The Days of Lore

Fun with math and Marnie

Friday, November 5th, 2010 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT listen to Marnie Stern if you’re looking to just kick back and chillax [Did you know "chillax" is in the Merriam Webster Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary of English? Jesus Christ.---Ed.]. No, Stern’s self-titled third album (which has 29 fewer words than the title of her last KRS release) is ridiculously spastic, and defies categorization … and gravity … and logic and …

… And while Stern is known as the “female guitar shredder” (which she is), she should be given more credit for writing songs that are kinda weird and arty without being too serious; not that her lyrics are silly (they actually read like a diary)—it’s just that Stern still likes to rock the fuck out. Her noodling is the song, rather than being something that’s just slapped in the middle. Add Hella’s Zach Hill on drums and a tune called “Female Guitar Shredders Are the New Black” and Stern achieves the impossible: Making math rock fun.

“For Ash” - Marnie Stern

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Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Marnie Stern, Zach Hill

The Thermals get personal

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 | musiX, pdX | 2 Comments

Betcha didn’t see that headline coming. I admit I’ve had a bit of a crush on The Thermals for a few years … who in their right mind wouldn’t?

The trio’s latest platter Personal Life finds a poppy middle ground between 2004’s Fuckin A and Now We Can See, which was released just last year. There are still a couple of catchy “whoa oh whoa” songs, but the production is a little grimier thanks to Chris Walla, who coincidentally also produced Fuckin A. Bassist Kathy Foster wrote many of the songs this time around, which coincidentally pushes the bass to the front and allows guitarist Hutch Harris to lay off the power chords and add smaller brush-strokes of noise (listen to “Never Listen to Me” … no really, do not listen to what the song is telling you). Personal life is also the first record since Fuckin A to feature a drummer that isn’t Foster—Westin Glass steps in and ramps up the rhythm section into a lean, mean rock ‘n’ roll machine.

And in case you couldn’t tell from the title, this is not an album about the state of affairs at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but rather the proven themes of love and relationships. In fact, most of the song-titles sound like they were pulled from one of those State of the Union-type conversations between two (three?) lovers. Stick around for the hidden track, “Mark Lore Has a Crush on The Thermals.”

“I Don’t Believe You” - The Thermals

Video for “I Don’t Believe You” feat. Sleater Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein

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Tags: Hutch Harris, Kathy Foster, Kill Rock Stars, MFNW, Personal Life, The Thermals, Westin Glass

Janet Weiss talks Quasi mojo

Monday, February 22nd, 2010 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

The first time I threw on Quasi’s new record American Gong, I thought I was listening to a different band. Not that it doesn’t sound like Quasi, there’s just a certain—if I may borrow a quote from drummer Janet Weiss—”joie de vivre” to the new record.

Quasi is an interesting band in that it’s almost always felt like the side project to the members’ numerous other projects—multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Sam Coomes‘ Elliot Smith collaboration Heatmiser, Sleater-Kinney, and now the Jicks. Not the case here. American Gong might be the strongest, most definitive Quasi record in the band’s 16-year existence, jam-packed with guitars pushed well into the red and drumming that defies … well, everything. It’s also the band’s first record with longtime bassist (and Jick) Joanna Bolme, whose fuzzed-out basslines are solid enough to walk on. If you need more convincing, listen to the entire album here.

American Gong—Quasi’s first on Kill Rock Stars—is out now. And that’s only the beginning. The band is touring Japan, the U.S. and Europe as well as hitting all the totally hot festivals, including SXSW and Sasquatch. A quick glance at the ol’ Quasi planner looks something like this: 2010 = booked solid.

Janet Weiss took some time to talk to The Days of Lore about their new digs at KRS, the beauty of mistakes, and the band’s love of fuzz-bass.

TDoL: This is your first record on Kill Rock Stars … how did that come about?
Janet Weiss: I sent [rough mixes] out to people I knew, Sam sent them out to a couple people he knew. Kill Rock Stars were just really enthusiastic about it, and said they loved the record. Of course, I worked with them for years with Sleater-Kinney. You know, they’re here in Portland now, it was just so obvious and natural. And I love working with a label where the two people in charge are women—strong, decisive, intelligent women.

I interviewed Kathy [Foster] from The Thermals and she said the same thing.
Yeah, I mean that’s important. I come from that background of strong women, and I want to pass along that it’s important to make choices that enable that to continue. You know, try to take bands on tour where there are women performing and try to show people that it doesn’t have to be all guys onstage all the time. You have to let girls see other girls up onstage or they might not have the courage to do it. If some girl wants to go into the business and sees there’s a girl running that label, it’s really inspiring I think. And it’s very important to actively be a part of that.

I’ve been listening to the new album, and it is loud.
[laughs] I guess so, yeah … I suppose it’s only as loud as you turn it up.

It just sounds like it was recorded with the intention of blowing things out …
Yeah, I’d say we were going for a very live, sort of ballsy sound. We wanted to somehow capture what it feels like to be at a live show or be in the room with all of the molecules banging around.

It almost reminds me of the production on The Woods …
Yeah, Dave Fridmann did mix a few of those songs … I think we would love to make a whole record with him. We admire his … just his joie de vivre [laughing]. I think he’s really unafraid to push the sound and make things unusual and strange.

How long did it take to record?
We recorded it in about 10 days. We were ready when we went in; we didn’t have to do very many takes of songs, and the takes that we did do just got better and better as we went along. I feel like a lot of the music I love and that I listen to—music of the ’60s and ’70s—it was all recorded like that. They just went into a studio on tour and made a record, kept the mistakes and moved on. It’s amazing how many mistakes you hear on old records. You don’t hear that anymore—it’s sad. Mistakes can be so gratifying when you’re listening.

Absolutely. That reminds me of a post on Carrie’s [Browstein] blog not too long ago.
I don’t think I read that one … but it’s scary to think of a world where all of our mistakes are being erased when so much of creativity is about that.

Yeah, the human aspect gets wiped out …
It’s our self-loathing … we want to correct everything all the time.

Did you go into the studio with a set group of songs ready?
We knew we had too many songs. We weren’t positive which songs were going to go on the record—we knew what the heavy hitters were, and kinda let the other songs show themselves. So there are a couple extras, there’s a cover. Then there’s the song “The Jig is Up”—[laughing] Joanna and I went out to get burritos and Sam recorded that while we were gone for like a half-hour. He just pulled an acoustic guitar off the wall and recorded that with a few mics. That’s actually one of my favorite songs off the record.

That one’s great. I really like “Black Dogs & Bubbles.”
Oh cool. That’s maybe one of the oldest songs out of the batch. That one’s been around for a little while. I think we just kind of kept it simple on that one. It sort of speaks for itself … you sort of get that Neil Young-y type of vibe at the beginning. We always wanted to make sure that middle part was shocking.

The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” came to mind when I heard it …
Yeah, I think I’ve heard that from one other person. That’s great, I’m glad you like that one. It constitutes part of the moody center of the album … as I like to call it, “the moody middle.” It’s funny, because I’m usually pretty involved in the sequencing of most records I’ve played on. This one was pretty easy for some reason; it just sort of made sense. The first song was really obvious and that’s always a big help. On the last Jicks record we didn’t really have a for-certain first song and it made sequencing tough. We got it in the end, but it took a lot more time.

Obviously you’re making a record, but are you ever like, “Do people even listen to full albums anymore?” Does that cross your mind?
It maybe crosses my mind a little more now. I think I’ve always been guilty of top-loading, wanting to put my favorite three songs first. On [American Gong] I feel like the last song is the heart of the record. Kind of like the old days when you’d listen to vinyl—like “When the Levee Breaks,” the last song on Zeppelin IV—the last song wasn’t the single or maybe wasn’t even the catchiest, but it represented the heart of the record. It was what they wanted to leave you with. I don’t really know how people … like do they buy three songs, four songs, one song? I don’t understand that so much, so I just do what I know, which is sequence it as a record and try to put a couple strong, catchy songs up at the top.

Besides being loud, the hooks are definitely still there …
Sam started this project Pink Mountain with some friends in San Francisco … I feel like he got a lot of his weirdo side out with that band, and kind of allowed Quasi—at least the structures of the songs—to be a little more pop-oriented. Although we all are very anti-establishment, and anti-conservative, anti-corporate—we don’t want it to sound like easy listening, we don’t want it to be boring—we want it to represent something free and something that’s not passive. I think to make those pop structures palatable to him as a songwriter we had to turn up the volume a little.

Is there much improvisation involved in the writing?
This was definitely our most collaborative record as far as the writing. Sam came to practice with less structured songs, and just parts that needed to be arranged and organized. And he really let me have a hand in that more, which is something that I did in Sleater-Kinney a lot, and something that I love to do. He’s not used to writing like that; he’s used to writing a song from start to finish. I think Joanna made up so many great basslines that I think define a lot of the songs. I end up humming her basslines more than the vocals or the drums and guitar.

Yeah, there are a couple of basslines that are super fuzzed-out that really stood out.
Well, Sam loves fuzz-bass. [laughing] That is one true statement about Sam Coomes: He loves the fuzz-bass. We’d be working on songs and we’d be like “What does this one need?” and Joanna and I would just laugh and look at each other, “Fuzz-bass!” We know he’s going to say it. That’s the answer for everything. Luckily we like it, too.

You’re about to head out on the road. I take it you like touring …
I’m really into touring, I love touring. Especially these shorter ones, anything under three weeks is totally doable. I mean I like coming home, but I really, really like going out. And I love playing. There’s nothing like playing live, nothing quite like it at all. Gotta keep your chops up.

“Repulsion” - Quasi

“Black Dogs & Bubbles” - Quasi

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Tags: American Gong, Janet Weiss, Joanna Bolme, Kill Rock Stars, Portland music, Quasi, Sam Coomes, Sleater-Kinney, the Jicks

The Shaky Hands spin a yarn

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

My what a busy week for Portland’s The Shaky Hands. The band just released Let It Die on Kill Rock Stars, cut a new video for “Already Gone” and will throw a dual CD release party Thurs., Oct. 1 at Berbati’s Pan along with labelmates Panther.

The video is fantastic—put together by Seattle filmmaker Clyde Petersen using stop-motion—and tackles a mountain of environmental issues using only yarn and a few Lincoln Logs. Let’s just say Mother Nature (or a weird yarn monster, let’s call it a yarnster) will always take care of her own. “Already Gone” is very—and I mean very—reminiscent of early Dr. Dog. OK, it sounds like Dr. Dog. But it’s The Shaky Hands. Promise. I mean it! OK? No, really. Believe me. Seriously. Stop it. OK, I’m leaving now.

Tags: "Already Gone", Clyde Petersen, Kill Rock Stars, Let It Die, Portland, The Shaky Hands

Now You Can Win: The TDoL Thermals Contest

Monday, March 16th, 2009 | musiX | 8 Comments

I’ve made a damned fool of myself with how often I’ve mentioned The Thermals in this space. I will not apologize. Only a few weeks to go until the release of The Thermals’ new record Now We Can See (out April 7 on Kill Rock Stars).

To help celebrate the event The Days of Lore, in conjunction with the fine folks at InSound, is holding its first-ever contest called—Now You Can Win: The TDoL Thermals Contest. The winner will receive a very snazzy Thermals T-shirt, which can be viewed right … here. The winner also gets a free download of the new record. Is there any way I can enter my own contest? I’m being told that I cannot. OK then.

All you have to do is write your favorite Thermals lyric in the comments section of this post and provide your name and e-mail address. Also, if you’re on Twitter—and I know you are—Tweet your pals about the contest … Tweet, Tweet! Deadline for entries is midnight (PDT), Monday, March 30. The winner will be announced that same week on Friday, April 3, and the loot will be sent right to your door. Total retail value of this package: PRICELESS.

“Now We Can See” - The Thermals

“An Ear For Baby” - The Thermals (The Body, the Blood, the Machine)

Hutch and Kathy performing “I Let It Go” for an MTV feature on PDX music

Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Now We Can See, Now You Can Win: The TDoL Thermals Contest, The Thermals

The Thermals: Top of the pop

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 | musiX | No Comments

Like I said, you haven’t heard the last of me doting over the new Thermals album (out April 7 on KRS). A few weeks ago I posted the demo version of the excellent “I Let It Go.” Today the band released the title track to Now We Can See—a shiny, sparkly piece of pure power pop that might be poppier than anything they’ve ever popped out. If you’re not humming along to the chorus after listening, ask a friend to hold a mirror up to your mouth.

“Now We Can See” - The Thermals

Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Now We Can See, The Thermals

The Shaky Hands can’t sit still

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Didn’t The Shaky Hands just get back from tour? No matter. This is a good one. Portland’s jangle-pop kings are headed out on the road again, this time with the brothers Meat, Chris and Curt, the Kirkwoods, The Meat Puppets.

If you live in Portland, you know The Shaky Hands. If you don’t, they play to-the-point indie rock, and I’ll wager that two or more members have the following records in their collections: Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat, R.E.M.’s Murmur and Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Essentially, you can’t go wrong by snagging the band’s latest release Lunglight (besides, TDoL would never steer you wrong).

It’s been a while since The Shaky Hands have played their hometown, and this tour is noticeably devoid of Portland dates. I’ve got my eye on you, Shaky Hands …

The Shaky Hands and The Meat Puppets:
1/13: San Diego, Calif., at The Casbah
1/14: Long Beach, Calif., at Alex’s Bar Stab City
1/15: Santa Barbara, Calif., at SoHo
1/16: Santa Cruz, Calif., at Rio Theatre
1/17: San Francisco, Calif., at Bottom Of The Hill
1/18: Petaluma, Calif., at McNear’s Mystic Theatre
1/20: Eugene, Ore., at WOW Hall
1/21: Boise, Idaho, at Grizzly Rose
1/22: Salt Lake City, Utah, at Urban Lounge
1/24: Denver, Colo., at Bluebird Theater

“We Are Young” - The Shaky Hands

Tags: Kill Rock Stars, Lunglight, The Meat Puppets, The Shaky Hands