Archive for the ‘Against Me’ Category

Foxy Shazam and Seven Inches of Raw Power

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

How is everyone on this lovely evening? I am in an exceptionally good mood. I saw Pearl Jam perform 2+ hours of awesomeness in Cleveland yesterday and am still riding my Vedder high. That was the eighth time I’ve seen them live and I’m already jonesing for more.

Speaking of awesome amazing stupendous things I feel the need to rave a bit about a band I recently discovered. I mentioned them briefly a few days ago but I don’t think I did them enough justice.

Foxy Shazam are fucking awesome. I had never heard of these guys before last week, when I was assigned their CD to review for one of the sites I work for (I’ll link to my review when it’s up). I wanted to listen to them at first because A) They have an amazing name and B) They’re playing Lollapalooza this year and since I’ll be there I like to know the bands I might be seeing beforehand.

I knew nothing about these guys before I started playing the CD. It stars, there’s dogs barking. I’m confused. Then a man with a voice of Freddie Mercury on ‘roids (Eric Sean Nally) starts some polite crooning…before unleashing a beastly howl that is a sonic slap of super sexy awesome. From that second on this band has been my obsession. This album, which is self-titled, is without a doubt my first contender for album of the year. And if it had come out one year prior it would have made my top five albums of that decade. Yes. It’s that fucking good.

Now, why am I going off on this? Why don’t I do this for every album I love this much Well, if I heard albums this unbefuckinglievable more often I would. But this is the first time in recent memory that I can recall falling in love with a record this much. According to my Last.fm stats I have listened to Foxy Shazam over 180 times in the past week. Number two for that time period is LCD Soundsystem – and that’s only because I had to review their new album as well.

(And on a quick aside, This Is Happening is the anti Foxy Shazam and is the worst album I’ve heard from an artist I liked since I can’t remember when. “Drunk Girls” is a shit rip-off of “White Lines/White Heat” (edit: “White LIGHT/White Heat, I’m retarded,) and aside from three very good tracks the whole thing is an abortion of a record that should be set aflame and forgotten).

For whatever reason, this record is not getting the promotion it deserves. I haven’t seen any notable reviews on Pitchfork, Stereogum or any blogs of note. And I’m not hearing the songs on commercials, in trailers or anywhere else for that matter. I do know that “Unstoppable” played briefly during the Super Bowl, but that was months ago. I don’t even think they’ve released a single since the album came out. Which is fucked up. “Wanna-Be Angel” should be force-fed to every radio station in the country!

I urge all of you to BUY Foxy Shazam’s new self-titled album. BUY it. Don’t download it. Don’t get the MP3s from a friend. Fucking go to the record store (or iTunes or Amazon, whatever) and spend your hard-earned cash on it. It will without question be the best 10 bucks you spend all damn year. And if you listen to that record and somehow are not completely blown away by the amazing awesomeness of it. If you aren’t convinced that Foxy Shazam are the best RAWK band in the world and that they should by all rights be selling out stadiums around the world, well then you don’t have permission to read my blog anymore.

Yeah. So I like them. Anyways, all of tonight’s music (completely unrelated to Foxy Shazam) was taken from 7” Record Store Day exclusives.

Tegan And Sara
Alligator
Hell
The Cure
On Directing

Have you bought Sainthood yet? You should. It’s amazing. It’s better than The Con, but not as good as So Jealous, which I love more so because I think about half the tracks on that CD were either written specifically about me or several of my best friends. Seriously, some of the tracks on that one were freakishly close to home.

Passion Pit
Little Secrets (Felix Da Housecat Pink Enemy Remix)
Chicks dig Passion Pit. If you’re a dude who likes chicks and you don’t like this group you should pretend you do at the very least. I wrote an article about the kinds of songs you should put on a mixtape, and this would be a good one for that. Whenever that article ends up online I’ll be sure to link to it.

Against Me!
I Was a Teenage Anarchist (Acoustic Version)
I’m loving this song right now. I always enjoy it when a band has the balls to insult their fanbase in an intelligent way. Mindless Self Indulgence did it brilliantly with their scathing You’ll Rebel To Anything, a record so critical of the Hot Topic culture it made the band’s exclusivity deal with the retailer even more depressing, and Against Me have done it with this excellent track. Against Me are frequently labeled as a “sell out” band because they had the nerve to become better musicians and sign to a major label. This song turns the tables on those proclaiming sell out and explains that ideals are a hell of a lot easier to live by until you get to the real world. Besides, anarchists are such whiny little cowards anyways. I was happy to see them get maced by the police during the G20 protests. Because putting on black handkerchiefs and running around like idiots is a surefire way to start the revolution. Pussies.

Zombie Devo Punks

Monday, March 30th, 2009

So we’re friends right? You read my blog, you download my tunes and you comment on my amazingly awesome taste in music right? Well, if you really want to be cool then do me a massive favor and read my article, Let The Right Ones In: 10 Bands That Should Be In The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It was an article that was conceived from a post in this very blog after all!

Please read it, and if you like it Digg it, I want as many people as possible to read this one because I am sickeningly proud of it.

A.D.A.M. and Amy
Zombie (Eternal Airplay Mix)
Zombie (Dancin’ With Zombie Mix)
Zombie (Adam & Gielen Club Mix)
Zombie (Orbital Test)
Zombie (Rockin’ With Zombie Club Mix)
Zombie (Rockin’ With Zombie Radio Mix)
When I think of great topics for dance remix covers, The Troubles don’t immediately leap to mind, but hey that’s just me I guess. This cover was actually a hit single in the UK and I think they know more about the issue than I do. These are from a 12” single.

Devo
Watch Us Work It (Still Workin’ Mix)
Watch Us Work It (Teddybears Mix)
Watch Us Work It (Original Demo)
Fuck yeah Devo. Double fuck yeah it’s new Devo. Well, it’s newish Devo. The song is from 2007 but the 12” single I got these mixes from came out late in 2008. The song originally appeared in a Dell commercial but it’s supposedly going to be in that new Devo album that has been on again off again and back on again about half a dozen times since early this decade.

The Attery Squash
Devo Was Right About Everything (The Devo Mix)
A bonus b-side from the Devo 12” single. Find out more about The Attery Squash at their MySpace page.

Against Me!
Don’t Lose Touch (Mouse On Mars Remix)
Folk/punk/dance/electro – it’s the new black.

My Ulysseses (Ulyssi?) and other remixes by moderately hip bands

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

With less than 30 records in my to-be-recorded queue, my computer area is reaching a level of non-clutter that it has not seen in years. If I somehow manage to become totally caught up in my record recording I’m kind of scared as to what might happen. It could be crazy, dogs and cats living together mass hysteria. Or maybe I’ll just finally find that copy of the Metropolis soundtrack again, who knows.

Franz Ferdinand
Ulysses (Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Remix)
Ulysses (Mr. Dan Remix)
Ulysses (Mickey Moonlight Remix)
Ulysses (Disco Bloodbath Remix)
I’m seeing these guys next month in a small club outside of Detroit, somehow that show hasn’t sold out yet, proving that not only does Detroit suck, but the people who live there suck because they have shitty taste in music. I am beyond stoked for this show, as Franz Ferdinand is one of the only bands I love that I haven’t managed to see yet. Stupid Scots and their lack of US touring. These remixes are from a special 12” single that can with the record when you bought it at certain indie stores. Shop independent motherfuckers.

Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick ’91 (The Flying Remix)
Really Glad You Came (Love Version)
Inspiration (Love Version)
“Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” is the greatest song ever written. There I said it. Now that I got that off my chest I should say that “Really Glad You Came” and “Inspiration” aren’t half bad either and that all three of these excellent Ian Dury tunes came from 12” singles.

Against Me!
From Her Lips To God’s Ears (Energize-O-Tron) Remix by Adrock
Of all the bands I expected to find a 12” dance remix of Against Me! was pretty fucking low on the list, right next to…oh let’s say Dead Kennedys and Bebop Deluxe (how’s that for random?). Their “fans” are always going off on how the band keeps selling out, and a dance remix of a song about Condoleezza Rice probably didn’t help to prove the detractors wrong. But you know what? Fuck those assholes who think that the second a punk rock group signs to a major label they’ve “sold out.” What’s so damn wrong about wanting your music to be heard? Here’s a little tip for you all, whenever some twatty little shit is whining about their favorite band “selling out” 9 times out of 10 they’re just upset that the band in question isn’t still living up to their own fucked up little ideals, or they’re pissy because the band that they always considered as “their own” is now popular. Sellig out is when a band compromises their own ideals to sell records, changing their sound, personal beliefs or even their line-up just to make it big. Who’s done this? Well, Aerosmith is always a good example to bring up, as are Metallica, Yes, Weezer and the greatest example of all; Liz Phair. Against Me! never rallied against decent distribution or quality production values (something their early records sure as hell don’t have) so the fact that they signed to Sire and hired a real producer to record their shit doesn’t make them sell-outs. Another thing that bugs me about people using the term “sell out” is that they always apply it to bands that have never even come close to selling out, and only label an artist as a sell out because they don’t like them to begin with. I always hate it when people bring up bands like Nickleback, Fall Out Boy and Panic At The Disco when tallking about “sell outs.” Bands like those have no illusions about who they are or what they are doing, they’re in it to be as popular as possible and make a shitload of money from the day they decided to create a pop-friendly version of whatever genre they are in. It’s not selling out if that’s what you wanted to accomplish in the first place.

So the next time you say a band has “sold out” try to keep this shit in mind. (Cue “The more you know” music).