film school @ local 506

Back in May — or June, or July; I don’t know, I can’t remember what I ate for dinner five days ago, much less when I had a revelation — I decided that what I was going to do in the back half of the year was expand my musical horizons. I was going to…

superchunk @ the nasher museum of art

Unbelievable. Phenomenal. Amazing. Pick an adjective for “blew my mind” and it’s the right one. What a set. More photos behind the jump. Set list, courtesy Mr. McCaughan himself: So Convinced/Water Wings/Crossed Wires/My Gap Feels Weird/Song for Marion Brown/Watery Hands/Let It Go/Fractures in Plaster/Rosemarie/Shallow End/Punch Me Harder/Mower/Digging for Something (w/ John Darnielle)/Pink Clouds/Hyper Enough/Everything At…

those darlins @ local 506

Those Darlins, at the top of their game, are excellent: playing ironically earnest kitschy cowpunk — like “Wild One”, the unquestionable highlight from 2009’s self-titled debut, and their stellar cover of “Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian” from this year’s Prine tribute album, Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows — and harmonizing in a way that manages…

trekky records day-dream day party

There are definitely things that I’m sorry to have missed about Hopscotch; anything that big happens, something is bound to happen that you’re sorry to miss. But I got my money’s worth — ie just the cost of drinks — and far far more, at Trekky’s Day-Dream day party. The Triangle has a host of…

this year’s models @ local 506

And then after the Lost in the Trees set on Thursday, and a pit stop at Linda’s for more beer, t., Jenni, Chiv, and I moseyed up to the 506 to see our friends Seamus and Alex front an Elvis Costello cover band, backed by the inimitable Robert Sledge and two of Alex’s bandmates from…

two sentence reviews of new albums i listened to in july

pink flag @ cat’s cradle, originally uploaded by minervacat. If I’d saved Gold Motel for this month, I could have made this the all-new-albums-by-people-who-used-to-record-on-Fueled-By-Ramen-now-playing-with-other-bands edition. And Steel Train toured with the Hush Sound once. Alas! Instead it’s just albums I listened to in July: The Young Veins — Take A Vacation!: do you ever feel…

counting crows traveling circus & medicine show

Koka Booth is such a weird little venue; I’m not sure what possessed Cary to put a gorgeous, beautifully acoustic-ed 5,000 seat outdoor amphitheatre somewhere that it would attract big rock groups — only to have the town tell the bands that they couldn’t play louder than a certain decibel level. (Adam Duritz was Not…

trkfest 2010

More photos behind the jump. Kudos as usual to the Trekky kids, especially Will, Martin and Emma, who once again ran a fantastic festival.

the gaslight anthem — american slang

the Gaslight Anthem, American Slang. Out 6/15, SideOneDummy Records. Let’s get this out of the way first, because it’s the only thing reviews will be able to talk about until it’s said: American Slang is not as good an album as The ’59 Sound. And now, lest you think everything else I say is a…