This past Friday (11/9/2018) was a
monster of a release day. The debut album from Laura Jane Grace &
The Devouring Mothers. New albums from J. Mascis and Charles
Bradley. An acoustic EP from War On Women, a live album from Thee Oh
Sees and reissue box sets from The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
Outside of Against Me!'s Transgender
Dysphoria Blues, I think Bought
To Rot may be the best thing
Laura Jane Grace has ever done. I was completely floored by the time
side A came to an end. After the opening salvo of “China Beach”
and “Born In Black,” “The Airplane Song,” “Apocalypse Now
(& Later)” and “Reality Bites” was one of the best coupling
of songs I have ever heard on an album.
I am so glad that
I resisted the urge to listen to the early singles and the NPR album
preview. I was greatly rewarded for having patience and saving the
first listen for the full range sound of the vinyl. Initially, I was
worried because of the total of fourteen tracks on the album. There
are instances when a band goes long like that it starts to feel like
there is some filler involved in some of the songs. Then I
remembered that even though this is the debut album for the Devouring
Mothers, the parties involved with making this record certainly know
what they are doing.
Bought
To Rot has a completely
different feel to it than an Against Me! album so it made sense to
put it out under a different band name. The songs are still jammed
packed with hooks and are anthemic as all get out. But the songs
sound as if they are being approached from a different angle which
makes them stand apart from Grace's work in Against Me!.
I did
have to take a break from the record after the song “Screamy
Dreamy” to listen to “Fireater” off of the late, great Maggie
Estep's album Love Is A Dog From Hell. The songs are eerily similar and it was great to be reminded of
Maggie after not having listened to her records for a while.
I will certainly
be heading north to Cleveland, in April, to see these songs on a
stage. From the sound of the album, they are aching to be played
live.
* * *
J.
Mascis somehow found time to write/record Elastic Days
during what seemed like an endless tour with Dinosaur Jr. over the
past few years. This album is a continuation of his previous solo
albums, Several Shades Of Why and
Tied To A Star. Not to say that
J. is putting out the same album over and over but these albums are
definitely a come down from the monstrous wall of sound that is
Dinosaur Jr. He's certainly earned the right to take a breather and
mellow out after years of Marshall amplification.
Hearing him play
around with different instrumentation and composition is worth the
price of admission alone. I don't think J. gets the credit as a
songwriter that he deserves.
Elastic
Days has the kind of feel to it
that would be suitable for listening on a laid back Sunday morning
before the worries of the coming week come crashing in to ruin the
mood.
* * *
Charles
Bradley's Black Velvet
is a collection of covers and the last few songs that were in the
vault at Daptone Records. The term “Soul” fails horribly to
describe what Charles Bradley was capable of. He operated on a
completely different, much deeper, wave length than what normally
would be described as soul music.
I miss this man so
much. Three albums and this collection are not nearly enough but
it's all we've got and every second of Charles' work is worth
hearing.
The download card
for the deluxe edition is also a seed packet that can be planted to
grow wildflowers in memory Charles.
* * *
War
On Women released an acoustic EP called Live At The Magpie
Cage. The Magpie Cage is the
studio that is owned and operated by J. Robbins, of Jawbox fame.
Having their usual
Punk Rock rage and amplification stripped away from them, the songs
on the acoustic EP definitely have legs of their own which cannot be
said for songs written by other bands when they attempt to put out
records like this.
The
lyrics stand out more when they aren't backed by their familiar sound
and fury. Given the content of War On Women's songs, the weight of
the lyrics is on full display.
Shawna Potter's
voice more than handled the change of pace from screamy/shouty to
actual singing. And that cannot be said about the capabilities of
other hardcore singers.
* * *
Live
In San Francisco by Thee Oh
Sees, operating under the name OCS, was reissued by the Austrian
label Rock Is Hell. This live album came out earlier this year in
obscenely limited quantities and disappeared almost as soon as it was
announced.
Luckily, Rock Is
Hell saw fit to do another run for those of us that missed it the
first time around. This time there are 300 on clear pink and 1,700
on black vinyl.
This
version of the band is the less raucous line up which is why they go
under the name OCS instead of Thee Oh Sees. The set mostly contains
songs from the album Memory Of A Cut Off Head that
came out in 2017.
* * *
The box sets
released by The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix are a can of worms that I
don't think I will venture into.
As curious as I am
to hear what Giles Martin was able to with The White Album,
the six CD box set is certainly cost prohibitive. After hearing the
way he cracked open Sgt. Pepper, the Gile's version of The
White Album would definitely be worth a listen but not for an arm
and a leg.
The 50th
anniversary reissue of Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix
Experience is a different story. Early reports of the mix/mastering
are not good. Things were trimmed and clipped instead of letting the
sound stretch out into the full range.
I have been burned
by the Hendrix estate before with the various releases of rehashed
material billed as new and unreleased. With the amount of people
complaining about the finished product, I think I'll be staying away
from this one.
* * *
The shit is getting deep but at least there's a mountain of music out there to help us get through it.
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