Band You Should Be Listening To - Japandroids

...and I am back from the longest sabbatical ever. No need to explain myself, other than to say over the past two months I've lacked time, inspiration, and motivation to maintain this blog. Luckily, my recent hard drive reformat (thank you, Windows Vista) caused me to reevaluate my music library and has given me some long awaited ideas.

Of course, it wouldn't feel right if I didn't make my fist post in two months about some band that likes to make lots of noise. I really know very little about Japandroids, other than they are from Vancouver, BC and they derive their lo-fi sound from the acceptance of making do with what they have.

When bands don't have any money or exposure, they are forced to take matters into their own hands. Japandroids self-recorded and distributed two EP's using nothing but a drum set, guitar, two vocalizers, and a four track mixer. So you could say their lo-fi sound was predetermined whether they wanted to sound that way or not, but it suits them perfectly.

Like LA's No Age and San Diego skate punk band Wavves, Japandroids are a guitar + drums duo whose DIY punk ideals are leading a lo-fi renaissance of sorts. Their two-step drum and cymbal rhythms and garage-punk guitar riffs evoke the heyday of the noise/skate/garage punk era of the early to mid 1990's, when labels like Sub Pop and SST were releasing classic records seemingly by the dozens. Japandroids could easily have fit in during that era, as it isn't difficult for me to imagine them blowing the doors off some run-down warehouse in San Pedro while opening for the Minutemen.

If you want to hear more of these guys, their debut album Post-Nothing is now available on Canada's Unfamiliar Records. Also, for the LA readers of this blog they are playing the Silver Lake lounge on 5/29. People up North can catch them at Seattle's annual Capitol Hill Block Party (along with The Jesus Lizard, Sonic Youth, Deerhunter and many more) on July 25th.

Japandroids
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Song of the Day - The Clash: "The Magnificent Seven/Armagideon Time" (live at Shea Stadium)

I have really neglected this blog lately. It seems that in the last two weeks I haven't been able to come up with anything interesting to write about. Lately I've been listening to mostly old David Bowie, Lou Reed, The Smiths, and early Rolling Stones, and since millions of words have been written about all of those artists, it's not really my place to add anything to that criticism. Being out of the loop on newer music (at least in the last two weeks) is often the cause of all my bouts with writer's block. Luckily, a new release from The Clash came around to bring me out of my funk.

Live at Shea Stadium marks an important moment in The Clash's legendary history. They were finally becoming a household name in the States after the release of Combat Rock, yet the band was internally falling apart. Just prior to being invited to open for The Who in 1982 the band ousted longtime drummer Topper Headon due to his heroin abuse and replaced him with original drummer Terry Chimes, who was not as highly regarded by most of their fans. Only one year later singer-guitarist Mick Jones would leave the band and The Clash would essentially be dead forever.

But just before they broke up for good The Clash was at their apex on this cold and rainy night in New York City. Often bootlegged during the past 25 years, this excellent sounding official release displays the band doing their best to win over the crowd of mostly ambivalent fans who came to see The Who. As a result, the setlist was heavy on the hits, as Joe Strummer artfully directed the band's breakneck pace for over 47 minutes.

My favorite moment of their set was this little medley of "The Magnificent Seven" and Willie William's "Armagideon Time," which probably didn't go over as well as "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" or "Train in Vain", but to me sounded like the epitome of what The Clash were all about.

For one, "The Magnificent Seven" is my favorite song in their catalog, so I am a little biased to begin with. It's easily one of the funkiest rock songs of the 80's and it so perfectly captures how vast and varied the band's creative influences were. If most of the crowd hadn't heard much funk or rap music before, you can bet Joe Strummer wasn't going to let such a golden opportunity to spread the word go by. And for good measure he manages to squeeze in some reggae music by announcing to the crowd that he's going to "take you to Jamaica."

Right as the spotlight was brightest Strummer and his band mates chose to focus some of it on black music in front of a mostly white crowd. Before the segue into "Armagideon Time" Strummer announces to the crowd that they "stole" the "black New York rhythm" to "The Magnificent Seven", as if to imply there's plenty of great music to be found throughout the streets of NYC if you just open your ears.

If you know anything about Joe Strummer, such a move shouldn't come as a surprise. He always used his notoriety to shine a light on music and political issues that never made it to the mainstream. Sure, most of the crowd probably had no idea what he was talking about, nor did they care, but undoubtedly at least handful of attendees that night understood what Joe was trying to say, which was all he needed to bring his point across.

The Clash - "The Magnificent Seven/Armagideon Time" (from Live at Shea Stdium)
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Band You Should Be Listening To - No Age

*Photo courtesy of Flickr member Charlie two hats

Admittedly, I am a little late to the party in regards to No Age since I am a Los Angeles resident. These guys play at The Smell (an all-ages indie rock venue that is ground zero for some of the most interesting music of the LA scene) all the time and I never (at least until now) bothered to pay $5 to see them on a whim? I need to stop being so lazy with stuff like that.

Anyway, No Age is an LA duo whose profile has started to elevate over the past year. Thanks to critical praise from the indie blogosphere and a print feature in none other than the standard-bearer of indie snob liberal society, The New Yorker. The exposure is warranted since their two albums are pretty damn great.

For people outside of LA (or, those of us too lazy to frequent The Smell), their introduction to No Age was probably last year's Wierdo Rippers. While not a proper album, but merely a collection of five previously vinyl-only EPs, Weirdo Rippers still manages to sound like one. It's a nice mix of distorted guitar soundscapes and good old fashioned noise punk that gives outsiders a glimpse into the chaotic and dynamic nature of the LA rock scene. You can hear elements of Sonic Youth, SST-era SoCal punk, and the Jesus and Mary Chain throughout, basically giving the listener different flavors of noise to savor.

No Age released their official debut album, Nouns, just a couple of weeks ago and already it is generating serious buzz as one of the year's best rock albums. After about six listens in three days (quite a bit for a musical ADD person like myself) I would tend to agree with that praise. Thus far, it joins Atlas Sound's debut as my favorite rock album to come out this year.

Similar to the Atlas Sound album, Nouns is a tightly constructed collection of sounds that weaves in and out of moods through a constant river of cacophony. The transition from instrumental noise drone to DIY punk noise is seamless throughout the album and never once could you accuse it of being pretentious (something that more bands think they succeeded at then actually did). Instead, No Age sees brevity as a virtue and shows that just because you can go crazy with the delay for 12 minutes doesn't mean you have to play for that long. Once again, something that bands who rely heavily on noise melodies fail to recognize.

I'm told No Age is even better in person, which doesn't make me feel like any less of schmuck for not seeing them any of the 20 or so times they played at home over the last 12 months. Better late than never, I guess.

No Age - "Boy Void" (from Weirdo Rippers)


No Age - "Eraser" (from Nouns)


No Age - "Here Should Be My Home "(from Nouns)

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Delta 5: Making Feminism Funkier Than Socialism

Not too long ago I made another attempt (this was my third) at putting together a post punk/new wave mix comprised of nothing but funky dance songs. As with my previous attempts, I hit a wall after I picked from the usual suspects (Gang of Four, PiL, The Jam, etc.) and was left wondering if maybe there weren't enough groups from that era to fill out a 60-80 minute playlist (unless I picked multiple songs from every artist, but I try to stay away from that). Of course after using my trusty friend last.fm, I quickly learned there were at least several bands I was overlooking simply because I wasn't very familiar with them or I had outright never heard of them before. Delta 5 was one of the bands who fell into the latter category.

Formed in 1979 in Leeds, England, Delta 5 comprised of vocalist/guitarist Julz Sale, vocalist/bassist Ros Allen, vocalist/bassist Bethan Peters, guitarist Alan Briggs and drummer Kelvin Knight. While they stayed together for barely two years, Delta 5 was still able to leave their mark on the Leeds New Wave scene, even if they are often overshadowed by the more distinguished Gang of Four and the Mekons.

Like their Leeds brethren, Delta 5 were a fiercely political outfit, often singing in support of feminist issues and against racism. Songs such as their debut single "Mind Your Own Business" and "Colour" served as announcements that female artists should be taken every bit as serious as their male counterparts. What made them so unique was how undeniably fun their music was to listen to, despite the serious issues they sang about. This was due mostly to the emphasis on heavy bass rhythms found in their songs and the tendency of Sale and Allen to sing in unison. For many fans, this meant not only could they exhibit their solidarity at any of Delta 5's various political benefits and rallies, but they could also dace their asses off.

Since their tenure was so brief Delta 5 was only able to release one album, See The Whirl (long since out of print), before disbanding in 1981. Luckily in 2006 Kill Rock Stars released Singles & Sessions, which collected the band's best singles, B sides, BBC radio sessions and other live performances. I suggest any fan of Gang of Four, the Au Pairs or even more recent dance/pop punk bands like the Pipettes or the Rapture give Delta 5 a listen. I guarantee it is totally up your alley.

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