Time for some band genealogy: more than a decade ago, drummer Jason Zumpano stole singer/guitarist Carl Newman from a covers band and formed, simply, Zumpano. Their debut album, on Sub Pop, Look What The Rookie Did, is pure genius. Easily one of my favorite records of the past ten years. See, while too many bands haphazardly claim to be influenced by The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Zumpano is one of the few that make the influence count. After two records Newman and Zumpano went their separate ways and formed The New Pornographers and Sparrow, respectively. It took me a while to track down Sparrow, but it’s been worth the wait.
Cute (That’s Right, I Said Cute) Jens Lekman Video
King Apparatus
It’s a perfect time to post the pleasant early-’90s ska-pop of Toronto’s King Apparatus. For the past few days, we’ve been lounging on the lovely shore of Lake Huron, pushing my daughter and her cousins around in the kayak and threatening to send them across the lake to Canada if they didn’t eat their hot dog buns. Assuming we ever did manage to send the kids that far in the boat, just like “Michael and Anne” we’d have to come up with a seriously good story for the cops.
Forest Giants
Just because we all contribute to 3hive doesn’t mean we like the same bands. Jon’s got a thing for prog rock that I just don’t quite understand. Sean has his SoCal punk roots, but these days how bland is that? Joe, a Northerner, likes country! As for Shan, don’t get me started. That leaves Sam, and his lifelong obsession with Billy Bragg (likeable enough, as long as I don’t have to listen to him). But we all share common loves. Sam and I, we loved the Beatnik Filmstars. Forest Giants is the new band of Tim Rippington, formerly of the Beatniks, still cranking out beautiful noise, a la the Beatniks’ Laid Back and English. Mundane Sounds’ Volume Four Sampler includes Forest Giants and 14 other bands, all available for free download. And as for me, well, I’ve got impeccable taste!
Foreign Born
Somewhat of a misnomer, Foreign Born are from right up the way in Los Angeles, although they do have a certain anglophilic atmosphere about them. Turn the clock back twenty years and I wouldn’t be surprised to find them palling around with Echo and the Bunnymen.
Baby Teeth
My introduction to disco funk and AM gold came at a rec center ice (not roller) rink in Oxford, Ohio, where I was more focused on learning to let go of the sideboards than I was on honing my critical ear. So I have to admit — and I think I’m in good company here — a soft spot for a lip-biting groove, syrupy synths, and falsetto back-up vocals. Oh, and an extroverted frontman with ridiculously romantic lyrics. Baby Teeth have all those ingredients in place, right down to their lead singer, Pearly Sweets, whose delivery lives up to his name and wrings any suspicion of irony right out. In fact, as his tender a capella vocals kick off the ballad “Mandy” with “Mandy…Mandy…Mandy…you make me feel like a dandy…”, I can feel my palms getting all sweaty in anticipation of the PA announcer saying, “Snowball…”
Tiger Baby
I’ve always maintained the theory that no matter what kind of music you grew up listening to, you can find it, recreated somehow, someway in a current band. However, whether or not you’re open-minded to it is another story. Some people get stuck in the past and are happy to be there. Those who don’t read 3hive. So it finally hit me who Tiger Baby remind me of (and I can’t wait to play it for my wife, Alisa, who’s a huge fan of): Claudia Br�cken and her projects Propaganda and Act. Tiger Baby represent faithfully the heart and soul the aforementioned bands injected into ’80s synth pop. We’ll see if my hypothesis holds when these tracks end up in Alisa’s iPod.
Angry Samoans
I’m late with my post because today was my son’s birthday party with his school friends and I’m still recovering. As a swarm of five-year-old boys took over our backyard, this song kept running through my head. I was certain someone was going to poke-poke-poked their eyes out jumping from the roof or demoing the new Batman disc gun (didn’t one of those kill a kid once?). Fortunately, everyone left with both eyes intact, though one little buddy landed a bloody nose in a rowdy game of hoops. Hey, you know what they say: it ain’t over until someone gets hurt or pees in the kiddie pool. BTW, there’s a classic “Lights Out” comic strip by Dennis Worden over at WFMU’s site.
Bear vs. Shark
Whoever said that adults are constantly trying to relive their youth isn’t as crazy and jaded as all of the actuaries in your life might have you think. I, for one, am happy to find a band that�ll make me recall something as banal as rolling down the highway in my Chevy Sprint Turbo, bobbing my head to strains of Fugazi, The Pixies, Nation of Ulysses, Quicksand — whatever made a lot of noise. Plus, cacophony was pretty much all that sounded right on 3-inch factory speakers cranked loud enough to drown out the rumble of that three-cylinder Sprint engine, especially when that turbo power kicked in. Bear vs. Shark makes me misty-eyed over those kinds of memories without pushing too many nostalgia buttons of their own, so pretend you’re behind the wheel and bob along.
Mission of Burma
I swear the punk rock kid in high school — the big one, John (?), not the skinny one, Adam (Sam might remember this better than I do) — had “Mission of Burma” stencilled on the back of his black leather jacket. Naturally, I thought it referenced World War II in some way. And so, with thoughts of John and the ’80s in mind, I’d like to dedicate this post to Jared, fan of bands that were around long before he was conceived. Although his Favorite Song Ever, Mission of Burma’s “Academy Fight Song,” isn’t available in the free and legal MP3 form (a video of this song is, however, on the band’s homepage), these tracks from, oh, last year, when Jared was 17, are pretty kicking too. Enjoy.