By Alex Danger Stewart

So I was reading this Cracked article (because: shut up. that’s why) and it helped me realize two things.

1. That Ke$ha lady does have actual lyrics

2. She is completely lacking even a glimmer of an understanding of how similes work.

Take the line that everyone knows, “Wake up in the mornin feelin like P Diddy”

What the hell does that mean?  What feeling is P Diddy indicative of?  He’s a complicated dude.  I imagine he wakes up feeling ambitious.  Maybe she has woken up feeling like a man with 7 or 8 children. Possibly feeling like someone who has had multiple friends/associates murdered in hip hop feuds.   Is she just trying to say that she’s woken up feeling like a person who is so rich that they have their own vodka brand?  Then why not follow that line of reasoning through the end of the song? That would make an awesome song. Plus Diddy barely records anymore so he probably hasn’t worn out references to the awesomeness of his own life.

Still, what’s another word used to describe a rapper who is rich and glamorous that everyone already knows the meaning of?  A pimp!

“Wake up in the morning feeling like a pimp.”

I just made the object of the sentence make more sense without changing the flow. We can even change the 2nd line from, “”Got my glasses, I’m out the door gonna hit this city.” to something that still rhymes with the end of the first (because Diddy and city totally rhyme).  “Wake up in the morning feeling like a pimp.  Tripping over last night, stumbling like a gimp.”  The whole song is about getting super drunk.  As an alcoholic, Ke$ha would clearly be a bit hung over until she brushed her teeth with Jack and started feeling normal again.  Did the author of Tik Tok write a 2nd draft?

Let’s say they intentionally sat down and thought, “I’d like to make a reference to an actual person in the first line.”  If one is going to do that, one would have to expand on the thought and show WHY the speaker is feeling like that person.

For example: “Wake up in the morning feeling like Wilt Chamberlain.  Good at basketball, and fucking, and being really tall, man.”

See. I made a reference to a famous person and then illustrated why one might be feeling like that person using three well-known facts about him.  Wilt Chamberlain is famous for being one of the most dominant players in NBA history; having allegedly slept with over 20,000 women in his lifetime, and standing 7’1″ tall. That’s how it works!

I ought to be getting paid for this stuff.

by Alex Danger Stewart

Joie De Vivre-You Ruined Everything that was Ever Good

With You Ruined Everything that was Ever Good, the titular track of their 2010 tour EP, Joie De Vivre brought something so far unseen to the table: Swagger.

Prior to this song, the band’s lyrical aesthetic could best be described as, “Earnest Apathy“.  That is to say any number of songs in their catalog can be summed up by a scruffy young man yelping, “I feel bad about these things, but I don’t know how to change them.”  One could easily imagine a girl breaking up with JDV’s lyrical persona.  Upon hearing the news, the persona slumps down in his chair and says, “Oh ok.” Then the persona drives home and feels bad about himself until his friends come over with a 24 pack of beer and some old Alkaline Trio albums (incidentally it would look like this).

That’s what makes this song so different.  Maybe it’s because of the hilarious origins (see their recent appearance on our podcast), but You Ruined Everything that was Ever Good has none of that reluctance or longing usually present in a Joie De Vivre track.  Lunging forward at a pace that veers shockingly close to up tempo, the guitars bite instead of chime.  One can actually move their hips to this thing.  Singer  Brandon Lutmer’s usually propensity for stretching words out to bar length is replaced by what amounts to urgency; gnawing at the bit to get all of his words out (relatively speaking).

“Staying out all night/ to follow you home convinced me that I was right/ in letting you go.  I couldn’t wait to tell you/that things are fine,” he sings to an unnamed party.  Basically telling her, “It’s cool. I’m better now anyway.”  Then the barbs get more venomous, plainly stating, “You weren’t missed by anyone,” repeating it before ending the song with the chanted, “You ruined/everything that was ever good.  You ruined/everything that was ever good.”  Ouch.  As far as emo bands go, it’s basically a Ludacris song.  Everything is delivered with confidence and a smirk.  It almost makes you want to strut.

I’m sure that we’ll all go back to Charlie Brown moments soon enough, but it’s nice to have a rallying cry for moving on.  Give it six months. This song will be a sing along song.

Visit Joie De Vivre’s myspace page to hear the song: http://www.myspace.com/joiedevivreband

Cub reporter Danger Stewart is on the scene at the 2010 Pitchfork Festival with updates all weekend long via the Sock Monkey Sound hotline. Check back here all weekend for new audio updates and live tweets. Pitchfork coverage sponsored in part by Hobnob Wines. Try their Pinot Noir, it’s really damn good.

DAY 1

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 1

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 2

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 3

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 4

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 5

DAY 2

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 6

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 7

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 8

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 9

DAY 3

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 10

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 11

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 12

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 13

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 14

Danger@Pitchfork: Part 15

By Alex D Stewart

What? Deep Blue Organ Trio at the Green Mill

Where?  The Green Mill, Uptown, Chicago

Why? Because I adore historic institutions and I live down the street

What is the thesis? A criticism of jazz ignorance by someone with a marginally less shallow understanding

Last Tuesday night I found myself at the historic Green Mill jazz club.  I’d been avoiding it for a little while because it’s almost prohibitively expensive (for me, at least.  I’m sure people with jobs have less of an issue with $6 cocktails and a $12 cover on weekends), but I had no plans and was in a musical mood.  The Mill relies heavily on its history and gets away with a lot of shit because of it (on any given night, it can be difficult to tell how many people are there for the music and how many came because of its reputation as Al Capone’s frequent hangout).  From my perspective, this is mostly forgiven by the Mill’s track record of booking live music almost every night of the week for almost 90 years now.  Even as the Uptown neighborhood saw some really, really rough years in the 60s, 70s, and 80s (aw, who are we kidding? The 90s too) the Mill kept booking music and also managed to become instrumental in the formation of the Chicago slam poetry scene (the Sunday night Uptown Poetry Slam has been running for a good 24 years now).

So that’s why I was there.  We walked in and found a scene that meshed fairly well with my expectations.  Dark, resplendently restored Prohibition era décor, and packed with white folks; the band churning away at small Swing combo and Bop era standards.  This is where I start trying to position my experience as being indicative of a larger issue with jazz:  We’re now coming up on a time when jazz has ceased to be a major market influence for almost as long as it was one.  Jazz has not moved units in any large amounts in America since the early 60s and it was supplanted by Blues and R&B as a reflection of Black culture and partying tendencies a further 10 to 15 years before that.  Even within the well established idiom of white people being the only ones to listen to jazz (or at least pretend to, as the long running joke contends) the perception has stagnated.  Asked to describe it, a random person will most likely come up with something that amounts to what was played by Dizzy Parker and their ilk.  A smoky Harlem club; clean cut men in suits wailing lightning fast notes on a Saxophone/Trumpet over a quick drum shuffle (boom chicka boom, etc), and an upright bass walking out the chords-I’d attribute this perception to the appearance of 40s/50s era icons like Buddy Rich and Dizzy Gillespie on the Muppets Show, and the Peanuts soundtrack but that’s another discussion.

Here’s why that’s a problem: It is certainly a very accurate understanding of a specific kind of jazz, but it has also not been relevant since 1954 (I obviously place myself at a higher level.  Being a fan of late era Coltrane and the free jazz of Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman and all.  You should roll your eyes).  As much as jazz is, and always was, about virtuosity, improvising, and swinging, it’s even more about pushing the boundaries of playing and composition. Literally since Morton and Armstrong began incorporating solos into the typical call and response of New Orleans jazz almost a hundred years ago, there has been a steady push against those walls formed by The Rules. So it’s fine if the style that has been found to be the most palatable combination of appealing to yet challenging a listener’s ears is Bebop- I always equate Bop era jazz with the art of Picasso.  It contains abstraction and is clearly modern & Modern, but has enough adherences to common form that it doesn’t cause viewers to push their perceptions of what constitutes art too far.  The only problem with this perception is that jazz didn’t stop.  It kept moving outward.  Freed from the confines of commercial appeal, it didn’t stop reaching.  Hell, my understanding of the avant garde really only extends to about 1970.  According to much more knowledgeable people than me, contemporary jazz has done things within both the dissonant, free styles and more melodic ideas that would seem as foreign to the players of 1968 as the outré drumming of Elvin Jones on, “Ascension,” and, “A Love Supreme,” would to those of 1950.  That’s the problem.  When I walk into a club in 2010 and see/hear people playing music that was growing stale 50 years ago, my heart loves it.  It’s just that, my brain can’t help but want more.

Once again (I’ve been saying this a lot lately) that does not mean that The Deep Blue Organ Trio are not greatly skilled at what they do.  The bandleader/organist Chris Foreman is the kind of comical archetype that one doesn’t really expect to exist in real life.  A blind, older black fellow in Ray Charles shades, Foreman has the kind of commanding virtuosity that makes one stop in their steps and say, “Wait! Is this shit real?” The movement between his right hand and the bass lines of his left hand and feet was astounding and, when it came time to solo, Foreman often lowered the volume on his Hammond B3; almost demanding that the crowd pay closer attention in their listening.  Foreman was apparently not playing with regular partners so I’m not sure of the names of the other two players but they were most solid.  The guitarist’s rhythm was nicely complementary and I appreciated the way he mostly stayed away from Wes Montgomery style octaves.  The drummer, apparently a student of Art Blakey’s pounding, pushed the beat along with swagger, dropping bombs all over the place.  Like I said, my heart and foot loved it.  I just wish they could have done something for my brain.

http://deepblueorgantrio.com
http://greenmilljazz.com

What: Hot Doug’s

Where: 3324 N California, Chicago, IL

If it’s so good, why haven’t you gone back? Because I don’t have a car and it’s a bitch to get to on the CTA.  Also money things.

Isn’t this a bit hyperbolic? Incredibly

Walking up, the people come into sight long before the
sign.  Stretching around the corner and
halfway down the block, they shiver in the frigid February wind.  These people congregate, queuing up hours at a time,  because they must; because they know that what lies inside, what is hinted at by the occasional whiff of a scent escaping out the front door, is worth more than any momentary discomfort.

These people are winners. These towering examples of humanity.                                                                                                    These are the people who build empires. Who,
when presented with something exotic, do not fear change but welcome new tastes
and experiences with alacrity.  These are
the people who, after eating their linguine, you must fight the sudden urge to
marry.  These are your people and you join the throng, passing around a menu, cracking jokes about your vegetarian friends as you inch

closer and

closer

towards Canaan.

Finally you enter, passing through the doors with
anticipation burning a hole in your chest.
It smells like victory in here, the triumphs of all mankind latch on to
the hairs in your nose.  Taking in a deep breath, you feel compelled towards greatness.
You are filled with the urge to invent.

The urge to build; to climb a mountain and run a five-minute
mile.  Through the power of this magnificent, almost erotic scent, your ambition sees no end. Your potential for glory exceeds all means of measurement.

At last the moment comes.

As you approach the counter you are greeted by the inquiring glance of a less charismatic Jon
Favreau.  You spill out your order in rapid succession, so as not to forget a single thing, and are directed towards a table.

To wait.  And Wait.

Then, suddenly, it lies before you.  Duck and foie gras sausage with white truffle
mustard and a liver mousse.

The fear builds in your gut.

Certainly it could not live up to expectations.  Your body of experience steels your psyche against the disappointment inherent to life. You fleetingly ponder fleeing.                                                                                                                                        Perhaps the fantasy will far exceed the reality and you will be left disappointed, a shell of a man.

NO!  No! no no no!

You have come this far and no result will
scar you as much as the constant fear and wondering of the unknown.  You grab uncertainty by the scrotum and proceed as planned.

Upon the first bite your fears are instantly proven incorrect.  You mouth explodes with fire and gore; the
nerve receptors overloaded and spreading a massive electric charge all
throughout your body.

“I am Victorious!” you scream out loud,

“I am a wild beast!  Je suis une fauve!

I am Oppenheimer splitting the atom! I am Sam Phillips founding Sun Records! I am Thor, swinging my mighty hammer and crushing the skull of the giant King!  I AM A Golden God!

Kneel before my magnificence!”

And, shockingly, they do.  The world bends down and cocks an ear towards your voice.  At last, the world is silent, awaiting your command.

But it does not come.
Working your way toward the opposite end of the bun, the only sound
escaping your duck smeared lips is the quiet intake of breath as you revel in
the savory splendor. Global conquest can wait, this ecstasy cannot be
ignored.

Swallowing those last bites,
you lean back and become taken by the intense desire to kill yourself (and three innocent bystanders for good measure).
For nothing else in life could possibly reach the glorious heights of the proceeding minutes.

But, of course, you do not.
If nothing else, the human spirit is one of optimism.  No, you continue your life and as you walk
away, returning to society, you do so with a twinkle in your eye.  All of these people driving down the road and pounding the sidewalks; you laugh at them.
These fools.

You scoff because you know.  You know the secret.

You know what it means to kiss the sun and
touch the obelisk.  You know what it
means to live.

To be.

You know, and you will return.

http://www.hotdougs.com

What: O: Photography by Aryn Kresol, Annie Rudolph, and Matthew Schwerin

What That Is: It’s a photography show that happened the same weekend as Rockford Art Scene. Didn’t you listen to the Sock Monkey Sound episode 213?

No: You should have. It was pretty good

When: April 16 and 17, 2010

How Much: It was free

Next time: I’ll ask what the O stood for.

If you can think back, way, way back, to last September, you might remember a little review titled, “Chris French Presents: Annie Rudolph, Aryn Kresol, and Carrie Allen.” (Check Out Last Years Event Review!). What was notable about this? Well, either very little or an average amount. It depends on how you look at it. I’m leaning towards the latter because it was my first review for this fine website. It’s mostly pretty ok. It was probably much too short, and I pretended to be somewhat of an authority on photography, which I revealed to be painfully untrue with my reference to Alfred Steiglitz (Christ, don’t you know any contemporary photographers? Yes but there’s no way I’m going to name check Annie Leibovitz. Does Diane Arbus count? Maybe). There was a pretty good joke about Rockford’s own Jesus Correa and his penchant for kitten sweatshirts. And I always like to explore the comedy of cheap wine. As he did in September, Chris French held a photography show in his loft space on State Street (I mistakenly referred to it as an Art Scene participant. Turns out they bypassed the entrance fee and went guerrilla with a sign on the sidewalk to lure people in). It ended up being a very similar experience. I didn’t see any Jesus Correa art this time but I did see him riding his bicycle across the State Street Bridge. I couldn’t tell if his sweatshirt had depictions of any animals on it. I also did something drastically with my reporting. This time, instead of drinking too much wine and just looking at the photographs, I drank too much wine and actually talked to the photographers themselves. It proved to be very illuminating.

“I don’t remember who said this, but they said, ‘Those who put themselves in a position to get lucky usually do.”

This was Matt Schwerin explaining his artistic method in trying to capture everyday moments that might say something larger about the human experience (my words, not his). It’s a very interesting phenomenon. Even though the three photographers were mostly chosen because of their friendship with C French, they end up being illustrative of three equally disparate approaches to the medium.

On the one side, Annie Rudolph represents what may be the most direct approach. Her photography is mainly centered on finding beauty in the world. All of her photographs were taken on the fly, owing their existence to the fact that she was in the specific place at the specific time with her camera at hand. They emphasize a focus on aesthetic qualities rather than those that are symbolic or expository (The word I’m looking for is thematic). I said last year that her photographs “show a command of light and form that belie a mastery of both technology and a strong eye for composition. She also had really cool frames.” I still agree with this assessment. Except there weren’t as many cool frames this time. For more of Rudolph’s work go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/annierudolph or http://annierudolphphotography.com

Sitting on what I see as the opposing end of the philosophical spectrum is the work of Aryn Kresol. Kresol’s photography is, quite often, as informed by literature as it is by pure visuals. She often begins with titles and then strives to take photographs which reflect that symbology. One is not likely to see a genre photograph from Miss Kresol. When I viewed some of her other work in the fall, I probably focused too much on the way in which she uses real world objects (faces, body parts, sometimes furniture) in a more liquid, abstract matter. I don’t want to suggest that her photography is rife with iconography (incidentally, this is a phrase that I often like to blurt out when I’m practicing my Sheffield accent alone in my apartment. I received lots of strange looks when an art history professor actually said it aloud and I burst out laughing). These elements are most definitely present and are quite impressive, but there are many undercurrent themes that one does not become aware of with a cursory glance at the photographs. One finds a lot more meaning when they take time to ponder the relationship between the title and the work itself. To see more of Kresol’s work, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/enigmaticintent . Or check out her blog at http://arynkresol.blogspot.com

I’m going to suggest that Matt Schwerin’s work sits at an almost halfway point between the approaches of Annie Rudolph and Aryn Kresol (both because I actually believe that it does occupy a space between the direct photographs of Rudolph and the more cerebral approach exhibited in those of Kresol, and also because it works very well organizationally). Schwerin does seem to split the difference between the two. Carrying a camera with him as often as possible, he whips it out when a photographic opportunity presents itself. Later, he moves to give these photographs deeper meaning by placing them in a context that will reveal symbolic themes that may not have been evident in the single photograph. I’m not going to try to explain the true meanings of Schwerin’s group of photos (it was very involved and impressive and I can’t do it full justice. Especially not without showing all of them on this page) but they touched on themes of faith, family, and post adolescences in some very beautiful ways. If you have time next month, I suggest going to see Schwerin’s senior project at the Columbia College graduation show (http://tinyurl.com/y6nz384) and talk to him yourself. That’s true of all three photographers but I don’t have any links to upcoming events for the other two. For more on Matt Schwerin’s work, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattschwerin

Overall, C French and Lonnie Iske over at Vixen Productions put on a pretty darn good event. I do have two complaints. There wasn’t nearly as much wine this time as there was the first and what was there was not of the greatest quality (Although I did have at least two people give me their Chardonnay because it was too gross to drink. Nice). The second being the very rude way in which they ignored my band, Boys Like Jason’s (http://boyslikejason.bandcamp.com) repeated offers to play. This is what I wrote in September:

“To that end, I had a very good time and hope that Chris French and the fine folks at Vixen Productions take part in the Art Scene again next year. One could also hope that they might be swayed to consider a performance art installation. On an unrelated note, my band, Boys Like Jason; are now billing themselves as performance artists.”

7 months ago! We even offered the option of having us play quiet or play loud. Instead they had Warren Franklin and Kevin Schwitters play on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Whatever. Warren sounded like Warren and he had an untitled song that I’m going to call, “This Love Can Hurt” that I particularly enjoyed. Schwitters played two Braves songs, which was awesome, and handled the crowd in a very fun, personable manner.

Final Score: 9 Bottles of Sweet Red/Digital SLRs out of 10

To see work from all of the artists mentioned vist their sites below:

Annie Rudolph
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annierudolph or http://annierudolphphotography.com/

Aryn Kresol
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enigmaticintent or http://arynkresol.blogspot.com/

Matt Schwerin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattschwerin

by Alex Danger Stewart

What: Six Nights Alone EP Review

Where: The band is from Rockford, IL. I’m writing this on a Compaq notebook.

Why? They asked us for coverage and I agreed because I support local music.

Keep Explaining: And that was a really long time ago because I forgot because I’m pretty flaky, then Chip reminded me today and I felt bad so I’m reviewing it now.

I usually have a pretty deliberate process when I review new music. Assuming that it’s a digital release (Vinyl has extra steps) I load it onto my Ipod and listen to it alone in my apartment (usually while eating a sandwich or Annie Chun Noodle Bowl™) not really thinking, just listening. Then I let my reactions percolate for a couple of days before finding a free evening and hoping on the train (usually the Brown Line cause it seems to take longer to get places), headphones in tow, to test out the dichotomy between listening to it in a noisy anonymous environment and also doing so in the near solitude of walking through a residential neighborhood in Lincoln Park or Ravenswood. Then I often come home and write the first couple hundred words of the review before getting distracted and doing other things (usually sleeping). Then, about a week later, I finally force myself to sit down and finish it and I usually play the key songs again while writing about them.

This review is pretty much ignoring those methods.

Why?

Well, for a couple of reasons. First, because the band solicited coverage from Sock Monkey Sound. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when bands give me free music in exchange for press. It’s happened like 3 times so far and it makes me feel like a professional. But I do have some integrity and I’m pretty unlikely to have any built in sentimentality for a band that I’ve never heard of just because they’re local so I’m not as motivated to care about being super thorough, or about holding back some of the harsher criticisms I might think up. Plus I think all of these songs are on the band’s Myspace page (how am I supposed to feel elitist if everyone can hear them for free?). The second reason is that I’m coming into this review with somewhat low expectations.

Why?

There are, once again, a couple of reasons. One of the band members has a somewhat checkered history and I take a little bit of issue with the way they are promoting themselves. Singer/guitarist Aaron Whalen used to be in Killing Abraham (http://www.myspace.com/killingabraham) which was a band for which I held an unbridled hatred. I so vehemently disliked them that (like 4 years after the last time I even had the displeasure of seeing them play) I made an unflattering reference to one of their shitty songs in the Special Thanks section of my band Boys Like Jason’s (insert shameless plug (http://boyslikejason.bandcamp.com/) )self released debut EP last year. That’s quite petty, but I can’t help it. They were that bad. You, the reader, have to ask, “Isn’t that unfair to prejudge a band based on one member’s past creative efforts?” No because he is listing himself as a former member of Killing Abraham on Six Nights Alone’s Myspace page so he’s actively asking us to draw comparisons to those past efforts. That leads to my second cause for some suspicion that this band might suck. Their Myspace page lists their influences as “Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and people who aren’t afraid to do something different.” Waylon, Willy, and Johnny are ALWAYS the influence that bands list when they want to cover up the fact that their main influence is Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt’s first album and that at least 2 members really enjoy the Johnny Cash American releases. Bands who list those influences never ever ever sound anything like Waylon, Willy, or Johnny.

Here’s why this band might not suck, though: I love Uncle Tupelo and SNA has a ton of shows booked over the summer in diverse venues across the Midwest and Eastern part of the country. Plus they have an old guy playing pedal steel. I fucking love pedal steel guitar and old guys are usually really good steel players. So……….After too long of a prologue, I’ve sat down with two beers (beer makes me less discerning) and it’s time to listen to/write about the songs.

This band totally sounds like Uncle Tupelo’s first two releases. I fucking knew it! “Don’t Care,” could easily have been a demo that didn’t make the cut from the No Depression sessions. Whalen’s voice is clearly not as good as Jay Farrar’s but that’s a totally unreasonable thing to criticize. Apart from a very misplaced breakdown at 2:30, I’m totally jamming to this. The pedal steel is good enough to almost carry the end of the song through some rough patches. Good job Mark Oberfoell.

Every Alt Country band has a song about drinking your life away that rings slightly untrue (mostly because Alt Country band members are usually too young to have developed a really strong drinking problem). “Ode to Zeus,” is that song for Six Nights Alone. Pushed along by a nice train beat, this has the makings of a pretty solid song along. I’m noticing a trend though. At about the halfway point of every song, they divert from the loud country style that was totally working and start sticking in pop punk elements. This does not work. I wish they would stop.

“Shout! Wont Take Out Makers,” has my favorite lyric so far. “Well I spent two weeks sober and I didn’t even know her. Help me drown my pain away.” That’s really good. The title is actually pretty clever, referring to the detergent’s inability to wash out stains from my favorite bourbon. This song is working for me.

I don’t have much to say about, “Stealin Your Heart.” This song mostly works except, once again, there’s a damn half time break down 2 ½ minutes into the song. Stop that!

Finally, a song in 12/8. “Sunset Blvd,” brings some much needed head bobbing and a bit of doom. Mark Oberfoell is fucking owning this song with his pedal steel. And there are no break downs! I might listen to this song again just for the hell of it.

Complaints that I have overall: The production feels too contemporary for such a bartastic band. I don’t feel like they’re playing together in a smelly, beer stained room, which is always the aesthetic that you want when a band mixes loud and twang. In a similar vein, the meter is way too straight. I’d like to hear drummer Paul Metz loosen up and let things swing a little. Also I really wanted a guitar solo somewhere in the EP. If they had replaced every breakdown with a twangy solo, I’d be a happy man.

Final Verdict: I don’t know that I enjoyed these songs enough to recommend them outright, but if you walk into a bar and find this band playing, stick around for a little while. There are some definite positive points in every song. The best parts were those that ignored the band’s pop punk instincts. That should be obvious, though.

Check out Six Nights Alone at http://www.myspace.com/6nightsalone

by Alex Danger Stewart

What: She & Him Vol. 2

Didn’t that come out in March? Yeah. My brain turned off for a little while.

Where did you buy it? Reckless Records on Madison

Let’s face it; every living person who exists in contemporary society has a crush on Zooey Deschanel. Not even necessarily in a sexual relations way. Most people just want to bake a batch of gluten free cookies and hug her for a few hours.

Literally, everyone. Even my mom (and she doesn’t get crushes on people who aren’t Jeff Bridges). Every time that Cotton™ commercial comes on, or she hears a She & Him song in the car, my mom will comment, “Isn’t she the most adorable thing in the world?” It’s mostly warranted too. Zooey Deschanel is really fucking adorable (feel free to take this moment to curse the existence of Ben Gibbard. I never liked the mealy mouthed, bucket of boring anyway. I once refused to buy a guitar because I saw a picture of him playing one. That’s kind of ridiculous). I don’t even have to give supporting evidence for that claim because you all know it to be true. With that inherent level of adoration, it becomes very easy to suggest that any fawning over her music is based more on looks and personality than actual quality.

Here’s why this is bullshit: 1. I don’t think anyone actually fawns over She & Him. As far as I can tell it’s generally understood that, while She & Him is very enjoyable, Deschanel and Matt Ward are more productive and artistically achieved in their primary jobs as actress and M Ward: solo artist. 2. She is a talented, affable, and engaging singer who writes fun, hooky, and often compelling songs. 3. Whether you want to kiss the singer or not, it is near impossible to not be sucked in by Ward’s production. This man knows how sound works and, after hearing the instrumentation that he wraps the various songs in, one can often be hard pressed to conceive of better, more fitting choices.

Now (300 words in) let’s get to the album itself. Vol. 2 builds on the strengths of its predecessor. The first song, “Thieves,” can easily be placed in a larger role of the song that defines the group’s entire aesthetic. Deschanel continues her songwriting persona as an endearingly cute young thing whose smarts and sense of humor don’t seem to stop her bothersome knack for falling for guys who just don’t seem to love her as much as she does them. “What’s in my pocket?” She sings, “You never knew. You didn’t know me well, so well, as I knew you.” It’s delivered with a wink and a smile. She may be crying today but the Los Angeles sun will be shining tomorrow and she may very well be back in love. Behind her, Ward’s guitar and strings swell melodramatically as we’re pulled into the happiest melancholy available without ordering from some shady Russian drug service.

I know this has been said in almost ever review out there, but the magic of She & Him lies in the way that their music is not a direct callback to past music. It acts as a synthesis of all of their influences (Tin Pan Alley, countrypolitan, ALL of the Beach Boys and Phil Spector knock offs, etc etc) that produces an entirely unique combination of sound that begins to surpass the sum of its parts; almost doing for 60s AM pop what Raiders of the Lost Ark did for 30s adventure serials (ok that’s really hyperbolic. This album isn’t as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark). Though they may sometimes remind you of others, whether during the soft, slow dances of, “Lingering Still,” and, “Me and You,” or the rollicking cover of NRBQ’s “Riding in my Car,” She & Him mostly sound like themselves.

Final Verdict: Give Vol. 2 a spin. You could use some easy fun. The new Frightened Rabbit album tends to bring you down a bit too far.

by Alex Danger Stewart

So I get a class-wide email last week from one of my professors informing me that Girls Rock! Chicago is looking for interns and instructors to help educate campers about the musical, technical, and creative aspects involved in musicianship. This is tremendously awesome because:

1. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s impressing young kids with my moderately skilled guitar playing and knowing how to match impedance and look badass while using effects pedals.

and

2. I REALLY need a summer job and the Illinois unemployment rate for my age group is 26%

I was all ready to apply and help the next generation of lady bands learn how to rock out with their socks out (I don’t think you’re allowed to swear at kid summer camps and I never wear shoes on stage).

One Problem:
They only want female musicians.

No fucking fair!

(Sidebar: I know the Camp Jam Chicago program is coed but they’re not hiring. And it’s all the way in Lake Forrest. Hence my outrage)

Why I’m pissed:
In not allowing me to apply for a job, Girls Rock! Chicago is only reinforcing existing gender divisions in music and perpetuating stereotypes about Girl Bands instead of the much more appealing and logically cogent understanding of bands being based more in musical and personal chemistry than in worries about gender/some 2nd wave throwback idea of sisterhood.

Do you know the first criticism that is always made against girl bands, often before their music is heard?
“People only like them because they’re attractive and it gives guys boners to see a girl playing guitar (never mind how well she does so).” Do you know who no one says that about? The woman in The Thermals; also that one who plays organ in the Decemberists. People are much less likely to come ogle you at gigs if you’re standing next to a large hairy motherfucker playing bass and threatening to take his shirt off. Yes, it’s fantastic if girls want to start a band with their female friends, but it’s just as fantastic for them to be concerned with making quality music whether it is with other men or women.

Get this out of the way:
Yes, it’s obviously great and necessary for there to be a kid’s rock and roll camp specifically for girls. They need all the encouragement that they can get to be powerful, creative people and succeed against the added barriers that society implicitly places against girls doing such things as well as the overt and entirely real roadblocks for young girls trying to enter the world of playing rock music (guitar stores are surprisingly sexist environments). My problem is that they won’t let me help (I really need money!).

Here are my lady rocker credentials:
-I’m very friendly.

-I own the entire creative outputs of Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill (singles and EPs not included) and have listened to Beat Happening, Bratmobile, and Babes in Toyland on purpose.

-I can play 8 instruments.

-I know how to teach the art of swagger and how to do old school rock star kicks, and play a Flying V like it’s your dick. That’s a good skill for anyone to know, regardless of gender.

-I know a Jonas Brothers song.

-In one misplaced moment of over-sympathy I made an argument that excused the existence of Paramore. Then another time I made a similar justification for the New Moon OST. 14 year old girls would eat that shit up.

-I have concise arguments explaining why Joni Mitchell is actually a pretty underrated guitarist and why Kira Roessler is a better bass player than Chuck Dukowski.

-I’ve been in a band with girls before (http://www.myspace.com/dangerousliaisons32). We were good, not great.

-I think I have a Slits album. There’s no reason for that.

-I’m purposely leaving out all of the mixed gender bands that I listen to just to make my resume comply with this girls only approach (except there was a guy in Bikini Kill for a while).

- I know who Lydia Lunch is. Come on!

-I have no game what so ever to speak of so there would be no threat of me hitting on all of my coworkers.

-I don’t do anything ever. As long as I don’t have to work on Monday nights, they can schedule me anytime and I’ll show up with a guitar.

Conclusion:
Look at all of that! This is basically the only job I’m qualified to hold.

Not cool, Girls Rock! Chicago. You’re on my list.

For more info about Girls Rock! Chicago go to: http://girlsrockchicago.org/

To donate to them go to: http://girlsrockchicago.org/give/

If you’d like to send your son or daughter to a more expensive rock and roll summer camp visit: http://www.campjam.com/chicago.html

Chicago’s Geronimo! have a lot of things going for them. They make awesome music and are pretty fun guys to be around. They also like to play hard and heavy. Those are two of the better adjectives one might use to describe music. Plus they feel ok about referencing Mudhoney without shame. That’s cool too. I recently sat down on my email account and interviewed Kelly Johnson (Guitar/Singing), Ben Grigg (Keys/Singing), and Matt Schwerin (Drums) about various musical topics.

On your Myspace page you claim that, “Sometimes we play really well. Sometimes we play really sloppy. We always play really loud.” What importance do you think that volume plays to rock and roll music?

Kelly Johnson: If we play really loud, we can still sound sort of cool even if we’re playing real crappy. When I see a live band, I want to be able to feel it in my groin. It’s a personal problem, really.

Ben Grigg: Volume creates a much more visceral experience for a listener in a live setting I think. One can become more readily immersed into music if you can physically feel it. It’s also seems more legitimate if you have to be screaming over the roar of the instruments to make yourself heard. It makes it seem like what you are screaming is pretty damn important or intense. Seeing a rock band set-up and play with noticeable restraint on their volume also makes them seem kind of wimpy too I think.

You recently appeared on our flagship podcast. What was that experience like?

KJ: No one at Sock Monkey prepares you for the experience after appearing on the podcast. I can barely finish a meal at Johnny Pamcakes without some chucklehead coming up and jawing off about “you guys are the greatest” or “i love how great you guys are” or “i like great things, and you guys are my favorite great thing” and the like. I didn’t realize it was going to be so tough to be so well-liked. It’s easy to be adored though. And hailed.

Matt Schwerin: It was fun. We got to talk to some buds and play some music. The end result ended up being pretty chatty

Did they offer you rum? They offered Jim Hanke rum.

KJ: We showed up drunk.

BG: No, in fact, we had to bring our own case of beer, which those greedy bastards readily consumed. I’m pretty sure they were sneaking pulls of rum while we weren’t looking too, just so they wouldn’t have to offer us any.

MS: No rum. Maybe we’ll get some next time if our album gets named best Chicago album of the year.

How much of a penis was Pat?

KJ: I’ve seen Pat in penis-mode, and he had more of a schlong thing going on that day. My favorite Pat though, is boner Pat.

MS: Less than anticipated. He did give us some ridiculous nicknames which he printed up on a sticker machine. Mine is too inappropriate to repeat.

You cited Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Nirvana, Ska, and Stoner Rock, as influences. Was that truth or a lie? Do you have any other influences that you forgot to say?

KJ: I can only speak for myself when I say these answers are true. Except not ska. I have a fascination with groovy fuzz rock and girl power pop. My quest in Geronimo! is to find a happy medium between Robyn and The Melvins. This is not a lie.

BG: The ska thing is my fault. It’s what I started listening to on my own and playing first. I have no regrets about it, but it’s not something I’m into anymore. With Geronimo! I just like to play heavy and aggressive stuff and of course I like Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Nirvana, etc, so maybe that comes through.

MS: I think I’m influenced by just about any band I listen to and enjoy. Radiohead will always be an influence, whether my music sounds like them or not. In Table Legs, there is one specific part where my drum part is directly influenced by DJ Shadow’s “Endtroducing”.

I’ve read a couple of things that call you grungy. Do you feel good about that or insulted?

KJ: We’ve been compared to Silverchair twice. I don’t give a fuck if people call us grungy. I unapologetically listen to all things labeled “grunge” and was raised on grunge bands. When I got into indie™ music, I was embarrassed to be caught listening to a band like Nirvana or Soundgarden, but in my ‘old age’ I’ve embraced it. I think the negative associations people have with ‘grunge’ deal with the mopey or depressed sound people stereotype it with, like some of the stuff on In Utero. I don’t think those representations of that ‘musical style’ hold up as strongly though, and if you look at the meat of that time period like early Nirvana, “Goo,” “Badmotorfinger,” or “Superfuzz Bigmuff” it’s just straight, energetic rock music.

BG: It seemed a little strange at first, kind of like “Why are you comparing us to this genre from when we were kids?” but it makes perfect sense to me now. Those bands are what my brother was playing for me when I was a kid. When I think of cool or heavy music, I’m somehow drawn towards that stuff. I don’t think we sound just like Silverchair or whatever but that really doesn’t bother me. I like that sound.

MS: I’m rather indifferent. I certainly don’t see it as a banner to wave around but its not insulting either. The music we play is the natural result of the collaboration between the three individuals in the band and whatever people want to classify it as doesn’t really matter.

Speaking of Nirvana, the Geronimo! Blog (http://deepwarmth.blogspot.com/) has video of you playing a cover of Breed in Little Rock, AR. What prompted that? Did you ever practice it or just decide to play it?

KJ: We practiced it, maybe, 3 times. It’s one of my favorite songs, and it’s real simple. I love that about it. That’s what floors me about Nirvana. All of the songs are jokingly simple, but there is a power in them that still lasts. Bands try so hard to throw everything but the kitchen sink into a rock song, but here you have Nirvana stripping everything down to two chords and a beefy rhythm, and it blows away what most bands could even conjure up in their best song.

I used to know every instrument part of every song on Nevermind (excluding the drum fills). Cool, huh? Even Endless Nameless??!! That song is like, half feedback.

MS: Um…yeah….

Yeah my band in high school would do an Endless Nameless thing at the end of Sonic Youth’s 100% Pretty awesome…
Have you ever tried to write a song in 7/8 time?

MS: I can’t say that I have.

KJ: Yes, it was only 87.5 percent successful. Then we decided to write one where we were soft for a while, then got loud, then got soft again. Then loud.

What is the album called and when does it come out?

KJ:The album is called ‘Fuzzy Dreams.’ It will be officially ‘released’ or what not on April 30, when we play our release show at Schuba’s (18+) in Chicago with our pals Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, polarOPPOSITEbear and Inspector Owl.

Ben and Kelly both use Big Muffs. Why do you like that pedal? Why use the Russian made muff instead of the American?

KJ: I personally just like the way the Russian model sounds. Besides the VERY first distortion pedal I ever used (the Grunge DOD pedal which I still own, blech), the Big Muff is what I grew up using. That exact pedal is the one I used in my first band in late high school/early college. I’m just comfortable with it, and I haven’t found any other pedal that sounds so close to a Tyrannosaurus Rex tearing through a jungle. I have to take a second to thank my friend Joe Robinson, who previously owned the pedal but passed it on to me. I also use his Fender Deville, which he let me borrow like 2 years ago and has not asked for it back. As you can see, Joe is essentially the reason Geronimo! sounds the way they do and the reason we are able to fulfill live obligations.

BG: I started playing with it just for Geronimo! really. It really sounds great with my keyboard and having Kelly and I play mostly with the same distortion helps to blend our instruments a little better at times. Actually, I’m not sure if it does, but it sounds cool.

Your Myspace page also says that Kelly plays, “Asscut Guitar.” What the hell is that?

KJ: When I was living in DeKalb, one night I left my car parked on the street. When I got up the next morning, someone had sideswiped it. The car is a Cutlass Ciera, and the silver ‘Cutlass’ part of the logo got knocked off. I decided to rearrange it to spell ‘Asscut’ and glue it on my guitar. The guitar cuts significantly more asses these days, and I feel it really comes through in our sound.

Ben often seems to play lines that would traditionally be played on a bass. Why use a keyboard instead?

BG: There are a few reasons, really. First, playing bass-like lines on a keyboard as opposed to a bass allows me to play things that might not be possible on a bass. I can play three or more octaves at once and throw some other stuff on top to make a really thick full sound, a big noise. I like it when a three piece sounds like a larger group so I try to make us sound bigger and more full when I can.

Secondly, I don’t play bass. I learned a few Weezer songs once for a Halloween show and that was fun, but I don’t own a bass and I don’t really know how to play one. When we first started jamming as Geronimo!, I was playing keys, so we just kept that as the formula. There didn’t really seem to be any need to add a bass player. It wasn’t so much a decision to play keyboards as bass as it was a natural move based on what the songs needed.

It’s always fun to defy people’s expectations as well. If I saw a band set up with just a keyboard and a guitar I’d probably think they were some sappy Ben Folds style something-or-other. Nothing against that, but I think I’d be pleasantly surprised if they started playing loud aggressive music instead.

The Nord Electro II is my favorite sampler ever. Would you like to comment on that?

BG: What is this, amateur hour? Total bullshit. The Nord Electro II is not a sampler. Ever heard of Google my friend? Geez Louise.

You’re right. That was a test. Good job… Did you see The Office baby special?

MS: No.

KJ: I did see it. I watched about 2 minutes of it then put it on mute and searched for band videos online. Was there a part about Jim trying to change a diaper? Jesus Christ.

No! Jim had practiced on every baby shaped object in the office so he was good at it. But Pam accidentally breast fed the wrong baby.

Anyways- What is your favorite pizza restaurant?

KJ: There is a place in Chicago called Bacci’s where they have ginormously big pieces of pizza for 5 bucks. It also comes with a small drink. I’m generally a quantity over quality man. Actually, we went to a Pizza Hut on tour this past January, and I have to say, it was really nice in there! It’d been a while since we’d all been to one and sat down, but it was real clean and warm. Like gold banister things and lots of classy green.

BG: In Rockford it’s Primo’s Pizza, followed closely by Lino’s. Paisano’s on Main St. used to be number one, but they’ve been closed since I was in high school. Sam’s and Pino’s are up there too. I have to give a shout out to Villa de Roma too for being open and delivering till like 4am on weekends. They rule. So yeah…

MS: Oh boy. There are so many good ones. In Rockford, I’d have to say Sam’s Pizza. In Chicago, there are too many good places to mention but for sheer value, I’ll say Bacci’s. We’ve had the honor of eating at many fine pizza places on the road as well, including two great ones in Little Rock.

Who is your favorite drummer? I want answers from all three. Matt Schwerin is an acceptable answer.

KJ: I don’t care if it’s obvious, I love Dave Grohl. Also, I first realized how cool it was to watch drummers the first time I saw the band Troubled Hubble play. Nate Lanthrum is a behemoth. Also Brian Chippendale from Lightning Bolt. I will say that none of them rock a Michael Jordan shirt like Matt Schwerin though, so the rest of ‘em can go to hell.

BG: I feel a little silly for completely agreeing with Kelly on this one, but I think Dave Grohl was really the first drummer I admired. A bunch of friends of mine and I played in a “band” in early high school and we had a mean cover of Everlong (I’m sure it was terrible actually), but watching my friend Mike play those fills in the chorus really struck me. Troubled Hubble definitely had a huge influence on me as well. Nate was the first drummer I remember who was really fun to watch. He still is, especially watching him and his brother Andrew play together. It’s a treat.

Of course, I have this video of Matt Schwerin playing in Columbus with his shirt off. I watch it at work constantly, and I mean all the time.

Similar to my answer to the band’s influences, I really think I take something away from every drummer that I hear and like. Not sure I could say I have a total favorite. John Bohnam was amazing, yes. I don’t really listen to much Led Zeppelin. But he had the bombast. John Theodore who played in the Mars Volta I liked, also for his bombast. Glen Kotche from Wilco, I dig. Phil Selway from Radiohead.

Finally, what are your hopes and dreams for the future?

KJ: I’m really hoping to buy an adult bed very soon. Right now I’m sleeping on a flat futon mattress in my room. The rest of the guys might say they hope to keep writing songs we are proud of and recording music together. But I know they mostly just want to see me in that adult bed

MS: I would like to continue creating music that I am passionate about. I would like to continue to travel, both while playing music and otherwise. I’d like to be able to support myself working in the photography industry. I’d like to display some of my artwork in galleries. I’d like to fall in love. I’d like to have a family. I’d like to live a life of moral high-ground and love for all creatures. I’d like to continue to grow and challenge myself until the day I die, which hopefully will be in my 80′s or 90′s.

BG: To get back to the year 1985. Preferably with the help of a crazy-haired scientist. It would also somehow involve a Delorean or something. I’m not sure. It’s kind of a pipe dream at this point.

For more Geronimo! fun go to

www.myspace.com/thegeronimoband

or

http://deepwarmth.blogspot.com