Because we’re equal parts exploiters (not just punks with decent haircuts) and mostly men over here at the mighty Review Stalker Music Blog. We like decent looking women who can sing and do pretty chill alternative covers every once in awhile. Here’s two summer jams by Kendra Morris doing “Miss You” by The Rolling Stones and “Karma Police”. We knew it would come to this one day. Nobody can write a good song so they they wrap themselves on a lesser known artist’s “hit” songs. Granted if we saw her singing at an outdoor bar in the Hamptons or for a wedding band we would be pretty impressed. Don’t get me wrong she does a real good job on both. Good instrumentation. These kind of tracks are good in particular when you are stuck at block party and everybody hates your music anyway. This here is white lady blues I tell them. It’s all good. My damn neighbors only know one song by Thom Yorke anyway… Enjoy.
It’s Saturday and sometimes music just collides. We get a lot of crap all day long and we politely say we’ll check it out. We do believe in that courtesy. We know from experience pushing our own damn band though most blogs and clubs just don’t give a fuck to do even that; because they have it worse. So the importance of the words you use to describe your group better ring big ass bells or we’re hard pressed and too damn stressed to find the time to have the pleasure of listening to a band we might actually like. We might forget 5 seconds later too. Let alone after 100’s of release emails we’re churning through on the bus. If we’re awake or after after a cocktail or two. But never mind our issues.
MUSIC REVIEW: One trigger is the Album itself. With a title like Mechanics & Energetics of Stilt-Running which clocks in at 21 minutes by the EndAnd. Says hey they have cut out the parts you don’t need. It’s noise rock/punk the description goes. It’s better we say than this. Schizophrenic for sure but the kind of noise metal milieu riffs that start off with anthems and give you heart-attacks after a long run with the cops chasing you. The good shit that you can feel in your ferrel bones. Apparently they are popular but what the hell do we know. We work in a cave up on the 14th floor. Too tired to Click play but when we do make the time we’re glad we did. A bunch of guys from Brooklyn, blah blah blah. They have a fuck-load of Facehooker fans etc but that shit is meaningless if you can’t deliver; in particular if you get to name your price. The opener “At Fault’s End” and third tune “The Detach” are stand-out tracks. Start there if you too are in hurry like us. “I’m One Of Three” has this messy Sorry Ma forgot to take out the trash thing. Anyway… we don’t care too much for some of quick tapping kick-drum prog stuff because it’ starts to sound like Alice in Chains trying too hard but as a whole this band is great. I’m sure it’s all awesome live. Thanks to James from I.M.P for sending this along without people like him everything would be silent and dull around here.
RIYL: Botch, Iceage, Propagandhi
Next up is band we’ve been following for years. Sludge pop-punk this guy said from The Young Leaves back in 2009 and Christopher from Holliston, Mass has not gone away from the original thing we liked at first when got an actual CDR in the mail. Yes! We say to this latest single Alive and Well/The Love Song Single. If you like loud songs with more melody in one chord than your average boy band. Then give this trio a free download. They even have the token chick bass player which we like to see. But seriously, grow some internet balls. They are coming to NJ on 6/28 and 6/29 Smithtown, NY. So check out some live music. Get the Deets from them my dear facehookers on their page and if you are not already fuckin’ stalk us back already. What the hell is wrong with you.
GOOD CAUSES: We all go through the exit door at some point in our short journey on earth with the living and sometime that shit just happens too fast for some and we leave some folks behind. Being sensitive to this fact Steven Vineis has put together a compilation benefiting the late and great Mr. Jason Molina formerly of the Magnolia Electric Co which you should just buy now at songsmolina.bandcamp.com
He recorded under several names at Electrical Audio in Chicago but in essence the output was all his energy and ability to crank out tunes at an amazing pace. Not just any basic singer songwriter stuff but the stuff that can make you cry. Mr. Albini had some very kind words on the news of his passing back in March of this year.
I loved hearing Jason Molina sing. He was a genius at turning a phrase and making it into something more than the words in it. Jason was almost supernaturally prolific, and several times I watched him write an album’s worth of songs in a weekend, recording them on the spot. Much of his recorded output with Magnolia Electric Co is the evidence of him and the band playing his songs for the very first time. It’s amazing, really, that it was any good at all, much less so touching and fully realized.
Jason was a unique talent and I will miss him. My heart goes out to all his friends and family, all of you I’ve met have been good people who did well by Jason.
-Steve Albini
Here is the first song on the compilation by Eastern Anchors.
The compilation is a mixed bag of covers and dedications by 39 bands for a $10 suggested donation. All proceeds go to his family to help them cope.
SINGLE REVIEW: We love any rock music and all things that remotely mirror bands we love. Here’s a new single with the vocals drenched in reverb and delay called “The Kid” via DeltaSonic Records. In this case these five young lads from Liverpool peaking our interest are called The Dirty Rivers. They are what we want to see with the next generation of musicians carrying the cross. They look like babies straight outa of school in this video single but sound astonishingly like Jesus and Mary Chain meets The Black Angels. Not entirely derivative of that sound since they are English (The Uk kind) under the black clothing and old VCR late night tv noise and intentionally bad graphics is a heavy psychedelic nod to a paisley era garage rock manchester and warehouse scene. Imitated well also by the Anton Newcombe’s, BRMC and Dandy Warhols of the world. The guitar riffage is strong with these guys though so totally check them out. Just keep the tambourine or maracas out of the singers hands and you will be headed in the right direction.
INTERVIEW: He might not mention Johnny Marr or Ed from Ohio as his guitar heroes but Mr. Doug Gillard is one of those guys who you should just know as such. For Christ’s sake just one glance at his wiki page none the less re-affirms that the guitar has infinite possibilities in the right hands. A few years ago he put his 2nd solo album called Call from Restricted and is now working on a follow-up in-between touring and playing with Nada Surf and producing like the Eternal Summers and playing with a bunch of different bands. His pedigree is as rich as it gets. You know that killer epic 90’s song “I Am a Tree” on Mag Earwhig(Matador). He wrote that tune with some bro named Gem then recorded it with Pollard where he did a stint in GBV between 1996-97 with his band mates Cobra Verde. In addition to Death of Samantha; plus a shit load of other appearances. He has a single out too which you should just own. He took the time out of crazy schedule to put pen to paper to a few caffeine inspired questions. So here you go.
RS: Who and where are you recording your new album>
DG: I’m recording it here in NYC with Travis Harrison at Serious Business, and in Austin with Louie Lino at his Resonate studio, with George Duron on drums there.
I’m also in the process of producing the newest LP by Eternal Summers. Louie Lino & I recorded them in Austin, and I played a little on the songs, helped them co-write a section here & there.
RS: A we never heard of the Eternal Summers until we saw a photo posted of them with you; too many bands not enough time really. Very cool you’re working and producing with them. We did notice the big pro-tools monitor display on your FB page. Do you miss recording to analog or has digital made life easier?
DG: I miss analog a bunch, but it is easier to record digitally, and I’ve come to expect the visual of the files as well – helps you see sections of the song to punch in at, etc…
Analog vs. digital isn’t the debate anymore for most. Rather, its “How does this get distributed and heard?” RS: Lots of words of wisdom. We wholeheartedly agree. Sometimes we think the concept of demoing tunes for a album has gone out the window for new bands. Do you think it’s too easy for up and coming bands to record their music?
DG: Yes. Though I do demo most of my songs, and get too lazy to want to play them again in the studio, so I fly them in from my garageband demos a lot. Its not just laziness- its also knowing I wouldn’t capture the same spark if I replayed it. RS: Do you think they skip right to album and lack a song writer process? Of starting with an idea and then proofing on 4track?
DG: Not sure what you mean by this question, but everyone has a different process. I do think that not enough people try to avoid typical chord progressions, melodies or add interesting basslines to their songs. They should live with the song idea for a bit, and then see if it needs something else. Most times it does.
RS: Right who the hell knows what a 4track is. We personally make music when we’re all alone. What is your song writing process been like?
DG: I always have riffs or parts that I record or voice memo. Sometimes I will marry some of those together, or sometimes a complete song will come to me wholly. It varies, and I’m glad it does. The best are ones that happen by imagining or singing, & I haven’t arrived at it by having a guitar on. I like figuring the chords out later, knowing what they should be beforehand, as opposed to knowing what the moves on the fretboard are as I make it up. Those times are rare, though.
RS: What was your first guitar? Mine was a taped up tennis racket that I played air guitar along to van halen II.
DG: I had some small toy guitars when i was really little, then at 5, I got an almost full size plastic guitar with steel strings from Sears that had the brand name “Emenee”. We had a reel-to-reel tape recorder in the family for trading audio letters with my sister who was living in Germany, so I would use it to record and write songs, until i was about 9.
RS: Does you new record have a title and planned release date?
DG: No title yet, and no release date, as of yet. I’d like to see if a label would like to put my LP out as well.
RS: Any special guests planned?
DG: Aside from Travis Harrison and George Duron both on drums & maybe Sally Crewe on a couple backing vocals, none that I know of just yet. My pal Kendall Meade may be tapped for some bv’s. If my last single “Breaking In Two” makes the record, there’s a very special guest in NJ native Erik Paparozzi on that song.
RS: Do you plan on playing some new tunes in may?
DG: Yes- hoping to have at least 2 ready.
RS: Cool we are very psyched for the show! Any covers you would like to play?
DG: Sometimes i do a slow, glammy “Boney Maronie”. Used to do “Some Might Say” by Oasis and “Stop Me” by the Smiths, and in 2009 we did Buzzcocks’ “Autonomy”. Probably one or none at the Asbury show, though.
RS: Nice my band rarely gets our act together to do cover songs. We’d love to do a nada surf song but they are so perfect. We figure so why mess it up. But what has it been like recently touring and recording with Matthew Caws & the guys?
DG: I love playing in Nada Surf. They’re the best guys to hang around & be on tour with, every one of ’em. And they choose crew people that are really nice & good folks, always. And that’s important. I love the songs, and Matthew & I are around the same age, and have a lot of musical tastes in common, Oh, and we’re both WASPS. Wait, we never even talk about that! The tours went great, and that band has sown the seeds of great friends & fans all over, so its always a positive atmosphere wherever we go. Looking forward to recording our next LP within the next couple years. Ira Elliot is an amazing drummer, and also my bandmate in Bambi Kino, the Hamburg-era Beatles band we have. (We play only the covers they played in clubs from ’60-’62).
RS: Seems as a working musician and the number of groups you have been in over the years it surpasses what any one person would strive for in their musical career. What keeps you inspired?
DG: I always have more music to get out. Always more songs I’ve written that need to be heard. That’s the main driving force with me , always has been, but I also love co-writing with people (Mascott/Kendall Meade, Sally Crewe, and Eternal Summers recently) and seeing what I can add to someone’s song idea. I’m a pretty good bridge writer when someone needs one. The other part of course is that I always enjoy adding guitar textures or solos to others’ work.
RS: We should have been more careful to ask you this but here it goes. Who are your guitar heroes
DG: Oh man, too too many. James Honeyman-Scott(The Pretenders) has always been up there at the top for me. Mick Ronson (David Bowie -The Spiders from Mars), Robert Quine (Richard Hell & The Voidoids), John McGeoch (Siouxsie and the Banshees, PIL), Billy Bremner/Dave Edmunds, Pete Townshend, Glenn Tilbrook, Marshall Crenshaw, Geordie, Phil Manzanera, Chet Atkins, Robin Guthrie, Tom Jobim & Joao Gilberto, Bill Nelson, Jerry Reed, Marco Pirroni, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Adrian Belew, Les Paul, Pat Place, John Lennon, Andy Gill, Chris Spedding, Will Sargent, Verlaine/Lloyd, Rew/Hitchcock. I’m sure there’re a ton more. Dave Gregory (XTC)
RS: Damn this is a list. I’ll admit though I know half of these guys but once I looked them up I was all smart and stuff. Last nerdy question. Do you think social media has made things easier to be a full time musician/ artist?
DG: No. Its made it easier to tell people about a show & “invite” them, advertise product, but that goes hand in hand with there now being 10 million artists all doing that, all fragmented into whichever genre someone’s individual tastes zoom in on. So it seems tougher to reach people, especially beyond the several that pay attention to your particular page or feed.
RS: It’s a bender for sure. I was talking to friend of mine who is a used to play in bands for forever and who has been Highschool teacher even longer than . He said something interesting that kids these days don’t consume music in so many ways we did by genera or label. They actually don’t distinguish between genres and on one play list might be listening to Snoop one minute and then Eternal Summers the next.
RS: Last Question, what’s your goal for 2013 into 2014?
To record as much of my own music as I can, while I can, and, to paraphrase a King, to live a little, love a little.
This is a amazing set of covers by Built to Spill playing a secret show at this Cafe in San Jose California. I think bands who have a certain unique sound should entertain their roots and songs that inspired them because chances are the experience will be completely natural for them. Maybe not at first when you are looking for that sound but for fun. It’s a way to help connect the fans to real music once again with the ultimate cover band who you know will make you feel it. Enjoy!
Built to Spill: Covering Beast Of Burden – The Rolling Stones
Built to Spill: Covering most of New Order’s Age Of Consent- Cuts off towards end though.
Built to Spill: Covering “Southern” Girls by Cheap Trick
Built to Spill: Covering “Train in Vain” by The Clash
Built to Spill: Covering “Soulful Strut” – Young-Holt Unlimited
Built to Spill: Covering Don’t Fear The Reaper by Blue Öyster Cult
Built to Spill: covering “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths
Built to Spill: Covering “here” by pavement
Built to Spill: Covering “Abba Zaba” by Captain Beef Heart
SINGLE REVIEW: If godflesh were 50% a little mellower and Air a little more agressive that is where this electric jam by Sleep Sleep falls comfortably with a mix with the spacial sounds of the flaming lips in mind. You could it shoegaze but the drum machine will tell you fuck no — that is not exactly right. Then you hear this Smog cover of “Teenage Spaceship” and you’ll start to get it. I hope it comes with a big light show. I hope they have a drummer live but either way this is the good shit from Vienna Austria. Somehow 3leep 3leep have jumped out a delorean fueled by 80s electronica Time machine and landed in 2013.
Hey this tune “Devil Or Angel” Live at Ferber Paris by Lou Doillon is pretty nice. Similar to the “yellow” song by Coldplay. She looks a litte like Patti Smith but has a certain tone we’re ok with over here. Nice. I mean seriously does not take much to be better than Rihanna or some other female pop that passes as music these days.
GUITARS: Are you a guitar nerd? Every wonder where certain guitar twangs come from? Here’s Mr. Doug Gillard’s guitar set-up for all of his bands with some personal notes from him for each thing in his pedal daisy chain. Next week we’ll come back at you with a full on interview but be sure to catch him pushing these knobs and tuning some of his axes on Friday May 31st,2013 at the infamous Asbury Lanes down the Jersey shore with Eastern Anchors, Risk/Reward and Asbury/Brooklyn locals Woods Party. Here’s the facebook invite.
Not many folks can say they have several guitar set-ups for different bands because most normal dudes in bands play in just one band at a time! Doug shares some magic and some surprising guitars in his arsenal with some candid notes from his Guided by Voices days, a coming Death of Samantha LP, Bambi Kino and of course his set-up with Nada Surf!
THE BASICS: Boss floor tuner
Boss EQ pedal set for lg boost
Durham Electronics “Mucho Busto” distortion/boost
Boss EQ set for small boost
Voodoo Lab Tremelo
E-H Holy Grail Nano reverb
Boss Delay
One-Spot power chain.
THE DETAILS: I use 2 Boss EQ pedals for a clean(ish) boost. One set for larger boost, the other for accents or small boosts. For a saturated fuzz controllable by volume, or in some cases just a good distorted boost, I use a Mucho Busto, made by Durham Electronics in Austin, (Alan Durham, maker of the Sex Drive pedal). Its a great little unit, and the led beam is bright and blue, so it’s like an old Spielberg movie when you step on it. The Voodoo Lab Tremelo is versatile, and everyone knows the Holy Grail is the best reverb in pedal form. I end the chain with a Boss DD-3 delay pedal. Good for slapback, or actual delay. I should probably get a more involved delay, but I’m lazy and cheap. This is fine.
All this is loosely velcroed to 2 Ikea cutting boards duct-taped side by side. Hey, you can fold them up when you fly. Done. Fugghed. About. It.
Depending on the application, I use any number of guitars. For my solo band shows, I use mainly my black Les Paul (76) or SG Classic. I just got a ’67 ES-330, so I may use that as well. Amp-wise, I’ll use my Mesa Rectifier and cab if I’m driving, but backline amp at the venue is good most times in the NYC area.
For Nada Surf, its been the Les Paul and SG through my Mesa Rectifier & 4×12 cab. The Mesa doesn’t have the most amazing clean tone, but it has 3 channels, and the main appeal of these amps to me is the “Solo” channel. Its just a dedicated volume knob/boost to whatever channel you’re on at the time, and provides a huge clean boost. What do the kids say today? “Ginormous”? Wait, that was a few years ago.
Bambi Kino – Photo Courtesy of Andy Bicknell
With Bambi Kino I use my new old 330, and my Hofner Verithin. (Its a semi hollowbody, but yes, “very thin”!). Sometimes my SG with P-90’s sounds perfect for the old Beatles Star Club lp/BBC sessions sounds though. Amp-wise, I go through my Budda 30w combo with Bambi Kino.
With Death Of Samantha, I use the black Les Paul I got when I was with them and played on those records. I also use my SG, and if possible, my Mesa thing. If not, someone else’s amp will do. And has. We have a new LP coming out this year based on rehearsals for our reunion show a year and a half ago, original lineup. I remember playing Maxwell’s in ’86 or so when Ira Kaplan did our sound! We will be playing a few shows this year, too. Just don’t know where or when yet.
I also own a 94 Strat, a 68 Harmony Rocket which i write on a lot, a nylon/classical which i used to write on a lot, and Alvarez 6-string acoustic, an Alvarez 12-str acoustic, a Kay Old Kraftsman Thin-Twin (Jimmy Reed, Hubert Sumlin, & my dad) and an old Fernandes “elephant” battery-powered built-in speaker guitar. I did some demos to “Mag Earwhig” songs on that, on a Tascam 4-track to Bob’s acoustic demos. Good times.
RIP GEORGE JONES 1931-2013: Man not much we can say but this man had what Elvis did not. He lives a long ass time. He was a man in full. We was the original rockn-rolla. Hell raiser. Drinker. He was known for his country hits but in reality he was the king. He was a badass mother-fucker. Sometimes you just need to pause and think what the hell have I done that would compare to his awesome catalog of music.
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