popwreckoning

Top 3 Albums of 2011:

• Sainthood Reps – Monoculture
• Fullbloods – The Perpetual Machine
• Yuck – Yuck

Honorable Mentions

Into It. Over It. – Proper
Former Thieves - The Language That We Speak
Surfer Blood – Tarot Classics
Mixtapes – Maps and Comparisons

Best Show of 2011:

2011 has been a great year for music. My first year at SXSW which included amazing shows such as the Topshelf Records and Count Your Lucky Stars Showcase, seeing Aziz Ansari, and especially the MidCoast Takeover were all great. I saw Junius and Caspian for the first time and they were incredible. So, to sum it up, SXSW was my best show(s) of 2011.
Most Anticipated in 2012:

Touring more. Also, new albums from:

• Joie de Vivre
• Scouts
• SUNS
• we are voices

Most Overrated in 2011:

• Dubstep
• Google+

Favorite Musical Memory of the Year:

Joie de Vivre’s last show ever that wasn’t actually their last show ever. I was on tour and happened to have a day off before Chicago which landed on the same day as Joie de Vivre’s “last show” in Rockford. So, naturally, I convinced everyone that we should go. And it was definitely worth it.  All of my favorite people and bands in the same place at the same time, best bro-downs, best memories.

Jim Ward, frontman of Sparta and Sleepercar and founding member of At The Drive-In, has released his debut solo album Quiet In The Valley, On The Shores The End Begins & The Electric Six via his own Tembloroso Recordings. The album is a compilation of his acoustic solo EP trilogy – 2007′s Quiet, 2009′s In The Valley, On The Shores, 2011′s The End Begins – paired with an additional disc of select tracks gone electric. In celebration of the release, Ward premiered the electric version of “Decades” on AltPress.com last week; the track is also now available as a free download here. The Zach Passero-directed video (http://youtu.be/M8kP54WS9qc) for the electric version of album track “Broken Songs” premiered on My Old Kentucky Blog last month; the acoustic version, which features Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara, is available as a download today via Amazon’s Free Song of the Day (here).

Following a sold-out hometown El Paso, TX, record release show at The Percolator, Ward is currently in Australia for three dates. He’ll return to the States on August 19^th to launch a four and a half week US headlining tour, which begins that night at Club Congress in Tucson, AZ. The tour will take him up the west coast, through the midwest and southwest before wrapping up on September 3^rd at The Mohawk in Austin, TX. Ward has also now announced an east coast headlining tour, beginning September 18^th at The Earl in Atlanta, GA, and wrapping up September 27^th at The Crofoot in Pontiac, MI. These dates include a September 22^nd show in Boston supporting Yuck at TT The Bear’s; a September 24^th solo show in New York City supporting Rhett Miller at the Highline Ballroom; and a September 25^th performance at the Pop Montreal festival. El Paso’s The Lusitania – whose album Rain and Rivers Ward and bandmate Gabriel González produced in their studio, Clap of Thunder – will support on most dates and play as his backing band.

In related touring news, Sparta has announced they will play their first show since 2008 this November in El Paso.  They’re confirmed to perform on November 17^th at Tricky Falls, the newly renovated venue co-owned by Ward. Sparta - Ward, drummer Tony Hajjar, bassist Matt Miller, and guitarist Keeley Davis – will also head into the studio this fall to begin work on their fourth LP, the follow-up to 2006′s Threes.

Jim Ward Tour Dates:

AUG. 10         SYDNEY, AUS                           ANNANDALE HOTEL

AUG. 12         MELBOURNE, AUS                    EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB

AUG. 13         BRISBANE, AUS                       ALHAMBRA LOUNGE

AUG. 19         TUCSON, AZ                            CLUB CONGRESS

AUG. 20         SAN DIEGO, CA                       SODA BAR

AUG. 21         LOS ANGELES, CA                    THE SATELLITE

AUG. 22         SANTA BARBARA, CA                MUDDY WATERS

AUG. 23         SAN FRANCISCO, CA                HOTEL UTAH

AUG. 25         SEATTLE, WA                           SUNSET TAVERN

AUG. 26         VANCOUVER, BC                      MEDIA CLUB

AUG. 27         PORTLAND, OR                         THE BUNK BAR

AUG. 30         MINNEAPOLIS, MN                   400 BAR

AUG. 31         CHICAGO, IL                           SCHUBAS

SEPT. 1          UNIVERSITY CITY, MO              CICERO’S

SEPT. 2          NORMAN, OK                           OPOLIS

SEPT. 3          AUSTIN, TX                             THE MOHAWK

SEPT. 18        ATLANTA, GA                           THE EARL

SEPT. 19        CHAPEL HILL, NC                     LOCAL 506

SEPT. 20        WASHINGTON, DC                   DC9

SEPT. 21        PHILADELPHIA, PA                   MILKBOY

SEPT. 22        BOSTON, MA                           TT THE BEAR’S#

SEPT. 24        NEW YORK, NY                        HIGHLINE BALLROOM%

SEPT. 25        MONTREAL, QC                       LE CAGIBI (POP MONTREAL)

SEPT. 26        TORONTO, ON                         HORSESHOE TAVERN

SEPT. 27        PONTIAC, MI                           THE CROFOOT

* The Lusitania support on 8/19-9/22, 9/25-27

# supporting Yuck

% solo show supporting Rhett Miller

Sparta Tour Dates:

NOV. 17         EL PASO, TX                           TRICKY FALLS

Block Party is beautiful. Every little thing about it is absolutely fantastic. From security yelling at people to get off the sidewalks, and into the streets, to the endless cacophony of music coming from every direction, it’s all wonderful.

The day started off with a short set by Fucked Up, broadcast by KEXP. There is a lot to be said about Fucked Up, but we’ll get there in a moment. For now, here’s a photo of me with Damian, the singer of the band. Yes, I asked him to take his shirt off for the photo.

Next up, was another KEXP set, this time by beloved Seattle band The Head and the Heart. I hadn’t listened to them up to this point, but I wasn’t going to miss them this time.

It has to be said that the band has an absolutely fanatic following.  The Bean Room reached capacity about fifteen minutes before the set, and there were people milling around in anticipation two hours before they were scheduled to play.  Are they worth the hype?

That depends on taste, but I definitely saw something intriguing in their short set. The band plays enjoyable acoustic music, and I saw enough to understand what the fuss is about. I’ll be watching The Head and the Heart more closely in the future.

Next, it was over to Neumo’s to stand in line for the bathrooms, and to see New York’s Cults. Cults sort of sound like twee pop filtered through Joy Division. The strobe lights hit, the band took the stage, and the sound of dark dance music filtered through the room.

Lead singer Madeline Follin came off something like a Gwen Stefani for the goth set, but the band had a sense of joy around it.  A beach ball hit the stage at least a dozen times during the set, and the crowd seemed extremely happy to be there. The music had plenty of fantastic distortion, and people danced like they were on fire. It was a great show, and up next was the highlight of the evening.

Fucked Up tore the roof off Neumos, in a way that’s rarely seen. The band was noisy, but played extremely well together, even though from the balcony the songs were often indistinguishable from one another. That didn’t matter. Two dozen stage divers cannot be argued with.

Singer Damian Abraham led the crowd in a sweaty, raucous, mess that was absolutely astonishing to witness. At one point he lead the crowd into chanting “I hate summer” during one song, and into “we’re dying on the inside” during the next. It was beautiful. He took off his shirt, and began twirling his microphone during the first song, and the energy did waver for a solid forty-five minutes.

This was punk rock at it’s purest.  Not only did Abraham stage dive but so did one of the guitar players, and the (female) bass player. The latter two did so while they continued playing. The crowd was putty in Abraham’s hands, even when he dove into the crowd during the second to last song, and went to the bar to get a drink.  This kind of ballsy awesomeness is so rarely seen at shows. It was breathtaking to behold, and I cannot wait to see this band again.

After Fucked Up, complete exhaustion set in, but I stayed around for Yuck. The band set up, and by their second song the crowd was enthralled. They played a set of slacker rock that made one nostalgic for the mid-90’s, when bands like Pavement were in their prime.

The set ended, and I struggled my way through the crowd, into the street, and through an exhilarated, completely transformed Capitol Hill. It’s 1 a.m., and I can still hear the drunks partying in the streets from my living room window.

Yuck ( http://yuck.bandcamp.com/)is an indie rock group hailing from London, England. They are currently enjoying buzz band status centering on their self-titled debut record which was released on Fat Possum last February. The album is full of fantastically catchy songs, including the noisy “The wall”

The band plays a brand of fuzz rock that rides a wave of ‘90’s alternative rock nostalgia. They’ve garnered comparisons to legendary acts such as a Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic youth. The comparisons are certainly justified, but Yuck updates the sound of ‘90’s Indie Rock with a sound uniquely their own.

Recent live shows have been well reviewed, and Friday’s set should be outstanding.  Their show is eagerly anticipated, and the crowd should be rapturous. Yuck are not one to miss.

Yuck will be playing on Friday at 10:15 p.m. at Neumos.

Seattle’s premiere mid-summer music festival the Capitol Hill Block Party is happening in less than a week, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to be precise. If you live anywhere near Seattle and haven’t heard about it by now, you must have been living under a rock.

Last year’s festival had the likes of the Dead Weather and MGMT headlining the urban festival, set in the middle of Seattle’s South Capitol Hill neighborhood.

This year’s lineup includes: TV on the Radio, Explosions in the Sky, the Head and the Heart, and well you can see the whole lineup above – over 70 bands including some of Seattle’s finest local talents.

For the full festival schedule, go to http://capitolhillblockparty.com/schedule/

To purchase tickets, individual day tickets for $27.50 or 3-day passes for $82.50 are available here: http://capitolhillblockparty.strangertickets.com/Home

New York’s the Pains of Being Pure at Heart have announced on their official website dates for a fall North American tour.

The band recently released a new single, “Say No to Love,” in June on Slumberland Records.

Tour Dates
Oct 20 – Paradise / Boston#
Oct 21 – Music Hall of Williamsburg / Brooklyn#&
Oct 22 – Pi Lam / Philadelphia#
Nov 04 – Venue / Vancouver^
Nov 05 – Vera Project / Seattle^
Nov 06 – Reed College / Portland
Nov 07 – EMU Ballroom / Eugene^
Nov 09 – Independent / San Francisco^
Nov 10 – Fresh and Fabulous Cafe / Oxnard, CA^*
Nov 11 – Loft @ UCSD / San Diego^
Nov 12 – Echoplex / Los Angeles^
# with Yuck
^ with Weekend
& with the Blow + Young Men
* with Sweater Girls, Sea Lions and Avocados

Photo: Mary Chang

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: website | myspace | @ Monolith Festival 2009, Saturday, September 12 | Interview with | @ Black Cat, 2009 | @ Irvine Auditorium