These Modern Socks: Picking the Lock

Only two years ago St. Paul, MN singer-songwriter Corey Palmer turned his one-man bedroom project into a full-fledged five-piece band called These Modern Socks with the addition of members Arron Bergstrom (bass, backup vocals), Park Evans (guitar), Adrian Suarez (drums), and Nick Tveitbakk (keys, samples, back-up vocals).

Just released this past week, Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light, the Socks' second full-length CD, is a space odyssey through a relationship beginning with a heady lift-off into breathless heights and progressing to disillusionment and abandonment on the moon.

The disc is marked by catchy melodies, chrome-shiny arrangements accented with hard-metal vocoder, and Steely-Dan-like harmonies, all warmed by the emotional stakes detailed in the exceptionally high-quality lyrics.

Dilemma --the first glow of infatuation and a wonderful simulation of Brian May guitar.

"One good look at you and I understand
Why I gotta take you very soon
A gray vacation to the promised land
You can live in an aquarium
Will you come with me?"

"Worry-Free Lifestyle" --cracks develop in the relationship where doubt and jealousy leak in.

"now our only problem is the chemistry we lack
I'm trying not to let it wreck my time"

"Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light" --trying to figure out what went wrong.

"lift the door turn the wrench
open up hold it up like a mystery
tear it up lock it up then lose the key"

"Escape Pod" --still hopeful, but looking for a way out.

"redirect the sunlight and hope that you can live within your means
there's always an escape pod
or we could build a robot to rescue us like a love song"

"Wooden" has a funky, Of-Montreal quality, the dancing through your pain thing.

"now you've got a permanent loss at a premium cost"

Where I Came From
The star-stuff hits the fan in my favorite song on this album. I love its contrasts of pretty tune and smooth vocals pinned up against the stinging bitterness of the lyrics...

"I've got a lot more to live for--You never thought I did
You feel so bad that you didn't want it, like I give a shit"

...and a jarring synth riff that resembles a honking saxophone, the musical representation of the point where a relationship has crashed to smithereens, and you feel like a fool for not having seen disaster coming.

I put myself in this situation got to overcome
The way I lost everything I wanted in a single month
Still hear the hint of the sound of your voice in my helmet
I can't relax if you're there and I'm not, for a minute

No sophomore slump here; this is a really good CD that shows growth and maturity over the first effort, which also won fans. I recommend it!

MySpace | Website | Label: Dead Electric/TuneCore
Buy at Amazon.com, iTunes, eMusic

Photo by Emma Freeman Photography

Voxhaul Broadcast at the Echoplex - 05-17-08

One of the openers for last Saturday's show at the Echoplex was Los Angeles band Voxhaul Broadcast. Childhood friends David Dennis, Tony Aguiar, Phil Munsey, and Kurt Allen come off like a mixture of the Strokes' rock with Al Green's soul combined with a frenzy all their own.

They have played at SXSW earlier this year and at CMJ and had a month's residency at Spaceland. Rotten Apples, the full-length follow-up to their 2007 EP was released just last month.

Click all images for larger views

Left, lead singer David Dennis; Right, David with lead guitarist Tony Aguiar


Left, Kurt Allen on drums; Right, bassist Phil Munsey stands still for about 1/2 second

Voxhaul Broadcast from Rotten Apples (2008):
Rotten Apples
Why Not

MySpace | Label: Retone Records
Buy at Amazon.com, iTunes, and Los Angeles area music outlets

Show Schedule:
May 22 - Opening for Rogue Wave at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.
May 28 2008 - the Viper Room, Los Angeles
Jun 5 2008 - The Hemloc, San Francisco
Jun 7 2008 - Beauty Bar, San Diego
Jul 5 2008 - Summerfest Festival, Milwaukee, WI

Earlimart at the Echoplex - 05-17-08

Earlimart took the opportunity at the Echoplex last Saturday night, May 17, to introduce a few tracks from their new album Hymn and Her, scheduled for release in July. "For the Birds" and "Before It Gets Better" have been previewed on KCRW in the past few weeks.

While Earlimart's album tracks are often lovely and soothing blends of Ariana Murray's string-like synths and Aaron Espinoza's whispery vocals, these live songs were kicked up several notches on the energy scale. The set started with two tracks from the new album, one of which is my favorite of the five I have heard so far, "Song For." Other new songs included "Face Down In the Right Town" and "Great Heron Gates." From last year's Mentor Tormentor there were "700 > 100" and "Nevermind the Phone Calls."

Earlimart has a large back catalog of audience favorites, from which they chose the lovely "Heaven Adores You," probably the first song of theirs that ever grabbed my interest, and "The Hidden Track," both from 2004's Treble and Tremble. This live version of "The Hidden Track" was much faster and hard-rocking than the album version, making me think that Earlimart might do well to put out a live album. They also pulled out "Susan's Husband's Gun Shop" from their 2003 EP Avenues.

Unfortunately, in the first pause between songs, some guy in the audience started calling out his two favorite Earlimart songs over and over. The band did play one of those requests, "We Drink On the Job," fitting it in where they had planned to play "Susan's Husband's Gun Shop." I know this because I saw the band's set list after the show. From then on, the guy kept shouting out his other favorite, "Everybody Knows Everybody," which is a great song, and I love it too, but apparently Earlimart had not planned to play it. You could see Aaron getting increasingly annoyed by this repeated hounding, which went on into the encore.

Click all small photos for larger views

Left, Aaron closes his eyes; Right, Ariana in red beams a beautiful smile

After Ariana's sweet "Happy Alone," and another callout from this broken-record person, Aaron mumbled tightly, "That's the next song," then went on to play "Gonna Break It To Your Heart" another song from Mentor Tormentor. The band abruptly left the stage, and that was the end of the show. I couldn't help wondering if they had cut it short out of pure exasperation.

So readers, let's discuss: Should a band be prepared to abandon their set list and play whatever the audience wants, or should the audience be receptive to the songs the band has planned and practiced? It's clear what my opinion is. And if the person whose behavior I have described here reads this post, yes, that was me who turned around and glared at you. I also wanted to say, "Shut the f*k UP!" In my opinion, that guy owes Earlimart an apology.





Left, Aaron rocks out; Right, little white lights on Ariana's keyboard;
below right, a little dove figurine perches on the cymbals
Setlist:
1. God Loves You the Best
2. Song For (live at SXSW 2008)
3. 700 > 100 (live at SXSW 2008)
4. Face Down In the Right Town
5. For the Birds (stream)
6. Nevermind the Phone Calls
7. Heaven Adores You
8. The Hidden Track
9. We Drink On the Job
10. Great Heron Gates
11. Susan's Husband's Gun Shop (live at SXSW 2008)

Encore:
12. Happy Alone
13. Gonna Break It To Your Heart

All mp3s above are from the WOXY Lounge Acts Podcast at SXSW 2008

MySpace | Website | Label: Majordomo Records
Buy at Amazon.com, iTunes, and eMusic

Colin Meloy at the Music Box 04.28.08

We caught Colin Meloy at the Henry Fonda the Monday following Coachella, so we were a bit wiped out from that experience, and we were bummed to find out that the Music Box (or Colin himself, possibly) did not allow digital cameras. While Alt-gramma's camera is excellent, it is not exactly small and we could not sneak it in. Thankfully I had brought along my Olympus XA and some ISO 1600 film. The only problem with this type of camera? No zoom - but I like the photos that came out.




Colin's banter made the show - he was funny and charming, interacting with the audience while still keeping a polite distance, sipping his wine, and showing off his stage trinkets. He's the consummate showman, someone who might have sold snake oil in another time, in another life. We wrote down some of his witticisms between songs, but it's difficult to say if they are only funny if you were there.

Setlist:
1. Shiny
a song about gypsies
2. The Apology Song
Missoula, MT is the epicenter of bike theft
3. Perfect Crime
this song originally started out at a slower tempo, but with the band it reminded him of mid-career Steely Dan
4. Dracula's Daughter
5. O Valencia
6. First of the Gang to Die (Morrissey - first part of the song only)
7. Two new songs that go together, about a mother sending her son Avery off to work in a mine, and then the son's funeral
8. Cupid (Sam Cooke cover with Laura Gibson)
referred to as a teenage makout anthem, the audience is encouraged to sing along...Colin is considering the next artist for his series of cover albums, and Depeche Mode is a popular choice
9. Los Angeles, I'm Yours
the L.A. crowd cheers the loudest at this song, I'm sure, and we hummed and doot-de-dooed the guitar solo, while Colin "forgot" the lyrics and the audience eagerly reminded him
10. The Landlord's Daughter
11. Engine Driver
we are warned not to shout things at Colin while he is singing - "it's a fragile thing" - if we want him to be able to finish the song
12. The Landlord's Daughter
13. One More Time With Feeling (Regina Spektor cover)
Colin tells us that when he's singing these sad and heartfelt lyrics, he's really just wondering if his hair looks OK
14. The Shankill Butchers
15. A Cautionary Song
Colin sings this song just in time for Mother's Day and shows off his trinkets, including a mermaid named Consuela bought in Austin, a piece of quartz from Atlanta named Cornwallis, a framed picture of a sock puppet named Alex that has "his own myspace page", and a half-eaten, crumpled bag of M&M's named Blaine
Encore
16. Clementine
17. Mariner's Revenge Song (much audience interaction and screaming lessons)

(Note - except for "Clementine", the songs above were recorded live at Schuba's Tavern in Chicago in 2005)

official site | myspace | find more on Hype Machine

Bridges and Powerlines

Bridges and Powerlines practicing one of my favorite pastimes--
poking through the 99-cent rack at the music store

New York's Bridges and Powerlines specialize in catchy power-pop riddled with 20-something angst. Ghost Types is their second full-length CD, released near the end of last month.

"Middle Child" was the first song that caught my fancy, but I also like "Half a Cent" and the title tune.

From Ghost Types (2008):
Half a Cent
Middle Child

MySpace | Website | Label: CityBird Records
Buy at Insound, iTunes, ToneVendor, and eMusic

Freddie Stevenson

The blurb about Freddie Stevenson for SXSW 2008 described him as Scottish folk punk. A visit to Nashville and current habitation in New York seem to have Americanized the Scottish accent and softened the punk bits, but many of the tunes on his April-released ablum All My Strange Companions are catchy and fierce.

I'm particularly fond of the chorus of "Czechoslovakia."

From All My Strange Companions:
Easy Now
Czechoslovakia

MySpace | Website | Label: Juicy Musical Creations
Buy at Amazon.com, iTunes, CD Baby and eMusic

Coachella Photos: Death Cab for Cutie

This is the last of our photo posts from Coachella 2008, with these pics from Death Cab for Cutie. I've seen DCFC several times now (twice at Coachella!), and I've got pit tickets to see them in L.A. at the Nokia Theatre next month, which will be the largest venue that I've seen them yet. My favorite show of DCFC was also the first one for me: at Coachella 2004. They were small enough that we were within four people to the front of the stage, and the band were their own roadies, setting up their own equipment in white coveralls in the heat of midday.

This show was a major contrast - DCFC performed at sunset on the main stage, playing to a huge crowd who happily sang along to their songs. Since I am not a big fan of Plans and at that time, I hadn't heard any of Narrow Stairs (except "I Will Possess Your Heart"), I wanted to hear more of the older stuff. I always want to hear more of the older stuff.

Click on all photos to see larger views, and see Alt-gramma's flickr page for more photos from this show and others.

official site | myspace | Label: Atlantic

death cab for cutie: i wanna be adored [live stone roses cover]
death cab for cutie: title and registration [live]
death cab for cutie: your bruise

buy DCFC music | find more on Hype Machine