Is This It?

So far I have been a bit underwhelmed by the festivals this year. SXSW was legit and Pitchfork fest looks to be awesome but for the most part they have been full of retread hipster bands and generic dj's. Why is it that most  of the recent indie artists start off strong but then come out with weak sophomore efforts? Is it because they have worked on their first album for their entire lives and once they find success and a record deal, they cave under the pressure of having to come up with another album in less than 18 months? So then we are stuck listening to these bands at festivals begging them to play their "old" stuff. Meanwhile secretly wishing that John Popper would find his way to the local rib shacks to get a good enough base so he can go drinking and driving again just to get pulled over with enough illegal firearms in his backseat to make T.I. jealous. I will admit though that the last time I saw the skinny Popper at ACL, I was singing The Hook rather loudly. And speaking of 90's has beens, retread hipster bands, and ACL; my "insider" tells me that the headliners this year will be Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish (again), and the Beach Boys??? The Beach Boys?!?!!?! I mean I really hope that he's wrong, because if not this is the laziest effort ever. I really am just waiting for the day when ACL just says fuck it, and gives us their dream lineup of Jethro Tull, Bob Seger, and hologram Grateful Dead.

Well in the meantime, with Chaos in Tejas coming up, do yourself a favor and go see No Age at Beauty Ballroom June 1st. I have been boycotting the new Emo's East and Beauty because they moved locations and are no longer within walking distance of my apartment. But I can't pass up the chance to basically go deaf while dancing around with a bunch a 20 year olds. So yes, I guess I will finally get a *sigh* cab over to east Riverside. Again, I just assume that everyone knows who No Age is but for those who dont, they are a post punk noise band from LA with Dean on the drums and vocals and Randy on the guitar. Quite a few of their songs are familiar sounding high energy punk numbers like Sleeper Hold but they can also surprise you with slow moving experimental atmospheric tracks. And sometime you get the best of both worlds like with the haunting Errand Boy. One thing for sure, is that when you do see them, you want to take ear plugs. They are known for cranking it up as loud as possible and they do not play mellow shows. The last time I saw them at SX, it was right after Muse, so I was hammered and pumped! Metric, Muse, and then No Age? What could be better? Well how about front row for No Age at this small outdoor venue. I was rocking out and dancing like a fool to Teen Creeps with my ears basically bleeding because I was right next to this giant speaker with no ear plugs. People looked on in horror. A black man wearing a backpack, moshing to the loudest punk music known to man right next to that speaker with no ear plugs?? I could barely hear anything for 2 days after but it was all worth it because some dude came up to me after the show and said "you're fucking crazy man but mad respect". haha or at least I think that's what he said, I was pretty much reading lips at that point. No Age definitely gets a rating of FRESH! And when Radiohead lists you as one of their favorite bands, who am I to argue?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWhCgA6r0Sk

Next up is Unknown Mortal Orchestra. They will be playing Pitchfork in Chicago this July. When I first came across them, I had heard that the lead had been anonymously recording and releasing songs. He wanted to make music but didnt want the attention that came along with it. But when it got more and more internet exposure and radio play, his manager basically forced him to start a band. Plus, the RZA gave it his stamp of approval. You cant let Bobby Digital down. So I checked out the fun and funky Ffunny Ffriends and immediately thought that if this is his early work, there is no ceiling for what this guy can do! But the only problem is, its way too early to tell if he will actually live up to his potential. Because when I saw them live, they had about 2 to 3 really good tracks including How Can You Luv Me?. But the rest of their songs just kind of drag on and seem uninspired. Now granted, when I saw them, it was about 6 months after they had formed their band, so they probably had literally just written most of their songs and hadnt really had a chance to figure out where they wanted to take their sound. Well now it's been over a year and hopefully they have figured out which direction they want to go. Again they have major potential but when you have deadlines to meet, sometimes you get bad results and fans day dreaming about fat guys playing harmonica. Right now, I give them a rating of kind of WEAK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DwfeiXSstc