New Single: Feist

How Come You Never Go There by Feist

Feist is back with a new single and a new full length album Metals, due October 4th.  "How Come You Never Go There" makes me feel like I am listening to her perform in a smoky lounge.  Feist is laying on a piano in a full length black cocktail dress, mesmerizing the crowd with her sultry vocals.  I'm drinking a Manhattan or a Pink Lady at the bar, swaying to the music while guys that call me "Dame" hit on me.  Not complaining...the song is pretty wicked and guys are hitting on me.  Sounds like a fine night to me.

New Music: The Horrors

When I first heard The Horrors, it was because I fell in love with their gothy dark antics on their 2009 album Primary Colors.  It was in the tradition of those Joy Division influenced bands that I can't seem to get enough of and I was into it.  Critics loved it too and it was even nominated for a Mercury Prize in the UK.  Many times, this kind of pressure fucks with bands' heads and they try to recreate the same thing for their follow-up.  Not with The Horrors.  Instead, they took what was good and made it better, creating one of my favorite records this year, Skying. 

I literally cannot get enough of this record.  It makes my big black soul smile and brings a sort of moodiness to the summer days that makes me feel like I'm in Northern England on a winter day.  The evolution of their sound, while still dark and moody, almost makes Primary Colors seem boilerplate.  There's balance between the shoegazy crushing guitars and the rich psychedelic landscape of melody and romance, resulting in a sort of brit-poppiness and hooks that are catchy as hell.  I can't help but hear an homage to Psychedelic Furs and Echo & the Bunnymen alongside bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or Sonic Youth. 

Skying is like a sonic roller coaster; it takes you really high, really low and surprises you along the way.  Opener "Changing the Rain" is slow and steady with luscious serenading keyboards that suck you in, creating a sense of calm and peacefulness. This peacefulness continues until "I Can See Through You," which is like a giant wave of synth, bowling you over. God, I love that song!  Then there's "Endless Blue" which tricks you with a soft melody and suddenly rips into banging, crushing guitars.**

**Note from Jeannie:  I'm not sure if The Horrors know of The Wedding Present, but this song is so reminiscent of David Gedge's patented crushing guitars, that they might owe him a big giant "Thank You."  Just sayin.

That said, it's probably my favorite song on the record.  A close second, tied with "I Can See Through You," is the first single "Still Life."  It's one of those songs that you can listen to over and over and not get sick of. And, it's what I like to call Jeannie-Emo or "Jemo."

"Under a sky, no one sees
Waiting, watching it happening
Don’t hurry give it time
Things are the way they have to be
Slow down, give it time
Still life, you know I’m listening
The moment that you want is coming if you give it time

When you wake up
When you wake up
You will find me

When you wake up
When you wake up
You will find me"

Seriously?  Love it.  Other favorites are "Wild Eyed" and "Moving Further Away."   But, I have to say that the record as a whole is pretty freaking fantastic and I've been listening to it NON-STOP since they started streaming it pre-release.  Now I am just looking forward to September when they are hitting the US to tour.  Gloomy FTW!

Way Back Wednesday: Cypress Hill

In honor of their 20th anniversary of their first record, Cypress Hill performed at the Troubadour on Saturday night.  My friend Janette was nice enough to let me tag along as her plus one. (Yay, thanks Janette!)  Initially, they were going to perform their self-titled debut from start to finish and then throw in some hits at the end.  Instead, they reconfigured the set list and just did all the hits.  Ok, well that works too!  We got hits like "Hand on the Pump," "I Wanna Get High," "Dr. Greenthumb," "Insane In The Brain," "How Could I Just Kill A Man" and "I Ain't Goin' out Like That."  Whether you know it or not, Cypress Hill was in the forefront of a lot of cool shit back in the day.  They were the first Latino rap artists to go platinum.  Remember "Jump Around" by House of Pain?  Well, DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill produced that song and gave us that legendary song.  College wouldn't have been the same without it.  And, you'll never know how many hits they have until you go and see them live and realize that they can fill a whole set with songs you know and love.  Not many bands can do that.  Happy anniversary Cypress Hill!

Theophilus London

I've written before about Theophilus London and his sexy grooves.  I'm a fan.  And, after seeing him perform in the scorching valley sun on Friday at the Warner Brothers Records patio, I might be his stalker.  It couldn't have been easy to perform in the 90 degree heat, to an LA crowd (which are known for being less than enthused for shows) and in the middle of the day, but he did it with as much gusto as if he was at the Garden. He performed six songs, including "Last Name London," "All Around the World," "Girls Girls $" and "I Stand Alone."

Enjoy!

New Music: Mariachi El Bronx

Riddle me this sample SAT question:

Punk Rock : The Bronx

Mariachi : The Bronx

Does it compute?  Actually, it does.  You might know The Bronx as a gritty, crass punk rock band.  I love them; “Heart Attack American” from their first record has a permanent residency on my playlist.  So, how did they go from Warped Tour punks to La Fonda mariachi?  The story goes that they were asked to perform acoustic for Fuel TV and they thought that punk bands unplugged was really lame.  So, rather than sucking it up they decided to infuse mariachi, and voila! Mariachi El Bronx was born.  I’m told that they really dove deep and studied several different kinds of mariachi, taking the new challenge very seriously.  What resulted is a truly amazing record that is just as punk rock as it is mariachi and is truly amazing.

Their second release, Mariachi El Bronx (II), opens with “48 Roses ” – a love song about having a cauldron of women to choose from.  Despite being very Bachelor-esque, it really encapsulates the romantic nature of mariachi.  You can almost hear “Revolution Girls” blaring from bars and restaurants along Avenida Revolucion in Tijuana, the perfect song about losing your innocence south of the border.  The sweetest love song on the record is “Fallen,” which is almost doo wop and could easily be a staple at weddings.  Not what you'd expect from a bunch of gringo punkers.  “Norteno Lights” actually incorporates Spanish and is muy magnifico: 

“Como te llamas

Como te llamas

That’s where I see you in my dreams

Now on the street by chance we meet

This twist of fate is crueler than it seems

Como te llamas

Como te llamas

Are you too beautiful to speak?

Just give me one single word

Before you turn and walk away from me”

Singer Matt Caughthran’s raspy voice makes you feel as though he’s been singing in cantinas his whole life.  Despite the fact that the lyrics are in English, I find myself almost saying that I could hear any of these songs being played by “real” mariachi bands.  But, Mariachi El Bronx are as real as it gets and deserve to be treated as such.  Mariachi El Bronx (II) brings me back to my days of vacationing in Mexico (pre-beheadings) and makes me yearn for all my old stomping grounds.  I feel as though I am sitting on the deck of Calafia enjoying margaritas or eating brunch at La Fonda with an amazing ocean view and settling in on Mexico time.

I LOVE this record!!  And, I got to see them perform last night at La Cita in Los Angeles and it was a fun, sweaty mess of a show.  They were incredible live and may want to keep up this mariachi moonlighting full time.  I highly recommend checking them out when they open for Foo Fighters this fall.  It’s worth getting there early!  In the meantime, get "48 Roses" below:

 

 

Way Back Wednesday: Pat Benetar

Pat Benetar had such an impact on my musical journey.  When I was in middle school, my friend Sharla and I were OBSESSED with her.  We joined Columbia Record Club so that we could get all of her albums.  We spent our summer and all of our free time listening to them, logging the lyrics and wishing we were as cool as Pat.  Sharla's parents had mirrors hanging on the wall of their living room and we would clear enough space so that we could perform Pat Benetar songs in the mirror for hours on end.  Neither of us could come close to matching Pat's amazing vocal talent, so we would lip sync and pretend that we were on Solid Gold performing and dancing to her songs.  We even went so far as to do our own "episodes" of Solid Gold that we would record on cassette.  There is one very special Christmas episode that we recorded where my live rendition of "Carol of the Bells" ("Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells...") made ears bleed throughout the county (imagine an out-of-tune and baritone BUMMMM......BUMMMM.......BUMMMM).  Pat Benetar, I am not.  It's a good thing cassettes are dead!

New Single: The Drums

  The Drums - Money by WorkItMedia

Okay seriously, this is the funniest song I've heard in a while.  Usually funny songs aren't that great, but this one is.  The Drums had an electro-pop hit a couple of summers ago with "Let's Go Surfing." With lines like this, I can't wait to hear more!

"I want to buy you something
but I don't have any money
I want to buy you something
but I don't have any money"


"And, if I had a car, I would trade in my car
If I had a gun, I'd trade in my gun"

I mean, come on!  Pretty hilarious.  I can't speak for gold diggers, but most girls I know would laugh and swoon pretty hard if a guy sang this song to them.