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Embracing Embrace

Posted by berlyant

Sep 032010

Recently some members of a discussion group on the official website of Dag Nasty came across this old post by our friend Townsman Berlyant, who’s also a friend of the Daghouse gang. They were a bit surprised, I think, to find a grumpier group of rock farts than themselves. They were particularly concerned, I believe, with my inability to get what our man and their’s, Berlyant, was getting at. When asked to explain what RTH was all about, Berlyant outed me and my general distaste for The Ramones. I felt compelled to log on and explain how we operate. The Daghouse gang is good people; I’ve got no beef with them. However, in revisiting this post I’m still troubled by the fact that no one in the Halls of Rock adequately explained what this music does for them. Mwall seemed to get closest to making sense with his “tribe” comments, but I’m confident that this time around I’ll be better able to understand the magic of the music itself. Right?

This post initially appeared 9/28/07.

A while back I remember Townsman saturnismine linked to this video as well as another, older clip of The Faith (basically the same band except that Ian MacKaye’s brother, Alec, sang for them) playing “You’re X’d” somewhere in DC a few years earlier. I also remember some resistance from Townsman hrundivikbashi as well as general amusement, befuddlement, and confusion as to why we (and perhaps others who haven’t come out of the woodwork) would even like this type of stuff. Since I was unable to bond with Townsman saturnismine over the issue of a song that gives one a “visceral” thrill thus far, I submit this clip as both a submission of a song that gives me that thrill as well as an attempt to bond over this issue.

Some historical perspective is required here for those who don’t know what they’re watching. This is Ian MacKaye‘s short-lived, post-Minor Threat, but pre-Fugazi outfit. They and other DC bands like Rites of Spring, Gray Matter, Beefeater and others started what became to known as “emo” during the “Revolution Summer” of 1985. This was a deliberate move to get away from the simplistic thrash that most DC punk bands had produced before as well as the violence that had plagued the scene for years up to that point. The influence of early ’80s UK post-punk is strong on this record, particularly that of The Empire (featuring Derwood Andrews and Mark Laff of Generation X) lp, Expensive Sound. Your comments are welcome.

The Land of Hope and Anchor!

Posted by berlyant

Mar 032008

Just the other day, Mr. Mod posted a few tracks for the weekend download from a great and much bootlegged Elvis Costello show at the Hope and Anchor in 1980. This show is notable because it’s the only live document of the short-lived 2-guitar lineup. As you already know if you read the previous posts on this subject, Martin Belmont replaced Steve Nieve, who was in a serious car accident, and the result is an absolutely ripping set featuring material from his 1st 4 albums, a B-side (“Girls Talk”) and covers that he’d rarely, if ever, play again. I first heard this show on a bootleg Lp called “Something New”. A few years later, I found a cd-r called The Land of Hope and Anchor. It contains not only this entire show, but his appearance on the Tomorrow Show with Tom Synder in 1981 (performing 2 songs from Trust) as well as some BBC session tracks from 1978 and 1980. Thus I’ve decided to make it available for download. Enjoy!

Elvis Costello, The Land of Hope and Anchor

The Jesus and Mary Chain Rock the Legacy Shades Look!

Posted by berlyant

Jan 302008

I’m posting this simply because I like them and I think this version of the song is actually preferable to the album version, but also in order that you all can see just about the best example I’ve ever seen of what Mr. Mod named the “Legacy Shades” Look. What do you all think?

His Girl, My Girl, Our Girl

Posted by berlyant

Oct 022007

The Budos Band, “Ride or Die”

I’ve been listening to and enjoying the new album by The Budos Band album, their second (and hence titled II). It’s quite simply an amazing slice of ’70s style instrumental funk with hints of Afro-beat, as you can hear on “Ride or Die”, from the album. In particular, I’m quite curious how saturnismine (who is also a fan of the bands on the Daptone label) and hrundivikbashi will react to this. I suspect the latter will really dig it and, as such, I sense a healing opportunity on the horizon over the downloading issue addressed earlier in another post.

The Budos Band, “His Girl”

Pince Nez alert! In addition, check out this maneuver on a scribe from Pitchfork!

The Budos Band also do a re-working of “My Girl” on this album, calling it “His Girl”. To my ears, it’s hard to tell the similarity until 2:43 of the way through. It’s a clever arrangement, although I’m not trained enough to know that the BPM is higher and that it’s played in a minor instead of a major key. I think the writer in the piece linked above is being way too hard on the guy from Pitchfork, though. What do you all think?

The Poor Man’s Smiths?

Posted by berlyant

Feb 082007

I was thinking about The Trashcan Sinatras the other day. Now some of you may not even know who they are and some of you may not even care. And perhaps a few of you on here may even already know them and like them. They’re a Scottish indie-pop band who have been around since the late ’80s. As evidenced by the video above for their 1993 single “Hayfever”, they were often tagged in the press as “the poor man’s Smiths”. Of course this isn’t entirely accurate. Sure some of their material bears more than a passing resemblance to that of Morrissey and Marr, but more often than not, it can also resemble bands as diverse as Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout, The Housemartins (and by extension, The Beautiful South) and Orange Juice while simultaneously forging a unique identity all their own.

After an 8-year hiatus, The Trashcan Sinatras came back in 2004 with the masterful Weightlifting, showing a depth, maturity, and poise that can only come with age and experience. In that way they’re similar to Nick Lowe’s more recent records in that they’re definitely about making music for adults, but not in the generic adult-contemporary sense of the word. Now I know a lot of you dislike The Smiths and other similar artists, but other than going on about the greatness of The Trashcan Sinatras, there’s another, more pressing (and more vital to RTH) question at the heart of this post.

What bands that are generally considered “2nd division” do you like better than those to whom they get compared to? Are you a bigger Undertones fan than a Ramones fan (as I am)? Do you prefer The Kinks or even The Small Faces to the Fab Four or The Stones? Survivor to Journey? I think you see my point here. I look forward to seeing your responses on this topic.