Live: Codeine at Le Poisson Rouge 7.15.12

Back in the day, when I was but a merely cynical showgoer in upstate NY, I really liked me some Codeine. I had recently fallen head over heels for Seam and American Music Club (R.I.P. Tim Mooney) and Eitzel had mentioned that The White Birch was his current favorite record. I checked it out and it did yeoman duty soundtracking my early days in NYC. The trio split before I could see them around town and I relegated the trio to the increasingly large cadre of bands I had missed where bootleg video would have to suffice.

The early part of this year brought news from Henry Owings that he would be designing a new Codeine box set called When I See The Sun for The Numero Group. Even better, word was that Codeine were going to play some shows behind it. This LPR show is/was ostensibly their last show ever and bizarrely enough did not appear to be to a full room, but there was  a Brooklyn show that started these dates, so maybe that accounted for it. Regardless, Codeine made the most of their twelve songs set (see below) before returning for a Joy Division cover (Atmosphere) and a closing Broken-Hearted Wine.

Codeine are an earnest bunch, especially Stephen, something that made fine records, but perhaps can be somewhat less than great in a small van on tour pre-Internet. Regardless of time passed and the Codeine members present more positive life and mindstates, the gents do not seem to be overstaying their welcome. The box set is selling well, if not out, and I would expect that we'll see some video coming down the pike, but at present it seems that Codeine, as grateful as they seem for the shine almost two decades later, is staying an ex-band. Another classy turn from a classy band, but it is sad to see them go again.

Get When I See The Sun or each of the three Codeine releases in individual expanded form here from your new best friends at The Numero Group.

R

The Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps

It's been over fifteen years since Greg Dulli shuttered the Afghan Whigs (with help from Elektra, and arguably a fairly pronounced love affair with marching powder) and started The Twilight Singers. Like most things these days, this makes me feel old.

Dulli has long loved soul and R&B music, wearing his heart on his sleeve with the Whigs Uptown Avondale EP and various interpolations of TLC hits in late period AW shows. The Twilight Singers are not without guitars, but definitely seems to be more rooted in electronica and dance music. Look forward to a more fleshed-out thesis on this soon, but I can see very little chance that Dulli and Kanye are not on each other's radar. In fact, I'll eat my AW Retarded 7" if Dulli doesn't cover Runaway on this upcoming tour.

The Twilight Singers have had many homes in their existence, the most recent being their old buddies at Sub Pop. Historically, the adage goes that Afghan Whigs were on Sub Pop to get laid, and moved to Elektra to get paid. I would expect that the opposite is true this time around. Luckily, Dynamite Steps is money, so both parties should be well satisfied. Eleven tracks here, all as darkly beautiful as the Italian ladies that Dulli is so fond of. I think Gunshots is probably my favorite track, as it hearkens back closest to my dear departed Afghan Whigs, but all of the tracks are solid, whether you find the Whigs or the Singers your favorite. Those who were not on board previously will probably not be swayed this time around, but neither does that excuse said naysayers lack of taste.

Interested proactive parties can preorder Dynamite Steps in cd or double white vinyl form from Sub Pop here and get two unreleased tracks for their trouble. Look for Twilight Singers to start the promo engine on Jimmy Kimmel in the next couple of weeks and stay tuned to JS-NYC for tour dates that aren't in Italy. The Twilight Singers web presence can be found here.

Ciao!

R

David Cross - Bigger And Blackerer

I enjoy David Cross stand-up a lot, but it's tempered with a number of times I've interacted with or been around him where he almost universally seemed like a grade A douche. More often that not it just seemed to be for the sake of being a douche. You would think that a guy who was into his dog and Superchunk would be fun to be around at least once, but I've rarely found it to be the case. Whatever, I'm no day at the beach my own self and last time I checked I don't have a twenty-something actress girlfriend or any TV presence, nor am I releasing my second CD on Sub Pop. David Cross is doing all these things and releasing Bigger and Blackerer in a triumverate of incarnations to boot. As I understand, there is also a companion DVD of the same name that shares a small amount of the same material and a special on some weird pay cable channel I've never heard of. All of the material is good, taken from two back to back sets in Boston and while it's perhaps not as great as Shut Up! or It's Not Funny, it's still pretty entertaining. Cross skewers health care reformers, Diantetics and Mormonism, but also covers drug abuse, date rape and shitting ones self in public, so obviously Bigger and Blackerer should be on your short list of gifts for Mom on Mother's Day. Beat the rush and pick up Bigger and Blackerer here from your friends at Sub Pop.

R

Eugene Mirman - God Is A Twelve Year Old Boy With Aspergers

Eugene Mirman is one funny giant Brooklyn Jew ex-Special Ed student. His first two records En Garde! Society and The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman are as top-shelf in their Grade A NYC offensive stand-up as they are notable for having been released on indie-rock labels like Suicide Squeeze and Sub Pop. Think a David Cross that you'd want to hang out with afterwards, or a less acerbic (but no less funny) Todd Barry. Trust me, the guy's funny.

God Is A Twelve Year Old Boy With Asperger's reprises a fair amount of stuff from a Comedy Central special that I saw for the first time recently (and assumed was old, frankly) but chances are you aren't as much of a nerd as this shut-in and haven't seen it. I'm told Mirman's got some heat (industry parlance) from appearing on that Flight Of The Conchords show. If it was a big deal for Comedy Central (and you'd think it would be) I would have thought it would have been better promoted than the 3am airing I caught, but then again I watch everything on DVR, so maybe I missed the promo blitz. To be fair, they are busy bringing ventriloquism back to the masses. With that grim eventuality looming in our future, some laughter seems to be in order. God Is A Twelve Year Old Boy With Asperger's is good for this. Get said funny from Sub Pop here. If you are a big enough nerd you might maybe get a free tote bag or something.

R