Every so often, a Facebook status update comes along that, deep down, you know sounds too good to be true.
This was exactly the case late last night when we noticed (via their ReverbNation page) that the Lexington, Kentucky-based prog rock band Dream The Electric Sleep was playing at TBA in Charleston tomorrow, Thursday, February 23rd!
It was weird because we knew they were scheduled to play the V Club that night for a This Ain't No Disco show with our friends in Sly Roosevelt.
We knew this because we'd saved Jimbo Valentine's most awesome flyer to our desktop to remind us of the show daily. Maybe there was some scheduling snafu, and DTES was coming to Charleston, making it entirely possible that we could make it to said TBA venue, see the band, and then maybe camp out at the Transit Mall or something.
You know what they about stuff that sounds too good to be true. Just as we expected, after confirming it with bassist Chris Tackett, something silly happened deep inside of ReverbNation, and it confused Charleston for Huntington.
But make no mistake dear readers, just as you've come to expect subpar coverage here, Charleston's loss is Huntington's gain Thursday night. Dream The Electric Sleep and Sly Roosevelt have each been working on new stuff, and we'll look forward to hearing that when it is ready. DTES singer-guitarist Matt Page has dutifully and descriptively been keeping fans abreast of the writing and demo process on their site, even after the band released Acoustics and B-Sides, but the blog is something very cool to see if you're a big fan of the band.
And even though, in our heart of hearts, we knew that DTES wasn't coming to Charleston, we know this show Thursday in Huntington should be killer.
After 30 years, numerous lineup changes and seeing countless ska bands they influenced form, Rob “Bucket” Hingley (with guitar) brings The Toasters to 123 Pleasant Street Sunday
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the case for Rob “Bucket” Hingley and The Toasters, the ska band he’s fronted since its formation in New York City in 1982.
After enduring numerous lineup changes, and seeing the popularity of ska bands ebb and flow like the tides over the years, Hingley and his legendary “third wave” two-tone ska outfit keep doing what they’ve been doing, touring and playing shows all over the U.S., and the world.
For Hingley, this is what has kept The Toasters going. On the road to Toledo for a show, bringing ska music to its fans, just like he did after crossing the pond from the United Kingdom back in 1980, is what it’s all about.
“We go and play places where people don’t or won’t reach,” Hingley said over the phone, when asked about The Toasters scorched Earth tour schedule, a show per day since mid-January. “That’s been the secret to our success, is that we’ve been road dogs. That’s paying us back in spades right now.”
The Toasters return to Morgantown for an all-ages show at 123 Pleasant Street Sunday.
Over thirty years, ten studio albums, and countless trends and fads generated by the music industry, Hingley has seen it all pretty much. He said that arriving in New York City, leaving a bustling ska scene in the U.K., finding ska practically non-existent, was a bit of a culture shock.
“There wasn’t any ska scene at all to speak of, which seemed strange to me,” the singer-guitarist said with some lingering bewilderment. “I came to New York in 1980, right at the high water mark of ska music in the U.K, maybe the high water mark was 1979. But coming from that environment where everybody knew what ska was, and bands like The Specials, and The English Beat, and Madness were coming off of number one hits. And coming to the U.S., where nobody seemed to know what it was about at all, even to the point of going to the Roseland Ballroom and seeing hardly anyone there to see The English Beat, it really was like going from feast to famine. So, getting the band started in 1982, finding like-minded people and musicians wasn’t easy.”
Fast forward thirty years, after seeing bands The Toasters influenced, like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, achieve some level of commercial success, Hingley said ska music has went where it’s most loved: back underground.
“The support goes up and down, it depends what the flavor of the week is, the way the industry tends to focus on different kinds of music. The way it is now, it’s kind of back in the underground, and that’s probably the best place for it, because it’s a little more nurturing.”
Hingley recalled with fondness playing Morgantown in the past, and the support ska in general, and The Toasters in particular, were shown.
“Of course, big cities like New York, Chicago, L.A., there’s obviously a lot of support there. But we’re seeing pockets in some of the smaller towns, like Morgantown. That’s a real yardstick of how healthy it is when you can come play some of the smaller towns and still have the support. Back in the day, it’s 123 now, it was the Nyabinghi, they had a lot more reggae and ska bands coming through, and I’m talking ten, fifteen or even twenty years ago, there was a lot more support then. But if it’s coming back now it just shows that ska is rebounding a little bit.”
It’s the spirit embedded inside of ska that, despite any trends generated by the music industry, still attracts people to the sound, Hingley said.
“One thing you have to understand about ska music, you got to take it back and look at where it came from. It came out of the Trench Town ghetto in Jamaica, which at the time was a very, very poor area. And the explosion of ska was associated with Jamaica gaining independence from British rule about that time. It was rebel music coming out of the ghetto. It was an expression of freedom, the same as reggae music.
“It was rebel music,” Hingley continued. “In a way it’s managed to retain that energy, because even though ska music was exploited by the mainstream record companies in the 90’s, it wasn’t really the roots bands and not what I would point to as the real ska bands and the core two-tone bands that were exploited. It was punk bands with horns, or studio creations like Smash Mouth that have nothing to do with the ska scene. But because some record execs put that label on it, that was the flavor of the week. But fortunately that didn’t destroy ska music and the real ska bands.
“I think a lot of kids, when they come into it, they see that there’s fifty-five years of roots and culture, they might start out liking Mighty Mighty Bosstones as a portal, and they can trace that tree all the way back to those early artists from Jamaica. They see that it’s real, and people identify with it. It’s not a Frankenstein monster created in some major label lab.”
Coming back to Morgantown for an all-ages show and exposing a whole new generation of fans to ska
That just goes to show the fact that the style is really resilient, and has something to say to young kids. Because if they didn’t like it they wouldn’t come. It attracts kids from whatever they come from, whether they’re punk rock or metal kids. If you can find a way to mean something to kids, they’ll still come out.”
When asked how much The Toasters have left in the tank, how much longer they’ll be playing out, Hingley said he doesn’t expect any changes anytime soon.
“You have to ask my wife that,” he said with a laugh. “We’ve got a few more years, there are still some places we haven’t been yet.”
--- The Toasters play 123 Pleasant Street Sunday with The Staggering Cardoons, Black Action Cop, Call us Next Tuesday and special guests The Business Fairy and QUOTE. Doors open at 5:30, show starts at 6 p.m., cover is $8 in advance and $10 at the door. All-ages.
The most awesome thing about doing what we do here is just finding out about or getting clued into music that we really like by bands that we hadn’t heard much about, or failed to check out if they passed through West Virginia.
Such is the case for the Columbus, Ohio-based post rock, mainly instrumental but definitely experimental band Old Worlds. Although they’ve played Huntington once previously, at Shamrock’s, we didn’t got exposed to the music they were making.
Well, that has changed. After listening to their debut A Light In The Corner, we thought it was cool so we caught up with Old World singer-guitarist Aaron Sturgill (above pic) in advance of their show Saturday at the V Club...
WVRockscene: Old Worlds has been together since 2008, right? What was the process like taking what you were doing with guitars and loops into a full band with [drummer] Mike [Poston] and [bassist] Adam [Langdon]?
Aaron Sturgill: At first, it was just my guitar, some loopers, and a drum set that I would lug around to every show. I’d jump around and sort of jam on these half-finished songs. Mike volunteered to take over the drums and expand the melodic percussion with bells, and before I knew it, we were a three-piece band opening for The Appleseed Cast. We still rely on loops and samples, both live takes and pre-recorded, but the soul of the band is in these dense orchestrations in which everyone has a hand.
----- rockscene: You list some kind of obscure bands -- at least some that I haven’t heard of -- as influences or artists you like. Following up on the last question, how did, as the band came together, kind of have a meeting of the minds over mutual influences, or bands you all like?
Sturgill: Mike and I used to party hard while listening to math rock like Q and not U, while Adam and I worked together and sort of found each other via The Appleseed Cast. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re a very unifying band, I’ve met people that were raised on pop punk, emo, electronica, post-rock, even classical and jazz, and somehow, The Appleseed Cast is frequently the common denominator on which we can all agree.
----- rockscene: You released A Light In the Corner last year, how much time went into getting that record done and just capturing the sonic landscapes you do as a band? And what’s the response been like to the record?
Sturgill: Adam took out a huge chunk of his life to record this album. We met at his church and in his basement, tracking took about three months, and mixing took another three. We couldn’t afford to pay anyone else except to master it, so the rest was on us.
As far as the soundscapes go, it was just a matter of layering and layering and layering. The first track has the sound of air escaping from an accordion, but with all these time and filter effects applied to it, such that it sounds more like the creaking of an old ship’s hull. In another instance, we set up most of the drums we owned in this big hall, so that Mike and I could do this massive percussion segment (found at the end of “Little Human Beings”).
The response to the record has been positive, although we haven’t seen any true reviews, even though we’ve sent it to dozens of blogs and other media outlets. That’s frustrating. Oxide Tones in Germany, however, was a huge windfall -- they helped us get the album pressed, and have been really, really generous with us.
----- rockscene: Your wife is also in the band, always an interesting angle to see in a band. How did she get welcomed into the band and how neat is it to be able to share the experience of traveling and doing shows with her?
Sturgill: Adding Kylie was kind of a no-brainer. Last year our shows started to incorporate a string section, so her experience in opera fit right in. Both of us collaborating on the music means that we can both just pick up and head out on the road, without losing much of that time that a newly-married couple needs, you know? It’s pretty rad.
----- rockscene: You teach violin? The strings are definitely something that stands out on the record. Obviously that’s something that you could do live but is that something your wife Kylie does on synth? And how cool is it to be able to incorporate the violin into your band?
Sturgill: Kylie and I both teach music out of our home. I do the instruments (violin, guitar, piano), and she does this awesome mashup of voice and whole-body fitness called Method Voice. My site is arcadiamusic.weebly.com.
Like I said, we started using a string trio last year -- but, of course, we want to keep the touring group as minimal as possible. Kylie certainly handles a lot of those sounds on the synth, but we’ve been lucky enough to score Seth Ellsworth as a full-time violinist. He harmonizes with the vocals and synth, and even does some background vocals, which is fantastic. Just an all-around talented guy -- he brings a lot to the table.
----- rockscene: One of the great thing about your songs is that there’s just enough vocals in there to really let you get into the music. So many experimental/instrumental bands can kind of lose a listener’s attention by having vocals. How do you approach writing songs for what seems to be a mainly instrumental band, still having vocals and writing lyrics, etc.?
Sturgill: Typically, if a song needs vocals, we put it in. I know that sounds glib and simplistic, but it’s the same with wonky time signatures -- you can write all your songs with shifting meters and tempos so the audience has trouble keeping up, but sometimes it’s better to keep it simple, a nice 4 or 3 or whatever.
But, this is changing all the time -- in fact, a lot of our newer material, which will be on a forthcoming EP, features a lot more of Kylie’s vocals at the forefront than mine. I’m starting to focus on guitar compositions, and letting her do what she does best. This is something that not very many post-rock bands do well or at all, so if we can figure this out, we might have ourselves a niche.
----- rockscene: What is up with any new material or recordings? Has much changed or have you got much new stuff since releasing what was on A Light In The Corner?
Sturgill: Be sure to check out a couple of songs we did in July for Jacuzzi Suit Records. There’s this awesome remix of “Secret History” by Glenn Davis (Triangle Piece) of the Columbus band Way Yes. We’re super happy with how that project turned out, although it looks like this will be a Bandcamp-only release for the time being.
We’re almost finished writing a five-song EP, which I’d like to see released sometime this year. That’s as much as I can say right now.
----- rockscene: Aside from any new music or recording, anything you’re looking forward to in 2012 as far as shows?
Sturgill: Touring has been a blast, and we’re hoping to keep it up. We have a strong relationship with Jacuzzi Suit in Chicago, and in June we’re heading out for a five-day tour with Survivalist, from Columbus.
----- rockscene: You’ve played Huntington once, at Shamrock’s, how were you received there in particular, but in general by new listeners, people who haven’t really heard you before, and how neat is it to just be able to pull people in with your music?
Sturgill: The crowd at Shamrock’s was outstanding, and it’s always gratifying just to be able to meet new people wherever you go. We’re really trying to share a message, or even a feeling, of love, community, and personal responsibility. The more we can talk to people and learn about them, the better.
Known for chaotic, energetic live shows, David Mayfield (above) brings his “Parade” to the V Club Friday
Reposted from the Huntington Herald-Dispatch
Steeped in bluegrass and country music tradition, with a chaotic live energy and onstage presence that embodies rock and roll, David Mayfield’s musical career has indeed been a long, strange trip.
The 29-year old Mayfield, talking over the phone from his childhood home near Kent, Ohio, said it’s the little things that are most important for him as he’s moved from being a backing musician into fronting his own band. The little things, like sitting at the DMV for four hours, registering your sister’s van to go out on tour.
“I’ll be pulling into Huntington in her old touring van, because mine broke down,” Mayfield said with a laugh.
The David Mayfield Parade plays The V Club in Huntington Friday with Sasha Colette and the Magnolias.
Mayfield said he and the Parade, Wes Langlois (guitar), Shelby Means (upright bass), Kristin Webber (fiddle) and Joe Giotta (drums) have finished recording their sophomore record and hope to have it out later this summer.
For Mayfield, though, who now calls Nashville home, it’s now time to get back out on the road.
“It’s been my whole life,” Mayfield said fondly. “My parents met at a bluegrass festival, and have always played music together. When I was twelve years old, I decided there’s no reason for them to go and leave and play music and me to have to stay home, so I learned how to play the bass. I went out on the road with them, and my sister joined up after that. I dropped out of school in the ninth grade to play music, and my parents sold our house, and we just traveled around in an old bus living that gypsy lifestyle I guess.”
Mayfield, after graduating as a youth from bass to guitar and mandolin, said he learned firsthand the responsibilities of being a performing musician from his parents.
“What my parents really instilled in me, is we’re providing a service, just like an electrician or a plumber. People spend their hard earned money to go out and be entertained. That’s the biggest thing I got out of the family band experience, was learning that people are coming out to the V Club because they want to be entertained and put their problems and cares behind them for a few hours and kind of go on a journey. It’s something more than just some people standing on stage singing a song. It goes to different places.”
Mayfield and the Parade got their start going places thanks to immediate support from alt-country rockers The Avett Brothers.
“I had been playing with Cadillac Sky, and we decided that we were going to break up,” Mayfield recalled. “I didn’t know what I was going to do. I played some of my original songs for Seth Avett, and he was real encouraging. He said ‘You’re a good enough songwriter, these songs deserve to be heard. You’re more at home on stage, you’re more of a performer. You shouldn’t count out going out on your own.’ Then when I put the band together, I think I had the Parade together for about a month, and the Avetts invited us to open their big New Year’s Eve show. And then, when it was time to make the record Scott and Seth both came and sang harmonies on like, half the album. So right out of the gate we had a great opportunity.”
It’s those opportunities, playing big festivals like Bonnaroo, or opening for Willie Nelson or The Avett Brothers, that, in just barely a year together with his Parade, blows Mayfield’s mind.
“It’s been nuts, you know? I’ve been doing this for so long, either as a side man, backing people up, or making records for other people. And just in one year to have been offered so many big opportunities, it’s pretty surreal, and terrifying at the same time.”
Describing the live show, Mayfield said it approaches something like controlled chaos, without much control, maybe terrifying, but definitely, a thrill.
“It gets pretty crazy from time to time. We played one festival, I climbed up on the scaffolding and threw an electric guitar into the ground like a lawn dart, and then, kind of fell down a little bit. But other than that, it’s just normal bruises and scratches from an acrobatic, crazy, two-hour set of nonsense,” Mayfield said with a laugh. “We like to keep the spontaneous energy in the air. At one of our shows you really feel like everything could all fall apart at any moment, and someone could die.”
With equal parts humility and responsibility, Mayfield, asked about the Parade’s budding fan base, said it’s still all about the music for him.
“It’s definitely exciting. One guy come to one of my shows and he had my face tattooed on his arm. I had people telling me “Breath of Love” was their wedding song. I still feel a little like ‘Why me? Go listen to that guy, he’s better than I am,’” Mayfield said laughing. “It’s definitely flattering, but it also gives me this sense, of pressure really, of keeping up to those standards, and to not let people down.”
The David Mayfield Parade w/Sasha Colette and the Magnolias When: Friday, February 10, 10 p.m. Where: The V Club, 741 6th Ave., (304) 781-0680 Cost: $8 adv., $10 door Online: www.vclublive.com, http://thedavidmayfieldparade.com/, http://www.reverbnation.com/sashacolette
Following The Demon Beat closely ever since Tucker Riggleman sent us a copy of Heavy Nasty out of the blue, it’s been super neat to note any and all changes as it relates to songwriting or production. As they’ve moved from the debut, through the self-titled EP, Shit We’re 23, 1956, and most recently, Bullshit Walks, they’ve maybe taken a slightly more bluesy bent and incorporated it into their version of plug-in-and-go garage rock.
One neat thing about the band is that they’ve put music out on a few split releases, allowing fans to get something of a fix in between the more proper, full-length releases. If you were, like us, lucky enough to snag a physical copy of their Caustic Eye split with Bud Carroll & the Southern Souls, or just listen to that and their 2011 Antler Tapes split with The Shackletons, you know that the splits are both something for you, the listener, and, a chance for the band to get songs out.
So it was simultaneously exciting and not a surprise that The Demon Beat would team up with their Harrisonburg, Virginia-based friends in Elephant Child to put out a split 7” on Funny/Not Funny Records.
The distortion, the feedback, the raw, desperate energy and almost bootleg feel of the production on the previously unreleased “Teenage Wasteland” and the fuzzy, pummeling charm of the alternate version of “Change The Subject” (heard on the Antler Tapes split) make this a whole ‘nother Demon Beat split worth having, and the hot, live feel of the production is great to hear.
The Demon Beat have always benefited by being able to have singer-guitarist Adam Meisterhans record DIY, and from mixing to mastering to getting any and all songs out to their fans, the production has never left anything to be desired, but it is refreshing to hear something like this.
Elephant Child’s six-minute jam “Under The Bridge pt. 2” buttresses the shorter Demon Beat songs and ties the two bands together nicely in some sonic sense. If you haven’t got into these dudes yet, now’s the time.
Plus, Jordan Hudkins’ cover rendition of Dave Bello will no doubt make this split a collector’s item. If you pre-order the split (limited to 300) on the Funny/Not Funny site, you get an immediate download of it, and that ain’t bad.
If you're like us and tuned in to hear Sleepwalker last Monday but didn't hear it, friends everything will be alright thanks to the internets.
U92 has started a pretty cool lookin' Wordpress site for Morgantown Sound, complete with Soundcloud embeds of the shows. This is waaaay better than you, say, in embarrassing ghetto fashion, hypothetically, recording Bonfire onto an old SP-808, then bouncing it back onto the digital recorder you use to interview people for articles so your old laptop will recognize the files. Just because you like Bonfire a lot.
Anyway, you may have checked out our recent thing on Sleepwalker, and heard their debut EP The Dark One. If you missed the U92 show and were looking to hear it on someone else's site, why not check out their set below?
Set list:
Ice Skater – 1:15
Red Balloons- 3:43
6s – 9:43
Shifting of the Poles – 14:05
I Can Tell – 17:10
Burn Up in a Car – 25:00
Emile Ajar- 28:45
John’s Lament – 31:10
Dirty as Hell – 34:19
Sasha Colette and the Magnolias will break out the red bandanas Saturday night for the release of their new Appalachian prairie themed concept EP “Ridin’ Away” at the V Club in Huntington.
Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch
Things have definitely changed for Sasha Colette over the past year.
The 23-year old singer-songwriter has relocated from Eastern Kentucky to Huntington, and now has a new band backing her as she prepares to release “Ridin’ Away,” the follow-up to 2011’s “Leave It Alone.”
Sasha Colette and the Magnolias will release the prairie-themed “cry for wide open spaces” concept EP “Ridin’ Away” Saturday, January 28 at the V Club in Huntington.
Over the phone, Colette described first life after the move, now living home on the range -- in Huntington.
“I really do like it,” Colette said of moving from Morehead, Kentucky to Huntington in August of last year. “This is the first time I’ve lived in a neighborhood sort of feel. I enjoy having neighbors,” she said laughing. “Me and (lead guitarist) Jeremy (Short) moved up from Kentucky to be closer to the other band members. (Bassist) Chris (Justice) lives in Ashland, and (drummer) Steve (Barker) lives here in Huntington.
“There’s a good circle of musicians here,” Colette continued. “It’s nice to have friends who play music, everybody’s always working on their new projects or whatever. It just keeps me encouraged, the circle of friends. That’s been one of my favorite things about Huntington, is I just feel like I fit in.”
It’s one thing to hear about fitting into a new town, but it’s surprising to hear Colette talk of fitting into her own band. That’s just the change that she thinks stands out since releasing “Leave It Alone” last year.
“I’ve been playing with this band for about a year now, and it’s been really cool. They’ve given me a new form of confidence as far as how as I perform. They’ve helped me improve my vocal performance so much more,” Colette, already known for her soulful and powerful voice, admitted.
“Ridin’ Away” has a distinctly more country music sound than the mix of folk and rock found on “Leave It Alone,” something that’s happened naturally as Colette and her new band mates have congealed into a unit.
“Someone like Ryan Adams, what he does, you can’t place it exactly,” Colette said of the sound on the new record. “This album, not only does it have a nice concept throughout, but it also introduces the band. These guys, they weren’t on the first album. I never really had a particularly stable band before. I didn’t have a specific direction then because I didn’t have anybody steady in my life, as far as the music goes. But this album, the reason it sounds so good and so fitting is, we’re used to each other, and we’re all here to stay in this thing.”
Colette said capturing the sound the new lineup has been working on at Aaron Fisher’s 101 Productions in Sissonville is something she’s proud of.
“Man, the album, I love the sound it has because this is what we do at live shows. The other album, it was difficult to translate that into a live show, it was kind of misleading occasionally. But this album, there’s a lot of truth to it, whether it be from the lyrics, or the sound of the album to the sound of the live show.”
It’s the truth found in her lyrics (which Colette dutifully cites as examples) and on one song in particular on “Ridin’ Away,” that Colette is maybe most excited about.
“This album has a song on it called “Leroy,” and lyrically I am more proud of that song than any song I’ve ever written because the wordplay and just the story behind it, and the truth behind it, the offensive truth. It embodies what, um, what’s kind of going on in some people’s lives. “A simple enough life/giving up your daddy’s name to marry Leroy,” you know?”
The inspiration for one song on “Ridin’ Away” came from others finding out about Colette’s life as a “professional camper” after a Charleston Gazette article on her in early 2011 described her very real nomadic life at the time.
“Like a tumbleweed I been out a roamin’/now my secret’s out and everybody knows,” Colette said, reciting the lyrics from “Red Bandana.”
“When I read [the article] I was like ‘Oh, they put that in the paper!’” Colette said laughing hard. “Some people don’t know how to react to that sort of thing, they think you’re a ruffian or something.
“Red Bandana” is kind of a cry for some wide open spaces. But people are diggin’ the idea of like a prairie-related album.”
So the pack-up-and-go themes explored on “Ridin’ Away,” are not so far divorced from reality for Colette. “You know,” she said, sighing, and thinking about her life, where she’s been and still may go, “I’m still young, I’m twenty-three, and maybe it’ll never leave, but I have a real big urge to just get up and go all the time. I want to question tomorrow.”
But for now, Colette is focused only on her band and changing other people’s lives, with her songs.
“I’m really excited to have the CD to introduce the band to the fans. People really love our sound so much, they want to take it home with them. It can be a life-altering experience, if you listen hard enough.”
IF YOU GO: Sasha Colette and the Magnolias CD release
With Tyler Childers, The Switchmen Where: The V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington When: Saturday, January 28 Time: 10:30 p.m. Cost: $8 (includes a copy of “Ridin’ Away”) Online: www.reverbnation.com/sashacolette, www.vclublive.com
Dylan Balliett never ceases to surprise and impress the highly esteemed/regarded editorial staff here at WVRockscene. Ever since we were introduced to Spirit Night quite literally out of the blue back in 2010, finding out about What We Will Be pretty much with everyone else, we fell in love with the songs and sound Balliett quite literally brought out of his bedroom with friend Pete Wilmoth.
From his bedroom, now relocated to Brooklyn, Balliett -- via Shepherdstown, Morgantown and Pittsburgh -- brings his buddies Wilmoth, Ryan Hizer, and Dave Bello back for One Man Houses, the third proper Spirit Night release and follow-up to last year’s Normal EP. But if you expect any of the dreamy, echo-soaked acoustic-based stuff found on the aforementioned records, yes, there’s that (“Everywhere I’ve Gone” is a good example) but dear readers, you are in for quite the surprise.
You may find yourself cussing with excitement when you first hear the plug-in-and-go punk rock and indie sound of “Goodbye Jones,” “Kerouac,” and “Grasshoppers,” (which we made the mistake of listening to preemptively, spoiling the surprise of the new sound) complete with fuzzy bass (via Hizer) and crashing hard rock cymbals. Something like ‘Daaaamn, this is Spirit Night?!’
There’s also a jangly 80’s college radio rock tone and edge on some of the songs, like “Summer Clothes,” like this could fit into that era and sound, maybe pre-Green R.E.M. or something, fronted by someone who sounds like Elvis Costello?
More great backing vocals and harmonies back up Balliett’s alternately sullen or gutteral, shrieking vocals. One of the great things about Balliett’s material is really the visceral, raw emotion laid out in the lyrics. Themes, like those found on previous Spirit Night tunes, include lost or misplaced friendship(s), moving/leaving (all the more appropriate since Balliett really has moved), growing up, and, yes, jerking off instead of falling in love. But the early childhood trauma and murderous rage explored and described on the six-minute long “The Last Time” is really something that we’ll leave up to the listener to discern.
And let’s not call this stuff lo-fi anymore. The subtle childish laughter and wind on “The Last Time,” adds ambience, and random (panned?) percussion found and added to maybe the most awesome song we’ve heard in a long time, “Rubberneck,” (written by Balliett friend and longtime cohort Dave Bello) is a real treat for the listener. Sure, Balliett writes cool songs with great lyrics, but it’s those little things that make the songs cool. And don’t let us not say something else about “Rubberneck,” if anyone cares: this is a completely badass, hit song if ever there was one, as Balliett boldly belts out the chorus:
“You can read my numbers
If you deal me out
A fresh deck.
Spell out my accident
If you stare me down
And rubberneck.”
This is the standout track on the record. It is indeed way more killer than it appears just reading it as text.
So, if you were mad that Normal was just an EP and not a full-length, One Man Houses, even though barely half an hour in length, with nine songs, more than makes up for it. Thumbs up here to Dave Klug for mixing and mastering duties, and to Balliett and friends for pulling this off. If you thought you had it kind of figured out what Spirit Night will be, you may have thought wrong.
Related: Wanna bone up on past mediocre WVRockscene posts on Spirit Night? Start yer boning with part one of our Q&A w/Balliett from July 2010...
Prison Book Club (L-R: Adam Meisterhans, John Miller, Andrew Ford, Tucker Riggleman) returns to Huntington tonight for a show at Black Sheep Burrito & Brews...
It’s fitting that John Miller and Tucker Riggleman shared the interview duties for Prison Book Club.
After meeting through mutual friends at a concert for the Memphis-based alt-country band Lucero in 2005, (Lucero served as a big influence on PBC) the pair became friends, started hanging out and sharing tunes. Miller and Riggleman have shared the singing and songwriting duties in the Shepherdstown-based alt-country rock band since its inception.
They’re such good friends, already being in The Fox Hunt and The Demon Beat, respectively, Miller and Riggleman are so dedicated to Prison Book Club that they have matching PBC tattoos.
But Prison Book Club, having released their self-titled sophomore record last August, has at this point moved out of the shadow of The Demon Beat and The Fox Hunt, made fans and a name all on their own, and turned any discussion about the band from one of a side project into talk of being a force all its own.
The band (Miller: rhythm guitar, vocals, bass; Riggleman: bass, vocals, guitar; Adam Meisterhans: lead guitar; Andrew Ford: drums) returns to Huntington Monday, January 16 for a show at Black Sheep Burrito and Brews as part of a 16-show, 18-day tour of the Southeast.
“This is definitely the longest that we will have been out together,” Miller said of the steady string of shows. “I had gotten used to traveling with The Fox Hunt at least as much, if not more, than being at home and I’m excited to get back out.”
As favorably as their sophomore release was received, Prison Book Club has all new songs that they’re taking out on the road.
“We do have a handful of new songs that I believe are some of the strongest we’ve ever done, which is a good sign,” Miller said. “You don’t want to make a record and then go back, work out some new songs and think ‘man, this sounds the same’ or ‘man, we’re slipping.’ We’re very excited to have the chance to tighten them up a bit on the road.”
Riggleman, strictly a bassist in The Demon Beat, gets to write and sing his own stuff in Prison Book Club. It was Miller who helped Riggleman, then a student at Shepherd University, get started as a singer and songwriter, helping him overcome any anxiety he may have had by providing a friendly ear. Also, these late nights laid the groundwork for an enduring friendship that would one day turn into Prison Book Club after the duo welcomed Meisterhans on for PBC’s first gig at a friend’s wedding.
“Personally, when I started writing songs I kind of always wrote them with a full band in mind,” Riggleman said. “I think John and I had kind of always wanted to get something going, like a rock and roll band, but we just had to wait for the right moment I suppose.”
That right moment also provided Miller some level of lateral movement musically, still offering him the opportunity to write down-and-out type songs, and sing with his instantly recognizable, tough-but-touching country music voice, only in a rock band.
“I really wanted to write songs outside of the string band dynamic that we have in The Fox Hunt, and Prison Book Club offered an opportunity to bring some different things to the table,” Miller explained. “It’s not apples and oranges, but there’s a little more freedom there. And really, we’re all good friends; we all sort of came together when The Fox Hunt and The Demon Beat were first starting to play locally, but certainly things would have been a lot different if Tucker and I hadn’t been buddies from the outset. We’ve put up with each other’s crap for too long to discredit that.”
Miller added that Prison Book Club has enjoyed a renewed energy, “cohesiveness and focus” and welcoming drummer Andrew Ford on in early 2011 is part of that.
“We’ve definitely taken the jump from ‘this thing we do every now and then when we have the time’ to ‘this is its own band,’” Riggleman added. “Bringing in Andrew on drums has been great as well, and we feel like he really pushes us to play better, being that he’s a very talented dude.”
For now, Prison Book Club is looking forward to taking its new songs out on tour, making fans the old fashioned way: playing out as much as possible. And for Riggleman, the friendship that exists between the members of Prison Book Club is what it’s all about.
“I couldn’t imagine being in a band with strangers or people I didn’t like. Making music with some of your best friends really is about the best thing there is, in my opinion.”
We ended 2011 heaping praise on a great record that had been released for free, so it only makes sense that we’d start 2012 doing the same thing.
It’s been a while since we last heard from Huntington’s Bud Carroll. Sure, the 29-year old (widely considered West Virginia’s most badass guitarist) multi-instrumentalist has been staying busy, either in AC30, lending his own formidable talents to other acts, or helping bands record at his Trackside Studios.
The neat thing about At Least I Can Still Smoke In My Car, Carroll’s new 12-song release is that in some regards it ties into and partially anchors itself to what we heard on Wasted Words and Best Intentions, but also jumps off into something approaching Brit rock/British Invasion type organs, bells and tones (“Heard This One Before”) in parts, and still sounds familiar to what Carroll’s been doing more recently in AC30.
Two years in the making, it would be interesting to know how and when these tracks kind of came together, as Carroll left his Southern Souls days behind him, still contributing to AC30, but also forging a new, not really new, just solo (in name) musical identity. This is an exciting phenomena to witness; it seems like every time you see Carroll covered in the past, there’s always couching of what he did before: when he started the Southern Souls, it was the (of course, rightful) obligatory mention of American Minor, now with the solo stuff, will we constantly compare what Carroll does to AC30 or the Southern Souls? Maybe.
But yeah, long story short: if you liked the Southern Souls, there’s some more straight ahead hard chargin’ rock (“There Someday,” “I Just Wanted You To Know”) with more bluesy, soulful, lovelorn jams. And whatever band he’s in, know this: it’s gonna rock.
Oh there’s a good reason why you may hear some nods to the Southern Souls on a few of the songs on the record: there are three Souls songs on it. Carroll is joined by Jimmy Lykens, Steve Barker and Jon Cavendish on “I’m No Stranger,” “Thinking Only of You,” and “Honorable Mention.” And there are the frequent lyrical references to “nowhere towns” and “wasted words and best intentions,” infrequent winks and nods to his not-too distant musical past.
But looking at things from the outside, you can almost kind of feel bad for Carroll. Like so many artists, he seems to be his own worst critic, talking about his own obsessive compulsive tendencies in the studio. Regardless of what we say here, it’s safe to assume Carroll knows he’s got something good with this batch of songs.
And regardless of Carroll’s seemingly immense talent(s), the one thing that kind of endears you to his songs is not only his dreamy singing, it’s that Carroll is basically writing love songs here, and he hasn’t exactly been winning. Standing astride whatever genre he wants, in parts there’s a kind of R&B vibe in some of these songs, fitting right in with Carroll’s own pop sensibilities, with all the help of so many people, Carroll has indeed, no surprise here, made a great record.
Standout tracks for us include the aforementioned “There Someday,” the dreamy, yet entirely broken-hearted (with cool organ and bells) “She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “I Just Wanted You To Know,” and “We’ll Be Together Again,” which closes the CD out quite nicely.
Self-produced over two years by “Edward Money” (haha, am I right?) with engineering help from his Trackside cohorts James Barker and Ryan Weaver, with Eddie Ashworth and Max Nolte (who, along with Adam Harris, garnered executive producer credits) sitting in, and with guest vocal appearances from Sasha Colette and John Lancaster -- among other guests -- At Least I Can Still Smoke In My Car really is a CD worth paying for.
“We’ll Be Together Again” Live at Trackside
--- Bud Carroll’s Love Wolf plays Adam Harris’ 30th birthday party tonite at the Empty Glass with Sasha Colette, The Boatmen and The Carpenter Ants.
Ages and entire lifetimes have seemingly gone by since I got to meet Billy Matheny at the Empty Glass in Charleston. I guess it was like four years…? Even before that fateful night, where Matheny quite unwittingly became the first (and last) musician to fall for my devious “treat me to a PBR because I’ve covered your band favorably” scheme, (for the record: he offered, and it would be impolite to refuse) I’d already procured Born of Frustration and the swooning fanboy status only grew fiercer after seeing him open with “Christless Streets,” just absolutely slaying the end of the song.
I was out of my chair and on my feet, fists in the air, and as Matheny (along with the Frustrations) channeled everything great I’d ever felt about rock and roll, I thought he may have spiked that PBR, maybe that ‘twas me that was the target of a vast far-reaching rock and roll conspiracy with Matheny quite literally pulling the strings.
Well, I say all that because ever since hearing Born of Frustration and seeing him live, I’ve just been a huge fan of the uber-talented Matheny. While there’s been an absolute dearth of Frustrations releases since then, much to my dismay, Matheny is still busy being a rock star, just in other people’s bands. He’s been in the Athens, Ohio-based folk rock outfit Southeast Engine for a few years now; has been rocking out steady in Mark Poole’s band The Phantom Six (formerly Moon) and he just sat in with Prison Book Club on their sophomore release. This, in addition to other projects you’ll read and hear about, and of course, his Frustrations play Gene’s Friday night up in Morgantown with ‘85 Flood.
There’s so much going on with Matheny, we thought we’d throw some (hopefully) fun and (maybe) informative questions at him. Being such a gentleman, Matheny obliged with maybe the best Q&A of 2011…
WVRockscene: How busy/fun has 2011 been for ye, whether touring with Southeast Engine, or any other highlights?
Billy Matheny: 2011 was my favorite and busiest year since 2010. It’s been great. Southeast Engine was able to tour twice, once by ourselves and once with our good friends, These United States. Got to play some fun shows and hang out with some old and new friends in various places. I think my 2011 highlight was learning to make restaurant quality tikka masala. It was a real feather in my cap.
----- WVRockscene: Southeast Engine just played Mountain Stage, how cool was that, especially playing with your friend Todd Burge?
Matheny: Mountain Stage was very nice. Obviously, Todd and I go back a long ways and I have a bunch of other friends on staff there. The whole crew does a great job of making you feel really comfortable and welcome. It makes it easy to do your best. Taping the show in Athens was particularly cool since Southeast Engine was formed there and we had a definite hometown contingent in the audience. For me personally, it was thrilling to play with The Jayhawks. They’ve made some of my favorite albums ever and have really influenced my playing and songwriting. I first heard them when I was a freshman in high school and it was a total “come to Jesus” moment where I immediately discovered the kind of music I wanted to produce myself. On top of all that, they were very nice and patiently listened to all of my fan-boy gibberish.
----- WVRockscene: SEE did tour a lot, and “Canary” was quite warmly and critically received it seems, how good a year was it to be a part of Southeast Engine in particular?
Matheny: 2011 was a great year to be a part of Southeast Engine as opposed to 2010 and 2009 which sucked (kidding!). But seriously, I love the music and Adam, Jesse and Leo are some of my very best friends. Being in SEE is always a pleasure even if I’m sleep deprived and it’s raining at 7AM in DeKalb, IL.
As far as critical reception is concerned, it was very vindicating to see “Canary” get such good press. To some degree large or small, I think all artists are concerned with people liking what they’re putting out there. Some people just so happen to write for newspapers or have music blogs or something. I try to remember that every review is just one person’s opinion, but some people’s opinions are read by lots of people.
I probably shouldn’t say this out loud, but I’m among friends, so what the hell. Every time I release something (whether it’s one of my own albums or a band that I play in) and the reviews are positive, I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. It’s like I’m just waiting for people to call me out on all those blatant Velvet Underground plagiarisms.
----- WVRockscene:The Frustrations just had another song, “It’s Up to You,” on this most recent Blind Pigeon Records comp, I know that the band has kind of been on the backburner with all your other projects, but what’s up with new recordings? Are you sitting on some treasure trove of Frustrations songs?
Matheny: The BPR folks asked us to contribute something for their comp CD, so we recorded “It’s Up To You.” It was nice to record a single song without having to worry about how a track will fit in contextually with a whole album.
I have a new album’s worth of material written for a new Frustrations record, so it’s finished except for recording, mixing, mastering and artwork. I wish I could give good reasons why it’s been six years since I’ve released an album of my own. It would be a better story for me to say that I did 18 months in rehab or that I’ve been recording piano in the middle of a sandbox.
The fact of the matter is that Haley [Slagle], Adrian [Larry], Walt [Sarkees], Woody [O’Hara] and I are all involved in a multitude of different projects and it’s just difficult for us to make the time to record another album. I used to say that our new album would be out before “Chinese Democracy” but then GNR actually released “Chinese Democracy.” At this point, all I can promise is that a new album will come out eventually. I swear that I’m not going to be a one album wonder like The La’s!
----- WVRockscene: What would Facebook not let you post about some obscene hat you saw recently? Can you mention it here? Of course you can…
Matheny: I don’t know if you can actually print this, but here goes: It was a day like any other when I saw a guy at the bank wearing a hat that read “SMILE if your not wearing panties.” Both offensive and grammatically incorrect!
----- WVRockscene: You contributed to Prison Book Club’s sophomore release, how good of a friendship have you developed with those dudes and how cool was it recording with the band?
Matheny: I’m so close to the members of Prison Book Club that I actually let them borrow my van. I’d like to think that I’m a generous soul, but I wouldn’t do that for everyone. I’m honored they asked me to play on their record. John Miller has a very captivating voice and they’re really evolving very quickly as a band. In fact, I’ve seen them since “Prison Book Club” was released and they have a whole new set of songs that are even better than the record if you can believe that!
The recording was a trip. I live in an apartment, so I can’t really turn things up much before I become a bad neighbor. For that reason, my keyboard parts were recorded in my parents’ basement in Mannington. It definitely brought me back to when I was a teenager and my bands would practice there. In fact, Prison Book Club’s album holds the rare honor of being the first thing recorded in my parents’ basement since a Limp-Bizkit influence rap-core band called Sadism came over to record on my four-track when I was 15 or 16. I’d like to clarify that I was not a member of Sadism, I was just facilitating their demo tape.
----- WVRockscene:The Phantom Six played 123 Friday, how much do you look forward to jamming with Poole and Co., and how stoked were you to see “Plastic Rain” get released last month, after what looks like a lot of time going into the band (obviously) and the songs in particular?
Matheny: “Plastic Rain” has been at least three or four years in the making. Mark and I joke that we both work glacially when it comes to putting out albums. At least in his case, you can never argue with the results, every album he releases is start-to-finish fantastic.
The Phantom Six is very much Mark’s vision, or in the words of Spike Lee, The Phantom Six is a Mark Poole joint. I’m just happy to be involved. We practice every Monday, so our rehearsals are kind of like my poker night. The rest of the band is so seasoned and so talented that it makes everything very easy. I just play some bass and sing a little bit.
----- WVRockscene: You had that cool quote for the H-D article, about there literally being hundreds of dollars to be made in the world of indie bands. How much do you love playing in all of these bands? Because it sounds like you’re not in it for the money right?
Matheny: Well, let’s just say it’s a good thing I don’t have expensive tastes! I’m blanking on the actual quote here, but Flannery O’Connor once described her life’s work as sitting at a typewriter, grinning ear to ear and amusing herself to no end, having a great time and miraculously getting paid for it. I feel similarly. I love everything about being in bands and playing music. I love writing, rehearsing, recording, doing shows. It even affords me a chance for travel, which under other circumstances, I probably wouldn’t get.
----- WVRockscene: All the bands you’re in, or sit in on with, is it so much time and focus that sometimes you feel spread too thin?
Matheny: As long as I love the music I’m playing, it never feels like work. It probably doesn’t look like it, but I don’t just take any gig that comes down the road. I have to enjoy it. The bottom line is that playing music should be fun. If playing music feels like a cross to bear, you’re probably doing something wrong.
----- WVRockscene: You’re in all these bands, and you’ve been staying busy in 2011, what’s up for 2012 that you might be looking forward to?
Matheny: Southeast Engine is going back to SXSW in March. That’s a great time, if a little on the over-stimulating side. It’s kind of like indie-rock spring break.
In February, I’m recording an album with The Love Me Knots with the great Adam L. Meisterhans in the producers chair. The Love Me Knots lead singer, Brian Porterfield, is the best songwriter I know and I think I know some good ones. The Knots are kind of a band that are under most people’s radar, which I think is kind of shame. But anyway, it’s been like 12 years since Brian has released something, so we’re going to record about 40 songs “Zen Arcade” style over the course of three days. After that, we’re going to release it as a big album in the “69 Love Songs” tradition, spread out over a couple of discs, with a booklet and a bunch of photos.
----- WVRockscene: The Frustrations play the Very Townie Christmas show with ‘85 Flood 12.23, seems like you’ve made that into some kind of tradition, right? Fun times? Lookin’ for Santa to bring you anything in particular this year?
Matheny: This is the 5th annual VTC! It’s definitely become a tradition for us. Each band does a full set and then it sort of evolves (or maybe devolves) into a big open jam thing with all kinds of people chipping in.
It’s sort of like the Morgantown musicians office Christmas party. The Frustrations set is kind of special simply because we’re doing some special Christmas material. As far as Santa is concerned, I can’t decide if I want inner peace or some video games. Probably the video games.
--- Billy Matheny and the Frustrations join ‘85 Flood for “A Very Townie Xmas” this Friday night at Gene’s Beer Garden in Morgantown...
It’s always a fun challenge putting together the WVRockscene Top 10 CDs at the end of the year. But in 2011, it definitely wasn’t easy.
From the many EPs that came out, to rock solid releases and stellar concept records, 2011 was packed with great music from local (and regional) bands. Since we started doing this thing here in 2008, there has not been a better year to be following West Virginia bands.
Just as a quick introduction to the hard fast rules and metrics to selecting the illustrious WVRockscene Top 10: there are no hard fast rules. Basically it’s how much I like the songs + production value divided by the number of songs. Many bands put out great EPs this year, but more songs = more chance of something being a “great record” or something like that.
And production -- having help in the studio is always a plus. But then there’s killer garage/punk rock stuff and more lo-fi type recordings that, as long as the songs rock, might come in ahead of overproduced type stuff. ‘Nuff said there.
One big thing I’ve noticed with this year’s batch of releases is the almost gravitational pull of great regional releases into the West Virginia rock scene.
Some Morgantown area dudes might move to Pittsburgh, and still either play shows here or have some stamp or influence on “the scene” or whatever. Then there’s nearby cities, like, say, Athens, Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky. But, as long as a particular band, be it from Pittsburgh, Lexington, or Athens, plays a few West Virginia shows in a year, in addition to having state residents or natives in the band, they should be included in the top 10, right? I think so.
Another thing that’s been entirely promising to witness is bands getting their music out on bandcamp sites. There were all kinds of cool EPs that came out in 2011. Up in Morgantown, Brian Spragg’s bands (Pat Pat/Single Dads) released four EPs, two apiece from each respective unit, this, in addition to his work as an engineer, helping other cool bands record. It’s a challenge just to keep up with all the music being released, and I personally would rather hear short EPs once or twice a year than wait two years for a band to get a full-length out.
And again, this is more a “my own favorite releases” top 10. Some listeners and fans might disagree and that’s cool. More than a competition, this is more a celebration of the great bands that got their music out this year.
The young Eastern Kentucky songstress brought her Magnolias into Bud Carroll’s Trackside Studio, had him join in on guitar and pedal steel, and walked out with eight songs worth of rockin’, bluesy folk and Americana. Longtime fans of Colette’s sweet, soulful voice, catchy, alternately poetic and lovelorn bar ballads were rightfully stoked to get this back around April, and likely weren’t let down.
Although only eight songs, with standout tracks like “Sacrifice,”“Rock of Ages,”“Victory,” and the most awesome “Mercy Moment,” evoking a Janis Joplin-Led Zeppelin combination with Carroll on guitar, Leave It Alone rightfully takes its place in the top 10, and Colette fans can look forward to the follow-up in January of 2012.
Prison Book Club is a band that never got the memo that said side projects are to be relegated to second-tier status. And this is saying something considering that The Fox Hunt’s John Miller and The Demon Beat’s Adam Meisterhans and Tucker Riggleman, with Andrew Ford on drums and Morgantown’s Billy Matheny sitting in on this sophomore effort, continue to make fans by steady touring of their own.
With a more southern rock and alt-country flavor than what you’ll hear from The Fox Hunt or The Demon Beat, on this 10-song August release, with Miller’s instantly recognizable country tough voice, still sharing the singing and songwriting with Riggleman and with Meisterhans’ guitar (and studio) work, Prison Book Club both expanded their own sound and continued to prove that side bands don’t always suck.
Standout tracks: “Do As I Say,”“Too Much Livin’,”“Six Pack,”“Sons of Heaven,”“Coming Down”
If you missed the first two volumes of the Morgantown native’s (not always) angry one-man band’s cover series, you can jump right in and fall in love with his own versions of the Ramones’ “Judy Is a Punk,” Guided by Voices’ “The Gold Heart Mountaintop Queen Directory,” and my own favorite, “And Then He Kissed Me.”
Just as the Ramones covered so many songs and made them their own, Marinelli, on the Stone Age Kicks series, takes his favorites, puts his own sonic stamp on them and simultaneously turns his fans onto bands they might not have been into. Two of my favorite songs on the release, “Virginia Plain” (Roxy Music) and “Flying Pizza” (Swearing at Motorists) are good examples of this for me.
As Marinelli has followed up on 2007’s Keep It Fake and last year’s most awesome Pre-Emptive Skankery Sessions, he’s broadened his own sonic palette from caveman guitar and maximum stomp and swing with banjo, stripped down vocals and just a softer side overall, still keeping things weird. It’s been ages it seems since I bought his Pity the Party EP at Budget, and I’d like to think Marinelli fans can look forward to his own version of The Emergency’s “I’m Not Angry” on volume four.
Is it wrong to have a CD of cover songs in the top 10? If it’s wrong, then I don’t wanna be right.
I can honestly say here that if you liked Jude Universer’s 2009 release Lingering Blue, you’ll love Jordan Hudkins’ now renamed project Rozwell Kid. The Demon Beat’s drummer again steps out to front his own rock band, and this time, with The Demon Beat’s Adam Meisterhans providing lead guitar parts, The Rozwell Kid LP takes you back to your own personal Weezer-Rentals hybrid band.
It really is 1994-ever on this 10-song (complete with a totally 90’s hidden track) effort of raw, catchy, almost always hilarious power pop slacker anthems. And remember: if it’s too loud, turn it down.
Standout tracks: “Rocket,”“Dylan, Don’t Do It,”“My Saturn,”“‘93 Connie & Ronnie,”“Ace Ventura Pt. 3”
Two years in the making, one Monday at a time, this Huntington power-pop super group met at Bud Carroll’s Trackside Studio, and this September released their 10-song debut, the result of all that work, to awaiting fans.
What was originally a studio project slowly congealed into a live band, as Carroll joined forces with Ian Thornton and Ryan Weaver and welcomed drummer Alex McCoy and guitarist Doug Woodard into the band. Sharing the singing and songwriting on songs like Weaver’s “I’m Free,” Carroll’s “Miss Misery,” and Thornton’s “Sure To Win,” AC30 proved that the best things come to those who wait.
The fourth studio release from the brothers Wilmoth and Andrew Slater (“Slater-Wilmoth”) is at once more welcoming, appealing and catchy as a follow-up to last year’s Reenactment, almost making that great record seem almost lo-fi compared to the rich, near-orchestral arrangements on this 12-song November release.
Singer-guitarist Charlie Wilmoth’s irreverent, insightful lyrics, on subjects ranging from the personal/religious to the cultural/political, (just take the first three songs, “Casual Sex,” “On Christmas,” and “Not My Car,” the subtly disguised title track, as fine examples) make FOX Japan one of my favorite bands. Think Talking Heads-meets-The Pixies and you’re kind of close. Released just in time for Christmas, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! has the warm feel of something you’d rock out for the holiday season. Or, any season.
Standout tracks: “Casual Sex,” “Above This City,” “On Christmas,” “Not My Car”
The fifth release in as many years from these three Shepherdstown dudes is arguably their best. Following up on last year’s eight-“movement” concept record 1956 with 10 songs worth of soulful, bluesy, badass garage rock, incorporating some of the more retro tones from the most recent release, (with all appropriate fuzz and feedback) Adam Meisterhans, Tucker Riggleman and Jordan Hudkins continue to embody not only rock and roll like it used to be, evoking something like The Who (Meisterhans nails Townshend’s windmill guitar live) and The Stooges but embrace a totally DIY aesthetic as well.
Recorded by Meisterhans, released on Riggleman’s Big Bullet Records label and on vinyl in conjunction with Caustic Eye, with artwork again provided by Hudkins, Bullshit Walks only builds on and adds to the band’s impressive discography, and further cements the band as West Virginia’s hardest workers and hardest rockin’ as they are even now in the studio recording new stuff. Total rock stars that don’t seem to give a shit about being rock stars or where they end up on end-of-the-year top 10 type blog posts.
Standout tracks: “Give Me All Your Money,” “Get It,” “Bang,” “Totally Blissed Out,” “I’m Not Really There”
Calling Canary, the fourth Misra Records release from the Athens, Ohio-based folk rock four-piece Southeast Engine “rustic” is close, but almost a disservice. Singer-guitarist Adam Remnant, with brother Jesse on bass, drummer Leo DeLuca and oh-by-the-way Morgantown’s Billy Matheny on piano and organ, capture the feel and paint a picture of life in Depression-era Appalachia over 11 “rustic” yet rockin’ songs.
Songs like “Cold Front Blues,”“1933 (The Great Depression),” and the beautiful “Adeline of the Appalachian Mountains” and Canary as a whole remind me of Wilco’s Being There in that it’s deliberately roots-oriented, mainly acoustic-based with great melodies, but not at all minimalist, and is a great concept record to boot without some contrived feel. One of the best records I heard all year.
Since one band (AC30) in the top 10 is named after a Vox amplifier, it’s fitting that The Phantom Six takes its name from a 60’s-era Vox guitar. Formerly known as Moon, Mark Poole’s Morgantown-based power pop five-piece starts fresh on this 13-song effort that, if nothing else, helps them make a new name for themselves.
With Poole joined by talented musicians and songwriters like Billy Sheeder, Woody O’ Hara and Clint Sutton, not to mention Billy Matheny, making this, his third appearance on a band’s CD in this year’s top 10, playing bass and providing sweet vocal harmonies, Poole’s songs stand out as evoking something like Matthew Sweet jamming in some awesome garage band with British Invasion nods here and there, singing mainly songs about love. Poole, describing The Phantom Six’s musical output in one interview as “catchy songs that rock pretty hard,” sums it up best for those unfamiliar with the band.
Not only has Poole been fronting various incarnations of Moon for over twenty years, Poole no doubt helped steer The Phantom Six through his own Zone 8 Studios. As great as the richly arranged songs are, and they’re all pretty much standout tracks, the production captures an energy and a raw feel that helps make Plastic Rain arguably the best record of the year from a West Virginia rock band.
They say the best things in life are free, and such was the case in March when I was clued into the free download that Lexington, Kentucky’s Dream the Electric Sleep had made available.
Some bands are around for years and years, and don’t come up with such a coherent vision for a concept record. That DTES did this as their debut effort, only a year after singer-guitarist Matt Page and drummer Joey Waters welcomed Huntington native Chris Tackett (Chum/Hyatari) into the band is even more impressive.
To say that Lost and Gone Forever though, is epic, is almost an understatement.
Lost and Gone Forever is as much a story as it is a record. Told in three acts, Page weaves the split narrative of Clementine and Jack, an Eastern Kentucky coal miner into and over 14 songs worth of vast, stunning sonic landscapes that may bring comparisons to something like Pink Floyd, only heavier, with nods to Radiohead and Muse.
As the story, recalled originally by Clementine on her deathbed, unfolds from young love, marriage and hope into a desire to leave the danger and hard life of the coalfields, the fear of the unknown, of leaving Appalachia, and evolves into Jack’s untimely death in a mining accident, it seems on its face plainly a heart wrenching, well told tragedy. Listen to it repeatedly, even if you’re not from Appalachia and don’t know any coal miners, and you’ll find it’s really a treasure.
With samples from the documentary Harlan County, USA sprinkled throughout, through the story of Jack and Clementine, with album art that masterfully captures the very real world that Page and DTES have pulled out and shown to listeners, few concept records are so deftly woven together into such a complete, beautiful picture; sonically, lyrically, visually, and emotionally.
Reviewing CDs at the end of each year, sometimes you can catch yourself liking the more recent releases. When it became clear after hearing Lost and Gone Forever for the first time back in March or April, the scope of what Dream the Electric Sleep had done, I knew it wasn’t likely just going to be number one on my list, it was one of the best records I had ever heard.
It’s appropriate that they gave away something so sublime for free.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Whiskey Daredevils could be described as Elvis Presley meets Glen Danzig singing for Dwight Yoakam fronting The Cramps. Cleveland’s kings of cowpunk are back with album No. 8, and not a whole lot’s changed -- sonically, at least -- for this staple of the rockabilly scene.
That’s not a bad thing. On the self-titled effort, the Daredevils return (via Detroit, Wheeling and Santa Fe) with 12 new twangy, road-weary and sometimes downright desperate tales.
Standout tracks include “Bakersfield,” where the band finds “country music heaven” littered with 7-11’s; “Moderately Lucky Watch,” the down-and-out “Pawn Stars” theme song that will never be; “Santa Fe” and “Girl I Left Behind.” The record closes with two morbidly sweet tales of rebuked love: “Time Marches On” (the album's best song) and “Cold Dead Leaves.”
After nearly a decade together, the band underwent a few personnel changes this time around. Lead guitarist Gary Siperko is once again the front man (back for his third studio effort with the band), and Lords of the Highway bassist “Sugar” Wildman is filling the void left by singer Greg Miller’s brother, Ken, who left the band after recording the album this summer.
Despite those changes, “The Whiskey Daredevils” fits right in with everything the band has been doing these past few years. It would be easy to say it is the Daredevils’ “Greatest Hits” record . . . except the band already called its first release that.
The Whiskey Daredevils play The Empty Glass, 410 Elizabeth St., at 10 p.m. Saturday with the Judy Chops. Cover is $8.
New York City’s Glorious Veins, no strangers to West Virginia after repeated stops, release their debut video for Matt’s Song (NYC) today...
It will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that bands NOT from West Virginia, swinging through our fair state as part of a tour, are sometimes featured in some form or fashion in my freelance “work” covering bands for the Gazette, Herald-Dispatch, and WVRockscene.
Some bands you kind of lose track of when they leave, then, being part of the media catch up with when they come back through. Some bands, I’ve been lucky enough to keep in touch with at the same time becoming a fan of. The list of said bands is long and varied: Cleveland’s Whiskey Daredevils and Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Arms and Sleepers are maybe the best examples.
But I’ve become not only a fan of New York City’s Glorious Veins after talkin’ to em for the H-D earlier this year, I’ve been keeping in touch with drummer Lui “Wiggy” Colmenares on Facebook even when his band is not in town.
So in anticipation of the release of their debut video Matt’s Song (NYC) today, we thought we’d not simply repost it here, but talk to the people behind the song and the video. The song, off their debut LP, is the only one penned by guitarist Matt Howels, who hails from the UK, came to NYC, and promptly helped get the band started after they all met on Craigslist.
Howels lifted the lyrics from works by friend and NYC poet and writer Ryan Buynak, and the band welcomed Craig Holmes (Shutter Slice Films) over from across the pond back in September to shoot the video.
We caught up with Holmes and Buynak to see what it’s like influencing, working with, and being friends and fans of, NYC’s The Glorious Veins...
Ryan Buynak talks about becoming friends with the GV and the words behind the song...
WVRockscene: You said Matt is one of your best friends? How did you guys meet?
Ryan Buynak: Matt is my British brother. He and I met in the maze that is the New York City restaurant world, and instantly connected over our shared love of music and literature. The universe wanted us to be friends.
----- WVRockscene: You went out on the road with the band, how good have you got to know the guys?
Buynak: Let’s just say I have come to know the Veins quite well and that sharing the stage with such an amazing band is a long-awaited answer to an old dream of railroads and vagabond hearts.
----- WVRockscene: What were the poem(s) that Matt lifted words from into “Matt’s Song,” and how cool is/was it to know that your words resonated with him so much that he’d turn it into a song?
Buynak: I’ve always wanted to write a song, but I can’t play music to save my fucking life. It was Matt’s idea. He’s actually been in a few narrative nooses of mine, here and there. He came to me one day asking to use the poetry in a song and of course I said yes.
He picked through a dozen and ended up eating poetry from a few verses. The opening lines of the song are from a piece called Where is 12? which is in the next book. Another is called Midnight Lions. There were a few more but I forget. They all had this sad Manhattan vibe...and somehow they (The Glorious Veins) came up with this awesome fucking song. The record is framed in my apartment. It is an angel’s honor to be involved with cutting edge music and art. Coyote Blood will kill you.
WVRockscene: So you came to the States back in September to shoot the video for Matt’s Song, how did you like your time here? Fun or work or both?
Craig Holmes: I had a great time in New York. The last time I was there I was with my girlfriend at Christmas just gone. I loved it so much so I was stoked to go back. I spent a fair few hours each day shooting footage around the city to make sure I had all the shots I needed for the video. I made sure there was plenty of time for fun though, taking photos and seeing the sights and eating amazing food.
----- WVRockscene: How did you meet/know these guys? You’re from the UK right so I’d assume you were/are friends with Matt Howels? Know him or the band long?
Holmes: Well my girlfriend’s aunt and cousin, Mark and Maggi, live in Queens. Mark uploaded a picture on Facebook (of course…everything starts with Facebook) of the band playing a rooftop gig. I saw it and thought that would make an awesome video. So I asked Mark if he knew the band. Mark is great friends with Lui so he told me to add him. I started chatting to Wiggy and suggested me flying out. I loved their sound, they were digging my work so it seemed like a great idea.
----- WVRockscene: How easy was it to take their vision of the song and turn it into a video? What was it like sharing that vision of the song with the band, working with the band in that sense and how smoothly did it go? Are William Webb And Catalina Zbar the actors in the video? They do a good job?
Holmes: Well I didn’t get to talk to Matt until I met him in Queens. Then we chatted via email, I asked him what the premise of the song was from his point of view, everyone can interpret a song but I wanted to make sure that I was hitting all the right notes with the video.
The issue we had was that it was difficult to get everyone together due to other commitments, so the only decent filming I had with the band was the live gig. The rest of the footage that I had was of couples in New York, I spent a few days stalking people in bushes etc. trying to avoid getting punched/arrested. When I got home I was stitching the footage together and it looked good but there was definitely something missing.
Will [Webb] is actually a lifelong friend of mine, he is from South Wales also. His girlfriend Catalina [Zbar] is from Argentina and was visiting Wales for a few days. I showed them my footage and pitched the idea to them of this couple who meet, and fall in love in New York and they were super keen to help me nail it. A lot of the footage is actually filmed in Wales, I had to be quite cheeky with the way it was filmed, that’s why there are a lot of close, intimate shots. Ironically, Cat and Will were taking a trip to New York, and there was a few shots that I needed. So I gave them a camera to capture some extra shots, to make it look like they were living in NY.
As far as acting, they were superb. Can’t fault them at all, it was a lot of fun and there is so much good footage. They are as excited for the release as I am.
----- WVRockscene: It definitely looks like a professional job, how proud are you of the final product and how excited are you for GV fans and people in general to see it?
Holmes: I am really happy with the final piece and anxious/excited for the release. I have worked on a lot video projects, collaborating with other artists, but this is the first one that I have produced on my own from start to finish.
I’m hoping it gets some great feedback and me more work in the States. As for the GV fans, I think it’s something they deserve. The GVs have such a good following and the music is outstanding, they just needed something for people to see as well as hear to really appreciate how incredible their music is. I’m sure this will help them in their path to stardom, and I wish them the best of luck.
Colmenares, talking about the video and GV fans...
Craig made it all happen and we are very pleased with the results. Hopefully we get to do another one...Definitely easier for fans to share our music with friends. We’ve been wanting to do a video for so long but given limited resources, we’d rather record a song than spend money on a video.
I am grateful that we have friends from across the pond that would fly all the way to the US to help us out. THANK YOU! THANK YOU Craig of Shutter Slice! And to all our friends that have been helping us along the way.
Every so often, a Facebook status update comes along that, deep down, you know sounds too good to be true.
