Envy is a beast. A five-piece dynamic, hardcore band from Japan that deals screaming guitars, pummeling drums, and guttural screams straight to your chest. The band has been around for a while and continues to grow into an epic, rib cage vibrating, jolt of momentum.
In 2006 Envy released their most accomplished, surprising, beautiful, and intense album, Insomniac Doze on Temporary Residence. Abyssal is a 30-minute, 4-song EP that has flashes of some of the terrible beauty that was Insomniac Doze. It is an album that approaches quietly, then pounces on you and rides you up a mountain, down the other side and through a valley into a lush green meadow, that quickly turns to an empty field of burnt and smoldering dreams. However, Abyssal is a less focused album, although it still features some wonderfully accomplished atmospheric metal songs.
The 4 songs – "Road of Winds that Water Builds," "All That’s Left has Gone to Sleep," "Thousand Scars," and "Fading Vision" all share a driving and intense drumbeat from drummer Dairoku Seki and textured guitars from Nobukata Kawai and Masahiro Tobita. The two guitar players mash sounds together quiet well and they never seem to leave any empty space, or maybe they leave the perfect amount of empty space.
Envy has songs that are structured more like symphonies, with cues for when the drums should rise, the bass should dance, and the screaming should obliterate everything. The lyrics are all in Japanese, there is translation in the note sheet, although understanding the lyrics isn’t that important. It is the emotion forced out of lead singer Tetsuya Fukagawa that is.
Unfortunately the emotions can get old. Out of 30 minutes there are only about 6 or 7 minutes that are unique, undeniable, must-listen moments. The rest of the ep kinda blends together.
The tunes on Abyssal run from 4 minutes to 10 minutes long and it’s length is one of it’s downfalls, with more time Envy might have compiled another outstanding tour de force CD, but this effort feels abbreviated. Like there were only 10 or 15 minutes of polished material, but they had to stretch it out to put together this EP.
It’s still a good effort, but not their most memorable and it doesn’t seem like they had to rush this release out. They should have taken their time and put together a proper full-length album, which they will hopefully do next time.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Drums and Tuba
Drums and Tuba
By Mike Hammer
Mar 23, 2005
Drums and Tuba is a trio of pop music. Some of the music is made with a tuba, there are some electronics, drums and masterful guitar playing. The band released its last full-length studio album, Mostly Ape, on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records in 2002. A mostly instrumental group, Drums and Tuba make their living finding a groove and exploiting it.
They always bring an impressive motion to their live show, playing multiple instruments and using electronic sampling to loop themselves and bombard listeners with catchy rhythms you can’t escape. The secret to their success is simple: the band is made up of three expert musicians playing and improvising songs that drench you in energy and make you want to dance. They throw together funk and jazz and pop and produce a sound that will shake you like an earthquake.
Currently, they are touring Europe, opening for Cake, and they have a new album coming out later this year. I caught up with two-thirds of the band - Tony Nozero (drums, electronics), Brian Wolff (tuba, trumpet) - the night before they left for Europe, as they finished up a month long stint at TwiRoPa in New Orleans.
Mike Hammer: Where did you guys start as a band?
Tony Nozero: We started in Austin, Texas in 1995.
MH:
You started just playing drums and tuba, right?
TN:
Yeah, it was just the two of us.
MH:
Tell me about the Austin scene and how you guys made your band kinda fit into that scene when you were starting out.
TN:
I think it was a lot different then, than it is now, probably a lot smaller.
Brian Wolf: Yeah, everybody knew everybody else. Me and the guitar player ( Neil McKeeby) were playing in a band together before this one, and Tony was playing in a bunch of stuff and we were working together, so we just said he let's get together and start playing.
TN:
Yeah, it just happened organically. It seemed at that time, and it's sort of similar now, that you could just get gigs easily. There were lots of places to play and everybody was doing lots of stuff and you ran into each other all the time.
MH:
Did you guys try to set yourselves apart when you started, with having just the drums and tuba?
BW:
No, I just started playing the tuba, and I wanted to start a band. It was kinda just purely for fun. We sort of had a moment, pretty quickly, where we decided we needed a third person. At first we were thinking about more horns, but Austin is like, any of the horn players were all jazz guys, so we got together with Neil.
MH:
So the band evolved from just drums and tuba to a three-piece with a guitar. How did that change your sound? Define your sound?
TN:
At first we were doing kinda marching band on the street stuff, that had a big old bass drum and one cymbal and one snare and was just very stripped down. It was just kinda wacky, funky, weird stuff. So when Neil showed up we really started working on writing songs, making arrangements and such.
BW:
Back then it was a lot more punk. It was nothing we tried to do, it just kinda came out that way.
MH:
As an instrumental band, a lot of times I think that instruments take different roles that could be taken by a vocalist. This is something that we were concentrating on, trying to appeal to people who aren’t as familiar with straight instrumental groups.
BW:
We never really made an attempt to appeal to anybody. We just, we do melodies and stuff, and that makes it a little more accessible. No matter how weird it is. So, that gives people something to grab onto. And we were always kinda like, if people like it, they like it, if they don’t, they don’t. We didn’t have any plans for the long term or anything...
MH:
But you guys have managed to stay around and make a living as a band. How many albums have you put out now?
BW:
Seven.
TN:
Yeah.
MH:
Is that finished yet?
TN:
It’s getting there. Pretty close, we’ve been working on a lot of different songs.
MH:
Is that what some of the lives shows are for, right now, working out the kinks in the songs?
TN:
Yeah, some of it.
MH:
Well, there’s a lot of movement in your show, as far as playing different instruments and looping things and working with each other. Do you try and capture that in the studio?
TN:
With some of the stuff, it’s weird, some of the songs in the studio come out really differently.
MH:
How much can you copy the studio on stage?
TN:
They’re pretty similar. The structures are all written out – from the three of us being in the studio and working it out – and we pretty much stick to the format. There’s always little bits of improv that weave in and out, but there’s always...we always want a full song, not just a part that goes on forever.
MH:
For a while you guys were including some vocals. How did that change the songs?
BW:
It hasn’t changed them very much.
TN:
Yeah, it hasn’t changed them. The one thing that’s been difficult is figuring out how to go about it because we’ve been instrumental for so long.
MH:
Have the shows changed at all?
BW:
They're pretty similar. The people who’ve followed us, we’re doing new stuff, so that’s exciting, but mostly it’s just been difficult balancing all the sound. There are a lot of sounds and it’s just a matter of balancing all the sonic shifts that are going on.
MH:
Is that exciting for you guys?
BW:
Yeah, we’re always trying to do something different. You don’t wanna do the same stuff over and over again.
By Mike Hammer
Mar 23, 2005
Drums and Tuba is a trio of pop music. Some of the music is made with a tuba, there are some electronics, drums and masterful guitar playing. The band released its last full-length studio album, Mostly Ape, on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records in 2002. A mostly instrumental group, Drums and Tuba make their living finding a groove and exploiting it.
They always bring an impressive motion to their live show, playing multiple instruments and using electronic sampling to loop themselves and bombard listeners with catchy rhythms you can’t escape. The secret to their success is simple: the band is made up of three expert musicians playing and improvising songs that drench you in energy and make you want to dance. They throw together funk and jazz and pop and produce a sound that will shake you like an earthquake.
Currently, they are touring Europe, opening for Cake, and they have a new album coming out later this year. I caught up with two-thirds of the band - Tony Nozero (drums, electronics), Brian Wolff (tuba, trumpet) - the night before they left for Europe, as they finished up a month long stint at TwiRoPa in New Orleans.
Mike Hammer: Where did you guys start as a band?
Tony Nozero: We started in Austin, Texas in 1995.
MH:
You started just playing drums and tuba, right?
TN:
Yeah, it was just the two of us.
MH:
Tell me about the Austin scene and how you guys made your band kinda fit into that scene when you were starting out.
TN:
I think it was a lot different then, than it is now, probably a lot smaller.
Brian Wolf: Yeah, everybody knew everybody else. Me and the guitar player ( Neil McKeeby) were playing in a band together before this one, and Tony was playing in a bunch of stuff and we were working together, so we just said he let's get together and start playing.
TN:
Yeah, it just happened organically. It seemed at that time, and it's sort of similar now, that you could just get gigs easily. There were lots of places to play and everybody was doing lots of stuff and you ran into each other all the time.
MH:
Did you guys try to set yourselves apart when you started, with having just the drums and tuba?
BW:
No, I just started playing the tuba, and I wanted to start a band. It was kinda just purely for fun. We sort of had a moment, pretty quickly, where we decided we needed a third person. At first we were thinking about more horns, but Austin is like, any of the horn players were all jazz guys, so we got together with Neil.
MH:
So the band evolved from just drums and tuba to a three-piece with a guitar. How did that change your sound? Define your sound?
TN:
At first we were doing kinda marching band on the street stuff, that had a big old bass drum and one cymbal and one snare and was just very stripped down. It was just kinda wacky, funky, weird stuff. So when Neil showed up we really started working on writing songs, making arrangements and such.
BW:
Back then it was a lot more punk. It was nothing we tried to do, it just kinda came out that way.
MH:
As an instrumental band, a lot of times I think that instruments take different roles that could be taken by a vocalist. This is something that we were concentrating on, trying to appeal to people who aren’t as familiar with straight instrumental groups.
BW:
We never really made an attempt to appeal to anybody. We just, we do melodies and stuff, and that makes it a little more accessible. No matter how weird it is. So, that gives people something to grab onto. And we were always kinda like, if people like it, they like it, if they don’t, they don’t. We didn’t have any plans for the long term or anything...
MH:
But you guys have managed to stay around and make a living as a band. How many albums have you put out now?
BW:
Seven.
TN:
Yeah.
MH:
Is that finished yet?
TN:
It’s getting there. Pretty close, we’ve been working on a lot of different songs.
MH:
Is that what some of the lives shows are for, right now, working out the kinks in the songs?
TN:
Yeah, some of it.
MH:
Well, there’s a lot of movement in your show, as far as playing different instruments and looping things and working with each other. Do you try and capture that in the studio?
TN:
With some of the stuff, it’s weird, some of the songs in the studio come out really differently.
MH:
How much can you copy the studio on stage?
TN:
They’re pretty similar. The structures are all written out – from the three of us being in the studio and working it out – and we pretty much stick to the format. There’s always little bits of improv that weave in and out, but there’s always...we always want a full song, not just a part that goes on forever.
MH:
For a while you guys were including some vocals. How did that change the songs?
BW:
It hasn’t changed them very much.
TN:
Yeah, it hasn’t changed them. The one thing that’s been difficult is figuring out how to go about it because we’ve been instrumental for so long.
MH:
Have the shows changed at all?
BW:
They're pretty similar. The people who’ve followed us, we’re doing new stuff, so that’s exciting, but mostly it’s just been difficult balancing all the sound. There are a lot of sounds and it’s just a matter of balancing all the sonic shifts that are going on.
MH:
Is that exciting for you guys?
BW:
Yeah, we’re always trying to do something different. You don’t wanna do the same stuff over and over again.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Music Review: Minus the Bear - They Make Beer Commercials Like This
This is a remastered and enhanced version – with one song added - of a 2004 EP from this Seattle-based happy rock band, released here on Suicide Squeeze Records.
Featuring members of Botch and Sharks Keep Moving, among others, Minus The Bear is a fantastically catchy, indie-pop quintet that has always had the ability to get a listener’s attention with dance rhythms and powerful guitar work. The guitar is the basis of the band. It is neat and wildly expansive, it twists and turns, lays low and paints a beautiful unnoticed picture and then taps you on the shoulder to offer you a beer, before going back to work.
The band is more rockin version of Joan of Arc or a slightly laid back version of Radiohead.
“Hey, Is That A Ninja Up There,” the fifth of seven tracks on They Make Beer Commercials Like This is a perfect example of the grace and power of the band. The drumbeats are strong and never timid, riling things up at just the right time. The bass is a pleasant smokey scent in the background and the guitar is the great conductor – going from quiet to full force to gentle space monster and back again.
Most of the songs from Minus The Bear are this way. They are a spectacular band, and they have a great sense of humor – with song titles like “I’m Totally Not Down With Rob’s Alien” and “Houston, We Have Uh-Oh” – and tremendously fun vibe. Jake Snider’s lyrics are always half thoughtful and half fun and that is how life should be, I think.
A track from Minus the Bear never stops; it is constantly moving forward and dancing you around a gargantuan planetarium.
The only fault I can find with Minus The Bear, if it is a fault, is that all their songs are similar, similar pacing, similar lyrics, timing, and elements. They don’t spend a tremendous amount of time experimenting. They have 9 or 10 releases out now and they all follow the same formula. But, a lot of artists and bands – from The Grateful Dead to Ani Difranco – have made careers off releasing the same album over and over again, and Minus The Bear does it well. Since they formed in 2001 they have grown their fan base and they even hit late night TV – Jimmy Kimmel – in July of this year. They constantly put out quality releases and I guess that is the goal of any band.
Featuring members of Botch and Sharks Keep Moving, among others, Minus The Bear is a fantastically catchy, indie-pop quintet that has always had the ability to get a listener’s attention with dance rhythms and powerful guitar work. The guitar is the basis of the band. It is neat and wildly expansive, it twists and turns, lays low and paints a beautiful unnoticed picture and then taps you on the shoulder to offer you a beer, before going back to work.
The band is more rockin version of Joan of Arc or a slightly laid back version of Radiohead.
“Hey, Is That A Ninja Up There,” the fifth of seven tracks on They Make Beer Commercials Like This is a perfect example of the grace and power of the band. The drumbeats are strong and never timid, riling things up at just the right time. The bass is a pleasant smokey scent in the background and the guitar is the great conductor – going from quiet to full force to gentle space monster and back again.
Most of the songs from Minus The Bear are this way. They are a spectacular band, and they have a great sense of humor – with song titles like “I’m Totally Not Down With Rob’s Alien” and “Houston, We Have Uh-Oh” – and tremendously fun vibe. Jake Snider’s lyrics are always half thoughtful and half fun and that is how life should be, I think.
A track from Minus the Bear never stops; it is constantly moving forward and dancing you around a gargantuan planetarium.
The only fault I can find with Minus The Bear, if it is a fault, is that all their songs are similar, similar pacing, similar lyrics, timing, and elements. They don’t spend a tremendous amount of time experimenting. They have 9 or 10 releases out now and they all follow the same formula. But, a lot of artists and bands – from The Grateful Dead to Ani Difranco – have made careers off releasing the same album over and over again, and Minus The Bear does it well. Since they formed in 2001 they have grown their fan base and they even hit late night TV – Jimmy Kimmel – in July of this year. They constantly put out quality releases and I guess that is the goal of any band.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS
PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS
By Mike Hammer
Mar 18, 2005
Planes Mistaken For Stars are a four piece band of rawkus power and cutting insight. They punch you square in the face and laugh at you as you watch it begin to make sense. Coming out of the “rust belt” in Peoria, Illinois and heading to hardcore heaven – Denver?
Planes Mistaken For Stars have made a decent little name for themselves in their 6 years as a band, and they seem to be poised for even bigger things. They are touring with HIGH ON FIRE right now, before going to Europe to tour with CONVERGE for a month. I spoke with leade singer Gared before the band hit the stage in New Orleans, and this is what he had to say about his band, seeing the world and shoveling pigs feet into street cars.
Mike Hammer: How would you describe your band to someone who never heard it?
Gared: I don’t know….. It’s just a bunch of kids who grew up listening to Black Flag, Black Sabbath, The Replacements and and Thin Lizzy and they threw it in a blender.
MH:
How many releases have you had now?
G:
We just put out our second full-length, “Up in them Guts” (No Idea Records) about 6 months ago.
MH:
But you guys have had other releases, right?
G:
We have 2 full-lengths, 2 EPs, a 7-inch and some compilation appearances.
MH:
“Fuck with Fire” was your first full-length, how does “Up in them Guts” compare.
G:
We’re all pretty proud of “Up in them Guts.” We think it’s our best, everybody is saying that. It’s our most focused effort. We got to put about 10 times the amount of effort into it that we have anything else in the past.
MH:
Is “Up in them Guts” doing pretty good, sales wise?
G:
It’s doing alright, it’s doing good. We’ve had a lot more press than we’ve ever had before and save one or two reviews, they’ve all been pretty excellent.
MH:
How much time did you spend recording?
G:
We spent a little over 2 weeks recording.
MH:
Where do you do it?
G:
Presto Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska. Yeah, with “Fuck with Fire” we only spent 5 days recording and mixing. This way we spent 2 weeks on everything.
MH:
What’s your process?
G:
We just usually bounce ideas off of each other. I usually have stacks of lyrics on pieces of paper lying around the house, and we build songs around the lyrics. Or, we just bounce riffs off each other and see what goes.
MH:
In the studio, do you have a pretty good idea of the final product? I guess with 5 days you are forced to. However, with the new album, did you get to mess a little more with the songs in the studio?
G:
Yeah, there’s some of the stuff on this new album that we actually kinda wrote in the studio... finished songs up, but we’ve always done that too. The way it works is like, 5 days, we wanted 10 days. With 2 weeks, we wanted 3 weeks and with 4 weeks … ya know. It’s never enough.
MH:
You guys just finished touring in Europe right?
G:
Yeah, we were there for a couple weeks.
MH:
What do you do on tour when you’re not playing? Are ya sightseeing or what?
G:
Well, we really didn’t get to see much. Except for like, the 6 blocks around the club. We just make sure we laugh a lot.
MH:
What kinda music do you listen to in the van?
G:
Not a whole lot of loud stuff, cause your ears get fried. I listen to a lot of Marvin Gaye. There’s a lot of Neil Young in the van, lotta old soul, old kinda plastic rock stuff that’s pulled back a bit, but a lotta soul.
MH:
Are there a couple of staple CDs?
G:
Oh yeah, we always have, like, Sabbath records and all the classics for when we feel like getting a bit rowdy I guess. Definitely always have “Back in Black”
MH:
So, you guys finished the UK tour, now your touring the US for a couple weeks with High On Fire, then you tour Europe again for 4 weeks with Converge. That’s a lot of touring. Do you guys like the live show? Is that where you’re at your best, on stage?
G:
Well, we all love it. I think that it’s the truest representation of our form. But it’s rough being gone. We all have families or people at home, and we all get a little bit burnt. I mean, when you’re at home, you wish you were on the road, when you’re on the road you wish you were at home, so...it’s a double-edged sword, it never changes.
MH:
Do you write stuff when you’re on tour?
G:
Not so much. We don’t really have time to. Where can ya go with an acoustic guitar to get some quiet and just sit down and write? It doesn’t really happen.
MH:
Do you guys make enough money yet, to live as just a band, or do you all have day jobs?
G:
We all have day jobs.
MH:
Got any horror day job stories?
G:
I’ve had a lot of crappy day jobs. Everything from driving cabs to loading train cars full of pigs feet. But lately I don’t have a day job, ‘cause I stay home at take care of my son.
MH:
OK. How are you going to keep pushing it and bring the band to the next level?
G:
We don’t really think in terms like that. We just usually think of what works and what doesn’t and what’s fun and what’s not, we as a rule don’t really go out of the way to do things that we’re uncomfortable with in the name of success. I feel like it’s a success that we’ve been in a band for going on 7 years and that we’re all still best friends. We can all sit in a van with each other for 5 weeks at a time, ya know. We just gotta keep on keeping on. Just playing and getting people out on tour and making friends and seeing the world.
MH:
What’s the most interesting part of the world you’ve seen yet?
G:
It changes from day to day. I’ve seen some fucking crazy shit. I been to some crazy places and I’ve been to some places that are supposed to be crazy that have really let ya down. I guess the inside of the van is pretty interesting. If those walls could talk.
MH:
As the tours keep going, how do you think that new listeners will categorize you? You guys are touring with hardcore bands now, then Converge. Do you think that people are gonna lump you with hardcore or screamo? Are you worried about that at all?
G:
Not at all. This year we’ve toured with The Ataris, Against Me, High On Fire, Hot Water Music, Dillinger Escape Plan. Every one of those bands is totally night and day. And I think, if we have one thing going for us, it's that you can’t really categorize us in one genre. I think we’re somewhere in the middle of all those bands. We just like to write rock music.
MH:
Is there anything that sets you guys apart?
G:
I just don’t think we care about what people fucking think at all. Maybe that’s what does it. We don’t fucking dress up or masquerade for anybody. And we certainly don’t use marketing schemes to sell records to dumb kids.
Maybe that’s why we don’t sell a lot of records…
By Mike Hammer
Mar 18, 2005
Planes Mistaken For Stars are a four piece band of rawkus power and cutting insight. They punch you square in the face and laugh at you as you watch it begin to make sense. Coming out of the “rust belt” in Peoria, Illinois and heading to hardcore heaven – Denver?
Planes Mistaken For Stars have made a decent little name for themselves in their 6 years as a band, and they seem to be poised for even bigger things. They are touring with HIGH ON FIRE right now, before going to Europe to tour with CONVERGE for a month. I spoke with leade singer Gared before the band hit the stage in New Orleans, and this is what he had to say about his band, seeing the world and shoveling pigs feet into street cars.
Mike Hammer: How would you describe your band to someone who never heard it?
Gared: I don’t know….. It’s just a bunch of kids who grew up listening to Black Flag, Black Sabbath, The Replacements and and Thin Lizzy and they threw it in a blender.
MH:
How many releases have you had now?
G:
We just put out our second full-length, “Up in them Guts” (No Idea Records) about 6 months ago.
MH:
But you guys have had other releases, right?
G:
We have 2 full-lengths, 2 EPs, a 7-inch and some compilation appearances.
MH:
“Fuck with Fire” was your first full-length, how does “Up in them Guts” compare.
G:
We’re all pretty proud of “Up in them Guts.” We think it’s our best, everybody is saying that. It’s our most focused effort. We got to put about 10 times the amount of effort into it that we have anything else in the past.
MH:
Is “Up in them Guts” doing pretty good, sales wise?
G:
It’s doing alright, it’s doing good. We’ve had a lot more press than we’ve ever had before and save one or two reviews, they’ve all been pretty excellent.
MH:
How much time did you spend recording?
G:
We spent a little over 2 weeks recording.
MH:
Where do you do it?
G:
Presto Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska. Yeah, with “Fuck with Fire” we only spent 5 days recording and mixing. This way we spent 2 weeks on everything.
MH:
What’s your process?
G:
We just usually bounce ideas off of each other. I usually have stacks of lyrics on pieces of paper lying around the house, and we build songs around the lyrics. Or, we just bounce riffs off each other and see what goes.
MH:
In the studio, do you have a pretty good idea of the final product? I guess with 5 days you are forced to. However, with the new album, did you get to mess a little more with the songs in the studio?
G:
Yeah, there’s some of the stuff on this new album that we actually kinda wrote in the studio... finished songs up, but we’ve always done that too. The way it works is like, 5 days, we wanted 10 days. With 2 weeks, we wanted 3 weeks and with 4 weeks … ya know. It’s never enough.
MH:
You guys just finished touring in Europe right?
G:
Yeah, we were there for a couple weeks.
MH:
What do you do on tour when you’re not playing? Are ya sightseeing or what?
G:
Well, we really didn’t get to see much. Except for like, the 6 blocks around the club. We just make sure we laugh a lot.
MH:
What kinda music do you listen to in the van?
G:
Not a whole lot of loud stuff, cause your ears get fried. I listen to a lot of Marvin Gaye. There’s a lot of Neil Young in the van, lotta old soul, old kinda plastic rock stuff that’s pulled back a bit, but a lotta soul.
MH:
Are there a couple of staple CDs?
G:
Oh yeah, we always have, like, Sabbath records and all the classics for when we feel like getting a bit rowdy I guess. Definitely always have “Back in Black”
MH:
So, you guys finished the UK tour, now your touring the US for a couple weeks with High On Fire, then you tour Europe again for 4 weeks with Converge. That’s a lot of touring. Do you guys like the live show? Is that where you’re at your best, on stage?
G:
Well, we all love it. I think that it’s the truest representation of our form. But it’s rough being gone. We all have families or people at home, and we all get a little bit burnt. I mean, when you’re at home, you wish you were on the road, when you’re on the road you wish you were at home, so...it’s a double-edged sword, it never changes.
MH:
Do you write stuff when you’re on tour?
G:
Not so much. We don’t really have time to. Where can ya go with an acoustic guitar to get some quiet and just sit down and write? It doesn’t really happen.
MH:
Do you guys make enough money yet, to live as just a band, or do you all have day jobs?
G:
We all have day jobs.
MH:
Got any horror day job stories?
G:
I’ve had a lot of crappy day jobs. Everything from driving cabs to loading train cars full of pigs feet. But lately I don’t have a day job, ‘cause I stay home at take care of my son.
MH:
OK. How are you going to keep pushing it and bring the band to the next level?
G:
We don’t really think in terms like that. We just usually think of what works and what doesn’t and what’s fun and what’s not, we as a rule don’t really go out of the way to do things that we’re uncomfortable with in the name of success. I feel like it’s a success that we’ve been in a band for going on 7 years and that we’re all still best friends. We can all sit in a van with each other for 5 weeks at a time, ya know. We just gotta keep on keeping on. Just playing and getting people out on tour and making friends and seeing the world.
MH:
What’s the most interesting part of the world you’ve seen yet?
G:
It changes from day to day. I’ve seen some fucking crazy shit. I been to some crazy places and I’ve been to some places that are supposed to be crazy that have really let ya down. I guess the inside of the van is pretty interesting. If those walls could talk.
MH:
As the tours keep going, how do you think that new listeners will categorize you? You guys are touring with hardcore bands now, then Converge. Do you think that people are gonna lump you with hardcore or screamo? Are you worried about that at all?
G:
Not at all. This year we’ve toured with The Ataris, Against Me, High On Fire, Hot Water Music, Dillinger Escape Plan. Every one of those bands is totally night and day. And I think, if we have one thing going for us, it's that you can’t really categorize us in one genre. I think we’re somewhere in the middle of all those bands. We just like to write rock music.
MH:
Is there anything that sets you guys apart?
G:
I just don’t think we care about what people fucking think at all. Maybe that’s what does it. We don’t fucking dress up or masquerade for anybody. And we certainly don’t use marketing schemes to sell records to dumb kids.
Maybe that’s why we don’t sell a lot of records…
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Music Review: P.W. Long - God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog
“Come on come one and Shake what you got. Well easy does it, cause it looks like you got quite a lot.” - "Shake" by P.W. Long on God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog.
P.W. Long has been around the indie rock scene for years. In the early 90s he was lead man in the band Mule and after that he had a trio called P.W. Long’s Reelfoot that included the drummer from Jesus Lizard. However, for the past four or five years he has been doing the solo thing, and he definitely knows how to do that.
God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog is P.W. Long’s fourth solo album and is a catchy blues-fuelled rock CD. P.W. screeches out like a mixture of Joe Cocker and the Black Keys, playing catchy southern rock and blues, similar to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with a bit of T Model Ford.
The album is full of jangly guitars, playing traditional blues licks filled with smoke. Drums lay down a solid base of despair as P.W. sings songs that he must have written on the roadside, near a garbage can fire, after a day of frustration. The spare instrumentation, the album is played almost exclusively with just guitar and drums, gives God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog an intimate feel. Because of the lack of layers it doesn’t take long to get to the core of the songs, to hit the point. And the point seems to be P.W. wants you to shake your butt a bit, bob your head, and sneer.
The lyrics are a bit Frank Zappa, a bit B.B. King and a bit Bruce Springsteen. According to the liner notes in the CD, P.W. wrote the lyrics and then had them translated to different languages by local college students, and then back to English by other students. The translations revealed differences in wording and emotion and P.W. kept some of the translated words in the songs and changed some of the titles around. The songs get better with repeated listens to the album. You get caught up in the dirty groove and backwoods preaching. The album takes you to that place where you embrace your sorrow and revel in it, play the foil perfectly and mess with everybody else, cause you got a little bit of heartbreak inside that you need to hide.
The best tracks on the disc are “Crazy Tonight” and “(Let ’em) Roll” because they are just pure hook. Stripped down rock and roll that beats on your chest, pumps you up and puts that stone cold stare in your eye so you will go one-on-one with any one in the room. The next best songs are “Sweetest Weirdo” a quirky love ballad from your local coffee shop troubadour and “Owed (To The Next Life),” which is probably the most traditional bleeding heart, blues, love song on the disc.
The delivery of the 13 songs on God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog doesn’t change much, but it’s really effective when it does. I could definitely see some hotties dancing and getting it on to this album, so it’s effective that way too. But, mostly, the album is a straightforward rock/blues swaggerfest that is tough but likeable.
P.W. Long has been around the indie rock scene for years. In the early 90s he was lead man in the band Mule and after that he had a trio called P.W. Long’s Reelfoot that included the drummer from Jesus Lizard. However, for the past four or five years he has been doing the solo thing, and he definitely knows how to do that.
God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog is P.W. Long’s fourth solo album and is a catchy blues-fuelled rock CD. P.W. screeches out like a mixture of Joe Cocker and the Black Keys, playing catchy southern rock and blues, similar to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with a bit of T Model Ford.
The album is full of jangly guitars, playing traditional blues licks filled with smoke. Drums lay down a solid base of despair as P.W. sings songs that he must have written on the roadside, near a garbage can fire, after a day of frustration. The spare instrumentation, the album is played almost exclusively with just guitar and drums, gives God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog an intimate feel. Because of the lack of layers it doesn’t take long to get to the core of the songs, to hit the point. And the point seems to be P.W. wants you to shake your butt a bit, bob your head, and sneer.
The lyrics are a bit Frank Zappa, a bit B.B. King and a bit Bruce Springsteen. According to the liner notes in the CD, P.W. wrote the lyrics and then had them translated to different languages by local college students, and then back to English by other students. The translations revealed differences in wording and emotion and P.W. kept some of the translated words in the songs and changed some of the titles around. The songs get better with repeated listens to the album. You get caught up in the dirty groove and backwoods preaching. The album takes you to that place where you embrace your sorrow and revel in it, play the foil perfectly and mess with everybody else, cause you got a little bit of heartbreak inside that you need to hide.
The best tracks on the disc are “Crazy Tonight” and “(Let ’em) Roll” because they are just pure hook. Stripped down rock and roll that beats on your chest, pumps you up and puts that stone cold stare in your eye so you will go one-on-one with any one in the room. The next best songs are “Sweetest Weirdo” a quirky love ballad from your local coffee shop troubadour and “Owed (To The Next Life),” which is probably the most traditional bleeding heart, blues, love song on the disc.
The delivery of the 13 songs on God Bless The Drunkard’s Dog doesn’t change much, but it’s really effective when it does. I could definitely see some hotties dancing and getting it on to this album, so it’s effective that way too. But, mostly, the album is a straightforward rock/blues swaggerfest that is tough but likeable.
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