New Bloods

New Bloods are a relatively new band (they had their first practice March 2006) from Portland, Oregon. Drums, Bass, Violin and voices intertwine and come out like a cross between The Raincoats and Erase Errata. I feel like New Bloods are a bit more melodic than either of those bands though. Kill Rock Stars just released their album The Secret Life this past Tuesday. They are touring like maniacs and there is a chance for a good portion of you to catch them since they will be hitting the states AND Europe! They need a bit of help so if you happen to be in Denver, Boise, or Omaha or Lincoln, Nebraska and can help them out you should get in touch with them. I'm including the date and location of the shows currently booked, if you want full information follow the link to their myspace page at the start of the entry.

Two of my favorites...
The Secret Life
The Cycle Song

Apr 11 Olympia, Washington
Apr 18 Portland, Oregon
Apr 20 Vancouver, British Columbia
Apr 21 Seattle, Washington
Apr 22 HELP US! Boise, Idaho
Apr 23 Salt Lake City, Utah
Apr 24 HELP US! Denver, Colorado
Apr 25 HELP US! Omaha or Lincoln, Nebraska
Apr 26 Kansas City, Missouri
Apr 27 St. Louis, Missouri
Apr 28 Bloomington, Indiana
Apr 29 Detroit, Michigan
May 3 New York, NEW YORK
May 4 Providence, Rhode Island

May 7 Leeds
May 8 Newcastle
May 9 Bristol
May 10 London
May 11 Cork
May 12 Belfast
May 13 Dublin
May 14 Paris
May 15 Nantes
May 16 Madrid
May 17 Barcelona
May 18 Bordeaux
May 19 Lyon
May 21 Berlin
May 22 Berlin
May 23 Amsterdam
May 24 London

May 29 Washington DC
Jun 3 Athens, Georgia
Jun 4 Gainesville, Florida
Jun 6 Pensacola, Florida

Excuse 17

Ah, once again we find ourselves in the mid 90s. The Periscope compilation that Go Sailor first appeared on also features what I think is the best Excuse 17 song. The comp came out between their first record which was released by Chainsaw and their second (and last) record which Kill Rock Stars released. This song was my introduction to the band so let's start with that and work from there.
Sevenwhateverteen

After hearing and falling in love with that song I promptly bought their first record. The record was almost too catchy to be lumped into the riot grrrl category. The fact that they had 2 guitar players (no bass player) set their sound apart from their contemporaries in Bikini Kill, Heavens To Betsy, and Bratmobile. The lyrical content fit right in with riot grrrl though and that was always how Excuse 17 were described. This song is a great example of the record as a whole.
Imaginary Friend

I loved the first record so much that I was extremely curious to hear their second record. I had a lot of faith that they would change their sound somehow, do something different, and I was excited to hear it. When I first put the record on I immediately sensed that it was going to be angrier. The guitars were louder and more in the front and the record opens with Becca Albee stating, "I'm punker than you, I'm so sure." While there are still the lyrics about dudes being shitty the bigger message of the record is about the music industry and press being shitty. The sense I always got from this record was that disillusionment was already setting in. There were still some catchy songs on the record but overall it was more about being angry and not sugar coating it with hooky guitar parts.
Watchmaker

After Such Friends Are Dangerous came out and they toured supporting it the band ended. Carrie Brownstein hit the road a few months later with Sleater-Kinney and never looked back.

Stockholm Monsters

One thing I find completely fascinating is musicians who drastically change their songs from demo version to final release. None of the bands I've been in have ever operated that way and I know plenty of other people in bands who don't operate that way. Actually, I only know one musician who it seems like almost always changes his songs from demo version to final version. I know that sometimes it's encouraged (or demanded, ha!) by the producer or engineer. An example of that is this song, Fairy Tales, by the Stockholm Monsters. Most people thought that the version Martin Hannett demanded out of them was not as good as their demo version. Of course, the funny thing is that it's a matter of personal taste, isn't it? I love the Hannett version much more than the demo.

Fairy Tales (Demo)

Fairy Tales

The Softies, Go Sailor, Rose Melberg

I've made my love of Tiger Trap abundantly clear here already so now I'll express my love for some of her other projects.

Go Sailor and The Softies were her projects immediately following the demise of Tiger Trap. I had the pleasure of seeing both projects many times including a melding of the two when Jen from The Softies joined Go Sailor on stage for a full band version of the Softies song Loveseat. I enjoyed that the bands were different from each other with The Softies covering the acoustic side of things and Go Sailor being poppy and punky but not pop punk!

Oddly, my favorite Softies song is actually one that Jen takes lead on. If I had the song mentioned above converted from vinyl I'd post it but since I don't I will default to my favorite. You can still hear Rose chiming in nice backing parts! Anyway, I always thought that this was a perfect crush song because it turns it on its head a bit. Talking about how perfect somebody is because they're as fucked up as you and that's why you can't be together.
As Skittish As Me

This song is a cover of the Rocketship classic! When I posted on Rocketship awhile back I posted their version (which is now down so don't bother trying to download it!) and have been meaning to post this cover. This version is slowed down and stripped down but I think that goes to show what a strong song it is. It's been said that a great full band song is really only a great song if it can stand on its own with just an acoustic guitar. I do recommend tracking the original version down though just so you can hear it in all its glory!
Hey Hey Girl (Rocketship)

The first Go Sailor song that came out was on the Periscope compilation put out by Yo Yo. It was instant love. I was still terribly distraught over the Tiger Trap break up but once I heard this song I felt a little less sad. It was proof positive that Rose was an incredible songwriter and had great taste in picking musicians to enhance the songs. They were a bit more poppy than Tiger Trap with the most glaring difference being the lack of the surf guitar leads that Angela Loy provided in Tiger Trap. I collected all the 7"s as they came out but enjoyed that those songs along with the compilation tracks were compiled for the self titled cd release.
Last Year

Rose's first solo record, Portola, was more like like a compilation of songs rather than a cohesive release. Featuring covers, Tiger Trap songs that never got full band treatment, one of her best songs (Golden Gate Bridge), and a collaboration with her old friend, Dustin Reske of Rocketship. Since Dustin is such a great songwriter in his own right and has been mentioned in this post that is the song you get!
The Love We Could Have Had

Rose also played drums in Gaze, got married, had a baby, and kind of disappeared for awhile. A bit over a year ago she released a new solo record and I got to see her play a few shows and couldn't believe when she pulled out a Tiger Trap song! I had never heard her do one live since they broke up so it was a real treat. I apparently don't have anything from the last solo record handy so perhaps another time.

Spider & The Webs

I've been busy AND not feeling well - sorry for the lack of updates lately.

All I really know about Spider & The Webs is that former Bikini Kill member Tobi Vail fronts them. I saw them live in the Summer of 2005 and enjoyed them so much that I bought an 8 song cd they had with them on tour. I would say that this stuff is much more akin to The Go Team (Olympia band from the 80s NOT the UK one!) than Bikini Kill. Pop songs, not riot grrrl anthems.

Since we left off with me posting a Primal Scream song I thought it would be fitting to post a cover of a Primal Scream song. I do not actually like the original version of this song but this cover (and the Half Japanese cover which I don't seem to have) totally rule.

Movin' On Up (Primal Scream)

Frozen Roses

Back to more regular posting soon, I hope!

Leave Me Alone

While riding the subway yesterday I was reminded by my iPod that I wanted to post these songs together. I love when I'm listening to something on shuffle and the pairings are perfect. I was feeling extremely depressed yesterday which only enhanced the pairing.

I've had several conversations about Bernard Sumner's lyrics. For the most part they're just not very good. However, if you think about where he was coming from and the shadow he had to step out of it's admirable that he didn't take the easy route and just rehash Ian's lyrical territory. I think everyone would have given him a pass if he had sung about wanting to off himself given the situation New Order formed from. Of course, this is a poor example of what I'm trying to illustrate. I do tend to prefer New Order guitar songs to the ecstasy fueled lyrics and synth/sequencer anthems. Once in awhile Barney could surprise.
Leave Me Alone

I actually dislike Primal Scream quite a bit. It's funny when a band has one (or two) excellent and amazing songs but everything else is not even tolerable! I never really got the Screamadelica love. I would almost think that love for it would be based on being there for it, but I certainly know people who love that record who have no physical connection to that time in the UK. I don't even try to understand when they turned into a very poor version of The Rolling Stones. Whatever, right? This song is gold.
Velocity Girl

The Bedsit Infamy Giveaway!

Lungs, My Heart. Blood, My Stomach is the title of the brand new Bedsit Infamy record which comes out April 1. The album is being released by Banazan Records so if you like what you hear please support them! Banazan was kind enough to pass along some giveaways - I have a t-shirt and cd for one lucky winner and I have 2 additional cds but no shirt with those. I looked and looked trying to find an image of the shirt but no luck so you'll have to take my word for it when I say that it is a very nice blue American Apparel t-shirt with a light blue design. TO ATTAIN SUCH FINE GOODIES E-MAIL ME! (the address is: thatwasinpoortaste@gmail.com - 1st response gets the t-shirt and cd, the next two get just the cd.)

Since I've written about Billy/The Bedsit Infamy before I will just leave you with a couple of tracks from the record. It was not an easy task to post only two songs because I find this record to be extremely solid from start to finish. I always default to posting my absolute favorite tracks, but if I could I would post the whole damn thing. However, I feel that these two songs best represent what the album sounds like and the feel behind the songs. Trinkets hidden in the songs to discover on each listen and an incredible sense of songwriting that will have you listening again and again.

Virginia, Lay Your Hands Upon Me
Red Lights

E-MAIL FOR FREE STUFF!

Russian Spy Camera

Russian Spy Camera are a band that J. got me into. The first time she took me to see them I heard hints of The Fall in some of their songs. However, when we saw them in Athens (their hometown) at the Popfest last August gone were The Fall influences and in were... I'm not sure what. The songs seemed longer and more drawn out, definitely less concise, and some even felt a bit jammy to me. Generally speaking I tend to like a shorter and catchier song but this is a wild generalization. The band has just released FOR FREE DOWNLOAD a new record. If you go to their website (linked above) you can find out what they're all about. I am choosing to put up what I think are the two catchiest songs from the record, Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives, but on the record they stretch out on some songs and weird out on others. If you like it you can give them some money via a link on their site!

Pixels In Your Soup
Hotels

Times New Viking / Tyvek

I've become fairly lazy about seeking out new music. However, two newer bands I like quite a bit are Times New Viking and Tyvek. If you're familiar with these bands (or if you listen to these songs) it will probably be clear as to why. They tread a similar fuzzed out yet catchy territory. They're both doing pretty well so I'm obviously not the only person who finds this music to be quite appealing. Both bands will be at SXSW and playing various other shows around the country this month.

Another Day
Times New Viking on Myspace

Mary Ellen Claims
Tyvek on Myspace

Duck and Swallow

Duck and Swallow is the solo project of former Drayton Sawyer Gang bass player Lillie Jayne. She is playing a couple of shows soon - the first being this Wednesday (March 5) at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. The second show is on April 11 at Goodbye Blue Monday, also in Brooklyn. These tracks are voice and piano, weird and disconcerting in the best way, though some of the songs available through the myspace page are not as weird and verge on pretty. I'm hoping to make it to the Pete's Candy Store show to see how this comes off live. I'm guessing pretty well because of the simplicity of voice without tons of accompaniment.

The Song In Which I Call You An Asshole

You Didn't Notice