Karima Francis - Glory Days

I blundered into Karima Francis on Later With Jools Holland a couple years ago and was pretty taken with her amazing voice and outwardly freakish personae (meant as high praise).  In the time since her last record, there has evidently been a move to a major label subsidiary and a battle with anorexia, as well as some buzz after placing one of her tracks on a fairly successful British TV show. All of these things can only work against an artist trying to capitalize on their historically troubled second release, but judging by the new Glory Days EP things seem promising. The four song release precedes her new full-length The Remedy, due this fall.

Glory Days appears twice on this four song release, in single and acoustic version and while it's a decent track, my contrarian nature feels more strongly about the non-single tracks. Francis has an amazing voice to beat the (average) band and the adding of strings and big production smacks of lily gilding from where this asshole is sitting. Here's hoping the full-length blows up for her, but not before I can see her in small room here in town.

Keep track of all things Karima Francis here.

R

Slaughterhouse - Welcome To Our House

Since Wu-Tang established the idea that a single artist could get various group and solo deals, artists have formed any number of ad hoc ensembles (Random Axe, LikNuts, Wu-Block) to keep the lights on in their respective overpriced domiciles. Eminem's personal version thereof is Slaughterhouse, a Voltron-esque four man collective comprised of the great Joell Ortiz from Brooklyn, with Joe Budden from Jersey, West Coast almost-ran Crooked I and longtime Em crony Royce the 5'9".

While Ortiz is definitely the sharpest MC here and  no one on the team is a straight loser, it is fairly staggering how watered-down and unremarkable Welcome To Our House is. Eminem executive produced this for his Shady imprint and seems to be the guy we should blame for the thick cross-overcentric overproduction that bogs down most, if not all of the twenty tracks here. New school jockers might be intrigued by the presence of Cee-lo and/or B.O.B., but even after a couple run-throughs it's really tough to even remember a standout Ortiz verse at present. One would think that there would be at least one street banger thrown into the mix to placate the masses, but if there is one here, I've yet to uncover it.

Unless the Slaughterhouse have signed one hell of a deal, I can't see this unit having too much in the way of legs. I wish all the individual members the best in what is hopefully a more distinctive solo career.

R

Swearin' - s/t

Swearin' may very be my favorite new band. They've got the hooky boy-girl jangle rock thing going on that has been really hitting home at JS-NYC HQ, rock that is equal parts David Gedge and Kim Deal. I've seen a decent amount of their local shows and even the most oblivious of fans has to have noticed they've been filling larger and larger rooms  Their first EP What A Dump got a lot of spins at JS-NYC HQ and it was with much rejoicing six months on that news of this eponymous LP came down the pike.

Vinyl for Swearin' comes courtesy of your friends at Salinas Records and those that operate in the strictly digital domain can check out their Bandcamp presence. Twelve songs appear on their debut full-length, with the aces Kenosha and Crushing reappearing from the EP. The ten new songs are pretty aces as well, with Here To Hear and Movie Star topping the list. Looks like we are losing the band to Philly, but those of us that want to love a local hero should step lively here and here to get a piece of their rock while they still have NYC roots.

R

Live: Teenage Bottlerocket with Nothington @ Santos Party House 8.22.12

Now that I've drank the TBR kool-ade, their twice-a-year or so shows have been must-sees on the JS-NYC docket. The new Freak Out isn't their best, but its definitely catchy enough to get this old guy to pogo a bit. The West Coast dates were with The Dopamines, but sadly they didn't make this leg, in lieu of Nothington and Masked Intruder. MI are a little high-concept for my tastes, but I've been meaning to see Nothington again, the cherry on top being that I didn't have to ride across the water.

I showed up as Nothington were getting under way. They have a SF Hot Water/Leatherface thing going on, something that does little to turn JS-NYC off to the proceedings. They brought it to a half-filled room that definitely had some pretty excited dudes and/or ladies in attendance. Teenage Bottlerocket followed pretty quickly afterwards. kicking things off with a Kepi Ghoulie-esque sign that both ushered in the arrival of the band and suggested we keep in the spirit of the new product and freak out accordingly.

The crowd seemed to need little urging, fostering a fair amount of dumb guy push-mosh countered by aces old guy skanking the likes of which I've not seen in years.  Odd that it would be so prevalent at a Teenage Bottlerocket show, but I'm not arguing. Most of Freak Out and liberal smatterings from their back catalog appeared over the course of the set, to the great delight of nerds of all ages. I'd expect that we'll see TBR doing some more gigs out this way. Here's hoping the signs get left behind next time.

Nothington are here. Teenage Bottlerocket aren't.

R

Live: Marshall Crenshaw with The Bottle Rockets @ City Winery 8.14.12

After the Hard Skin show the night before, this show rapidly turned into the show after I called in to work and before I hit a work party. I'm not crazy about the City Winery tables and drink minimum vibe they have going, especially in light of the pretty steep ticket pricing, but I am more than willing to see free shows there, especially when the exceedingly aces pairing of Mr. Marshall Crenshaw and Bottle Rockets is on the docket.

Brian didn't make the trip, which proved to be a bit of a bummer, but Bottle Rockets make for a hell of a band whether or not Brian is there singing. His guitar firepower is a wee bit conspicuous in its absence, but the gents have proven to be a pretty aces backing unit for our dear Mr. Crenshaw. My long-term affections still lie with the Graham Maby/Robert Crenshaw power trio incarnation, but this combination is definitely the next best thing.

Things started promptly at 6, with Marshall and the boys romping through a pretty good cross-section of his last 30 years of rocking our ass. While I'm Sorry, But So Is Brenda Lee, didn't find its way into the set, Cynical Girl did, as did Someday and a gang of other songs better than a lot of your favorites.

What started as a somewhat sparse show ended up being pretty damn full at the end. As well it should be and while you certainly couldn't beat the price, it certainly speaks to the Crenshaw drawing power, as this has to be the seventh or eighth time he's played City Winery this year. I'd like to see more shows with the great Graham Maby, but this was a hell of a good time. Props are due to City Winery for doing this series. There are at least a couple more on the docket, so keep your virtual eyes peeled here. Keep track of Marshall here. Bottle Rockets are here.

R

Hard Skin - We're The Fucking George

Hard Skin are sort of the Crucial Youth of the Oi! set, staying true to the genre but loving it enough to take the piss. We're The Fucking George purports to be singles from the 1978-1981 era and while that is certainly not the case, the bootboy vibe of the era is definitely in full-fledge on this catch-all singles comp.

If these were even ever released as singles, that is. Fifteen 'hits' for your dole dollar here, with most of your live favorites like We Are The Wankers and A Punch Of Pissed Up Cunts representing. Those best trying to approximate the true Hard Skin experience (like being berated by Fat Bob, for instance) would be best suited to check out the Live, Loud & Skinhead bootleg from some years back. Can't speak to how available this is outside of the exceedingly rare live Hard Skin shows, but if you are down for their cause, you would do well to seek We're The Fucking George out.

R

Live: Hard Skin with Murderess @ Acheron 8.13.12

Hard Skin shows on this side of the pond can be pretty scattershot, but the last couple years have been pretty kind to us Americans in that regard. I would expect that the estimable Ian Dickson has something to do with their popping up in Brooklyn of late. You will find no complaints from JS-NYC, as rarely does an old man get the opportunity for laugh his ass off while he's pumping his fist in the air.

Portland's mostly female metal franchise Murderess opened the proceedings and seemed to do pretty well for attracting a lot of hygenically challenged ladies (and dudes). Not the best thing I've ever heard, but better than a lot of other bands on the grind/metal end of things. They have a couple good tunes and the lead guitar can rip off a lead or two when she's called upon, so we'll keep them on the radar.

The poster for the Hard Skin show they did a year or so ago with Forgetters had the gents in caricature as the Three Stooges. There are considerably less apt corollaries. Hard Skin ply their trade in new(ish) songs based in the sing-along anti-fascist Oi! tunes of yore, with Paddy Costello levels of smart-assdom filling in the spots between. You'd be a fool not to like it, and it didn't seem any of same were in attendance at Acheron. Perhaps they got pushed to the back once the kids started getting frisky, but Hard Skin sure brought it in their usual fashion.

Hard Skin has got a new singles comp called We're The Fucking George that features most, if not all, of your favorites covered in their set. Couldn't tell you where to get it outside of their live shows, but I'd step lively and get yourself a copy with the quickness if I were you.

R