Sugarplum Fairies - Chinese Leftovers (2009)

Male/female duo from LA who make shoegazey dream pop, and I would say there are also some influences of old jangle pop stuff here; lately I've been using this album to chillax (yeah) in the late hours of the night (or early hours of the morning, technically) while I'm busy avoiding sleep for no good reason, perhaps some of you can put it to the same use

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Reuploads

Posting some stuff that's been re-uploaded for one reason or another (broken links, tracks missing, etc etc). I try to keep an eye on my uploads folder so that I know when something goes missing, but sometimes things slip through the cracks. If you come across a broken link, please let me know so that I can fix it. Thanks.

Passion Pit - Manners
Passion Pit - Chunk of Change EP
The Matches - E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals
And a little something for the curious among you (fight the power)

Lemuria - Get Better (2008)

Charming and easy to fall in love with, this Buffalo trio makes a mixture of pop-punk, powerpop and indie rock, with flat-out awesome vocals by Sheena Ozzella (and sometimes Alex Kerns); also, their label, Asian Man Records, is currently having some money problems due to a shitty two-faced distributor; Asian Man is a great DIY label and doesn't deserve that kind of shit happening to them, so if you enjoy this album, I encourage you to head on over there and purchase it (or any other Asian Man releases you happen to like)

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Tim Ten Yen - Everything Beautiful Reminds Me of You (2008)

Upbeat, catchy, surfy, loungy, lovestruck indie-pop; this is kinda like what Billy Joel would sound like if he got super-happy and dropped the piano in favor of a motherfuckin' Casio

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Harvey Williams - Rebellion (1994)

Short, quiet, and relaxing EP; issued on Sarah Records, this release is not the upbeat and happy kind of music that the word 'twee' tends to imply, but rather it's a touching, piano-driven contemplation of the world that is both melancholic and hopeful

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Out in the Foxglove

(I know I've been doing a lot of non-album posts lately; I'm considering spinning off another blog for them, so just try to tough it out for now)


"All the people 'neath your feet
That you'll never speak to,
You'll never meet."

-The Matches


Yesterday I woke up to the news that the Oakland punk band, the Matches, were going on an indefinite hiatus. And while the break seems to be amicable, this is not a situation where a return looks hopeful.

The Matches, since their conception, have been a continual force of creativity and innovation. They made music that, while existing within the confines of the term 'pop-punk' for simplicity's sake, was never truly able to be classified. I have introduced this band to a lot of people, and all of them always ask the question "what else sounds like this?". The answer is that nothing does. No one sounds like the Matches, and that that can be truthfully said about what most consider a pop-punk band is nothing short of astounding. To call them one of the best (and, has I believe history will show, important) bands of this decade would not be hyperbole. This band took risks, and if the music world were fair, those risks would have paid off financially, and this band would have been huge. But they were always just a couple of steps away from the mainstream, always on the cusp of success without actually reaching it, always being overshadowed by bands that didn't have a fraction of the Matches' ingenuity or bravery. They made music they wanted to make. They made music that was creative and original and new. They approached the act of creation and performance with nothing but huge hearts and a willingness to sacrifice for their fans and their art. They did everything that real music fans want bands to do, everything I want bands to do. But it just wasn't enough to stay afloat in a music scene that looks down on creativity and scorns new ways of thinking.

My affair with the Matches, when compared with many of their fans, has been relatively short. I discovered Decomposer in, if I remember correctly, mid 2008. And it took a while to sink in. But soon I realized how incredible of an album it was, and I quickly acquired their other two releases, E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals and A Band In Hope and fell in love. For the past year I have been listening to the Matches far more than any other band in my library, and they have not gotten stale. I have not gotten bored of them. I went head-over-heels for them faster than any other group I've ever listened to, and I fall harder and harder every time I put on one of their albums. I was overwhelmed and perpetually amazed at how unique they were, and how fearless they were when it came to tearing down the long-standing and well-established walls that surround the pop-punk scene, or really, the punk scene in general. They're one of the few bands I've ever encountered who do not seem to have ever recorded a bad song, let alone a bad album. Everything they did was just absolutely stellar and unique, and so far above what most other bands are capable of. No matter how many different sounds or styles they experimented with, or how many influences they allowed to seep into their music, they never came out sounding like a different band. They were always the Matches.

For the past six months or so, I've been coming to terms with the realization that the Matches might very well be my favorite band, which is a label I am always hesitant to apply, as well as a position that has been vacant for quite some time. In fact, despite the literally thousands of artists that I enjoy, I have only given that title to one group in the past: Pink Floyd. But the thing is that with Floyd, there was always a disconnect; a barrier between them and myself; they were never really "My Band". They formed 25 years before I was born, disbanded almost a decade before I started listening to them, and always wrote their music from a perspective that was far different from my own, and therefor hard to identify with. I feel like for a band to truly be "My Band", I need to have the fan experience. I need to get the rush of going to their concerts, I need to experience the anticipation of waiting eagerly for new releases, I need to know the thrill of hearing new demos start circulating throughout the fanbase. And I missed out on that entirely. It didn't matter that I'd listened countless times to each of their fourteen albums, or that I'd amassed an unbelievable collection of live bootlegs spanning their entire history as a group, or that I'd read every biography and absorbed every scrap of information about them that I could. Pink Floyd belonged to a different generation of music fans. They weren't mine. No matter what I did or how much I loved their music, Pink Floyd would never be "My Band".

This disconnect is largely absent with the Matches. They're young, and they formed well within my lifetime. They write about things that apply to me, things that I deal with every day, that I identify with. Most importantly, they don't seem like a group of people who exist only in internet biographies; they seem like actual, living human beings, who are still out there making music and doing what they love. There were a couple different things that made me realize they deserved to be called my favorite band. One was when it struck me just how excited I was to hear new material from them. I found myself feverishly following all news of new demos or new songs being performed in concert. The other was something that has happened without my realizing it; they've become my go-to band. What this means is that if I cannot decide what to listen to, I listen to the Matches and know that I will never be disappointed, and that no matter how much I play their albums, they won't get old. For someone like me, who has a nasty habit of enjoying an album and then shelving it for six or eight months (or longer) before getting around to hearing it again, this is a big deal. But the thing that really made it sink in was just how upset I was to hear that they will no longer be continuing as a band. Even the news that Nine Inch Nails (a band I have loved for many many years) would possibly be going away forever didn't affect me like this.

So I guess that settles it. The Matches are my favorite band, and have been for some time now. And even though this has not changed because of their hiatus (I don't want to call it a breakup, despite the probable reality), it is incredibly discouraging, because now I'm not sure if I'll ever get to call them "My Band". I have never seen them live, and unless I drive out to California for their final show (which despite my optimism, is unlikely), I might not. And unless they release a posthumous collection of demos or outtakes, I might never be around for a new release, if that would even qualify as one in the first place. The added fact that I will forever have been something of a last-minute fan, having only been aware of their greatness for the last year of their existence, is like the proverbial nail in the coffin.

So now here I am, marathoning their catalog for the fifth time since yesterday afternoon, and wondering what exactly this means to me. I will always have their music, of course. And there is always the possibility that they will reunite. But mostly, what makes me hopeful is that they are embarking on new projects. I will be following these projects closely, and I expect great things, because I know these guys are capable of it. And maybe once I spend some more time with their music, I'll feel more comfortable calling them "My Band". Because I'm not going to stop introducing them to people, and people are going to continue falling in love with their music just like I did. I'm confidant that this band will be respected retrospectively far more than they ever were while together. It's unfortunate, but sometimes bands are just too ahead of their time for the general populous of the music world to handle. But eventually, they'll get their day in the sun. And when that happens, there will be a lot of people who were never 'in-the-know' while the Matches were together, and that makes me grateful that I am not one of those people. I got to experience the feeling of knowing that there was an active band making incredible music, and that was pushing boundaries and opening doors for bands following in their footsteps. I also got to experience the crushing disappointment when a band like this decided to call it quits. Both of those things are part of the fan experience that I seem to place so much importance on, and I got both of them. So maybe they are "My Band". Maybe I just didn't realize it before. And maybe one day they'll see how much they matter, and decide to give it another shot. And when they do, I'll be standing at the front of the line to welcome back my band.

So here's to a successful future for all members of the Matches, in all of their new projects and endeavors. I can't wait to love and support those new bands just as much, if not more, than I've supported the Matches. I know I won't be disappointed.

Matches on Hiatus

http://www.punknews.org/article/34337

Well...I guess I lied last time, but it looks like this really IS the last Matches post I'll be making.

Fuck me.

If you haven't listened to them despite my having posted all their albums, check the CURRENTLY IN HEAVY ROTATION links to the right. Then you can be as sad as I am right now.

The Ergs! - Upstairs/Downstairs (2007)

Second and final studio album from these geeky pop-punk guys, sorry about the lack of a proper update yesterday, I spent most of the day listening to the song "Stinking of Whiskey Blues" off of this album

"They said all you're gonna get is a pocketful of regrets,
And a broken-down rotary phone.
Now all I've got are those and 15 "I told you so"'s
So I guess I'm the one to blame."

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"There is NO WAY to explain that to anyone" (aka my night w/ Peachcake, and some other bands)

Alright, I know I usually stick to album posts, but sometimes exceptions just need to be made. This is one of those times.

Tonight I showed up at around 6:45 to the Conservatory in OKC for a concert at which PlayRadioPlay! was headlining. Now, to set this up a bit, I had a whole laundry list of apprehensions about this night out; some based on the music, some based on my personal life, some just fucking stupid and not based on much of anything. I won't go into details because you probably don't give a shit, but suffice to say that I was not exactly excited about what tonight had in store for me. Hopeful, and more than a little curious on all fronts? Sure. But excited? Not so much.

So anyway, I show up, and apparently because of the long bill (there are six bands playing) I've already missed the first act (Berkeley to D.C.) even though I only showed up fifteen minutes after the doors opened. What the fuck, right? So I go to take a piss and when I come out my friends have shown up. Cool beans, let's enjoy the show.

We go over to the stage and some band that I later discover is called Party Like Summer is setting up their shit (and being kinda obnoxious with the mic testing, but what else is new). They start into their set and I realize two things about them. One, they're a generic pop-punk band with a singer who is convinced he's the next Roger Daltrey, despite the fact that half the time when he swings the mic around he can't actually, ya know, CATCH IT. Two, I like them. Their set is definitely fun, and they're the kind of energetic opener who gets the crowd riled up for the rest of the night. At this point I'm thinking "well, so far so good". But I am the furthest thing from prepared for what's next.

The next band starts then setting up their, erm, equipment. I say this because the first thing they cart out onto the stage is a metal trash can filled with umbrellas and a large wooden stick. "What the hell is that?", I ask, and nobody seems to know what exactly is going on, because they then proceed to bring out giant stuffed animals, a foam microphone with its stand wrapped in flowers, and a drumkit that seems to be some strange combination of legitimate drums and trash can lids. Then one by one the band starts to stroll out onto the stage. One of them (the keyboardist) is standing there with a notepad, drawing caricatures of people in the crowd and then passing them out. One of them is an afro'd dude in boxers and a dirty shirt that has "YOU LOOK REALLY GREAT RIGHT NOW" (or something to that effect) written on it in sharpie, who my friend said looked like he had rolled out of bed in the morning and said "I'm ready for the show!"; I think she was being a bit generous with that estimation. I'd say he looked more like he'd rolled out of the tour van about ten minutes previously and mumbled something about not knowing where he was. But he's not even the most unusual of the bunch; the lead vocalist comes out wearing a flowery orange dress (he's a dude). My thoughts are something along the lines of "this is really...weird."

Things had not yet even begun to get weird.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I'm not so sure about the sequence of events that transpired after that, but I'll do the best I can to recount them. This is a good time to mention that I didn't actually take that picture up at the top, nor is it from this show. In retrospect, I wish I had taken some (read: many) pictures, but I was a little busy being...let's see, how can I put this delicately...COMPLTELY FUCKING OVERWHELMED by the sheer volume of ridiculous and insane shit going on around me.

They start out the show by putting up a quote on a sheet at the back of the stage, a quote which I can only vaguely remember was inspirational in some way (because that really narrows it down, right?). The guy in the dress gets up to the front and says something about happiness and love or something. And this is where my memory becomes really fuzzy, because the rest of their set (ten minutes? thirty? six hours?) was just a huge fucking blur of excitement and dancing and singing and jumping and holy-shit-what-the-hell-is-going-on-this-is-fucking-incredible.

Here's what I know. The singer had jumped off the stage within probably thirty seconds of them starting to perform, and was running throughout the crowd, singing and jumping and getting everybody moving. To replace him on the stage was another vocalist; this vocalist was wearing outer-space pajamas and at one point put on a mask; this vocalist also did not have a microphone. Rather, he had some object shaped like a microphone that whirled around a lot of colors and lights, which he sang into with all his heart. The thing actually turned itself off at some point, and despite his frustration that his flashy light thingy was not doing what it was supposed to, he kept singing away into his broken not-microphone. Now that's dedication.

This is probably the point where large stuffed hearts started being tossed in around the crowd like beach balls. This is also the point where the first singer (the dress guy) said he was going for a magic carpet ride; what this meant was he threw a rug onto the crowd and laid down on it, while we in the audience gave him his magic carpet ride, before dumping him back on the stage in a heap. He also crowd surfed the more traditional way later in the show (still in the dress, of course).

A bit later after that, he was back in the crowd and was doing all sorts of crazy ass dance shit. He had everyone in the crowd form a circle around him (I think he called it the mirror-circle). He would do a move, which we would then imitate; he would pick someone from the circle, drag them into the middle, and they would then make up a move which the rest of us (dress dude included) would imitate. Then that person would pick someone, and that person, etc. etc. We danced like were were at a crunk rap show, we danced like we were at a rave, we danced like we were in a one-person moshpit, we even did the fucking robot.

Eventually he made his way back to the stage; he put a lamp shade on his head, got a massive rainbow-colored umbrella, and then walked around the crowd again singing from under said umbrella and lamp shade. He had everyone put a hand into the area under the umbrella, and we all said in unison (twice) "Five, six, seven, eight, who do we appreciate? MUSIC! MUSIC! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUSIC!" before throwing our hands into the air and screaming like we'd just won the fucking Super Bowl.

And now, I shall describe the events that I cannot place in sequence, but that I know occurred.

The vocalist with a not-microphone was stripping off his pajamas on stage. The vocalist with the dress instructed us multiple times to put our "spirit fingers" in the air (meaning hold our hands toward him and waggle our fingers). We were told to throw up our rap hands, which we of course did. We were told many, many times to jump up and down (I think I drained myself of about a gallon and a half of sweat throughout the set; I could have rung out my hair like a wet dog afterward). At some point, someone got into a giant banana costume and started running around the crowd. I did not see him get into this costume, and I did not see him get out of this costume. I don't even know if he was in the band. All I know is that suddenly there was a banana-man jumping up and down next to me, and then shortly after that there was not (I'm going to have to check with my friend to make sure I didn't hallucinate that guy). There were signs held up to remind us that it was, in fact, 'The Party Zone'. There was someone (again, not sure who) sitting on the front of the stage while holding a cutout of a cloud in front of his face, while the guy with the umbrella stood over him and sang. And at at least one point in the set, unicorns became involved; to what capacity, I am not entirely certain. But there were unicorns.

Near the end of the show we were all shouting in unison "I AM NOT A HUUUUMAN A-NY-MORE! I AM NOT A HUUUUMAN A-NY-MORE!", and I think that perfectly sums up how I (and everyone else in the crowd) felt at that moment. To call this show awesome, incredible, amazing, and glorious would be the understatement of the century. The quote in the title of this post is something my friend said after the show, when she was telling us that any attempts to describe what we'd seen would result in people thinking we'd had LSD injected directly into our brains (I'm paraphrasing a bit), and I think that's true, but I hope I've given you some small idea of what the show was like.

Sorry, Electric Six. Sorry, Nine Inch Nails. Sorry, Flaming Lips (seriously; they topped 'em). Peachcake is my new favorite live band, and they fucking earned it. I have never seen anything even remotely like what I witnessed tonight, and something tells me I never will (except when I see Peachcake again, which I WILL be doing at every possible opportunity). I almost feel like they've spoiled live music for me. Never mind that I'd never heard of them before. Never mind that they were fourth on a bill of six bands. Never mind that I am certain their recorded music will pale in comparison to what I heard tonight. Peachcake is absolutely fucking incredible, and I urge everyone to find out if they're playing a show anywhere even close to wherever you live, because you need to see this fucking band. I say again:

SEE. THIS. FUCKING. BAND.

They're playing four shows in Texas at the end of August, and I am more than a little tempted to spend a week following this band around. I might just fucking do it. That's how psyched I am about what just went down tonight.

I guess I should at least mention the bands that played after them, although really, there isn't much point. The vocalist for the band after Peachcake said, before they did anything, "what I just saw...was epic", and everyone in that fucking club agreed with him 150%. The next three bands were good (although PRP!, despite being the headliner, was the lamest set of the night), but it's like, what's the point? If it could have been put to a vote of the crowd, and we were given the options "see these other three bands" or "see Peachcake play until the fucking sun comes up", I know exactly which way it would have gone. And not a goddamn person would have left before it ended.

I would say "believe the hype", but there is apparently not any hype around this band (a fact which, quite simply, blows my fucking mind). So fuck the hype. Believe ME. This band takes the idea of live music totally above and beyond any other group I've ever encountered, or even heard about. It was like a goddamn circus set to music, where everyone in the crowd was simultaneously under the spotlight and up in the stands screaming their head off (people don't scream at circuses, but come on, I'm trying to keep the metaphor rolling). They took my night out, a night filled with apprehensions and doubts, and turned it into one of the best nights of my fucking life. So let me say, one last time, to drive home the point: SEE THIS FUCKING BAND. If it's not the best concert you've ever seen in your entire life, I will drive myself to your house, no matter the distance, and let you punch me in the face. I am dead fucking serious.

Peachcake, motherfuckers.

Peachcake.

Foreign Objects - Demo (2009)

Massachusetts punk band that just got together a few months ago; they're like a mix of hardcore and post-punk and maybe a little bit of pop with female vocals, this is one of the best demos I've heard all year

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The Matches Demos and Misc

Thanks for liquidy for sending this stuff to me.

This is a collection of a bunch of non-album Matches tracks. Stuff from comps and splits, as well as some demos from when they were still called the Locals. The one thing I know it's missing is the track "Didi", which has proven very difficult to find; if you have it and could send it my way, that would be muuuucho appreciated. I know I've been doing a lot of Matches posts, but chances are this will be the last one for a while (unless they pop an album on us this year, which I hope they do).

Includes:

Bodysnatchers (Radiohead Cover)
A Girl I Know
Got the Time
Sick Little Suicide (Acoustic)
Shoot Me in the Smile (Acoustic)
I Hope it Gets to You (Demo)
Learn to Fly (Demo)
Never Learn (Demo)
Superman (Demo as the Locals)
Eryn Smith (Demo as the Locals, different lyrics)
Nothing Gets Better (Demo as the Locals)
People on the Block (Demo as the Locals)
Boston (Demo as the Locals, early version of Chain Me Free)
MSG (Demo as the Locals)
Selma (Demo as the Locals)
The Beast (Demo as the Locals)

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Previous Posts:
E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals
Decomposer
A Band in Hope

Monkey Swallows the Universe - The Casket Letters (2007)

Swooning, folksy, acoustic, chilled-out indie pop that's about "love, jealousy, apathy, imaginary friends, and pirates"; if you like Slow Club you'll probably like this

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Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)

This is, quite simply, a monster of an album; ninety-three minutes of the heartfelt alt rock that we've all come to expect from this band. Despite the length, this is one of the most coherent albums Eels have ever recorded (second only to Electro-Shock Blues, although that could just be because of my personal feelings for that album). According to Mr. E, this album is "[about] God and all the questions related to the subject of God. It's also about hanging on to my remaining shreds of sanity and the blue sky that comes the day after a terrible storm, and it's a love letter to life itself, in all its beautiful, horrible glory." You owe it to yourself to hear this.

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My Heart to Joy - Seasons in Verse (2009)

Absolutely great Connecticut-based emo/indie band, this album is noodley and emotional and intense and touching all at the same time; this is going to be a candidate for album of the year, and I wouldn't be all that surprised to see these guys blow up with this release. Also, Topshelf Records is doing a supercool t-shirt and CD/LP deal, so go pick up a copy because this is definitely worth the money

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Sugar Daddy - This Ain't No Party This Ain't No Disco (2008)

These guys released this album for free online, which as you know is always a plus in my book, but this 'mini-album' can speak for itself; it's full of thick, funk rock goodness that the band says is influenced by groups as diverse as Funkadelic and Steely Dan

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