Bands I Just Don't Get

Your old pal Nazz has never been one to swim downstream with the other fish. However, sometimes I find myself swimming upstream.

Here are some bands that I just cannot get into. I am not posting anything from any of em for obvious reasons. However, just for shits and giggles, if you click on each band name, you'll get routed to a "surprise" video.

Radiohead - I will grant that "Creep" and "Paranoid Android" are classics. And the whole "pay what you want" thing was cool. However, the mass adulation that these fey imitations of early 70's Pink Floyd escapes me. I find myself completely bored by the wan, precious toonage. Is there a drug that I am not aware of that makes these guys interesting? And Thom Yorke's solo stuff leaves me cold. Crack a smile every now and then, guys. It might help.

The Hold Steady - America's critical darlings? The music is rather rocking, but Craig Finn's vocals completely run roughshod over the backing instrumentation. This band reminds me of going to a bar and having some asshole next to you singing the wrong lyrics out of key. And not in a good way either. The only explanation I can think of is the old line about Elvis Costello: "critics like him because critics look like him".

Pavement - Feh. Slacker music. These guys are just too smug and pleased with themselves. I listen to these guys and the energy just drains out of me. I guess I just don't dig that lo-fi stuff.

The Pixies - Agreed, they have a few good songs ("Tony's Theme", "Debaser", "Wave Of Mutilation" come to mind). But the blind adulation that The Pixies have received for that "soft-hard-soft" approach is baffling to me.

Genesis - Didn't like em with Gabriel. Despise them when Collins fronted the band. Prog rock turns into Top 40 mush.

and here is something to mess your minds up completely!!!!!!!!!!

The Worms Don't Care

They give birth astride of a grave. The light gleams an instant, then it's night once more.

- Samuel Becket, "Waiting for Godot"

Toonage:
Husker Du - Hardly Getting Over It (live 1985 Minneapolis)
The Nomads - You're Gonna Miss Me
The Pixies - In Heaven (live BBC)
The Miracle Workers - One Step Closer To You

My Beard of Shame

“We have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male such as the beard disagreeable to nearly all the females

- and there is more in that than you might suppose"
... C.S. Lewis

I've worn a goatee (or whatever you call that 'stashe and chin hair thang) for the past few years. It seemed that all the cool kids were doing it (or something like that) back in the halcyon days of the early aughts and I kept it. As an added bonus, it's a real pleasure watchin' the grey replacing the black as the years progress.

A month or so ago I got lazy and decided to grow the whole thing out, much to the distaste of the missus as well as my corporate overlords. Which, of course are two good reasons to keep it growin'.

It's never really gotten much past that nice "dirty" looking phase... the stage where it just looks like I forgot about personal hygiene. That, along with the hoodie that I don whilst riding the rails generally ensures that people leave me the f&ck alone on my commute and tend to be unwilling to sit next to me unless they have no other recourse. It also helps that most of the time I am glaring at my fellow cattle.

I think I'm gonna keep it for a while, the missus thinks it makes me look older, but others have said it makes me looks younger.

On a related note, I have recently noticed that I no longer get carded when entering bars. It used to be such a pain in the ass since I thought I was being singled out and hassled. Now I kinda miss it. That and being offered help to cross the street by those pesky boy scouts is really bugging me.

So, in light of this totally self indulgent post (as if there are any other kinds!), I present the following toonage:


Toonage:

Lagwagon - Razor Burn
The Pixies - Ain't That Pretty At All
ZZ Top - Squank
Sham 69 - Angels With Dirty Faces
Pansy Division - The Summer You Let Your Hair Grow Out

We're a Garage Band

"We're a garage band

We come from Garageland"
--The Clash

Sometimes it's just nice to kick out the jams, muthufuckas.


So that's what me and some pals are doing tonight. As we have all been in Rock n Roll stasis as of late, we figured it was high time (and it will be a high time) to hook up and blast the shit out of some rock.
After all, what's wrong with making alot of noise, aided by various intoxicants and a three chord ideaology.

Undoubtedly, it will be sloppy caterwaul of sound.

Perfect!

PS - If John Doe is touring in your area... go see him! Saw the show in NYC last nite and it was fantastic. A smattering of old X tunes, but the solo stuff was great. And GO HERE to stream his new album A Year In The Wilderness.

And if you want to play the home version of our jam... here's the songs we will probably start out with. Just punch a hole through your speaker, fire one up and it'll be like you're there!

Toonage:
Ramones - Surfin Bird (live Northwestern U 1979)
AC DC - Highway To Hell
Sonic Youth - Death Valley '69
Mudhoney - In and Out of Grace
Stooges - 1970 (live 1971 - Cinn Pop Fest)
Hole - Celebrity Skin
Pixies - Gouge Away

Fuhgettaboutit

Here's my obligatory Sopranos post. I liked the ending. It was punk rock.

The producers threw it in our faces and said "create your own ending". But, those last few minutes were pretty tense. Totally manipulative, waiting for an ending that never came. How many people thought they lost their TV connection when screen went black!

I wanted Tony to wake up next to Suzanne Pleshette and tell her about the crazy dream he had (like they did on the old Newhart show).

How do YOU think they shoulda ended it?

Toonage:

The Pixies - Tony's Theme

The Ramones - Punishment Fits The Crime

The Clash - Somebody Got Murdered

APB - Shoot You Down

The Mob - Common Criminal

The Breeders - Happiness Is A Warm Gun