The teenage quintet of SAUNA are not letting their landlocked lifestyle in Denver, Colorado stifle their predilection for wet reverb or Link Wray-like distortion, nor the graceless charm of twee. The Teen Angst Tape drips with jangly wonder and summer break blues.

Self-dubbed “no coast surf punx,” SAUNA is privy to the regional constraints that make its beach scene fascinations worth pondering. SAUNA playfully refute the regional issue by writing songs like “Beachball” and “Croctopus” that bring to mind beach parties and the toxic monsters that ruin the sun-soaked fun.

The Teen Angst Tape playfully reeks of the frustrating mess of pubescent longing and the hyperbolic dramatizations of young hearts in love written with the cheeky awareness of The Buzzcocks. Singer Molly Bartlett and bassist Ethan Hill pine for absentee lovers on “Please Don’t Go Away” and “Girl Like You”, while the deceptively glam-titled “Glitter Party” is less about feather boas and eye-liner and more about bathroom rendezvous and boom-boom. SAUNA get enough comments about being teenagers, to see the humor in being young and unstable.

To their credit, these are teens with refined taste. With only a year of expertise in their wake, SAUNA is beyond the fledgling state, having already opened for Tennis, Thee Oh Sees and The B-52s. Each band’s impression can be heard in The Teen Angst Tape, whether it’s a Dwyer-esque count off at the beginning of “Glitter Party”, which is a B-52s homage through and through, or following the pristine indie footsteps left in the same sands fellow Denver dwellers Tennis walked. SAUNA isn’t bashful in boasting its influences by sneaking a The Who “Boris The Spider” cover into the set or lending their expertise of Richard Hell & The Voidoids covers to a CBGB’s homage night at the Hi-Dive. SAUNA is not letting the Xs on their hands keep them off a stage.

SAUNA on Facebook
SAUNA on Bandcamp

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Toilet Kids title screen

Complete Shit.

When I was in Japan a few years ago, one of my earliest and most frightening memories was when I entered a public restroom and in the stall where the toilet should be, there was simply a hole in the ground. I initially thought that the hole was where a toilet had been removed. I later learned that hole was the toilet…

Toilet Kids is a very Japanese, fecal-focused scatological shooter released for the PC Engine (Japan’s name for the TurboGrafx-16) in 1992. The story begins with a young boy getting sucked into a toilet, which apparently is a portal to a third-rate Xevious clone where you shoot turds. It’s so bizarre and dumb that you can’t help but smile.

This is not fun.

But that smile won’t last once you start actually playing, as the game is absurdly difficult. The enemy placement is cheap with no real rhythm or reason. Like Xevious, you have enemies on two planes (sky level and ground), with a different button used for each. Due to the poor design of the game, it’s extremely difficult to line up your bombs for the enemies on the lower planes while avoiding the projectiles of the enemies on your level. Playing Toilet Kids is an exercise in frustration with no real reward, as the enemies and bosses are uninspired and the poo gag wears thin almost instantly. In the end, the only thing remotely compelling about the game is that it actually got produced.

The "Game Over" screen. Get used to seeing it.

Toilet Kids is the video game equivalent of the hole-in-the-ground restrooms of Japan: bizarre and funny for a moment, but ultimately not worth the effort required.

Toilet instructions posted in a Japanese restroom.

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Fresno, California band The Quiet Americans was formed in 2010 by songwriter Luke Giffen and drummer Eli Reyes. The Quiet Americans combine bright melodies and animal like drums with fuzzed out guitar squall. Sort of like Link Wray meets Dinosaur jr. filtered through an echo chamber. The six song EP Medicine is their first release and is out on local cassette collective Coattrack Records.

The Quiet Americans on Bandcamp
The Quiet Americans on Facebook

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Overall, I like the fact that these guys are thinking outside of the box when it comes to delivering something interesting for their fans to watch. OK Go are nothing if not ingenious when it comes to funding their careers as musicians and the best thing about this band when it comes right down to it is that their music is damn good as well. Check out all their videos and behind the scenes featurettes on the making of their videos on their You Tube page.

What do you think of the video? Let us know in the comments below.

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Presented by Rockford College Radio and Sock Monkey Sound

Episode 1 Songs Playlist:

1. If The World Should End In Ice – The Handsome Family
2. The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash
3. Earthcrusher – Mr. Lif
4. The Gash – The Flaming Lips
5. Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
6. Barstow – Jay Farrar
7. Highway to Heaven – Ron Banks & The Dramatics
8. Roll Me Away – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
9. Eve of Destruction – Red Rockers
10. Great Atomic Power – Charlie Louvin featuring Jeff Tweedy
11. There She Goes, My Beautiful World – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
12. At The Bottom of Everything – Bright Eyes
13. The Final Countdown – Europe
14. I’d Rather Be Dead – Harry Nilsson

Episode 1 Credits
Produced by: Andy Whorehall
Written by:  Andy Whorehall & Reggie Railroad Reynolds
Song Selections by: Andy Whorehall, Reggie Railroad Reynolds and Jojo Wrinkles
Guest Narratives:  Thomas Derby, Douglass Arthur Arbisi-Grobnik
Voicemail Winner:  Douglass Arthur Arbisi-Grobnik (El Doug)
Episode Sponsors:  Kryptonite Bar, Sock Monkey Sound, Derby | Reynolds, Machesney Park Mall
Episode Shoutouts:  Trapper Shoeppe & The Shades, Butterburgers from Culvers, Pizza from everywhere, Cherry Vale Mall, City Of Rockford, The State of IL, United States, North American Continent, and special props to Stop-N-Go on North & South Main Streets in Rockford, IL
Premier Episode Thank Yous:   To Chris at Kryptonite for arranging the show, To Vince at Rockford College Radio for scheduling it in.  To Jojo Wrinkles for the last minute playlist assistance; and to Mister Meerasaké for judgmentally prescribing false therapy to address a creative condition that poorly doubts the characters within each of us.

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Lo-fi pop can be a tricky balancing act.  In the past it was exclusively employed by those who had no access to more sophisticated means of production.  Since the full takeover of digital recording, any asshole with a Macbook and a couple hundred dollars worth of microphones can make fairly polished music.  When a contemporary artists comes out with a unsophisticated, static filled sound, it almost always happens as a result of a decision to impart a murky, abstruse quality to the music. Maybe they’ve spent a great deal of time listening to lo-fi artists of the past or maybe they’re just not completely confident in the songs.  It often remains and intentional choice. Because of that intentionality, most lo-fi acts have to toe a pretty strict line of producing numerous pop hooks that are only slightly obscured by the murk of their style.  If they’re able to get that ratio right, it’s delightful.  If they fail, it becomes less so.

Here’s the fun part of this review:  Pinebocks is the music project of a former (I think) Illinois and now Texas resident named Corey Clifford.  I grabbed it out of a pretty big file of music submissions that Sock Monkey Sound writers share on Google Docs.  Pages and pages of people that were like, “Hi. Wanna review my music?” and then were (usually) met with a blanket of crushing silence because many of the staff members sometimes forgot that it exists or started watching Sherlock and didn’t for a while.   I guess I’m only speaking for myself with that last part.

Anyway!

I went digging through it a while back and found the following note:

Hi, my name is Cory Clifford and I have a musical project entitled Pinebocks. To describe my music, I’d say it’s a combination of Orange Juice and The Clean, and it could easily fit into NME’s C86 compilation.

I like all of those signifiers so I decided to have a listen.

Let’s first examine the claims made in Clifford’s self designation.  C86 this is definitely not.  The music is far to sparse and haunting to be confused for the relatively full and sunny sounds of early Pastels or Primal Scream.   This is much more rough shod music. The guitar sounds like Clifford found it in an abandoned basement and decided to record there instead of taking it home. There is a constant hiss and digital reverb makes it all bouncy and tinny. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing because it fits the actual songwriting and performances to a tee.  The Orange Juice comparison does hold up well as there is an obvious Edwyn Collins influence on Clifford’s demented croon.  It’s a cartoonishly sinister vocal style that is adds a sense of ironic comedy. That is very helpful because these songs are fucking dark.  “Flee,” finds a man having abandoned his roots and absconded south, all the while regretting his choices. He sings,

“I’ve never felt so bad about myself as I do now. I’m chronically cursed with a furl in my brow.”

and there is a real fun sense of hyperbolic jokiness.

I hope.

The sinister tone returns in the second song, “My Unfunny Valentine,” a dirgey ode to a dysfunctional romantic connection. Clifford goes at it like a Lynchian lounge act. The song ends with the repeated figure, “My unfunny valentine, you make life so asinine.”  Then I start laughing because I’m kind of fucked up.

Pinebocks are the dark side of Twee.  If you’re into that sort of thing, you’ll probably enjoy Flee/My Unfunny Valentine. Make sure to check out the Bandcamp page for other singles and EPs, or like them on Facebook if that is more your style.

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NNXT aka Jessica Gore

NNXT is Jessica Gore, an Atlanta based musician, songwriter, and producer who this week released her first single “DRNK TXTNG” via the new startup label DigSin. Jessica talks about the launch of the label, the Atlanta music scene, the melding of her DIY sensibility, love of pop music, and the challenges of being recognized as a female producer/engineer in an industry dominated by “the men”. Check out her website at NNXTMusic.com or Digsin.com to download the single for free.

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B.durazzo

When I first took a look at a video of B.Durazzo playing a beat live on two MPCs, I thought to myself, “Damn, this isn’t just some kid playing around with Fruityloops and a sampler. Dude’s talented.” Over the course of the video, Ben played each machine like it was a part of a larger instrument. This is something which defies the notion that most hip-hop isn’t “real music” because of the lack of live instrumentation involved in the creative process. Sure, The Roots have been playing live instruments for to make their music for years, but the vast majority of people that make hip-hop do not. Even the turntable has been questioned as a legitimate instrument but if you’ve ever watched a DMC level DJ, you can see that there really shouldn’t be much of a question. Is Ben using other people’s music to make his? Yes, but you could argue that any musician does the same through their influences. As they say, “There ain’t nothin’ new under the sun.”

Not only was watching Ben play interesting, but the beat which he composes is pretty ill. The instrumental has a haunting quality reminiscent of RJD2′s earlier work and that classic boom-bap feel that really gets your head nodding.

As I listened to each track off of Ben’s album, that reminscence of RJD2 was further reinforced. While he does remind me of RJ’s older work, it’s not in a way that is offensive or “biting” as they call it in hip-hop. Durazzo’s music has an intelligent sound that doesn’t need an emcee to make it interesting. Instead of making his music just a background for another person’s words, each track has a voice of its own. His instrumentals are laden with horns and flutes that carry each track from beginning to end and function to give the album a cohesive feel. The album could use a bit of diversity just to provide a break from the norm but overall, it’s a hella solid effort.

Would I listen to it again? Hell yeah mos def I would. My favorte tracks are probably “Monkey Bars” and “Arsenal”. The drums hit hard as fuck in the intro of “Monkey Bars” and really set the tone for the track. ”Arsenal” just has that quality to it that makes you wanna do something ignorant, like paint graffiti or slap a Wal-Mart greeter. It’s rare to find producers in hip-hop who respect their craft enough to learn the tools of their trade like any other musican would. Unlike most producers, Brandon could even perfom this material live as the process of making it is pretty cool to watch and allows for improvisation. Overall, B.Durazzo has a sound that is well crafted and intelligent. You can listen to Ben’s album and also purchase it HERE.

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The Decemberists

The music industry and politics often overlap due to business interests, SOPA/PIPA, presidential endoresments; but rarely does a decision hit as close to home for a band as this one has for The Decemberists.

Accordions for the Cure

On May 3, 2011, it was announced on The Decemberists official site that Jenny Conlee had been diagnosed with breast cancer and would miss most of the band’s 2011 tour dates while recovering [Wikipedia]. The band started raising funds by selling “Team Jenny” t-shirts on their website shop and donating proceeds to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. That changed today as the band released this statement via The Decemberists website:

The Decemberists are deeply troubled by Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s recent decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, a vital resource in the battle against breast cancer. Providing cancer screenings to low income women is integral to the prevention and defeat of breast cancer and it is unconscionable that Komen should politicize this very important issue by bowing to the fear campaign being waged against PP by the right. We’ve decided to redirect the proceeds of the Team Jenny t-shirts and buttons away from Komen for the Cure. 100% of the net profits of these items will be instead donated to Planned Parenthood’s Breast Health Emergency Fund

Please help to support this essential institution. And, if you’ve supported the Team Jenny effort in the past, please write to Komen for the Cure via their site (http://ww5.komen.org/contact.aspx) or via twitter (@komenforthecure) and let them know that undermining women’s health for political reasons is unacceptable.

In a related story, the Komen for the Cure was hacked and changed to display this amazing message.

HACK YOU!

All this publicity has donations to Planned Parenthood soaring.

There you go. Rock and Roll!

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Episodes are centered around random subjects, objects– stuff and things, and songs.  This show was inspired by Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hourwhich ran on satellite radio from May 2006 to April 2009.  We look forward to educating and entertaining each new listener on our mission to the other world.  Anyone not along for the ride can tune into any American FM radio station (except for NPR stations and WXRT-FM Chicago, still 1 of the best) to hear the slow death of modern radio as we hear it now.  (How many times can you really stand to hear “Jeremy” or “Sweet Emotion” in one day?)

Andy & Reggie sat down with the show’s head writer in late 2011 to discuss a show centered on sharing the love of music combined with low-hanging fruit (subjects that peasants can grasp in one sitting such as the end of the world, heartbreak, clarity, vegetables, breakfast, and many other subjects that won’t stress out simple minds combined with music) and came up with a successive idea to supplement Mr. Zimmerman’s landmark satellite radio show. We take no shame in acknowledging the greats, but offer no apologies for respectfully ripping them off to carry on a new show, our way.

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Los Campesinos! at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

The first birthday I had as a resident of Chicago was celebrated with tickets to see a band that I had just started listening to at a place I had never seen before. I was hooked on the music and the venue almost instantly. Fast forward two years and I was back at the Metro in Wrigleyville to see Los Campesinos! again. The Cardiff-based seven piece band are currently touring behind their newest album, Hello Sadness. Between a solid record, the fuel from lead singer Gareth’s break up with twee darling Rebecca Taylor (from Slow Club), and a band that is known for energetic live performances, the Friday night show promised to be something special.

Parenthetical Girls (with Los Campesinos!) at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

Before LC! took the stage, I was treated to Parenthetical Girls as an opener. I had never heard of the band before that night, let alone listened to them, so I didn’t know what to expect. The band is inevitably from Portland and has been making music for about eight years. Their music was the perfect experimental indie pop appetizer to LC!, but I would have just as easly loved them as a main course. A nice touch to the set was the screen hung behind the band playing vague clips from various movies and videos. Vocalist Zac Pennington played the engaging frontman with a tendency for jaunts into the crowd. I found myself laughing along with his stage banter, a trait not necessarily required but certainly appreciated. All in all, I was quite impressed but not surprised to see a solid set from a seasoned band.

Los Campesinos! at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

people, thanks in large part to their accents. On stage, though, LC! is anything but quaint. Even the slowest and most poignant of their songs are emphatic and full-bodied. There isn’t joy in their performance so much as there is energy. Each lyric is sung with as much emotion as it had when it was first written. It also doesn’t hurt that their catalogue as a whole, especially as their live staples, are characteristically danceable.

Los Campesinos! at Metro | ©Shelby Mongan

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When: Sunday, January 22, 2012

Where: Subterranean in Chicago, IL

Will this review be filled with familiar faces? Yes it will.

Here’s the deal with the Sunday evening shows that occasionally happen at small bars and clubs.  I’m tired, yo.  I’ve usually spent the previous two days burning candles in every direction with chain free, V.I.P. type bottle service celebrations of life and other peoples’ bodies.  I am a familiar face in various high end hotel lobbies.

What I’m trying to say is that I would usually prefer to spend Sunday on a couch, drinking tea from a mug that has my picture on it, and watching pretentious television or old PBS documentaries.

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Ten Thousand Saints cover

To Positive Youth, To Positive Growth.

Ten Thousand Saints, the debut novel by Eleanor Henderson, is essentially a story of three teens thrust into adult responsibilities. The novel takes place in 1980s Vermont and New York; a setting which is defined and made believable by the almost insane amount of subtle details in Henderson’s writing. Far from dry exposition, Henderson brings locations to life with seemingly inconsequential descriptors that add up to create a very real world, rather than a sterile or nostalgia-tinted one.

Equally well-developed are the characters in the story. You empathize and languish with not only the teens (Jude, Johnny, and Eliza) in the novel, but the adults as well. It’s a fairly somber (but not entirely humorless) tale of teenagers faced with death, pregnancy, broken homes, drug addiction, and well-meaning, but oftentimes incompetent and selfish parents. Without stable home lives, the teens find strength and belonging in the companionship of each other, religion (Hare Krishna), and a music scene (the burgeoning straight edge hardcore movement of the time).

Music is the one constant in Jude and Johnny’s lives. It gives them something to be inspired by, something to be a part of, but perhaps most importantly, something to do. The straight edge scene keeps the boys clean and distanced from their drug-addicted pasts. However, as with any extreme belief system, there is a darker side to the “positive” straight edge movement the teens become a part of.

On the surface, members of the youth crew appear to be paragons of virtue, but beneath there is judgment, dishonesty, prejudice, and violence. How the characters attempt to reconcile and rationalize what is both literally and figuratively tattooed on themselves is maybe the greatest struggle in the novel.

Poignant and purposeful, Ten Thousand Saints challenges the reader to join the characters as they question their convictions, whatever they may be. In this sense, it’s a truly punk rock novel, yet written to be relatable and accessible to any reader. You don’t need to have grown up on Minor Threat and skateboards to enjoy the book, but it definitely helps.

P.S. As I was reading, I was constantly getting songs stuck in my head. Some of the songs were overtly mentioned in the book, others simply because of the subject matter. Think of the following playlist as a fan-created mixtape companion to the book (which should be copied to cassette for maximum effect).

Side A

Slayer – Show No Mercy

Misfits – Violent World

Black Flag – Six Pack

Fifteen – Front

The Hold Steady – How a Resurrection Really Feels

Side B

Minor Threat – Straight Edge

Youth of Today – Youth Crew

Warzone – Don’t Forget The Struggle, Don’t Forget The Streets

Project X – Straight Edge Revenge

The Hold Steady – Barely Breathing

Against Me! – I Was A Teenage Anarchist (Acoustic)

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El Oso performing on Radio Milwaukee 88.9's 414 Music show

Jim Hanke, Jeff Grabowski and Jasen Kinart of the band El Oso sat down for a performance and interview on the Radio Milwaukee 88.9 show 414 Music to promote Saturday’s January 28 concert for the Pablove Foundation at Turner Hall Ballroom. You can stream or download the show at the Radio Milwaukee website. Do it NOW!

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I legitimately had this poster on my wall for years.

I was a strange child in middle school.

Like so many of my pop culture obsessed friends, the roots of my current interests grew early. I had all the form and grace of a quarter Japanese potato who was far too interested in classes. While the other seventh grade girls were dipping their toes into the dating pool for the first time, I was bonding with the Prince and rolling my Katamari around like my twelve year old life depended on it. (If you don’t get that reference, your childhood had a PlayStation 2 sized hole in it.) Needless to say I didn’t exactly fit in, and I felt it was only right for me to look at alternative culture for somewhere I belonged.

In suburban mall culture, if you are looking for alternative, look no further than Hot Topic. I wish I could say that the dimly lit chain store ushered in a period of devotion to The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Ramones. Unfortunately it actually meant the growth of my obsessions with bands like Good Charlotte and Yellowcard. (Green Day was my only saving grace at this point.) My fixation on these bands was in no way ironic. Their liberty spikes and male eyeliner spoke to me, and I loved them for it.

Running parallel to my love for all things Warped Tour and studded belts was my love for musical theatre. Seeing professional theatre was a religious experience for me. There was a period in my life where I listened to the soundtrack of Rent at least once all the way through daily. Combine these two worlds and you get a remarkably strange thirteen year old.

I will offer a disclaimer here that there were good foundations at work at that time in my life. Thanks to my parents, my two biggest influences when I was a kid were James Taylor and Frank Zappa. One of the first dates my parents went on was to see Little Feat live, and my dad has been attending blues festivals regularly as long as I can remember.

Nevertheless I dove into a combination of cheesy musical theatre and what can only be considered bad pop-punk. This was a hefty chunk of my foundation as a tween.

I spent many years ashamed of my musical heritage. I could willingly admit to being a Spice Girl fan when I was eight, but any reference to my pseudo-punk phase was spit with distinct scorn. I was not proud. I’ve recently gone so far as to turn off my last.fm while taking a trip down memory lane and listening to Fall Out Boy.

But why? Where does my shame come from? Why do we feel ashamed of the things we loved, and even of the apparently shameful things we love now? I’ll come out and say it. I’ve listened to Ke$ha more times than I’m necessarily proud of. I’m a sucker for the pop beats. Why do I feel embarrassed about that? I don’t think my love for deliciously awful music takes way from the so-called good music that I love too.

There seems to me to be a perpetual need to validate my tastes. Listening to “good” music is more than just statement; it serves as my credentials. Appearance is more important than the preference itself. In the world of carefully crafted internet profiles taking the place of real life first impressions, it all makes sense. The prepackaged list of my favorite bands is carefully crafted not just to reflect what I love, but to act as a perfect snapshot of my personality. It’s meant to clue you into to who I am and to whether or not I’m worth your time. God forbid I commit a faux pas and admit loving Hellogoodbye to a music snob.

Honestly, though, I’m finding it more and more exhausting. I’m much more interesting and certainly more complicated than my iTunes play count. Yes, it’s more difficult to explain, and yes, it may be a challenge to see how I blend deep love for Bon Iver and LMFAO, but I’m sick of apologizing. I’m proud of the “Riot Girl” tank top I wore in support of those good ol’ Maryland punks. I’m proud of still knowing all the words to all of A Chorus Line by heart.

Shame and irony are so 2011.

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The fine folks over at Consequence of Sound posted this sweet video this week, along with upcoming tour dates, by former Sock Monkey Sound podcast guest Into It. Over It. (a.k.a Evan Thomas). Just a dude walking down the street singing directed by Jordan Welker.

Pick up the album Proper via the Into It. Over It. website or No Sleep Records online store, Evan will love you for it. At the very least he will like you quite a bit.

Into It. Over It. 2012 Tour Dates:
01/25 – Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern *
01/26 – St. Augustine, FL @ Cafe 11 *
01/27 – Gainesville, FL @ Double Down Live *
01/28 – Orlando, FL @ The Social *
01/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade *
01/31 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada *
02/01 – Beaumont, TX @ Antone’s *
02/03 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *
02/04 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues *
02/05 – West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour *
02/07 – Santa Ana, CA @ Yost Theater *
02/08 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Downtown Brew *
02/09 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
02/10 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
02/11 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern *
03/09 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club ^
03/10 – New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre ^
03/12 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs ^
03/13 – Ottawa, ON @ Ritual ^
03/14 – Toronto, ON @ Annex Wreckroom ^
03/15 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick ^
03/16 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s Down Under ^
03/17 – Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge ^
03/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club ^
03/20 – Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre ^
03/21 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Sound ^
03/23 – Boise, ID @ The Venue ^
03/24 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon ^
03/25 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre ^
03/27 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s ^
03/28 – West Hollywood, CA @ The Troubadour ^

* = w/ Chris Conley, Matt Pryor, Anthony Raneri, and Ace Enders
^ = w/ The Wonder Years, Polar Bear Club, Transit, The Story So Far, A Loss For Words

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Iron Reagan Demo 2012 cover

Let’s Open Up This Pit (Of Horrible Memories).

If you were in a hardcore band during the 80s, you probably had a song about then-president Ronald Reagan, and for good reason. Reagan, while somewhat charming in a Hank Hill sort of way, built his presidency on Bible/chest-thumping rhetoric and borderline racist, anti-poor policy.

With the (moral) majority of Americans seemingly under his spell, it was up to punk rock to step up and form a united opposition. And punk rock delivered, resulting in some of the most memorable songs and bands of that era.

Iron Reagan is a nostalgic throwback to that period of political hardcore, in both aesthetic and sound. With members of Municipal Waste and Cannabis Corpse, it may be assumed that Iron Reagan is a “joke project,” but fortunately, this is not the case. The band shows a great affinity for the artists they are emulating; this is definitely homage, not parody.

While some metal riffs sneak their way in, these four songs are pretty much straight hardcore/thrash in the vein of Cro-Mags or DRI. All four tracks are solid and fun; and coming in at just around the five minute mark (total) makes this demo lend itself to repeated listens.

By the end of the 80s, everything that could possibly be said (or sung) about “The Gipper” had been. But there is always a place for hardcore in the vein of those who were leading the opposition. Maybe this band will even inspire others to do the same. It’s never too late (or too soon) to make an anti-Dubya record, ya know.

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Katy Goodman – La Sera (photo by Magda Wosinska)

Vivian Girls bassist Katy Goodman is producing some pretty sweet 60′s Girl Group-esque pop on La Sera’s 2nd LP Sees The Light. Do yourself a favor and pre-order the album available in March over at the Hardly Art website. Feel free to grab a taste of the record by downloading the first single Please Be My Third Eye below.

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In retaliation to the shutdown of Megaupload, hackers from Anonymous performed DDoS (denial-of-service) attacks on the websites of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), and the freaking Department of Justice. While mainstream media will have you assume that the takedown was orchestrated by the entire Anonymous group, WIRED reports that a sub-group within the hacktivist organization created a different version of their LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Canon) program that unwittingly directed bystanders to attack these sites. Not everyone in the organization agrees with this tactic, stating that what they “consider to be the modern-day equivalent of a sit-in (denial-of-service attacks leave no lasting damage)” was ethically corrupted by the new version.

“Preying on unsuspecting users is despicable,” said one anon, speaking to Wired in an online chat. “We need to fight for the user, not potentially land them in jail.” via WIRED

St. Vincent has announced new tour dates

The Flaming Lips and Bob Mould are set to The Soft Bulletin and Copper respectively at the Noise Pop Festival

Opponents of SOPA and PIPA (including this site) took part in a blackout Wednesday to protest these bills in congress. Ars Technica reports that SOPA has been pulled and is going back to the drawing board. PIPA on the other hand has just been postponed. There were tons websites that “blacked out” in protest this week, Wikipedia being the most reported, and many that showed support by posting in depth news and analysis of the bills. Check out their reporting on SOPA and PIPA, it’s damn good.

Bruce Spingsteen will be releasing his 17th studio album March 6th on Columbia Records.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre are going out on tour in 2012, a world tour to be exact. Their new album Aufheben drops May 1  via ‘a’ Records.

West Coast Dates 2012

Fri April 27 Dallas @ Granada Theatre
Sat April 28 Houston @ Fitzgeralds
Sun April 29 Austin @ Psych Fest
Thu May 3 Vancouver @ The Venue (To Be Confirmed)
Fri May 4 Seattle @ Neptune Theatre
Sat May 5 Portland @ Wonder Ballroom
Tue May 8 Denver @ Bluebird Theatre
Wed May 9 Salt Lake City @ Urban Lounge
Fri May 11 San Francisco @ The Fillmore
Sat May 12 Los Angeles @ The Wiltern

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Singer Etta James passed away this morning due to complications of leukemia in a California hospital. While the versatile songstress’ biggest hit “At Last”, may arguably be the most popular first dance song at weddings around the world, she recorded other songs too! She signed to Chicago’s Chess Records in 1960 and spent much of her career there singing on hits such as the aforementioned ”At Last”, “All I Could Do Was Cry”, and “Trust In Me”.

Along with a stunning voice came addiction issues as well with heroin, cocaine, and probably some marijuana and booze; through it all Etta certainly delivered the goods a rose above her personal demons to provide awesome music for fans . She ended up in both the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame and won 4 Grammy awards during her lifetime.

Instead of posting a video of “At Last”, I figured it would be interesting to include A Sunday Kind of Love above instead.

Former guests of the Sock Monkey Sound podcast Heather Hladish, Marky Hladish, and Dustin Currier (Venna, The Felix Culpa) performed a killer version of “At Last” for Jim and Jen Hanke at their wedding. Check it out below.

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Air Review

Air Review is a Dallas quintet. They played their first show in May of 2009. Their dynamic, versatile, and energetic live shows have landed them primary support slots for an eclectic group of acts including Portugal. The Man, The Boxer Rebellion, One Eskimo, Blue October, Flyleaf, Bowling for Soup and Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights. Their forthcoming EP, America’s Son, promises to further establish Air Review as a sonically diverse and ambitious act that stands to break out in a major way in 2012, simply by staying the course it has already set. The tracks “America’s Son”, “Low Wishes”, and “Waiting Lessons” have received international acclaim from the blogosphere, which include a feature in The Huffington Post. The EP will be released in the spring with one more single to be released soon.

 
Air Review – America’s Son

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Although this news has been circulating for a week since Ted Leo made mention of it on his website, punk label Lookout! Records has made an official announcement on their blog about shuttering it’s doors. Here is the announcement re-printed for your ease of perusal:

So that’s it.

What are your thoughts about Lookout folding? Is punk dead? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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St. Vincent performed on Conan last night and played “Cheerleader” from the Strange Mercy LP. What was cool about this outing on Conan is that Annie Clark and her band decided to poke a little fun at Elvis Costello’s 1977 performance on Saturday Night Live where he interrupted his band a a couple of bars into “Less Than Zero” and then launching into “Radio Radio”.

It’s nice to see that Annie and Co. have a sense of humor.

Check out the inspiration for this gag below.

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theHELL – Sauve Les Requins cover

One issue I have with side projects is that oftentimes they involve drastic genre-changes that artists are not always capable of making relevant to their fans. The cycle usually goes like this: a musician in a punk or indie band makes a statement announcing the project such as “I’ve always enjoyed juke joint blues, so we’ve decided to make a juke joint blues record.” Then the record comes out and all of the hardcore fans of the musician’s “main” band buy it and are like “well this is neat, I guess,” listen to it for a week, then shelve it for eternity. In an interview a few years later, the musician will apologize for the record, calling it “a bit of a misstep,” then announce his new reggae fusion project, and the cycle begins again.

Thankfully, The Hell does not fall into this trap. This side project from singer/guitarist Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio) and drummer Atom Willard (Angels & Airwaves, Rocket from the Crypt) has each musician doing what they do best, which is constructing excellent pop punk songs. By bringing their talents together, they have created a record that sounds different enough from their current bands to justify its existence as a separate product, but not so far removed that it alienates fans.

This is unmistakably a straight-up punk rock record. The four tracks on this EP all come in under the 3 minute mark, and the production is far less pronounced than on Angels & Airwaves and more recent Alkaline Trio releases. The vocal delivery and lyrical content also invoke memories of early-to-mid-career Alk3, with f-bomb laden blasphemous songs primarily about well, Hell. However, the EP is not merely a rehash of Matt’s output in that era of Alkaline Trio. The song construction is tight and focused, but more driving, with some more traditional punk “whoa-ohs” and “1, 2, fuck yous” thrown in which also serve to differentiate this record from Alk3 releases.

Given my general suspicion regarding side projects, I went into this EP cautiously optimistic. Less than 45 seconds into the opening track “Gasoline,” I was sold. This EP greatly exceeded my expectations and is exactly what I want from a side project – a record that plays on the musicians’ strengths and does not alienate fans, but is different enough to separate it from the artists’ principal bands. I hope that this was not just a one-time deal and that we’ll see more from The Hell in the future, even if it takes until the members finish their alt-country/Eurobeat/visual kei record.

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As you approach the age of thirty, punk rock shows begin to feel like kisses in a rocky relationship – any one could be your last. As 2012 is the year that my friends and I reach that frightening age many of us thought we’d never even make it to, there is an unspoken pressure to replace youthful pursuits of enjoyment with more adult endeavors.

Tonight was not that night though. A friend and I drove down to Dekalb for the show and arrived at Otto’s a good half hour before it started to a nearly empty venue. The opening band, Lord, played a style of chugging metal that was almost jam band-esque in its execution to a fairly sparse crowd. They had a very tight, technical sound, but as someone with a child-like attention span, Lord’s 5+ minute, predominantly instrumental songs had me daydreaming, only to be abruptly woken by occasional silence and the realization that I should be clapping.

The Holy Mess

The opposite was the case when The Holy Mess played. THM are a-band-you-should-be-listening-to from Philadelphia who play raucous pop punk about drinking and stuff in a manner similar to Off With Their Heads and Dillinger Four. I was really excited to see these guys and definitely wasn’t the only one. During their set there was a cluster of super-fans up front and center pogo-ing and singing. THM’s set was great, consisting of songs from their excellent Ep and 7″ (which is now available as a full length) and some new material as well.

The Lawrence Arms

By the time The Lawrence Arms went on, the venue was pretty full. Despite the mass of people, it never felt oppressive in the way shows in Chicago sometimes do, and I was still able to comfortably reside near the front of the stage, a huge reason why I love seeing bands at Otto’s. One of the best things about a Lawrence Arms show is the Brendan Kelly onstage banter, and it definitely delivered tonight, with talk of “Juggalo shoes” (a reference to a sneaker that was thrown on the stage with a goofy single zebra stripe lace) and dudes’ dick sizes (a reference to, well, you had to be there). The set was really solid, with a mixture of old material and new-ish classics like “The Slowest Drink at the Saddest Bar on the Snowiest Day in the Greatest City.”

The crowd responded in turn and with fists in the air, they sang out every word. It was an almost transcendent experience to be a part of, the kind you can only get at these kind of shows, and one that I don’t see myself or my friends giving up any time soon.

This is our year for sure.

The Lawrence Arms

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There are two types of Lawrence Arms shows: the shows where Brendan Kelly is already so drunk that he’s slurring when he gets on stage, and where he gets progressively drunker throughout the show.

The second type of show is usually the one that goes better, and that’s what the Lawrence Arms gave a sold-out (or nearly so) crowd Saturday night at the Metro.

To strangers, it probably wasn’t the best show. There was rambling conversation and too much time between songs. Most favorites were played, but some got skipped. For me, though, it was perfect.

Details really are irrelevant. I love Brendan’s energy combined with how still Chris is when he’s singing. I love both their voices. I love songs about Chicago because it makes me feel like I belong here. A music snob may complain about this show. I will not.

It’s no big secret that I go to most shows alone. However, there’s something about standing in a group of people all singing the words to your favorite songs that makes you feel a part of something bigger. It makes me feel not so alone.

And for all the Larry Arms fans, the live DVD of the anniversary show (filmed 10/24/09 at the Metro) should be out this year–it’s only taken them 3 years.

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Aaron Freeman ditches Gene Ween

Aaron Freeman (website), better known as Gene Ween of Ween, has ditched his pseudonym in favor of his given name to record his first-ever solo record, ‘Marvelous Clouds’ (Partisan Records). Out April 10, the album features 13 heartfelt interpretations of songs written by 20th century poet/songwriter, Rod McKuen.

For those unfamiliar with McKuen, the dude lived some life. After running away from home in the 1940′s at age 11, Rod McKuen (wikipedia link) emerged from the influence of the San Francisco Beat scene to become one of the most prolific and top-selling poets and songwriters of the 20th century, earning two Oscar nominations, one Pulitzer nomination, and selling tens of millions of books and records. His songs have been recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Johnny Cash to Madonna (WTF?).

Having sold over a million albums with Ween worldwide, Freeman’s use of McKuen’s work to articulate one of his most personal efforts to-date marks a new milestone in a career well known for its use of a wide range of vocal styles and song characters.

‘Marvelous Clouds’ reunites Freeman with Ben Vaughn, who produced Ween’s classic ’12 Golden Country Greats.’

I’ve had the chance to listen to the title track and As I Love My Own off the forthcoming LP and I must say that, having been a Ween fan, that Freeman’s presentation is looking to be very, very cool indeed with more of a straightforward approach with a couple Ween-ian style flourishes thrown in.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming interview with Aaron… or is it Gene? Or Mister Freeman…I’m f@#king confused!

‘Marvelous Clouds’ track list:

1. As I Love My Own
2. Jean
3. Marvelous Clouds
4. A Man Alone
5. The Beautiful Strangers
6. Doesn’t Anybody Know My Name
7. One By One
8. Pushing The Clouds
9. The Lovers
10. Mr. Kelly
11. Love’s Been Good To Me
12. Lonesome Cities
13. The World I Used To Know

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Nada Surf are set to release their 2012 LP “The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy” (quite a true statement come to think of it) on über-label Barsuk. For the nominal fee of signing up for the Barsuk mailing list you can have this free download. Here’s to hoping we can get Nada Surf on the podcast sometime this year. Check out their upcoming tour dates on their website.

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Kevin Devine

Kevin Devine returns to Sock Monkey Sound to discuss what has been going on with him lately. Topics include: Bad Books, his 2011 LP Between the Concrete and Clouds, his cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind, and lastly his thoughts on Elliott Smith.

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Polica – Lay Your Cards Out

Listen to our recent podcast interview with Channy Leaneagh of Polica

Check out Polica’s video for ”Lay Your Cards Out” (feat. Mike Noyce of Bon Iver) off of POLIÇA’s debut record, “Give You The Ghost” out now on Totally Gross National Product.

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