Stone Temple Pilots

I've now had three weeks to soak in the beautiful goodness that is Stone Temple Pilots.  Three weeks to pick it apart, to compare it to albums past, and to spend long hours in a blissful haze created by the DeLeo brothers.

"Between The Lines" - The first STP single since 2001 hits hard, proving that the band hasn't lost a step since its Core heyday, but don't bother with the studio record--skip right to track 16, the live from Chicago version.  It's far superior.  And what would an STP album be without the obligatory Ode to Mary Weiland--I like it when we talk about love/I like it when we talk about love/You always were my favorite drug/Even when we used to take drugs. 


"Take A Load Off" - Though the entire album has repetitive choruses running throughout, this is the song where it is least effective.  Once "Between The Lines" brings you up, "Take A Load Off" can't sustain the high.

"Huckleberry Crumble" - A re-vamped and modernized nod to Aerosmith's "Same Old Song And Dance", "Huckleberry Crumble" is easily in my top 3 songs on the album with it's bluesy jive and swagger.


"Hickory Dichotomy" - My vote for a radio single.  Track 15, the live from Chicago version, is arguably the best song on the album for the sheer fact that this song takes Scott's lanky gyrating and translates it to a great little swinging rock song.  My advice: listen to it LOUD.  Dance.  Rock out.

"Dare If You Dare" -  Good, nonsensical verses.  (I predict a Michael Stipe lyrics-on-the-music-stand set up coming.)  Boring chorus.

"Cinnamon" -  Caught somewhere between bubble gum pop and something Lifehouse would write, "Cinnamon" is by far the biggest WTF?!?  on the album.  Hear me, can you hear me, Scott--what is this?!?  Hear me, can you hear me, DeLeos--how did this happen?!?

"Hazy Daze" -  The mid-album rock song. 

"Bagman" - STP's version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" with a Beatles flair.  Impossible to listen to this song without bopping your head and feeling happy for Scott's dealer, who has worked hard and fully merited this, his very own song.

"Peacoat" -  Mid-tempo tune with a solid mix of edgy and soft.

"Fast As I Can" - And it is fast.  It's at this point where you appreciate the variation of the songs on the album because not any two songs resemble each other.

"First Kiss On Mars" - If the first rule to writing an STP album is including a song about Mary, and the second rule is writing a song about drugs, then the third rule is undoubtedly including a nod to Bowie.  Everyone knows that Scott blatantly emulates the Androgynous One, but no one seems to care because he does it so well.  "First Kiss On Mars" is a laid-back song that makes you want to go out and buy a convertible just so you can crank it with the top down and drive across country.  Unlike "Cinnamon", this song knows how to sprinkle in the 60s influence and make it work in small doses.

"Maver" - I don't exactly know how Maver constitutes a name, but that's neither here nor there.  This is the perfect first song to break down acoustically for VH1 Storytellers:  Scott on a stool in center stage, snapping his fingers; Dean playing slowly and chomping on gum; and the girls in the crowd swaying slowly and mouthing the words.


All in all, 'Stone Temple Pilots' shows the band can simultaneously rock like they're touring Purple, remain relevant in 2010 and evolve musically.  The new licks and hooks are enough to keep old fans happy and keep new fans lining up at the shows.  And speaking of shows, I am now the proud owner of tickets to the STP shows in Saint Paul, Chicago and Cleveland, but as all good STP fans know, holding a ticket to anything Scott Weiland is attached to is a little risky.  Will he live to see the date of the show?  Will he be coherent?

We sure hope so because this album is worth living for.

The Bangles Rock the Fine Line

Susanna Hoffs is still hot.

Yup, I said it.  She’s hot.

That fact alone might explain the near capacity crowd at the Fine Line for the Bangles show last week.  Though I don’t think you can discount the people who don’t give a rat’s ass about Susanna but were hoping that her presence would lure Prince out of Paisley Park to make one of his elusive public appearances and lust after his former (not-so-eternal) flame.

Alas, Prince wasn’t at the show, but it seemed that just about every other Minneapolitan male was.  At first, I was dumbfounded.  What were all these men doing here?  Were they all dragged out by their significant others?  No, that couldn’t be because a. there appeared to be more men than women, and b. why would any woman do that?  It’d be far more fun to go with the girls.  Were the men all huge Bangles fans?  Didn’t seem likely.  I furrowed my brows, looked every male within eyesight up and down and ruminated on this during the down time between bands.  I even had a bartender tell me to loosen up and not look so serious.  After careful examination, it became clear, and the tension in my perplexed face gave way to a triumphant smile.  I found that the men in attendance all fell into one of three categories:

1.  The Lusters
This polo-clad group was comprised of 28-37 year-old males who all had crushes on Susanna Hoffs when they were little and who now wanted to know if they could still legitimately use her as fantasy material.  They found out they could!  Her hair wasn’t as big as it was in the 80s (a known aphrodisiac of the time), but she now had perfected the sort of hair flip with Bambi eyes peering out from underneath that could stop any rock-loving man dead in his tracks.

2. The Gay Men
Self-explanatory. (It should be noted that this group did include drag queens)

3. The Creepers
Basically, we’re talking 45-55 year-old men who fit the visual profile of sex offenders.  These men were all flying solo, talking to no one.  They stood there watching through their old school gold-rimmed glasses our fathers wore in 80s, not muttering so much as an “oh WAY oh” on “Walk Like An Egyptian”.  How could they?  They were too busy mentally undressing the women on stage.   

It seems clear that the Runaways have secured their places in rock history as the queens of rock’n’roll, but I would argue that the Bangles have climbed from the L.A. punk rock scene and safely earned the spot of rock’s rightful princesses.  Vicki Peterson (vocals/guitar), Debbi Peterson (vocals/drums) and Susanna Hoffs (vocals/guitar) still know how to put on a show that packs the Fine Line and has the audience actually digging the new songs instead of boasting the standard bored-to-tears faces of fans longing for nostalgia only. Not that there’s anything wrong with nostalgia, of course.  I’ll admit that’s why I went—to re-live the days when I didn’t know that she was late to work on Manic Monday because the night before she was…well…you know.

It was a solid choice to open with a hit single, "Hazy Shade of Winter", but smart to make it a cover, so as to get people revved up for the likes of "Manic Monday" (the third song in the set) and "Eternal Flame", which crept in mid-set.  It's a good bet that most of the audience was dying to hear "Walk Like An Egyptian", and when the Bangles brought out that classic for their first encore, the 80s vibe was so thick you could've sworn the Coreys were there!

As great as "Walk Like An Egyptian" was, and as much as I don't want to discredit its pop brilliance, it can't pass by without critique.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one there that night whose heart sank when the song finished with not so much as a hint of the whistling break-down mid-song nor the coo-coo-clock eyes that Susanna rocked in the video, giving every 80s boy a near heart attack and every girl a clear vision of what they wanted to be some day: the sultry sex kitten their father didn't want to let out of the house.

The Bangles have that certain je ne sais quoi that can bring together people as diverse as the Lusters, the Gays, the Creepers, the women, and the strangely gyrating couple in front of me who brought to mind the Chicken vs. Egg dilemma….only this time it was a question of what was moving what: was his wandering hand moving her butt or her squirmy rump moving his hand?   We will never know.

Happy Birthday 89.3!

If you can look beyond what can only be described as the giant clusterfuck that led up to The Current's birthday bash last Friday night (ie: server down, fast sell-out, and frostbitten fingers & toes from waiting in line for an eternity), you can see the show for what it was: a Minneapolitan masterpiece.

The Twilight Hours

You gotta love it when you can see a great local band twice in the span of two weeks.  Unfortunately, because of the ridiculous nature of the line, I spent The Twilight Hours' first song OUTSIDE of First Ave taking in the musical stylings of Dude on the Corner Singing About Jesus.  (Who, to be fair, I always find quite intriguing.  Annoying? Certainly, but intriguing all the same.  Who else makes up song lyrics as they go and believes in them so steadfastly?)  Having seen TTH three times now, I can say that "Queen of Tomorrow" has easily become my favorite song.  It has a certain "End of the World As We Know It" quality about it, but the tricky thing is that it lures you into thinking, "It's slower than 'End of the World As We Know It', so I'm sure I can sing along," and then BAM!  You're trapped in a Tommy Boy-esque scene of garbling your words and singing nothing that qualifies as actual English.   We all need these humbling experiences of inadequacy from time to time.  Thank you for that, John and Matt.

Lookbook

Always excited to hear bands I've never heard play live, I was drawn in by Lookbook's first song, hitting hard with that "make out song" quality that brings us all back to the wayward days of our youth.  (And wasn't that a great time when we had songs we'd just make out to?)  I was simultaneously perplexed by Grant and impressed by Maggie: Is his only job to run the drum machine?  Is his mic working?  Wow, her voice is incredibly commanding when backed by the subtle echo effect going on.  Once Grant got on the guitar it started making more sense, and the band was able to morph their sound from make out music to a Fame-inspired ditty that called for leotards and teased hair and ultimately ended with a song that left everyone wondering how we could have possibly left our glowsticks at home.  I could've done without Grant stripping down to the aqua tank, but wardrobe aside, I was impressed by their ability to experiment in a wide rage of feelings all while maintaining a solid level of cohesiveness and integrity to their sound.

Mason Jennings

As a Gustie grad, I have a special place in my heart for Mason Jennings.  It seemed like he played there at least once a year during my four years in Saint Peter, and every year--then 'til now--he's done nothing but expand and grow in popularity, thanks in large part to Jack Johnson.  With each artist only given sets of about half an hour, I wondered how he could possibly choose from his extensive catalog but was elated that he dug out "Be Here Now", a classic, for Friday night's long-time fans.  That said, I would like to impart an unpopular opinion….in the form of a criticism of Mason.   (Gasp!  Criticize Mason?!?!  Surely ye jest!)  I generally find myself listening to Mason and inwardly screaming for more--a crescendo here, a decrescendo there, anything but the typically flat range Mason appears to find comfort in and champion.  Once in a great while he'll start to rock out a little, with a little more drive and passion, and the crowd goes nuts.  Give us more of that, Mason! 

P.O.S.

I have now lost my P.O.S. virginity.  Sort of against my will, but still…  Rap isn't exactly what I'd call my preferred style, or anywhere in the top ten for that matter, but I held out and didn't retreat to the bathroom for the set.  I stood amidst the crowd and vowed to listen, like a good music-obsessed girl should.  P.O.S. knew how to work the lyrics like….well, like Live, actually.  Here me out:  You have to give a band like Live credit because never before in the history of music (and probably never again) will a band successfully write a hit single that includes the word placenta.  "How did they pull that off?  Will anyone ever achieve similar heights again?", we were all left to wonder.  Enter P.O.S.  My ears perked up and a smile spread across my face when I heard him equally as effectively use the word gingivitis.  Right on, P.O.S.  Right on.  You have earned my respect.

Solid Gold

With the live show that Solid Gold delivers, it's no wonder they're creating such a crazy buzz in the music community.  Solid Gold has an absolutely genius knack for melding rock and electronica, and they have created an original voice; a voice that can--and will--take the country by storm, especially now that Shön Troth is on board playing slide and putting the band over that edge of originality and creating a thicker, more layered sound.  It's almost as if Solid Gold's entire show is a hook, in and of itself.  And how about that cover of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone"?!  Wow.  Really--wow.  Covers can be such a tricky arena in which to dive, but when a band can take a cover and a. make it their own, and b. make it potentially better than the original*, you know you're dealing with something special, if not monumental.  Speaking of covers, with the electronic rock sound came a psychedelic vibe (in synch with the lighting of the show), and I half-expected them to break into a crazy rendition of "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" at any given instant.  Maybe an idea for a future show?  At the end of the night, I think Solid Gold was the band I was the most excited about and most refreshed by.

When my toes had re-gained feeling, I came to the conclusion that this was quite possibly the greatest $6.00 I've spent in a long, long while.  Happy 5th Birthday, 89.3, and thank you for a kick-ass show.

-E 


*Covers that at least compete with the original include, but are not limited to:
-Stone Temple Pilot's "Dancing Days"
-Aerosmith's "Come Together"
-Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower"

Dynamic Duos

Holy terrific twosomes, Batman!

The first month of 2010 has brought a first for me: seeing more 2-piece bands than anything else.  Here are a couple not included in last week’s post:

Reverse Cowboy  (the BAND people, the BAND!)
Thinking New Year’s Eve doesn’t get much better than a dive bar and little-to-no crowd, I checked out this dynamic duo on 12/31 the Dubliner in Saint Paul.  Scottie Devlin and Cody McKinney serve up a solid mix of traditional Irish tunes, but Test Site 67 fans will be thrilled to hear a few Test Site originals thrown into the mix for good measure, including “Egyptian Skies”, which ranks in my All-Time Top 10 Favorite Songs.  This particular night we got a special treat when the duo tapped into some lighter harmonies and served up a hauntingly intense version of U2’s “New Year’s Day”, completely making the classic song 100% their own.  One of the greatest things about this 2-piece is that you never can tell who is having more fun, the crowd or the musicians because everybody rocks out like there's no tomorrow, and you'd be crazy not to join in.  If you’re lucky, you’ll hit the band on a night Scottie is sporting his kilt—yes, the Irish have their own version—and if you butter him up with comments about kilts being oh-so-sexy, you can secure nearly any song request.

Check out Reverse Cowboy for creative twists on Irish standards with a guaranteed good time.  No exceptions.

Gay Witch Abortion (hereby referred to as GWA)
While the name of this dynamic duo almost warrants an immediate exception from any sort of positive praise, I’ll bypass that urge…just this once.  Now, I’ve never been a metalhead, am not currently a metalhead, and I likely will never be a metalhead, but in the interest of an open mind, I saw GWA as an opener at the Turf Club.  Less than five minutes into the set, I was already scraping my jaw off the slushy bar floor, wondering when would be appropriate to feel impressed.  The sound coming out of one drummer and one (non-screaming) singer/guitarist was bigger, badder, tighter and more full than most 5-piece bands can produce.  My only criticism was the drummer’s excessive use of the floor tom because, let’s face it, too much floor tom can sound a bit “George of the Jungle”.  Overall, it wasn’t my style, but I was impressed with what they were able to do—make a rock chick think twice about metal.  No small feat!

Check out GWA to let out your metal angst with a band that you can actually bring NON-metalheads to see.


I leave you with the words of Cody McKinney:  "It's 2010--anything can happen, bitch!"

-E

Best New Bands of 2009

We’re three weeks into 2010, and I’m just now starting to feel like I’m actually in 2010—not 1992.  The sting of John Frusciante’s official (second) departure from RHCP is still there, but Soundgarden announcing it’s reunion has helped keep me from plummeting to the depths of despair.  This lack of plummetude has allowed me and my HLP* to renew our New Year’s Resolution from 2007 once again:

Resolution Part A:  Honor tradition.  When LEGENDS come through town, don’t hesitate.  Go directly to the show.  Do not pass Go.  Do not collect $200—spend it.  When in doubt about money, remember how you felt after McCartney came and went and you weren’t there.  Was it more mortifying or heartbreaking?  Tough to tell, but now you know not to repeat that tragic error in judgment.

Resolution Part B:  Seek and explore.  Every month check out new local bands (top priority) as well as new national acts.

To that end, we took in First Avenue’s Best New Bands of 2009 showcase on Saturday, January 16, hoping to find a hidden gem or two.  I found solid sounds, eclectic vibes, and enough curiosity to lure me back to more shows of a couple of the bands that played.

Peter Wolf Crier
It’s an interesting practice to listen to a band without looking at them—just at first—so as to not let appearances get in the way.  (Would Kiss have more or less followers if this was common practice?  Insane Clown Posse?)  The first song was purely auditory for me, and I immediately was intrigued because I dig a band that can rock out on acoustic guitar, especially when it’s more aggressive than what their recorded tunes serve up.  This two-piece went to town, showcasing some acoustic angst with a slight Jack White eerie flair.  When I started watching the band I was thrown off by the frat boy-esque, white tee and button-up guitarist who played the entire show facing the side of the stage.  The shoe-gazer movement had its hey day two decades ago, but I have a hunch the side-stage-gazers will be slow to catch on….


Red Pens
Ahhh….what’s cooler: chick bassists or drummers?  Gotta love them both because they add something to the dynamic of a band that is simply impossible to achieve without having the token uterus on stage.  A solid indie alt-rock band with a dollup of pop thrown in for good measure.  Sounds like a new DQ treat.

The Afternoon DLight
Only listed as “special guests” on the bill, the crowd got a surprise from St. Cloud in the form of three high school boys, leaving the unsuspecting Joe Concert-Goer to wonder what exactly was going on.  The trio launched into a one-song set, featuring their Jay-Z and Alicia Keyes parody, “Minnesota State of Mind”.  By mid-song, the entire crowd was hooked.  It doesn’t matter that you’re not quite on key when you come up with a comedic genius of a parody that pulls at purple and gold heartstrings, taking us back to our youth when we, too, had dreams of playing to the big crowds at First Ave.  I especially liked their “Put your mittens in the air!” touch.  Well done boys, well done. 


The Twilight Hours
Cities 97’s Jason Nagel introduced these Twin Cities regulars, remarking that he’d seen them all on this stage, in various forms, a number of times.  Haven’t we all?  And don’t we all keep coming back for more?  John Munson donned his standard stage attire, a suit that manages to look both “business” and “party”—the apparel version of a mullet, really, but decidedly more awesome—and the relatively new band took off into their set like the seasoned veterans that they are.  Trip Shakespeare fans from the late 80s must be in seventh heaven: The Twilight Hours reek of TS’s influence, but lyrically, I much prefer The Twilight Hours, as Matt Wilson has noticeably matured as a writer.  The best part of the night was their cover of Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time”.  Way to dig out a classic!  A nod to their on-stage feeling that night, no doubt.

All in all, it was a solid night of great local tunes and important musical finds, made better by the fact that I was able to swing by the Orpheum, avoid Ticketbastard fees, and purchase my ticket to Experience Hendrix.  It’ll be one hell of a late winter including the Current’s Anniversary Party at First Ave, the MN Orchestra performing Zeppelin and Queen at Target Center, Evan Dando at the 400 Bar, and Experience Hendrix at the Orpheum.

Rock on.

-E



*HLP (Hetero Life Partner): (n.) modern term describing a friendship between two heterosexuals that are more than BFFs, less than related; more than close, less than inappropriately close.  Always a packaged deal as the whole exceeds the sum of its parts.