Wade GrubbsThe Vaselines and the Dutchess & the Duke at Bimbo's 365 Club
Monday, May 11, 2009
By Wade Grubbs
Better than: Nirvana playing the Vaselines' songs. Really.
The Vaselines played their first-ever San Francisco gig Monday night at a packed Bimbo's. Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee formed the band in Glasgow in 1986 as part of the music scene that spawned the Pastels, Teenage Fanclub, and BMX Bandits among others. Their tuneful sound and flirty lyrics earned them a small but loyal f
In the old days of the music industry, label staff loaded up their station wagons with vinyl albums and promotional goodies, and set off on Odyssey -like road trips across America, stopping at every mom'n'pop retail shop along the way. The goal was to establish direct, personal relationships with record stores, and to forge a connection between retail, artist, and label which has become increasingly rare these days.
So you've got to give it up to Seattle-based indie reissue specialists Light in
Moral Crusaders? Green DayLooks like everyone who called Green Day sell-outs owes the band an apology. After releasing 21st Century Breakdown, their most ambitious album ever, the band followed up by doing the most punk thing they've ever done: refuse to sell a clean version in Wal-Mart, America's largest retailer, and the #2 retail outlet for music (behind iTunes).
As reported by the Associated Press last Thursday (and picked up by outlets coast-to-coast, including
Joseph SchellDeer TickJuly 1, 2009The IndependentBetter Than: Karaoke. Last night, Deer Tick started its mellow set with a slow crescendo that climaxed in a stage dive. "We're doing things a little differently tonight," declared handlebar mustachioed lead singer John McCauley, before launching into the first song.
The Providence, Rhode Island-based band opened its nearly two-hour long set with a few songs from its latest album, Born on Flag Day, which is in its first month of release. The audie
Wavves
Rickshaw Stop
Sunday, Sept. 7th, 2009
By Noah Sanders
So Much Better than: an 80-foot tall burning man.
After last night's Wavves show at Rickshaw Stop, a new trifecta of criteria has arisen for the near-perfect show.
One, the performance must fall on a holiday/on the final days of a "beloved" festival in the desert, concurrent events that have a positive effect of thinning out hyped shows. This leaves the clubs to the die-hards, the true fans who'd opted out of, say, bro-tastic
Dustin RabinThem Crooked VulturesNovember 19, 2009Fox Theater
Better Than: Listening to Robert Plant shy away from the high notes at Led Zeppelin's 2007 reunion show.
It's no accident that the supergroup has, in recent years, gone the way of New Coke, the McRib, and Lindsay Lohan's career. For every Cream - the bluesy British trio Eric Clapton dissolved after listening to The Band's Music From Big Pink and determining that his own band had lost its soul - there are too many Oysterheads and
