Those three words are what keep reoccurring in my mind as I listen to The Astral We by Cleveland’s Harvey Pekar.
The lyrical content in this album is beyond deep. It makes you think and react based on how you interpret it. There is no tongue in cheek rhyming, stolen ideals, or laziness in these songs.
With that said, it’s nice to hear Harvey Pekar once again. Spite a lineup change since the last album, OG members Elliot Frank (guitar), Nick Krastas (vocals), and Nick Schmitt (bass) joined forces with Nate Kelly (drums) and Tyler Sickels (guitar) to create a more solid band than ever. Without worrying about reinventing their sound, Harvey Pekar continued full force where they left off on their debut release back in 2013.
“Huff Joules” started off the album strong with the band as a whole not holding back at all. “The Heritable Self” was a true hardcore romper with plenty of group singalong opportunities as Krastas screamed his thoughts out. Loved this track.
“Ferrous Kin” was one of the songs where I just felt like Krastas was delivering a spoken-word of sorts backed by heavy riffs and fast-paced drumming. The lyrics, “frail is the life trivialized by that of artifacts” really stuck to me for some reason.
“Truisms of Infinite Regress” caught my attention in more ways than one. The track, which seeming talked about conformity and a sense of false logic, sped up midway making for quite a powerful statement and throw down. This track begged to be heard over and over by this listener.
I should also mention how much I found myself enjoying “Crystal Starlings”. The breakdown about half way though and change up kept the track interesting, the group vocals towards the end make the song enjoyable.
Everyone has their own definition of hardcore music. Harvey Pekar’s is more aligned with the genre I recall from the 90s and early 2000s, at least the hardcore I enjoyed the most mixed with a punk feel and beyond intelligent lyrics. Perhaps a little more melodic than some might like, The Astral We impressed the hell out of me and has been fueling my ears daily since it’s release a few weeks back.
Looking past the band’s sound, Harvey Pekar consists of some of the most down-to-earth guys I have had the pleasure of knowing over the years. I’ve seen them play in bars, inside a warehouse, and even on a church stage on a Sunday morning over the years and they always put on the best show and always are down for a hang afterwards.
Here I am sounding biased now. I am just calling it as I hear it. Listen for yourself and make your own determination.
[Passing the mic/keyboard/whatever over to my pal Jason Utes who covered the recent Falcon show that filled up the Grog Shop on Wednesday night. Thanks Utes for the killer review! It appears that I missed one hell of a show]
“I wanna die and I don’t care who knows.”
If you’re reading this, you are probably already a fan of The Falcon. Otherwise, if I told you I was going to see a band with such lyrical presentation, you would imagine something far different from what I experienced Wednesday night.
Ostensibly, The Falcon is a band that exists primarily for the sake of the band members to get together and have fun playing music, free from the expectations of their higher-profile projects which include The Lawrence Arms, Alkaline Trio, The Loved Ones, and the Smoking Popes, to name just a few. Seriously, Neil could add probably a dozen more credits on his own, and this band is now one degree of separation from Blink-182 (more on that later).
So, if the band exists in the name of a good time, how is that going to translate to the stage when they are touring in support of the mostly bleak and harrowing (but excellent) Gather Up the Chaps?
Granted the album cover, which features a despondent leather daddy in the same vein as certain Minor Threat and Rancid album covers, achieves a humorous yet somber sexuality that Third Eye Blind only achieves on accident, this record is still a serious undertaking even with song titles such as “Hasselhoff Cheeseburger” and “You Dumb Dildos” boldly printed on the sleeve. (Enough about the album itself, you can check out the review of the album). Rest assured, the answer is that the show was a great time for band and crowd alike.
The Lippies, from Grand Rapids, kicked things off for me (Note: I did not make it in time for Blacklister to kick things off). The band took the stage led by Tonia Broucek who addressed the crowd with a politeness that bordered on timid that simply didn’t last. Once the band kicked into their brand of 1990’s Lookout Records reminiscent punk rock, she became an authoritative force that demanded (and received) control of the entire Grog Shop.
At one point, she entered the crowd to lay on the ground in a mock temper tantrum and her sheer aggression parted the crowd like riot police. Broucek easily had the most confident and effortless stage command of the entire night. The real pleasant surprise of the set came when the band receded for a haunting solo rendition of “It Boils” off of their eponymous full-length that left everyone rattled. Standout songs to check out: “302” and “It Boils” which you can find on their BandCamp page.
Next up were Worriers, touring in support of the incredible Imaginary Life. This band became one of the highlights of the night for me [as] every song sounded fundamentally different but clearly had the same fingerprints. For fans of thoughtful and melodic rock, hopefully they won’t mind that I mentally catalogued them in the company of The Weakerthans. This was definitely a more highbrow compliment to what the Falcon had in store next (again, hopefully taken as praise by both parties). Check out “Glutton for Distance” and “Plans” on their BandCamp page.
By the time the PA started blaring Bad Lip Reading’s “The Bushes of Love” (I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Lovegun played just before), The Falcon took the stage. From the opening riff of “The Angry Cry of the Angry Pie” the show was the usual onslaught of humor and spastic punk rock.
Having only two full length albums and an EP, all of their material was represented, but decidedly centered around songs from Gather Up the Chaps. “Skeleton Dance” prefaced by a sarcastic “this will be great, wait till you get a load of this” and “War of Colossus” being high points for me.
Between songs, the band took playful jabs at one another and Cleveland itself. There were at least three instances of pointing out that Cleveland is indefensible to a touring band’s gravity toward Cleveland Steamer jokes. They quipped that the crowd “Cleveland steamed the wrinkles out of [the song] ‘Sailor’s Grave’.”
Brendan Kelly reveled in pointing out how much Dave Hause hates ska and that he is now sentenced to playing the Falcon’s own ska anthem “The Unicorn Odyssey” on a nightly basis.
Dan Andriano stood helpless as Kelly mused on Dan’s Alkaline Trio bandmate Matt Skiba’s undead persona as well as a few taunts such as, “you BLINK and you’re out of a job!”
Dave Hause is a welcome addition and it’s great to see him playing punk rock again (The Loved Ones will soon be in the midst of a 10th anniversary tour for Keep Your Heart that I’m selfishly hoping will lead to the band being more active. I also don’t mean this to discount Dave Hause’s fantastic solo efforts)
The intended purpose of the Falcon is still front and center, a group of friends having a great time and not taking things too seriously. Still, the Falcon’s set still had its heartfelt moments. On the day of this show, Merle Haggard passed away and Kelly, who has a prominent “Mama Tried” tattoo, was audibly choked up when he memorialized his hero with a story of Merle and Johnny Cash’s first meeting.
Sadly, due to the nature of this being a “side project” for everyone involved, it may be a while until we hear from the Falcon again. This was their first proper tour since 2007. Still, as the show ended with the band leading a conga line around the Grog Shop to Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” (yes, really) everyone in the club could only hope that this would be the first annual Gathering of the Chaps in Cleveland.
Special thanks to Toby Jeg of Red Scare Industries for inviting us to cover the show, and thanks to Brian for letting me stink up the joint on his behalf.
Setlist:
The Angry Cry of the Angry Pie
Sergio’s Here
Blackout
War of Colossus
Hasselhoff Cheeseburger
Huffing the Proverbial Line Off the Proverbial Dong or The Blood and the Frog
Sailor’s Grave
You Dumb Dildos
The Skeleton Dance
Little Triggers
Dead Rose
Unicorn Odyssey
If Dave Did It
The Fighter, The Rube, The Asshole
Black Teeth
The La-Z Boy 500
[Man, Utes, this was a damn fine review. I think I just should give you my login info to the site and call it a life. Thanks for covering a solid evening of tunes! – Brian]
I sometimes feel like I am an 80 year old man when I write. I am not sure that is going to make much sense to you yet until you read the following:
In my life, I have met a lot of good, amazing faces.
Granted I have yet to turn 40, but that sentence holds so true. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many people in my short existance on this planet.
One of those people is Jon Nix. He is a fellow Cleveland resident with a bigger love for music and film than I will ever have in my lifetime. He has leaped boundaries I could only have imagined doing at his age and currently runs the fast-moving Turnstyle Films.
Next week, Turnstyle Films is dropping Draw Hard, an amazing short form documentary on Cleveland’s most bad ass underground comic artist John G.
I watched the documentary not really knowing what to expect.
I know who John G. is and I have seen his art everywhere from his Lake Erie Monster comic illustrations to the numerous concert posters he had done for many local acts.
Chances are if you are from Cleveland you have even seen his artwork on the monthly menu fliers that make those Melt Bar & Grilled sandwich of the months look even more enticing.
What I did not know was John G.’s story.
Draw Hard did a hell of a job bringing me to speed with a solid dude I am sure I rubbed shoulders with back in the 90s. In one sitting, my appreciation for John G. grew easily 100 times.
The story is real and the best part about it was how it was told throughout. It is a truly inspiring short documentary that everyone needs to check out.
You do not even need to love comic books to appreciate this documentary. This showcasing of a man who overcame tragedy to his advantage proving you can do anything when you put your mind to it and without looking back.
On February 27th, Draw Hard will be available for rental or purchase on VHX . For $10, you can even get digital versions of the first 5 volumes of the Lake Erie Monster comic as part of a bundle deal.
The documentary will also be available for streaming through Fandor,
Don’t pass this up. Seriously. It is well worth your time.
Props to Jon Nix and Turnstyle Films for creating such a captivating documentary about one of the most talented humans in Cleveland.
Check out the Draw Hard packages available on VHX:
Take A Dip Package – $4.99
-A Digital Copy of the Film
-Director’s Commentary
-Trailer
-Hi-Res Digital PDF of “The Lake Erie Monster” Volume #1
The Monster Package – $8.99
-A Digital Copy of the Film
-Director’s Commentary
-Trailer
-Hi-Res Digital PDFs of the First 5 Volumes of “The Lake Erie Monster” & The Summer Special issue
The Gritty Package – $9.99
-A Digital Copy of the Film
-Director’s Commentary
-Trailer
-Hi-Res Digital PDFs of the First 5 Volumes of “The Lake Erie Monster” & The Summer Special issue
-Hi-Res Digital PDFs of The John G Art collections “No Gods No Monsters” & “No Gods No Monsters Non Grata”
Cleveland’s Blue Arrow Records have started their own record label with the same name and first on their roster is the amazing Jonathan Richman.
Seeing that I am huge fan of them both, I could not help but stop what I was doing tonight to share the good news.
Jonathan Richman is easily one of my favorite singer-songwriters out there. His career reaches all the way back to the 70s with the Modern Lovers and has continued over the years with him turning more into a solo artist. I have always appreciated his upbeat outlook on life as well as got a kick out of seeing him in There’s Something About Mary and Kingpin.
Blue Arrow Records is a brick and mortar record store staple on Waterloo in the East Cleveland neighborhood of Collinwood. Owned by the good folk Pete and Debbie Gulyas, the store has been selling vinyl and other music related formats/memorabilia since 2009. I adore that store (and the owners) and have found some incredible gems there over the years including a lot of Richman’s catalog.
The Gulyas’s actually used to own a shop on Coventry in Cleveland Hts. and met Richman in the area some 18 years ago.
Over the years, a friendship was formed between the Gulyas’s and Richman. Just a few years back, Richman asked the Gulyas’s to help sell merch on an East coast tour. It just makes sense that this is happening.
On March 1st, Blue Arrow will release 7-inch singles by Richman, “O Sun” and “Keith”. There are plans for a full length to drop in the Fall as well as extending the label to other acts in due time.
Click on the album covers below to place your pre-order today at Blue Arrow Records ($10 each – Ships in April):
Richman is actually playing the Euclid Tavern on March 8th with Tommy Larkins on drums. If you know what is good for you, you will make it and see him perform. It is a show not to be missed.
Cleveland’s very own TurnStyle Films just dropped a trailer for their well-deserved documentary about local illustrator and comic book artist, John G.
Chances are if you live in Cleveland, you have seen his drawings more than one time. He is the man behind the sandwich of the month artwork for Melt Bar and Grilled, has done many fliers for local concerts, and is the illustrator for the underground comic The Lake Erie Monster with artist Jake Kelly.
Judging by this trailer, this is going to be an amazing documentary about one of the most talented men in Cleveland. I can not wait to see it.
Poetic. Poignant. Hard.
Looking past the band’s sound, Harvey Pekar consists of some of the most down-to-earth guys I have had the pleasure of knowing over the years. I’ve seen them play in bars, inside a warehouse, and even on a church stage on a Sunday morning over the years and they always put on the best show and always are down for a hang afterwards.
Granted the album cover, which features a despondent leather daddy in the same vein as certain Minor Threat and Rancid album covers, achieves a humorous yet somber sexuality that Third Eye Blind only achieves on accident, this record is still a serious undertaking even with song titles such as “Hasselhoff Cheeseburger” and “You Dumb Dildos” boldly printed on the sleeve. (Enough about the album itself, you can 
