764-HERO

I feel like 764-HERO are probably best known for their release Whenever You See Fit which was a song they did with Modest Mouse. It came out as an ep and that seems to be how most people know of the band. That release came mid-point in their career though so let's go back a bit.

In 1995 Up Records released the bands first single, High School Poetry. I absolutely loved this song back then. I must admit that on hearing it again for the first time in a long time I found it to be a bit embarrassing! Maybe a bit too angsty for me now in my 30s. Anyway, this song was recorded while the band was a 2 piece. John Atkins had come from a band called Hush Harbor and drummer Polly Johnson was apparently in a band called Belle Jar. I saw them at some point while still a 2 piece and thought they were quite good live.
High School Poetry

In 1998 or so James Bertram joined the band and filled out the sound a bit. This song is leaps and bounds better than the first single (which is no real slam of the first single) partially because the band had been together for 3 years but also James Bertram really added something special. I got to see them as a 3 piece as well and as good as they were as 2 they were even better as 3.
Stained Glass

Courtney Love (the band, not the woman!)

I've had guests from Europe and have been unable to post. This summer looks to be very busy for me on the guest front (and a vacation or two of my own) so please hold tight when there are gaps. I will return! This week I hope to do a post every day to make up for it.

I forgot to mention to most everyone that I took a stroll down memory lane recently. I went to see Lois play an opening slot for The Rodney Graham Band and then she played in the band as well. I am pretty sure that the last time I saw Lois play was in her rather short lived band with Carrie Brownstein called Tommy. Back in the mid 90s! I have many fond memories of seeing Lois play back in the 90s - usually with former Tiger Trap drummer Heather Dunn playing with her. I hear she stopped playing because of stage fright but have no idea if that is true.

However, this post is about Courtney Love! The band consisted of Lois Maffeo and Pat Maley (recording engineer responsible for Yo Yo Studios) with Lois on vocals and Pat on drums. Not remarkably different from the Lois stuff to come later but I feel like it still has its place. It's funny to note that they named their band "Courtney Love" long before Ms. Love became an international annoyance. I believe she was an annoyance to people in Olympia long before she made her mark on the rest of the world. Anyway, enjoy these tracks.

Hey! Antoinette
My Last Night

The CeBe Barnes Band

The CeBe Barnes Band consisted of Rachel Carns, Radio Sloan, and Miranda July. I'm sure that many of you know that Rachel and Radio went on to form The Need and Miranda July went on to.... yeah, you know. I got to see The CeBe Barnes Band live back in 1995. They played a show at a glbt center in San Jose with Sleater-Kinney that I was at. They kind of blew my mind. I ended up seeing The Need numerous times and also a lot of Miranda July's performance pieces. It was an awesome time in the sense that Miranda July was opening for bands and there wasn't a huge disconnect in what she was doing versus a band playing. I always thought that Tracy & The Plastics was what Miranda July would have been had she continued making music.

Anyhow, The CeBe Barnes Band. Totally awesome. Extremely short lived. I am pretty sure this is the only release. Here's the 7" which is probably best known for the song She's A Winner though the first two tracks are even better. (Once again, special thanks to Blowin' Your Cover for converting the vinyl to mp3s!)

Height of Fashion
Consuming You
She's A Winner

Nar

Nar are Sacramento punk legends. I don't know anybody from the area who doesn't love Nar. Seriously. They released several 7" records over the years but now all of the songs are compiled onto one cd. I highly recommend acquiring the cd. Simple, fun, fast, catchy punk. What's not to love?

My all time favorite Nar song. Someday I'm going to cover it.
Cool District

A great song slamming scenesters. The world needs more songs like this.
Holiday Routine

A bonus track for all of you Go Sailor fans out there. Most people probably scratched their heads when they noticed that Blue Sky was a cover. Now you can hear the original!
Blue Sky

Scott Miller (not *that* Scott Miller) has been in many bands over the years. You can currently find him playing drums in legendary Sacramento punk band The Bananas who just finished a tour. (I never realised how popular they are until the other night. Went to see them in Brooklyn which was the first time I've seen them outside of the Sacramento comfort zone. The kids were going crazy and knew all the words! Warmed my cold and bitter litle heart.) He also fronts (fronted?) The Bright Ideas (who you can find off of the Bananas myspace page) and The Ski Instructors. Drummer Ed Carrol played in the FM Knives, and bassist Jason Dezember played drums with Smog.

The Time Of The Assassins

The Time Of The Assassins come from Melbourne, Australia. Their debut album, Awake In Slumberland, was recorded by the legendary Steve Albini and mastered by John Golden. If you're an audio nerd you will know those two names carry some weight!

I know that most people like to know what something sounds like instead of just listening to it. I am the opposite maybe because I find that I rarely agree with what people say something sounds like, yet I totally draw comparisons between bands. Can't fault somebody for using a shorthand of sorts! When I put this album on I felt like I was listening to some alternate version of Unwound. A little more polished, a little less experimental. Then I was thinking that it kind of reminds me of Blood Red Shoes who I know all the kids are going crazy for. Take my opinions with a grain of salt, you know? However, I do think that if you like either of those bands you will like this band.

This song caught my ears because of the bass line to "New Dawn Fades" from Joy Division running through it. That's the only blatantly Joy Division rip-off in the song though. Singer/Bassist Carisa Bianca Mellado handles the lead vocals with singer/guitarist Aspen Michael Taylor coming in with counter vocals towards the middle.
The Swan

To offer a contrast I thought I would post a more rock/up-tempo song that Aspen handles the lead vocals on. This one definitely fits in with the bands mentioned above. The record as a whole is much more solid than the debut record tag implies. Kind of a throwback to a more straight ahead rock time in the indie scene. It's not surprising that I like this record given that I am a sucker for mid 90s indie rock.
70 Days & 70 Nights

The band is on tour right now in the states. I have a feeling that they're pretty good live. Hopefully I will find out at the end of the month. There's one show in West Hollywood, Ca on May 15 and then they head to the east coast for 5 shows. Check the myspace page for details.

Head Spins

Sorry to get personal with everyone but I've been dealing with some annoying health stuff lately. I went to the doctor today and she told me that I have situational vertigo. This is making it difficult for me to do much other than be in bed or on the couch. Hopefully it will be clearing up (although slowly probably) and then I can stand to post again.

I will leave you with a song from High Places that is appropriate for the title alone. The fact that it sounds a little woozy is just a bonus.
Head Spins

Skinned Teen

One of those bands I don't remember hearing for the first time or how I got into them. I'm guessing that it was at the record store but I could be wrong. I enjoyed Huggy Bear quite a bit and a co-worker liked east bay punk so the thought of the Skinned Teen/Raooul release being played in the store is not difficult to imagine.

Skinned Teen were from London, and legend has it that they formed after a Huggy Bear/Bikini Kill show. You can hear those influences most on the track Punk Rockest which comes from their first 7" release. By the time that the Raooul split came out they had developed a bit more of their own sound. You can hear their growth on Ex-Boyfriend Beat from that split. They didn't have tons of releases but have remained one of those bands that I've never gotten tired of. After Skinned Teen called it a day one of the members went on to form a band called Petty Crime who were awesome! Used to have the 7" but don't think I do anymore. If you ever see it pick it up! Now I have no idea what any of them are doing. Shame!

Punk Rockest
Ex-Boyfriend Beat

The Third Sex

The Third Sex were from Portland, Oregon. They were part of the queercore movement that took place in the mid 90s. A friend of mine at KDVS thought they sounded more old school Portland (specifically like Neo Boys if I remember correctly) than anything else at the time. They were a three piece with Trish and Peyton trading off vocals and guitar and bass with different drummers filling in. Their first seven inch release, Mombies, was an instant hit on my radio show. They weren't as polished or musically accomplished as some of their peers (Sleater-Kinney and Team Dresch come to mind) but the music was passionate regardless. Lyrically they tackled the usual riot grrrl topics but somehow the music was more interesting to my ears than some of those bands like Bratmobile, who I always thought were boring. The main draw for me was hearing songs that felt like they were about my life. Songs about girl/girl love were still a novelty to me and at the time I found them incredibly important. I thought I would focus on lesser available tracks today though I do recommend their full length albums, both available from Chainsaw Records still, I think. If not, there's always ebay! I would like to mention that I once went on a road trip to Portland to go on a date with a certain member of this band. It was ridiculous and awesome and sort of epitomized the indie aesthetic to me - you could be anyone and be in a band and you could be anyone and talk to a band or go on a date with someone from one of your favorite bands. It sounds absurd but somehow it was really powerful to be able to feel like you were that close to what was going on.

Special thanks to Blowin' Your Cover for ripping this 7" for me!
Mombies

This track is from the Free To Fight compilation.
Monster Snack

My First Punk Show

As I've mentioned before, the first punk show I ever attended was Tiger Trap, Cupid Car Club, and Slant 6 in Sacramento, CA. It was the summer of 1993 (July, I think) and I was 17 years old. Prior to that show I had been into labels like Sub Pop and Rough Trade but I had never been to a club show. I didn't know I was entering a new world and a new way of life just by going to a club show. It was especially jarring since up to that point nearly every show I had attended was at an arena or amphitheater with 10,000 or more people. This was a small club with probably 150 people in attendance and that might be pushing it.

I roped some friends into going to the show. We made our way to the outskirts of downtown - a somewhat foreign land to suburban me. None of us knew what to expect since we hadn't heard of these other bands. I was pretty excited when Slant 6 took the stage and they were three girls. I was definitely a riot grrrl/feminist at heart even if I didn't know the terminology yet. They were so rad looking - totally cool with an air of hipness unknown to me in suburbia. I was practically intimidated just by looking at them. Then they started playing and the songs were fantastic... simple yet powerful and catchy but still punk. They were blowing my mind. When I started working at a record store the next year I flipped out when I saw their debut album Soda Pop * Rip Off in the bin and bought it and put it on right away. Instantly made fans out of my co-workers. I would later learn about Christina Billotte being in Autoclave and bought that stuff up to. She's had a rich history since then with Quix*O*Tic and the Casual Dots. However, for me, Slant 6 will always have my heart.
Time Expired

After Slant 6 played there was a short break (not like an arena show at all!) and Cupid Car Club took the stage. Almost instantly I thought their singer looked familiar. When Tiger Trap took the stage Rose Melberg said something about Ian Svenonious being Sassy Magazines Sassiest Boy In America a couple of years prior. A ha! I remembered him! Awesome! Maybe I was more cut out to go to punk shows than I had originally thought. Anyway, I had certainly never experienced anything like Cupid Car Club before in my life. Energy and madness and..... FUN! I felt like I was witnessing something spectacular. I remember thinking to myself that I didn't know a show could be so crazed with passion. I was getting off on the energy. I wanted to go to shows like this all the time. Where the bands might not be making millions but were doing it because they felt like they had to. I walked out of the club that night a convert. I did my research on Mr. Svenonious and learned about his storied history as well and got into Nation Of Ulysses. I saw his later bands (The Make Up and Weird War) but didn't really enjoy the shtick. Cupid Car Club was short lived but pure.
Grape Juice Plus

When Push Comes To Shove

Over the years I have had many songs capture my attention and affections. I have been a fan of music almost my entire life. My earliest memories start at 3 years old and I can still remember what songs were popular at the time. I've mentioned it before but would like to say again how much I appreciate having older siblings and parents who like music. So, with 29 years of music listening and loving under my belt I would like to present you with my all time favorite song.
This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)

My mother is responsible for my love of Motown and oldies in general. She always had music playing in the car which probably explains why listening to music in a car is one of my favorite things. As I got older I would ask her for specific memories of hearing some classics for the first time. I enjoy people telling me about their first time hearing certain songs. Samuel R. Delany tells of hearing Martha & The Vandellas (Your Love Is Like A) Heatwave for the first time in his book, The Motion of Light in Water and it may very well be my favorite first time hearing a song story. I worry that we don't have songs like that today. I don't think Umbrella is a classic, you know?

The first time I recall hearing The Isley Brothers song was on an episode of Moonlighting which Dana Delany guested on before her starring role on China Beach. Now, given that my mother loves Motown and was always playing it I'm sure I heard this song prior to that. However, that episode married the song and the story so perfectly that it made a deep impression on me. Probably the first time I understood the power of music to help tell a story. When I got older I became obsessed with the song. Analyzing what makes it so great to me. The bottom line is that it is just perfect. The Funk Brothers playing is top notch. The bass line is my favorite ever played, the piano, the drums, the strings! That's just the first 15 seconds! Then the vocals kick in and take it even higher. Ronald Isley just nails the pain of having your heart broken over and over by the same person. Of course, Holland-Dozier-Holland (along with Sylvia Moy on this song) understood something about songwriting that very few people have understood since. I only wish I knew what it was! There have been many covers and none as good as the original.