250 Word Album Review: Scott Lucas and the Married Men – George Lassos The Moon

Posted on November 16, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

Scott Lucas And The Married Men - George Lassos The Moon

Scott Lucas And The Married Men - George Lassos The Moon gets 4 Stars

Scott Lucas is best know for his aggressive rock band that was established on the heels of grunge in the mid 1990s. You would never know it by listening to his first “solo” record George Lassos The Moon. Lucas is able to explore foreign territory that he never could with Local H on this album and he pulls it off increadably well.

Acoustic guitars and violins replace the distorted guitars of Local H on this record. The sound is much softer on the record by 3 times as many members as Local H as well. It works well though. These polished rock songs don’t make the listener think “side project” they are a different animal all together and show just how talented the “Copacetic” guy is.

The highlights come on the second half of the album with a string of “Crosshairs” “Weatherman” and a great cover of Bob Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street.” The inclusion of the Dylan is really appropriate because it fits the record amazingly well, the album even has a track named “Extra Special Bitter” which could work as a subtitle for Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street.”

The record still rocks, just not to the maximum volume that Lucas’s other band does. There are also several very soft moments like the slow building “Stolen Umbrellas.” After listening to the record it is easy to see why Lucas felt the need to create an outlet for these songs. They wouldn’t fit on a Local H record and were simply too good to hold in.

Key Tracks: “Crosshairs” “Weatherman” “Positively 4th Street”

Scott Lucas and the Married Men website

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Concert Review: Jakob Dylan at The Midland Theater, Kansas City, MO 11/13/11

Posted on November 14, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

Jakob Dylan is undoubtebly best know for his work with his band The Wallflowers. He has two solo records in recent years but they have not found the ears of even a fraction of the people that have heard his hits with The Wallflowers. Dylan would deliver a solid set of solo material in Kansas City on Sunday November 13th. He would pay homage to The Wallflowers as well but his solo material was the feature presentation.

He would devote roughly one third of his set to Wallflowers songs by night’s end. He played a very relaxed 90 minute set featuring 17 songs. Dylan set the tone for the night early by delivering 5 solo songs right out of the gate. The first four featured Dylan on electric guitar giving the normally acoustic songs a bit of new life. Particularly the great “Evil Is Alive and Well” from his first solo album Seeing Things.

In front of the stage was filled with rows of chairs which I always feel is a mistake at a show. This keeps the crowd held back from getting really into the show. I feel the chairs really change the mood of the show. Some got up from their seats during the first half of the show from their chairs but most people remained seated. “6th Avenue Heartache” would follow and give the mundane crowd a big shot of adrenaline. Dylan would change the way he sang the song just enough to keep the crowd from singing along too much. This was very similar to the way Adam Duritz of Counting Crows changes their song “Mr. Jones” A couple times Dylan would even talk out the chorus “…One, Two, Three Marlenas…” instead of singing it.

Including “6th Avenue Heartache” 3 of the next 4 songs would be from Dylan’s Wallflowers catalog and the one solo song was “Something Good This Way Comes” which may be the solo song that would have fit best on a Wallflowers album.

For the bulk of the show Dylan would be armed with his acoustic guitar while his excellent backing band Everest would play electric behind him. A couple highlights from the acoustic set were “On Up The Mountain” and the Wallflowers song “How Good It Can Get” from the criminally underrated record Red Letter Days. Dylan would finally bring nearly the entire crowd to its feet for his most well known song “One Headlight.” He would encourage the crowd to remain standing for an electric version of “They’ve Trapped Us Boys” before heading into the encore. The jangly electric intro and beginning of “They’ve Trapped Us Boys” made it hard not to conjure up thoughts of Jakob’s father busting into “Maggie’s Farm” so many years ago. The song was unquestionably one of the best of the evening.

The encore was a brief two song affair but was very good. The first song was “Down In A Hole” a track off of the A Little Help soundtrack that was very good to hear for the first time. The closer was a driving version of “The Difference” from The Wallflowers masterpiece Bringing Down The Horse. The song was a nice closer to a mostly laid back evening of straight forward rock.

 

Jakob Dylan at The Midland Theater, Kansas City, MO 11/13/11 setlist:

  • Standing Eight Count
  • Lend A Hand
  • All Day and All Night
  • Evil Is Alive and Well
  • Everybody’s Hurting
  • 6th Avenue Heartache
  • Sleepwalker
  • Something Good This Way Comes
  • Three Marlenas
  • Nothin’ But The Whole Wide World
  • On Up The Mountain
  • Will It Grow?
  • How Good It Can Get
  • One Headlight
  • They’ve Trapped Us Boys
  • encore break
  • Down In A Hole (You’ve Got To Stop Digging)
  • The Difference
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Concert Review: Centro-matic / Polica at the Record Bar, Kansas City, MO 11/10/11

Posted on November 11, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

Centro-matic is one of the most unique acts a person can see live. Their sound is distinctly different than any other band out there. Will Johnson’s vocals can’t really be fairly compared to any of his peers. The Johnson led band have created a sound they alone own and for this reason they are worth going to see every time.

The Record Bar is not a big venue. A fair amount of people will make the place seam packed. I have been to several shoulder-to-shoulder events at the place and they aren’t huge crowds. Unfortunately Centro-matic and Polica would fail to even fill the small venue on November 10th. It was a Thursday and sometimes competing shows can effect a crowd but whatever happened, the crowd was too small for a band like Centro-matic.

I knew the evening’s crowd might be small when the will-call list was only three names, including myself. The crowd that was in attendance was very good. The group of 35-45 people (depending on how many were in the restroom or smoking) was very attentive to the bands.Their was very little talking during songs and always a nice response for each song.

The opening band Polica came out with a surprising lineup, singer, bass, and two full drum kits. This instrumentation would remain consistent throughout their set. Polica had a female lead singer putting PJ Harvey vocals over the very beat driven music. The two drum sets really made for an intriguing sound from the band, the two drummers would sometimes play in sync with each other and other times play to compliment each other. The total lack of guitar was actually not very noticeable with the entire sound of the band. It is always interesting to see bands approach their music from a fresh perspective.

Polica at the Record Bar in Kansas City, MO on 11/10/11.

Polica at the Record Bar in Kansas City, MO on 11/10/11.

Centro-matic would take the stage after a short sound check. The crowd would rise from their chairs and tables and gather in front of the sound board which made the audience seam much less sparse than they did for Polica. The people that were present were very excited to hear the band that hasn’t played Kansas City for several years.

Going on at about 11:15 the set would be short lasting only an hour. Centro-matic would manage to blast through 11 songs during the hour and wouldn’t phone in one minute of it. With an expansive catalog like the band has, you never know what they are going to play. You know that you will get to hear “Flashed and Cables” but other than that it will likely be a grab-bag.

They would hit some of their most recent records multiple times during the set, playing at least 2 songs from Fort Recovery, Love You Just The Same and the new and fantastic Candidate Waltz. I would have been perfectly content for the band to play their entire newest record but it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of their stellar records.

Early in the set produced possibly their two best songs to date back-to-back. “Flashes and Cables” was immidiately followed by the powerful new song “Iso-Residue.” The short set also produced several Centro-matic standards such as “Calling Thrematico” and “The Mighty Midshipmen.” Candidate Waltz was hit three times including the two best songs from the record. A show without “Iso-Residue” or “Only In My Double Mind” would have been disappointing. “All The Talkers” was also played from the record.

“Only In My Double Mind” would serve as the final song of the set with no encore. The song was extended and with some nice Will Johnson guitar ad libbing. This lasted a couple minutes while the band backed Johnson with a beat and carefully watched for him to break back into the song. Overall it was a short but satisfying set. Anytime the band comes around they are definitely worth going to see.

The last thing about the show I’d like to say is about Centro-matic’s merchandise. They are one of few bands who really try to have their stuff available to buy. Many bands don’t really carry much with them on the road. Centro-matic had 12 different cds, their new LP, two different shirts, a poster and a deluxe version of Dual Hawks on the merch table.It is so important for a band like Centro-matic to bring their albums to shows. The only way to get most of their stuff in either online or at a show. Fans really appreciate being able to find the music they want to buy; Centro-matic does it right.

Centro matic at the Record Bar in Kansas City, MO on 11/10/11.

Centro matic at the Record Bar in Kansas City, MO on 11/10/11.

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Concert Review: David Bazan / Cowboy Indian Bear – The Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS 11/5/11

Posted on November 6, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

David Bazan / Cowboy Indian Bear at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS 11/5/11

I thought I could write this review before ever seeing the show. Although I wasn’t entirely wrong in that assessment; many things from the Bazan show on November 5th in Lawrence were surprising. The great thing about concerts is the mystery and the unknown of the setlist for me. Other factors are completely unpredictable like the crowd and the sound. So many things are to be taken into account when evaluating a show, you never know what you are going to get.

One big thing is the opening band. This time Bazan had no other band traveling with him so it was up to a local band to Lawrence, Kansas; Cowboy Indian Bear. Cowboy Indian Bear immidiately showed they were no standard band when the first song featured two basses and no guitar. The next song flipped and had two guitars and no bass followed by the third song featuring two drums instead. Their final number of the night would even incorporated three of the four band members playing drums.

The band was surprisingly tight, they had crafted their music well. The lead singing duties were split between two separate members giving the band extra versatility. One vocalist was pretty straight forward in his singing while the other opted for a quite Yim Yames type of singing. The band was very beat driven and served up a nice 40 minute set to a very supportive local crowd.

Cowboy Indian Bear at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS on 11/5/11

Cowboy Indian Bear at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS on 11/5/11

David Bazan would approach the stage next to battle a sound system that I don’t think he was in sync with all night. Not that the music suffered much from it but sometimes it just seems like the band can’t get the exact sound that they want.

My last Bazan show was on June 27th at the Record Bar in Kansas City so I didn’t expect a lot of changes in just over 4 months from that show. His record Strange Negotiations had just been released the first time so I expected a heavy dose of it and got it with 8 selections from it. The Bottleneck show wouldn’t be a lot different with 7 tracks being played from the new record.

Bazan’s band blasted into possibly his most rocking song of his career with Pedro The Lion’s “Second Best” right away. I feel it is always good to set the tone of the show with the first song and this song made no doubts about what his straight-forward three piece band was going to do. The shocking part of the first part of the show was the versatility of it however. The band would play songs from 7 different records before ever doubling up on any album twice. After finally going to the same well twice by playing both “Of Up And Coming Monarchs” and “Big Trucks” from Pedro The Lion’s Its Hard To Find A Friend, they mixed in a great cover. The cover was “Climb That Hill” a deep cut from Tom Petty’s 1996 album She’s The One. It was a shocking song to see a band pull out but fit David Bazan very well.

David Bazan at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS on 11/5/11

David Bazan at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS on 11/5/11

Versatility may have been the goal in the first half of the 19 song set but the second half would focus on the new album Strange Negotiations. At one point 6 of 8 songs were selections from the record. In this stretch was the surprising popular sing-along “Virginia.” A good song but one I though would evaporate from the setlists eventually but after hearing the crowd sing along and their reaction to it I think it is one of the more popular selections from the album. The highlight of the show may have come after “Virginia” when Bazan worked through “Won’t Let Go” and “Don’t Change” also from Strange Negotiations.

The evening would end with a very cool promotion where a name was drawn for a lifetime pass to any Bazan show. They are doing this for each show of this tour. After the drawing Bazan made said they had one song left and at one of his shows that is usually true, he doesn’t play the encore game. The closer was “Criticism as Inspiration” off the hard to find The Only Reason I Feel Secure EP. Closing with a deep cut from an EP was a fitting way to end a show where Bazan would touch on so much of his recorded catalog.

David Bazan at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS 11/5/11 setlist:

  • Second Best (Pedro The Lion)
  • Wolves At The Door
  • Bless This Mess
  • How I Remember
  • I Do (Pedro The Lion)
  • Of Up And Coming Monarchs (Pedro The Lion)
  • Gas & Matches (Headphones)
  • Big Trucks (Pedro The Lion)
  • Climb That Hill (Tom Petty Cover)
  • Bearing Witness
  • Virginia
  • Won’t Let Go
  • Don’t Change
  • People
  • Cold Beer & Cigarettes
  • Eating Paper
  • Magazine (Pedro The Lion)
  • Strange Negotiations
  • Criticism As Inspiration (Pedro The Lion)
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250 Word Album Review: Hallways of Always – Magical Mind

Posted on November 5, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

Hallways Of Always (William Elliott Whitmore and Jenny Hoyston) - Magical Mind

Hallways of Always - Magical Mind gets 3.5 Stars

Hallways of Always is a duo of songwriters Jenny Hoyston and William Elliott Whitmore. William Elliott Whitmore has five excellent solo albums out while Hoyston has one solo album and a few with her band Erase Errata. They split duties on the record between songwriting and instrumentation along with several other musicians. Both songwriters presence is apparent throughout the record.

The record is available as a 6 track EP on CD or an 8 track LP. I read that less than 500 copies were pressed of the LP but it is always difficult to tell on these things. The bottom line is that it is a hard piece of music to seek out but is a nice collection if you can track it down.

“We Miss You” is dominated by Hoyston and “Black Iowa Dirt” is vintage Whitmore to the core. The latter song could have come off any of his solo albums but the rest of the album is a collaborative effort for the most part. Whitmore’s banjo makes an appearance on a few tracks but the album is based around solid acoustic strums. Several other instruments are worked in but it is largely an acoustic album.

The album is very solid but not essential to seek out for most listeners. There is one exception, “You’ve Already Gone” is a haunting duet that is a must hear for any fan of americana music. It is a detailing of a relationship that has fallen apart and is filled with sorrow as opposed to anger.

Key Tracks: “Black Iowa Dirt” “You’ve Already Gone”

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250 Word Album Review: Tom Waits – Bad As Me

Posted on November 1, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

Tom Waits Bad As Me

Tom Waits Bad As Me gets 5 Stars

Tom Waits is on another level than everybody else. His “weirdness” allows him to do things other artists can’t even try. Bad As Me features the same scrap-yard clang his last few albums have but is still every bit as original.

“Chicago” leads the album off on a high note which is typical for any Waits album. The brief 2:15 track is an urgent, building song that ends in Waits screaming “All Aboard!.” The album has several high-energy, jangly songs like “Get Lost” and “Bad As Me.” “Hell Broke Luce” blasts with Waits spewing out vaguely related one-liners to the army drum beats, hammering guitar and even sounds of machine guns.

Waits is also on top of his game in his balladry as well. Waits and songwriting partner and wife Kathleen Brennan craft pleasant soft moments to go with the brash songs on the record. The album has a higher dose of these than Wait’s last proper record Real Gone did. The standouts among these are “Face To The Highway” and “Kiss Me.” “Kiss Me” sounds as if it would fit perfectly on 1976’s Small Change. In the song he begs “Kiss me like a stranger once again…” as the song longs for the excitement that a relationship once had.

There is a deluxe edition that features 3 More Songs as it is titled and features exactly that. The best of which is another ballad “Tell Me.” As we found out on 2006’s Orphans release by Waits, the man doesn’t really have any throw away tracks.

Key Tracks: “Chicago” “Face To The Highway” “Kiss Me” “Hell Broke Luce”

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250 Word Album Review: Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong

Posted on October 30, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

Dawes Nothing Is Wrong

Dawes Nothing Is Wrong Gets 4 Stars

Jackson Browne would be proud. Some records sound like a long lost cousin to another artist, some are direct descendants of other artists. Dawes’ second record Nothing Is Wrong is difficult to not link to Jackson Browne. The music is the same smooth folk-rock that Browne perfected in the mid-70s and the lead vocals of Taylor Goldsmith are a dead on match at times. The band doesn’t try to hide it either, they even get a guest appearance by Jackson Browne himself on one of the highlight tracks “Fire Away.”

This quality actually works for Dawes instead of against them. It gives their sound a familiar quality and makes it all that much more smooth to listen to. The band doesn’t tend to think outside the box on their playing on the record. The music is very good but holds few surprises for the listener. Nothing Is Wrong is like 52 minutes of 70s FM gold.

What sets this record apart is once again similar to Jackson Browne, the lyrics. The album is filled with striking one-liners like “…she says “If I’ve had love in my life then surely this is it” / I say “Anyone who talks like that doesn’t understand one bit” The entire record works as a showcase for lyrics like this.

This is a solid album that doesn’t have many low points. The standout songs are the Neil Young-esque “If I Wanted Someone” and of course “Fire Away” that sounds like a long lost B-side from Jackson Browne’s Running On Empty.

Key Tracks: “Time Spent In Los Angeles” “If I Wanted Someone” “Fire Away”

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Concert Review: Drive-By Truckers / Those Darlins in Omaha, NE, 10-26-11

Posted on October 27, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

Concert Review: Drive-By Truckers / Those Darlins at the Slowdown in Omaha, NE, October 26, 2011.

The Drive-By Truckers are a sure thing. There is no doubt they will deliver a good show every time you go to see them. Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley deliver the raw, heartfelt songs that the crowd years for without much effort. The band appears to enjoy playing live and it show in how good the performances are.

Those Darlins are a much less seasoned band. They haven’t been going long enough to be locked in like the Truckers. With just two records under their belt the Darlins don’t have the luxury of song selection like the Truckers and are locked into the playing the same songs nightly.

Having a strict setlist isn’t a bad thing; it is a great way for a band to get a nice tight sound and create a good flow for the show. Those Darlins members Nikki Darlin and Kelly Darlin actually switch instruments halfway through the set so the songs have to reflect that so they aren’t switching from song to song. The two constants in the band are relax-styled drummer Linwood Regensburg and Jessi Darlin who takes the lead vocals on most tracks and plays guitar.

The Darlins 13 song/40 minute set actually featured all four members taking lead vocals at some point, a rare thing to see at a show. They put on a spirited show and won over several Drive-By Truckers fans who tend to be generous to opening acts anyway.

Nikki Darlin of Those Darlins at the Slowdown in Omaha, NE 10-26-11

Nikki Darlin of Those Darlins at the Slowdown in Omaha, NE 10-26-11

Those Darlins blasted into “Red Light Love” to start their set, you might recognize it from a car commercial that airs on TV a lot, still it is one of their finest songs. It was one of only two songs performed from their debut self-titled LP, the other was “Wild One.” Their newest record Screws Get Loose got hit pretty hard for the rest of the set. Rightfully so, it is a fantastic record. As the set wore on they decided to pull out a new track and a cover. The cover was Garland Jeffrey’s “Wild In The Streets” conducted by drummer Linwood Rogensburg.

The selection of songs was excellent. “$” seemed to have extra punch at the live show and “Waste Away” is a down tempo song that will steal the show anytime it is in the setlist. Lead singer Jessi Darlin was a bit under the weather but was still able to put on a stellar show. Here vocals were noticeably effected but still sounded very good with the raw sound of the band. The only disappointment was that Nikki Darlin’s vocals were too low. This didn’t really effect her song “Hives” early in the set but became noticeable behind big sound of the set’s closer “Nightjogger.” “Nightjogger” is a 45 only release for record store day and has been the bands closing song both times I have seen them. It is a shame the song is not on Screws Get Loose because it may be their very best song.

Those Darlins 10-26-11 setlist from Omaha, NE

  • Red Light Love
  • Hives
  • Wild One
  • Screws Get Loose
  • $
  • Boys
  • Waste Away
  • Mystic Mind
  • Burn Me Up (new song)
  • Wild In The Street (Garland Jeffrey cover)
  • BUMD
  • Be My Bro
  • Nightjogger
My brand new copy of Screws Get Loose by Those Darlins on translucent gold vinyl on the turntable.

My brand new copy of Screws Get Loose by Those Darlins on translucent gold vinyl on the turntable.

The Drive-By Truckers were up to bat next and came out to a slightly smaller crowd than their last two trips to Omaha. Not that they drew a small crowd but they managed to sell out the Slowdown the last two times and October 26th had noticeably more room on the floor than the previous shows. Part of this is because it was a Wednesday night, that always effect the size of the crowds. Sure Halloween is a few days away still but the person wearing the Team Zissou uniform is either the coolest guy in the room if you get it or some idiot wearing a red beanie.

The Truckers fans were still in attendance though and the band played to that type of crowd. Not that the band really has “hits” to avoid playing but it seemed as if several deep cuts made the setlist. Pulling out gems like “Goode’s Field Road” and My Sweet Annette” made the attendees forget about the absence of “18 Wheels of Love” “Lookout Mountain” and “Women Without Whiskey.”

Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers at the Slowdown in Omaha, NE on 10-26-11

Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers at the Slowdown in Omaha, NE on 10-26-11

Patterson Hood came out in stride as pulled “Daddy Learned To Fly” out of his bag of tricks. Mike Cooley, who now almost has a split billing with Patterson in the band, would respond with one of his finest songs “Gravity’s Gone” a rare song performed from the A Blessing & A Curse record. Hood and Cooley now volley signing responsibilities back and forth which really gives their performances an enjoyable dynamic.

Every now and then their pattern is broke by bass player Shonna Tucker taking over on vocals. When Shon-T stepped up to the mic for the only time of the night I must admit that “I Hear You Humming” was not the song I expected her to bust out. The song was a nice soft, slow departure from the rugged styles of Cooley and Hood.

Mike Cooley would really break out his rock catalog soon after with performances of “Birthday Boy” “Get Downtown” and “3 Dimes Down.” The highlight of the night for me was mixed in-between those songs with Patterson singing “Drag The Lake Charlie” an addictive song from the band’s 2010 release The Big To-Do.

Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers at the Slowdown in Omaha, NE on 10-26-11

Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers at the Slowdown in Omaha, NE on 10-26-11

The post-encore break set from the Drive-By Truckers is always a little more predictable. The only surprise was “Marry Me” a Cooley song that they hadn’t done the last about 4 times I’ve seen the band. The other closers were the standards “Zip City” “Let There Be Rock” and “People Who Died.” Not that the songs were boring by any means. If you have ever seen the band do the Jim Carroll Band song “People Who Died” you know that it is by far the most intense song that they do. They were joined on the song by the blonde Darlin, Kelly who did much more than go through the motions while sitting in with the band. Kelly really put full effort into the song and pushed the limits of the borrowed guitar she was playing. After that, it was obvious the show was over, some shows have the audience wanting just a little more but on this night the Truckers thoroughly exhausted the weeknight crowd.

Drive-By Truckers 10-26-11 setlist from Omaha, NE

  • Daddy Learned To Fly
  • Gravity’s Gone
  • The Man I Shot
  • Where The Devil Don’t Stay
  • Go-Go Boots
  • Uncle Frank
  • Goode’s Field Road
  • A Ghost To Most
  • I Hear You Humming
  • Buckets of Mercy
  • Cartoon Gold
  • My Sweet Annette
  • Birthday Boy
  • Your Daddy Hates Me
  • Get Downtown
  • Drag The Lake Charlie
  • Self-Destructive Zones
  • Used To Be A Cop
  • 3 Dimes Down
  • encore break
  • Zip City
  • Let There Be Rock
  • Marry Me
  • People Who Died (Jim Carroll Band cover)
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Lyric of the Day: Wilco – “Handshake Drugs”

Posted on October 24, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

“It’s okay for you to say what you want from me, I believe that’s the only way for me to be, exactly what you want me to be.”

Lyrics by Jeff Tweedy, the song is “Handshake Drugs” from Wilco’s 2004 record “A Ghost Is Born”

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Career In Album Artwork: The Decemberists

Posted on October 20, 2011 by VocalsOnTop

The Decemberists have a total of 6 proper records out now. They are an extremely good band and are very arty. It is a shame for such an arty band to have below average album covers as I believe they do. I’m not crazy about any of them. Castaways & Cutouts (my least favorite album by them) seems to have the best artwork with the souls escaping the ship. The King Is Dead is good but boring. The Hazards of Love is clever but no eye-catching.

The Crane Wife is maybe a little under-represented here but its admittedly not great.The other two aren’t really worth a mention. I hope a band like the Decemberists that puts out good records can start putting out better record covers, they can be such a large part of an album. Here is a chart of my list:

Career In Album Artwork The Decemberists

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