Pop Rocks: Episode 2.7 LAST POP ROCKS OF THE SUMMER

Yeah, that's right, last week's episode was the last Pop Rocks! of the Summer and I didn't even realize it until a couple of days ago. I had this whole "Songs of Summer" thing planned but now it's shot! I guess it will have to wait until the middle of August when Fall programing kicks up (and at my new time, 2-4 PM! Yeah!). Anyway, I'm not gonna lie, I felt off during this show. I had planned to play songs exclusively from the two Harriet records compilations ("Friendly Society" and "The Long Secret") and the myriad of Sarah Records comps, but it was far too nice outside and I got distracted. So, anyway, here it is!

Linda Smith - All the Umbrellas in London (Friendly Society) (Magnetic Fields cover)
The Cat's Miaow - The Phoebe I Know (The Long Secret)
Hula Boy - Work it On Out (Friendly Society)
The Magnetic Fields - Plant White Roses (The Long Secret)
Shy Camp - Spinster (Friendly Society)
The Ampersands - My Favourite Jumper (The Long Secret)
Hutch and Kathy - On the Way to Work (Hutch and Kathy (Note: Hutch and Kathy of

the Thermals!)
The Mountain Goats - Duke Ellington (The Long Secret)
The Takeovers - Father's Favorite Temperature (Bad Football)
Tullycraft - Look Who Killed the Riot Grrrls
Heavenly - So Little Deserve
The Pumpkin Fairies - You Make Me Feel (members of Slowdive)
Portastatic - Sour Shores (Be Still Please)
MK Ultra - Goodbye Max! (The Dream is Over)
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Vanessa From Queens (Pig Lib)
Felt - Sapphire Mansions
Electrelane - Cut and Run (No Shouts No Calls)
Belmondo - Girlfriend's Revenge (Going Against Maz's Advice comp)
Tilly and the Wall - A Perfect Fit (Wild Like Children)
The Close Lobsters - Paper Thin Hotel (Airspace Vol. 2 comp)
Unrest - Make Out Club (Perfect Teeth)
The Dentists - She Dazzled Me With Basil
The Clouds - Jenny Nowhere
Del Amitri - Nothing Goes
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl (Goal Ferry Bridge comp)
Destroyer - Foam Hands (Live at the Sled Island Festival)
The New Pornographers - Unguided (Challengers)
John Vanderslice - White Dove (Emerald City)
Another Sunny Day - Rio
The Gothic Archies - The Abandoned Castle of My Soul (The Long Secret)
The Ampersands - Affected (Friendly Society)
Balloon Chase Team - The Other Shoe (Friendly Society)
The Lodger - Kicking Sand (Grown-Ups)
BOAT - Illustrate the History (Let's Drag Our Feet)

BAND OF THE WEEK

Red Pony Clock


Usually I don't look too much into bands playing at the Replay Lounge if I'm unfamiliar with the name. And usually I pass them over. However, after being alerted by my girlfriend that the songs on Red Pony Clock's myspace were "really good" I checked them out and ended up listening to them over and over during my archiving shift at the shack. And yeah, I paid the two bucks and checked them out tonight and was very, very pleased. It was like a small scale version of the Dark Meat show I saw a few months ago, and they had that whole Elephant Six vibe going (lots of horns, lots of upbeat dancey tunes, lots of love and fun) and yeah, it was a great old time. So, the name, RED PONY CLOCK, if you see that they're coming to your town GO GO GO!

REVIEWS

Bodies of Water – Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink (Self-Released)
Review: 9/10

This album is pretty fucking spectacular. I keep muttering things to myself like “this is so good!” “Oh man, this is the first suggested track,” “No! THIS is the first suggested track,” etc. My ears are filling with glorious, orchestral chamber pop and every time I blink I see these lush, gorgeous colors and images of blue-gray skies and seas. This is one of the most majestic and dynamic pop records I’ve heard in a long time. Full of swirling harmonies and a mix of sunshine pop, neo-folk, and psych-rock, it’s akin to bigger artists like Sufjan Stevens or Arcade Fire, but I can’t imagine having to stand behind a hundred kids with cameras if I were to see this band live. I highly recommend the seven-minute epic “It Moves” if you have the time, but if you don’t, all of the other songs are great too. This is an insanely gorgeous album.

RIYL: Danielson Famile with less screeching, Bowerbirds.
Suggested: 3, 1, 7, 4, 12, 5, 8, ALL!!!
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Sebadoh – The Freed Man (Domino)
Review: 7.5/10

“This record was intended to be a mess, a stinking garden of delights.” –Lou Barlow

That quote up there pretty much sums this up. This is a reissue of the first Sebadoh record and they’ve bumped it up to 52 tracks from the original 31. This is Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney recording their songs into a Tascam 4-track in 1988. A lot of this is unlistenable, and this might be the only record where that’s a surprisingly good thing, considering that all of it is interesting (given that it’s the beginning stages of one of the greatest indie rock bands ever). Most of this isn’t really suited for radio play, since a lot of the pleasure comes from finding the little chunks of genius buried amidst spoken word excerpts recorded from television, tape hiss, feedback, and, well, the sounds of a couple of dudes fucking around with a 4-track. It’s pretty much exactly what the “Director’s Cut” of Guided By Voices’ Bee Thousand is…except, there is much MUCH more crap here. But like I said, this is an album that warrants exploration. Sadly, a lot of the best tracks (i.e. “Crumbs,” “True Hardcore,” “Healthy Sick”) are DNPs, and you’d think on a record with 52 songs it wouldn’t be a big deal, but man, it really limits what’s actually playable! For reference, most of the suggested tracks are preceded by weirdness which you can play (and it will still be awesome) but if you want to get straight to the pure pop glory of Lou Barlow’s “K-Sensa-My” you’ll have to skip it forward a little. As for what to play, some of the suggested tracks are affixed with exclamation points (tracks I really really dug), but all of those listed are playable.

Suggested: 3!, 12!, 13, 20, 22, 26!!, 29, 30, 32, 34!, 40!, 41!, 42, 44, 49!, 50, 52
DNP: 1, 6, 18, 24, 33, 35, 36, 43, 45, 47, 48
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Tiny Vipers – Hands Across the Void (Sub Pop)
Review: 4/10

This might be some pretty decent neo-folk female singer/songwriter music if this woman would try to not sing like Joanna Newsom. Ok, ok, so maybe she was singing like this long before Joanna Newsom (a la the Michael Bolton dilemma from Office Space) but the thing is, when I listen to this, I can’t disassociate the two and since Joanna Newsom is much better than Tiny Vipers, Tiny Vipers has to take a hit. All of her songs even stretch on like Newsom’s, most of them approaching or past the six minute mark. The thing is, this music is actually pretty nice. Really sparse, haunted acoustic guitar music. It’s just not doing anything that new. And the pretentious cover Art (as well as the Art in the booklet which lacks, of all things, a tracklisting. I guess they figured some pictures of the Tiny Vipers chick with a lantern was good enough) isn’t helping either. And the fact that the longer songs (like “The Downward” and “Swastika” in particular) aren’t nearly dynamic enough to warrant their extensive running times. Of the shorter ones that might actually get played, “Shipwreck” sounds like a weak Joanna Newsom outtake (as does “Aron,” and who am I kidding, just about every song here!). Boring.

RIYL: Ladies who sing like Joanna Newsom
Suggested: 1, 2
DNP: 4
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Mount Eerie – Mount Eerie Pts. 6 & 7 (P.W. Elverum & Son, ltd)
Review: 8.5/10

This is the latest release from Phil Elverum, and his second release this year (with the “Don’t Smoke”/”Get Off the Internet” 7” he released as the Microphones). While Elverum may never be able to top his masterpiece, “The Glow Pt. 2” (as the Microphones), everything he puts out is either very good or at least interesting. While No Flashlight was maligned for being boring, or whatever, it was a record that actually forced me to sit down (on the carpet with the GIGANTIC fold out cover art) and think. I can only assume that Mount Eerie Pts. 6 & 7 is a continuation of the Microphones Mount Eerie, which presented five tracks over forty minutes full of rich warmth and experimentation. These songs are fairly straightforward, even if they are each roughly twelve minutes long. The first 6 ½ minutes of “Part 6” are slow, methodical, and dirge-like, sounding a lot like the bulk of No Flashlight. The second half picks up with rolling drums and highlights Elverum’s uncanny ability to write incredibly lush pop songs, before the song dissolves into the sound of rain hitting a window. Where “Part 6” feels like two parts of the same song, “Part 7” builds on itself and morphs gradually over its twelve minutes. It’s much darker than “Part 6,” and when the song isn’t exercising in industrial percussion, the pipe organ that carries through the entire song is almost always present. Mount Eerie Pts. 6 & 7 is a 10” picture disc with a 132-page hardcover photo book that sells for $64. I really wish I could afford that, and if it was half the price, I would probably be really tempted to buy it. However, the lofty pricetag might be fitting considering that this is the most compelling work Elverum has released as Mount Eerie to date.

Suggested: 1, 2
DNP: None
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007

Cub – Betti-Cola (Mint Records)
Review: 9/10

When Nick told me the reissue of Cub’s seminal twee-Vancouver-girl-group classic Betti-Cola had come in the mail I’m pretty sure I giddily started jumping up and down and hyperventilating. This is what the kids call “cuddlecore,” which takes the sound and lo-fi aesthetic of punk rock and runs it through a twee filter. So instead of songs about, I don’t know, the government or something, Cub play cute love songs (“Little Star” <3!) style="">

Suggested: 19, 22, 8, 1, 7, 14, 6, 9, 11, 12, 18, 25, 26, ANY!!!
DNP: 24 (no bad words, just silly filler)
-Ian Hrabe, July 23^rd, 2007