volcano! - Paperwork (2008)

Some in the RGB circle have had this album longer than others.  I myself have been in possession for about a month.  It's nice when a release can hold your attention for that long, given today's infinite availability of everything ever recorded, being recorded, and about to be recorded.  It's even better when it turns out to be one of those albums that defines a moment in your life and that you'll be able to listen to a long time from now after having been away from it for a while, and have that period come back to you in a ripple of memory.  (This recently happened to me with Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, which I hadn't heard since my days of killing time on the Evanston-Chicago public transportation commute by listening to 2004-era hip indie music.  Now I need to put that CD back in the box it came from so it doesn't become one of those discs that lives with me everywhere and I get super tired of it, like Siamese Dream.)

Lots of pontificating so far in this review and no indication of arriving at a critical evaluation of the music.  That's okay, pointless blathering about Paperwork puts me in pretty good company -- and by "good," I mean "read by more than my 10 pop-culture friends."

While I think Beautiful Seizure had more immediately accessible individual tracks (hey there, "Fire Fire" and "Apple Or A Gun"!), it also swung heavily between high and low points. That was probably volcano!'s intent, but given my music listening habits the end result is usually skipping the harder-to-parse tracks to get to the HITS before I have to go do some other stuff.  Paperwork has no shortage of those -- in fact, the band jumps from hook to memorable hook as much as a pop-noise-dance band prone to sudden tempo and mood swings possibly could.  And, if you're of the right mindset, those jarring moments become their own hooks too.

Takeaway from this review is...I haven't found an album this enjoyable to listen to straight-through in at least a couple of years.  Quite the commendable accomplishment.

I eagerly await the lyrics that are rumored to be going up on their new website, but bonus points to whoever can tell me what "Slow Jam" is about before they do, besides Chris who I demanded the secret from, rather than do my own critical listening.  Video below.  Does With really say "Where'd you get those shades, Robocop?" in the context of a patronizing Western attitude toward globalization, or is that just wishful thinking?

volcano! doing some music stuff at the Hideout last month. this font is big.

In Bruges (2008)

Colin Farrell plays self-pitying without going overboard, Brendan Gleeson is great as usual, and Ralph Fiennes does a fantastic job of unleashing his inner unbridled id. This is the kind of movie I wanted to make when I was younger and full of Tarantino-fueled gangland fantasies...hitmen wandering around a scenic urban landscape talking trash to kill the time.

The melodramatic version would have been made by Wong Kar-Wai and involved choppy cinematography, melancholy inner-thought closeups and lots of rain. But In Bruges plays it with whimsically brash Irish charm, Farrell's character somewhat wantonly tossing insults at Americans, little persons, and anything else that crosses his path. Some may find it too clever by half (particularly during a bit of negotiating near the climax), but I found myself guessing all the way to the end, an increasingly rare occurrence and therefore one I value highly.

Way Down in Soma

the penny dreadfuls, dustonius maximus, the obsessors at Beale Street Bar, Thurs. Sept. 11

Cheap live entertainment in San Francisco is hard to find without either a giant wait or no parking. For its well priced offerings and generous cocktails alone, the Beale Street Bar in SOMA demands attention. But its architecture too draws your eye. Surrounded by shiny, tall, buildings, the squat two-story structure with patios all around reminds me of the SF MOMA. Not one but two staircases, one of them circular, make their way to the rooftop stage.

The show cost $5. It was worth every dreadful penny. The Penny Dreadfuls opened with their mix of rock'n'roll, emo, punk and pirate tunes. They were very energetic. The vocalist Brian, who my girlfriend says is "pretty hot," is a journalism major at the Univ. of Nevada-Reno. The band hails from the "biggest little city in the world." Some say they're too emo, but I think they don't whine too much. They spin pretty catchy, energetic anthems.

Next up was Dustonius Maximus, presumably named for lead songwriter Dustin. The new band plays largely instrumental, jazzy, rockish, ska-ish songs. Kincaid (sp?) fronted with a lyrical trumpet, alternating between bluesy and jazzy and high and low. He actually smiled a lot, too. He and sax player Dan did a nice backing vocals job on one song, a rootsy Jamaican/Chris Murray/Jack Johnson type chill out island riddim, ska/rocksteady thing. The most fun, though, was the closing cover of Tom Waits' "Down in the Hole." Dustin's low voice easily slips into the gravely garble of Waits, and the arrangement was respectfully playful. Dustin actually lives not far from the crooner, in Petaluma, Calif.

The punk Obsessors closed the show. Ducky my pal played drums, cutely per Brittany. The lead singer got in the crowd's face, and the guitar section - one gorgeous white Keytar played by an equally gorgeous woman (think Lisa from weird science, the TV show), and a straight-out-of-the-80s rocker dude with long hair and a white Flying V - backed her up with brass knuckles. The link between new wave and punk never sounded so good.

Why the new Nick Cave album is awesome

I've realized something about Nick Cave: as he puts out new albums, i keep getting more interested in his new ones, and less interested in his old ones. I don't know if that says more about me or him, but it's pretty great. After all, can you imagine saying the same thing of a band like The Pixies? This became especially true when he released No More Shall We Part a few years ago. It seemed like a big stride past his preceding albums; he started replacing gloomy love ballads with gloomy doom-laden stories and incorporating the feel of rock 'n roll in place of post-punk gothy-ness.

That's what his new one Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is all about. Most songs are built on taut beats that might remind you a little of krautrock and The Stooges at the same time. Drawing from his other recent project, Grinderman, there's plenty of rawkus guitars and spacey loops on top of the drums, but the focus remains the vocals. The best things going here is Nick's gift for ambiguous, creepy, even weird little stories that nevertheless are compelling.

If you're a lapsed Nick Cave fan, this might be one to check out. The songs are strong, the sounds are cool, and his band, as ever plays with impressive control and plenty of snarl.