Morrissey - Live

While I consider Duran Duran my first real concert, on my 11th birthday no less, the fact is that I went to many "shows" with my family before then. I had seen Kenny Rogers at Harrah's when I was 7 and managed to spend 50 dollars in quarters at their arcade, my father was on a hot streak at Craps and would do anything to keep me busy. Then the next year my Mom took me to see John Denver there and Liberace at the Nugget in Sparks. I mention this because according to the local reviewer it was an autographed framed photo of Liberace entering the Nugget on Bertha (one of Barnum and Baileys' famous elephants) that lured Morrissey to book 2 shows here. I was at that show as a snot filled kid along with my Mom, brother and sister. My Dad skipped that show claiming Liberace was a "fruit." I have no doubt he would feel the same about Morrissey and be dead wrong again.

Morrissey welcomed us with his cherished wit on "Welcome to the Celebrity Showroom, we are the Celebrities". He then launched into a ferocious take on "The Queen is Dead" complete with frantic strobelights with Moz whipping the mic stand and kicking violently as if striking the cymbal crashes himself. In his ivory white blazer he resembled a crooner being transplanted as a matador. However, with his love of animals, a bull ring is the last place he would ever be. Though with his frantic fans doing everything and anything possible to grasp him their hands at times must feel like horns. In fact, the night before in Stockton, Ca some neanderthal didn't know when to stop and Morrissey was forced to leave the stage, the folks in Sparks where just as rabid yet far more polite. As the set progressed his loyal throngs drifted from the back of the room into the lower half as chairs were passed back to make even more room, the tables were spared. The Nugget had never seen anything like this and probably never will again. Morrissey seemed almost sheepish and apologetic when he announced "I would like to thank the Nugget family for putting up with us for two days".

As always Morrissey and his band delivered a tight and varied set, and at this point of his career it would be impossible to make everyone happy. The nice lady next to me kept calling for "Break Up the Family" and while I would have rather heard that than "Gang Lord" it would not have been my first choice of a song to shout out. ("This Charming Man" for those curious). However, who could or should complain when gifted with fine renditions of "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side" and "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" on Saturday and "Girlfriend in a Coma" on Sunday. This current group has the old Smiths tunes down pat and Boz seems to have finally figured out how to accurately play "How Soon is Now?" whereas in previous years he had sometimes butchered it. Other highlights and surprises were "Disappointed" , "Lucky Lisp" and "The National Front Disco" and both nights ended with two of his best loved heavier tunes "Irish Blood English Heart" on Saturday and "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side" on Sunday.

The crowd was more enthusiastic on Saturday and I left exhausted. On Sunday the crowd seemed more mature and I was able to listen more intently and was able to get two totally different experiences despite the set-list being almost identical. Morrissey even noted the craziness of going to a concert on a Sunday. Then again being a Morrissey fan captures the idea perfectly that "There is no such thing in life as Normal" as the show was the ultimate cross section of America. There were 30 something's still dressing Goth or at least what Goth was all those years ago (nothing from Hot Topic thank you) lovely lasses in vintage dresses, skinheads with Elvis-like mutton chops, yuppies who make deals that would make Morrissey cringe, drunken hillbillies with hockey teeth and even pudgy fathers all reduced to 12 year-old girls when the lights came on and Morrissey appeared.


The Nugget
Sparks, NV
April 28th and 29th

by Josh R. Perry

http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/features/feature_1178502557

This is Me Smiling- This is Me Smiling

This Is Me Smiling
This Is Me Smiling ***
OneHaven/Columbia

There are times on This Is Me Smiling's self-titled debut that the band is so bundled up in their influences that the offering borders on a Ben Folds tribute record. However, these are just a few moments and the majority of the album is filled with piano based pop gems. The band hails from the suburbs of Chicago and consists of vocalist / guitarist Dan Dusznski, keyboardist / vocalist Sheldon Miller, bassist Matt Schuessler, and drummer Adam Kaltenhauser. Skillfully mixing aspects of Ben Folds and Fountains of Wayne, still TIMS churns a flavor all their own.

The album starts off with "Ephemera," a b-side at best that doesn't fit the overall cohesiveness, it really gets going with the rollicking "Feelin' the Time Pass By." The funky give and go is punctuated by Dusznski's amusing voice, think Cake with "melody." "Prettier" is somewhat meatier and benefits from an off kilter structure that will remind some of Joe Jackson. However, when stripped down on "Matter to Matter" the holes in the project become canyons.

"Mixin' Up Adjectives" is where it's at to quote Beck and all. The track is amped up on crunchy guitars, thrashing drums, and a pounding piano that is almost relentless in it's pop purity. The chorus is a brief reprieve that captures the best hook of the record. If the fellas in This Is Me Smiling can come up with their own treadmill-like video for this track I will no doubt be sick of them by summer, but for now excuse me while I hit repeat.

by Josh R. Perry

http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/reviews/cd/review_1179162735

Blinded Black - Under the Sunrise

Blinded Black
Under the Sunrise 1/2*
Sidecho Records

Several years ago I dragged a friend to see AFI with me at a dingy club in Sacramento, Ca. After the 45 minute set I can assure you this serious vegetarian would rather slam some sliders then ever watch them again. Well fast forward to a few weeks ago he happened upon their performance on SNL and was disgusted that not only did I like them still but that I liked them even more than in their hardcore days. As an indie snob he was bewildered where this emo movement came from and how it just seemed to appear. And while I did my best to point out that there are several bands within the movement worthy of the "hype" I am starting to see the inevitable decline is coming fast and furious.

As a youngster I was an unabashed metal fan that you could just as easily find rocking out to Poison as Metallica. At first the scene was strong with every band having some merit. Of course with everything comes saturation to the point that a band like Britney Fox went platinum beyond their girlish hair. To this day I can still enjoy "Talk Dirty to Me" as much as "Damage Inc", and in the future I'm fairly sure I will still love Ten Falls Forth's "Murder Kills Japan" or AFI's "The Leaving Song". What I will definitely not be spinning is anything off of Blinded Black Under the Sunrise quite possibly the Britney Fox of "emo".

It's sad that a group of young people so dexterous at their instruments couldn't come up with something more compelling then this mess of a record. In another generation or just the ability to go their own way they might have produced music that would have an impact. Unfortunately by simply following the herd they are only able to mimic a style that has already been perfected and seems to have nowhere else to go.

The problems start immediately with "Intro" a synth laden waste that made me fear I had accidentally clicked on one of my wife's Enya tracks that is wasting space on my iTunes. This was quickly followed by "Death is Never Permanent" a paint by numbers track with bombastic dribble covered with standard nasally vocals and screeching and stupid synth lines. How the hell did synthesizers ever become ok again??? Anyway the next 9 tracks might as well be "Death is Never Permanent Parts 2 - 10". Under the Sunrise? Well let's just say this belongs where the sun never shines.

by Josh R. Perry

http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/reviews/cd/review_1174915857

Bang Gang - Something Wrong

Bang Gang
Something Wrong ***
From Nowhere Records

The best things in life are free, but even better things are those that you find in unlikely sources and packages. This is especially true for me when it comes to food, two of my favorite things are Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (yes folks that is fried chicken served on top of waffles) and roasted potato pizza. So when I first glanced at this collection of songs by Bang Gang called Something Wrong, with it's illustration of a nude woman walking away from a catatonic gentleman, I was at least a little worried. The art mixed with the overtly sexual band named made me fear this might be an offshoot of some untalented bloke who couldn't cut it in Monster Magnet. All fears were quelled as the wispy vocals of Esther Talia Casey (one of the four chanteuses employed by bandleader and songwriter Bardi Johannsson) emerged on the dreamy opener "Inside". Ms. Casey also shines on "Follow" by pursuing Bardis' tender lead over the lithely digital composition. The sultrier Phoebe Tolmer leads the best track "There Is a Whisper" a smoky romp that exudes a more palpable sexiness than Madonna could ever hope to muster. For the most part Bang Gangs' Something Wrong is a blissful collection on par with The Cardigans, producing mellow gold for electronic lovers of the softer stuff. The only downside with employing 6 different vocalists (the four ladies, Daniel Agust Haraldsson and band leader Bardi Johannsson) is the disc feels more like a collection rather than a singular project. This is especially evident with the inclusion of the adequate yet superfluous cover of "Stop In The Name Of Love". The next project would benefit from Bardi making a decision between Esther and Phoebe, not that it would be an easy choice or one that I would want to make.

by Josh R. Perry

http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/reviews/cd/review_1173373819

Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist

Deftones
Saturday Night Wrist ****
Maverick

Bands at a crossroads can make several decisions that usually bare horrible results. Johnny Marr quit The Smiths thus ending their remarkable run, R.E.M. went against their better judgment and promised to disband if one should leave and continue to make disappointing albums without Bill Berry's services and Metallica hired a 40,000 a month therapist who sucked whatever life they had left and released Some Kind of Monster. Deftones found themselves in a similar place, once again, but instead of packing it in or hiring a shrink they seemingly put those sessions to music and have created another very good if not great record to add to their discography. The album was a long time coming, while derailed by side projects, splintered marriages and a massive breakdown in communication nothing will solidify a band like one at war with an outside force. Especially one hired as an ally that proves themselves an enemy. So if nothing else Bob Ezrin (producer) can be appreciated for that, however his scope of influence on the finished product will be up for debate for a long time. Truth of the matter is no matter how much of a band Deftones are their success largely falls on Chino and without escaping to friend Shaun Lopez's studio this album would still be on a shelf somewhere. Deftones, like Metallica and to an extent Queensryche, have always been seen as the thinking person's Metal band and here they prove it on every track. Save "Pink Cellphone" which isn't even good enough to be classified a throwaway. While the band is credited with the songwriting the fact is that Abe and Chi complete a rhythm section that can play anything the songs dictate, the true balance is found where Chino and Stephen's worlds collide. Sometimes their songs will be overridden by one personality or the other whether it's the unbridled angst of "Nosebleed" or the overly trippy "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event". When composing the music equally the results are majestic like on their massive breakthrough White Pony. Since then they have struggled to reach that particular bar, but the attempts are no less fascinating. While Deftones was angrier on the surface there were plenty of moments that recalled White Pony, and on the majority of Saturday Night Wrist it feels like the bonus tracks from their White Pony-era but this is no regression. The fact is with Chino and Steph on the same page the band is all but unstoppable. The albums starts off with the first single "Hole in the Earth" finding Chino at his finest croon, jabbing the guitar stabs and punctuating the trying years with the refrain "I hate all of my friends". Water imagery and details of a universe crumbling fill the album and Chino seems to use the tracks to lose himself, to call for help, attempt to escape and eventually be rescued as well as be the rescuer. "Beware the Water" warns "that this could end" against a fuzzing swell, while "Cherry Waves" offers hope "we hug the same plank" as drums thrash the boney ports of the clinging survivors. "Rats" has the scurvy soundscape begging the question "You wanted it, was it like you dreamed? You got it and was it like it seemed?" They once again have fused the best of their influences to make another unique statement in a genre so ripe with rip offs, bands so inept they even have to steal from themselves to complete a full album. Deftly moving and intermixing copious shoegazed and strangling guitars, apocalyptic and languid beats and Chino's ever improving voice the group should be a force in whatever genre they are labeled next. Any band that can survive the "Nu-Metal" tag has an unlimited up side. Success can be a bitch or so I've heard. And hearing another one of Deftones' triumphs was well worth the wait.

by Josh R. Perry

http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/reviews/cd/review_1169661835

July 4th

With having 2 days off in a row that are not weekends I'll be doing my best to update this with all the new stuff I have been covering. I've been writing for staticmultimedia.com for some months now so I will be posting all that non-sense and other junk about the music I love and all you need to know about.

One a Day Plus

November 18th

Album - Deftones - "Saturday Night Wrist" In a perfect world Deftones discography would read Adrenaline, Deftones, Around the Fur, Saturday Night Wrist and then White Pony. This seems like a backhanded compliment but no band has ever topped themselves easily. Brian Wilson never made another Pet Sounds, REM has never made another Murmur but come close with ATFP and here Deftones have just missed eclipsing their masterwork White Pony. However, they've still made a stunning album in spite of Pink Cellphone. Anyone that's heard things from them that they liked should definitely check out the tracks Cherry Waves, Kimdracula, Combat, Mein and Xerxes.

Song - Rodney O and Joe Cooley - "Everlasting Bass" Despite my best efforts rap music is creeping into my kids psyche. Therefore, I'm reaching back into my foggy memories of skating rinks and mini trucks to recall all the great jams my friend Chris and I use to rock. There's many to choose from and I'm sure some of them will make their way here so I won't reveal them all. This may very well be my favorite rap party jam of all time.