THE CUGEROCK TOP 15 ALBUMS OF 2009!!!

2009....what a great year for music despite a shit-year for our country. One helps the other I guess.

Here are my top album picks for 2009. Not as obscure as pitchfork (no pun intended given my top pick)...I go by what Ive continually had in my playlists across the year or what Ive picked up recently that I'm "beating to death". Hipster media darlings don't always make for repetition on the street, in the car or at home over time.

1. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career: Late pickup but I cant stop listening...incredible album. I loved their last one and this one "kills-it". Best of '09 by far.

2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: See my post on 6/11/09. Media blitzkrieg but a rock-solid showing from my favorite Frenchmen. Relatively on par with Its Never Been Like That which is one of my top albums of all time.

3. The Thermals - Now We Can See: Saw them a few times over 2009 and they continue to sustain themselves through their records and live performances as one of my favorite bands of all time .

4. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm: Saw them live recently with Sonic Youth which didn't blow me away per usual (see my post from 5/7/09) but this album is so strong. Takes me back to the Without A Sound/Where You Been/Hand It Over days.

5. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest: Great work boys. Album is solid. Thanks for the reco Stricklands.

6. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion: See my post on 2/4/09 - Takes a bit to get used to but the sound is so unique its like no album Ive ever heard. Start off with the singles and you'll warm up to the full album.

7. Sonic Youth - The Eternal: See my post on 9/4/09. Unreal how these legends continue to raise the bar of rock year by year. Most evident in their live shows...just saw them on 11/21/09 in NYC with DJr...blown away.

8. The Von Bondies - Love, Hate and Then There's You: See my post on 3/26/09. Sleeper hit of '09 for me.

9. Superchunk - Leaves In The Gutter EP: See my post on 5/22/09. Its like they were cryogenicaly frozen for a decade. Awesome.

10. Real Estate - Real Estate: Recent pickup (per a Facebook reco from my old college buddy Carl) that oddly matches all of the reviews of being Beach-Boys esque, "dream-pop" etc. Solid.

11. Built To Spill - There Is No Enemy: See my post on 11/18/09.

12. Matt & Kim - Grand: Album and subsequent videos make me miss my younger NYC days.

13. Lamb of God - Wrath: NSFE. You want to let off some steam (aka - smash something) buy this album (ladies...might want to side-step)

14. The Doves - Kingdom of Rust: These brits continue to make solid rock records. Id say this album is parallel to Last Broadcast which was my inaugural Doves listening experience.

15. Silversun Pickups - Swoon: Got bad reviews from the music press but I think their sophomore record is pretty rockin yet different from Carnavas.

In conclusion...

I still have a few to listen to per the top '09 lists Ive been receiving from my friends including these Dirty Projectors I keep hearing so much about. Been a little preoccupied the past few months.

There's so many albums dropping in early 2010 so this year should start off "correct" then climax when I see the first NYC Pavement reunion show in Sept (suckaz!). Then we got Halloween, my birthday, turkeyday and the return of crappy-sappy holiday jewelery commercials.

See you in "Oh-Ten" kiddos. -TC

DUST OFF YOUR DEVIL-HORNS COMPADRES!!

Well...(sigh)...looks like I'm going to "summer" in Poland & the Czech Republic come 2010.

Holy...

http://tinyurl.com/yey48d9

This divine intervention of metal (ironic choice of words as most of these bands are affiliated with Satan) better come state-side or I will threaten to get my 7th grade metal band Solitaire back together and we will "counter-tour". Then it will be metal up YOUR ass Lars.

BUILT TO SPILL: The Trocadero 10/16 (Philly)

One of the fondest memories I have of college was when I was blaring the Built To Spill record Keep It Like a Secret while scrambling to get cleaned up for an early morning graduation commencement at the University of Delaware (I may or may not have been still drunk from the night before...my sister can confirm). I was pretty pumped to graduate despite a "heroic" intake of cocktails the night prior. Every time I listen to that album I get flashbacks of me gleefully running around dodging passed out stragglers in my POS house on North Chapel St.

I haven’t seen Built to Spill play live since the Ancient Melodies tour. I didn’t catch the Perfect From Now on album tour last year or any You In Reverse touring. That said I was pretty psyched to see them again for the Know Your Enemy tour and not in NYC (apparently Doug agrees..I’ll explain later). The Trocadero in Philly has so much history not only as an old burlesque hall in the late 19th/early 20th century but also for me personally has I saw so many bands there for the first time (Pavement) and some for the very last time (Elliot Smith). So many memories of packing into cars out in the burbs and driving into the city only to leave more sweat-soaked and jazzed up then when we were on our way in. I digress.

I caught a set-list from a recent B2S show in NYC off Brooklyn Vegan and was floored…tracks like Kicked it in The Sun, Stab and Time-Trap. My cousin Danny will tell you...I’ve been waiting to hear Time-Trap live for a decade. Every show we would go to in NYC I would be “that guy” yelling out (booze on breath) “Tiiiiiiime Traaaaaaaap” constantly. Its worked only a few times in my life…one time at a Lemonheads show I yelled out “Frying Pan” and Evan responded “I can do that”. I think it worked at a Quasi show at the Knitting Factory once as well for “All Bent Out of Shape” a rare gem. Again I digress.

I thought I knew what to expect by looking at prior setlists. I almost wished I didn’t see the NYC set-list prior cause I was pretty blown away from the Philly set. Here is is:

• Traces
• Distopian Dream Girl
• Stab
• Nowhere Lullaby
• Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
• Wherever You Go
• Else
• Nowhere Nothin Fuckup
• Stop The Show
• Planting Seeds
• Sidewalk
• Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else)
• (Encore)
• The Weather
• Goin' Against Your Mind

The crowd was amazing. Young, old...me. They were so into it. Doug made a point to mention to the crowd how awesome they were and that the NYC crowds that he just played to nights before absolutely sucked. Knowing that NYC crowds in general suck from my 8+ years of going to shows there...I knew he was being sincere and it wasnt "lip-service" ("Hello Cleveland!")

The biggest highlights for me was Nowhere Nothin' Fuck-up and Sidewalk. I normally wasnt to thrilled with Goin Against Your Mind off the YIR album...however as a live ENCORE...un-fucking real. Its absolutely floored me (see also: "Oops, I crapped my pants").

They played the full catalog which is always refreshing as no one wants to hear a live version of the new album. However, the new album is SOLID and the tracks live sounded great. Sadly...no Time Trap...oh well...next time. It is truly my white-whale.

Happy Turkeyday kiddos.

"Its gross"

http://pitchfork.com/news/36792-watch-sonic-youth-on-gossip-girl/

(fingers in ears, eyes closed, stomping feet) LALALALALALALALALALAICANTHEARYOUICANTHEARYOUICANTHEARYOU.

Remember when the Walkmen were on The OC?...multiply that feeling x100.

Remember when the Doobie Brothers were on What's Happening?...subtract that feeling x100.

BEULAH UPDATE...sort of

http://tinyurl.com/yaomx5z

(I told you Pitchfork was still my place for news)

So that’s what Miles from Beulah has been doing the past 5 years…growing out his hair and hanging out at Hooters…with…with hooters. “Miles Kurosky – Owl Whisperer. “

I know I’ve peppered Beulah into a few of my posts. They are one of those great bands that remind me of college/early NY. I first heard tracks off of “Handsome Western States” on WVUD while driving around Newark, DE delivering pizza (Grottos) my junior year. There was no iPod auxiliary jack (or CD player for that matter) in the Ford Escort/Pizza Warmer hybrid they had me pilot. Wild West kids…wild western Delaware.

HWS was such a hard album to find if I remember correctly. I think it was an Elephant6 release which didn't have much distribution at the time...let alone to college indies. I scoured Bert’s on Main St but I think I ended up picking it up in Philly. Great story Tom…cheeeesus.

Pitchfork’s Top 500 Songs of the 2000’s: A CugeRock Commentary

Out of all of the music sites I check on a regular basis…I go to Pitchfork for news and reviews most every day. News is news and the reviews used make sense to me despite being two paragraphs longer than they should have been. Lately I haven’t agreed with some of their reviews retroactive to me purchasing and listening to the album reviewed. This concerns me.

On a similar note, their “Top x of x time period” lists are always way off the mark in my opinion. Currently on the site they are doing a “Top 500 Tracks of the 2000’s” ( http://tinyurl.com/qn9ygo ) or what they view as the top 500 influential songs given the past decade. They also have many other related articles and lists including the top 200 albums of the past decade which oddly enough I completely agree with…aside from a few rankings in question.

Now back to the issue at hand. Someone high up at Pitchfork (I’m acting like its Globex Corp.) or Mr. Pitchfork’s son/daughter (Pete or Penny Pitchfork) must absolutely love the band The Knife cause I feel like they’re on every top whatever-the-fuck list they put out…and they suuuuuuuuuuck. Antony & the Johnsons is a close second. One year I think two of the Knife’s albums were in the top 5 for the year. So I thought…wow…these guys must be good. Notsomuch. I know Pitchfork doesn’t like to make obvious ranking choices but peppering in obscurity for obscurity’s sake or pop-music singles for pop-music singles sake does not do anyone any good. You shouldn’t reward artists who cater to what would sound good at a pro basketball game during a timeout. I used to give Pitchfork the benefit of the doubt as they are music experts (and honestly…I still do) but once you read the disparities below you’ll see how I’m starting to have doubts. Keep in mind…this what they are saying is the top 500…FIVE HUNDRED SONGS OF THE PAST 10 YEARS….top 500….last ten years.

KEY MATCHUPS IN QUESTION - (#Ranking. Artist – “Song” vs #Ranking. Artist – “Song”)

1. Outcast – “Bombs Over Baghdad” vs 301. The Shins – “Kissing The Lipless” (SHOULD BE #1…or at least in the top 10…301? Crickets!)

4. Beyonce – “Crazy in Love” vs 142. Flaming Lips – “Do You Realize?” (I don’t deny Beyonce’s hit track and its importance but #4? Whaaa? #142 for the official state song of Oklahoma!)

5. Daft Punk – “One More Time” vs 99. MGMT – “Time to Pretend” (Time to check your list one more time so I can pretend you’re not serious. Wheeoa!)

7. Missy Elliot – “Get Your Freak On” vs 44. Franz Ferdinand - “Take Me Out” (That’s fair…oh gaaa!)

17. Annie – “Heartbeat” vs 155. Coldplay – “Clocks” (makes ZERO sense)

19. R.Kelly – “Ignition (Remix)” vs 89. Postal Service – “Such Great Heights” (I feel like R.Kelly pissed on my head from a very SHORT height when looking at this ranking. Swish!)

21. Kelly Clarkson – “Since You’ve Been Gone” vs 84. Peter, Bjorn & John – “Young Folks” (So not fair…Young Folks has been played to death but its such a unique and important song within the decade in indie that it should have ranked ahead of “Miss Independent”)

28. Antony & The Johnsons – “I Hope There’s Someone” vs 286. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - "Another Morning Stoner" (MY GOD THIS GUY SUCKS. WHY? WHY DOES PITCHFORK SUPPORT THIS GUY? He sounds like a cup of vanilla pudding on valium. They gave TOD album Source Tags and Codes a 10.0 rating in which I gave PF the utmost respect but then ranked the top track #286 Arrrrgh!!!)

29. Hot Chip – “Boy From School” vs 175. Usher [ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris] - "Yeah" (More like the boy from drool…hahaha. No? Guys?)

32. Amerie – “One Thing” vs 123. Kanye West – “Jesus Walks” (Ok. Who the f is Amerie? I fully admit my tastes do not skew to the “blazin hip-hop and r&b" genre but I’ve heard of every other artist on this list aside from this one. And she ranks #32? Really? The “one thing” I’m not complaining about is the album cover – sorry ladies...that was inappropriate)

63. The Hold Steady – “Stuck Between Stations” vs 196. NoAge – “Teen Creeps” (why…why do people like the Hold Steady?…they sound like a Thin Lizzy/Springsteen wannabe hybrid. Teen Creeps so out-rocks it)

77. Three 6 Mafia – “Stay Fly” vs 104. Eminem – “Lose Yourself” (I’m sorry…I would like to hear the argument that “Stay Fly” had a bigger impact than this track)

101. Jurgen Paape – “"So Weit Wie Noch Nie" vs 307. Wolf Parade –“Shine a Light” (see my comments below regarding frauline Paape. Ask anyone who’s heard of which artist…you know the result)

106. The Mae Shi "Run to Your Grave" vs 143. Feist – “1234” (makes sense…sigh. wow.)

111. Aaliyah - "We Need a Resolution" vs 364. Elliott Smith - "Everything Reminds Me of Her" (neither are RIP with this unfair ranking. I feel ill)

113. Kelis – “Milkshake” vs 395. Death From Above 1979 – “Romantic Rights” (I take this “diss” personally - I still have a DFA79 sticker on my car for gods sake…look at my shirt in the Cugerock photo!)

125. The Field – “Over the Ice” vs 216. Sleater-Kinney - "Jumpers" (The Field? This isn’t even a genre of music. A 6th grader could make this. Please listen to the song if you don’t believe me. Then listen to Jumpers. Good lord.)

133. Belle & Sebastian – “Your Cover’s Blown” vs 456. Doves – “Black & White Town” (The ONLY B&S song I skip)

141. Britney Spears – “Toxic” vs 186. Fugazi – “Cashout” (Jaaaaaaaaaaaysus f-ing Christmas…perhaps the most influential band of my generation…comes out with a stellar album after a 3 year hiatus…and hasn’t put anything out in 8 years…and you throw them 45 songs behind

Britney….my BPH is going through the roof. IM SEEING RED!!!)

146. Fennez – “Endless Summer” vs 255. At the Drive-In - "One Armed Scissor" (WHAT A LOAD OF FENNEZ CRAP – LISTEN TO THIS – IT’S NOT EVEN A SONG. How can you kick ATDI in the crotch with that ranking?)

158. Art Brut – “Formed a Band” vs 402. My Morning Jacket – “Off The Record” (Like the band formed…don’t understand the ranking or choice of song)

180. Gwen Stefani – “Hollaback Girl” (should be #500,000,000,000) vs 191. Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma” (Words…’pause’…sigh. Words can’t even describe how much I hate Hollabackgirl…the kids didn’t stand a chance)

197. Joanna Newsom - "Peach, Plum, Pear" vs 224. The National - "Abel" (Good, God, Why? Ugh. Fausts – back me up on this)

354. Tinariwen - "Matadjem Yinmixan" vs 363. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" (clap your hands if you can pronounce that higher ranking band’s name…sheesh)

381. Crime Mob – “Knuck If You Buck” vs 401. The Walkmen – “In The New Year” (wow…I um….wow)

Oh and thanks for integrating “Lala” as a partner for this listing. Id say 90% of the tracks require you to register before listening. Now bands that I wanted to preview (given they’re on this list) and possibly purchase in the future I swiftly dismiss and move on cause I’m pissed…30 second sample…that’s all I would have needed. Bad marketing…bad. There’s other ways to drive conversions. Don’t piss off the potential consumer. Hmph!

Maybe it’s just me but the list seems to have too much LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Robyn and of course…Outcast. Don’t get me wrong most all of the pop-songs I detail above are no doubt important and should be a part of this list as they have had relevance across the decade…I mean…especially Jurgen Paape – “So Weit Wie Noch Nie”…no one could deny the catchiness of that one (eyes rolling like a slot machine). Seriously, just because I personally don’t like them doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be included or are important (except for Jurgen…I mean…c’mon). Outcast songs like “Hey Ya”, “Ms. Jackson” and “Bombs Over Bagdad” are great tracks. I love them…any normal human being would. “I am foreaaaaal”. I only have issue with the ranking…I just have issues in general. Bombs Over Baghdad…the top song that defines the decade? I’m sorry….am I being completely biased to rock songs here?

TRACK MIS-STEPS: No tracks on the list were off of the latest Fucked Up album? They threw an older track on for indie cred I guess. No New Pornographers songs off of Twin Cinema? Sing me Spanish Techno? Bones of an Idol?

BANDS LEFT OFF THE LIST ALLTOGETHER: Mates of State, The Anniversary (No DANB tracks?), Quasi, Maritime or Promise Ring (No Electric Pink EP tracks? That was 2000), Stephen Malkmus, Stereolab, Blood Brothers, Matt & Kim, Pilot to Gunner, Radio 4, SLOAN (you have something against Canada?), Rainer Maria, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Beulah. Really…no Stereolab…nothing off Sound Dust. Really? WTF LMAOOL OMG Pitchfork.

My friends will tell you that I enjoy making people mixes…often. I do repeat bands within the mix on RARE occasions. In terms of the top 500 songs of the decade so many tracks could have been cut from bands who appear multiple times on the list (albeit good bands) and so many great tracks could have been included from the aforementioned bands left off.

I could go on but I feel so jaded that there is a sense of physical pain. I’m not an angry person…but when it comes to music...I can get spicy. I just don’t understand the logic applied in terms of what songs are considered more important or more influential than others not to mention the bands that were left out entirely. Please give me a job at Pitchfork and we can discuss…as frienemies.

(Special thanks to Ms. Cathy Cribb for her awsome graphic design skills. Not easy to marry Brit with Ian with Carrie. "Great Job!")

SONIC YOUTH: Retrospective/Album Review -The Eternal

This post is dedicated to Eric & Carrie who pushed me to start this blog a year ago and are huge Sonic Youth fans. They recently welcomed a brand spankin new lil munchkin into their home named Poppy…who totally rocks. Congrats again guys. Your daughter is a peanut btw.

Some bands that have been around awhile, 25 years or so and still tour (less likely to record new tracks) usually sound like garbage…more pop…lyrics lose complexity…tempo decreases. The term “going through the motions” comes to mind. They play the songs that made them popular as an opener and encore but they are usually a lot slower than the originals. Then there is Sonic Youth.
When I heard the Sonic Youth track 100% when I was a kid I thought. “Ummm this is cool”. That was probably the first track I ever heard…then I heard Dirty Boots and said to myself “Umm holy shit this rocks”. They had a way of closing tracks so kick-ass. Then I proceeded to pick up the albums Goo and then Dirty (on cassette tape). I especially liked Goo as this was a nickname I had for a brief period when I was a pre-teen (don’t ask). I listened to them constantly as I delivered pizza in high school. I must be honest that I didn’t dig Kim Gordon’s voice at first…that quickly changed when I heard Kool Thing. Man she’s awesome. Her duet (so to speak) with Chuck-D was reminiscent of Debbie Harry, Blondie-esque but for a new generation. Daydream Nation I didn’t get into later although it came before those other two albums mentioned. Teenage Riot is hands down one of the top songs of all time in my opinion. When I lived in a dingy (that’s being polite) basement on 2nd St in the East Village with my cuz we would go to this local bar called The Library for happy-hour pretty much every other Friday. We would throw in 3 or so bucks and would play the same songs every single time…mine were Minot Threat and Misfits. Danny’s were Pavement and Sonic Youth…no other song but Teenage Riot.

Sonic Youth has so many albums that on the later records I would only pick and chose tracks to download as most of them sucked in my opinion. They were too much of what they are famous for which is long track times filled with feedback. Rather Ripped was refreshing as the tracks had some structure and vocals to them (Download - Reena). I remember seeing them when I was in high school with Pavement, Bosstones, 311 etc at the Philly WDRE fest in the early 90’s. They headlined but their set sucked as all they played were 10min long songs filled with distortion (that’s what I remember). As a teenager I didn’t really “get” what they were trying to do with a live show. I was filled with angst. “Whatevs”. I wonder if that tour many years ago brought them together with former Pavement bassist Mark Ibold…who is now a permanent SY band member. Hmmm. I heard them live two other times. Once my cuz and I couldn’t get into the Central Park Summerstage show so we listened from outside the fence…so good. The last time was literally a year ago on Labor Day weekend when I saw them at the final Macarren Park Pool show in Brooklyn. That weekend actually spawned the Cugerock blog. They were so freakin good. The songs they played were across the catalog and the sound was amazing. Thurston played guitar behind his back for Gods sake. Such a great night. That brings me to their latest album The Eternal.

This album is truly a Sonic Youth album but the melodies and guitars are slightly different. It has the perfect mix of distortion and melody which skewed other albums one way or the other. The first track Sacred Trickster could have been off of Dirty. Same goes for Thunderclap For Bobby Pryn which comes later in the album. Pretty hard not to rock along with either of these tracks. That said they weren’t very different from that their back-catalog. The first track that hooked me was Leaky Lifeboat as it didn’t sound like the normal SY intro. While Anti-Orgasm, the second track is one of those classic 6minute distortion rants. Antenna (the 4th track) is 6minutes of great rock melody and vocals (with a little distortion mixed in which is expected). What We Know if very rockin and pop-ish. Its refreshing and puzzling altogether. Total rocker…maybe Mark had some influence on it?…theeeeen you hear the distortion….classic SY. That was Thurston’s turn and Kim was next with Malibu Gas Station. I feel like Thurston took a few pages out of his solo effort Trees Outside the Academy with tracks like Walkin Blue. This is my favorite track on the album. The husband and wife come together (rare) on No Way which is so kick-ass I can’t even tell you. If I ever hear this live I will pee my pants. Good thing I’m going to see them with Dinosaur Jr in November. WHU-WHU-WHAAAAAAAA??? Such a lineup….reminiscent (yeah I’ve used that word twice in this post) of the Swervedriver/Hum tour.

Like I said, Sonic Youth has such an extensive catalog of music. My bro in law Rob, Eric or my cousin Danny could definitely school me on SY history. I only have experienced a small chunk which had a definite impact on my teenage years….stepped away…and now is back in a significant way. The staying power and relevance of this band is unparalleled. They are an influence on countless bands from mainstream to indie. Most bands from the 80s that are still “on the scene” just plain suck now - U2 I’m looking in your direction. “Blackberry loves U2”…great well Tommy doesn’t. I “Used2”. Ha!

Happy Labor Day kiddos.

Grizzly Bear News

Two things I observed today regarding the band Grizzly Bear:

1. I heard "Two Weeks" in CVS over the in-store radio station (file under "wtf")

-See Video Here - Pretty cool/creepy. http://tinyurl.com/nvomtq

2. Apparently Michael McDonald is a guest vocalist on one of their upcoming singles (that said they may be my favorite band now)

That is all.

SEE ALSO: MY 6/5/09 POST

Oh c'mon...

http://tinyurl.com/m9fvqc

Joe Pernice (of Pernice Bros.) @ Tin Angel - Philly (8/8/09)

I’ve been a Pernice Brothers fan for many years now but the only full album I own is 06’s “Live a Little” which was their last. I have five or six tracks from every other record. I think there are four others. Unfortunately iTunes won’t let me “Compete My Album” for any of them. The first track I ever heard was “Baby in Two” and then I was hooked. I was delighted to hear more upbeat tracks as I sampled more of their music including “Clear Spot” which was apparently on the Gilmore Girls soundtrack. This is a point of confusion that I will address later in the post. Like I had said, I’ve been listening to them for a few years now and I’m still not sure if there are actual Pernice “Brothers” or if that is just Joe Pernice’s name for when he plays with a backing band. I think his brother is/was in the band. I know the band is 100% of Massachusetts origin (home of indie music legends such as Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Pixies etc) born and bred in Dorchester Mass. Joe Pernice also has been in two other bands – The Scud Mountain Boys & Chappaquiddick Skyline - which I just recently learned about. Joe also has written a novel called “It Feels So Good When I Stop” which was just released. Everything is starting to make sense to me. Joe has to have three different bands and a book because he has too much to say.

For me personally, the one thing that makes the Pernice Brothers different from any other band I listen to (and I listen to many) is the lyrics. The lyrics really get to me. My girlfriend laughs because I am definitely a “tunes first, ask questions about the lyrics later” kind of guy. Plus unlike her I don’t read many “books” per se. I read a lot of content on the web, city papers and magazines…that counts right? Its called AADD…look it up. The music is important of course but Joe Pernice tells a short story in every song which has always drawn me closer to his personal story. The songs/stories often deal with women, money, love, drugs, booze, social standing etc but not in the typical rock-star lyrical formula you’re used to. It’s hard to explain but for me personally, the songs are very relatable yet unrealistic in the same vein. They remind me of situations I’ve been in throughout my adult life but I couldn’t give exact matching contextual detail if you asked me to. You’ll see when you download tracks like “Blinded by the Stars”, “One Foot in the Grave”, “PCH One”, “How Can I Compare”, “Clear Spot, “Working Girls” and “Somerville”. I’ve been trying to keep tabs on Joe Pernice as the years went on hoping to catch a show. After the last album was released, every so often I’d read an article about Joe moving to Canada (he lives in Toronto) or him guest lecturing at UMass (he has an MFA in creative writing) or some other side project. So when I read that Joe had written a book and more importantly was playing music to compliment/support it I was pretty psyched. There were two weekend dates in close proximity to me geographically. Friday at the Bowery on NYC or Saturday at the Tin Angel in Philly. I attended the Tin Angel performance…

I had never been to the Tin Angel. The venue is located in the Old City section of Philadelphia. It is a small upstairs venue with table seating/singular waitress service…a far cry from the sweaty venues I normally frequent (aka it was refreshing). Seeing as Joe played at the Bowery Ballroom the night before I guess I expected something slightly smaller but nothing like this…the place was tiny. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I thought in the back of my mind that Joe just might get up there solo with an electric acoustic. I was right. We walked in and he had a small table set up by the sound board with copies of his books, the IFSGWIS album and some Pernice Brothers recordings. He also had some eco-friendly cloth grocery bags with his label logo (“Ashmont Recordings”) on them. The opening act was a comedy duo consisting of two brothers from Mass called “The Walsh Brothers” (I think?). Pretty hilarious improv. Then Joe came on stage. Surprisingly he had a noticeable Boston accent. His singing voice sounds 180 degrees different then his speaking voice. Honestly…I was scared as you know when you really get into a band but never had seen them perform (or even any photos) so you have a certain expectation of how they’ll look or act? The way they appear in your mind when you hear the tracks on your iPod or in your car. You are afraid “the real deal” will ruin it. I know it sounds silly but it’s true…at least in my case. Luckily Joe looked and acted how I expected. He was a little more average-Joe (no pun intended) in personality than I thought but it really didn’t matter.

The whole show was kinda mellow and laid back that I felt like he was playing on my friends back porch or something. There also wasn’t any mention of the city he was playing in. There wasn’t any cliché greetings like “Hello Philly”, “Great to be back in Philly” or “Philly…hell of a town”. This was again…refreshing. However he was very conversational with the crowd. He got up and joked around, explained what he was going to do which was read some passages from his book then play some of the covers from the album. He opened with a passage from the book. The story of the novel revolves around a young NYC struggling musician who meets the love of his life then leaves the city her after one day of marriage and heads to Cap Cod/South Shore Boston. The story goes back and forth from the past to the present (which reminds me of 500 Days of Summer). Of course this is how the book is described and what I felt from the readings. I haven’t read it yet. The passages were hilarious and well written (a la Joe Pernice). One passage involves a funny story about Joe meeting Lou Barlow from Sebadoh/Dinosaur Jr outside the late Brownies music club in NYC. Apparently in real-life Joe called Lou and told him he was putting him in the novel but not to worry because he made him out to be a good guy. Lou basically said to Joe – Thanks for the heads up but you can write me in as a total dick if you want.

I’m calling it now. If the entire book is anything like what he read that night…this will be turned into a High-Fidelity-esque indie film years from now. Again…just a hunch…I have to read it first. Joe actually makes reference to High Fidelity in some interviews (that he’s trying to stay away from that comparison) and is apparently friends with Nick Hornby.

The covers he played are amongst his favorite songs that had a significant impact on his life and thus translated well to the story line of the book. I heard of most of the bands but never heard any of the tracks he played except for the Sebadoh track “Soul and Fire”. There was one song “I’m Your Puppet” by Bobby & James Purify that I particularly enjoyed. Most of the bands were obscure and pretty old school (in my eyes at least). I guess the Pernice Brothers have an older skewing fan base judging by the attendees at the show which were in their late 30s/early 40s. I think we were the youngest people there besides the waitress. Given the press I’ve seen and the Gilmore Girls association I thought maybe he appealed to a younger sect as well. Why do I even care? All I’m saying is that it was just noticeable. Regardless the songs were great. I shouldn’t judge. I’m a Blink-182 fan (dead serious).

Then after Joe was done with the book reading and song covers he said he was going to play a few Pernice Brothers songs. My eyes lit up. TOTALLY unexpected. He picked a few tracks he thought would translate better to acoustic versions including “How Can I Compare” which has significance to me personally and one of my favorites so I was pretty blown away. After the show was over I immediately bought a book (yeah) and walked over to Joe to introduce myself and get it signed. He was a really nice guy. I was completely star-struck…you’d think after seeing celebs on pretty much a monthly basis living in NYC for 8 years I’d play it cool. It’s different when you meet someone who created something that has such a significant impact on your life. He asked me who I should make the autograph out to and I said “Tommy” (like I’m fucking 10 years old). My girlfriend seeing that I was incapacitated, stepped in and asked Joe if he could make it out to “Cuge”. Thanks T. I might as well of had a bib on…however I hope I never lose that level admiration for musicians…at any age.

BOOK EXCERPT: http://tinyurl.com/lcc8w8

DOWNLOAD THESE: Somerville, Blinded By the Stars, PCH One, Clear Spot, How Can I Compare, Baby in Two, Lightheaded