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Correction
I start this month's column with a correction. So Chuck, Speedball's singer, isn't the guy running sound for Factory 81. Back off all ready. I have a box full of threatening letters from rabid Speedball fans informing me of my error. Bill Cozy (sp?) is the actual sound engineer. My apologies to all parties involved. I must give credit to a popular local music paper for the correct information. A popular local music paper that even prints articles a week ahead of an event so as to publicize it. Imagine that, it must be a pretty successful paper.Shhh
Yes things are really moving in our wonderful city. We have a fabulously decorated new bar to hang out at in Ferndale. Shhhh, its still a secret. Don't tell anyone I told you, but it's called the Bosco. Sometimes rockers hang out there and drink saki. They have an outdoor patio with grass. What's the big deal you ask? It's a nice escape from the concrete confines of the surrounding area. Take a deep breath a refresh your senses as you get ready to light another cigarette.Fashion
The Gold Dollar closed it's doors for good Saturday August 18th. May it live forever within our memories along with Blondies. I wanted to go see the final performance, but had a commitment to be in Ann Arbor that night. Let me tell you something about Ann Arbor. The town has a reputation for being very sophisticated, but their fashion is incredibly boring. I hung out at the Blind Pig/ 8 ball saloon. It's the only rock club I know of in that city. God, everyone looked like crap. I felt like I was at a Microsoft Convention. I saw only one leopard print cowboy hat, and one guy gets points for wearing a system of a down t shirt. But that's only because I like that band. The night was not a total loss. Cloud 9 was playing and they throw down on some hip hop hippie jams. That singer can sing her ass off. They've got a horn section. Not enough bands have horns in them. The combination of sax and trumpet is such a beautiful thang. The fashion-less crowd loved them and danced all night.Originality
I was reading my favorite local music magazine the other day when I stumbled across a statement that struck a nerve. In a local band interview a band member started hating on bands that play covers. He venomously questioned why any band would play a cover song instead of writing their own material. You know what. I'm sick of so called "original" bands thinking they're so hot because they write their "own" tunes. Big deal, usually their "original" songs have been written a thousand times over. I wish more bands would learn some cover songs. Maybe then they'd understand that a chord progression that goes C, D, E or Am G F E or Am F, etc has been done to death. Learn some new chords or put them in a different order, or something! Maybe then they'd learn some song writing skills from the masters that have progressed music a notch from where it was before them. Historically, original Super-Groups have always thrown a cover or two in their set. They don't have a huge moral issue with it. If you don't want to play covers, fine. But don't think you're anything special because of your stubbornness.Metal bands calling themselves "rock".
There are two main forms of music dominating the charts in this town, Metal and Rap. While neither is my favorite kind of music, I can deal with the pissed off herds of militant males that dominate the scene. I think back to when metal overtook rock. I believe it was 1993. Metallica beat Guns N Roses when they competed in a co-headlining tour A year later, White Zombie and Pantera became Detroit's most beloved torch bearers of the metal movement. Back then, those 2 bands came back to our city every 2-3 months raking in the dough. Now it seems almost every band is pissed off and plays mesa boogie amps. They all have had traumatic child hoods, are addicted, and want to tell you about their mean old man.The problem I have with these guys is their abuse of the term "Rock". Lets get something straight. You are not rock. You killed rock. It was your mission to kill anything that wasn't dripping with sorrow and pain. Yes, you destroyed the fashion and culture, but somehow you also managed to also make your movement's name passe. I don't' know how it happened, but when metal took over, it wasn't cool to be called metal anymore. What do the metal guys do? They start calling themselves "rock". You are so not rock! I'm so tempted to call these bands, many who are friends of mine, out by name "Come check out the rock show", they say. Where's the leopard print I say. How come all I see is a sea of black t shirts, buzz cuts, and goaties? How is hatred and anger considered rocking? Anyone with me?
Handshakes
Ever give a bad hand shake? Weren't you embarassed? Nothing can stress how important a good handshake is. And it's so tricky now a day. The different styles of handshakes can be hard to keep up on, and just when you think that you have them down, someone comes up with another one. Everyone is doing the knuckle to knuckle fist punch now. I like that one cause it's quick, but have one too many cocktails in you and miss. You look like the nerdiest dork ever. Focus all your mind's energies Danielson, cause a solid connection is important if you want to be taken seriously.
Bouncing Souls True Believers Tour
with Flogging Molly, One Man Army and Madcap
at the Metro in Chicago, Illinois
Epitaph Records, Adeline Records, Side One Dummy Records
October 26th, 2001I saw some of the first snow fall of the season as I headed to the Metro for the show. Surprisingly, I was alone since I had an extra pass for the sold out venue and wandered onto the floor where I observed the crowd while I sat against a pillar. The guys with their painted leather jackets and the girls with their tight plaid pants. Dozens of small groups murmuring about the activities of their daily lives.
Madcap took the stage and there seemed to be a staring contest between the band and the crowd. A motionless mass looked back at a motionless band as they ripped through their set. Although, it is always an uphill battle for the opening act to loosening up the crowd and have some fun. When the dancing eventually began their time was up.
The fists began to wave and voices chant as One Man Army performed. These streetpunks from the bay area of California had an energy and style that brought back memories of the Clash in the late 1970's. They played tight, worked the crowd into a frenzy and left us wanting more.
Nothing will fill you with Irish Guinness pride more than Flogging Molly. And in Chicago, they had their work cut out for them considering that there are about a dozen "Irish pubs" within a mile of the venue. The multitude stood shoulder-to-shoulder rocking and chanting songs that transport your mind to a pub in Dublin. It takes quite a talented band to get punk rock kids excited about acoustic guitars, violins, accordions and a mandolin. That talent and love of performance is certainly a part of Flogging Molly.
I must admit that there is a soft spot in my heart for the Bouncing Souls. I interviewed Greg, the lead vocalist, in 1997 when they opened for NoFX in Pontiac, Michigan. His story of him running around New York with a salesman trying to get the pleats out of some green pants he wanted to buy showed me not only their love for life, but of music. This fact was no different in 2001 than it was in 1997. Whether they were playing Argyle, Hopeless Romantic, or Born To Lose the Bouncing Souls put everything they got into their music and the fans reciprocated. They are one of the few bands that are as honest with the crowd as they are with themselves expressing the heartbreak, self-doubt and worries we all have. They have made themselves vulnerable by showing us their imperfections, but that is why we like them and we love them because they give us hope.
As the flood of people stormed out of the Metro I saw a few people I knew. As we headed back to the "El" there were kids handing out flyers to shows, running to their cars and enjoying the company of their friends. As I passed Wrigley Field, I smiled.
Caulfield: Sleep Tight, Ya Morons...
Storm Records
P.O. box 151
Royal Oak, MI 48068
www.stormrecords.comFrom the first melody, Slipshod, to the last, This One Goes To Eleven, I felt like I was back in playing shows with my friend's bands. Just reading the lyrics of the full-length album has summed up the last three years of my life.
The punk rock spirit of the early 90's still flow through the veins of this trio. There are some notable comparisons to be made of other bands. For instance, Sleep Tight, Ya Morons was produced and mixed by Mass Giorgini who works/worked closely with Chicago-based Screeching Weasel. And Dan Lumley the assistant engineer, if I am not mistaken is/was a member of that band. Where are you, Holden Caulfield is another such connection. Possible inspiration for this song may have came from Screeching Weasel's I wrote Holden Caulfield, which was a response to Green Day's Who Wrote Holden Caulfield. Roam reminded me of Screeching Weasel's Night Breed, a song of gentrification where the working class, poor and other undesirables are being forced from their homes to make room for yuppies and Starbucks Coffee. I might also mention that I Don't Wanna Fall In Love With You is very much in the Screeching Weasel/Green Day tradition. Such similar songs include: Green Day's Don't Wanna Fall In Love and Screeching Weasel's I'm Not In Love, Leather Jacket, I Don't Wanna Be Friends, Love and probably a hundred others. These were not the only influences I heard, but they were the most notable.
Enough punk rock history, lets get to the rock 'n' roll. As I said earlier, these guys remind me of my friends that I grew up and played shows with. Their music doesn't beat around the bush with metaphors and other poetic imagery. It's straight to the point with no bullshit. Their activists, lovers and dare I say sentimental? And if that were not enough, they're humorous.
Sleep Tight, Ya Morons represents a large section of the Michigan punk rock scene. This is the music we listened to as we drove across the state to see some unknown band play is some bar in the middle of nowhere. It's the music that you hear blasting from your local bingo hall. The music that the police have continuously tried to shut down and intimidate their listeners. Caulfield presents a double-edged sword with melodies that grab you and lyrics that can sting. And with songs like This One Goes To Eleven I expect good things to come from this band in the future.
You can expect that I will be looking for some of their other albums as well as getting that much needed Girlfriendectemy.
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