You get the idea when listening to the Favourite Sons that at least one of them owns a beat-up denim jacket and that at some point in his life he wore that spindly thing even in the dead of winter. The Sons’ rock ‘n’ roll oozes with such self-imposed discomfort. They’re the guys who, rather than pretending to have a life story actually went out and got one. Ken Griffin was tending bar and contemplating his musical future when Matthew Werth and Justin Tripp, both formerly of Aspera, ventured up from Philly to find the former Rollerskate Skinny member and talk him back into the business. Good thing for us. Griffin has the cynically assured swagger of Ian McCulloch and can curve a hook as good as a fisherman. In Werth and Tripp he’s not only found a perfect rhythm section, but some people who care about his unpretentious brand of art rock as much as he does.
RIP: WOXY.com??
Pagoda
Super low-key, starry, fuzzy music from DC, good for cool, late summer nights, waiting for fall. (Sorry if the blurb here is a little too thin; work beckons. If anyone wants to editorialize a bit, go ahead and hit the Comments.)
Play It As It Lays #250
The Prids
Sure, this whole 80’s thing is still going on, but let’s just remember there was more to the 80’s than the Clash and the Thompson Twins. There were many European bands who straddled the lines between post-punk and goth/industrial, as in Clan of Xymox, Trisomie 21, the Cassandra Complex, the Legendary Pink Dots, New Order, etc. The Prids update this sound for the new millenium, with a whole boy-girl interplay that provides a freshness to what they’re trying to do. And considering the boy-girl, David Frederickson and Mistina Keith, were married, then divorced, and still play in this band together, well that gives a whole new meaning to sexual tension.
Squeeze More Lemonheads
Justin Rutledge
I was listening to the always excellent CBC Radio 3 podcast a few weeks back while flying cross-country. Maybe it was the altitude or lack of non-peanut sustenance but Justin Rutledge’s live, sing-along rendition of “Don’t Be So Mean, Jellybean” made me bust up a cryin’. Here’s hoping it makes the cut for his new album due out in the fall.
Spearhead
Michael Franti is the one of those rare singers whose boomin’ growl can start a party as quickly as it can a protest (probably about time for him to update his 1992 cover of “California Uber Alles“). His latest Spearhead joint comes on the heels of his self-booked trip to Iraq, which is documented on the DVD I Know I’m Not Alone. His experience, which included performances for U.S. soldiers and Iraqi families alike, clearly shaped the album’s compassionate (“I Know I’m Not Alone”) and passionate (“Yell Fire”) flavors of rebellion.
Feathers
Raised on bands like The Pixies and The Smiths, Eddie Alonso’s musical boundaries broadened upon hearing Can’s Ege Bamyasi. From that point forward Alonso worried less about using his music to tell a particular story, and instead concentrated on mesmerizing the listener. With his work cut out for him Alonso honed his recording skills and hoarded music gear with his “Canned” inspired musical theory in mind. Writing music with his bandmates, Matt Crum and Eric Rasco, under the moniker Feathers, the trio merges all styles without working towards any sound in particular. What emerges are riveting instrumental tracks suited for a world where Esquivel and Bacharach are worshipped as pop idols.
Eskiimo
I usually try to avoid overdoing it with backstory, but Dear Eskiimo [ed. note: It’s now just Eskiimo; check out the comments] has proven to be so confounding that a little context feels appropriate, if only to relieve the mystery in my own mind. About three months ago we got a link in our suggestion box to an entertaining pop mini-mix that merged the mixers’ own tracks with showtunes, Depeche Mode, Gwen Stefani, PiL, Eminem, and more. Eskiimo’s original music was intriguing, if truncated, so I emailed them to solicit more music with which to share the sharing. We exchanged a couple of semi-cryptic messages and I waited for MP3s that never came. So…I go searching the other day and am reminded of Eskiimo, whose MySpace page now features two downloadable tracks. The group counts Gorillaz, Eels, and The Dresden Dolls among its friends on MySpace and it has major press representation, slick photos, and an attractive lead singer. They were apparently on Mercury Records UK when they released their EP last year and now, with a full-length debut on the way, the Dear Eskiimo website redirects to Universal Music UK…where there is no information on the band. Long story short: Dear Eskiimo appears to be a relatively unknown UK pop group that has everything going for it—major label support, cool “friends,†and solid representation. [Read the comments for a demystifying explanation of what’s going on with Eskiimo]
Oh yeah, and talent. Lead singer Katie lists among her musical tastes “good, un-crap pop music,†which is a great way to describe Dear Eskiimo, too. The trio make pop music that doesn’t hide its radio ambitions, but they don’t suffer terribly for it. Dear Eskiimo are quite unlike what we’ve been trained to expect from Manchester over the years, which makes them sort of mainstream outcasts. They merge well with Annie, Scissor Sisters, Zero 7, and other groups you’ll hear at hip clothing stores. And the mix of organic melodies and canned beats might bring back fond memories of, um, George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” and “Faith.” (Let the hater-mail commence.) “Pretty†is a chirpy number about…abusive relationships. The whimsical “Patience†sounds Broadway all the way—I have the sneaking feeling it’s a cover that I just can’t place. In fact, I have the sneaking feeling that Dear Eskiimo may just be “undiscovered†to me and that I’ll get plenty of emails from those in the UK who have been listening to them on the radio for a while now. Oh well. Whether they’re stars or a secret, Dear Eskiimo’s pop music sounds pretty un-crap to me.