Peep Fly.Union's "Don't Call" video
Posted by Chris DeVille
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There are few words for the collaboration between Jack White, Insane Clown Posse and, uh, Mozart. The comments we came up with after listening to "Leck Mich Im Arsch" (take a stab at the translation yourself) were mostly gutteral: "Huh?" "Um." "What?" "Oh."
We also looked at the preview video, which raises our hopes that this is Mr. White at his ironic finest. Whatever the intent, the song is the audio equivalent of a train wreck: It's awful, painful, twisted, but you'll keep listening for that next precious turn of phrase.
Saintseneca's "Last" is one of the greatest albums you'll hear all year. As explained in my feature from last week, "Last" is an introduction and a goodbye — the indie-folk stompers' full-length debut, but also their final recording with the original lineup, which will make its final bow at tonight's album release show at Wild Goose Creative, 2491 Summit St. The band will carry on, but never again quite like this.
Starting at 9 p.m. sharp, the headliners will be preceded by a string of fine solo performers including Time and Temperature, Dolfish and Boston-to-Portland folkie Vikesh Kapour. Admission is just $1.
You don't want to miss this. And if you haven't heard the album yet, do it right now:
Here's a bummer for band and fans alike: British garage pop upstarts The Vaccines have canceled their North American tour, including their Sept. 22 show at Newport Music Hall with Tennis and Young Buffalo. A note on the band's official site cites throat surgery for singer Justin Young, his third such operation this year:
"As I have said before, we understand any anger or upset, but we hope you all understand that we are completely devastated by this problem that has continued to plague us personally and professionally during the best year of our lives. Cancelling shows in exchange for repeated hospital visits plain f---ing sucks."
Tickets for the canceled Newport show are refundable at the point of purchase.
Read the full explanation here: "A Message from the Vaccines"
"What Are You Wearing? Office Edition" is Alive's online and office-based version of the popular Style section feature.
I'd describe Alexis Perrone, Alive's marketing coordinator, style as "punk rock chic." She'd probably wear Docs and red lipstick with a little black dress every day if she could. This ring is an Alexis purchase from last year's Craftin' Outlaws. It is the handle of a spoon curved to fit her finger, like a chic version of re-purposing safety pins as accessory.
Speaking of Craftin' Outlaws, mark your calendars for Saturday Oct. 15 at the Gateway. The alternative craft fair recently announced its 2011 date and vendors. Some of this year's master metal manipulators I'm excited to see are Once Lost Jewelry, Solidio and Valerie Tyler Designs.
Incubus
We previewed both of tonight's big shows:
(1) Heather Gross wrote on Incubus, who'll headline the LC Pavilion, 405 Neil Ave., with support from Young the Giant. This one will cost you a whopping $52. Gates open at 6:30. (Fun fact: The LC celebrates its 10-year anniversary tonight. As a high school senior, I attended the first ever show at the venue, which also featured Incubus. Band and journalist have changed a lot since then; as far as I can tell, the LC is pretty much the same.)
(2) I posted an interview with Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John, who'll play Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High St., with opener Molly Rankin. PBJ also made an appearance in Alive's "Great Moments in Whistling" mixtape. $17 for this 7 p.m. show.
"What Are You Wearing? Office Edition" is Alive's online and office-based version of the popular Style section feature.
Check out assistant editor Heather Gross' gold colored leaf pendant. It was $2 at Forever 21, a must-stop for anyone looking for really cute pendant necklaces on the cheap. Here are some more for sale on their website that are almost as cute as Heather's.
I shot Swedish indie-pop masters Peter Bjorn and John a few questions in advance of their gig Tuesday at Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High St. The answers didn't arrive in time to run in the paper, so instead you got Alive's "Great Moments In Whistling" mixtape. Thankfully, singer-guitarist Peter Moren did get around to sending me some responses eventually, so here they are for your intellectual stimulation.
Alive: Whose idea was it to make a full-length video for the new album, and what was the experience like?
Peter Moren: Can't remember exactly, could have been me actually. The experience was kind of stressful and tiring 'cause we only had two days to do it. But it was also fun. "Second Chance" was a bit messy and it was a hell cleaning up after that take. I love the result of the whole thing. Especially Gustaf's (one of the directors) animation to "Down Like Me".
“Gimme Some” is an extremely upbeat album with a pretty classic pop-rock approach. Did you feel like reeling in some of the experiments from “Living Thing”?
I guess. We wanted to do an album that reflects what we do live on stage with our 3 instruments, which have always been a bit more punky and energetic than the albums. It was supposed to be the perfect album to play live. And it is!
You guys have had a lot of songs in commercials. Do you feel like that’s a decent way to measure the quality of a pop song in this day and age, whether somebody tries to buy it for a commercial?
I wouldn't go that far. But it is a kind of substitute radio that gets out to a lot of people. So it's good promotion. And sometimes it pays the bills which record sales really doesn't anymore.
Another measure of success: getting sampled for a rap song. Drake used “Let’s Call It Off” on his breakthrough mixtape, and Mick Boogie released an entire mixtape of rap songs sampling your music. Did you guys have any direct involvement with that stuff, do you listen to much rap music, and what do you think draws rappers to your music?
It's very flattering getting used that way, like you're Curtis or Otis or James when you're just PBJ! I think rappers like our sometimes pretty minimalist grooves and beats that are easy to work around and that swings a lot! I also think they enjoy our lyrics. John is into some hip-hop, I'm more of a classic soul/R'n'b-fan so I usually now rappers samples better than the actual rappers. But we all love groovy music, groove is important in all kinds of music. It's great the way they pick up something from ours songs and build something new around it. We did have involvement in the Mick Boogie project even though we didn't meet everyone in person. I was great fun! I love the work Jazzy Jeff did on "Stay This Way" for example.
Why is the tour called “All You Can Eat Tour”?
Because we enjoy eating. But mostly because we play different venues in some of the cities so you can see the band many nights if you like. And it's our longest US-headline-show so far.
Cartel
Two notable shows on what promises to be a slightly chilly August evening:
Cartel will bring their Hot Topic power-pop to The Basement, 391 Neil Ave., with support from Action Item and locals Mina Murray. 7 p.m. doors, $15 cover.
Meanwhile, roots-rock prince Justin Townes Earle will play a sold-out Rumba Cafe, 2507 Summit St., alongside Shovels and Rope. (Check out our preview!) If you want to try to squeeze in, doors open at 9 p.m.
If you're planning on attending the Columbus Food Truck & Cart Fest at Columbus Commons tonight, pack along three or more items of non-perishable food items. Clothing company Make Believe Monsters will, while supplies last, offer a CD compilation of local music to those who bring the food items, which they'll then donate to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.
The CD features songs from Karate Coyote, Phantods, The Wet Darlings, Way Yes, Maza Blazka, The Town Monster, Belle Histoire, The Orphan, The Poet, Starfox, Teen Fiction, This is My Suitcase, Bicentennial Bear and The Receiver.
A percentage of the food festival's proceeds will also go to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Organizers hope to collect enough food to fill the CD101 mobile truck, which will be accepting donations next to the stage at the Rich Street entrance until 9:30 p.m.
Joe Woyan photo
Of all Mike “Rep” Hummel’s projects, one of the least documented is the True Believers, a punk band with Tommy Jay, “The General," Nudge Squidfish and Carla Lust that existed from 1979-1981. The group’s acclaimed “Accept It” EP — the first release on Rep’s new wave label New Age — included a mere three songs, but the band recorded lots more that may be compiled on an upcoming release by Columbus Discount Records.
"The band broke up rather abruptly and so the recordings just went into the closet," Hummel said. "There are plans to for CDR to do a release within a year. It could be similar to the Gibson Bros project, maybe a double album."
In the meantime, the band will play its first gig since a January 1981 “Ronald Reagan Anti-Inaugural Ball” this Friday at Carabar for CDR’s eighth anniversary party. Guinea Worms, The Unholy 2, Altered States of the United Snakes and Jeff Fernengel will play too.
I spoke with Hummel on the phone this week to get a few more details on Friday's acclaimed-but-obscure headliners.
On the surprise success of "Accept It!": "We weren’t promoting ourselves. It was a vanity press that happened to sell quite well. It went into 800 copies, which was a lot back then."
On making an impression out of town: "It was huge in the New York/Boston area, and did well on the west coast. That’s where they all sold. We were unknown in the Midwest. We used to go to New York back then and go to places like CBGBs. We handed out the record to people and word got around fast."
On endorsement from Harvard radio station WHRB: "It was similar to (WFMU) in that they had a large audience... They put out a magazine once a year and we were the featured band the year that record came out."
On the rarity of this reunion gig: "The General lives in Florida and rarely comes up here, which was part of the impetus for doing this... All I can say right now is that there’s no plans to do another show."
"What Are You Wearing? Office Edition" is Alive's online and office-based version of the popular Style section feature.
Heather, the editorial assistant for Capital Style and Columbus Parent, has my vote for cutest shoes in the office. She wears these with black or gray dress outfits.
Heather bought these yellow kicks about two years ago for $20 on Payless.com. Girl loves her some colored pumps. She has a pair of heels in every color except purple, pink and green.
