Yuck

     You may be getting the impression from my blog so far that I'm a middle-aged guy who only listens to older music. Not true! I love new bands like Cloud Nothings, Popstrangers and Extra Medium Pony just to name a couple. One new band I really love is Yuck. Their sound is heavily influenced by 90's alternative, but they manage to not sound derivative. They do power pop, shoegaze and straight up, fuzzed out guitar rock. They also have a female bass player and a drummer with big hair. The bands that come to mind when listening to their album are Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr., Yo La Tengo and Pavement. I was put off a little from buying the CD because the album art is rather unpleasant. Daniel Blumberg, who is the singer and one of the guitarists, is also an artist. He drew the artwork which is a drawing of some messed up looking person who is apparently about to vomit. I managed to overcome the artwork and I've actually bought the album threec times. I bought the original CD, then the reissue with 6 B-sides included on CD and vinyl. I also bought 2 of their 7'' records when I went to see them at the Grog Shop. The CD opens with the track "Get Away" which is one of my favorite opening songs on any album. It comes right out of the gate with guitars blazing and set the tone for the rest of the album. My other favorite songs "Shook Down" and "Sunday" are power pop gems that could easily fit on Teenage Fanclub's Grand Prix. "Georgia" is indebted to Yo La Tengo and I assume is a tribute to Georgia since it's sung by their bass player Mariko Doi. The B-sides disc has a couple songs that most bands would kill to have on an actual album. "Milkshake" is another power pop masterpiece. It has great lyrics and the chorus is killer," I don't want to get you down / I just need to be around /  baby you're so unkind / you make a milkshake of my mind". Who hasn't been there? "Coconut Bible" is an endearingly goofy ditty about coconuts, I guess, but it's a great song with awesome guitars. "Cousin Corona" is a slow, menacing song that builds to the chorus, then explodes, then pulls back again, and repeats. Once again, great guitars. The lead guitarist is Max Bloom and I was at the urinal next to him at the Grog Shop show. I didn't say anything to him or violate any men's room ettiquette. Anyhow, this album is one of those albums that makes me wonder what's wrong with people. More people should know who Yuck are, but they can't get a sniff. Meanwhile, crap like Death Cab For Cutie and Kings of Leon and Coldplay gets shoved down our throats. My kids definitely have to give this one a chance. Peace.

Dinosaur Jr: Ear Bleeding Country

     I went to see Dinosaur Jr. the other night at the Beachland Ballroom. I had never seen them before and it was a great show. J. Mascis is a guitar genius, Lou Barlow was rockin' the Geddy Lee Rickenbacker bass and Murph was rock solid. They are also one of those bands that the fans want to hear them play their new songs. Usually that's when people go to the bathroom. As I said, this was the first time I've seen Dinosaur Jr. play and there are a few reasons for that. In the 90's I was in a weird place musically. I had wasted much of the 80's listening to hair metal bands, then in 1991 Kurt Cobain put that scene out of its misery. On a personal level, my oldest daughter was also born in 1991. I was a first time father and didn't keep up with new music. I was too busy sterilizing bottles, changing diapers, not getting sleep and working full time to discover bands. I was so distracted from music at that time that I didn't even expose her to the Beatles. That is one of my biggest regrets as a father, but I'll save that for one of my Beatles' posts. Anyhow, this was pre-internet and the only easily accessible outlets for music were radio and MTV. So I casually listened to bands like Better Than Ezra, Gin Blossoms, Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. Now, these are all fine bands and I own many of their CDs, but I missed tons of amazing bands because they weren't dropped in my lap. Toward the end of the 90's I actually stopped listening to rock music and got into jazz and New Age. So during that decade I completely missed out on bands like Flaming Lips, Pavement, Guided by Voices, Teenage Fanclub, the Pixies and of course Dinosaur Jr. I say this to explain why I don't have much Dinosaur Jr. in my collection. I plan on rectifying this in the near future, but for the purposes of this blog I have to recommend to my kids that they listen to Ear Bleeding Country.
     Ear Bleeding Country is an apt title for this best of album. J. Mascis's vocals kind of have a country vibe and the music is ear bleeding, but in a good way. Mascis is widely recognized as one of the few guitar heroes of the alternative rock scene. I assume that he was influenced by the guitar heroes of the 70's and 80's but also a product of the alternative scene. My favorite song by Dinosaur Jr. is "The Wagon". I found it interesting during the show the other day that that was the song everybody really got into. I assumed that people would go nuts for Freak Scene or Start Choppin' or Feel the Pain, and they did, but The Wagon was definitely the highlight. I'm not always a big lyrics guy, but The Wagon has great lyrics like There's a place I'd like to go / When you get there then I'll know. It also has great imagery with the lines Ring the doorbell in your mind / but it's locked from the outside / You don't live there anyway / but I'll knock on it all day. Apart from the songs I already mentioned, there is also In a Jar, Out There and I Don't think So. There really are no bad songs on this CD. And I promise that I will soon add "Bug" and "You're Living All Over Me" to my collection because it's kind of embarrassing that I don't have them.

    

Rush Nominated for Rock Hall

    Where is Jann Wenner's dead body? Rush have finally been nominated for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame right here in Cleveland. I realize they are not in yet, but with the new fan vote and past inductees getting a vote it seems like they actually have a chance. This news changes the planned post that I had for my Rush collection which was largely a diatribe against the Rock Hall nominating committee. When my wife and I moved to Cleveland in 2006 she gave me a very thoughtful gift, a Rock Hall membership. I obviously love music and it's history and enjoyed my visits to the museum. However, deep down I hated to support an institution that stubbornly refused to recognize one of the greatest rock bands of all time-Rush. When they were snubbed again last year I decided not to renew my membership. Needless to say, if they get in I will be renewing. I only wish they had gotten in when the induction ceremony was here so I could attend.
     My Rush collection is quite large. It includes LPs, cassettes, CDs and DVDs. At one time or another I've own their entire catalog on all of these formats. As I mentioned in my first post, the most valuable item in my collection is the Moon Records version of their debut album. It goes without saying that they should keep that album. Back to the wall, here are the other essential albums in the Rush catalog.

Permanent Waves
     This was the album when I was first exposed to Rush. I grew up in the middle of nowhere Michigan and was barely able to listen to a couple AOR stations who's playlists were mainly Journey, Styx, Foreigner, REO and Led Zeppelin. When I heard "The Spirit of Radio" I was hooked. Not only does it rock, but the lyrics really spoke to me about the integrity of music and radio.  The other single from that album was "Freewill" which has the great line"if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice". It continues to challenge my personal philosophy( I lean toward believing in Determinism rather than Freewill) but nevertheless is one of my favorite Rush songs. I didn't know it at the time, but this album was a departure from their prog-rock beginnings. However, "Natural Science" and "Jacob's Ladder" were both proggy and led me to go back and investigate Rush's older material as well as bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP and Marillion. Hopefully, it will have the same effect on my kids.

Moving Pictures
     This is widely accepted as their masterpiece. The first side of the album is flawless and includes my all-time favorite Rush song "Limelight". Ironically, it's Neil's song about his difficulties dealing with fame and it brought them their greatest fame as a band. Unlike 2112, side two is also awesome.

Signals
     Although the band has voiced it's displeasure over how Signals ended up sounding it is still one of my favorite Rush albums. "Subdivisions" has been a live staple since it's release and probably the most identifiable song for their fans. Not only does it comment on the boredom of suburban life, it also gave solace to kids who felt like they didn't fit in with the cool crowd. Signals also includes the criminally overlooked song "Analog Kid".

     I know many people are put off by the kimonoes, Geddy's voice, Neil's technical mastery of drumming and his philosophy. Regardless of how you feel about them or their music there's no denying their influence and their place in the history of rock music. I also recommend that my kids keep all the concert DVDs because Rush is one of the greatest live acts ever.