SXSW '09 Pick #10: The DT's

The DT's

Filthy Habits
Get Hip Recordings

Given the overwhelming dose of psychedelic garage at SXSW this year, The DT's are a super double shot of balls to the wall, straight up, hard and heavy soul that stand out as a loud shock compared to the rest of this year's lineup of performing acts. Hailing from Bellingham, Washington, these hard rockers were founded on the premise of good time '70s rock with a hard does of soul. Not only do they deliver on it, they bludgeon you with it! The DT's are about being loud, dirty, and nasty. As a perspective before one hears them for the first time, think of the Ike & Tina recording of "Proud Mary" when Tina says "You see we never ever do nothing nice and easy, we always do it nice and rough" and you get the picture. When Diana Young-Blanchard belts out "I'm gonna scratch out your eyes, pull out your hair, put my boot up your ass" amidst Dave Crider's heavy riffs, it's double proof that The DT's are here to give out a rockin' beatdown. Additionally, for everyone who loves saying "More Cowbell", you've got it here! The followup "Mystified" is ample parts Malcolm Young and power drumming from Mike Van Buskirk with the longest, coolest vocal carry from Diana that's going to make every rock 'n' roll fan stand want to shake their fists in the air. This is loud, hard, pure rock 'n' roll "fuck you" attitude. Although their music has commercial appeal in hard rock, The DT's sound almost too real to end up on that route.

"Freedom", which was also recently released on Get Hip Recordings as 7 inch vinyl, embraces what The DT's are all about: Loud, heavy, unrestrained power. In this case, when we hear "freedom from sin, freedom from religion, ain't got nothing to lose", it's a more universal call to "power, self satisfaction, I want it here and I want it now." It feels damn good to look at it in the way The DT's are portraying it instead of the concept of freedom that's been distorted in the last eight years by The Bush Administration to mean one's free as long as they follow and don't question a political idealogy. The kind of freedom The DT's sing about is an open road and a more "Born To Be Wild" sense. This is followed up by the soul rockin' "Crowfinger" with a personal fire of confusion and desperation much like the true theme of soul music in the sacred combined with the profane. The pounding uptempo of "Turn Loose" is another great guitar and drum, take no prisoners brawl that's strong enough to fulfill the lyrical point of being left alone after a breakup.

The slower, dirty blues of "Red Eye" is a standout as a super heavy, early '70s, slow starting rocker that's lyrically the result of "Turn Loose", but by now, a strong picture of Filthy Habits emerges as an album that's all about freedom, getting away, and liberation. In fact, the songs start to feel more like a story than a collection of songs. The Motown influenced "Sweet Words" is a great soul lament with some down south guitar licks and for the first time, some great blues keyboards. In keeping with the unraveling story of Filthy Habits, the awesome beat of "Sugar Pie" is a new romance that feels like both an up front offer and a soul plea. This song is perhaps the biggest reminder that we've had in a long time that rock 'n' roll is about getting some action, but the final song "When The Lights Go Out" fulfills that goal when Diana let's us know "When the lights go out, there's heaven in the dark. And when the lights go out, we ain't gonna talk about much."

Everything about The DT's Filthy Habits is dirty, sexy, loud rock 'n' roll that's blood, sweat, and spit. When one utters the words "rock 'n' roll", this band is a perfect description of it. One sways back and forth, stomps their feet, screams out for it, and feels it. But what makes Filthy Habits a standout in spite of it being so pure is that with a strong female frontwoman, it's more appealing and seductive than the stereotypical male in command of rock and therefore, sex image that most people are accustomed to. In the end the story behind Filthy Habits has more guts, power, and balls than most acts claiming to be hard rock, but what makes it great rock 'n' roll is that it's got more soul than what most people call hard rock. The riffs and rhythm might sound like '70s rock, but the sound and feel is all soul and therefore, a lot harder than what's typically heard. The DT's not only rock, they efinitely roll.

Filthy Habits is available at your local indie record store or online from Get Hip Recordings


SXSW Shows:

Mar 18 2009 8:00 pm Get Hip Records Showcase Habana Calle
6709 E. 6th St.
Mar 19 2009 2:00 pm Unofficial Day Show Cheapo Records and Discs
914 N Lamar Blvd
Mar 20 2009 2:00 pm Unofficial Day Show Breakaway Records
1704 E. 5th St.

SXSW '09 Pick #9: The Broadfield Marchers

The Broadfield Marchers

The Inevitable Continuing
Rainow Quartz Records


Among its origins, Psychedelic rock could be characterized as an early offshoot of garage rock. Fuzz pedals, Farfisas, and older Rickenbacker guitars with their classic twang integrated into garage rock to take it from basic to freaky. This progression not only took place in the '60s, but also in the '80s once punk bands integrated The Velvet Undergound into their sound, then later The Byrds, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, The Beatles Revolver, and others. That result was bands like The Soft Boys, REM, The Bangles, The Plimsouls, and others. Right now, we're witnessing the third wave of that progression that started in the mid '90s with The High Dials, Asteroid #4, and newer acts like The Urges, who stick to a loud, fuzzy garage rock, but also have integrated small elements of psychedelic rock, The Disraelis, and The Parties. In fact, one could say this is the year of psychedelic garage rock. A relative unknown to this third wave is The Broadfield Marchers, a three piece outfit that carries melodic psychedelia with a raw, lo-fi sound, and a slower tempo. In fact, they're a bit of a standout with the combination.

Considering they're on Rainow Quartz Records, a label long known for picking a lot of the best sounding, highly polished psych pop out there, The Broadfield Marchers are a bit of a surprise since it's not the crisp sound that many of use have come to expect from acts on the label. "Raul" is a strong, slow but heavy blast of low tempo, heavy chords that seem to have more in common with early Pixies than the band's labelmates, but the nearly out of nowhere guitar lick and the buildups to the chorus have more in common with the louder, heavier songs from The 13th Floor Elevators. One also notices that guitar/lead vocalist Dustin Zdobylak has a soft, high pitched voice that stands as a good contrast to his somewhat heavy guitar playing. If one has a genuine affection for lo fi, "Leopards With Empty Claws" is a wonderful fulfillment with it's Peter Buck, early REM style guitar, and although early REM was not exactly top studio production and has a great element of newness in its back to basics approach, The Broadfield Marchers have an even less frills sound.

One can tell The Broadfield Marchers are a basic psychedelic outfit by way of The Byrds and previously mentioned acts, but with the odd, sliding diversions on "Stutter Shaker" and "Watchful Hill People", one notices that The Broadfield Marchers use a good bag of psychedelic touches that are always original, exciting, and just odd enough in their contrast to the rest of a song that show that this band is well above doing anything formulaic. In fact, although "The Inevitable Continuing" is mostly downtempo with little guitar effects, they got quite a response at last year's CMJ showcase, where Dustin wowed the crowd to the point that a few likened them to early Nirvana! Possibly, what makes The Broadfield Marchers is that they've completely eschewed the '90s shoegazer type psychedelia for something much less refined and exciting. That's not to say that the songs border on catchiness, but songs like "Mondo from Growth" carry a much stronger air of rock 'n' roll than lush psychedelia of shoegazer music. Also, the songs just sound like they're being played in a room in front of you. They're great songs that although are quite well done, don't sound like they came from a studio. For example, Mark Zdobylak has a prominent, melodic bass on "Following Minds" that seems to be on its own melody at times and is just complex enough to be interesting. At the same time, Justin's guitar is best described as "active" and never predictable, but his voice possesses a clarity and almost innocence since it's so high that that it makes for a song that one could both sing along to but never be able to predict the music to it.

The combination of a minimalist approach with careful attention to the music itself is hard to come by. In fact, the band that always championed this approach was The Velvet Underground by doing few things and not relying on studio tricks. One of the greatest results of this idea was Loaded, which was an album full of great, basic rock songs that were often slow, but remain fresh and modern with every listen. The Broadfield Marchers have a natural affinity for this sound and approach on "Patterns Of A Glance" and "Eagles Prevail." A personal favorite is "Panic Imposed", with a near '70s beat from drummer Justin Carter and many creative touches combined with some similar decade guitar riffs over Dustin's high voice that seem to communicate a heightened sense of fear when he sings the words "Panic imposed". Another standout is "Rightness of Commands", with an almost familiar melody interspersed with flowing but almost disturbing guitar effects.

The Broadfield Marchers The Inevitable Continuing can best be described as striking. Most of 19 tracks on the album are sharp pieces that don't repeat themselves, but are definitely a great psychedelic trip because the album moves like being in an ever changing world with sharp turns and never knowing what's coming around the corner, but having Dustin's voice as a permanent tourguide. Even the songs that one can easily point to influences carry enough string disturbances to keep one from becoming too comfortable and feeling like they know what The Broadfield Marchers are all about. In summation, this is what psychedelic music should be like: raw, harmonic, but also never predictable and often, unsettling. However, the confrontational elements are never shocking, but some to come naturally as part of their talents. The fact that the songs on The Inevitable Continuing have what can best be described as on overall weirdness to them while retaining a rock 'n' roll sound instead of being experimental are testimony to the fact that The Broadfield Marchers carry a lot of talent in three people that have translated into incredible performances according to the few who have seen them.

If you love rock 'n' roll, a part of that affection is for an element of disturbance because it's a rebellion to something standard and accepted. Unfortunately, most elements of the music that we hold so dearly that once were rebellion are now packaged and sold for it. The Broadfield Marchers play music that is still rock 'n' roll, but psychedelic and somewhat off either in key in certain places or full hits of odd but never contrived noise that they will remain with us and not be co-opted like so many of our favorite acts have been. It's not anarchy, but The Broadfield Marchers create short masterpieces that really provoke thought and appreciation for melodies with more than hints of disturbance to keep one always interested without being musically overbearing. Not only is The Inevitable Continuing a fast paced, psychedelic mindtrip on an unfamiliar and changing path, but their live shows simply cannot be missed.


SXSW Schedule:


Mar 18 2009 4:00Pm Unofficial SXSW Day show: Go Ape @ Sonny’s Vintage Austin, Texas
Also on the bill:
The Hall Monitors
Los Coronas
She Creatures
The Breakers
The Urges
The Right Ons
Eli Paperboy Reid and The True Loves
Powersolo

Mar 19 2009 2:30Pm Unofficial SXSW Day show: Blue Velvet, Austin, Texas
Also playing:
Nagel
The Orchid Highway
The Ripe
The Moog
The Urges
The Telepathic Butterflies
Love City

Mar 20 2009 3:00P SXSW Music Festival @ The Spiderhouse (Day Show) Austin, Texas
(check back for the full lineup)
Mar 21 2009 11:00P

SXSW Music Festival @ BD Rileys 9:00 pm (Rainbow Quartz Showcase) Austin, Texas
Also playing:
The Telepathic Butterflies
Deleted Waveform Gatherings
The Orchid Highway
The Parties

SXSW '09 Pick #8: Outrageous Cherry

Outrageous Cherry

Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best Of Outrageous Cherry
Wicked Cool Records


Detroit's Outrageous Cherry has an impressive pedigree to start with. Frontman Matthew Smith played with Jack White of The White Stripes in The Go currently plays in Detroit's famous country/space rock foray The Volebeats with Detroit guitar legend John Nash (Electric Six) and occasional contributions from The Dirtbombs bassist Troy Gregory, The Volebeats, and has also collaborated with local staples His Name Is Alive, and former drummer Deb Agolli from The Gore Gore Girls. Matthew Smith is also a producer, so his pedigree spins out all over Detroit. Therefore, one could only expect a Detroit Staple to sound like Detroit. Surprisingly, Wide Awake In The Spirit World which is a compilation of their previous releases from Bar None, Third Gear, and Rainbow Quartz. Maybe as no surprise and comparable to numerous known bands from Rock City, Outrageous Cherry is a broader celebration of great rock 'n' roll, although heavily psychedelic.

In great local spirit, Outrageous Cherry is lo-fi psychedelic, meaning there's no studio effects but trippy songs that mostly run under three minutes. One hears a basic song full of muddy chords, acidic lead guitars and combined male/female vocals of The Mamas and the Papas on the opening "What Have You Invented Today," but instead of the semi-optimism of '60s pop for a sharper tongued accusation "Tell me how history works, when it's written by small minded jerks, their eyes on the prize of the lines where we communicate only with lies." One hears this song and know's it's a 60's psychedelic/pop inspired vibe, but the feedback combined with the vocal harmonies is something new because it feels like a DIY approach outside of record labels, which cleaned up the sound of so many great '60s acts to make them appeal to a wider audience. Another piece of feedback/psych perfection is "Why Don't You Stay For A Little While" with an underlied guitar feedback rhythm combined with the style of the late Syd Barrett. It's kind of heavy, but three chord simplicity. Since psychedelia was such a brief musical trend, there aren't many comparisons to draw from. Then again, nobody's come close to a reminiscence of The Beatles staple "Tomorrow Never Knows" like "Girl You Have The Magic Inside of You."

As if the muddy feedback and guitar effects without the overwhelming studio manipulation isn't retro enough, "Pretty Girls Go Insane" introduces a horn section that's ambitious like Love Forever Changes, but again with sharp tongued lyrics and guitar that might be considered as definitively Detroit. The "swirly" psychedelia is traded up for a trippier, Velvets minimalism on downers with "Young and Miserable" that serves as a modern song that would not have been considerable in the psychedelic days. "You're young and miserable, but I like it that way."

Outrageous Cherry is psychedelic. Easier to type, but harder to pin down. '60s psych pop vocals, psychedelic guitars, trippy echoed vocals, but collapsed into mostly short, basic garage rock songs. Maybe if VU played Brian Wilson's songs. "Our Love Will Change The World in to a strange place that we don't recognize when we look into each others' eyes." This makes one think of what bands like The Byrds and perhaps so many other well known '60s LA Rock acts might have played behind the backs of their record labels. In other words, the artists are dictating their music and their attitude without the intervention of the suits and ties above them.

Outrageous Cherry's Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best of Outrageous Cherry is psychedelic, but garage rock in the delivery and even more acerbic in it's sarcasm and bite. The music might sound happy at times, but the songs themselves have no optimism, which is pretty cool. It's a better tribute to so many great influences cited above when one considers that people like Arthur Lee or Jim (Rodger) McGuinn were practically forced into using their talents to make music that would sell records instead of putting more confrontational words and chaos into their music like they might have wanted to do at times. The result is that Outrageous Cherry has no compromises. It's great music. Even "New Creature" with it's la la la harmonies and handclaps is somehow rebellious and new. Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best of Outrageous Cherry is over 50 minutes of pessimistic psychedelic perfection. A more apt comparison is The Paisley Underground Movement in the '80s, when bands like The Plimsouls, The Bangles, Salvation Army, and Australian counterparts The Stems picked up Rickenbackers and made music against the grain by combining the punk rock attitude with garage rock psychedelia, only Outrageous Cherry takes this a step further with LA Folk Rock harmonies. For many, it's going to sound derivative, but a real listen reveals the depth and originality that's truly characteristic of a real rock band. Matthew Smith and his bandmates' Detroit pedigrees have already spoken for that. Naturally, there's a lot more to it.

For being so sharply critical, Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best Of Outrageous Cherry is also a lot of fun. Even more, the influences are obvious but the lo-fi, muddy production communicates a stronger sense of confusion, which has a greater feel of confrontation. As so many of us know, the spirit of confrontation by going against the norm or acceptable formula by taking the basics and twisting it is the cornerstone of what we call great rock 'n' roll.




Our Love Will Change The World




Tracy



SXSW Appearances

Wednesday, March 18 12:00 a.m. Headhunters (720 Red River St (8th St Entrance))
Friday, March 20 8:30 p.m. Red Eyed Flay (715 Red Rever St.)

SXSW '09 Pick #7: Garage Rock Legends The Chesterfield Kings!

The Chesterfield Kings

Psychedelic Sunrise
Wicked Cool Records

It ain't too new, but it ain't old. So goes good rock 'n' roll. Throw in some mid '60s Stones, the larger than life early '70s sounds of The Who, add the feedback and psychedelia from The Byrds, add a little weirdness from The Electric Prunes, invite Roky Erikson and the ghost of Syd Barrett, then add the energy and volume of The Ramones, and maybe it will add it up to The Chesterfield Kings latest gift to rock 'n' roll, Psychedelic Sunrise. These guys have been around about 30 years forever but are also up and coming 30 years young. They have cult band rock status, but a new lease since Little Steven picked them up, got them the exposure they always needed and deserved, then set them free in the studio to rock, shake, fuzz, and freakout the world. Psychedelic Sunrise is the second platter released on Wicked Cool Records. We all should be thankful for it.

Lead vox Greg Prevost has always had this semi-gutteral voice without much tone, but it's always sounded damn cool. I always loved the decisiveness of his lyric "Out in the darkness, I light my cig-uh-rette" from "I Don't Understand" on 2003's The Mindbending Sounds of The Chesterfield Kings, which was also reissued to much better reception in 2006. That's only proof that The Chesterfield Kings had to wait for the world to catch up to them. The first thing you notice about Psychedelic Sunrise is it sounds BIG. The opening "Sunrise (Freak OUt)" tells you to get ready for something huge and then it hits like the first song at a gig where the band makes their presence known in a larger than life sort of way. Claves on a rock 'n' roll song? Why not? It's just a little touch that makes you think "Wait a minute. This is pretty damn cool." Psychedelic Sunrise is the inevitable outcome of letting loose four serious rockers into a studio toystore full of instruments to play with. On the music credits, each band member plays between 7 to 12 instruments. It's not Smile, though. It rocks and swings too hard to sounds multi-instumental prog/arty. Lucky for us. It gets down and dirty basic with the channeled "Jumpin' Jack Flash" swagger of "Up and Down" and sounds just as cool and groovy. No one can be really sure what they were going for on "Rise and Fall," but you'll probably end up swinging your grog back and forth to it. There's also the baroque swoon of "Inside Looking Out." I'm not much for string arrangements, but we can allow them the indulgence as part II of "My Sweet Lady Jane." They make it work somehow.

One's not going to be able to help drawing parallels on "Spanish Sun" to "Paint it Black." Who cares? It rocks. Besides, Brian Jones rocked on a sitar and so can The Chesterfield Kings! Mike Boise's wall of sound drumming gives the song a little more thunder than it's inspiration. Through all the big sounds, multiple instruments, a few tape effects, multiple hand held percussion instruments, Vox and Hammond organs, a dulcimer (???), and just about everything else that the vans got overloaded with from raiding the high school music room, Psychedelic Sunrise plays like a good 'ol dirty blues rocker that's as much at home in Muscle Shoals or New Orleans as it is in a club in New York or even better, at some outdoor festival in Europe, which like many great rock 'n' roll bands, The Chesterfield Kings have always enjoyed better success in Europe since there's less of a genre barrier and according to many, including The Chesterfield Kings themselves, a greater enjoyment for just rock 'n' roll. The Chesterfield Kings have always drawn comparisons to The Rolling Stones. This is a well earned and deserved compliment and not a generalization since The Stones embraced the heavier Delta Blues sound to make their music a little less clean but more appealing. This approach is perfected on "Stayed Too Long" with it's boogieing piano and outrageously Ron Wood inspired riffs. Good Stuff! You just listen to it and think "Yeah, that's it." They slow down and give a stronger blues treatment on "Gone," but the added organ and '70s classic rock guitar solo give an old approach something new. Even with the southern influences, The Chesterfield Kings and fuzz guitar have always been inseparable terms. They give us a heaving dose of it on "Outtasite!" that lives up to its name- "That's hip, that's cool, that's great, it's outta site, yeah!" The acid rock tinged "Yesterday's Sorrows" that's loud but just trippy enough to put you in London's UFO Club in the mid '60s for a few minutes. But it's all about the rock 'n' roll. "Dawn" is a raunchy howl of a track to end Psychedelic Sunrise, but a confusing in sequence since dawn comes before sunrise.

The second release by The Chesterfield Kings on their Wicked Cool Records, Pyschedelic Sunrise is unashamedly steeped in better known rock influences. There's a lot more to it, though. The best rock 'n' roll, including The Rolling Stones and other legendary acts, was made from mixing a bunch of previously independent influences into something new. That is what they're known for. Rock 'n' roll itself is a mix of blues, r&b, soul, gospel, country, and some other far off influences to varying degrees. It's not an original form of music in and of itself. Most great rock bands have those influences that are easily recognized. That makes great rock 'n' roll. Psychedelic Sunrise is exactly that. Nothing less, but a lot more because it's rock 'n' roll that's tied and true and it's damn fun. In the end, that's really what it's all about and therefore, Psychedelic Sunrise is a quintessential rock album since it's rooted but is good enough to be timeless.

The best way to get the full effect of Psychedelic Sunrise is on vinyl. Additionally, the fine people at Wicked Cool Records the vinyl with the full length CD, which includes four extra tracks. Among them is they heavy, sitar soaked, psychedelic drone of "The Angels Cry", which builds into a full on, stereophonic experience that definitely feels like a trip. This is followed by the equally hallucinogenic drenched "The Wrong Place To Hide", which has great multiple climaxes of full on blues/psych rock. Another surprise is "Stop! Hey! Take A Look Around", which is definitely among their strongest songs built with great, full band vocals, and a strong leaning towards both the jangling trademark of The Byrds, which is not surprising given the lyrical homage to Buffalo Springfield, but also has a foot in more textured neo-garage psych. The final "There's A Time" has a it of a dark sound, but that's quickly forgotten with the interplay of two lead guitars, one of which develops a violin like sound, along with great organ and a deeper beat that would have made made the original garage/psych pioneers feel at home, but wish they could have participated in it. Altogether, the extra tracks a little "trippier" than the original 12 tracks, but at times, more involving. The whole picture of Psychedelic Sunrise is incomplete without the extra songs, which are all dense, hypnotic and highlight a band at their creative peak, where they can draw from all of their influences and come up with something a lot more intense. If anything, The Chesterfield Kings have their own trip going and demonstrate that they can create super heavy psych rock that's still rock 'n' roll, but takes us to a few more places than one would expect.

SXSW Schedule:

Mar 20 2009 1:00P - UG Showcase, The Magical Mystery Mondo Matinee
Antone’s (SxSW) 213 W 5th St, Austin, Texas 78701

March 20 2009 8:00P - Wicked Cool SHOWCASE, Cowboy Angels And Gypsy Pirates A Go-Go
The Red Eyed Fly (SxSW) 715 Red River St, austin, Texas 78701


Up and Down




Stayed Too Long

Chesterfield Kings - Stayed Too Long

One Of The Best Unknown Acts from the '80s

This one just came up by random chance today while I was doing some video shopping for my future reviews. The Chameleons UK were a band from Manchester, UK. Unfortunately, being chronologically in between Joy Division and The Smiths and mostly releasing material available only in The UK left them mostly unknown. Not surprisingly, their sound falls in between the two mentioned bands as well. The Chameleons were a great band and have a small, but amazing catalog of dark, psychedelic Britpop. I hope you enjoy them.

SXSW '09 Pick #6 and New Act: Choo Choo!

Choo Choo

...eponymous
subversiv records


Aside from the fact that they're from Switzerland, it's initially hard to tell what Choo Choo is. The songs are almost viral in catchiness, great vintage organ melodies, and definitely a dance beat, but the songs show an affection for '60s Motown vocal groups. There's also great, echoey, definitely crunchy guitar chords with garage rock written all over them. Dan Choo's guitar chord intro on "Your Heart Is Breaking Down" is loud and raw, making them not just a statement, but an announcement. Lilli Choo's poppy, vintage keyboard melody kicks in, Dan Choo's teenage rocker, sweet voice comes in, and it's a pop song with strong influences from '60s Motown vocal groups. However, we're ignoring the music by narrowing it down to that since it's a lot louder. "All I know" has a furious and long drum start that makes me think of Animal, but it's really Sam Choo, human being. It's a tough choice. The songs are instant sing alongs, but the music is garage rock made into pop songs. A few things are prominent for Choo Choo, such as Lilli's keyboard melodies being what one might be humming along to, but the guitar sounds great! It's loud most of the time and with little embellishment other than a few chords, an intense punch, and some very strong familiarity to the ears. Once it's noticed that Jim Diamond (Dirtbombs, White Stripes, Von Bondies, Love Me Nots) at Detroit's famed Ghetto Recorders produced and collaborated on the arrangements, it all makes sense. No matter how different the bands are that he works with, the guitar on songs like "Half As Good" takes on a lot of familiar fuzz that's somehow so perfect that it's simultaneously clean, but still more distinctive for each band that has worked with him. It feels like Detroit Garage Rock and has soul from the same place to back it up, but the songs just stick like sugar; rock candy is a better description, maybe.

The garage rock injection is prevalent, but the songs are short pop songs, too. "You Don't Understand" is kind of new wave, early Blondie, but while the guitar chords carry the song along, one gets bursts of garage fuzz interspersed with the sing-a-long chorus. Although Choo Choo are great vocal harmonizers on top of all this happy ruckus, "Losing Balance" stands out since the harmonies seem to take on a stronger melodic dimension while the overall melody balances slight sadness in a bright package. In many ways, that description fits the combination of two very different acts that Choo Choo notes on their myspace page as among who they listen to: The Monkees and The Sonics. That's really hard to ponder! By extension, one should imagine Neil Diamond playing with The Sonics! Cool picture, isn't it? A modern and more easily understood comparison would be to the '60s garage/powerpop melodies of The Ugly Beats. We're not quite done since Choo Choo's talents come from other directions on songs like "I Hope You Feel" and '80s neo garage on "Tired of Waiting". There's also the faster tempo of the ending "I Ain't Coming Home (No More)" that bridges Motown and early garage to The Paisley Underground bands and slightly beyond in its slight angst.

An overall conclusion of Choo Choo's debut release is that everything about them sounds really, really good. There's no sense of elements missing. It's loud, heavy, catchy, garage rock and dance music with keyboards that also sounds like new wave when it was a term that was cool since nobody really knew what it meant. The results don't make it less heavy, but brighter. Everything sounds perfect! Vocal harmonies, a lead vocal from Dan that sounds young, songs about breakups that sound a little heartfelt, and a rhythm section with power that's not overbearing, but exciting. If you ever wanted to have super fun and sugary powerpop, you'll like Choo Choo. If you like slightly new wave dance tunes that are rock but have a strong melody led by an old keyboard, you'll like Choo Choo. However, if having all that with some strong, echoey, crunchy, empty room guitar and plenty of fuzz that's all Detroit, GARAGE POP is your thing and Choo Choo is your band!


Watch out for them at South By Southwest this year. It's a guarantee that everyone who sees them will love them. This is a band that a lot of people are going to be talking about.


Mar 15 2009 9:00P Lounge on Elm Street Dallas, Texas
Mar 16 2009 11:00P The Mix San Antonio, Texas
Mar 17 2009 11:00P St. Patrick’s Day Show @ Red Scoot Inn Austin, Texas
Mar 18 2009 8:00P SXSW TBA Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 9:00P OFFICIAL SXSW SHOWCASE @ BD Riley’s Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 2:00P SXSW Daytime Party @ Breakaway Records Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 2:00P SXSW Daytime Party/Paisley Umbrella Showcase @ Rockin Tomato Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 10:00P Home Party @ College Houses Cooperatives Austin, Texas
May 9 2009 10:00P CHOO CHOO @ Kornhauskeller Waldshut Waldshut, Deutschland
Jun 20 2009 8:00P CHOO CHOO @ 5. Solothurner Sommerfest Solothurn
Jul 6 2009 8:00P Club Mirror Kisses @ Madame Jo Jo’s London, London and South East
Jul 23 2009 10:00P KKL Luzern Luzern, Luzern


See how Choo Choo recorded their debut Album in Detroit with Jim Diamond at Ghetto Recorders!





I Ain't Coming Home (No More)

SXSW '09 Pick #5: Detroit7

Detroit7

Thirds Star From the Earth and other material
Rudie Records

Japanese rock, no matter what kind of style it is, whether punk, pop, garage, etc. is an animal unto itself. The Japanese seem to take any American cultural phenomenon and then add something to it that gives it more energy that makes it more fun. Japan's Detroit7 is no exception. Although the real exciting part of Japanese rock and roll is a live performance, this band sounds great recorded too. Unfortunately, the language barrier has alway been an obstacle for great bands who either don't sing in English or when they do, it's hard to decipher. That's unfortunate for us but also unfair for them, considering American and English bands are popular all over the world and people in non-English speaking countries will sing along to every word from a band who might only know English. However, not knowing the language also leaves one's ears open to really listen to the music. "Owari wa Hajimari" has a Stooges influence but has the organ addition, which works well. Detroit7 just rocks. It's loud, fully of choppy riffs and great attitude. The band's name definitely applies. The songs have a heavy Stooges influence. Everything is loud and cranked all the way, but the Japanese sensibility puts it all up a new notch and into its own place. It doesn't matter when you can't decipher most of the words to "Raise High" except those two words when it's a feedback laden guitar assault with a fast, tight, but complex beat and Kotajima's bass line that's both subtle but not basic.

One could probably never imagine themselves nodding along to a loud, nasty track that has a chorus of "We're gonna lay in the sunshine," but one just might sing along once they hear it after noticing how tight but original Miyoko's drumming is. "Akai hana" is a great song that makes one think of The Pretenders' more melodic work but with a heavier feel. The only word I could pick up from the song is "Arigato", but the melody and structure are enough to let one know it's a lament that has a universal emotional appeal, although one also hears influences from '90s indie rock in the song. Lead singer/guitarist Nabana has both a great wail and a narrative tone that gives one a strong confidence in her role as front of the band. When she sings "Don't feel so blue, I've got your blessing" and then wails on the guitar in "Beautful Song," one only comes to realize that Detroit7 are the real thing: a great, loud, rock band that stands equal to some of your favorite garage influenced rock bands that really deserve to be BOTH seen and heard.

It's quite a task to review a band when you're not able to understand them, but as cheesy as it may sound, a love of great rock 'n roll is universal. If it weren't, American and British bands would not have a worldwide following, but we'd also not have such influential rock acts from Scandinavia or other places like we do. A lot of us love to see Japanese rock 'n roll bands because they bring an energy and enthusiasm that almost flatters us since they're doing something in a musical language that we can understand but is new to us since we're not familiar with it. Unfortunately, that makes some great bands seem like novelty acts to us. Detroit7 is not a novelty: They're a great band with great music and talented people who stand up and rock equally, if not better to many of our favorites. They really deserve a listen.

SXSW Schedule:

Friday, March 20 1:00 a.m. Elysium (705 Red River St)



Akai Hana


Courtesy of zlobnij


Beautiful Song

Courtesy of kuchiburu3