And so is GWAR. They’ve done Undercover eight times now, which must be a record. Below is my favorite AVU performance of theirs, Kansas’s “Carry On My Wayward Son.”
A.V. Undercover archives are up now too. Right here.
R.E.M.’s First Group Interview In 30 Years
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go listen to Fables of the Reconstruction, my introduction to these guys.
Rings
Lee Iacocca brought us so much great music.
So This Is Cool
Learned this past weekend on a trip visiting my 81-year-old aunt that my grandmother’s cousin (my first cousin, twice removed) was a songwriter in California. And that I’m named for him, by way of my dad. (Fucked up spelling and all.) Here’s one of his tunes that Bing Crosby recorded.
And here’s another that could be fun to work up as a rocker.
I’m Sorry, Who?
Oh the Liverbirds. Yes, I’ve totally heard of them.
Drinking Irish Whiskey On The Irish Sea
You Bastards still haven’t listened to this yet, have you? I only listened to three or four new records this year, but this one is up there with any of my all-time favorites by any artist.
Came across the trailer above in an interesting interview with Isbell talking about working on Killers of the Flower Moon, which he was very good in as well. Ok, I’ll stop now.
The High Numbers
A revved up Ooh Poo Pah Doo and a great cover of I Gotta Dance to Keep From Crying.
Are you a mod or a rocker?
Do We Need Another Guitar Hero?
Y’all know I’m all loopy over this Jason Isbell fella. I’ve been a fan since he was in the Drive-by Truckers, and have followed his career closely since. His latest, Weathervanes, is remarkable. A fantastic writer, but moreover a blistering guitar player (he bought Ed King’s Les Paul), who stretches out a lot with his band, but doesn’t get all boring jammy. He sat in with Dino Jr. during their anniversary run in NYC. It’s guitar-riffic!
Also, he went to University of Memphis and was recently given his degree because he was apparently only one phys ed class short of a degree.
Zombie Season
A lot going on here that I missed when I first listened.
My compliments to everyone involved.
Pop-Punk Candy
Mrs. Renfield put me on to this sugar rush of an album (really more like a longish EP). Many tracks are one-idea songs, but who cares when the hook’s good and they don’t belabor the idea: all but one are under two minutes. It so happens this band/person/whatever played Gonerfest last week, although it was an afternoon slot on a 90-degree-plus day, so can’t say I’m sorry I missed them. But this stuff hits my sweet spot. Good hooks throughout. Here’s another: