Cat Plaza #3

Did you follow through on your New Years Resolution to read Ulysses or Infinite Jest?  No?  Sorry about that; what you need is a nice easy read to help you through.  Introducing Cat Plaza #3.  The new issue is 16 pages (because you jokers don't submit work) and costs one dollar.  You can expect all the great things you've come to expect from my zine: top-notch short stories, music reviews, show reviews, opinions, and a report on my brief but life-changing encounter with Tommy Wiseau.  

Cat Plaza #3 is only available in person or by snail mail.  No paypal this time- no one used it and I still sold out of #2s.  If you're dead set on acquiring Cat Plaza by snail mail, you should send me 2 dollars, your address, and a fun note.  Maybe then I'll consider driving to the post office to accommodate you.  Just kidding, I love all my readers near and far.

Summer #1: 30 copies SOLD OUT
Fall #2: 40 copies SOLD OUT (The last copies are gathering dust at Quimby's.)
Spring #3: 50 copies ACT NOW

No reprints ever.

Did You Hear? Sea of Treasures

A lot of brainiacs tell me they like jazz because they know I like jazz.  We start talking, and they tell me all about their obsessions with John Coltrane, the 39 Miles records they got on their computer, the near-mint copy of Take Five they found in the bargain racks.  I nod my head and wait for them to leave because they are fucking stupid.  You don't like jazz unless you like Sea of Treasures.  This is the most ferocious and interesting cult-jazz record out there.  The saxophone playing rivals Brick Blackwell's, and several songs boldly predict what jazz will look like in the future (if the right people take it there).  You won't find this at Starbucks, people.  This is jazz for players; this is jazz for the converted.

Get it here!

Did you hear? Sig Transit Gloria - 2>8>2000

"Why would I listen to Sig Transit Gloria when there's the Get Up Kids?"

When someone asked this on a message board years ago, I actually considered the question.  Sure, 2>8>2000 sounds like Four Minute Mile with synthesizer/ piano, and that sounds like new Get Up Kids, but why not listen to both bands?  Think about your computer's specs.  Unless you're running a relic from the 80s, you have enough memory to hold mp3-files from both the Get Up Kids and STG.  Question answered and problem solved.  Sure, imitation can be a bad thing, but not in this case.  The STG EP is too fun, energetic, and relevant to not warrant your attention.  

You're going to want this record as the weather improves, too.  The bounce in "Hello" and "Don't Come In" will put that spring back in your shoes.  Another quality I like in pop-punk: voice-maxing.  The singer has a high voice, and when he maxes out on the lyric "wanna go home with me?" it really resonates.  There are lyrics about girls on this EP, guys. 

On "Wide Open Window"- my favorite STG song- the raging verse gives way to that delightful synth/ guitar break and then the chorus.  "Wanted to spend the night/ holding you in my/ arms you can't resist/ the warmth of your breath." Yep.

Get it here!

Review: Midlake - The Courage of Others

 

I haven't written a new music review in a long time. I don't read them that much anymore, either. I might peak at the number in a Pitchfork review or look at Metacritic to see how people are reacting, but I've found in the last two years that blogs and message boards are far more reliable indicators of what I'll like. 

The problem with these music review websites is that they have to fulfill negative-review quotas. Pitchfork, for example (and because it's the most influential site out there, the only 'indie' blog I read), tosses tepid reviews at big-time records about once a month. They also inflate their reviews if the band is coming to their fest that particular year. Since Midlake's new record, The Courage of Others, got a straight-up bad review, I'm coming to its rescue and not expecting them to be at Union Park in July.

The biggest complaint most people have is that the songs are too deliberate, too mid-tempo. A lot of reviewers poke fun at Midlake for carrying out their vision so thoroughly. Isn't that what people liked about The Trials of Van Occupanther? People encouraged them to dive deeper into their sound, and now they're complaining about it. We all know that they are best listened to when stitching pelts. I think their sound is engaging, unique, and worth pursuing. On The Courage of Others, they really nailed it.  They out-Fleet-Foxed the Fleet Foxes and other bands with bearded dudes in them. Their pastoral, pre-industrial vision demands these songs to be brooding and slow. Life was slow, life was hard, and there were flutes.

Yes, there are flutes on this record. There are quietly fingerpicked guitars, reserved vocals, and communal harmonies. The organic drums stay out of the way only to take command during climaxes and crescendos. "Fortune" is a great little acoustic number, and "Acts of Man" builds to barely a boil, then subsides.

I wanted another "Roscoe" or "Head Home," but I didn't get one. That's my complaint. Really, that's everyone's complaint even if they didn't come right out and say it. I'm glad to have The Courage of Others, though. I'll be at the Midlake show in May, that is if they can make it to the venue without cracking a wagon axle or dying from dysentery. See? Those jokes are way too easy!

Did you hear? Boilerman - Demo 2010

To prepare you for the arrival of Cat Plaza Volume 3, I'm uploading Boilerman's new demo tape.  I reviewed two of their shows in the upcoming issue, and I want you to hear their music before reading those reviews. I want you to hear the music because it's really good.

Is there a pop-punk revival going on right now or did that end already? I get invited to pop-punk shows on Facebook once in awhile, but no thanks I don't want to see Teenage Bottlerocket live.  I do, however, want to see bands that sound like the Broadways. Thus, I always want to see Boilerman.

I like my songs catchy, and I especially like when the catchiness comes from the music.  In other words, I'm not a big fan of these power choruses I sometimes hear with like, every member of the band singing along.  I understand that this technique can get drunk dudes with mustaches to go wild at your shows, but that's not for me.  I prefer speed, buried vocals, and rockin' out instrumental sections (you hear: this). I really like "Boo Radley Game" from 1:13 on and "Whipping Boys" from 2:15 on.  I haven't had much of an opportunity to read the lyrics booklet, but I don't think these songs are about girls.  If your songs aren't going to be about girls, what do you write about?  I don't know, maybe you can help me understand.  Politics?

Get it here!   
Bandcamp!

Did you hear? Boiling Over - Barriers

 

I've been following Boiling Over since their first show, and now two years later they are at their peak.  Incidentally, this peak coincides with their end and last show.  I hate when bands stick around past their welcome.  It's cool to see Boiling Over quit before their inevitable slide into making indie-hardcore with like trumpets and harp and sound bites from obscure documentaries. No way, I don't think those dudes would ever do that.

Tyler (drums) and T.J. (guitar) exist on a transcendent hardcore plane. They share a common brain which has been programmed for hardcore greatness.  Check out this old video of them running through a set, honing their craft.  They intuitively know where each break and fast part will lead because that's what it's like to be part of a power-duo.  What this amounts to on record is tight guitar and drums.  You heard it on songs like "Trash City," and it's back on "Pushed to Death."

 

I'd argue that Barriers even has a swan-song called "On the Fringe."  You get the fast section at the top with Pat's mean vocals, and then all hell breaks loose when Joey does his thing on bass and the mid-tempo instrumental part kicks in.  Your mosh impulse triggers, and you want to lay waste to this ugly, trashy city. 

Get it here!

Ohh damn!

 

Get the shirt here!