The Dazies - L O V E / J O Y EP

I first heard of The Dazies when they were booked to play my last ever show at TT the Bear's place. I had never heard the name, and I wondered how they ended up with the post Evan Dando timeslot. It ended up being one guy with a guitar, and he played a couple quick acoustic songs and was done. 

Well, turns out that guy was M. Holland, the former drummer of Mean Creek. The Dazies are his power pop project, and it turns out they are virtually perfect. Their band bio is the thing music bloggers love because it lets us avoid being clever: "Drummer extraordinaire M. Holland taking a break from smashing drums and focusing on smashing your little heart to pieces with power-pop gold." 

On their L O V E / J O Y EP, they have three songs that are perfect Big Star-style power pop. "Hi-Frequency Wire" and "Idiot" are furious, happy little ditties, while "What You Do to Me" is the kind of ballad that hasn't existed in 40 years. 

To check out L O V E / J O Y EP, head on over to The Dazies' Bandcamp. They also have a Facebook, and you can listen to "Hi-Frequency Wire" below. If you happen to be in the Cambridge, MA area, they play The Middle East on January 13, and then a Wednesday night residency at The Plough and Stars.

Ken's Most Anticipated Albums of 2016

With all the upcoming albums in 2016, five really have captured my interest to the point of obsession. They include brand new artists, returning favorites, and dream collaborations.

Mothers - When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired - Ever since I first heard "Too Small For Eyes," I've been listening to Mothers pretty much constantly. Considering I they only have four songs on Spotify, that means I should have burnt them out, but I keep going back. I don't think I've ever had such anticipation for a debut since Benjamin Booker, which I consider very high praise. 

The I Don't Cares - Wild Stab - Paul Westerberg and Juliana Hatfield are a dream combination I didn't know I needed until it existed. They've kept the details of their debut album as The I Don't Cares pretty quiet. All we know about it is that it will be called Wild Stab and at the end of October it would be released "soon." I'm betting this will be one of those surprise "Here it is!" releases, hopefully soon.

Adia Victoria - TBD - Almost a year ago, I first heard Adia Victoria's "Sea of Sand" and immediately fell in love with it's dark, gothic alt-country. I assumed we'd have an album by mid summer at the latest, but here we are a year later and we have a total of three songs by Adia Victoria. Last month she announced that she had signed to Canvasback/Atlantic Records, so we might finally get the album I've been waiting a year for.

Ghostface Killah & MF Doom - DOOMStarks - It's been ten years since Ghostface Killah and MF Doom first announced they were making an album together, and it appears that it will finally be released in February. Ghostface is the most consistently great rapper out there, releasing two albums that just barely missed my best of 2015 cut, and MF Doom, while nowhere near as prolific as Ghostface, has yet to release anything that's not amazing. A ten year incubation period makes me a bit nervous, but could these two really make anything less than spectacular?

Anthrax - For All Kings - Anthrax isn't the type of band we typically cover as they don't exactly fit into the whole neo-folk/indie rock thing we're normally all over. But I've loved Anthrax ever since an older neighbor let me listen to 'I'm the Man" when I was 11. There's a lot of talk about this being their best album ever, which sounds virtually impossible 30-plus years into a band's existence. But 2011's Worship Music was shockingly great, and "Breathing Lightning" could have been one of the biggest songs of 1988.

Other new releases I'm excitedly anticipating are ones from Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Casket Girls, De La Soul, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Julie Rhodes, and David Bowie.

Michael Christmas - "Big Ass Smile"

Photo via Facebook

If I had discovered Michael Christmas' What a Weird Day any earlier than the last week of 2015, it would definitely have landed in my top 10 of the year. For someone that used to listen to hip hop almost exclusively, I barely listen to anything new nowadays. Most new rap is either too fratty for me, or I just have no idea what the appeal is. What is also strange is that even though I've always been a huge supporter of the local Boston music scene, I've never really been able to get into much Boston hip hop.

This might be why I love Michael Christmas. It's everything I miss about rap. It's fun and creative. Unlike 99% of the rap of today, he doesn't just sample a hit song and then autotune a chorus, which is vital for me. Right around Christmas (naturally) he released "Big Ass Smile" for a free download, and you're going to want to check it out. It's a great combination of Outkast and De La Soul. 

You can listen to (and download) "Big Ass Smile" for free below. You'll want to hear more of Michael Christmas, so be sure to check him out on Soundcloud and Facebook afterwards.

Kicking off 2016: Most Anticipated Albums

Another year is here, which means we get another new year of music. There's some interesting stuff on tap:

* Kanye West - Swish and School of Seven Bells - SVIIB: I'm combining these together because I was anticipating these for 2015 and they never happened. Kanye's album, now with a name but no release date, is assumed to be released at some random, unspecified time soon, and who knows what the final product will look like or whether it might end up even being a Tidal exclusive. School of Seven Bells, however, finally has a release date for their final album, and we'll get to hear those final pieces in February. It might be a pretty bittersweet listen, to be honest.

* Sky Ferreira – Masochism: Sky Ferreira is known almost as much for her music as the crowd she runs with lately, and it's probably worth noting that her album was great and there's a definite chance for her to set herself apart here. We'll see.

* PJ Harvey - TBD: I can't say I've loved PJ Harvey's output for some time now, but she's such an important voice and artist at this point that it's going to be worth hearing what's coming next.

* Savages – Adore Life: They got a nice boost from having their song at the end of Ex Machina, so it will also be interesting to see where their sound is heading, especially with their sound coming from acts like Screaming Females as well.

* The Prettiots - Funs Cool: I have recently become mildly obsessed with this anti-folkish trio (featuring Rachel Trachtenburg of The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players on drums) since I heard their song "Suicide Hotline" last week. With only a handful of songs out there so far, whether it can be maintained over a full album remains to be seen, but I'm looking forward to its release in April.

Other albums coming of note? The decade-late Wrens follow-up to The Meadowlands, a new Radiohead album, a new Tool, a new Lorde, and maybe a new LCD Soundsystem? Maybe?

Monday Mix: Jeff Meets The Beatles

Last week, I canvassed you all to send me some Beatles tracks, and you absolutely delivered to the tune of a collected 75 or so unique tracks.

Man, you guys really love your Beatles.

The playlist below constitutes the 25 tracks that were the most unique and that, at the time, I didn't recognize (and "Paperback Writer" because it's a good song I did know). I should send a special shout-out to co-blogged Ken who sent his own 11 song playlist, and friend Gabe Rollins who sent an enormous 50 song playlist that I'll have to dig into sometime soon.

As for what was sent over for this specific project? It turns out that I like the more experimental Beatles stuff a lot less than I thought I would, for one. "A Day In the Life" in particular was sent a few times, and, well, that was a bit of a slog for me. The "Write Songs With Indian Instruments" era that I dabbled in as well didn't quite work for me, either, but I'd imagine that's true for a lot of people.

Overall, though? I suppose I appreciate what's going on a little better even if I don't know if I found any new songs I ultimately loved. The hits are the hits for a reason, and perhaps I might feel differently had I been exposed to this earlier as opposed to finding a lot more experimental psych rock on my own, thus making this a little less revolutionary? I don't know.

Still, a fun little experiment. Later this spring I think we'll try this crowdsourced mix thing again. The mix in question is below:

Live Shows: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Queers, & Unnatural Axe, House of Blues, Boston, MA 12/27/15

The week between Christmas and New Year's is usually a pretty dull one, but it holds what has become one of my favorite holiday traditions: My now annual trip to the House of Blues to see the Mighty Mighty Bosstones for their Hometown Throwdown.

This year they lessened the usual holiday theme and instead dedicated their entire three show run to The Rat, the legendary Boston punk club that used to be located across the Mass Pike from the House of Blue in Kenmore Square. For their openers, they chose bands they knew from their days of playing The Rat. For Sunday night, their openers were The Real Kids and The Queers.

As I walked in, I noticed a list of set times posted at the door. The Real Kids had to drop out at the last minute due to John Felice being hospitalized. It was a huge disappointment, especially because I had never heard of their replacement, Unnatural Axe. Turns out Unnatural Axe are the Boston punk originators, and started playing shows at The Rat in 1978. As they took the stage, they just looked like regular guys in their 50s, and not punk at all. That made their playing all the better, as they were the most hardcore band of the night. They tore through songs like "3 Chord Rock" and "They Stole Hitler's Brain" with more ferocity than bands half their age. Unfortunately, most of the crowd seemed to be there for hits and they didn't get much of a reaction until Dicky Barrett of the Bosstones joined them for a song. It's always sad when the originators of a scene get virtually ignored.

Next up were The Queers. Or, at least, Joe Queer with two guys much younger than him. But, hey... it's still Joe Queer and I finally got to see a band I've been listening to for 20 years live. Opening with "No Tit," they didn't make any attempt to clean up their offensive for the sake of being offensive act, which made me thrilled. Finally seeing The Queers playing "Born to Do Dishes" and "Murder in the Brady House" was worth it. They also brought out special guests, including original Dropkick Murphys guitarist Rick Barton and the drummer for The Real Kids. They also covered The Real Kids' classic "All Kindsa Girls," for obvious reasons. In what seemed to be a recurring theme, the crowd was pretty much dead for The Queers. I thought maybe a band called The Queers and doing a song called "No Tit" might not mesh well with the kids these days. Instead, after their set, one of these whippersnappers complained that the set was "... about 40 minutes too long." His big complaint wasn't the subject matter or the band's name, but that they supposedly insulted the sound guy. The insult seemed to be one comment after the opening song where Joe Queer basically said "Hey, sound guy. I have no idea where you are, but I could use some more vocals and guitar in the front monitors." That seems to me to be more of a comment about the size of the venue and asking the sound guy to make an adjustment, which happens at literally every club show. Kids these days...

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones have always been, and will always be, one of the best live acts out there. They started the show off perfectly with "Dr. D," "They Came to Boston," and "Dogs & Chaplains." In an unexpected (but also pretty fantastic) twist, guitarist Lawrence Katz was sidelined to just vocal duties due to a broken arm. I hate saying that turned out fantastic, but he was replaced with original Bosstones guitarist Nate Albert. I'm not saying I want Katz to always be out, but it's always fun when original members pop in for a few shows. Other highlights of the set included "Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah" (by far the most fun of the post-reunion songs live), "Hell of a Hat," "1-2-8," and a cover of "At the Rat," of course.

This might have been the first Bosstones show that made me feel old. I can't really put my finger on it. It might have been the indifference to the Boston punk rock royalty that opened the show, the fact that a decent chunk of the crowd seemed to just be there for the songs they knew off their breakout album Let's Face It (one guy against the barricade didn't even clap between songs until the band played "Noise Brigade" from that album), overprotective and aggressive dads in the audience, or what. Usually Bosstones shows, especially Hometown Throwdown shows, usually attract die hards that are thrilled for every song, particularly the older, more obscure ones. This seemed to be filled with people looking for "The Impression That I Get." It was still a fantastic show, and of course I'll be lined up to go next year.

Weakened Friends - "95"

"Gloomy Tunes," the first EP from Weakened Friends, came out of seemingly nowhere and floored both Jeff and I earlier this year. They are back with an acoustic version of "95," a song that will be on their forthcoming EP, due this spring. 

The video is a live, (mostly) single camera (or phone, with kids these days and all) recording of the song. It's more of a teaser at this point to help get us all ready for the new EP. It does that job, continuing the upbeat, slightly more indie version of Letters to Cleo that I loved on "Gloomy Tunes."

You can watch the video for "95" below. Also, make sure you check out Weakened Friends' Bandcamp and be sure to like them on Facebook.

Crowdsourcing a Mix

So, if you've paid attention to music news over this holiday time, you've heard the big news that The Beatles are on the streaming services now. So here's my dirty secret:

I'm not a big Beatles fan.

Kind of weird, since I love a lot of music that apes the Beatles sound, and all that. It's not to say the Beatles are a bad band, but I've never been able to get into them. For example, my favorite Beatles song? "And Your Bird Can Sing." Kind of weird, right? The Big Super Duper Hits don't really do it for me, either.

But this isn't about the Beatles, but I figured with our readership and such, maybe you can help me change my mind. So here's what I want to do: either here, or on our Twitter page, or over on Facebook, leave a comment with a Beatles song you think I should know. Maybe it's a big hit I should reconsider, but I'm really more looking for those hidden gems that I might have missed along the way.

In a perfect world, I'll take the top 20 or so, especially if there are repeat offenders. Still, recommend a few to me. Show me what I'm missing, as this is the first time in my life that I've had most of the Beatles songs at my fingertips.

So have at it! I'll post the final results on the first Monday of the new year.

Clearing the Decks: More Albums We Missed

Without any new releases to speak of, we still have a few albums left over from this year that we didn't look at:

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Paper Mache Dream Balloon: I'm always intrigued with bands that do the psych rock thing, if only because the Elephant Six pastiche was so well-rooted in that tradition. Out of nowhere comes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and I think the best way I can describe them is like a throwback to late-1990s/early 2000s Of Montreal in all the best ways. A fun, frolicky acoustic affair that deserves a listen, it's something I wish I heard a long time earlier. Maybe the best of the batch of stuff we missed initially. Absolutely give this a shot this week.

Babes - Untitled (Five Tears): I was obsessed with "ATMO," a song from Babes's debut EP (and a video that's probably NSFW for most places), for some time. I had missed that they had finally put out a proper album. This band of siblings does the whole retro/modern schtick really well, and while I don't love everything on this album, songs like "I've Got a Reason to Keep On Living" hit that sweet spot perfectly and make you want to stick around for more. I hope this band has great things happen for them.

Tove Styrke - Kiddo: Tove Styrke was a Discover Weekly find for me with the seriously awesome song "Even If I'm Loud It Doesn't Mean I'm Talking To You," and I later learned she came in third for Swedish Idol and quickly found a need to reinvent herself as more of an electropop artist (maybe in the mold of Robyn) than a pop star. It works. When it works, it is spot on even if this album is uneven at points. Grab this more for the highlights than the whole, but I fully hope that she becomes a bigger deal over time.

Rhiannon Giddens - Factory Girl: I loved Rhiannon Giddens's album from this year, so a surprise EP with some more songs was great, and is a truly awesome starting point for what she's doing as a solo artist. "Mouth Music" is a fun romp, "Moonshiner's Daughter" a really great song. It's a short EP, five songs, but a great introduction to someone you should already be listening to.

Yumi Zouma - II: A Discover Weekly find thanks to the pretty solid song "Song for Zoe & Gwen," this is one of those modern new-wave/dreampop things that really stuck with me. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but as an EP it's worth highlighting.

Five Knives - Savages: Think about if Sleigh Bells was influenced by dubstep music. That's the type of great cacophony offered by Five Knives, an album that isn't perfect but hits a lot more than it misses. "Criminal" was a song that was a Discover Weekly find, but I think the whole album might be worth your time if you're finding the description of interest.

The Staves - If I Was: A folkish-style offering, this was yet another Discover Weekly song that included "Black & White," a song that nearly made my top 30 this year. This won't be folk enough for true folkies, and maybe too folk for those looking for more edge, but this is an album that's worth hearing if only for the beautiful voices of the sisters in this band.

Ezra Furman - Perpetual Motion People: I also found this through Discover Weekly (can you tell I love it?) thanks to "Lousy Connection," but Ezra Furman's plus is his ability to transition through genres effortlessly while making great music that still feels off-the-cuff and natural. It's a tough tightrope to walk, but Furman somehow figured it out, and there's a back catalog that I really need to go seek out during this slow time. A really solid effort.

Dios Mio - Hinterland: Another short EP, this one a little on the heavier indie side but with a lot of potential. If all the songs were as good as "Treehouse," we'd be talking about a pretty great EP, but, as it stands, it's just Very Good. Still, worth a listen.









Also worth a mention:

* Haitus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon
* Downtown Boys - Full Communism

Monday Mix: Best Songs of 2015

It was a solid year for music, and a lot of really great songs came from the madness. Below are my 40 favorite songs of 2015 (think of it as my own personal Discover Weekly Yearly), and, below that, my yearly playlist of every single song I loved. I hope you find something new to explore in the lean release weeks.