i love new jersey

ty segall, thee oh sees, off! @ 924 gilman 4.22.11

this was the most crowded i've ever seen gilman. i walked in right when ty segall was about to start playing. i had only seen him once before, but it was one of my favorite sets last year. he absolutely killed it last night. i'm not sure how much i could really get into his recorded material, but seeing him live is awesome. he represents everything cool and fun about rock n roll.this was my first time seeing thee oh sees. the drummer was wearing a mayyors shirt, which was pretty awesome. thee oh sees were a lot of fun. people were crowd surfing the whole set, and stage diving off the drummers kick drum, and dancing on stage. it was a really good time. the lead singer switched between a 6 string and a 12 string almost every other song. and their bass player played bass on just a regular 6 string guitar, but through a bass amp. i would definitely see them again.
until last night i thought that seeing 7 seconds play gilman for the first time in 23 years was going to be the coolest thing i saw during my time in berkeley. but watching keith morris bring it with off! was absolutely incredible. before they started playing someone screamed out FUCK HENRY ROLLINS. and keith yelled back,

"what did henry ever do to deserve a fuck you? henry rollins is my friend. most of us wouldn't be here if henry rollins hadn't gotten in a van and toured all over the country. i went on tour with henry and he was nothing but a stand up straight a guy." it was pretty cool.

keith talks a lot between songs, but i could listen to him talk all night. musically they are really really good. i was impressed. i hope i get to see them again. after their set, they played an encore of their first four songs. it was really funny. i'm officially a sold off! fan - a fan for life! a piece of history took place last night, a piece of punk history. and i'm glad to have been there.

Joyce manor - s/t

when joyce manor decided to go with 6131 i wondered if their sound would change; if they would cater to those kids. fortunately they delivered the goods. 10 songs in under 20 minutes, this is the perfect length for me. the first two songs on the album are okay, but it really picks up with 'beach community' and doesn't look back. i kind of wish they hadn't re-recorded 'leather jacket' and 'constant nothing'. i can't hear 'constant nothing' without wanting to hear 'done right discount flooring' right after. but those are both great songs and help space out the album nicely. '21st dead rats' is probably my favorite song on the album-the vocals are perfect. i like 'astray petting zoo's' guitar solo the best out of all the songs. that song is a bit slower, but one of the albums best. 'constant headache' is a good closer, and also the longest song on the album. this is all around great pop punk in the vein of jawbreaker and weezer. they are on tour with lemuria and white wives right now. dates are HERE.

the henry clay people - this is a desert

this is the most i've liked the henry clay people since the working part time e.p. that was three years ago. this release is a very spring release. just like working part time brings about memories from spring '08 this will very much do the same for spring 2011. 'the honey love he sells' reminds me of sorry ma era replacements. 'california wildfire' is as good as it gets for thcp. if only we could get an album full of the 'little Rn(s)' 'social scientology(s)' 'double dutch(es)' 'fine print(s)' 'the taste of the tasteless(es)' and the 'slow burn(s)' we'd have a perfect album; this song fits with those. they're all great. in a recent interview joey siarra said something to the effect that when they record they end up with records full of 6's and 8's and that he was going to shoot for more 2's and 10's. if that's the case than 'winter song' is a 2 and so is 'it isn't the waiting'. it's nice to hear andy's voice on the record. this is great release. i hope the next full length is this good, or maybe the e.p. is just the format that they should stick to for releasing music. i'm not sure.

joey said, " I think a lot of bands/artists treat the EP as just little place holder. Don't forget about us. Save the date. I still romanticize the idea of a full-length album above all else. I hope everyone else does too. But I do see EPs as having a lot of potential to "make a statement" especially if the statement is a stylistic shift. "

at this point in time, the henry clay people have released five full lengths, two e.p.'s, a live album, and have a back catalogue of unreleased material that unfortunately will never be heard by most. with well over 120 recorded songs under their belt, anything they put out is going to sound like "THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE." for this reason, This is a Desert doesn't sound like a stylistic shift as just straight up better songs. therefore, we can only hope they keep releasing better songs.

del the funky homosapien @ rasputin's berkeley 4.19.11

del the funky homosapien did a short five song instore at rasputin's in berkeley yesterday. it was cool he was up in the top balcony and had a dj, and a hypeman. he was supporting golden era his new triple album. he did mostly new songs but threw in like two old ones too. i would see him again. it was pretty good. there were a lot of people there.

the dodos @ u.c. berkeley 4.16.11

this years cal day ended with a performance of the dodos on the steps of doe library looking out over memorial glade. cal day itself has booths all over campus offering incoming freshman information about a variety of different things. the school is completely crowded with prospective students and their parents. last year the cold war kids played, and it was pretty phenomenal. this year the dodos played, and it was kind of blah. it's hard to top the cold war kids though. it was a really sunny day, so it was nice to just kind of hang out and listen to them as background music, but i would have preferred a band worth watching. this is the second time i've seen the dodos now, and i get why people like them. they're catchy. but that's not enough for me. they're also pretty boring. i'm assuming that superb, the student organization that picked this band, picked them because overall their music is descent, people like them, and it wouldn't be offensive to new students or parents listening. but fuck that. i wish fucked up played on the steps of doe library. i wish the aquabats were fighting monsters on the steps of doe library. i wish gwar played. i wish semen was shooting out of big inflatable cocks all over prospective students and parents. that's what i wish.

manhattan murder mystery - s/t

I picked this little gem up on vinyl at amoeba berkeley for record store day. It quite possibly might be the best thing to come out of la this year. I've been waiting for this for a long time now, but it was worth the wait. WOOoOah! the first song kicks off the album with instrumental rock accompanied with WOoah's! These WOOoOah's make their way throughout the whole album. Trailer Trash starts the lyrics for the album begging, "Do I creep you out?" The reason this album is so good is because of its honesty. Quite frankly honda prius might be my favorite song:

"Well you got your honda prius and your HD TV/ you got cash in your pocket and a college degree/well i flunked out of high school and university/now i'm finally starting to feel the effects/ i make minimum wage and i get no respect/but i got a guitar that i can't hardly play/ i write songs about things that i feel everyday/i write songs about things that i felt in my past/ like my mother my brother my dog and my dad/ it's the only thing that keeps me from going crazy/going out in the streets and shooting somebody."

i think the lyrics speak for themselves. this album has old favorites like ambulance and parking lot re-recorded and sounding better than ever. the best song on the album is probably smoky mountain, but honda prius is my favorite. 9 songs in 35 minutes this couldn't get any better. available from HELLO MY NAME IS RECORDS. do yourself a favor. this is required listening.

manhattan murder mystery

heart sounds, fake boys, off with their heads @ 924 gilman 4.15.11

i caught the tail end of heartsounds' set. they played on the floor, which was cool. i'm not too familiar with their songs, but they come off really good. dual male/female vocals. two guitars, bass, drums heavy influenced pop punk songs. pretty geared towards early high school warped tour crowd. there were a lot of people there for them, and gilman kind of empty-ed out after their set. beside the first show i went to at gilman to see creatures, this was the smallest crowd i've ever seen at a show there. fake boys played next. pop punk trio. musically they were pretty fucking great, but i just couldn't get into the singers voice. they definitely deserve another chance from me though, because they really were very good. the lead singer played second guitar for owth and the drummer stayed too. off with their heads was fucking great. i liked the new record that came out last year. they played songs off of that. but they also played some hits. i could fist pump to them live for a really long time. they are a great band, and i hope they keep putting out albums. their set was too short, i wanted more. i left singing 'i am you' the whole walk home.

burger records - documentary

i just watched this documentary called I NEED THAT RECORD. it made me sad. but then i watched this documentary on burger records, and it made me happy that something good has finally come out of orange county. thanks to whoever made this :D

infantree and titus andronicus @ the new parish 4.13.11

the new parish is kind of blah. i don't really like how people can stand on three sides of the stage. i guess that's my only complaint. that and it looks like a las vegas sleazy night club on the inside.

infantree played first. they have potential. four piece rock n' roll with acoustic guitar. all three guitar players sing. musically they were really good. it just wasn't for me. not a lot of stage presence. kind of boring. but they could play their instruments. and their songs were good. just not for me.

titus andronicus fucking killed it though. the best indie rock/punk rock band around. seeing them in a small club is way different than seeing them on a big stage at a festival. i prefer the club. they're everything good about music. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A LOSER. if you don't know, now you know sucka.

modest mouse documentary

Shot in 1997 by indie filmmaker Rick Madsen, this 36 min documentary filmed during the recording of the Modest Mouse album "The Lonesome Crowded West" will never be released commercially. Artists interviewed for the film include Elliott Smith, Spencer Moody from The Murder City Devils, Doug Martsch of Built To Spill, Sam Coombs of Quasi and Calvin Johnson.

i like the calvin johnson and the spencer moody interviews a lot.

big kids - don't be a baby ep

big kids pick up right where hoop dreams left off. don't be a baby is the new three song ep available from topshelf records. 'don't be a baby' is the first track. it's faster paced. it makes me want to crowd surf. 'i'm a romantic comedy dude' is still my favorite big kids song. it's slower, and really emphasizes the vocals more than a lot of their songs. the drums are slower, but it still picks up when it should. plus the lead guitar is pretty close to perfect. "every drink neglected to take/every friend ignored" are just some of the lyrics lead singer jason romero belts. 'you're so fucking ps' is the final track. at five and a half minutes it offers big hooks and dual vocals. a pretty strong finish.

these songs are compiled on a tape available from mountain man records. the tape also includes their tracks from the koalacaust split 7" and the joyce manor split 7".

the joyce manor split 7" is available for pre order HERE.

finally, BIG KIDS are going to EUROPE. April 26-June 5. click HERE for the dates.

to listen to songs off the e.p. click HERE.