I've been a music fan since my parents gave me a record player for Christmas when I was still in grade school. The first record I remember owning was "Sesame Street Disco." I've been a professional writer since 2004, but writing long before that. My first published work was in a middle school literary magazine and was a story about a zoo in which the animals could talk.
JAKE XERXES FUSSELL’S WHAT IN THE NATURAL WORLD IS OUT TODAY ON PARADISE OF BACHELORS
STREAM THE WHOLE NEW ALBUM NOW http://smarturl.it/PoB031 FUSSELL TO SUPPORT JOAN SHELLEY ON SUMMER TOUR
[What In The Natural World album art; painting by Roger Brown]
“Achingly beautiful…a record that yields a procession of hidden treasures. Fussell has an uncanny ability to illuminate the present by propping up a window against the past. Whatever the raw material’s vintage, the protagonist’s pursuit of abstract notion – freedom, empowerment, danger, fulfillment – is every inch as pertinent today.” –Uncut (9/10)
“It’s difficult to imagine another contemporary interpreter delivering a tale of desperation and sadness with such tenderness, warmth, and grace. Jake Xerxes Fussell is a national treasure.” –Aquarium Drunkard
“Fussell freely adapts early American roots music, teasing out new melodic subtleties and overseeing small-band arrangements that bring crystalline folk-rock glow to decades-old songs.” –Chicago Reader
“Jake Xerxes Fussell, the otherworldly guitar player, has an innate ability to infuse traditional folk songs and older works with a revived sense of purpose, a freshly calibrated compass.” –FLOOD Jake Xerxes Fussell’s second full-length album, What in the Natural World, is out today via Paradise of Bachelors and now available to stream and download in full.
Alongside the release of the album, Oxford American has featured the Durham, North Carolina singer and guitarist with a special emphasis on the fifth track, “Bells of Rhymney.” This arcane coal miner’s lament shares its text, by Welsh poet Idris Davies, with the song popularized by Pete Seeger and the Byrds, complete with personified, protesting bells, but here Jake supplies his own gospel-tinged musical setting.
“I lived in Mississippi for about ten years and several years before I left I was playing music a lot with this guy Reverend John Wilkins (who is a Memphis-based Gospel musician). His father is Robert Wilkins, who recorded back in the twenties as a blues singer and later as a gospel musician. So I had to really familiarize myself with that sort of ‘guitar evangelism.’ The approach that I’m using in ‘Bells of Rhymney’ is straight out of that idiom.”
—Jake Xerxes Fussell as told to Oxford American
Fussell will head out on a spring UK and EU tour co-headlining with Daniel Bachman, followed by a summer US tour in support of Joan Shelley (full list of dates below). He will celebrate the album release with a full-band performance (featuring fellow PoB artist Nathan Bowles and Casey Toll of Mt. Moriah) at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill today, March 31, supported by Asheville guitarist Sarah Louise and Carolina Soul DJs. Stream/Download Jake Xerxes Fussell’s What In The Natural World – http://smarturl.it/PoB031
Jake Xerxes Fussell US Tour Dates:
March 31 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Nightlight (full band Record Release show) w/ Sarah Louise April 8 – Oxford, MS @ End of All Music (in-store) w/ Nathan Bowles April 8 – Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s w/ Nathan Bowles May 31 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop* June 1 – Milwaukee, WI @ Collectivo* June 2 – Minneapolis, MN @ Bryant Lake Bowl* June 3 – Chicago, IL @ Old Town* June 4 – Cedar Rapids, IA @ CSPH Hall* June 6 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews* June 7 – Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads* June 8 – St. Louis, MO @ KDHX Stage* June 9 – Paducah @ Maiden Alley Cinema* June 10 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners* June 11 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement* June 13 – Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic* June 14 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle* June 15 – Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java* June 16 – Freehold, NJ @ Concerts in the Studio* June 17 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall* June 18 – Northampton, MA @ Parlor Room* June 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle*
My best pal and I used to crank Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage a lot in college. It has a lot of rockers, humor, and weird stuff you love from Zappa’s work, but I never realized until I picked up my own copy that it’s a concept album about music being outlawed and Zappa’s masterful skewering of the record industry, commercial radio, religion, government censorship, and sexual repression.
The first song on the record, “Central Scrutinizer,” introduces one of the main characters and narrators of the album / play. Zappa plays the Scrutinizer and the character introduces nearly every track. The Scrutinizer’s job is to enforce laws that don’t exist yet, especially those related to “a horrible force called music.” The album is a presentation by the Scrutinizer to warn us against pursuing a career in such a dangerous thing.
The title track tells the story of Joe and his garage band’s meteoric rise to success and plummet into irrelevancy. It’s a groovy cut that salutes 50’s doo-wop, surf rock, and hard rock. Joe runs afoul of the law for dabbling in grooves, so the Scrutinizer sends him off to church to get his mind right. However, he runs into a lot of fun “Catholic Girls” there and is soon getting a blowjob at the CYO. It’s a gut-buster of a song that also has killer bass guitar throughout it and two switches to lounge-style jams that Zappa’s band pulls off with super slick ease.
Joe’s girlfriend, Mary, becomes a “Crew Slut,” in which Zappa sings about the groupie “way of life.” She joins the crew of another rock group and leaves Joe behind. There’s some fine harmonica playing on this track. The disco sound of “Fembot in a Wet T-shirt” shows that Zappa and his crew could (and did) play anything they damn well wanted. Mary gets back “On the Bus” after winning $50 in the wet T-shirt contest, and we’re treated to a great instrumental guitar solo taken from earlier live recordings in a process called xenochrony. Joe hears about Mary’s infidelity and finds solace in a new girl, Lucille, who gives him a venereal disease, which leads us to “Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?” – a song only Zappa could get away with putting on an album back then, let alone load the song with rock guitars and drums big enough for a concert hall. The following track, “Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up,” is a slow reggae jam as frequent Zappa collaborator Ike Willis sings Joe’s cries for love.
Joe joins the First Church of Appliantology (Yes, Zappa was satirizing Scientology years ahead of everyone else.) in an attempt to shed his earthly desires, only to learn he’s a “latent appliance fetishist.” Joe then heads to a fetish club on “Stick It Out,” where he hooks up with a “Sy Borg” and bursts out in German, and English, “Fuck me, you ugly son of a bitch!” Not only is this a song that will have you laughing throughout it, but it’s also one of the hottest rockers on the whole record. The band has a blast on it and everyone fires on all cylinders. Joe goes too hard on Sy Borg in the next track (while the band plays over eight minutes of weird lounge jazz) and is soon apprehended by the Central Scrutinizer’s thugs.
In prison, Joe is told about “Dong Work for Yuda,” which is perhaps the funkiest song about prison sex you’ve ever heard, and “Keep It Greasy” is a far funkier rocker about the same subject than Tool ever made. The rhythm section is on fire for the whole track.
“Outside Now” has Joe dreaming of playing guitar again to at least mentally escape from prison. The guitar work on it is suitably strange and sorrowful. “He Used to Cut the Grass” is a story of Joe’s woes once he gets out of prison and discovers all the other musicians are gone and the world is a squeaky clean plastic world of consumer goods so he has to retreat once more into his mind. The guitar solo on this is almost ethereal and a perfect reflection of Joe’s melting mind.
“Packard Goose” is, on its surface, a song about Joe’s descent into madness but is also a diatribe against music critics like yours truly. It’s a wild, almost freestyle jazz tune with stunning guitar shredding throughout it. Speaking of amazing guitar work, that’s all of the instrumental “Watermelon in Easter Hay.” It is easily among Zappa’s greatest solos and, according to Zappa himself, the best song on the record. Zappa’s son, Dweezil, has been quoted as saying it’s the best solo his father ever played.
The closer is “Little Green Rosetta,” a song the Central Scrutinizer believes is the best type of music. He (Zappa) freely admits “this is a stupid song,” but it’s a goofy yet fine piece of craftsmanship from him and features nearly everyone who worked in or hung out at Zappa’s home studio back in 1979.
It’s a fun, wild, amazing masterpiece. There was a stage show of it in Los Angeles in 2008, but where’s the Broadway version? We’ve had shows about gay puppets, anthropomorphic cats, goofy Mormons, and even adaptations of Monty Python films, why can’t we have Joe’s Garage: The Musical?
Chicago funk-punks So Pretty (Ashley Holman – guitar, vocals, Stefan Lindgren – drums, vocals, Rachel Manter – guitar, bass, vocals, ukulele, James Seminara – bass, guitar, vocals) seemed to have walked out of a John Waters movie. They’re brash, a bit trashy, self-deprecating, and snarky. Their second album, Suck It Up, is like a refreshing gulp of fruit punch that you realized is spiked with gin about thirty seconds later.
I first heard the band, and Suck It Up‘s opener, “Comfort Service,” when I saw them play in Chicago earlier this year. Manter delivers a fiery rant from the perspective of a 1%’er chewing out hotel staff. I can’t help but wonder if she works or used to work in a hotel and wrote it as a middle finger to dickweed tenants. Basil Fawlty would love this tune.
Manter’s vocals and the band’s hard hitting on “Think Again” show they could start a metal project if they wanted. Holman takes over vocals on “Blueberry Blues,” in which she screams that she wants “to be punk rock royalty.” She’s well on her way, judging by the vocal and guitar shredding she unleashes on the track.
You can’t help but think of the Violent Femmes (thanks to the ukulele and funky beat) during “Nice Guys,” an ode to guys who treat women well and women who prefer to date douchebags. The following track, “Whisper Corner,” is like a left hook to the liver after the gentle feint of “Nice Guys.” It has Seminara and Lindgren unleashing a sonic assault in under two minutes.
“Chub Rub” is probably about what you think it is, and it’s a fun, trashy punk number. They get funky on “Limbo,” with Seminara singing about the rut of modern living (“I felt a little bit better when I felt a bit strange.”).
“Manhandler” has Holman returning to lead vocals and she and Manter crank the distortion on their guitars. It’s like a Bikini Kill track, and Holman’s ass-chewing of the song’s subject is great. Whereas that track reminds me of Bikini Kill, “No Hamburger” reminds me of Sleater-Kinney with its nice double vocals from Holman and Manter.
The album ends with the gloriously weird “Don’t Give Up the Ship” as Seminara sounds like a drunk trying to explain the world’s problems to everyone stopped at the red light. The whole band goes bonkers by the end of it, ending the album in a frenzy of punk chaos.
This is a fun record. Fun punk, and especially good fun punk, is hard to find nowadays. It’s nice to hear So Pretty keeping punk not only alive, but fun.
Sitar master Anoushka Shankarand her and put on an excellent ninety-minute performance of classical Indian music at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne’s Rhinehart Recital Hall. It was a nearly full house and Ms. Shankar and her band played three ragas for us.
Her band consisted of gentlemen playing bass and treble tanpurs (drone instruments), tabla (hand drums), flute, shehnai (a sort of trumpet), and mridangam (hand percussion). Her tabla player, Ojas Adhiya, had only played three times with her on this tour so far, but he played like he’d been touring for years. He and mridangam player Pirashanna Thevarajah had a great “duel” during the last raga in which they matched beats and fed off each other’s rhythms.
In the meantime, Anoushka Shankar was shredding her sitar. I saw her play, along with her favorite, the late, great Ravi Shankar, at Notre Dame University years ago (who was still killing it in his late 80’s). She wowed the crowd there, and she stunned the crowd in Fort Wayne. “I’m speechless,” said a man behind us at the end of the show. He’d never heard classical Indian music before.
I think a lot of people hadn’t. It was a lovely, almost intoxicating performance and a stunning bargain at only ten bucks a ticket. Don’t miss her if she comes near your town.
U.S. Tour Dates Announced; Including Northside Festival
“intimate, dusty hybrid pop that searches for cosmic meaning in vintage sounds” – The FADER
“She-Devils…are creating a new way forward for tape looping. The group…dive into the souls of the samples they use, possessing them and finding otherworldly new emotions.” – Pitchfork
“She-Devils evoked the ’70s and ’80s electro-punk minimalism of Suicide and Soft Cell with an austere but riveting presentation.” – Chicago Tribune
She-Devils are excited to announce their self-titled debut album on Secretly Canadian out May 19th. Along with the announcement, they’re sharing a brand new single titled “Hey Boy.” The song fuses surf guitar with swirling sonics from Kyle Jukka and Audrey Ann Boucher’s preternatural voice. “Hey Boy” follows the recent single, “The World Laughs,” with its accompanying video directed by the band themselves who recently wrapped a successful SXSW.
Through primitive electronic gear, hypnotist vocals, and an “amusement park of sounds,” She-Devils construct a fun-house world of beautiful chaos. The music is built from original sonics inspired by everything from Iggy Pop to Madonna to T-Rex to Can, as well as the romantic longing of ‘60s yé-yé.
The pair met four years ago while living at a music rehearsal space in the Mile-Ex neighborhood of Montreal. The band played gigs for about eight months though they did not record right away. Making music together meant creating their own rules and taking things one-step at a time. Following instinct is a crucial part of She-Devils’ identity.
Striving to make music that feels “as visual as possible,” the band hopes to strap listeners into a rollercoaster ride “with Audrey’s voice as the centrepiece to cling to.” The duo are inspired by the cinema and art of Gregg Araki, Yayoi Kusama, Andy Warhol, John Waters and Quentin Tarantino. They direct their own videos. Audrey creates the artwork that accompanies the music. Her self-taught style evolved by watching hours of Disney movies, The Simpsons and Powerpuff Girls.
Audrey is also musically self-taught. In fact, she had never even played music before forming She-Devils. “I’ve always seen music from the perspective of an artist or music lover rather than that of a musician,” she explains. “When I sing over a loop, I don’t feel like I’m in control of what I do, or that I am cerebrally engaged with making music, it’s more like my subconscious is completely taking over my mind and it just comes out of my dreams.”
With She-Devils, the duo have created a channel to explore the sensory world, actualize aesthetic fantasies and alchemize pieces of history into entirely new sensations.
She-Devils Tour Dates: Thu. Apr. 20 – Toronto, ON @ The Costume House (Red Bull Sound Select) (tickets) Wed. May 17 – Paris, FR @ Pop Up du Label (Fireworks Festival) (tickets) Thu. May 18 – London, UK @ Moth Club (tickets) Fri. May 19 – London, UK @ London Fields Brewhouse (Bad Vibrations Alldayer) (tickets) Sat. May 20 – Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape Festival (tickets) Thu. May 25 – Berlin, DE @ ACUD (tickets) Fri. June 2 – Toronto, ON @ The Baby G (tickets) Sat. June 3 – Detroit, MI @ UFO Factory (tickets) Wed. June 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s (tickets) Thu. June 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool (Northside Festival) (tickets) Fri. June 9 – Boston, MA @ Lily Pad
She-Devils Tracklist:
1. Come
2. Hey Boy
3. Make You Pay
4. Darling
5. How Do You Feel
6. Blooming
7. You Don’t Know
8. The World Laughs
9. Never Let Me Go
10. Buffalo
“if first single ‘Lost In Light’ is any indication, it’ll be an absolutely gorgeous stargazer of a record.”
– Stereogum
Leading to the release of Moon Duo’s Occult Architecture Vol. 2, Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamadapresent new single, “Sevens.” Sanae’s ethereal vocals and the cleanliness of the mix make this one of the most immediate and, dare we say, poppiest songs Moon Duo have released to date. Ripley’s supreme shredding throughout leads the way from the depths of winter into the brightness of spring.
The Occult Architecture of Moon Duo’s fourth album is an intricately woven hymn to the invisible structures found in the cycle of seasons and the journey of day into night, dark into light. Offering a cosmic glimpse into the hidden patterning embedded in everything, Occult Architecture reflects the harmonious duality of these light and dark energies through the Chinese theory of Yin and Yang. Following the Yin (darkness, night, earth) represented on Vol. 1, Vol. 2 presents the Yang. Yang means “the bright side of the hill” and is associated with the sun, light and the spirit of heaven. As such, Vol. 2explores the light and airy elements of Moon Duo’s complex psyche.
Moon Duo’s Occult ArchitectureVol. 2 is out May 5th via Sacred Bones. Following the February release of Vol. 1, the band is currently touring Europe. They’ll return stateside for a spring tour throughout the Midwest and east coast, including a collaborative set withJim Jarmusch at the Sacred Bones 10 Year Anniversary show on May 20th in Brooklyn.
Moon Duo Tour Dates:
Mon. Mar. 27 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz Tue. Mar. 28 – Berlin, DE @ Lido Wed. Mar. 29 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumphuset Thu. Mar. 30 – Oslo, NO @ Bla Fri. Mar. 31 – Stockholm, SE @ Kagelbanan Sat. Apr. 1 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pusterviks Mon. Apr. 3 – Groningen, NL @ Vera Club Tue. Apr. 4 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord Wed. Apr. 5 – Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar Thu. Apr. 6 – Brighton, UK @ The Haunt Fri. Apr. 7 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Sat. Apr. 8 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo Fri. Apr. 21 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Sat. Apr. 22 – Detroit, MI @ El Club Sun. Apr. 23 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Tue. Apr. 25 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa Wed. Apr. 26 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott Thu. Apr. 27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade Fri. Apr. 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s Sat. Apr. 29 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Sun. Apr. 30 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern Mon. May 1 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups Fri. May 5 – Portland, OR @ Kelly’s Olympian – Record Release Show ^ Sat. May 6 – Portland, OR @ Kelly’s Olympian – Record Release Show ^ Sat. May 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Greenpoint Terminal – Sacred Bones 10 Year Anniversary Show * Mon. June 5 – Dachau, DE @ Kultursommer Dachau # Thu. June 8 – Ravenna, IT @ Beaches Brew Sat. June 10 – Barcelona, ES @ Unload Club Sun. June 11 – San Sebastian, ES @ DabaDaba Mon. June 12 – Bilboa, ES @ Kafe Antzokia Tue. June 13 – Madrid, ES @ Caracol Wed June 14 – Biarritz, FR @ Wheels and Waves Festival Thu. June 15 – Montpellier, FR @ Le Rockstore Sat. June 17 – Luzern, CH @ B-Sides Festival Mon. June 19 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix Tue. June 20 – Brussels, BE @ Les Ateliers Claus Fri. June 30 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival Fri Aug. 18 – Parades De Coura, PT @ Parades de Coura
^ = with Heron Oblivian
* = collaborative set with Jim Jarmusch
# = with Dinosaur Jr.
It was an easy two-hour drive to Founder’s Brewery in Grand Rapids, Michigan and worth the time to see Nashville psych / blues rockers All Them Witches. It was the end of the winter leg of their tour, and I was glad they made it. I’d read about a show they had to cancel just a few days earlier due to the band being struck with stomach flu, so I’d called the venue to make sure the show was still happening. I was assured everything was fine.
It was. I met ATW’s lead singer and bassist, Charles Parks, at the band’s merch table and chatted with him. I told him I was glad to see him healthy. He described the last week as a mix of blizzard weather and lots of vomit. He said everyone was back in shape and that the flu was “nothing a lot of cold showers and sleep” couldn’t cure.
Opening for ATW was a metal band from North Carolina called Irata, who had been with ATW for the entire tour (no word if they also caught the stomach flu). Irata was already into their set by the time I got there and had the crowd cheering. They played a good blend of metal and stoner rock, and I’m always impressed when a drummer can sing lead while hammering out complex beats.
Irata
All Them Witches didn’t disappoint. Opening with a great rendition of “Alabaster,” they played most of their new album, Sleeping Through the War (which is one of my favorite records of 2017 so far), and had fun going into free-form jams on tracks like “Internet” and “Don’t Bring Me Coffee.”
All Them Witches
As I expected it would be, hearing “When God Comes Back” live is like standing in front of a tidal wave. They went for broke on it, perhaps because it was the last show of the tour. Drummer Robby Staebler’s kit seemed to small for his tall frame and Hulk-like smashing.
All Them Witches altering minds with “My Last Name Is the Blues.”
They ended with “My Last Name Is the Blues,” which I’d heard on their fine live record Live in Brussels, and I was delighted to hear it in person. They stretched it out for what seemed like ten minutes and it was outstanding.
They did what any good band does – leave you wanting to catch their next show as soon as possible. Don’t miss them if they come to a town near you.
LIVE STREAM SURPRISE LONDON SHOW TOMORROW AT 4:10PM EASTERN
UK shoegaze pioneers Slowdive are pleased to announce their self-titled fourth album, out May 5th via Dead Oceans, and the beautifully understated new single, “Sugar For The Pill,” which follows the release of “Star Roving.” Additionally, Slowdive announce a live stream of a surprise show tomorrow, March 29th, at London’s The Garage, the venue in which the band played their final London show in their original incarnation in December 1993. The stream will go live at 4:10pm Eastern here: facebook.com/slowdive.
Slowdive’s stargazing alchemy is set to further entrance the faithful while beguiling a legion of fresh ears. These eight new tracks, simultaneously expansive and the band’s most direct material to date, deftly swerve away from any “trip down memory lane.” They were birthed at the band’s talismanic Oxfordshire haunt, The Courtyard, and mixed at Los Angeles’ famed Sunset Sound by Chris Coady (Beach House). Throughout, the group dynamic was all-important. “When you’re in a band and you do three records, there’s a continuous flow and a development. For us, that flow re-started with us playing live again and that has continued into the record,” notes principal songwriter Neil Halstead.
The video for “Sugar For The Pill,” produced by in/out, takes its inspiration from the Slowdive album artwork which is itself a still from Harry Smith’s cult classic animation Heaven and Earth Magic – the vast spiritual narrative that has influenced so many artists since it was originally released back in 1957.
Slowdive is Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals) and Simon Scott (drums, electronics). Their debut album, Just For A Day, was released in 1991 by Creation Records and was followed by the band’s now revered 1993 album Souvlaki and 1995’s Pygmalion before they disbanded. In the 22 years of their virtual disappearance, compilation albums have been released and the core members of the group have gone on to join other musical endeavours. In 2014, the band announced that they’d reunited and more new music would follow. Watch Slowdive’s “Sugar For The Pill” Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxwAPBxc0lU
Slowdive Tracklisting:
1. Slomo
2. Star Roving
3. Don’t Know Why
4. Sugar For The Pill
5. Everyone Knows
6. No Longer Making Time
7. Go Get It
8. Falling Ashes
Slowdive Tour Dates:
Mon. March 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Art School – SOLD OUT
Tue. March 28 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Arts Club – SOLD OUT Wed. March 29 – London, UK @ The Garage Thu. March 30 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece – SOLD OUT Fri. March 31 – The Hague, NL @ Rewire Festival Sun. April 2 – Paris, FR @ Trabendo – SOLD OUT Mon. April 3 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal — SOLD OUT Sun. April 30 – Fort Worth, TX @ Fortress Festival Tue. May 2 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre Wed. May 3 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater # — SOLD OUT Fri. May 5 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall # — SOLD OUT Sat. May 6 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia Sun. May 7 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # — SOLD OUT Mon. May 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel # — SOLD OUT Tue. May 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel Wed. May 10 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Thu. May 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse Sat. May 13 – Santiago, CL @ Fauna Otono Sun. May 14 – São Paulo, BR @ Balaclava Fest Fri. June 2 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy Sat. June 3 – London, UK @ Field Day Fri. June 16 – Sun. June 18 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby Fri. July 7 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival Fri. July 21 – Sun. July 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Fest Thu. Aug. 31 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
In 2016, rock legends Failure (Ken Andrews – guitar, bass, lead vocals, Greg Edwards – bass, guitar, synths, vocals, Kellii Scott – drums) played their masterpiece album, Fantastic Planet, on a 20th anniversary tour across the U.S. Sadly, I couldn’t make it to any of the shows, but getting a live album of one of the stops on the tour is a nice way to hear one of the best records of the 1990’s.
The album starts with the clockwork sounds (and sorrowful guitar) of “Saturday Savior.” The band immediately sounds like they haven’t lost a thing in 20 years. I instantly regretted having to work a full-time job upon hearing this, because work kept me from making one of the stops of this tour. “Sergeant Politeness” is one of the biggest rockers on Fantastic Planet, and this version is nothing short of a kick in the teeth.
The live album even includes the three instrumental segues between tracks. Failure wasn’t kidding when they said they’d play the album in its entirety. The first bridges the gap between “Sergeant Politeness” and “Smoking Umbrellas” – which has some of the biggest chorus vocals on the record. Andrews makes sure people out in the concession stand can hear him. “Pillowhead” has Scott going as wonderfully nuts on it as he did in 1996.
“Blank” is a beautiful piece of shoegaze that feels like a warm bath after a sprint workout from the previous two tracks. “Dirty Blue Balloons” is one of the many songs on the record about drugs (which were a large part of the band’s life back in 1996), and its heavy-hitting chorus makes it like the greatest Pixies track they never recorded. Edwards’ guitar solo on it is great.
“Solaris” is a bit of a mind trip, and almost sounds like a Yes track. “Pitiful” is another one of the rockers on the album. The chorus hits you like a left hook you didn’t see coming. “Leo,” which I’m fairly certain is about a guy freaking out after coming down from a high, is just as good as it was in 1996. It sounds just like when I saw them in 1997. “The Nurse Who Loved Me,” another song about dealing with drug addiction, is a crowd favorite and was one of their biggest hits (even the guys in Tool hold this song in reverence). The electric piano supporting the crowd’s vocals is great and the song builds to an uplifting power.
Failure is sometimes described as a “space rock” band, and “Another Space Song” is a good example of why that’s the case. It’s the sound of a derelict alien craft in orbit around the moon. It’s trippy, creepy, and one of the best tracks on the album. This song alone should’ve made Failure an even bigger success.
“Stuck on You” is Failure’s biggest hit without question, and it’s not hard to believe it once you hear it. It was the song that introduced me to them and made me drag my two friends to their 1997 Lollapalooza set. It’s a powerful song (about heroin, no less) with a chorus that bursts like a sunrise over a mountain and yet hits as heavy as many grunge classics from the same time.
It flows well into “Heliotropic,” which takes us back to outer space with Andrews’ heavy bass, Edwards’ great solo, and Scott’s third stage-rocket drumming. The album ends with “Daylight,” which itself starts with the clockwork sounds we hear at the beginning of the album. It’s a snake eating its tail. It’s hypnotic and dire (and, yes, about the lull of heroin). Andrews’ voice is slightly distorted and sounds slightly out of the room…until the chorus explodes and nearly knocks you out of your chair.
I, like most of us, had no idea the band was going through such a rough stretch when Fantastic Planet was made and released. We’re lucky none of them overdosed or gave up music. We’re lucky the record was released at all, considering their label at the time was put up for sale before Fantastic Planet was released. We’re lucky to have this live recording and, hopefully, new material from them in the future. It’s time to find this classic if you missed it in 1996.
Keep your mind open.
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