TrickyBuddha Studios

I have not posted about new music in a while so I thought I would take a moment to mention a few new (to me) albums on the iPod, as well as some concerts on the horizon:

• The Dead Weather: Horehound. This is a band featuring Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), and Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs, The Greenhornes). They just released the album (July 2009). Some big names in rock. Still getting a feel for the album, but it seems good so far.
• The Dears: Missiles. It’s been out a little while (Oct 2008) but, like I said, it’s new to my iPod. I’ve really gotten into the Dears ever since we saw them live. What a great (Canadian) band. I need to listen to this one more to familiarize myself with it.
• The Cliks: Dirty King. Another Canadian band, parenthetically speaking of. They’re not widely known but they’re definitely worth checking out. Their new album came out about a month ago (June 2009).
• Wilco: Wilco (The Album). Another recent release (June 2009). I’m not much of a Wilco listener but their latest is on the iPod now so I’ll have to give it a few listens to see what I think. The Wilco Song is a catchy start to the album.

As for concerts, there are quite a few on the horizon!

• The Dead Weather is first on the list of shows, coming up at the end of this month. I’m looking forward to the show. It always helps me to get into new bands by seeing them live.
• They’re followed by the Warlocks in early August. We saw the Warlocks once before and that live performance hooked me on the band. They’re a slower, moodier kind of band but very good when you’re in the mood for that. I’m excited.
• Late August brings us Brendan Benson. I really know nothing about him, other than that he is in the Raconteurs, so that’ll be an introduction for me.
• At the start of September is the Dandy Warhols! Yay! I’ve seen them twice, and this time will make the third. It’ll be a road trip to a tiny club in Indianapolis to see them, but it’ll be worth it.
• And our current run of shows ends with Autolux. I am so excited to see Autolux. I completely overdosed on their first album when I first got it (it was the first album Candice recommended me to get, I think). Seriously. They’re in my top-ten listens of all time on last.fm, and 9-of-my-top-15 individual tracks are all Autolux. It’s going to be great to see them live for the first time. Hopefully their album, Transit Transit, comes out by then (but I’m not holding my breath).

[Update: Yay! This article is actually getting posted. I'll provide a link when it goes live on Monday-ish.]

Another “for fun” exercise, this time for the Kills. I wanted to see if I could write a decent review for a band I wasn’t as into as a band like Ghostland. By the way, there may be another concert review post coming Tuesday, for Clinic (who I’ll see Monday night).

PS The awesome A/V club quote comes courtesy of Candice.

Having never before seen the Kills, and having only heard their albums a few times, I went in to the show cautiously optimistic. When you’re first introduced to a band, a concert can serve as a great way to propel your excitement in a band; it can also kill the spark of interest before it ignites to flame.

But before we talk about the Kills, who played Friday night at the Metro, let’s take a moment to discuss the opening act, Telepathe – a band who describes their sound as “the future”.

What a… curious quartet. “Awkward” comes to mind as a way to describe them. Their dancing was awkward, their bad-’80s fashion sense was awkward, and their music was even awkward – all seemingly driven from the perspective of highlighting their passion for the music, but still awkward. That the band consisted of attractive types (even though they desperately tried to obscure that) helped. But was it enough? We were a respectful crowd, but I didn’t get the sense that the band made any lasting connections. In fact, one person described their performance as like a group of “A/V club members messing around in the gymnasium, kind of like the Star Wars Kid.”

The Kills, on the other hand, completely connected with intensity and attitude.

In front of a canvas displaying black-and-white videos often featuring acts from punk-rock history (the Ramones, the Patti Smith Group, Blondie, etc.), Sexy Alison “VV” Mosshart drew the crowd in tight while circling the largely vacant stage with measured strides, lulling the crowd, only to lunge to the edge, staring intently out into the audience before playfully retreating to share a steamy mic exchange with guitarist Jamie “Hotel” Hince – or perhaps just to laugh over the sudden appearance of a bra thrown out from the crowd.

The duo played their own brand of post-punk interpretation to great applause, with a set list consisting mostly of songs from their latest release, Midnight Boom – including Alphabet Pony, U.R.A. Fever, What New York Used To Be, and Tape Song – but also including a few of their older hits – such as Fried My Little Brains and No Wow.

Moving quickly between songs, the Kills got through their set in only fifty or so minutes – but that was followed up by one of the loudest, most-sustained curtain calls I’ve heard in a while. The audience wanted the Kills back, and the band was happy to oblige to the order of another twenty minutes, including another one of their hits in Love Is A Deserter.

About that spark I referenced in the opener? I think it’s time to go find a stash of Kills songs to do some catching up on this band.