23 May, 2006

April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring...Apollo Sunshine

The concert started off with a rainbow. I guess that's a good sign. I've heard that some awesome Grateful Dead concerts started with a rainbow. But, even with the rainbow, Apollo Sunshine didn't have the electric energy I've usually found in them live. Yes, they were missing their 4th member (Sean Aylward) and yes, they'd just finished up a bunch of cross-country touring, but this Apollo wasn't the spirited band I love.

The music was amazing, as always. They started with "Today Is The Day", a staple that could get any crowd movin', and progressed through many songs from their first album "Katonah" and their latest, "Apollo Sunshine."

"Flip!" was a big hit, along with "Phony Marony", "Lord", "Phyllis", "Bed", "You and I", "Fear of Heights", and "I Was On The Moon." They played a few lesser known songs from "Katonah", but always kept the energy up with the audience (including a frosh-mosh pit.) The energy in Apollo's music is so tangible, it was sometimes a bit of a shock to the crowd to pass from "fast-upbeat" to "slow-melodic." Even some longtime fans felt these quick changes. I saw one guy rockin' out one second (singing all the words) and then looking confused a minute later.

The room was cramped, and hard to dance in, but that didn't stop anyone, and a couple of fights arose because of the lack of space. Jesse Gallagher, usually the ring-leader of Apollo Sunshine, seemed completely oblivious to the scuffles. In fact, the whole band acted as if the audience wasn't even there. Jesse spoke only a handful of times during the entire performance, mumbling song names, and half-heartedly showing us how to do the "Phony Marony."

Where were the stage antics? Where was the energy? The band looked tired when they came back for an encore. I was upset at first, hadn't I only seen them last fall, swinging their guitars (drum-sticks) with intense energy? I'd been so impressed, realizing it was probably the best performance I'd seen in the last year. This performance in comparison was horrible, maybe understandable for other bands, but not for my Apollo Sunshine. Of course I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and I'll be back at the next show they play.

08 May, 2006

GIRL POWER!!

The other day I had a conversation with some friends about all-girl bands. After much discussion and debate we could think of only a few great all-girl bands and a few really bad all-girl bands. Why is the all-girl band so uncommon? There are a ton of amazing female artists. Here's the list of the good, the bad, and the ugly...


GOOD

Floetry
The Supremes
Le Tigre
Sleater-Kinney
Indigo Girls
The Runaways (Joan Jett..."Cherry Bomb" anyone?)
Salt-N-Pepa
Hole
Obviously Aretha, Janis, Chrissie, Bonnie Raitt, Brodie of the Distillers, Patti Smith, Liz Phair (early stuff), Mazzy Star, that girl who sings "Sweet Jane" for the cowboy junkies, Kim Deal, Alanis, various other amazing female artists, but where are the all-girl bands?

BAD

The Donnas (Meh...I DO enjoy them.)
Spice Girls
The Pussycat Dolls
TLC
Destiny's Child
Obviously Lindsay, Hillary, Gwen Stefani (solo), Britany Spears, Madonna (pisses me off), Dixie Chicks, Macy Gray, Avril, etc.

Any of your own additions? Leave me a comment!

05 May, 2006

Cruisin' down the street in my 6-fo...

Dynamite Hack have been around for awhile. You need to keep this in mind as you read the next paragraph. They aren't the NEW thing. Oh, no.

For the last few nights I've been hearing Dynamite Hack's song "Boyz-N-The Hood" on the radio. I guess it was requested a ton last week (weird how things happen like that...) Here's the thing, IT'S HILARIOUS! Everytime I hear it (middle of the night!) I have to stifle intense fits of laughter. What's really weird is these people I hang with (some would call them "friends") have been quoting lines from this song all week long. Maybe there are Aliens messing with our minds, or maybe everyone just has their radios tuned to the same station. I guess I'll have to investigate further...

02 May, 2006

Soldiers...not what you're thinking

I've got a few band recommendations today.

The Rock "N" Roll Soldiers:

They've been on the scene for a while now, rockin' alt radio. Last year when I heard they were playing nearby my reaction was "mehh" (Do I really care? Kinda the way I feel about the Strokes.) Anyhoo, I decided to give their music another shot when I surfed by them on Myspace. "Anthem" is catchy, if not substantial, but there is an actual guitar solo in the middle. The vocals get a little grating, but sometimes they make me nostalgic for the days when production on Indie albums was shit (oh wait, for many it still is.) Wow, the sarcasm in this section is biting. I guess my main recommendation is that you check them out if, like me, you thought "mehh" when you first heard them playing on your radio. They're better than "mehh"...if only slightly.

RJD2:

Yes, more white-boy hip-hop (BUT IT'S SOOO GOOD.) I'm long-overdue reviewing this boy. What can I say? He makes great music. Check out the albums, Magnificent City Instrumentals and Deadringer. Very good instrumental hip-hop.

Wolfmother:

I try not to buy into hype, and these guys have received a ton of it (Not Arctic Monkeys ton. More like White Stripes ton.) I just listened to "Dimensions" and I must say that I like the music. It reminds me of Led Zeppelin through a pile of guitar mud. I'm a self-proclaimed "led-head", but Wolfmother pulls off the Zeppelin sound without being too good. What I mean is, they definitely don't have Jimmy Page's guitar, and although the vocals sound somewhat like Robert Plant, they never reach his intensity. Lyrically, Wolfmother is kind of boring. Their music is catchy and sometimes you get a glimps of Led Zeppelin through the muck, but otherwise stick to the real deal!!