Live: Jon Snodgrass and Joey Cape @ Union Hall 5.14.11

Jon and Joey were in town for another of their increasingly frequent duo shows. This one was at Union Hall, out in tony Park Slope.

I crossed threshold in time to block out some real estate and set up the recorder for just shy of two hours worth of songs from the boys. At least two new songs from Jon in the set, plus a lot of interaction with one of the legions of obsessive European Joey Cape fans that come out to all his East Coast shows who happened to be having a birthday. Was fun, although the room got a little chatty at times. If you want a copy of the recording, holler at your boy. Jon alluded to some new release, which could just be a 7"? Not sure, but the songs is good. Evidently the gents have a new band called The Scorpios with Tony Sly and an opera singing friends who share the astrological sign, so look out for that as well.

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Joey Cape - Bridge

Perhaps you are familiar with Mr. Joey Cape? The proud son of Goleta has helmed Fat Wreck punk stalwarts Lagwagon since '89, in addition to playing guitar with Me First and The Gimme Gimmes. Recently, he had doing his more low-key Bad Astronaut project with the late Derrick Plourde and some dudes from The Ataris.

Bad Astronaut was put on blocks after Plourde's passing, but the more melancholic side that was introduced via BA has continued in Cape's solo work. Bridge is the portrait of an aging punk rocker coming to grips with death, marriage and fatherhood. It's a full plate, but luckily said lifestyle changes haven't scuttled his musical ship like it has for Jeff Ott.

I won't begrudge his domesticity, but that's not to say that I'm dying to hear snippets of his kid in-between songs or want to see kid art in the packaging. I guess that's between Joey and Virgil over at Suburban Home. That said, Cape's a pretty talented guy. The melancholia that permeates Bridge isn't so jarring that it makes for rapid track-skipping. In fact, it's actually really good.

Virgil and Suburban Home have always been good for taking a chance on an established artist that's investigating a new direction. It's worked with Tim Barry and Chuck Ragan and with the BA provenance, Bridge may very well serve as a literal avenue to a new fanbase. There are nods to his punk rock past, but most of them are lyrical, as evinced by songs like The Ramones Are Dead. If you're expecting the Fat-compliant rock of Cape's other franchises, you would do well to look elsewhere, although things kick up into a full-band racket to close the proceedings. Bridge is more Sundowner or Elliott Smith and the songs are toned accordingly, so maybe stay away from this Bridge if you're feeling poorly.

I'm not sure that this is a release that Joey will support by touring, but if you've been bitten by the Cape bug, keep tabs on him here. Virgil's got a holiday sale going on over at the Suburban Home, so pick up a copy of Bridge cheap here and see what else they've got on markdown.

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