Herzog (Cleveland Slacker Rock) Plays Shea Stadium on August 22nd Along with Clarence, Pup, and Soda Bomb

DOWNLOAD: Herzog - "Fuck This Year" (from Cartoon Violence)

Herzog has spent the last few months camped out at Kevin McMahon’s Marcata Recording in New Paltz (The Walkmen, Widowspeak, etc), working on their follow up LP to 2012's Cartoon Violence (Exit Stencil) and are now venturing out to play some shows.

Herzog's last disc, Cartoon Violence, earned the band positive reviews from the likes of NME, Pitchfork, and NPR’s All Songs Considered as this disc found the band expounding and improving upon the aesthetic and themes that deservedly earned them comparisons to iconic bands in the pantheon of ‘90’s “slacker-rock.” NME said: "This isn’t bullshit slacker rock. It’s the real fucking McCoy".



On the band's Cartoon Violence disc, the songs continue to explore the fringes of many genres ranging from 1970s FM radio Americana balladeering ("Dreaming Man II"), McCartney-esque pop stylings ("Feedback"), and straightforward power-pop ("Alexander the Great"). The melodies remain soaring and elegant, the arrangements beautifully complex and catchy, and the instrumentation ideally and intelligently complimenting the lyrics of each song. But don’t be mistaken---the loving nods to the 90’s are still present with songs like “You Clean Up Nice,” which is reminiscent of Jawbreaker at their poppiest but infused with a more flippant attitude towards the weight of the world. "The Ballad of Rich People" conjures up images of Keep it like a Secret-era Built to Spill, with its wild guitar-work---both slide and solo.

Herzog is playing Shea Stadium in Brooklyn on August 22nd, along with Clarence (form. Savages), PUP, & Soda Bomb. Cover is $8 and doors are at 8PM.

Links:
Herzog

The Necronauts - "Gauche et Droite" CD Review (Black Cactus Records)

I’ve never heard of The Necronauts prior to receiving a review copy of the band’s sixth disc, Gauche et Droite. While The Necronauts fall into the “indie rock” genre, this label is somewhat misleading as this sprawling forty track / two-disc release has much more in common with bands like Pavement and Sebadoh than with any of today’s indie-rock bands. This release is a welcome throwback to the days of lo-fi DIY rock where, if a band got lucky, they might be able to break-out of the “get in the van” underground with an appearance on MTV’s 120 Minutes.

The Necronauts were formed in the year 2000 by half-brothers Billy and Dale Goodman of Mesa, Arizona. In their first four years, The Necronauts independently released five albums, including a critically acclaimed self-titled EP in 2004. Recording for Gauche et Driotte began in 2005 and singer/guitarist Billy Goodman said “I intended it to be a double album. I talked a lot of shit and opened my mouth about making this epic album, I had to keep my word. I’ll never make that mistake again.”

The 2CDs show the evolution of the band's songwriting process as Disc One (“Gauche”) contains nineteen tracks of lo-fi slacker rock and Disc Two (“Droite) contains nine early versions of tracks from “Gauche” that are significantly different from the finalized versions along with ten new songs. The song titles are completely unrelated to the lyrical themes, as reoccurring themes seem to be about dysfunctional people, relationships and the silliness of following the implicit rules of a given “scene”. On top of the band’s general skepticism, they seem to have a particularly negative outlook toward organized religion. This somewhat cynical outlook isn’t immediately obvious as it is delivered amidst catchy, sing-along melodies and memorable musical hooks.

The song “Skateboarding Hurts” (video below) is about dysfunctional relationships.



For anyone who “shot up” on The Minutemen and Meat Puppets in the 80’s and Pavement and Sebadoh in the 90’s, this is essential listening.

Gauche et Droite contains a 30-page booklet with lyrics, artwork by Dave 'Luster Kaboom' Quan, and was released by High School Football Records and Black Cactus Records.

Links:
The Necronauts

Jenny & Johnny Announce First US Tour with Stops in Brooklyn and Hoboken

DOWNLOAD: Jenny & Johnny - "Scissor Runner" (requires registration on JennyandJohnnyMusic.com)

Jenny and Johnny first started working together in Los Angeles in 2005, after being introduced by Conor Oberst. Rice had traveled to Nebraska to make his first record before moving to L.A., where Lewis was beginning work with Mike Mogis on her solo debut Rabbit Fur Coat. They both ended up playing on each others recordings, and struck up a lasting creative relationship.

For this new disc, Jenny and Johnny locked out Mike Mogis’ world-class ARC studios for five weeks of tracking, vocals, and mixing during the worst Midwestern winter since the 1860’s. The front door of their guest house actually froze shut, so they used an alternate route to get to the studio every day. Cut off from the outside world in a blizzard’s haze, the record’s personality began to emerge. Gone were the vintage, classic-rock textures of their previous two albums, and in came a brand new sound which was tougher around the edges. The exuberance of love songs like Scissor Runner mask some of the record’s darkness, with Lewis chronicling the economic demise of her beloved California in Big Wave, Rice’s haunting vocal on Animal, and both songwriters raising a middle-finger kiss off in the acerbic My Pet Snakes.

Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice are kicking off their first US tour in September and the tour stops in Brooklyn on September 19th when the band opens for Pavement and the band is playing a headlining set at Maxwell's on September 21st.



Here are the complete tour dates:
9/1 Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theater (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/2 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall (on sale Sun 6/28 @ 10a)
9/3 Oakland, CA @ The New Parish (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/5 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/6 Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival (on sale now)
9/8 Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room (on sale Fri 6/25 @ 10a)
9/11 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/12 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center (on sale Fri 6/25 @ Noon)
9/13 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (on sale Fri 6/25 @ Noon)
9/14 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom (on sale Fri 6/25 @ 10a)
9/16 Washington , DC @ Black Cat (on sale Fri 6/25 @ Noon)
9/18 Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena (opening for Pavement - on sale now)
9/19 Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Waterfront (opening for Pavement - on sale now)
9/21 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's (on sale Sat 6/26 @ Noon)
9/22 Philadel phia, PA @ Trocadero Theater (w/ Superchunk - on sale now)
9/23 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/24 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/25 Nashville , TN @ Mercy Lounge (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
10/3 LA, CA @ Palladium (opening for Belle & Sebastian - on sale now)

Links:
Jenny and Johnny

Pavement - Brighten The Corners (Nicene Credence Edition) CD Review (Matador)

Matador's reissue of Pavement's fourth CD, Brighten The Corners, allows you to really get a different perspective on the original CD.

The original twelve track CD seemed pretty focused and mellow after its sprawling predecessor, Wowee Zowee. The deluxe edition of Brighten the Corners adds thirty-two bonus tracks that includes outtakes, b-sides, live material and radio sessions. There are reinterpretations of material from Brighten the Corners and early versions of songs that would ultimately make it onto Terror Twilight and the Major Leagues EP. These bonus tracks give this disc the open and loose sound of its predecessors and add a bit of extra life and context to the original twelve tracks.

Brighten The Corners has aged well and the original singles from this release, “Stereo” and “Shady Lane”, still sound fresh. Giving a fresh listen to this CD, Spiral Stairs' songs, "Date w/ IKEA" and "Passat Dream", should have also been hits and both seemed to miss their time. "Date w/IKEA" has that California pysch-pop feel that Matthew Sweet has been mining over his last few releases and "Passat Dream" sounds like something that could have come from The Strokes or one of the other current day indie-rock bands.

I can't think of any word to describe the thirty-two bonus tracks other than "eclectic". The bonus tracks include two extra versions of "Type Slowly" - a countrified up-tempo version renamed "Slowly Type" and a live version from the Tibet Freedom Festival. There are two versions of an early version of "The Hexx" (then named "And Then") - an extended studio version and a live Peel Session. There are covers of The Fall's "The Classical" and Echo and the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" (both songs were later re-recorded for the band's final EP - Major Leagues) along with a cover of the Clean. Pavement fans will likely wonder why "Harness Your Hopes" (which is included as both a b-side and a Peel Session recording) got regulated to b-side status as the music and Stephen Malkmus' lyrical wordplay seems to hold up well against the disc's original twelve tracks. Fittingly, this set ends on a shambolic note with two takes on the Space Ghost Theme, both of which were recorded in Boston's WFNX Studios on February 12, 1997.

Going back to 1997, here is the Spike Jonze directed video for "Shady Lane":