You & Me by The Walkmen

You & Me by The Walkmen has been called something of a return to form by The Onion and Pitchforkmedia (the only reviews I regularly read). This is kind of ridiculous when you consider that this is only the band's 4th album in less than ten years of existence. Sure, One Hundred Miles Off failed to capture the same magic that made Bows and Arrows such an amazing album, but OHMO certainly wasn't a bad album, and it's not like lead singer Hamilton Leithauser started to rap or anything.

All that being said, One Hundred Miles Off was a bit of a disappointment. Not because there were any bad songs on the album (although a part of me kind of hates "Tenley Town"), but because in an attempt to duplicate Bows and Arrows, the album fell horribly short. And how could it have done anything else? Bows and Arrows featured three of the strongest and most intense rock songs of the past decade ("The Rat", "Little House of Savages" and "Thinking of a Dream I Had"). Whenever One Hundred Miles Off tried to duplicate the strength of these songs, it fell far short by comparison. Rather One Hundred Miles Off succeeded best when the band decided to relax and dial down the intensity as they did on their opening and closing tracks "Louisiana" and "Another One Goes By".

So what about the new one? I'm three paragraphs into this review and I haven't said anything. What I was getting at is that here The Walkmen have figured out that they aren't going to be able to repeat their strongest moments. Instead, they try to move their sound forward with varying degrees of success. The relaxed tone (and length) of this album invites the most comparison with their debut album Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, but while both albums are among The Walkmen's quietest work, You & Me occasionally still soars the same emotional heights of Bows and Arrows.

Last fall I saw The Walkmen perform about half of the songs on this album. Two songs stuck out at the show and also stand out on the album: "In the New Year" and "New Country". The first song is driven by an organ melody that when combined with Hamilton Leithauser's vocals creates one of the most memorable tunes of their career. While it never matches the intensity of "The Rat" or "Thinking of a Dream I Had", it still packs a strong punch. It succeeds by not trying to duplicate the relentless energy of those earlier songs. "In the New Year" frequently calms/quiets down before picking itself back up again.

"New Country" represents something new in my enjoyment of The Walkmen: a quiet (the song features only Paul Maroon's stellar guitarwork and Hamilton Leithauser's singing) song that stands out above all of the rock songs. I remember seeing that The Walkmen not only opened for The Pogues in concert but also have covered "The Auld Triangle" in concert. You can hear the influence in "New Country" which sounds more like a folk song played with electric guitar than a typical Walkmen song. Other quiet moments on the album are quite memorable, specifically "Red Moon" and the closing "If Only it Were True".

And the rest of the album? Some songs are truly forgettable, a problem I haven't had with other Walkmen albums. But then again, a lot of the melodies on this album stay in my head far longer than I would ever have expected. Even if they aren't instantly memorable, songs like "The Blue Route" and "Long Time Ahead of Us" sound and feel almost instantly familiar.

This album won't win The Walkmen any new fans from their detractors, but those of us who always find something to enjoy in ther unique sound will find plenty to enjoy. Four albums into their career, they are still playing with the same vintage equipment, making the same sounds. For me, it still hasn't gotten old, and it still offers promise for the future.

Diary of a Superfan: Oneida, Friday August 29th, South Street Seaport

This post serves two purposes: It is a short (cause the concert was short) concert review of the Oneida show I saw last night. It is also the introduction to my new series, Diary of a Superfan.

I would consider myself a superfan of several bands. Oneida is definitely one of them. How do I define a superfan? I guess several factors are important: purchasing every piece (or at least make a good effort as we'll discuss when I get to Acid Mothers Temple) of recorded music by the band in question, no matter how irrelevant redundant or bad, attending concerts as frequently as possible (for example: seeing a band two nights in the row when their tour hits your town/state, or in the case of local bands, seeing them every chance you get), and knowing irrelevant details about the band like what kind of instruments they use, the first, last names and aliases of band members and clothing styles/mannerisms.

I am definitely an Oneida superfan. While I didn't start listening to them until I purchased their 2003 release Secret Wars, I have been a very devoted listener. I have purchased every album/single/ep I could find, including their awful and not easy to find first album that isn't really an Oneida album (only one of the members of the current lineup plays on the album). And while I only saw them in concert once when I lived in Austin, missing a second chance because of a severe bout of depression that sucked the joy out of just about everything except sleeping, I have seen nearly every single Oneida show in New York since I moved here in the summer of 2006.

I'm sure there are people who have seen Oneida more often (like this guy Dave that I see at nearly every show who's actually played in the band a couple of times), and people who love Oneida albums more than I do (for instance, I find The Wedding to be a mostly dull affair, but I've been told that there are people who regard it as something of a masterpiece), but I am not claiming to be THE superfan. Merely a superfan.

And why am I such a superfan of Oneida? God, I don't know where to start. I guess the short answer is that I think they are one of the best rock bands around today. And except for a few shows where they were clearly phoning it in, Oneida puts on one of the most consistently entertaining and interesting live shows around.

Unfortunately, last night, they weren't given much of a chance to do this. Oneida's set was very short. They took the stage at 8:30 and were off shortly after 9 (I think New York has pretty strict noise ordinances for outdoor shows. At a place like The South Street Seaport which isn't even close to apartment buildings, this is kind of ridiculous and infuriating) thanks to two openers that outlasted their welcome and then kept playing for ten minutes. While eating dinner, my girlfriend and I could hear Endless Boogie. At a distance, they sounded pretty good. But I'd seen them up close once and remembered nothing but mindless blues-rock soloing.

After Endless Boogie was Raphael Saadiq. This was probably the most miserable forty-five minutes of my life. Well that's an exaggeration. Most of the time we wandered around the area. Not only was Saadiq's soul music especially dull, but the guy didn't even have a good voice. Unfortunately, when we came back around the time we thought he'd be done, he was STILL PLAYING. And then after hearing people cheer he said something like, "Do you want one more song?" and I couldn't stop myself from yelling, "no!" AND THEN HE PLAYED THREE MORE SONGS. In case you can't tell, I was very angry and upset that the headliner's set got cut short and rushed because the openers played too long.

So how was Oneida? Well they only played two songs. One was Pre-Teen Weaponry, their new three movement album. The second was "Double Lock Your Mind". Pre-Teen Weaponry was especially strong last night. I've now heard it live three times, and last night's rendition was clearly the strongest. Kind of wish that version was on the album to be honest. The first two parts were stellar as usual, but I especially noticed louder and stronger guitars for the second. I could also hear Jane sing (I couldn't the last time). The third part is usually the most frustrating, and I tend to endure it more than I enjoy it, but at one point last night they actually got a pretty strong riff going. Hopefully they'll do more of that in the future.

Bobby had a new keyboard with him, and it was definitely way too low in the mix. I'm hoping this was a problem with the sound system and not his new equipment. This was especially problematic during the final part of DLYM when only Bobby and Millions (drummer for those of you that aren't familiar) were on the stage. Otherwise, it was a great but way too short performance. Not one of the memorable ones, but I don't blame them. They didn't have enough time to play, and the metal fence six feet in front of the stage didn't do much to encourage intimacy. And the bald douche guy introducing the band and talking about what a "crazy" night it was really grated on my nerves. River to River does a really good job of making me want to pay to see live music. Maybe it's all part of some sort of plan.

Sunday August 24, 2008, McCarren Park: Yo La Tengo, Titus Andronicus and Ebony Bones

This is probably (I only say probably because we've been told that each year would be the last year that Coney Island would be open for a few years now) the last free Sunday show at McCarren Park. The promoters seem really upset about it. I couldn't really be bothered to care. Free shows will happen somewhere else I guess. But since this was the last free show, and since the headliner was such a well known band (Yo La Tengo was the headliner. Someone at the show was confused on this point, so I just wanted to spell it out in case anyone was unclear), we (yes, I go to all shows with my girlfriend. Deal with it) were expecting total unmanageable madness. We both aren't fans of large crowded spaces, and this looked like it would be the worst one.

When we arrived, what little optimism I had been feeling evaporated. The line went all the way around the venue. I had my doubts about whether or not we'd get in. But we stuck it out. And in the end it was well worth it. We walked into the venue right when the first band started to play. We quickly made our way to the front and were able to secure a pretty good spot. We didn't know the groups name at the time. Turns out it was the British Soap actress Ebony Thomas AKA Ebony Bones. Thomas was dressed in a pretty ridiculous and colorful outfit (just google her. I won't be able to come up with a better description than that) and wearing eyelash extensions and glitter. She had two backup singers that rarely danced in sync. The band was made up of drums, bass, guitar that was never loud enough and a keyboard/trumpet player in a mask and a hat.

Outlandish outfits aside, the band was pretty tight. And it was hard to find any fault in Thomas or her energetic backup singers. The music was a strange blend of soul and dance punk that wouldn't have worked without such strong vocals. And the band was pretty imaginative too. But what sealed the deal for us was Ebony Bones herself. At one point, she urged the crowd to move to the left and then the right. This attempt to get the overheated crowd to dance fell flat, but what impressed me was how her smile never wavered. There were two British kids towards the front going nuts. Maybe that was enough support. Whatever it was, we were pleasantly surprised by the level of the performance, and I'm kind of disappointed that there no albums for me to buy.

Up next was Titus Andronicus which was for me the main attraction. After catching the final twenty minutes of their set at an outdoor show in July, and falling in love with their debut album The Airing of Grievances (more on this later), I was very eager for the full Titus Andronicus experience. I might have been in the minority on this. Some asshole in the line behind us complained that they were horrible at some show he had seen, and during the set, some underweight hipster asshole behind said, "hurry up asshole."

But like the teenage friend that introduced Titus Andronicus said, those people can "suck it" as far as I'm concerned. I sort of understand where they are coming from: Titus Andronicus are not a "tight" live band (dropped and unplugged microphones are a common occurrence), but anyone who can't get swept away by their energy simply has no soul. And maybe Patrick Stickles stage antics can be a bit much, but I was amused to watch him cut off his beard during a song.

Titus Andronicus was exactly as awesome as I thought they'd be. No less and no more. The set included 3 out of 4 of my favorite album tracks (Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ, Joset of Nazareth's Blues, No Future Part 1) and a stirring rendition of "The Enemy is Everywhere" that didn't suffer much from not including the sign with the chorus (it's the same as the title). Patrick Sickles invited his girlfriend on stage to help sing "No Future Part 1", and while we couldn't hear her very well, it was still pretty cute. And of course they closed with "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ", easily the best song of the year.

And that's when we should have left. I know a lot of people who'd be horrified that I went to a Yo La Tengo show for the openers. but there you have it. I've seen them before. I have four of their albums (Painful, And then nothing turned itself inside out, I can hear the heart beating as one and I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass), and while I find nothing to complain about in their music, I also find very little that's especially engaging. They opened with "Mr. Tough", a song that's perfectly fine for listening to while cleaning the apartment or fixing dinner, but nothing I'd ever be able to devote much attention to. And to be honest, that's how I felt about anything that didn't involve Ira Kaplan freaking out on one of his many guitars. So we got bored and tired and left.

I guess I could get into more detail about why Yo La Tengo fails to move me. I've thought up countless reasons: How they are living proof talent and creativity aren't enough to make great music. How Ira Kaplan's guitar playing may be great but still lacks the effortless beauty of my favorite guitarists (Kawabata Makoto, Alan Sparhawk, Pete Townshend, etc.). How Titus Andronicus' songs move the band and the audience to shout the words while Ira Kaplan seems to be yelling to create energy that simply isn't in his songs.

But maybe I'm just some pretentious hipster who refuses to give them a chance. What do I know? So I'll leave it to my girlfriend who really hadn't heard any of these bands before (she had heard a bit of Titus Andronicus prior to the show, but not that much) and said to me after the show that after hearing so much excitement to Yo La Tengo and finally hearing them, she thought "That's it? Really?"

UPDATE: Apparently Titus Andronicus joined Yo La Tengo to play a Misfits cover at the end of the show. That would have been cool to see. Yo La Tengo's talent and Titus Andronicus' energy would make a great combination.

August 17, 2008-Central Park Summer Stage- Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

Did I mention that I don't like free summer shows? At least McCarren Park is close to me. No such luck with the Central Park Summer stage which is all the way in the upper east side. Also, McCarren Park has a nice feature where when the sun sets in the evening, shade slowly creeps from the back. There is no shade at the Central Park Summer Stage. At least there wasn't any this past Sunday when we went up there to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

I deliberately arrived early because of a previous experience where I tried to see Amadou and Mariam and could not even get into the stage because the place was so crowded. Unfortunately, this meant we had to wait through the Menahan Street Band. In a nice air conditioned bar where my girlfriend and I could have shared a drink and sat down, they might not have been so bad. Unfortunately, we were in the overcrowded Summer Stage, trying to save ourselves a spot near the front in the hot sun and not in the mood for an instrumental smooth-jazz/funk group. Except for the Rocky theme (which was still kind of lame), nothing they played was memorable.

It seemed like a solid 70% of the members of the group were also in the Dap Kings. I guess these guys really need Sharon Jones and Bosco Bassman to light a fire under their asses. Because there was nothing boring about Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Well the warm up part of the show is kind of annoying and goes on about one song too long for me. It was still unquestionably better than the opening act.

And Sharon? She was great as usual. Even if she had been performing this music 40 years ago (and really --Janet Jackson cover aside, the Dap Kings sound like they stopped listening to music sometime shortly after 1970), she never would have been a diva. At 4' 11" with her looks, she just doesn't have the image. Which is a shame since she definitely knows how to use both her voice and her body to full effect. While the Dap Kings remain stationary for most of the show (the horn/woodwind section dances in sync in front of their microphones when they aren't playing), Sharon Jones runs back and forth across the entire stage. Sometimes she's "struts", others she dances like a crazy-woman.

I honestly don't know why this band hasn't recorded and released a live album yet. Given their love for James Brown (the set opened with "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "There Was a Time" was played near the end of the set), this seems like an obvious move. Their James Brown covers keep up with the originals. Even their original songs sound infinitely better live than on the album. The albums simply don't capture Sharon Jones' insane level of energy. They recently played a show at the Apollo. Maybe that will be turned into a live album. Or maybe they're worried that no one will buy any more studio albums if they get a live album. It's the only one I want to buy.

Pre-Teen Weaponry by Oneida

Here it is. Supposedly three years in the making, The New Oneida album. I'd been waiting about 2 years since their last one.

They introduced this song at a show in April, saying "this is our new album. Eat it." What followed was a monster 20-30 minute jam with three distinct parts. All three are replicated on this album. Part one sounds like about five other unrecorded Oneida songs. This isn't a bad thing. Bo Diddley was at his most successful when he recycled that Bo Diddley beat. And Oneida is at their best when they're playing what I will call the Oneida Pulse. This involves Kid Millions laying down a punishing beat on the drums while Bobby plays a steady throbbing bassline on the organ. It's usually left to Jane to help us tell the songs to part (the 2nd guitarist tends to stay somewhere in the background pretty consistently). Sometimes he plays angry (I will Haunt You, Ghost in the Room), sometimes he plays calm (The River...). Unfortunately, on this song, he does neither. Sure, there's a riff in there somewhere, but for the most part, the guitars are just there for the background.

A slow bassline comes in towards the end of the song (actually, it's too close to the middle for my tastes) that slowly winds things down. The last time I saw them play this live, Bobby decided to tear things up on the bass guitar (the bass in question looked like it had been stolen from a metal band). No such luck on the album. The song fades to noise before spilling into part 2. While part 2 doesn't have the same frenzied energy as part 1, it is probably more consistent. Here, the song slows down dramatically and is driven by a slow ominous bassline. The guitars finally pickup, and we even get some singing. Just don't ask me what they're (they being Jane, but you'll never be able to figure out who's singing on any of their albums), singing. While less visionary (it conjures heavy 70s stoner metal), this part is still a fun ride....and then we get noise leading us to...

Part 3 is a giant downer, live and on the album. This is where Oneida indulges their worst noodling tendencies. Basically, the band just plays until they get bored and quit. They never really develop any sort of melody worth following. And every time it sounds like they're about to really let loose, they stop. A few minutes from the end, Jane checks out almost entirely whenever they play it live. Unfortunately, Bobby and Millions can amuse each other long after everyone else has gotten bored and gone home. That being said, part 3 comes closer to success on the album than it does live.

I realize this sounds like a pretty mediocre review. And maybe it is. I know this band is capable of so much more both live and in the studio. That being said, I still haven't grown tired of this album more than a week after purchasing it, and if they open their next show with Pre-Teen Weaponry like they have the past two times, I'll be right up front dancing the entire time. It's fucking Oneida. How could I complain?

All three are replicated on the album.
It's just one long three-part song. Each part is somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes long. Part one should be the most exciting. This is the throbbing jam that has become a trademark of their live shows. Not this one necessarily. They have about five songs that follow this formula. Bobby plays a solid bassline on his organ, Kid Millions lays down an amazing propulsive beat and Jane and the other guitarist lay on the noise or killer riffs. Only this one lacks the riffs. Instead, everything is buried under noise. Not that that's a bad thing.

August 3, 2008, McCarren Park, King Kahn, Deerhunter and Black Lips

I arrived too late to see the Tall Firs. I’ve never heard them, so I really don’t know if I missed anything. I was only interested in seeing King Kahn and The Black Lips. Unfortunately Deerhunter was sandwiched between the two acts. The other time I had seen Deerhunter I remembered it as a perfectly pleasant experience. However, since then, I’ve found their album utterly boring and their lead singer extremely obnoxious and pretentious in interviews. He seems to suffer from the gay and never had sex-chip-on-the-shoulder complex. Being horribly ugly (sorry dude) because of a medical condition, has also left him somewhat bitter about his lack of sex life. At least that’s how he seemed to me.

But I had heard good things about King Kahn, and my memory of The Black Lips at Siren last year was mostly positive despite being so far away that their music became some weird psychedelic rock experiment. So I was somewhat excited at the prospect of being able to fully experience both bands live for free.

Well almost fully. We arrived what seemed like a few songs into King Kahn’s set. This judgment was made based on how much time he spent on stage. Based on the energy he showed, I felt like we had arrived towards the end of the set. Despite about 20 seconds where he did a pretty cool dance that involved falling back on his hands and kicking his feet out, he didn’t really move around that much.

What he did was yell at people and throw stuff. And by stuff, I mean rotten bananas. It was kind of gross, and it didn’t endear him to my girlfriend who isn’t much of a fan of litter. She also had a problem with him yelling “motherfucker” at people in between songs since we were at a park and parents with their children were nearby. I don’t share her opinion, but his behavior did speak to a larger problem: he seemed to think he was a star in the league of James Brown and Mick Jagger, but musically, he was no James Brown or Rolling Stones. Even his stage presence was weak. He simply didn’t have any energy except when he was yelling at people and throwing things.

I was pretty much ready to go home by the time they were done. I didn’t think I could take being irritated by another band while waiting for the Black Lips. Fortunately though, Deerhunter gave a subdued but strong performance. Bradford Cox wasn’t even in drag. Instead, he introduced the band’s new (female) cheerleader-uniform clad guitarist, saying “she wears the dress now” or something like that. Other than that, Deerhunter were the dose of normalcy and calm that I desperately needed at this point.

The band played a disciplined set that featured very few breaks for audience banter. I don’t think they were anything remarkable, but something about their relaxed and positive energy that was the perfect antidote to King Kahn. The drummer looked calm and determined (and very young) throughout the set, the bassist and male guitarist seemed to have small quiet smiles on their faces the whole time, and the new guitarist was extraordinarily mellow for a cheerleader –the only exception being at the end of their set when she did cartwheels and flashed her bandmates (she was wearing shorts underneath).

Bradford Cox is still a surprising frontman. The last time I had seen Deerhunter, he layered his vocals in effects and did not play guitar. This time, the vocals were clean, and he appeared to be shouldering lead guitar duties. The transition served him well. For someone as awkward looking as him, he is wonderfully relaxed and confident on stage. At one point, he For the finale, he took his vocal microphone and placed it next to his guitar amp, unleashing a blanket of noise that almost smothered the rest of the instruments. But the band kept playing, taking their time before giving up the stage. Sure it was excessively loud, but I found the finale relaxing and pleasant.

These feelings were gone almost as soon as The Black Lips started to play. I had no complaints about the band. Just the fans. Maybe I’m getting old, but all the pushing and jumping around just got on my nerves. Which was a shame, because they would have been a fun band to dance to. For the first time I found myself moving progressively further backwards of my own free will while listening to a band I liked. Once we reached the shade, the show was a lot more enjoyable. We also had more room and were spared the craziness.

I’ll be seeing one last show (maybe) at McCarren Park before they shut it down for good. They’re going to remodel the park and actually fill the pool with water in the summer. I guess a lot of people aren’t happy about that, but after standing there all day in the hot sun (there’s no shade until 6pm when the sun starts to set. And to reach it, you have to move towards the rear), I wanted nothing more than to be immersed in water. I had to settle for a shower.