popwreckoning

Man Man is an experimental rock band from Philadelphia. Life Fantastic is their fourth album.  They play a brand of alternative that is reminiscent of the mid-90’s. It all sounds very clever, as long as you don’t pay attention to the lyrics.

The album starts well with a keyboard and a drumbeat before a xylophone descends, and the song starts. It has a bit of a gypsy punk thing going on, and it sets the stage for the remainder of the album.

The best thing here is “Oh, La Brea”. It ends the album on a pleasant, quiet note. It’s a bit jazzy, and obviously Tom Waits influenced with its gruff vocals, and shout outs to Los Angeles streets. The song is something of a lullaby, and it wouldn’t be completely out of place on Waits’ Nitehawks at the Diner.

Another highlight is the druggy “Dark Arts.” The song is full of doom, or trying to avoid doom. It’s the sound of a man in a Mexican wrestler’s mask stampeding through a ballet.  The song is about surviving, somehow living despite the crazy shit the narrator has lived through. It’s fast paced, and a little surviving.

That song ends, and the xylophone returns. That strange instrument guides the song, as the carnival sound continues. This song, “Haute Tropique,” contains the albums best line: “I eat my peas like a good boy’s supposed to.” The singer barks the lines. It’s a fucking carnival.

The best thing about this album is the variety of instruments. What at first sounds like Smashmouth, full of inconsequential nonsense quickly turns into a game of “name the sound.” By the time the song “Shameless” hits you’re on your knees with the band, and your head is in the clouds. Your brain is full of strange sounds, and you’re begging for more.

Track List:
01. Knuckle Down
02. Piranhas Club
03. Steak Knives
04. Dark Arts
05. Haute Tropique
06. Shameless
07. Spooky Jookie
08. Eel Bros
09. Bangkok Necktie
10. Life Fantastic
11. Oh, La Brea

Before Frank Turner became a solo artist, he played in a London post-hardcore outfit, Million Dead. When that band fizzled, he decided to strike out on his own, he did so in a very different musical genre, folk rock. Five years post-Million Dead, three solo albums, and two EPs later, Turner finds himself being revered and highly sought after, easily selling out venues at home in the UK. Despite having toured stateside over the last 2 years as support for the likes of the Gaslight Anthem, the Offspring, and Social Distortion, he’s not a household name in America. Yet. But his latest EP released this week, the simply-titled Rock & Roll, should help matters.

Thanks to the BBC, folk gets a lot more attention nationally in the UK than it does here in America, and in Britain, there is a glut of folk and folk rock acts eager for mainstream success. Three reasons I think Frank Turner has come out on top of the heap and succeeded in Britain and in Europe? His down-to-earth persona, his eagerness to communicate with his fans (check out his Twitter and his blog, usually detailing his life on the road but more recently, the difficulties of touring during a freakishly early winter snowfall in Britain), and the protest bent of his lyrics, making him a present-day, Bob Dylan-style folk hero, if you will. He champions the little guy, a position that usually doesn’t translate to fame, fortune, and success in the popular music world. Yet back home in Britain, he’s idolized. I never got into Tom Waits like some of my friends and some of the people in the music business I’ve run into as a blogger. But I imagine for many people, Frank Turner is their Tom Waits.

The melodic guitars and Turner’s engaging vocals make this EP highly enjoyable. “Pass It Along” starts slowly with a folky sensibility. It reminds of how some of Led Zeppelin‘s songs would start off quietly and introspectively before ripping into monster, now classic riffs. (I bring up Led Zep because they are the band that created arguably one of greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs ever, aptly titled “Rock and Roll.”) In the case of “Pass It Along,” it’s at the 3-minute mark that all lets loose for what feels life-affirming. “Rock and Roll Romance” is a short piece, just Turner and his guitar. Simple, yet gorgeous and heartbreaking, all at the same time.

If you feel like the EP is flagging, then “To Absent Friends” reignites the fire. Listening to this song, I’m sure you can feel the excitement that is Frank Turner and his band live, Turner giving his vocal cords quite the workout as piano keys bang. The tune “The Next Round” is the most country of the five on this EP, and is the regretful musings of an alcoholic. What could sound fake doesn’t in Turner’s deft songwriting hands. But the rallying cry of this EP is the anthemic track “I Still Believe.” Turner sings, “who would have thought / after all / something as so simple as rock ‘n’ roll would save us all?” Decades after the first rock ‘n’ roll tunes came out of its rhythm and blues roots, rock ‘n’ roll is still going on strong. And it will continue to thrive with people like Frank Turner, committed to making music under his own terms. This album might not be as aggressive as what is being passed off as “rock” these days, but it’s sure got plenty of substance. And heart.

Track Listing:
01. I Still Believe
02. Pass It Along
03. Rock & Roll Romance
04. To Absent Friends
05. The Next Round

The Rock & Roll EP by Frank Turner will be released on December 07 on Epitaph Records.

Frank Turner: website | myspace

Looking at the cover for Songs for a Sinking Ship by April Smith and the Great Picture Show, I felt like I had stepped back in time. Most of the bands I listen to nowadays take the extreme minimalist approach when it comes to packaging and design for their albums, so just looking at this antique cover was a refreshing change. Designed by photographer and artist Matt Hoyle, it recalls days gone by, when you’d head to the summer agricultural fair and your long-suffering mother would pay someone to photograph your head peeking out from behind a cardboard cutout of some nonsensical scene. Opening the gatefold, you get a load of the band members perched precariously on their instruments or baggage and April Smith herself sitting on a wooden raft. And is that the Titanic half underwater behind Ms. Smith? Quite possibly…

I only bring this up because the attention to detail taken for the cover design provides insight into how I imagine the album was recorded. You can feel it in your bones how lovingly each of these 11 tracks was put together. Also consider that the album was entirely financed by the generosity of Smith’s fans – pretty impressive. Had this dance pop fan read the depiction of the album describing it as “sassy pop music informed by the ’30s and ’40s, juke joints and cabaret, the Andrews Sisters, and Tom Waits,” I may not have given it a second glance.

With the piano and ukulele effects and string, brass and handclap flourishes used so effectively throughout, I could not help but love this album. To the casual listener, yes, it does sound antiquated. With ragtime piano-playing and trumpeting (at the start of “Can’t Say No” for example), you may feel like you’ve gotten lost in a New Orleans parlor of a bygone era. But sometimes one needs to step back and appreciate what music sounds like without serious electronic intervention. This is honest music recorded without the benefit of auto-tune and other all too commonly used production crutches.

One of the best moments on the album is the superb opening track, “Movie Loves a Screen.” Smith’s winsome declaration “I just want to mean something to you…” showcases her gorgeous, lilting voice. Smith also does whimsical cynicism very well with the coy yet forceful “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” dripping with sarcasm: “Is there anything going on in that pretty little head? / If you’re just drop dead gorgeous / you should just drop dead.” Smith is obviously bitter about falling for some cute but emotionally unavailable cad. Seriously, what woman can’t commiserate?

The album’s journey through Smith’s emotions, ranging from jealousy (“Dixie Boy”) to joyful self-confidence (“Stop Wondering”), allows for Smith’s remarkable vocal range and songwriting prowess to shine. Clocking in at less than 35 minutes, Songs for a Sinking Ship is an all too brief introduction into Smith’s emotional world. With Smith at the helm, I predict – and hope – that this ship will be seaworthy for a long time to come.

Track Listing:
01. Movie Loves A Screen
02. Terrible Things
03. Drop Dead Gorgeous
04. Can’t Say No
05. What’ll I Do?
06. Colors
07. Dixie Boy
08. The One That Got Away
09. Beloved
10. Wow and Flutter
11. Stop Wondering

Songs for a Sinking Ship will be released on February 23 and can be preordered at the band’s official website. Smith and her band are currently on tour through to the middle of February with Langhorne Slim. They will join up with London-based folk/pop outfit Fanfarlo for a West Coast tour through to the end of the month.

Tour Dates
Feb 08 – Casbah / San Diego*
Feb 10 – Hi Dive / Denver*
Feb 11 – Record Bar / Kansas City, KS*
Feb 12 – Off Broadway / St. Louis*
Feb 13 – Summit / Columbus*
Feb 22 – Great American Music Hall / San Francisco#
Feb 23 – Doug Fir / Portland#
Feb 24 – Crocodile Café / Seattle#
Feb 25 – Knitting Factory / Spokane#
Feb 27 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City#
Feb 28 – Larimer Lounge / Denver#
* with Langhorne Slim
# with Fanfarlo

April Smith and the Great Picture Show: website | myspace

Fall in Philly is a beautiful thing—especially when the soundtrack to the season is one that includes M. Ward, Mike Mogis, Jim James, Conor Oberst AND Bob Dylan. The city has seen itself nearly taken over by both contemporary and classic folk musicians this November—first with Dylan’s performance at the Liacouras Center and then Monsters of Folk festival at the Academy of Music (on the same night, no less.)

To wrap up this folk-themed month, Popwreckoning’s Jess McGinley and her roommate (yours truly) braved the rain-slicked streets of Fishtown Thursday night to see recent MP3 Minute feature and local folk hero Langhorne Slim perform a sold out show at Johnny Brenda’s.

And when I say local, I do mean local: a mere 24 miles up I-95 North lies the little town of Langhorne—a Philadelphia suburb Sean Scolnick (better known as Langhorne Slim) and I both call home [Ed note: proof below]. Slim sums it up perfectly in his song “Hello Sunshine”–“There’s a place I know in Pennsylvania / If you never want to go, well darling I can’t blame ya.” Poignant lyrics, when you consider we’re best known for a Sesame Street inspired water park and the planet’s largest auto dealership.

Langhorne the musician, though, offers much more than our hometown. Perched precariously on a packed balcony above the stage, I watched Slim and company perform in support of their new album Be Set Free.

Sort of like Tom Waits without five decades worth of cigarette smoke, Slim successfully crooned and yelped along with his band for a full two hours. For me it mostly felt like a drunk sing-along with some townies at the Langhorne Hotel bar (better known as the black and white building in the beginning of the music video for “Restless”).

Although his backwoods brand of blues/folk seemed like inauthentic posturing at times, (C’mon man-you’re from Bucks County) there were genuinely beautiful, touching moments throughout the set (“Restless,” “Worries”) and songs that left me teetering back and forth on my bar stool. It was nearly as good as the Dylan concert—if only he’d broken out the harmonica.

Langhorne Slim: website | myspace | @ acl 2008 | interview with

Words: Jennifer Robnett
Photos: Jessica McGinley

Friday Night // Concert and Movie Viewing

The Achievers (fans of The Big Lebowski) trickled into the 8^th Annual Lebowski Fest’s movie night on a humid Friday night in Louisville. Many were dressed in simple Achiever shirts while other, more fervent fans were dressed as characters (or even concepts) from the film. White Russian, beer and food stands lined the outside of the lawn as festival goers set up chairs to enjoy the evenings events including performances by local acts Whistle Peak and Black Diamond Heavies, the comedy of Rob Riggle, an appearance by Philip Moon (who plays Woo the Carpet Pisser in the movie) and, finally, a large outdoor showing of the reason for the festival, The Big Lebowski. The long and narrow lawn gave off the feeling of a company picnic or rather than a festival, but it was the perfect for groups of friends and Lebowski fans due to its more intimate nature.

The crowd mingled and drank as they waited for Whistle Peak to take the stage at 8:30. The five piece included keys, a harmonica and a ukulele in additional to the usual guitar, bass and drums. Keeping true to their Louisville roots, a subtle twang was noticeable in their rock sound that also featured poppy overtones. On the whole, I found Whistle Peak’s sound mellow, inoffensive and fairly easy to ignore – perfect background music for catching with old and making new Achiever friends.

The festival’s creators, Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell, walked around dressed as bowling pins, posing for pictures with other Achievers before introducing Black Diamond Heavies. Black Diamond Heavies, whose drummer Van Campbell hails from Louisville, have a dirty garage rock sound that still manages great melodies in all its grungy greatness. Singer James Leg’s got distinct smoky and gritty vocals similar to Tom Waits’, no doubt due to years of a nicotine habit (he lit up on stage). I’d heard of the duo before, but never realized how awesome they are until they tore up the stage at Lebowski Fest. Several audience members jumped up to dance around to the fast-paced, lively sounds. They really got the crowd amped for their beloved Big Lebowksi when they ended their set with covers of Kenny Rogers’ “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” and “Man In Me” by Bob Dylan.

Following Black Diamond Heavies, and crashing hard, was comedian and Louisville native Rob Riggle. He made jokes about the TARP and the Detroit auto industry bail out, mens bathrooms at sports stadiums, sell out jokes about a watered down horse piss beer and he trashed Spencer Pratt, recounting fantasies of wanting to murder the realitard celeb. Rob Riggle is not funny. At all. Neither I nor none of the people around me laughed at all. This was the only lowlight of the evening.

Before The Big Lebowski viewing, Philip Moon came out on stage to “piss” on a carpet (he turned his back to the crowd and opened a can of soda, letting the contents spill from near his crotchal region) like his character, Woo, in the film. The crowd got a huge kick out of this and cheered loudly. He then told an anecdote about his scene, in which Jeff Bridges (Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski) asked whether or not the toilet he was about to get his head dunked in had been washed. Directors the Cohen Brothers, totally deadpan, informed Bridges that the crew had all shit in it. This also drew roars from the crowd, but only received about half the applause that a “satellite link” (it was totally pre-recorded) message from Jeff Bridges himself received. Then it was time for The Big Lebowski. Achievers quoted the film, hooting and hollering at key scenes, reveling in all they’ve come to love about the Cohen Brothers’ cult hit.

My only grievance with the Fest is that I wish they’d had compostable cups and plates, or at the very least recycling. Other than that, I had a blast and couldn’t wait for the next day’s documentary, lawn party and bowling party.

Check back for coverage of the Saturday afternoon Garden Party and Saturday night Bowling Party

Speed of Sound Tour Dates (A Lebowski Fest near you!:
Denver - Sept. 8th & 9th
Minneapolis - Sept. 11th & 12th
Chicago - Sept. 13th – 15th
Toronto - Sept. 17th & 18th
Boston - Sept. 19th & 20th
New York City – Sept. 22nd – 24th
Philadelphia - Sept. 25th & 26th
Washington DC – Sept. 28th & 29th
Austin – Oct. 9th & 10th

Lebowski Fest: website | tickets