popwreckoning

You know those family reunions you hate going to? With the weird cousin that doesn’t talk and the uncle that gets way too drunk and that lady who you’re not even sure how you’re related – just that she married someone in your family at some point in time? The Sasquatch Music Festival is like a family reunion, only in this year’s case, there were 100,000 people that filled the Gorge for the tenth annual festival.

It was for good reason, too. The Foo Fighters headlined the newly-added Friday lineup this last weekend. Sadly enough, being a student, I couldn’t leave the west side of the mountains until about 4:30, putting myself in the worst traffic imaginable. However, the only band I really wanted to see that night was the Foo Fighters anyway, and I got my wish.

But, as I was making my way into the festival, I overheard Death from Above 1979 playing the main stage – quite loudly – and they rocked. I just had to put that out there, because Sasquatch marked the triumphant return from Death from Above.

Friday had by far the most diverse crowd of all the four days. Not only were there kids younger than me, there were people older than my parents on the floor of the main stage. When Dave Grohl introduced a song off their first album “Big Me,” he asked the audience if anyone had seen them tour for the self-titled debut in 1995. One guy up front raised his hand and shouted, and Grohl responded – “I’m with you dude. We’re some old motherfuckers.”

My mother was so jealous of me being there that she made me call her during “My Hero.”

Yeah, so the Foo Fighters are a band for many generations, and even though they have been rocking the stage for over 15 years, I can clearly say that they’re one of the best live bands in the world. They were definitely the best at this year’s festival.

“We decided to have an all-flannel line up front here,” Grohl began as he introduced his band members, mostly clad in plaid flannel shirts. It is the Pacific Northwest, after all. “But one person didn’t wear any flannel, and it’s that fucker back there,” Grohl glared at drummer Taylor Hawkins as his familiar grin lit up the jumbo screen.

The Foo Fighters started at 9:30 on the dot, and ended at almost 11:30 exactly. And not one ounce of energy was lost in those two hours on that glorious Friday night. So many of my favorite songs were brought to life with extra oomph and drawn-out verses that I almost didn’t want to listen to them on the record again. “Times Like These” was beautiful. “The Pretender” was epic. “Breakout” was hilarious, because I’m pretty sure that I was the only person around me singing along to it. It made me feel cool, that I knew the words to every song they played that night. Even though they aren’t my absolute favorite band, I haven’t liked a band longer than I have liked the Foo Fighters. I received One by One as a birthday present when I was in the fourth grade. I’m 22 now. Do the math.

As the Foos played through old classics like “Learn to Fly,” “Monkey Wrench,” big hits like “Best of You” and plenty of new songs off Wasting Light, the Sasquatch adrenaline kicked in and I was ready for the rest of the weekend. But it all came to a fantastic high point when Grohl started strumming the chords to “Everlong.” Several people had been shouting it from behind me that night, and I’d been waiting for it as well.

You see, about a year ago I made a list of bands that I wanted to shoot, a “photo bucket” list of sorts. In this short year, three of those bands have been checked off that list, and the Foo Fighters was definitely near the top of it. And as I stood in the cold wind with sporadic clouds of pot smoke floating above my head and Grohl’s ferocious growl coming through the loud speakers, I felt my eyes well up a bit. Not kidding.

The Foo Fighters skipped the encore all together, as to “maximize set time,” as Grohl said, and stilled filled up two full hours. It was completely surreal, and everyone around me shared the same sentiment. Making our way to the exit, I overheard a couple behind me reflecting on the show.

“That was the best show I’ve ever seen, and I haven’t been to a show since Tool two years ago. That was awesome.”

“But where would Gwar be in that?”

“They’re on a completely different level of awesome.”

“Yeah, you’ve either got blood spit on you, or Dave Grohl. I think this wins.”

I think so too.

Keep on the lookout for recaps from Saturday, Sunday, and Monday coming soon!



“These are my famous last words!”

That’s how the new Foo Fighters’ record Wasting Light begins.  It’s a rather stark and haunting coincidence, since the record comes out April 12, just a week after the 17^th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death.  Plus, Dave Grohl’s other former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic was a guest musician on Wasting Light. Whether or not that was planned is beyond my knowledge, but it certainly added another layer to an already great album.

This being the Foo’s seventh studio album, a question of longevity rather than innovation is what’s at the forefront of Wasting Light. The innovation came in the marketing strategy, which played out like a game of Clue, with Easter eggs hidden all over the Internet, and short clips of songs leaked to their own website, giving the fans just a taste of what was to come on Wasting Light.

In true Foo fashion, the album begins with a swift kick to the stomach with “Bridge Burning.” And it doesn’t slow down much from there. “Rope” has more attitude than a lot of the rock newcomers with their precisely quaffed hair. I guess the attitude comes with age, at least in Grohl’s case. A slick intro partnered with a driving rhythm makes it a perfect second track (and I can only imagine how awesome it will be live).  “Dear Rosemary” is a lighter track, with a heavy pop hook, but is still signature Foo.

Honestly, the greatness of the Foo Fighters comes from their performance. I’ve only ever seen recordings of their live shows, but their albums are meant to be performed, not over-mixed in the studio to make certain instruments sound better than they naturally would. Whether it’s a softer song like “I Should Have Known” or a frantic metal-tinged hit like “White Limo,” the Foo Fighters sound like they do live – energetic, passionate, and like they’re having fun. Grohl may be one of the best drummers of our time, but he’s also one of the greatest front men.

“Arlandria” and “Back and Forth” are two of the catchiest tracks on the album, easy to sing along to, and “A Matter of Time” hints at older tracks like, “Times Like These” off One by One and “Monkey Wrench” off Colour and the Shape. By the far the darkest track on the album, “Miss the Misery” brings in some of the influences Grohl gained from his time with Them Crooked Vultures and mixes them with the Foo Fighters’ undeniable energy.

Sure, the album doesn’t necessarily break any new ground for the Foos, but it’s a perfect example of what they do best. The Foo Fighters need no prefixes to their brand of rock music; they just rock.

Track listing:

1. Bridge Burning”
2. “Rope”
3. “Dear Rosemary”
4. “White Limo”
5. “Arlandria”
6. “These Days”
7. “Back & Forth”
8. “A Matter of Time”
9. “Miss the Misery”
10. “I Should Have Known”
11. “Walk”

Go to http://wastinglight.foofighters.com/

From the band that made grunge cool, we bring you the entire Nirvana catalog. Relive Dave Grohl behind the drums before Them Crooked Vultures. Ride along the bass lines of Krist Novoselic. Lose yourself in Kurt Cobain‘s vocals and lyrics.
We’re giving away: Nevermind, Unplugged, Greatest Hits, In Utero, Incesticide, From The Muddy Bands of the Wishkah, and Live At Reading

Nirvana Live At Reading was recently issued in a limited edition CD+DVD Deluxe Edition as well as DVD-only, CD-only configurations on November 3, 2009, the 2LP version is available November 17, 2009.

To win the catalog, simply answer the following question correctly and we’ll pick a winner from the correct answers on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. CDT.

Cobain and Novoselic met hanging around what band and their practice space?

And be sure to check out this trailer for the band’s 1992 Live at Reeding performance:

Nirvana: website

Them Crooked Vultures – the superheroes of rock trio of Dave Grohl (ex-Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal), and John Paul Jones (ex-Led Zeppelin) – have released details of their forthcoming self-titled debut album, due out in mid-November, on their official website. The band plans to tour in support of the new album, with December dates in the UK and Europe and a trip out to Australia and New Zealand in January 2010 trip planned.

You can pre-order the album at their official website.

The tracklisting will be as follows:
01. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
02. Mind Eraser, No Chaser
03. New Fang
04. Dead End Friends
05. Elephants
06. Scumbag Blues
07. Bandoliers
08. Reptiles
09. Interlude With Ludes
10. Warsaw or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
11. Caligulove
12. Gunman
13. Spinning In Daffodils

Them Crooked Vultures drops in the U.S. on November 17.

Them Crooked Vultures: website | myspace | Them Crooked Vultures @ Austin City Limits 2009 | Austin City Limits – Day 1 in Review

My day began with Google maps getting me lost, eventually finding my bus and away I went on a rather beautiful day to begin my Austin City Limits experience. After checking in at the media tent, I made my way to catch the wonderful bluegrass/punk stylings of the Avett Brothers who kicked off my day with a bang, mostly taking material from their recently released I and Love and You (which shall go down as one of my favorite records of 2009).

After the close of their set, I made the trek to the XBOX 360 stage to discover one of my surprises of the festival and that was The Walkmen. Let me just say that I had no idea what to expect, but I was left rather impressed by Hamilton Leithauser’s stage presence as The Walkmen incorporated a rather wonderful horn section, bringing their material to another level.

To my liking, I didn’t have to do all that much walking after seeing The Walkmen as I wandered over to the AMD (West) stage to see the French stylings of Phoenix. Their dance/pop wowed the crowd as they kicked things off with “Lisztomania,” sending the crowd into a dance frenzy which didn’t stop for the remainder of their set.

After a break to rehydrate, and load up on delicious all natural snack in the media area, I made my way back to the AMD stage to catch the last few minutes of Raphael Saadiq who brought the soul, setting the mood for John Legend to take the mainstage right after Saadiq’s performance.

After enjoying Legend’s serenading of the lovely ladies at ACL, I made my way to what had to be the most-hyped performance of the festival, Them Crooked Vultures. Three words come to mind when asked to describe this new band of Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Josh Homme and those three words are, heavy as fuck. Grohl’s child-like grin throughout the set just showed how much he enjoys being behind the drums again. Homme’s solos danced around Jones’ heavy bass lines with Grohl setting the fast tempo. Homme is often the overshadowed member of the band and to his credit, he holds his own on the guitar and with vocals that pack a punch.

Following that kind of performance is quite the feat that was left upon the shoulders of Day 1 headliners, Kings of Leon and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. After seeing Kings of Leon just a few days before in St. Louis, I decided to finally experience the visual craziness that is Karen O in person. Heavy on costumes, spit takes and growls, Miss O danced around with an infectious smile closing Day 1 with songs mostly from It’s Blitz, not that I’m complaining, it’s my favorite YYY’s album. After their set, I made my way off the grounds and discovered the joy that was free shuttle service to my hotel. For that, I must confess my love to you Austin and was left looking forward to Day 2 after a night of well-deserved rest.

Austin City Limits: website

Supergroup Them Crooked Vultures stormed Austin City Limits this year and delighted the crowd with their brand of power rock. While an amazing front man, you can’t be mad at a band that puts Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) back on drums. Especially when the wild beats he produces support the sick licks of vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal) and bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, formerly of a little band called Led Zeppelin.

The video below doesn’t nearly do these über-talented musicians justice, but until you get to see them live, it’ll have to do.

Them Crooked Vultures: website | myspace

The much buzzed about noise pop act Pains of Being Pure at Heart took some time at Denver’s Monolith Festival to speak with Bethany about their new EP, what the band would have been called if not PoBPaH and the greatness of Scribblenauts. Check out the interview below.

Bethany, PopWreckoning.com: Let’s talk about your EP that’s about to come out, Higher than the Stars (editor’s note: just came out on Sept. 22).
Kip Berman (vox), Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Sure.
PW: What’s the story on it, why an EP and not an album?
KB: Our new album came out in February and we’ve been touring a lot behind that album. At the same time, we have some new songs that we’ve been playing live for awhile and we just wanted to put them on the EP so people could have access to them as well. It was exciting for us to go into the studio and try new things, “Higher than the Stars” and “Falling Over” kind of expressed a different side of the band that wasn’t really there on the album. It was fun for us to record those songs and put that forward.

PW: You say new things, what kind of new things?
KB:Uh, role playing. Haha. The songs are cleaner. The album was heavy on this distortion and fuzz. The EP is cleaner and draws on different influences. The song “Falling Over” in particular is centered around Alex’s bass line. Up to that point we had never developed the bass lines to a point that was sort of the forefront of the songs. It was cool to write a song around a bass line and putting that forward.

PW: Haha. Alex, you excited about the more bass line?
Alex Naidus (bass), Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Totally. Showing off.
KB: Alex’s fan mail is going up 25 percent after this EP.
AN: It is just a fun song to play.

PW: So new album, I feel like I saw you’re already planning a January release?
KB: We don’t have a new album ready yet. January would be a bit soon. We kind of have to write it first. After December, when our touring is done, we’re going to take some time and work on some new materials. We’ll go into a studio, but I don’t think we’ll start recording until spring 2010. January release is a bit premature.
AN: It’s impossible, actually.
KB: There might be another band we don’t know about called the Pains of Being Pure at Heart looking to put out a new album in January and trying to still our thunder.
PW: It is a really popular band name.
KB: Yeah, there are tons of them.
Peggy Wang-East (keys), Pains of Being Pure at Heart: We couldn’t believe it wasn’t taken.
KB: The MySpace URL is all ours!

PW: Now, there is tons of information online about where the band name came from, but not too much about where you guys came from and how you all got together. Is there a story there?
KB: It probably isn’t as good as the band name story. Is is pretty much straight up like any other band story. We were friends and we enjoyed hanging out with each other. We were all kind of music nerds and our interests overlapped. I started writing demos. Me and Alex were psyched on this idea of playing music together then I asked Peggy to play music for me. I thought she was too cool for me and she wouldn’t want to do it, but I tried to phrase it in as cool a way as possible like (in a deeper voice), “Hey, you want to be in this band that’s going to be like noisy pop music.” I guess she had nothing better to do so she said ok.
PWE: Yeah, basically, I have a small hole in my life to fill with Kip and his silly pop songs.
KB: I wasn’t really interested in filling Peggy’s small hole.
AN: Haha, oh my God.
KB: Haha, but at at the same time, I did want to play pop music with her, so it worked out. We played for awhile with a drum machine. That made traveling easy. Eventually Kurt, my roommate, joined up on drums. It really changed things for the better. It really added a dynamic aspect to the music having a drummer. He’s really good and he understands the type of music that we play. It is so essential to what we do. He helped us become a better band. The first band practice we had with him, it felt like every song we were playing was for the first time because it was so exciting.

PW: So Peggy, what is it like to be in a band with all guys and be the only girl?
PWE: You know, it is funny. I’m just so used to it at this point. I hang out with a lot of guys anyways. I have like two really close female friends, but I don’t know, I hate being the girl that’s like I hate hanging out with girls and only hang out with dudes because that’s not necessarily true. I feel like the guys that re in the band are not like exclusionary. They include me on their activities. Though when they talk about video games, I don’t know what they’re talking about. Sometimes I wish there was another girl around, but it is totally fine. No complaints.
PW: You could easily work another girl in on cowbell or something.
KB: Originally we wanted it to be 50/50. When looking for a drummer, we thought a female drummer would add balance and I was really into bands that were co-ed and not just one female member. I liked the idea of it being more balanced. There are weird things that come out of it and are interesting. You can’t put your finger on why bands like that are cool, but they are. Kurt’s pretty girly to be honest, so it works out ok. He was really good at drums and he wasn’t too masculine, so we’re all happy.

PW: Yeah. You do have a good balance from what I saw in your stage show today. What was it like to perform in the Monolith weather right as the rain started up and people were reaching their most miserable cold point.
KB: We weren’t at our most miserable point. We had a lot of fun.
PWE: It was a lot of fun. I was feeling like a baby before we went on, “It’s so cold. I’m miserable.” Then being out and once we started playing it was fine. Though I definitely missed a few keyboard notes due to my fingers being really numb.
AN: It was incredible how good the energy was. It was like such a testament to the people that were there. It is so appreciated that not only there were people there, but they were into to it. It made it so much more fun.
PW: Yeah. I’m getting used to it. I’ve been to four festivals this year. Three of the four had rain. Bonnaroo was a monsoon. Lollapalooza had a cold, rainy day. I think South By was the only one.
KB: Yeah. There’s no raining at South By.
PW: Oh yeah. You were at that one! I missed your set.

PW: Oh, so speaking of the video game love and knowing that you have a song that reference’s Kurt Cobain, “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan,” what do you think of the Cobain avatar in Guitar Hero 5 and the controversy with that?
AN: I just saw that like Activision or whatever had just put a statement out because they had to confirm whether or not it was legitimate and Dave Grohl had to officially say we had nothing to do with this and Courtney Love signed off on it. I don’t know, it doesn’t bother me.
KB: He’s just a dude who started a band. I love him, but it’s not like his image is so sacred you can’t put it in a video game. Jim Morrison was in a video game. Whatever. These people are all public figures. I don’t know how to say this and I probably revere Kurt Cobain more than anyone, but he’s just a dude that wrote songs. If people want to put his picture in a video game, it’s not going to end the world.
PWE: I thought it was totally, really embarrassing to watch. If he wasn’t dead, he’d be upset about it. It is not like the songs in the trailer were so…I just think if he was alive he’d say that wasn’t cool. I don’t know.
KB: If there was a video of Peggy as a cartoon character singing Soul Asylum songs…
PWE: That’d be awesome, but that’s Soul Asylum. I’d do that anyways.
KB: Runaway train never coming home….There are real problems in the world and Kurt Cobain’s avatar is not one of those.
AN: That’s our next song title.
KB: It’s going to be the B-side. “Kurt Cobain’s Avatar” will be the B-side to “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan. They’re just graphics on a video game.
PW: I hear they’ll let you go into the Rock Shop on the game and buy him a cardigan.
KB: That would actually be cool. I would like to have Kurt Cobain’s cardigan.
PWE: That was the inspiration. I would really like to wear the one that he wears in the MTV Unplugged thing. Some green thing.
KB: It is like pea soup colored. It would be cool to have that to wear right now when it is so cold out. I’d appreciate it a lot.
PW: Oh I know. I’m ready to splurge on the $40 hoodie even though I’m already wearing two right now.
KB: I almost did that too. It is almost worth it.

PW: So what video games would I find on the Pains tour bus then?
AN: MarioKart.
KB: I play a lot of Scribblenauts or whatever.
AN: Scribblenauts. It will revolutionize gaming. I wish I could tell you more, but the other guys can explain it better.
PWE: It’s like a secret club. I watch them play it and they’ll get really into it.
AN: I’ve witnessed it. It’s pretty impressive.
KB: A little known fact. If our band wasn’t called the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, we were going to be called Rainbow Road, which is my favorite level on MarioKart. You beat the game and you get to drive on a rainbow in outer space.
PW: That’s the hardest level! You always fall off.
KB: You fall off, it is really dangerous, but at the same time, a cloud picks you up if you fall off. So you’re in outer space and on a rainbow and it really happy. I love it a lot. So if we weren’t called Pains of Being Pure at Heart, we’d be called Rainbow Road. I’m sure that would open us up to even more jokes about the same subject matter.

PW: Haha, you guys would be fine. You’re popular on the blog circuit. Even Pitchfork gave you a good review and they hate everybody.
KB: Haha, I’m sure that’s not true.
PW: Now Pitchfork is called a hipster blog and you guys get labeled as a hipster band, but nobody every agrees what that means. As a “hipster band” what does that mean?
KB: It is not something that concerns us. We think of ourselves as just a pop band and we have a good time. At the end of the day, all bands are measured by the quality of music they produce and we’re excited about the music we’ve made and what we’ll make in the future. That’s who we are. We’re just regular dudes that like video games and regular stuff.
AN: I don’t think we think of ourselves as a cool band or cool people really. We’re just people who just generally like what we do because it is fun.
KB: All of us growing up were never the cool dude. We just enjoyed what we enjoyed. Music is something we identify strongly with and force our identities around. The kind of bands that we like are the kind of people that we wanted to be. The music we loved growing up and then to meet people who had that too was just a thrill. I never really had friends that knew who half the bands I liked growing up, but then I met Peggy. And I was like oh my God, you’re into what I like, too. It was just awesome to meet these people.

PW: For a final wrap up question since we’re at Monolith, what other bands here are you most excited about? Who have you already checked out that impressed you?
AN: We can’t stick around tomorrow. We got to see Depreciation Guild today on a really big stage, which was amazing. I like them a lot.
PWE: Edward Sharpe was awesome. They were on before us. Then I couldn’t get in, but Starfucker. They were in a room that was really packed and crowded. I kind of snuck in through the back, but then we got kicked out. That’s my teenage rebellion of the day. I want to see Of Montreal. They’re always so fun.
KB: We’re on tour with Depreciation Guild, so we’re psyched about that. Edward Sharpe was really cool. Starfucker, I was with Peggy, we were trying to watch them and they kept throwing us out of the place we where we could watch them. They’re a cool band that I’d like to see. I’m bummed we won’t get to stick around tomorrow because Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playing.
PWE: No, they’re tonight. Phoenix is tomorrow.
KB: Oh, Phoenix. Phoenix is great. We saw them briefly in France, which was cool they’re from there. I’ve loved them since the album United and the song “Funky Square Dance.” They’ve been putting out good records for awhile and they’re finally starting to get the acclaim they deserve. We’ll be driving to Salt Lake City tomorrow, but everyone should see Phoenix. They’re great.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart: website | myspace | @monolith

Welcome back, readers!  Looks like the toxicology and autopsy reports on Michael Jackson are taking forever and I, for one, need to take a break from the lovefest that was my month-long MJ tribute (read: here, here, here and here!).  With MJ on the mind, it’s been hard to think of other musicians, so hopefully this Pop Punk Miscellany piece will serve as an adequate segue back to the mixed-bag madness that usually is Under Cover.

To mix things up, this week I’m featuring a genre I haven’t always focused on.  Pop Punk is always a good time and usually infuses a vivacious energy that’s perfect after a hard day at work or for the drive home following a kickass evening.  Here are some classic covers by some very pop-friendly bands.  Enjoy!
–

. Alien Ant Farm – “Smooth Criminal” (original: Michael Jackson)
What?  I told you.  Getting Michael Jackson off the mind has been difficult, so Alien Ant Farm‘s infamous cover of “Smooth Criminal” may help this week’s switch to pop punk.  I’m not even the biggest AAF fan or anything, but I do recall giving them points for creativity with this rousing rendition when it came out nearly a decade earlier.  This cover is a sped-up rock version, yet manages to share more than a few similarities to the original.  There’s the anti-gravity leaning, studded gloves, homage paid to Bubbles the Chimpanzee, and let’s not forget an equally strange lead singer Dryden Mitchell on the verge of an epileptic seizure in the music video.  Be sure to check out the video to see if you can count all the MJ references!  I myself counted at least 10…

.Paramore – “My Hero” (original: Foo Fighters)
My Foo Fighters/Dave Grohl-obsessed ass is aware of the sacrilege of posting an acoustic Paramore cover that doesn’t even have the same killer bass line or energetic drumming that jumpstarts the original, but I’m such a sucker for cute little pop punk outfits featuring impressive female vocalists like Hayley Williams.  In a word full of the Katy Perrys, Rihannas, Britney Spears-es, and assorted pop wrecks out there, I’d choose Paramore over them any day by mere fact that this 20-year-old can actually sing.  Her voice is so clear, resonant and melodic, and it flows so nicely with the gentle strumming on the acoustic that I bet even Mr. Grohl himself would dig this one.  And hey, if Mr. Grohl is reading this… call me.  You can be my hero for a day, if I can watch you as you go.  Oh snap!

. Yellowcard – “Everywhere” (original: Michelle Branch)
Personally, I’ve always felt Yellowcard knows how to perfectly put out precious pop punk gems each and every time.  And hey look, they’re off from their hiatus? Lead singer Ryan Key has such a sweet, genuine vocal delivery, the guitars are punchy and power-poppy, and mad props to any group aside from Dave Matthews Band who can incorporate a lead violinist so effortlessly into their songs.  These boys from Florida take a pop classic like Michelle Branch‘s “Everywhere” that was already awesome in its own right and add a refreshing little upbeat twist with the help of some very pretty electric guitar riffs and surprisingly gorgeous slicks of violin that lace the song and add a dash of dramatic intensity to the breakdown.  This song makes me regret quitting the violin in high school because it irritated my chin, much to the dismay of my high school music teacher.  Sorry, Mr. Santin!