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More Brothers! JEFF the Brotherhood Unveil Their Expanded Lineup at the Grog Shop to Shredding Effect
Like a poor man's Weezer, who instead of making a wrong turn and getting lost in Beverly Hills, found themselves down in skid row and loved it, JEFF the Brotherhood not only understand the irony of a couple of everymen cranking out rock anthems, they embrace it. It was evident when brothers Jake (guitar) and Jamin (drums) Orrall anonymously took the Grog Shop stage with sheepish grins, Jamin dressed all in white with a Gratefu...READ MORE
Live Rock Action: The Many Sides of Yo La Tengo
Words often fail when attempting to describe the lasting appeal of Yo La Tengo. To say this long-running, Hoboken trio is a critic's band implies they're difficult for the average music fan to understand. It wasn't just critics, record store owners and vinyl geeks who filled the sold-out Beachland Ballroom on Thursday night. There were normal folk, too. To describe their talent as a band who can play any song in any style, Bla...READ MORE
Lovin’ It Live: Father John Misty’s Sunny Vibes a Natural Fit for Spring in January
On a night more like early Spring than the second week of January, Clevelanders filled the Beachland Ballroom for a man not named Jeff "Indie Rock God" Mangum (His show this night was over at the Masonic Auditorium) who just recently left a plum gig as drummer in the Pacific Northwest folk group, Fleet Foxes. Yet, if there was any doubt whether J Tillman made the wrong decision in going out on his own as Father John Misty, or if ...READ MORE
Live: Dinosaur, Jr @ The Beachland Ballroom 10.24.12
If Shearwater was supposed to be the folksier, quieter band on the Dinosaur, Jr bill on Tuesday night at the Beachland, then the fact that they were loud enough to literally make your balls shake was not a good sign for those who wanted to avoid things like permanent hearing loss. Had Dinosaur, Jr's J Mascis hijacked the sound board and pushed every slider to the very top? I wouldn't put it past him. Behind that calm demeanor of his,...READ MORE
Something About Guided by Voices and Cobra Verde at the Grog Shop’s 20th Anniversary Celebration
Notes from last night's Ohio Rock spectacular in no particular order (I feel like I drank 1,000 beers last night, so give me a little leeway, you guys): * I'm not what most would call a believer. More times than not, religion, and the things people do in the name of religion revolt me. Yet, late in Guided by Voices marathon set, lead singer Robert Pollard made a convincing argument regarding the existence of a higher power as he r...READ MORE
2012 Pitchfork Music Festival: Milk Music
Alex Coxen, the lead singer for Olympia Washington's Milk Music is an interesting character, to say the least. With his long, blonde hair, and mellow disposition, he had this whole Jeff Spicoli, surfer vibe to him when he first took to the mic. Every word he spoke between songs was forgettable and/or regrettable. Take, "Fuck your parents. Kill Yourself. Ha Ha Ha!" for example, or all of the other random f-bombs tossed t...READ MORE
2012 Pitchfork Music Festival: Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall
Rock o'clock came seven hours early to Chicago on Sunday. At 2:50, Thee Oh Sees were set for the Blue Stage. Back at the main grounds, Ty Segall would go on at 3:20 on the Red Stage. 25 minutes later, it would be back to the Blue Stage for The Men. Choices had to be made. Half-sets had to suffice. Scheduling a music festival is a bitch and at some point during the weekend someone's gonna get fucked due to overlapping se...READ MORE
2012 Pitchfork Music Festival: Vampire Weekend
Coming into this weekend's edition of the Pitchfork Music Festival, I openly questioned whether Vampire Weekend were headline material. Sure, their modern spin on world pop has its mass appeal, as it did for artists like Paul Simon and back in the day. But could they really engage a crowd of 20,000? The answer Sunday night was a rousing yes. Should you scan the crowd during songs like "Cape Code Kwassa Kwassa," or "Oxfor...READ MORE
2012 Pitchfork Music Festival: The Men
Although many of the songs by the Brooklyn five-piece, The Men, carry hints of alt-country, southern rock, and country rock, I don't want you to think of any one particular band. Not the No Depression set and not Ryan Adams. Not Lynyrd Skynyrd. And not the fucking Eagles. I hate the fucking Eagles. You can picture the Traveling Wilburys, but only if you team Tom Petty up with J Mascis, Thurston Moore, Greg Ginn, and D...READ MORE
2012 Pitchfork Music Festival: Godspeed You! Black Emperor
There is no one right way to enjoy the music of the Canadian, post-rock collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor. During their Saturday night headlining set at the Pitchfork Music Festival, for example, I spotted dudes in long-hair headbanging. Some, laid down in the grass and closed their eyes. Others were so wired, they wouldn't be closing their eyes for hours, maybe even days. Another man, played speed hackey sack with himself. ...READ MORE
2012 Pitchfork Music Festival: Wild Flag
For younger fans, the main draw of Portland's Wild Flag was seeing Carrie Brownstein from the hipster-skewing, sketch comedy show Portlandia play in a Rock 'N' Roll band. Older fans, had a different reason to catch the set. Brownstein once spent time in the influential, all-girl, rock band Sleater-Kinney and her co-lead, Mary Timony paid her dues in Helium. And with Rebecca Cole on keyboards and Janet Weiss on drums, they release...READ MORE
