Sunday, February 13, 2005
Friday night I went to the Knitting Factory to see Sweet and Tender Hooligans perform the Smiths' Meat is Murder upon the 20th anniversary of its release. I'm sure my 16 year old self was there to buy it on that long ago day either at Best Records or at Middle Earth Records. It's kind of sad, but that's how I used to spend most of my later high school years. While other kids were out partying or whatever I was spending my weekend evenings hanging out at record stores. Needless to say I wasn't a big hit with the ladies either so I'm sure that is partly the reason why I came to love the Smiths and why Meat is Murder is still my favorite album by them. The lyrics really spoke to me and it reminds me of the person I once was. I was basically a popular nerd who was always getting crushes on girls who were out of my league and being that they had no interest in me I could make myself feel better listening to a lyric like, "On the day that your mentality decides to catch up with your biology. Come 'round." Such a good lyric and so true during those teenage years. To a boy who was rarely wanted the song "Well I Wonder" was gold. "Well I wonder. Do you see me when we pass? I half-die. Please keep me in mind. Please keep me in mind." It sounded so good to hear these lyrics and the equally beautiful music Friday night even if it was only a cover band and I amazed myself that I could still remember most of the lyrics 20 years later. I had a good time and I just wish they would have played a little less Morrissey solo stuff afterwards.
Last night I went to the Echo to see a few bands. First up were a band whose name I have no idea what it was, but their sound often reminded me of Looney Tunes cartoon music as played by John Zorn's Naked City. The next band were called Earthless and I wondered if that was a bit of a joke in reference to the band Earth which many of these really heavy bands get compared to nowadays. Basically they were a jam band which I usually hate, but I did like these guys. I think they only played one "song" because they came out and started playing and they didn't stop until they walked off the stage. Think of the breaks and guitar solos in a Stooges or MC5 song and that is sort of what these guys sounded like except the whole song was only those parts. I was impressed that the drummer went at least 40 minutes playing non-stop. If those were my arms they would have fallen off. The next band was Om and they also played two really long songs. They consist of a bass player/vocalist and a drummer and you can imagine they were really heavy. You would think that a duo like this could be boring, but that wasn't the case. I'm really interested in seeing another band that is only bass and drums called Lightning Bolt, although they don't necessarilly share the same sound. I really liked hearing the low end throb of Om. I forgot to mention that I started to get sick yesterday evening and by the time Comets on Fire came on I was a bit of a mess. I liked them more the last time they played, but I stuck around for most of their set until I just felt too crappy. At least I got to see some interesting bands I had never heard before.
I got home and went to sleep or I should say that I tried to go to sleep. I kept coughing and my body was aching and I just kept twisting around in my bed. When I would fall asleep I was having really weird dreams where everything that could go wrong would go wrong. By the time I woke up this morning all I felt was depression. Not a good night's sleep.
Last night I went to the Echo to see a few bands. First up were a band whose name I have no idea what it was, but their sound often reminded me of Looney Tunes cartoon music as played by John Zorn's Naked City. The next band were called Earthless and I wondered if that was a bit of a joke in reference to the band Earth which many of these really heavy bands get compared to nowadays. Basically they were a jam band which I usually hate, but I did like these guys. I think they only played one "song" because they came out and started playing and they didn't stop until they walked off the stage. Think of the breaks and guitar solos in a Stooges or MC5 song and that is sort of what these guys sounded like except the whole song was only those parts. I was impressed that the drummer went at least 40 minutes playing non-stop. If those were my arms they would have fallen off. The next band was Om and they also played two really long songs. They consist of a bass player/vocalist and a drummer and you can imagine they were really heavy. You would think that a duo like this could be boring, but that wasn't the case. I'm really interested in seeing another band that is only bass and drums called Lightning Bolt, although they don't necessarilly share the same sound. I really liked hearing the low end throb of Om. I forgot to mention that I started to get sick yesterday evening and by the time Comets on Fire came on I was a bit of a mess. I liked them more the last time they played, but I stuck around for most of their set until I just felt too crappy. At least I got to see some interesting bands I had never heard before.
I got home and went to sleep or I should say that I tried to go to sleep. I kept coughing and my body was aching and I just kept twisting around in my bed. When I would fall asleep I was having really weird dreams where everything that could go wrong would go wrong. By the time I woke up this morning all I felt was depression. Not a good night's sleep.
Comments:
Post a Comment
