Tag Archive | "mountain goats"

The Thermals @ The Slowdown, Omaha

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Thermals @ The Slowdown, Omaha


For a late April show, it was uncannily cold with an eerie mist enshrouding the dark night. Once inside the venue, it didn’t take long to warm up. If the packed room with bodies inches apart didn’t do the trick, then the band’s music would get the job done. True to their name, headliners The Thermals got the people moving and made played some fun songs that even with the morbid lyrics, could warm even the most frozen human Popsicle.

Opening for the The Thermals was Point Juncture, WA, an electro-acoustic quartet helmed by a powerful female singer who also played drums, and an even more powerful backing band. Any band that throws in vibraphone is a winner in my book.

point-juncture-1

point-juncture-2

point-juncture-3

Already content with Point Juncture WA, The Shaky Hands‘ high-energy opener quickly showed that this show was only going to get better. There’s plenty to love about this band: danceable bass beats, plenty of clap-your-hands moments and a singer who’s voice who has that nasally quality loved by so many hipster, but unlike so many other hipster singers, you can actually understand what he is saying (I’m looking at you Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Their music was ridiculously catchy, but they didn’t shy away from a few moments of experimentation. Although, even if they sounded like shit, I think there drummer still would have made me like them as he constantly bounced out of his chair and intensely banged on cymbals. Check The Shaky Hands out; these guys will probably move up to headlining soon.

shaky-hands-1shaky-hands-2

When the Portland trio The Thermals took the stage, the room practically exploded into a dance party. OK, that might be a bit unfair, but a few guys definitely tried really hard to get everybody involved in a big dance party as they moshed back and forth in the front, but the indie kids of Omaha do not like to be touched and fight nearly broke out. Maybe the band couldn’t see what was going down, while they played “Now We Can See”, but the near-fight didn’t make them miss a beat. It’s probably for the best.

Touring behind the release of their new album Now We Can See, the band played a majority of songs from it, but also digged deep into the catalog for some oldies to please the diehards. As much as I love Hutch Harris and his Josh Darnielle (Mountain Goats)-esque voice and the pop chords, I must confess that some of their songs started to blend. And that is a risk when you use as many power chords as they do. Nonetheless, the heart of this band is in their lyrics and the stories within.

I must note that this tour is also a sort of debut for their drummer Westin Glass and he makes a fantastic addition to the band with his fantastic drumming and even more fantastic facial expressions. His addition also helps free bassist Kathy Foster from those duties, which I imagine makes it easier for her to do her little jumping jack move.

Check this band out both on recording and live. You will not regret it.

the-thermals-1the-thermals-2

The Thermals: website | myspace

Posted in Concerts, Omaha, PortlandComments (1)

Tags: , , , ,

The Mountain Goats @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC


I didn’t get into The Mountain Goats until about two years ago. In fact, I used to hate them. John Darnielle’s voice would grate on me. My friends flocked to his set at the Pitchfork Music Festival three years ago, so I was forced to watch it, not really understanding what the big deal about him was. But then I heard “Palmcorder Yajna” in my friend’s car. This song single-handedly opened me up to what The Mountain Goats were all about: simple pop songs with fantastic lyrics. I had to see him live.

Of course I had to get through Kaki King first on Saturday night. A year ago, I would’ve been all about the technical wizardry (one of my favorite bands is Joan of Arc), but I’m less impressed by it now. This girl certainly is talented, I must admit. My biggest qualm with her set was the schizophrenic nature of it. She would play a really techy song on the acoustic, then go into a shoegaze song, and then a “hardcore” song, as she puts it (Ray Cappo is shaking his head somewhere).

As the lights went dim, The Four Season’s “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” played on the P.A. Once the drummer and the bassist swaggered out, John Darnielle entered the stage as The Four Season’s Frankie Valli sang “Oh I-I-I, get that funny feeling when she walks in the room.”

He kicked the set off with an exciting three-banger: “Have to Explode”; “Heretic Pride”; and “Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of”. Of course, the evening wouldn’t be the same without Darnielle’s classic banter (this show’s highlight was his Mario story as he segues into “Thank You Mario, But Our Princess Is In Another Castle”).

He played some solo songs, some songs with Kaki King from their new Black Pear Tree EP, a Morrissey cover (“Suedehead”!), and a song that sounded nothing like Mountain Goats (“Super Genesis”). After that lull in the set, enter crowd pleasers! “This Year” jump-started the energy and the end of the set. A mellow rendition of the classic “Dance Music” got the audience pepped as the drums stopped and everyone bellowed “And I don’t want to die alone!”

After “The Mess Inside”, the band walked off the stage. . . without playing “Palmcorder Yajna”. The very song that introduced me to the wonders of The Mountain Goats, and a popular one from his repertoire, was nowhere to be found! Thankfully, after the security guards back stage teased us by kicking the side door open, The Mountain Goats came out again and played the song I was waiting all night to hear.

Though the middle of the set was lacking a little, the beginning and end of the set more than made up for it.

The Mountain Goats: website | myspace | Heretic Pride review | @ the Slowdown
Kaki King: website | myspace | @ the Slowdown

Guest Reporter: Shaun Seneviratne (NYC)
Photos: Bethany Smith, @ the Slowdown

Digg! del.icio.us

Posted in ConcertsComments (2)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Interview with: Nelson Kempf of Old Believers


Jason Quigley

Photo: Jason Quigley

Last week I got the chance to chat with folk pop outfit Old Believers. Nelson Kempf manned the phone but band mate Keely Boyle was at his side and chimed in every once and while. We discussed everything from Alaska to the East Coast.

Check out what Nelson had to say and also preview “That’s All” below:

Jessica, PopWreckoning: How did you personally first get involved with music?
Nelson Kempf, Old Believers: As music fans, I guess. There’s a really strong choir program in my town in Alaska, where we’re from. I think that was kind of.
I grew up a lot with my grandma who listens to a lot of classic country music and bluegrass music. I think that I really have a lot of nostalgia for those sounds. That turned me onto a lot of that kind of music.
There’s also quite a bit of music in my family, so it’s kind of a natural thing.

PW: How did you and Keely meet and start making music together?
NK: Keely’s dad was my English teacher in middle school. Our parents went to high school together, so our families knew each other. At some point in high school we finally met. I don’t even know how, some kind of school program. Then we just kind of hit it off and started playing guitars together and eventually formed a band. We played in blues rock bands and cover bands in high school together, and decided to continue afterwards.

PW
: As Alaskan natives what prompted the move to Portland?
NK: We were originally planning on moving to Seattle — Keely has family in Seattle, and we wanted to be on the water. Our drummer that was in our band originally told us to go to Portland because there is just so much going on there, so we were like, “OK. We’ll do it.”
He didn’t end up going with us but we decided to follow through with our plan anyway.
PW: I’ve been to Seattle — it’s gorgeous — but not Portland. I do hear great things about it, though, especially the music scene.
NK: It’s great!

PW: You’re sound encompasses so many different styles without being overwhelming or becoming muddled with all that’s going on — who were your musical influences growing up and now evolving?
NK: Everything, really. For Eight Golden Greats we were listening to a lot of Patsy Cline and a lot of electronic music: Hot Chip and David Byrne and Brian Eno. Also The Smiths and Mount Eerie or The Microphones, The Talking Heads, Mississippi John Hurt. A lot of everything.
For the album we were definitely trying to fill out a nostalgic sound. I think I naturally went those ports — roots and Americana music. It’s just warm and homey.

“That’s All”
[audio http://www.greenlightgopublicity.com/clients/content/theoldbelievers/audio/Thats_All.mp3]

PW: The new album, Eight Golden Greats, is beautiful. What did you guys learn from the making of the Some Songs By Old Believers EP that you were able to apply to the new record?
NK: We actually started the new record before the EP. When we left Alaska we started recording Eight Golden Greats. We ran out of money because we’d been recording in a professional studio, but we had a little 8 track recorder album and a microphone. We didn’t have enough money to continue working on the project so we decided that we would do something simple. Just something to represent us. We made Some Songs By Old Believers in the mean time while we continued to save money.

PW: Two of the songs made it on the EP – “Waltz #3″ and “There It Is” — how did they make the cut from the EP to the album and the others didn’t?
NK: Those were already set. Some Songs By Old Believers was kind of on a whim. We just recorded in our apartment so it didn’t need a lot of planning. We just wanted to make it simple so we just recorded the songs we were playing a lot live at the time.
They were just kind of fresh in mind so it was just a natural thing. There wasn’t really any intention there, as far as having songs on both albums.

PW
: Speaking of touring, do you guys plan on hitting the east coast to tour the new album, since you recently finished up a west coast tour?
NK: In March we toured the US. We’re kind of tired. We’ve had an apartment for a year and we haven’t had a lot of time here. Everything we own is in storage. We really want to get back to Portland and settle down and start thinking about a new record.

PW: So even though you don’t want to tour for a while, if you could put together a dream tour, who would you want to share the stage with?
NK: Oh, man. That’s a good question. [to Keely in background] Dream tour, anyone living or dead, who would you want to share the stage with?
[Keely inaudible]
NK: Nooo… [pause] Keely says Billie Holiday.
PW: That’s a good answer! I like that answer, Keely.
NK: I’d say, more that I’d love to tour with them than it would work really well: The Talking Heads. We both love The Talking Heads. For the “Stop Making Sense Tour” maybe the Funkadelic players. That would be really fun.

PW
: What are you guys listening to right now? Anything new and good or some stuff that’s classic?
NK: I just bought the new Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy record. They’re awesome. I just bought a Microphones record, Mount Eerie. No New York, it’s a New Wave compilation by Brian Eno. Get Lonely by the Mountain Goats.
A lot of Portland music. There are so many great Portland bands. There’s a band called Doubledutch that just released a CD that’s awesome that you should send everybody out to check out. And then Eskimo and Sons. They’re another Portland band that’s really, really wonderful.

PW: I will be sure to check them out! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat.
NK: Thanks for the interview and for really liking the album.

Old Believer: website | myspace | Eight Golden Greats on iTunes

Digg! del.icio.us

Posted in InterviewsComments (1)


Advertise Here
  • Comments
  • Popular
  • Latest
  • Tags
  • Subscribe

Our Flickr Photos - See all photos

What's new on PW:

Posting tweet...

disclaimer

All media content contained within PopWreckoning is meant to enhance reader appreciation for the art and medium. Please support artists you discover here by purchasing albums, attending shows and buying merch.
Contact us should you wish for certain media to be removed from PopWreckoning.

Green Web Hosting! This site hosted by DreamHost. mp3 blogs
The Hype Machine
Blog Directory for PA

Blog Flux Directory
Music Blogs - Blog Top Sites

Add to Technorati Favorites Music
"PopWreckoning is better than Pitchfork." - Shawn Fogel
Top Blogs

PopWreckers

Editor-in-Chief ::
Joshua Hammond (KC): email

Managing Editor ::
Bethany Smith (KC): email

Editor-at-Large ::
Jessica McGinley (Philly.): email

Technical Editor ::
Nick Davis (KC)

Contributors ::
Fahad Ashraf (DC)
Mary Chang (DC)
Jesse Gelwicks (Portland)
Jon Gitchoff (St. Louis)
Marc Gray (North Carolina)
Marc Z. Grub (Toronto)
Sarah Hassan (Kansas City)
Tatum Hengel (Oregon)
Ali Hussain (NYC)
Heather Lumb (Chicago)
Matt Miles (Chicago)
Tracy Nunnery (San Fran)
Casey Osburn (KC)
Hanna Pageau (Chicago)
Reni Papananias (NYC)
Molly Segers (Atlanta)
Dese'Rae Stage (NYC)
Thomas Starks(Seattle)
Abbie Stutzer (KC)
Sara Swiecki (LA)
Abby Williamson (Seattle)
Mike Zhang (Philly)

Concert Calendar

21 January
We Are Scientists @ Black Cat, Washington, D.C.
Owl City @ Beaumont Club, Kansas City MO

23 January
Phoenix @ Showbox SoDo, Seattle

30 January
The Cribs @ Showbox SoDo, Seattle

17-21 March
SXSW @ Various Venues, Austin