While I should’ve shared something from the Redd Kross album Neurotica as well, you’re going to have to forgive me…there’s a small distraction going on that’s making the evening quite entertaining. Speaking of which…have you voted?!

I had the pleasure of seeing Redd Kross a few months ago and was completely blown away. So, when I saw that the band were playing another show (shows are getting fewer and fewer) in Los Angeles July 20, at the Greek Theater with Sonic Youth, I felt obligated to report the news. Screw your Pitchfork Festival kids and get your School of Rock diploma early by taking this advanced learning course. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

I apologize if you’re offended that I neglected to praise the brilliance of Sonic Youth…I’ll save that for another day, OK?!

MP3: Redd Kross - “Annie’s Gone”
MP3: Redd Kross - “Lady In The Front Row”
MP3: Redd Kross - “Follow The Leader”

- Kip!

Ken Stringfellow has a new band. I’ve lost count of how many bands the man is involved with. As if being one of the founding members of The Posies wasn’t enough, Ken had to add touring and recording with both Big Star and R.E.M. to his rock n roll resume. Let’s not forget about the acoustic performances with Jon Auer.

He’s one busy man, no doubt about it.

Photo: Mathieu Zazzo

From the band’s Myspace: The Disciplines came from a fortuitous meeting: the singer of Briskeby, Lise Karlsnes, met the singer of the Posies, Ken Stringfellow, while the latter was entertaining an entire MTV music awards afterparty, taking requests at the piano (Ken was there playing with REM, he is their keyboard player). This was in 2001, just after Stringfellows second solo album, Touched, has been released, and he was pleasantly surprised to find someone requesting one his songs, a request he gladly granted. The two became friends and thru Lise Ken met the rest of Briskeby (Bjørn Bergene, guitarist; Bård Helgeland, bassist; and Claus Heiberg-Larsen; drummer) inviting them to the REM show in Oslo in early 2005. Bonds were solidified in a late night session at Teddys jukebox bar; promises were made and the one that was kept was that they would all do something musical together in the future. Luckily, the other, less noble, promises were forgotten by morning! REM returned to Oslo in the summer of 2005 and in the scant free hours between early morning arrival and the show, Ken went to a studio and fashioned a duet with Lise on what would become Briskeby’s most successful song, “Joe Dallesandro”. A hit song has a way of tying the participants together forever and this prospect was nothing but a great opportunity for making something entirely new out of this crossbred, thoroughbred, hybrid creature: part Norwegian, part American; part Briskeby, part Stringfellow et voila, the Disciplines were formed. They’re still trying to decide what the music can be called. At turns rock, at turns garage, at turns simple, at turns twisted around different styles. Based around the simplicity of the live band Stringfellow sings; Bjørn plays guitar; Bård plays bass, Claus Heiberg-Larsen plays drums. They don’t do overdubs, and they also use the motto famously tucked into the sleeve of all the early Queen albums: no synths! Having played to just a few lucky audiences so far, they present their recordings are a show, done live, in their rehearsal space, with all the tension and ferocity that a band usually thrusts forward towards the audience being jammed into a scant few microphones (god rest their souls). The name implies the band is itself the creation of four disciplined musicians. It certainly has a well-defined, adhered-to aesthetic. However, disciplines are also branches of knowledge and occasionally, a new discipline is formed when something too advanced, too specialized, and too unique to inhabit a previously known category is created by drawing upon previously known fields of science. And thus, we present you, previously unknown to science, philosophy or history: the Disciplines.

A few slices o’ Ken:
MP3: The Posies - “Solar Sister”
MP3: Saltine - “Reveal Love”
MP3: Ken Stringfellow - “Find Yourself Alone”

Never heard of The Hours? Why don’t we let Jarvis Cocker introduce them?

The Hours are Antony Genn and Martin Slattery. They understand what music is for - it’s for human beings to communicate with other human beings. It’s that simple, it’s that important. Let them into your life. You won’t regret it.

The Sunday Times called their album, ‘Narcissus Road’, a ‘deep, dark disturbing beauty of a debut album, stalked by Scott Walker, Radiohead and Gang of Four’.

Their new single, the rousing underdog anthem ‘Ali In The Jungle’, comes out on July 9. The video is posted above.

Trust us, soon you won’t be able to remember what your life was like before you loved The Hours.

Get a free download of their song ‘Murder or Suicide’ here.

Speaking of Jarvis Cocker…
MP3: Pulp - “Babies”
MP3: Pulp - “Underwear”

My apologies for once again slipping and letting dust settle on this category shortly after I started it. I hope this makes up for it:

Gang of Four bass player Dave Allen has a music blog called pampelmoose. He’s decided to share a live recording that was anonymously sent to him four years ago…why am I telling you this? I’ll let Dave tell you…

From pampelmoose: In 1979 if memory serves me correctly, Gang of Four was on its second visit to the USA when we played a club in Manhattan called Mothers. I’m no longer sure if the club still exists but the performance we gave that night certainly does. A CD of the live recording arrived in the mail anonymously about 4 years ago just prior to the Gang of Four reunion tours. It’s a patchy recording but it captures the fire and energy of the times, a time when music was still evolving. I’ve decided to make these 12 tracks available for download and today is day 1 of 12 days of offering up the files. Collect the set.

MP3: Gang of Four - “I Found That Essence Rare” (Live @ Mothers, New York City 9/9/79)

It’s been quite some time since I’ve been a supporter of the local music scene. The majority of my friends live in the Milwaukee area, so I often travel down there to see shows. Since I started promoting the website locally I felt it was long overdue that I once again started checking out the new local breed and sharing what I like.

My friend Maggie and I ventured out to Nubby’s Bar in De Pere last night. We celebrated the birthdays of Bob and Pic while taking in the sounds of Sheboygan’s Abort! Abort! and Green Bay’s very own Kildrifter.

Both bands are significantly more aggressive than the normal blend of indie bliss we serve on a daily basis, but this is a music website…if it’s good, we’re sharing it…regardless of genre (or in this case, how fucking hard it rocks).

Abort! Abort!’s charismatic guitarist Drew Fredrichsen was kind enough to slap one of their demo CDs in my palm last night, so after giving it a few listens this afternoon, I figured I’d share a track. If you like what you hear, the band has two more mp3s available on their Myspace site.

- Kip!

MP3: Abort! Abort! - “The Answer”

Washington DC’s Secret Pop is the solo project of former Ape House frontman and current Lejeune multi-instrumentalist J. Forte.

With power pop influences in all the right places, J. Forte + Secret Pop offer the listener an apple that didn’t fall too far from the Beatles, Kinks, Beach Boys, and Cheap Trick tree. It’s an enjoyable listen. If you enjoy the mp3 we’ve shared, make a point of visiting the Secret Pop website to download three others.

Secret Pop Press:

“A charming lo-fi record… highlighted by fuzzy guitars and Forte’s sweet but hushed vocals.” - DCist

““Secret Pop” is an apartment recorder’s wet dream” - Smother Magazine

“Pop music this good shouldn’t be kept secret.” - Erasing Clouds

“Catchy ditties with many indie-pop trademarks” - Washington City Paper

MP3: Secret Pop - “Come Back Now Baby (Your Data Is Good)”

New categories for the site come from strange places. Yearning for a proper breakfast yesterday morning, the thoughts of freshly squeezed juice filled my sleep-deprived mind. I never intended to create a category from the title of the post I made that morning, but when I got home from work and digested yesterday’s posts properly…I realized it might not be a bad name to feature bands we stumble upon that aren’t household names. Like the following…

The Distortions are a trio from Los Angeles. Their sounds reminds one of a poor man’s Jesus And Mary Chain…mix a dash of Ride and My Bloody Valentine and you get the picture. The band recently released their second full-length Machines At Night. Visit their Myspace for ordering information.

Here’s what the critics have said about The Distortions:

The Distortions have truly stepped up with what can easily be considered one of the standout records of the year so far, and it stands to set them among some of their greatest peers like Doves & Black Rebel Motorcycle Club… a remarkably subtle and nuanced album … - Andru Aesthetik, Post-Punk.com

…The Distortions are surely the next candidates for post-punk rock royalty. - Sable Yong, SoundTheSirens.com

The Distortions rock in a My Bloody Valentine-goes-POP kind of fashion… - Michael Diver, Drowned In Sound

…the Distortions are the real thing; talented and musically advanced. - Independentsonly.com

MP3: The Distortions - “This Place Doesn’t Have The Balls To Kill Me”

The Sky Drops are gaze-grunge band from Wilmington, Delaware. The duo consists of Rob Montejo (ex Smashing Orange) and Monika Bullette.

Rob and Monika’s beautiful harmonies are intensified by swimming blissed-out guitars and no-nonsense drumming. The duo has been likened to a “shoegazing Everly Brothers”.

A nod to the early 90’s shoegaze. Yet it’s more accessible and less willfully obtuse. Rather than gazing down at shoes and laces, The Sky Drops play with their heads held high.” - To Die By Your Side

The fuzz rock anthem “Now Would Be”, the sublime “Hang On”, and the pop stunner “The Go Go Go” are among the best tunes you’re likely to hear this year (2006). - The Big Takeover

The band were kind enough to share a few new mp3s with you…give the some feedback, would ya?!

MP3: The Skydrops - “Sentimental”
MP3: The Skydrops - “Million”

With the release of the new White Stripes album Icky Thump around the corner, I figured the window of opportunity couldn’t open any wider for the following post.

cover redesign by Stephen Banes

Ever wonder what the The White Stripes would sound like with a bass player? Wonder no longer! In the summer of 2002, Redd Kross‘ Steven McDonald (appropriately renamed Steven White) decided to do an experiment and added bass tracks to two of the songs from the White Blood Cells album. He shared these tracks with Redd Kross fans via the internet. The positive response he received inspired him re-record the entire record. Word spread quickly and a variety of entertainment sources reported about Steven’s Redd Blood Cells. Once finished, songs were released one per week until the entire album was shared.

If you want to learn more about the project (and download another song), visit the Redd Kross site. I couldn’t figure out how to link you directly to the Redd Blood Cells section, so if you’re interested, you’ll have to investigate a little.

Here are two tracks that the bass really stands out on. The additional vocals on “We’re Going To Be Friends” are by Steven’s wife Anna Waronker (That Dog):

MP3: The White Stripes - “We’re Going To Be Friends” (Redd Blood Cells)
MP3: The White Stripes - “Little Room” (Redd Blood Cells)

- Kip!

A few months ago, I started a category on the site called “Essential Listening”. My aim was true, but the flame fizzled quickly. Sadly, I deleted every entry I wrote for it a month or so ago. I’ll try a little harder this time around with hopes to add an entry every two weeks.

One of the reasons that I initially wanted to start this website in the first place was because I felt the blogosphere could use more meat and less potatoes…not many of the influences were receiving the respect I felt they deserved. It’s weird to read a review about a band and see the writer reference Elastica when you damned well know they should be acknowledging Wire and The Stranglers. That didn’t necessarily happen, I’m just giving an example.

I assembled a new stereo rack Friday night. As soon as the final RCA plug was connected into my receiver, I listened to the first two Cheap Trick albums. As strange as it sounds, I’m not sure what my life would be like without this band. Maybe it’s because I’m from the Midwest and have had more exposure to them than most? Maybe it’s because I know a fucking great band when I hear one? Either way, they’ve played a large role. I can’t pinpoint when I first heard them or what album it was, but logic tells me it had to have been something off the incredibly successful Budokan album.

Cheap Trick’s a band that’s so incredibly influential in so many ways, yet I can almost guarantee that if you asked 100 random people what their favorite Cheap Trick song is…50 would reply “I Want You To Want Me” or “Surrender”. An even more frightening reality is there would be a small percentage that might even say “The Flame”. It’s just not fair.

So, I felt the need to once again make an attempt to maintain the “Essential Listening” category with hopes that other contributors might climb aboard and share the bands that influenced their lives. Here are two of my favorite tracks from their self-titled 1977 release:

MP3: Cheap Trick - “He’s A Whore”
MP3: Cheap Trick - “Hot Love”

- Kip!