Dad Rock, Etc. (2024)

19/02/2024

If modern British post-punk bands were Halloween candy, Idles would be Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They’re super popular, they never fail to please, and they’re especially good when you’re high. Idles recently released their 5th album, Tangk. It was produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Pavement) and Kenny Beats (Gucci Mane, Vince Staples, Rico Nasty). It’s an interesting mix made even more interesting by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy being involved. It’s like taking candy corn and soaking it in cognac and acid. It’s certainly different, but it works. Only 257 days until Halloween!

15/02/2024

More people talk about Pylon than have actually heard Pylon. Such is the case with those super obscure, super influential bands that are loved by other bands. For the uninitiated (and unpretentious), Pylon’s a post-punk band from Athens, GA. The B-52’s helped them get their start, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, and U2 took them on tour, and REM idolized them. In 1987, when Rolling Stone named R.E.M. America’s Best Band, drummer Bill Berry proclaimed, “We’re not the best band, Pylon is!” By the nineties, save for a few reunions here and there, they’d pretty much faded away. Recently though, Pylon vocalist Vanessa Briscoe Hay, formed Pylon Reenactment Society to play Pylon’s music along with original material. They just released a new album called Magnet Factory. I’ll bet Bill Berry is fu***ng stoked! .band

13/02/2024

In 1987, I snuck in to The Cameo Theater to see The Ramones. I was barely 15, barely going through puberty, and barely able to believe what I was seeing. Listening to Mean Jeans makes me feel like I felt that night. The punks from Portland play the same three chords as The Ramones and also have punk rock aliases. Billy Jeans, Jeans Wilder, and Junior Jeans just released a new record called Blasted. I hope some underdeveloped adolescent sneaks into a club to see them play it live.

11/02/2024

If you take a ride with your buddy Jeff to pick up some gear from REI, you might hear Tyler Ramsey on the stereo of Jeff’s pristinely restored FJ. Y’see, Jeff’s a fan of Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, My Morning Jacket, and Band of Horses, and that’s what Tyler Ramsey sounds like. The Asheville dad rocker recently released New Lost Ages. Jeff will probably listen to it while fly fishing with the boys at The Yampa or while romancing his post-divorce girlfriend Jenn, who’s gonna give fly fishing a try so she can be closer to Jeff. Jenn thinks Tyler Ramsey is pretty good, but she likes all music. That’s just how Jenn is.

09/02/2024

When I first saw Brittany Howard with her band, Alabama Shakes, at SXSW in 2012, I knew she was special, but I had no idea just how special. Guess I had to hold on, cuz over the next decade, she released some of the most groundbreaking music of recent times. Bending genres from psychedelic rock to electro-funk to soulful house and everything in between, Brittany’s been as brilliant as she is schizophrenic. Her new solo album, What Now, is like Prince and Stevie Wonder made a record mixed by Radiohead producer Nigel Goodrich. She’s Brittany, bitch!

07/02/2024

Chicken Scratch! That’s how Lee Perry got his nickname. During his earliest days in Kingston, the reggae legend recorded a 12-bar blues shuffle called Chicken Scratch. It became a hit, then Lee was dubbed (pun intended) Scratch. That was about 60 years ago. After that, Lee “Scratch” Perry pioneered dub and influenced genres like hip-hop, rocksteady, house, and jungle. He was also instrumental (pun intended) in the careers of Bob Marley, The Clash, and The Beastie Boys. LSP died in 2021 at 85, but his final album, King Perry, was just released. It scratches that itch one last time!

05/02/2024

I just returned from Colombia, where I met with Former President Álvaro Uribe. He told me I looked like Pablo Escobar, who, as I learned, was actually quite short. I, too, am actually quite short, which is why I’ve been known as Iron Mike for most of my adult life. It’s ironic! I assume Liquid Mike’s name is also ironic. My friend, also named Mike, turned on to Liquid Mike. They’re a power pop band from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula led by a musician named Mike Maple. They play nineties-influenced music that sounds like Guided By Voices, Weezer, Dinosaur Jr., Jawbreaker, and Japandroids. Liquid Mike’s new album is called Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot. As you can tell, it was a very long weekend in Cartagena. I’m not making sense am I?

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02/02/2024

Dinosaur Jr. was original named Dinosaur, but a supergroup named Dinosaurs (featuring members of Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna, and Quicksilver Messenger Service) sued them, prompting them to add the “Jr.”. Seven years later, Dinosaurs, a TV show about animatron anthropomorphic dinosaurs was produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with Walt Disney. But, Dinosaurs (the band) didn’t sue them because nobody f***s with Henson or Disney. I mention all this because Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis just released a new record called What Do We Do Now. J Mascis was originally named Joseph Donald Mascis Jr., but he was sued by his father, Joseph Donald Mascis Sr., which prompted him to drop the “oseph Donald” and the “Jr.”.

31/01/2024

A certain slice of a certain subculture, specifically those who wish They Might Be Giants and King Missile would merge with The Mountain Goats and Cake to form a talk-singing nerd rock conglomerate, just got an unexpected treat. Cheekface surprise dropped a new album!!! It’s called It’s Sorted and it’s got everything anyone raised on Devo and Dr. Demento could ever want, specifically songs about trophy hunting at the zoo, perturbing pigeons, carving massive nudes out of cold mayonnaise, and va**ng in the parking lot with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It’s sordid!

29/01/2024

Most people would assume that Dachshunds were called wiener dogs because they look like hot dogs. Well, most people would be dead fu***ng wrong! Hot dogs were originally called Dachshund sausages because THEY look like the Dachsunds. Eventually, both the animal and the food became know as wieners because they look like pen*ses. I mention all this because Ty Segall has two wiener dogs and he wrote a song about them. It’s on his new album, Three Bells. It makes me want to eat a wiener, the animal, not the food.

27/01/2024

To the tune of the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme:

Who can turn the world on with The Smile?
Who can take some Radiohead guys, and suddenly make them all seem worthwhile?
Well it’s you Thom, and you should know it.
With each wail and every polyrhythm you show it.

Wall of Eyes is out, Phil Selway hates it.
Radiohead fans are gonna love it
Who is Tom Skinner anyway?
Who is Tom Skinner anyway?

25/01/2024

If Jim Morrison were alive today, I imagine he’d look like an elderly Jack Black. Puffy, hirsute, and wrinkled, The Lizard King would have settled in nicely as a rock n’ roll elder statesman. Like a fat Bob Weir, he’d stay busy despite often forgetting where is. And I’ll bet he’d jump at the chance to write and sing lyrics for the album his bandmate Robby Krieger just released with his new band, Robby Krieger and the Soul Savages. It’s a jammy jazzy psychedelic instrumental set that would work perfectly for Mr. Mojo. I asked ChatGPT what these lyrics might sound like and this is what I received:

Shapeshifters shift in flickering fire, as ancient drums ignite desire
Lost city’s echo in the dunes, where serpent coils beneath the moon
Skulls of buffalo whisper tales, of warriors riding mystic trails
Skinwalkers stalk on starlight trails, where Thunderbird’s feather never fails
Oh, desert dance, a sacred rite, beneath the Mother Moon’s pale light.

23/01/2024

Actors should act and musicians should music. Just because you’re a movie or television star, it doesn’t mean that you could or should be a rock star. Sadly though, all too often,
thespians ignore this dictum. Bruce Willis, Corey Feldman, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal and many, many others have tried their hand at singing and songing with disastrous results. Now, we can add Jeremy Renner to that list. The Avengers actor recently released an album called Love and Titanium. I’m truly sorry that he got run over by a snow plow. Not cool! But that’s no reason to make others feel like they got run over by a snowplow. And that’s exactly how I felt after listening to this record. A weird hybrid of Christian Rock, nineties alt-metal, and American Idol pop country, it’s like Creed and Luke Bryan collabed with Daughtry. Jeremy Renner’s a great actor, but he should be put in a hurt locker for this musical misdeed.

21/01/2024

I didn’t realize that the guys from Green Day were my age. When Dookie came out, I was young, dumb, and full of Tums and my only real achievement was managing to graduate college without too many lingering STDs. Meanwhile, Billie Joe, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt had already released three legit records. I thought they were much older punk veterans, like Jello Biafra or Henry Rollins. But no, they were just young kids who had a lot of motivation and a longview. People could say whatever they want about their post-Nimrod commercial success and American Idiot on Broadway, but these guys have consistently made those of us born in 1972 feel included in the history of punk rock. In essence, they were our Saviors, which incidentally, is the name of Green Day’s new album. They sound as good as they did when I fed myself with food procured from the Amoco store with my grandma’s gas credit card.

19/01/2024

I’ve always wondered which one is Sleater and which one is Kinney and why, like Salt-N-Pepa’s Spinderella and Run DMC’s Jam Master Jay, was one of them left out of the band’s name? Is that why she left? Was she a DJ? We may never know the answers to these questions, but we can listen to Sleater-Kinney’s new album, Little Rope. It shoops!

16/01/2024

For French people, Hoorsees are actually pretty cool. The foursome from Paris plays nineties-influenced indie rock that sounds like Phoenix meets The Strokes. Their new album is called Big. It will make you both whinny and whicker, in French.

14/01/2024

Chris Ballew went from President of the United States of America to Caspar Babypants. Throughout the nineties, the Seattle vocalist/bassist pioneered dork-grunge power pop with Lump, Peaches, and Kitty. Then, by the 2000’s he took his talents to the binky and blanky set. As Caspar Babypants, he released more than 20 kid records with guests including “Weird Al” Yankovic, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard, and Mudhoney’s Steve Turner. But now, finally, Chris has returned to the land of adult music with Power Trip. It sounds like kids music.

12/01/2024

2007’s Hudson River Wind Meditations was Lou Reed’s final solo album. After it, he made records with Metallica and Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Trio, but neither of those were by The Man all by his lonesome. This is the kind of distinction you make when discussing the oeuvre of an artist as important as the guy who wrote Heroine and Sweet Jane.

In a new age detour that wasn’t out of character for Lou Reed, Hudson River Wind Meditations was an ambient collection of drones intended to relax the body, mind and spirit, adjunct to Tai chi and bodywork. As one might expect, his label, Sire wasn’t super excited about it. So, Lou quietly released the album on Sounds True, a label which specialized in audiobooks.

Then, 17 years later, Light in the Attic Records recognized the appeal of an oddity like HRWM and decided to give it a proper release, vinyl and Bandcamp and all. No one will mistake it for New York or Transformer, or even Magic and Loss, but some will enjoy hearing the sounds of Lou’s late-in-life wild side.

10/01/2024

It’s weird to me that I’m 52 and Kurt Cobain will always be 27. My nephew’s almost 27 and, while his taste in music is fine, it’s certainly nothing to make a podcast about. But, my nephew’s not Kurt Cobain. It would be really cool if he was, but I can’t even comprehend the quantum mechanics necessary to make that possible. Regardless, Mr. Courtney Love’s 27 year old taste in music is the subject of The Cobain 50, a KEXP podcast that digs into the 50 albums on Kurt Cobain’s top 50 albums list recovered from his journal. Each week, KEXP’s editorial team will discuss a different album on the list and explore how each may have influenced Kurtis and his rock and roll band Nirvana. Sadly, I doubt my nephew will listen to it.

08/01/2024

Run at full speed for a short distance and check out Sprints. The post-punk band from Dublin sounds like PJ Harvey fronting Fontaines D.C. or Courtney Love fronting Idles. In other words, it’s new indie rock that sounds wise beyond its years. Sprints’s new album is called Letter to Self. Make a letter to yourself to listen to it.

06/01/2024

Autogramm is a synth-heavy power pop new wave four-piece with members spread across Seattle, Chicago, and Vancouver. Drawing on influences from bands like Devo, The Cars, Gary Numan and The Go-Gos, the band sounds like Spec’s Music at the 163rd Street Mall in Miami in 1986. Their new album is called Music That Humans Can Play. It’s played by humans.

04/01/2024

I’m pretty sure I’ve been blocked by Ryan Adams which, for a dad rock influencer, is a major achievement. Regardless, the musician I once saw threaten to beat up a guy for requesting Summer of ’69 during his concert, has just released five, count ‘em, five new albums in one day. Combined, Sword & Stone, Star Sign, Heatwave, 1985, and Prisoners (Live), have a total of 77 songs, most of them new. That’s a lot of fu***ng songs. AND, Ryan Adams ALSO wrote a book. It’s called 100 Problems and, apparently, motivation is not one.

02/01/2024

Happy New Cher! Some know her as the singer of Believe, the world’s gayest song. Others know her as the namesake of Alicia Silverstone’s character in Clueless. I know her as the actress who told Nic Cage to snap out of it. I also know Ms. Sarkisian for some pretty damn good music, especially that which she recorded before 1973. Nicki Bluhm decided cover some of that music on The Beat Goes On, Nicki Bluhm Sings Cher. Yes, it’s got I Got You Babe, but it’s also got other gems including some penned by Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood and, of course, Sonny Bono. I believe!

-country

30/12/2023

I know I’m a dork for doing the end of the year lists for my little Instaccount. But hey, this s**t keeps me somewhat sane in a world where everyone hates my people. And I’ve been fleeced into having small children at an age when most of my peers are settling into empty nests. So indulge me! Allow me one more dumb top nine so I can at least pretend that at least somebody cares about my opinion. With that, here, in no particular order, are my Top IX Dad Rock Albums of 2023 (New Discoveries/Oddities):

- Shame - Food for Worms
- Island of Love - Island of Love
- Genesis Owusu - Struggler
- The Natvral - Summer of No Light
- Geese - 3D Country
- Florry - The Holey Bible
- Wilco - Cousin
- Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
- Being Dead: When Horses Would Run

28/12/2023

Dad rock’s not just about the bands you listened to before you fu**ed up your life up by reproducing. It’s also about the new bands that sound like the bands you dug before you had to speak to a urologist about a weak urine stream. Without further adieu, allow me to present, in no particular order, the The Top Nine Dad Rock Albums of 2023 (Up-and-Comers):

- Sleaford Mods - UK Grim
- Wednesday - Rat Saw God
- MJ Lenderman and The Wind - Live and Loose!
- White Reaper - Asking for a Ride
- Purling Hiss - Drag On Girard
- King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation
- Buck Meek - Haunted Mountain
- Tyler Childers - Rustin’ in the Rain
- Ratboys - The Window

26/12/2023

In no particular order, by the power vested in me by The Paternal Order of Fathers With Good Taste in Music, allow me to present, the Top 9 Dad Rock Albums of 2023 (Legacy/Veteran/Traditional):

- Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World
- Brian Jonestown Massacre - The Future is Your Past
- Lucero - Should Have Learned by Now
- Teenage Fanclub - Nothing Lasts Forever
- The Mountain Goats - Jenny From Thebes
- The National - First Two Pages of Frankenstein
- Semisonic - A Little Bit of Sun
- Low Cut Connie - Art Dealers
- The Hold Steady - The Price of Progress

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas to all my Gentiles and Goyim! My gift to you is a recommendation for movie to watch with your family after your Yuletide festivities. It’s called Saltburn and it’s on Prime Video. The fantastical yarn is like Elf meets It’s a Wonderful Life meets Love Actually, except it’s more wholesome and sweet. The film’s characters joyously frolic to a soundtrack that includes carols from Bloc Party, MGMT, Arcade Fire, and The Killers. And, in the end - spoiler alert - they discover the true meaning of Christmas. So, light the fire, sneak a little brandy into your grandma’s egg nog, and snuggle up with your kids for Saltburn, the next great Christmas classic.

22/12/2023

During the dance rock craze of the early aughts, Electric Six held its own alongside groups like Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and Bloc Party. The Detroiters took us to the gay bar and warned us of the dangers of high voltage, then seemingly disappeared. But they didn’t. They’ve been steadily rocking with a packed tour schedule and about an album a year. Case in point, Turquoise, Electric Six’s newest album. It’s pretty good, but it probably won’t be played it at any self-respecting gay bar.

20/12/2023

Apparently, Prime Video is releasing a remake of Patrick Swaye’s beloved bouncercore film, Road House. Starring Bubble Boy star Jake Gyllenhaal and UFC blowhard Conor McGregor, this seems like a terrible idea. I mention all this because I’ve been listening to an alt-country group from Kentucky called Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band. Yes, it’s a stretch. Regardless, their debut is called Dancing on the Edge and it’s undoubtedly more enjoyable than watching the Road House remake will be. Bubble Boy, on the other hand…

Dad Rock, Etc.