Page 32 - the NOISE June 2012

Welcome to Wetherbeat Scene, 555 recordings; Johnny Ziegler & Friends, Spin With Me Grin With Me.
doesn’t really matter. The nice thing about this mix is the Nilsson-ness is left alone enough to enjoy that aspect of it, mean- while everything is turned into a gnarly acid trip so that you’re left with genius still intact while Harry’s influence on today’s indy rock is deconstructed (I recall downloading a re- cent cover/tribute by Miniature Tigers and the Spinto Band that sounds a lot like most of this mix) and one can enjoy the trancey hip hop dance flavor as well, which is done really well, highlighting Netherfriends’ (Shawn Rosenblatt) abilities and taste con- currently.
It’s an equally rewarding album for get- ting hyped on Saturday night and chilling on Sunday morning- quite a feat. And it’s free.
yearning grope rock that covers the gamut of teenage kicks that kick you up and down and from side to side.
Stewart Anderson plays on nearly all — he’s the lynchpin. Stew and his teenage pals, Hood, Baby Doll Lounge, The Paisley Spring- time, et al., with the teenage kicks and their crystal vision. Precociously talented and like the shots of gelatin at that damn cabana bar, it all molds together quite well, a bit wob- bly, but expertly solid, yet without alcohol, somewhat pure, and everyone feels less bad the next day. Guitars are caressed like girls because the guitar players don’t have time to touch girls, they are too busy fingering their guitars. Guitar playing of the bra-less artful fumbling variety, achieving a depth of feeling that, to these ears, is just like heaven and proof that getting guitar lessons from Steve Vai is pointless and instead those drips should either buy this comp or do themselves in. Plus suave Postcard basslines that belie the awkwardness of the young people playing them.
The production gives the lowdown on lo- fi, so it’s not Fleetwood Mac, [unless maybe Green’s Fleetwood Mac –ED] but people are foolish to think that life remotely sounds like them anyway. The Wetherbeats sit some- where between the Mac and me doing Glen karaoke. That’s the sh*ttiest testimonial ever, but believe you me, this is the right stuff with plenty of long wet and sparkly cinna- mon kisses of treble amidst spikes of distort.
Stewart ranches the Arizona high country these days and him and I are neighbors. He’s played in some thirty odds bands. Given time, he’d play in thirty more.
Here he was sixteen and so were his friends and they held David Gedge in high esteem (see track 12, ‘I saw David Gedge in Jumbo Records’). I was lucky to catch the Wedding Present earlier this year in Texas and my God, so good. Couple next to me asked if it was Robbie Williams. That has about as much bearing on this review as Glen Campbell. I suspect it is time to get back in the pool. Best turn of WP speed-jan- gle into elegant melody: Boyracer’s “My Fa- vourite Pastime,” though I have yet to work out what the pastime is. Buy the compila- tion and find out!
— Shane Moritz
Murdoch
100 Beers EP
Self released
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Murdoch’s debut EP is a great initiation album for a band that embodies a genre Northern Arizona has been lacking since I first moved to Flagstaff two years ago: rock n’ roll. From the creative brainstorming of Them Savages’ Ben Velazco and Joshua Be, with talented stylings of Bryant Vazquez and Phillip Hreniuc come the first five recordings of a band that stand out in the humble pines of Northern Arizona.
The EP’s opening song, “Velvet,” is fast- paced with a long intro that starts with drums, escalates into guitar and bass, and ends with Velazco’s rough-in-tumble voice and thought provoking lyrics about a preacher man collecting money on Sundays and cook- ing black tar heroin, and how Velazco sees “it” (life) as all the same. “Velvet” is short, but a perfect intro into the EP and to the band it- self for virgins. The EP’s second song, “Wom- an King,” is another of Velazco’s wailing dittys, backed by superb harmonies from Vasquez, who also provides a well placed, ear-tingling guitar solo. It’s almost a love song in certain aspects, but seems to pertain more to treat- ing that special someone like a woman king, and how women expect a lot from we poor suckers of men. And, as Velazco suggests,
“that’s why we (men) fall!”
Drum, guitar and vocal duties are shared
between Vasquez and Velazco, as is apparent in the third song of the EP, and the albums name sake, “100 Beers.” Vasquez switches things up with his mellower vocals and slowed down pace. It’s a perfect middle song, for after hearing that the band knows how to rock with the first two thrill-rides, “100 Beers” shows that they also know how to roll. The fourth, “Skull Like A Swamp” switches back to Velazco on the mic, yet is slower than the other two in which he reins vocal duties. However, the almost eerie harmonies that seem to be the basis blend amazingly well with the other musicians’ instrumental input. Hreniuc’s bass line also stands out perhaps more than others.
The final album track switches back to
Vasquez on vocals as he tackles the oddly cheery “Kneel.” The guitar riff, presumably written by Vasquez, blends well with his voice and the bass and drums. A good ender, as it talks about having “no one to blame, but your brain” for the various mishaps you find yourself getting into. The chorus is catchy and powerful and the lyrics are some of my favorite on the EP.
I would have liked to have seen some more fast-paced songs on the EP. That said, I don’t mean they should replace any songs, but that they should’ve added more, per- haps towards the end of the EP, just to give it more of that giddy rock kick that they proved they’re capable of collectively. I’m just glad they went out with a chest-hair-growing gui- tar solo towards the end of “Kneel.”
I haven’t heard a better first EP from a band, and I’m excited to hear more. I’ve seen these boys play live, and this EP hardly does them justice, aside from getting their name and music out there. I’d recommend a trip to downtown Flagstaff where the band fre- quents for gigs to catch sight of a band that very soon might be on the run, as McCartney so wisely put it. — Tom Blanton
Johnny Ziegler & Friends
Spin with Me, Grin With me
Self-released
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If I were forced to use just one word to describe Spin with Me, Grin with Me, the new album from Major Lingo frontman Johnny Lingo, that word would be “Joy”. Pure joy is clearly what went into creating this family album (I resist the term “Kids album”, as this CD truly can be enjoyed by any, and every, generation.) Furthermore, pure joy is the emotion that overtakes my jaded rock-critic heart every time I play this wonderful album.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was NOT looking forward to reviewing this album when my editor handed it to me. I have noted in the past my hesitation in review- ing local artists in general (I try and give fair and balanced opinions in my reviews, but I hate making negative comments about local musicians), and I had zero interest in sitting through a kids album. But as soon as I put
— FC
I’m convalescing poolside in Lake Havasu, Arizona thinking about the injustice I gave Glen Campbell at BJ’s Cabana Bar last night and also how fecund (I’m always dwelling on the fecundity of things) this one music scene was in a parish of Leeds back in the late 80s-early 90s. The two things are totally unrelated, of course, but it’s my dehydrated mind and I need to abide its dastardly im- pulses ...
With uniform bleakness I recall the night before: the trays of pink sh*t in plastic shots. The unfavorable reception I received kara- oking Glen’s “Country Boy.” The fusillade of coughs I sustained throughout the perfor- mance were no percussive device: I simply have been battling a cold.
Perhaps the brilliant 16 year-olds on Wel- come to Wetherbeat had colds too. But at least their nasal deliveries come off in all the ways that makes Ray Davies’ quaint pop miniatures so wonderfully poignant. This comp would sit happily on your shelf next to The Kinks or one of those timeless Flying Nun comps. It’s a heckuva set, ‘pooling’ to- gether thirty-five examples of young person
Various Artists
Welcome to the Wetherbeat Scene, 1988-1991
555 recordings
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32 • JULY 2012 • the NOISE arts & news magazine • thenoise.us
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