The perfect companion to last week’s post on Cause Co-Motion!, since the two Brooklyn bands are currently touring the West Coast together. (I had planned on seeing them tonight in Oakland, but alas, I’ve got torn knee ligaments.)
The Slumberland page for their new album Alight of Night makes reference to a whole slew of bands: Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators, Red Crayola, the Gun Club, the Mary Chain, and also bands from Flying Nun, Rough Trade, and Factory Records. I’d also throw in early Walkmen and the Recoys. Feel free to add your own.
As I was putting this post together, and listening to “All the Way Down,” I started thinking about a conversation I had a few years ago with Jen Larson. At the time, she was my student; now, she’s a college grad in a half-dozen Chicago bands and is cooler by three-and-a-half times than I ever was. Anyway, one day I made a random comment about how I don’t really care all that much for The Beatles. I was like, “Who really listens to them anyway?” And you can probably guess how she looked at me — This guy doesn’t like The Beatles? How can he be qualified to teach me anything? This is a long way of saying that of course I was wrong, and that Nik Freitas reminds me of clean 60s and 70s pop in all the right ways. “Sun Down” might be one of the nicest little songs of the year, smooth yet inspirational (as if those are contradictory). For some fun, and a little Built to Spill style without all the noise, check out “Normal” from Freitas’ 2002 debut. And if you still want to hear more, check out his website for a few more free downloads.
Only one minute and thirty four seconds for you today, but it’s brilliant DIY pop from Brooklyn’s Cause Co-Motion! (or alternately caUSE Co-MOTION!) doing their take on the early Television Personalities, or what the Buzzcocks would have sounded like if they had formed in the USA in the heyday of 50’s sock hop. It’s Time!, a 14 song singles compilation is out on tomorrow on Slumberland, and they’re also starting a West Coast tour with Slumberland’s the Crystal Stilts this week.
If you’re looking for mellow, melodic and pleasant — as opposed to mellow and just plain slow or mellow and super-hyper-overcontemplative (you know what I mean, right?) — The Olympic Symphonium might work for you. This trio from Maritime Canada brings an intimacy and gentleness to the ten tracks on More in Sorrow Than in Anger, their sophomore release due out in a week or two. Though the instrumentation changes a bit here and there, the album maintains a pleasant pop cool, perfect for the change in seasons. “Intentions Alone,” the free download down there, kind of has that crunching-the-leaves feel to it; check out the rest of this disc to maintain that vibe.
This track is a gem among gems on the new 
Clark from The Gay Blades sat down and recorded this song a few days after he heard that Paul Newman had passed away. He, like myself and many others, thought Paul Newman was about as good as actors, and men, got. Perhaps he just wanted to remember Newman or perhaps he wanted to offer a eulogy. Whatever it was, he picked well. In Cool Hand Luke 
While it had been a few years since Polara’s last release, Ed Ackerson did put out a solo album last year, following it up this past May with the new Polara album Beekeeping. It continues the time-tested, 3hive-approved Polara formula of throbbing, wah-soaked mod psych fuzz-pop.
So, I think it’s great and all that Jenny Lewis is now on Warner Bros. The thing is, the WB has this super-duper security thing going on with their advance copy CDs, and I can’t play the promo they sent me of Jenny’s new album, Acid Tongue. I tried it on my computer, I tried it in the car, and the players just kept spitting it out. Yes, it’s important to protect one’s recordings from piracy, but it seems you certainly can reach a point where there’s too much security and not enough liberty. In this case, I’d love to hear more of Lewis’ arresting voice, especially in collaboration with Elvis Costello, Benji Hughes and everybody else the publicists say is on the album. If the one free and legal download is suggestive of anything, it’s that I totally want to hear more. I trust that you all can fill me in on how the rest of Acid Tongue sounds.
How many of us were in a band in 10th grade? And for those who answered yes, how many are still in that band? Cacie Dalager and Brad Hale started playing together in 10th grade, and, having finished school, last year added two other members to round out their lineup and begin doing this band thing for real. Cacie’s innocently earnest voice steals the show, while the music swirls around her, managing to push her higher still. That’s the danger with their formula; can the music match the level of the singing? Now, Now Every Children make it sound simple, by keeping it…well…simple. Now after listening, for those who answered no, how many of us wish we had been in a band in 10th grade?