Fluxblog Weekly #11: Archers of Loaf, The Rolling Stones, Teen Girl Scientist Monthly, Gardens & Villa, Wilco
Wow, what a rock-centric week on the ol' Fluxblog. That's just the way it shakes out sometimes. There were two shows I saw last weekend that I didn't write about – The New Pornographers free show in Prospect Park, which was fantastic even if the audience was insufferable and lifeless, and Mudhoney at the Bell House, which I thought was good but don't have much to say about. I've only ever been a casual fan of them, but really appreciated that they played a bunch of my favorites – "Judgment, Rage, Retribution, and Thyme," "Touch Me, I'm Sick," "What To Do With the Neutral?," and "I'm Now" all in a row.
Also! If you enjoy this newsletter, I strongly encourage you to check out the A Song A Day newsletter by my friend and colleague Alex Naidus. He has excellent taste, and if you like what I do, I think you'll also like what he does.
July 13th, 2015
The Underground Is Overcrowded
Archers of Loaf @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 7/10/2015
Step Into the Light / Let the Loser Melt / 1985 – Fabricoh / Harnessed in Slums / Dead Red Eyes / Lowest Part is Free! / Freezing Point / Mark Price, P.I. / South Carolina / Wrong / Web in Front / Revenge / Nostalgia / Smokin’ Pot in the Hot City / You & Me / Might / Plumb Line / All Hail the Black Market // Audiowhore / Greatest of All Time / White Trash Heroes
I’d seen Archers of Loaf once before, back when they first reunited for a tour a few years ago. I remember that being a good show, but this one was much better – the band were really on, and the audience was very enthusiastic. It seemed like almost everyone in the venue was passionate about this band, and was having some sort of catharsis when they played the big ones – “Harnessed in Slums,” “Wrong,” “Web in Front,” “Lowest Part is Free!,” “Nostalgia,” etc. It was exactly what I would’ve wanted an Archers of Loaf show to be like when I was a teenager, except they would’ve played “Nevermind the Enemy.” I don’t get not playing that song – if I was in a band and had a song like that, I’d play it three times in a row every night.
Archers of Loaf “Greatest of All Time (Live)”
“Greatest of All Time” has always been one of my favorite Archers songs, but I wasn’t expecting it to move me as much as it did in this show. It’s an odd song – fragile but dramatic, bitter yet sentimental, ironic but also wistful. It’s essentially a song about how easily music fans can turn on their heroes, and maybe also a bit about the absurdity of making these people into “heroes” in the first place. We elevate people to mean something, but the moment they lose their semiotic usefulness, they’re either turned into a joke or relegated to being “legends,” frozen in time and discouraged from being anything else. Maybe the song is more poignant now that Archers themselves are in that legend role, and seem to be this band frozen in amber. I’m sure none of this is lost on Eric Bachmann as he sings it, and that he probably knows that “the underground is overcrowded” has a very different resonance today than it did 20 years ago.
Buy it from Amazon.
July 14th, 2015
The Night Pass Slow
The Rolling Stones “Moonlight Mile (Live 2015)”
My friend Sean often says that out of all the major “classic rock” bands, The Rolling Stones are the ones who are worst served by classic rock radio because when you reduce them down to just their biggest hits, you lose a lot of what they’re truly capable of doing. You get to hear some of that in The Beatles and Led Zeppelin’s biggest hits, but you lose most of the Stones’ grit and swing and funk and drama. You certainly miss out on a song like “Moonlight Mile,” which is as grand and cinematic as rock music gets without veering into contrived bombast. Thousands of musicians have written “lonely on the road” songs, but few come close to this, with Jagger conveying the slow drag of his journey home, the nervous anticipation of getting closer but still feeling so far away, and the pure romance of just yearning to be with the one you love again. It’s a song that comes from a place of exhaustion, but you can sense a real love for the road in the music – part of what makes “Moonlight Mile” so rich is that there’s a tension between his passions, and a resignation to this just being the way life is going to be. I mean, I am not a driver, but there are few other songs that make me want to drive around at night more than this song.
This recording is from just a couple months ago when the Stones played all ofSticky Fingers in concert; the show is now available as a live album. “Moonlight Mile” comes across particularly well 44 years after it first came out. This is partly because Jagger’s voice has aged so well, but I think more in that the sentiment and mood of the song suits the older Jagger well. There’s a lot of grace and dignity to the song, and he really highlights that in his performance today.
Buy it from iTunes.
July 15th, 2015
Feel Your Blood Pump Hot In The Cool Dark Air
Teen Girl Scientist Monthly “Games”
The first Teen Girl Scientist Monthly record leaned fairly twee, but this time around they’ve sharpened up their edges a bit, and embraced a morbid streak that contrasts nicely with their clean-cut aesthetic. “Games” is harder and harsher than anything they’ve done up to this point, even if the core vocal melody is something that would’ve worked just as well in their sunnier, perkier material. I love the way this charming, playful melody is framed by these tight, tense rhythms, and how that contrast is echoed in the lyrics, which conflate sexual passion with violent hunger. The general feeling of the song is flirty and inviting, but that’s just the way the predator lures you in.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
July 16th, 2015
A New Color Of Sky
Gardens & Villa “Fixations”
In simplest terms, “Fixations” sounds like Tame Impala trying to make a Warm Jets/Tiger Mountain-era Brian Eno song, but that’s a bit unfair in that I think this is much better than the vast majority of Tame Impala material. Gardens & Villa certainly have better taste in keyboard tones, and far more interesting lyrical themes – this is basically a meditation on inspiration and trying to avoid anything that would compromise your creativity. I love the call and response part in the chorus – partly because I’m a sucker for early Eno and it’s the most obviously Eno-ish thing in the song, but mostly because it splits the song’s perspective in a way that keeps the sentiment from getting too simplified. “My whole life fixation” gets answered with “see if we can make it underneath the radar,” and I think the implied disconnect between the first and second half of the statement is important, because I don’t think the singers are entirely sure of themselves.
Buy it from Amazon.
July 17th, 2015
I Belong To The Stars And The Sky
Wilco “Random Name Generator”
First off, Wilco naming their new album Star Wars is funnier than any Wilco joke you will ever make. Second, the “dad rock” thing is such a tired diss on this band, and is actually sorta infuriating when people who publicly praise extremely bland indie/folky stuff throw it at them, when Wilco has very often been a band that’s willing to be abrasive or weird. That’s certainly where they are on Star Wars, a record that has a relaxed spirit, but a frazzled, messy sound. It’s very much the sort of album you make when there’s no particular pressure on you, and you have the freedom to do whatever you want. There’s good and bad in that – on one hand, I really enjoy the aesthetic of this record and there’s a great stoned glam rock energy to “Random Name Generator” and “King of You,” but it does feel like the low stakes of this project had an impact on Tweedy’s songwriting, which is OK but not really at the level of the best Wilco material for the most part. They can get by on vibe, but I can’t imagine much of Star Wars having the enduring emotional impact of, say, “Jesus, Etc.” or “A Shot in the Arm.”
Get it for free from Wilco.