, what never seems to get addressed is what happens when you combine a century-old technology with modern computer programs. The hiss and crackle that's inherent to any release pressed on wax can sometimes mask things which are immediately apparent when listened to in a purely digital environment. What all of this lead-up is meant to intro is the fact that the first song on the Stereo State 's Crossing Canyons , "Across The Susquehanna," starts out with some really obviously processed vocals. Listening to it on 10-inch [...]

Indiana's Murder By Death has been coming to Lawrence for years - so often, in fact, it sometimes seems like they're a local artist here in this college town. The group's been in the news a lot this year, as the Kickstarter for their most recent album, Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon , came in as the third-highest music project ever (right behind Five Iron Frenzy and Amanda Palmer). That album is out now via Chicago's Bloodshot Records . On Monday, December 31, the majestic country-tinged indie quintet plays the Granada with Cowboy.Indian.Bear and Y(our) [...]

Strange how little vagaries of the Internet can lead to some great talks. While checking out the Tumblr of artist Tom Lowell in reference to the Young Leaves single I posted last week, I saw some art he'd done for some upcoming Clorox Girls shows. Tied in with some of those shows were speaking engagements by the band's Justin Maurer . After several hours of reading various excerpts from Maurer's new book, Seventeen Television , in addition to the majority of his output for punk mag Razorcake , I reached out and asked the writer and musician [...]

New Orleans' Heat Dust have created a real slow-burner with their self-titled 10-inch. It's a goddamn shame the record showed up so late, or I'd have made a huge fuss about how much EPs need to be considered legitimate releases for "best of" lists. Burial's Kindred is making all sorts of noise, so why not a sludgy indie group from the Big Easy? I'm especially behind this release, because final track "Thick Distance" is as perfect a song as I've heard all year. I'm a dead sucker for any song that builds for more [...]

The latest single from psychedelic rockers Kid Congo Powers & the Pink Monkey Birds won't be released until January 22 via In the Red , but you can listen to to the a-side, "Conjure Man," right now via Soundcloud. The b-side has "a deranged cover of an old Seeds tune," "Lose Your Mind," according to the press release. Both tracks are exclusive to this 7-inch, and won't appear on Haunted Head , the next long-player from the former member of the Bad Seeds, the Cramps, and the Gun Club, due out later next year. [...]

• ElKid - Conjure Man

We posted the a latest single from Massachusetts trio the Young Leaves last week. In the interim, we spoke with guitarist and vocalist Christopher Chaisson via Facebook about the band's sound and the pros and cons of releasing music digitally. Your last release was a cassingle. Is it possible to release a more obscure or outdated musical format? I'd say the cassingle is probably the dumbest musical format that any partially sane label is willing to invest in, [...]

Earlier this week, I received on of those random press e-mails one gets when they run a website such as this. And, being as how I've been looking for new music to throw in my ears while the office winds down for semester's end, I was more than happy to start listening to the debut long-player from New York City's Blk Galaga , Something for Everyone, Nothing for You . The songs were entertaining and loud and fast - all good things. What really grabbed my attention was the series of videos the group had made [...]

While I'm only familiar with the Young Leaves because of their Art of the Underground single series release, their music is pretty much instantly recognizable. Like fellow Massachusetts trio Dinosaur Jr., there's a drawling sneer to their songs that seems uncommonly suited for the powerful rock 'n' roll being purveyed. However, where J Mascis and company work with big guitar, the Young Leaves are powered by strong basslines. "The Love Song" is streaked with fuzz and thud, and the drop D tuning at the start of "Alive and Well" gives you the fear that shit's going [...]

Dan Potthast is perhaps best known as the frontman for St. Louis' finest circus-ska purveyors, MU330. In the years since that band took an unofficial hiatus, he's performed solo and with the Stitch Up. Most recently, Potthast performed and recorded with the more traditional ska outfit Dan P. & the Bricks, which features members of Slow Gherkin. He's getting ready to go on a tour with Reel Big Fish and Pilfers which starts January 5 at the House of Blues Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California. In advance of his six weeks on the road, Potthast was cool enough [...]

When The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (second edition) was pitched to me as a "another hefty read," I assumed hyperbole. Such was not that case - this 800-page tome looks like the most morbid phone book in the world sitting on my coffee table or the book stack next to my side of the bed. It's out now from Chicago Review Press , and despite having received it a good half month ago, it's taken a while to get through enough to feel comfortable summing it up for you all. [...]

The recently-released Bloody Christmas (out now from MVD Visual) commits the cardinal sin regarding direct-to-video movies: it's both terrible and boring. It's amazing how far sheer balls-out weirdness can keep your attention on a movie. However, when your camera work looks worse than a Star Wars fan film on YouTube, with ...

Apologies for the fact the website's essentially gone to hell this past week. I tried to get things set up before I left for CMJ, and really managed to get that accomplished -- not to the extent that I was wanting, but close enough. Unfortunately, when I got back, I came ...

• Sunglasses After Dark - #96 - Hollow Weiner

The Monster Maker is a seam-showing, by-the-numbers bit of '40s horror. Not outre enough to hit the strange notes that one would get during the Communist threat allegories of '50s sci-fi, nor soon enough after World War 2 to reflect the horrors of war, this 1944 film is for the ...

Hair metal played by demons, come to town to Pied Piper all the kids into the theater. The music's awful, of course, but the intense devotion of these kids to a band their patents hate is actually fairly plausible. The band's hair, clothing, footwear, and performance are also, sadly, true ...

As long-time readers of the blog know, my preferences regarding horror flicks follows a pretty obvious path: made in the 1980s, slightly cheesy (if not outright humorous), and definitely American. If I step outside, it's usually for something of a more recent vintage, or I go all the way back ...

To be frank, the majority of the releases on Tiny Engines don't make much of an impression on me. They're pleasant enough bits of post rock indie / emo, with all of the bands strongly influenced by latter-day Dischord acts and the loud-quiet-loud aesthetic of the many Deep Elm acts ...