Mark Eitzel - Don't Be A Stranger

One of the greatest record store epiphanies I've ever experienced occurred after I walked into the New Paltz branch of Rhino Records to hear the then newly released Mark Eitzel: Songs Of Love Live. Luckily for me, the store manager was a huge fan of Eitzel and his band American Music Club, setting in motion a now almost two decade love affair with the band's darkly beautiful stylings.

AMC ran its course by 1995 and Eitzel has been plying a solo path for the better part of the decades that followed. There have been a couple decent enough stabs at American Music Club reunions, but none has come close to capturing the glories of their mid 90s heyday. Eitzel was firing on all cylinders at that point, recording the brooding 60 Watt Silver Lining in 1996. Underpinned by airy production and muted trumpet, the record is definitely his best solo work, and the handful of eponymous releases Eitzel has recorded have been decent at best and paled in comparison.

Eitzel survived a heart attack earlier in the year and after some time in the cold, word came down the internets earlier this year that Eitzel was recovering nicely and had been afforded a block of free studio time. Further investigation revealed that our hero was recording with strings and a backing unit that included bassist Bruce Thomas and ex-AMC guitar foil Vudi. Suffice to say that interest was piqued over at JS-NYC central. Merge is throwing some promo muscle behind the record, most notably a series of tongue-in-cheek video shorts that preceded the release of Don't Be A Stranger, featuring a series of luminaries giving Eitzel promotional advice about promoting the record.

While I was quick to snap up Don't Be A Stranger, I wasn't especially crazy about it after the first couple of spins, but I'm pleased to report its a grower.  I'd say that I Love You But You're Dead is the best of the eleven tracks. The record doesn't hit me in the gut like his mid 90s output, but the more expansive production is definitely a plus, and Stranger is undoubtably the best Eitzel release in some time.

Keep track of our dear Mr. Eitzel here and get Don't Be A Stranger here from the good folk of Merge Records.

Live: Greg Cartwright at The Friars Club 10.16.12

The Friars Club Film Festival has become quite the big deal in recent years, and as JS-NYC is in good favor with the bigwigs on the programming end of things there, it was a pleasure to get the invite to see Mr. Greg Cartwright of the Oblivions and Reigning Sound play a pre-festival solo set at the Friars Club.

The Club is certainly a venerable institution. I showed up and headed upstairs for some hobnobbing and a DJ set from The Hound before we dipped across the hall for a little less than an hour of Cartwright delight. The fifty or so attendees definitely seemed to have drank the Kool-Ade, respectfully hooting and hollering their way through their respective libations. I much prefer the Oblivions to Reigning Sound, but it was still a good time. Kudos to the Take My Tuesday crew and much thanks to The Friars Club and Eric from The Friars Club Film Festival.

R

Live: Bob Mould with Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Williamsburg Waterfront 9.7.12

This show was curiously under the radar, despite it being in a pretty huge spot and sponsored by Lacoste. I showed up towards the end of the Cymbals Eat Guitars set and saw as much as I would have liked of their kinda sorta ok Brit flavored rock. Kudos to them for scoring the gig, but it was even more of a pleasure to roll into a not especially fully space and cut straight to the rock chase.

Bob has been simultaneously touring behind his new record Silver Age and commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the release of the first Sugar record Copper Blue. This set, and a few others featured Copper Blue in its entirety. A beautiful late Summer night combined with the new record being damn good and Bob having worked a fair amount of Husker Du tracks into the set in recent years, capped with Lacoste footing the bill, it made for one of the better shows this year.

The other two guys on the tour, that being Ironman Jon Wurster on drums and bassist Jason Narducy have comprised the Mould rhythm section for a while now, and it is pretty impossible to fault our Bob for choosing either. I'd say its his best band since the Maimone/Fier era by a long shot. The old and new material was/is great, and there was the added nerd bonus of Craig Finn coming out during the encore to shout his way through Something I Learned Today, a moment captured below and captioned in typical brilliant fashion by our dear Mr. Wurster, "And then this man came on stage and started yelling "I was into Bob Mould before any of you!"

All in all, a great night, especially given the price.
Get The Silver Age and/or the 3cd remaster of Copper Blue here from your friends at Merge.

R

The Karl Hendricks Trio - The Adult Section

It's always a good day at JS-NYC HQ when there is word of a new record from Karl Hendricks. Coming, as is becoming the norm, courtesy of the estimable Mr. Jon Solomon and the good folk of Comedy Minus One records, The Adult Section weighs in with nine shots of the hooky, guitar-driven indie rock we have come to expect from the proud son of Pittsburgh and whomever is backing him at the time.

The Adult Section finds Jake Leger entering his tenth year as KH3 skinsman and Corey Laman entering his seventh, making this one of the more stable Trio lineups. The songs are damn strong. Hendricks hasn't lost a beat, and while I miss the old school Wayno vibe of the past releases, the aces songs more than make up for any (mis) perceived shortcomings. I'd call the opening The Men's Room At The Airport and closing Hold On Cool Breeze the top honors, but the simmering mid-tempo After Four Beers shouldn't be give short shrift. Trust me, you want this.

Keep track of Trio tour dates and day-to-day goings-on at their social media interface here. Buy The Adult Section and everything else on Comedy Minus One here.

R

Superchunk - This Summer 7"

Any time that a new Chunk track comes down the pike is cause for much celebration at JS-NYC HQ and the good folk of Merge have seen fit to give us this new virtual/actual 7".

This Summer sounds like a late-period Superchunk track, mid-tempo with a hooky as hell chorus. Win. There is an acoustic version as well, along with a fun romp through the Bananarama track Cruel Summer.

I'd pick it up.

R

Crooked Fingers - Breaks In The Armor

While Archers Of Loaf are back in fits and starts, the primary focal point for all things Eric Bachmann since the new millennium has been Crooked Fingers. While the spartan beauty of the tracks has always remained consistent, the instrumentation and arrangement have always been in flux. Recent times have found Bachmann working with a female foil. Liz Durrett has filled that role in recent years and reprises it here, adding polish and shine to darkly inviting tracks like Black Candles and Your Apocalypse. There is bad dark and good dark, and I'd put Crooked Fingers in the latter camp. Hurt and loss are the bedrock of Breaks In The Armor but the womblike warmth of the music leaves things in much more of of a hopeful place, more 2am sober contemplative than 4am drunken self-flagellation.

Get Breaks In The Armor here from the good folk of Merge Records. Come for the studio version and maybe double down and get yourself the whole enchilada in acoustic demo form, too. Crooked Fingers info portal is here.

R

Richard Buckner - Our Blood

There's been a lot of Buckner on the house system at JS-NYC as of late. That is a slippery slope of a statement, as it could speak to wildly different states of mind. Buckner has one foot in the depths and the other in euphoria and for better, I'd say, the more up stuff has been prevailing in the playlists. As such, I was more excited than usual for a new Richard Buckner record. The last couple seemed a little meandering to me and haven't really struck a chord with me like Bloomed or Devotion & Doubt. That said, I'm pleased to report that I really dig Our Blood. 

Buckner's been with Merge for a bit now and it seems to be a good fit. Why, in light of that, he would move to Kingston, NY is beyond me, but regardless, my old stomping grounds has not exactly rolled out the red carpet for the new guy. A spate of bad luck forced the bulk of Our Blood to be recorded three times after a black comedy of machine failure and thievery stymied each previous effort. I feel for our Richard, but it seems to have fostered his best record in a long time. Nine songs in total, each titled with a single word and presented in warmly unadorned form. I'll go with Confession as my favorite currently, although I can't say I'm crazy about the overly layered chorus vocals. Regardless, there are four or five more easily as solid here, so don't hesitate in any way, shape or form to pick Our Blood up with the quickness here from Merge. Find Sir Richard of Kingston here.

R

Superchunk - Foolish reissue

The Superchunk reissue initiative soldiers on. This time around Foolish is the record, packaged with a bumper crop of other delights, including the sixth installment of the Clambakes series (a live show from the period), the Driveway To Driveway 7" and some rehearsal recordings from Wurster's house. The extras are digital only, but you could do a whole lot worse for your indie rock dollar.

Wurster pens new liner notes for the release that are as aces as you might expect them to be, with some nerd gems therein (for instance: the team consulted Jay Farrar about Brian Paulson before selecting him to produce the record and never met him until they picked him up at the airport on the way to the studio. Some are a little more dubious, namely our dear Jon claiming that he saw no signs of tension on the tour, despite the record openly chronicling Mac ('s side thereof) and Laura's split along with the common knowledge that Laura eventually had vocals taken out of her monitors on the tour and that she and Paulson had started dating during the recordings. Such a sweet boy, that Mr. Wurster.

Old TMZ fodder aside, Foolish has aged ridiculously well, and the remaster opens the sound up just enough without gilding the lily. The band tracked seventeen songs in three days, including vocals and overdubs, mixing the record in two days right after. An even dozen grazed Foolish, while the remaining five trickled out over various comps. Eighteen years (?!!) on, Foolish is a little darker than the average Chunk record, but the presence of tracks like Kicked In and Without Blinking is well worth the look inside the fracturing interpersonal core of the band. The bonus tracks make it an almost essential acquisition for any fan, although I still wonder why the five other tracks from the sessions aren't here. Of course, they are all available, but it would have leant just that much more to the proceedings, especially as the title track numbers among them. That miniscule niggle aside, I can think of no reason not to use this link and buy Foolish with the quickness from the good folk of Merge.

R

Seaweed - Service Deck 7"

Lookee here: new Seaweed 7", courtesy of the lovable nerds of No Idea. That bade well, and I'm pleased to be able to say that it sounds like a Seaweed record, with enough of a Four vibe that I loves to put it on repeat. Clint is behind the board working the magic in positive fashion. While Aaron definitely sounds older, but who doesn't really. If you like Seaweed, you'll like this.

Get it here from No Idea.

R

Let's Wrestle at Skyscraper

JS-NYC Massive:

Review of the new Let's Wrestle record up currently at the Skyscraper.

Check It.

R

Live: Superchunk with OFF! & Lemuria @ House Of Vans 7.14.11

I never skated, not have I had any inclination to, but it is hard to ignore the Vans presence, what with the Warped Tour and all. I've not been to one of those in the better part of a decade and looking at the lineup, I've barely heard (I'm sure blessedly) of any of the bands and the ones I have heard of I feel pretty sorry for. That said, Vans are certainly atoning for their sins with the House Of Vans out there in Brooklyn.

I poo-pooed the whole thing above and beyond the free Superchunk factor, but that alone was enough to get me to take the day off and get there at 5 to ensure entry. Dave and Eric showed up for the last hour or so and we were in fairly quickly, entering a good sized warehouse space with a decent PA and a huge backyard with free beer and pizza. WTF! While I was (and am) fairly incredulous about the whole thing, I got over it once the free beer started flowing.

We posted up out back for Lemuria, who sounded decent from outside, although I've heard varying opinions of the sound inside. I've seen enough Lemuria shows to know that there is a lot of relative pitch exercised in the franchise, so I'll reserve judgement as when I did make it in for OFF! it sounded pretty decent. Of course that's a relative thing, as the grinding Black Flag-gery that is OFF! is a special kind of ear candy. Morris is charismatic as hell for the little bedreaded old man that he is, taking neither shit not shorts over their short set. It's always over way too soon, but I really think that's a good thing.

The wealth of free beer meant there was ample for giving to cute girls up front and for throwing on pesty Superchunk uber-nerds from NJ who don't know how to pogo in one place. Superchunk on nine cups of Heineken Light is a special kind of experience, but one I recommend. Jim the drummer showed up and it was on. Opening with Slack Motherfucker, the kids romped through a set heavy on the Strings reissue before getting Morris out for a romp through Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and Where Eagles Dare. Good times, maybe the best time I've had all year. I sure needed it and the company was damn good. As was the price. I think I'm going to buy me a pair of those Vans.

Kudos to House Of Vans for a great time in a well-run space that got me home by 11:15. You can damn well guarantee I'll be there next week for Fucked Up and Cro-mags. Wonder if the beer will be free at that one.

R

Live: Archers Of Loaf with Mr. Perfect @ Webster Hall 6.26.11

Until David forwarded me the link to their reunion set at the Cradle, I hadn't realized that an Archers reunion was even on the radar. Eric had been doing Web In Front during solo shows in recent years and Matt had been in Band Of Horses for a bit, but it seemed that AOL were a vestige of a bygone era.

Evidently not, as the gents have managed to get it together for a fair amount of decent sized reunion dates. They played Fallon, too, where America got to enjoy the Gentling stage elan. This set was maybe not sold out, but like the D-Plan shows a couple months previous, the old Ritz was full of a decent mix of old-timers and kids who missed them the first time around.

Mr. Perfect opened, a band evidently comprised of a bunch of ex-Pitchfork (web blaggers, not Reis/Froberg franchise) that were ok, but suffered for no one in the room coming expressly to see them. They vacillated between playing as an intriguing three piece and a boring four piece and were gone in short order.

Archers Of Loaf arrived with little in the way of fanfare, opening with Strangled By The Stereo Wire, and touching upon most of what passed for the hits, along with some deep cuts like Smokin' Pot In The Hot City. Nobody looked especially old and everybody sounded great, garnering us a couple encores as well. The only real impediment was the presence of the worlds most irritating Superchunk fan, a constant irritation from NJ who shall go nameless here that unfortunately seems to have a liking for AOL as well. While he sadly went unmolested by Webster Hall security, the show was a good time. Archers were in fine fettle for their 24 forays into nostalgia. While I would expect there will not be a new album, unless maybe we get a DVD at tour's end, Merge is evidently re-releasing all four of the Archers studio records, starting with Icky Mettle on 8/2. Get the skinny here and see the boys if you are able to.

R

Superchunk - Clambakes Vol. 5: Cup Of Clams

As if you needed an incentive to buy the remastered reissue of what is probably the finest indie release of the 90s indie rock heydey, there is the pot-sweetener that is the 5th volume of Superchunk's Clambakes series. This one is a pretty aces 2003 recording from the Cats Cradle that Mac edited and Brian Paulson remastered. You can currently only get Clambakes #5 by purchasing the Here's Where The Strings Come In reissue, so why not pony up. If you're on the fence, there is the reissue bundle offer up currently at the Merge web presence that might/should sway you.

Step lively. Try the clams!

R

Superchunk - Here's Where The Strings Come In reissue

When Record Store Day rolled through this year, the mighty Superchunk lavished not one, but two gifts upon the good boys and girls who still visit brick and mortar music purveyors. In addition to the split 7" with Coliseum, Mac and Laura have seen fit to re-release the mighty Here's Where The Strings Come In in remastered form, along with some demo stuff and a new edition of the Clambakes series that captures a live show from 2003. I picked this up the day after from Sound Fix in Brooklyn. I hadn't been to a real record store in forever and was pleased to find all the record store norms still firmly in place: super-cute positive girl that every nerd in miles wants to kiss at the register, cranky misanthropic dude behind the counter with her, another guy outside smoking: some things are comforting in their familiarity.

Here's Where The Strings Come In is another aural bit of chicken soup for the soul. It came into my life on the heels of my first NYC heartbreak and the imprint has endeared this record to me ever since. In fact, it is my favorite Chunk release and it is still absolutely top-notch almost 20 years after it dropped initially. I hadn't realized it was out of print, but we can rest assured that the universe is once again in order. Here's Where The Strings Come In is back and now available on 180 gram vinyl for the collector nerds. You can also get download only stuff, if you are not a lover of tangibility. Here's a link. Free shipping on all US orders, too.

R

Superchunk and Coliseum Record Store Day 7"

I can't say I ever thought I'd see Coliseum and Superchunk sharing sides of wax, but then again, JS-NYC is rapidly becoming too old to argue. I guess it makes a little more sense with it being a limited release for Record Store Day. Both parties bring Misfits covers to the table, with the Chunk finally recording Horror Business and Coliseum offering up an old recording of Bullet. I'll save my feelings on The Misfits in the interest of retaining what little scene cred I have left and report that the 7" has art by Ryan Patterson. Comes as a joint release between Merge and Temporary Residence and almost makes up for (or perhaps more accurately: is paid for by) Arcade Fire.

R

Free Superchunk WXDU acoustic live set download!

All sorts of awesomeness is brewing in the Superchunk camp. The new record Majesty Shredding is staggeringly awesome on a level that is even surprising for the mighty Chunk. Even I won't see them with that shitty Bright Eyes, but I will take small consolation in the acoustic live set that is currently available at the Superchunk web presence. Just Mac and Jim on this one, featuring three from Majesty Shredding with two other evergreens for good measure. Get it here, for a limited time.

R

Archers Of Loaf reunion and download !!?!

You know I'm distracted when I hear about Archers Of Loaf reunion show three weeks after it happens. As I understand it, said Yeoman of Loaf played an unannounced set opening for The Love Language on 1/15. Can't say I expected that, but you're not going to catch me arguing either.

Looking at the set list, it seems like it was a pretty good one. And did I mention there was a recording of it? Well, thanks to David pointing it out, now we both know. Even better, here's a link. Word is that there will be more shows this summer, so look out for an over-priced Brooklyn Waterfront nightmare show in the all-too-recent future.

R

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding

Nine years. That's how long it's been since we've had ourselves a new Superchunk record. No wonder it's been so shitty for me this last epoch! With the Chinese Democracy precedent of diminishing returns and the low-key manner of '01s Here's To Shutting Up, my hopes were not especially high for an up-tempo keyboard-free Chunk release, to the point where I hadn't even listened to the record a day before the team rolled into town. The Leaves In The Gutter EP bade well, but I was in too fragile a place to find that the new Superchunk disc was a disappoinment.

Dropping the laser on Majesty Shredding, I am happy, nay ecstatic, to report that Superchunk are back to rock your lame ass in a pronounced fashion. Even by Superchunk standards, this little firecracker is a good one. The first single, "Digging For Something" has a great whoa-oh hook and has been featuring stage invasions by Mr. John Darnielle of late, so you can safely assume that realness is being kept with our heroes. Wonderfully enough, it's the tip of the rock iceberg, as a solid 85% of Majesty Shredding is head and shoulders above 99% of the rock that has dropped this year. The other 15% is probably just head above, but regardless a virtual or actual trip to your favorite music purveyor is most definitely in order. Here's a link to Merge. If you are of a mind to see if the new stuff translates live, musical godsend NYC Taper has the whole MHOW set for free here.

R

Live: Superchunk with Todd Barry @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg 9.19.10

Day two of the weekend du Chunk, this one in Colonial Williamsburg. I would have made the usual trip over the bridge regardless, but the Todd Barry as the first opener made me more punctual than usual. Of course, Todd was on by the time I made it in, but was great as always. Stand-up gigs opening for rock bands are some of the toughest, but luckily Todd Barry gives less than a fuck if people are enjoying his sets, pointedly announcing that he was going over length to just irritate bored people up front. He went over well, with a ton a new material that I hope appears in some sort of recorded form very soon. Here's hoping that more good comedians appear (bumping terminally mediocre bands) in these kind of slots in the future.

Some not especially remarkable band had the middle slot, I assume they were a Merge band, but they were not nearly remarkable enough even for me to check out who they were after the fact. Luckily, I hooked up with the Brothers Johnson and the lovely Jina and our heroes were up in short order. Team Chunk have an exceptionally great new record out called Majesty Shredding, itself the reason why we had North Carolina's finest gracing our fair city. Night two was pretty bad-ass it's own self, with John Darnielle making an appearance and Todd Barry playing drums on an encore of Horror Business. Good times all around, even though it went later than my old ass would prefer on a school night.

R

01 [introduction]
02 Unbelievable Things
03 Skip Steps 1 & 3
04 [banter/guest intro]
05 Digging For Something*
06 [crowd]
07 Rosemarie
08 Art Class (Song For Yayoi Kusama)
09 Hello Hawk
10 [banter]
11 Fractures In Plaster
12 [tuning/banter]
13 So Convinced
14 Iron On
15 My Gap Feels Weird
16 Crossed Wires
17 [banter]
18 Mower
19 From The Curve
20 The First Part
21 Everything At Once
22 [encore break]
23 Horror Business (Misfits)**
24 Cast Iron
25 Slack Motherfucker
26 Precision Auto
*with John Darnielle backing vocals
**with Todd Barry on drums

Live: Superchunk @ Bowery Ballroom 9.18.10

The one-two punch of Superchunk and not having to ride over the bridge would have made this the best show in months even if it wasn't pretty damn great. Historically, if I have to wait seven years between a band's releases it's going to be a disappointment, but I'm pleased to report that the new Majesty Shredding is a great record, even by Superchunk standards. Look for a review soon.

This show had sold out way in advance, and embarassingly enough, I had missed out on getting a ticket. Luckily through the good graces of the Bros. Johnson (the other half of said team whom had saved my ass on the soon to be disappointing Hold Steady show at the Beacon), I ended up with an extra ticket. Motor City proved to be the staging area for a couple hours of warm-up (and convenient missing of openers). Our arrival at Bowery was pretty much coincident with things jumping off and jump things did. Here's the set list:

Learned To Surf
Burn Last Sunday
Detroit Has A Skyline
Digging For Something
Rosemarie
Baxter
My Gap Feels Weird
Like A Fool
Hello Hawk
Crossed Wires
For Tension
Song For Marion Brown
Watery Hands
Punch Me Harder
Cast Iron
Everything At Once

Driveway To Driveway
100,000 Fireflies
Slack Motherfucker
Hyper Enough

Throwing Things

It was pretty great all-around, as you might surmise by the amazing set. The new songs are so good, and it's nice to see the Chunk back in guitar mode. An ill-advised post-set stage invasion found me chastised and stripped of my newly purloined set list by their new roadie personnel, but even that didn't taint the evening. Hear me now and believe me later: Superchunk are the best. The rest are just pretenders.

R