Cleveland, Good Times, Indie, Live Shows, Music, Outlaw Country, Review, Rock

Those Darlins, The Dexateens, The Features – Grog Shop – Cleveland , OH – 05/19/09 – Concert Review

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It’s no surprise that all who attended the Grog Shop last Tuesday night to see Those Darlins, The Dexateens, and The Features had a blast.  The sad thing though was the turnout for the evening and with tickets only $8 I really expected a bigger turnout.  Nevertheless all the acts that night played just as hard as they would to a full crowd and I along with the handful of fans got our money’s worth.

Arriving early I had a picture perfect moment when Those Darlins came rounding the sidewalk outside of the Grog Shop.  Clearly the ladies decided to check out their surroundings on a possible quest get a bite to eat and were returning to work.  Respecting their privacy I kept the camera down and shyly smiled at them as they walked in the doors of the venue.  I laughed when one of them screamed “blech!” as a Radiohead song greeted them when they entered.  Not everyone can be a Radiohead fan I guess…

A couple of months ago Those Darlins had their first taste of Cleveland when they opened for Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys at a sold out show at the Beachland Ballroom.  A nice size crowd greeted them as they took the stage.  Sadly their return to Cleveland to play again had a crowd that barely made it to twenty.  Still the sassy ladies of Tennessee did not let the lack of attendees kill their spirit and started playing through their songs at full force.

Ripping through tracks from their upcoming self-titled debut release Those Darlins played just as good, if not better, as the first time I saw them.  Hearing “The Whole Damn Thing” cracked me up as the ladies sang about getting drunk and eating chicken.  Other tracks like “DUI or Die”, “Snaggletooth Mama”, and “Wild One” seemed to get some of the folk sitting at the bar to turn their heads and pay attention to the three country cuties up on stage.  Their mustache wearing drummer even had a moment when one of the toms on his kit fell off while playing.  All of the girls laughed mid-song and continued to stomp their boots and play hard.  Ripping through a nice sized set I could not help myself from getting excited when their album is delivered to my front door (I pre-ordered it).

I am sure Those Darlins were a tad frustrated with the small amount of people at the Grog Shop seeing they drove all the way up to play out, but thanks to their great set they won a few new fans and I am sure the next time they return to Cleveland there will be a much bigger crowd waiting to see them.  I’ll do what I can to make sure that happens.

Not knowing the two other bands I decided to stick it out and see what each had to offer.  Alabama’s The Dexateens took stage and it seemed like a few more people actually surrounded the stage as they played including the mustache clad drummer of Those Darlins.  Some of the fans looked to have been friends of the band but still, fans are fans.  The band’s mix of southern rock and folk really won me over and I made sure to pick up one of their vinyl albums from the merch booth just so I could check them out more.

The main act of the night, The Features, took stage to a very small welcoming crowd including a handful of folk who traveled all the way from Erie, PA just to see them.  The Tennessee indie rock band played well but was not what I was looking for so I called it a night.

As I headed to the door I spotted Kelley Darlin sitting at the bar with one of the guys who works at the vintage shop below the Beachland Ballroom called This Way Out.  I did not want to pass up the opportunity to thank her for playing Cleveland again and also wanted to tell her that she would be seeing me at Bonnaroo in less than a month.  Kelley Darlin smiled from ear to ear and give me a high-five / handshake / hold hands type response that had me smiling too.  She was a real pleasure to meet and I hope to see her again next month.

Yes, I have a crush on all three Darlins.  So what!?!

I really wish that more folk would have come out the the Grog Shop that night not just because I felt that the band deserved a fuller crowd but also because I think a lot of people would have had a great time even if they never heard any of the acts before.  Better luck next time to the bands and the fans I guess.  I am just glad I was there.

Here are some photos I took of the evening:

Those Darlins at SXSW:

-Visit Those Darlins to pre-order a copy of their debut release.  LP drops on 6/23/09 and the CD drops two weeks later on 7/7/09.

-Visit Amazon.Com to download Wild One (or maybe check out one of my previous blogs)

-The Dexateens are giving away one of their albums for free (donations accepted!)

Bookworm, Eye Opener, Music

Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse Team Up With David Lynch

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Are you scratching your head about this?

David Lynch, Sparkle Horse, and Danger Mouse
David Lynch, Sparkle Horse, and Danger Mouse

Danger Mouse has teamed up with Sparklehorse and David Lynch creating an album that may never be officially released.

Still scratching that noggin’?

Just listen to the album then already streaming in its entirety on NPR.org.  The head scratching will stop some.  This is a really interesting concept album of sorts.

Read on about this interesting idea of an album:

From NPR.org:

May 15, 2009 – When the first cryptic bits of news about Dark Night of the Soul began trickling in earlier this year, it all sounded too good to be true. Though the whole project was shrouded in mystery, it appeared that Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, two of the most inspired artists making music today, were collaborating on a new album. That alone was enough to get our geek gears spinning with excitement. But there was an unusual twist that few of us at NPR Music could make sense of: Director David Lynch was somehow involved.

It all started back in March, at the South by Southwest music festival and conference. A number of us on the NPR Music team had noticed strange posters around downtown Austin, Texas, that read “Dark Night of the Soul.” They looked like movie posters and had David Lynch’s name on them, alongside names of some of our favorite artists, like Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, Vic Chesnutt, Jason Lytle and more. We wondered if it was some sort of musical film.

Soon after our Austin trip, NPR Music received copies of the mysterious posters in the mail. No return address. Someone was messing with us. I tried to find out more, but had zero success. Then, weeks later, I finally got a note from a publicist with all the details we’d been waiting for.

It turns out Dark Night Of The Soul is an album and the songs were written by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, though the myriad singers featured on each track also had a big hand in composing and producing the work. The album was initially going to be packaged with a book of photos taken by David Lynch. But now there’s word that the music may never be officially released at all.

An unnamed spokesperson for Danger Mouse says that “due to an ongoing dispute with EMI” the book of photographs will “now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For legal reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'” When contacted, EMI declined to comment and wouldn’t confirm whether the label is even involved in the project.

You can order the book, sans music, from the official Dark Night Of The Soul Web site. In the meantime, you can hear the entire album here on NPR Music as an Exclusive First Listen.

I’ve listened to the record all the way through at least a dozen times, and can confirm that Dark Night of the Soul delivers in every way you’d hope for. It’s beautiful but haunting, surreal and dark, but sometimes comical and affecting, with ear-popping, multilayered production work. It just gets more mesmerizing with every listen.

In addition to Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, other artists appearing on Dark Night of the Soul include James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

Check out the Dark Night Of The Soul official website where you can pre-order the book associated with the release full photography and a blank CD-R.  The blank CD-R is there for you the reader/listener to add whatever music you see necessary.  Freedom of choice.  I like that.

I would rather see this entire album be released but that shall be determined.

For now head over to NPR.org where they are streaming Dark Night Of The Soul and see what the fuss is all about.

Track Listing:
1. “Revenge” (featuring The Flaming Lips) – 4:52
2. “Just War” (featuring Gruff Rhys) – 3:44
3. “Jaykub” (featuring Jason Lytle) – 3:52
4. “Little Girl” (featuring Julian Casablancas) – 4:33
5. “Angel’s Harp” (featuring Black Francis) – 2:57
6. “Pain” (featuring Iggy Pop) – 2:49
7. “Star Eyes (I Can’t Catch It)” (featuring David Lynch) – 3:10
8. “Everytime I’m With You” (featuring Jason Lytle) – 3:09
9. “Insane Lullaby” (featuring James Mercer) – 3:12
10. “Daddy’s Gone” (featuring Mark Linkous and Nina Persson) – 3:09
11. “The Man Who Played God” (featuring Suzanne Vega) – 3:09
12. “Grim Augury” (featuring Vic Chesnutt) – 2:32
13. “Dark Night of the Soul” (featuring David Lynch) – 4:38

UPDATE:  Looks like EMI bitched out and canceled the two videos below that I posted.  I swear if this album is not released then fingers should be pointed at EMI for reasons why the music industry is struggling.  I listened to the stream 3 times now and think the album is brilliant and may be one of my top 10 for 2009.

Do yourself a favor and check it out before EMI sucks harder and pulls the stream from NPR.org.

NOT an official video, but still pretty entertaining:

I also found this interesting site that I will not mention what it is about but it may interest you.  I am not sure how long it will even stay up…

Good Buy, Music, Punk, Vinyl

Good Buy: Detournement – Screaming Response EP

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While at the Bouncing Souls show last week I was checking out the merch booth grabbing some goodies for myself.  As I was waiting for the merch guy to return to the booth, I saw this interesting looking 7″ vinyl on the counter.  It grabbed my attention mostly because of the jacket.  The jacket was actually wrapped in sand paper making for a unique look.

Not knowing who the band was I added it to my pile of goodies and went on with my night.

Today I finally had a chance to check out my impulse buy.  The band is called Detournement and their debut EP titled Screaming Response was released on the Bouncing Souls’ record label Chunksaah Records.  The band enjoyed the EP so much they were selling it at their shows and boy am I glad they did.

The eight song EP is full of political powerful punk rock goodness with very thought out lyrics combined with punk music that almost reminds me of Rancid especially with the Matt Freemon-like bass riffs throughout the EP.  Heavy on the hardcore punk side at times and overall a good listen, I really enjoyed this blind purchase a lot.

If you want to pick up a copy for yourself head over to Chunksaah Records and grab one for the low low price of $6!

Detournement features members of Lifetime, Bigwig, Ensign, Plan A Project, and Worthless United.

Pressing Info:
Yellow Version: 195 pcs available from Pirates Press Records
Grey Version: 190 pcs available from Chunksaah Records
Black Version: 85 pcs available at Detournement shows (or Bouncing Souls as that is where I got mine)

Music, The Dumb

Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament Injured in Robbery Outside Atlanta Studio

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I am thinking Pearl Jam‘s Jeff Ament wish he had a “Glorified G” on April 27th when he became the victim of a violent robbery.

From RollingStone.com:

Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was the victim of a violent robbery outside Southern Tracks Recording studios in Atlanta, where the band is recording their ninth studio album with producer Brendan O’Brien. According to a police report, Ament and a band employee pulled up to the rear of the studio on the afternoon of April 27th when three assailants brandishing knives emerged from the woods wearing black masks, gloves and pants. The robbers smashed the windows of a rented Jeep and grabbed a BlackBerry before demanding more money. In total, Ament was robbed of $3,000 in cash and $4,320 worth of goods.

The bassist was chased and knocked to the ground, sustaining a head laceration which was treated by EMS. The attackers – who also stole Ament’s passport – escaped into a waiting black Nissan Maxima. The incident was captured on a surveillance camera, but no arrests have been made. Pearl Jam declined to comment on the incident.

In February, Rolling Stone confirmed Pearl Jam were hitting the studio to work on an album they plan to self-release in the States. “The new record feels good so far — really strong and uptempo, stuff we can sink our teeth into,” Eddie Vedder told us. It’s the band’s first album with O’Brien behind the boards since 1998’s Yield.

Pearl Jam are booked to headline both the Outside Lands and Austin City Limits festivals alongside the Beastie Boys and Dave Matthews Band. The band has also confirmed two late-August gigs, one in Toronto and one in Chicago.

I almost wish it were a different band involved with a different outcome.  How random would it to hear that Mastodon beat the hell out of three assailants who attempted to rob them?

Seriously, why do people need to rob people…  Proves to show you that rockstars are people too.

Still I feel bad for Jeff Ament and his wallet ($3000 cash?).  I hope he makes a full recovery and can put this past him.  Sadly there are just pathetic people out there in the world who think it is best to rob others to make a living. 

I hope they are caught and Mastodon agrees to kick the crap out of them.