Under Review: The White Stripes - Icky Thump

Oh my fucking god! They're back!

Remember when you excitedly downloaded your advanced copy of Get Behind Me Satan only to discover that the White Stripes had gotten all sucky? I promise - Icky Thump makes up for it 10 fold. Perhaps their strongest LP, Icky Thump combines the best moments from pre-Satan White Stripes and takes simultaneously takes their sound a step further.

Yeah, the band's strong suit has always been the combo of Jack's amazingly great guitar and Meg's verging-on-retarded simple drumming - but Icky Thump incorporates more complex instrumentation that they were trying to use is Satan without neutering their signature sound.

What you end up with is 13 tracks that are not just great sounding but are complex AND rock REALLY hard.

Needless to say - this LP is up among the year's best.

Icky Thump is out June 19.

Admit One: Datarock/Busdriver/CSS 06/04/07 + mp3 bonus

I was covered in sweat...icky sticky sweat.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First up was Datarock and despite that I'm fairly certain only 1/4 (or less) of the crowd knew any of their songs they still had the sold out crowd dancing and singing along (with helpful cues given mid-song). In their signature red jumpsuits they definitely were worth showing up early for. Honestly, I wish more opening bands were this good..they nearly stole the show.

Busdriver was next up...and sadly didn't fare as well. While I've seen him before and usually love his live shows - he just seemed off. While his set was was far from bad he was defiantly a let down after the crazy goodness of Datarock.

As good as Datarock was, CSS stole the show back and woke everyone up and got people dancing again. Complete with costume changes, crazy Brazilian accents, and weird but fantastic b-sides (check out the mp3s below) CSS was everything you'd expect from hearing their cd. And while Lovefoxxx didn't have a freakout and run around in the audience like she did last time I saw her she was still ab-fab.


Mp3: CSS - Pretend We're Dead (L7 cover)
Mp3: CSS - I Wanna Be Your J-Lo


Picture of Datarock by Pamela Willis
More photos

New Music: Voxtrot - Stephen (Video)

I know, I know - I was expecting some sexy dance routine from this video too. But what can you do? Looking at the video can you guess the boys are on tour? Hmmmm....

Go see them if you live near one of these places...
JUNE
Fri 1- Portland, OR @ Doug Fir #$ 21+
Sat 2 - Seattle, WA @ Sonic Boom [4pm Ballard store FREE] AA
Sat 2 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile #$ 21+
Tue 5 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock #$ AA [5pm early show]
Wed 6 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection #£ AA
Thu 7 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick #£ AA
Fri 8 - Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dees #£ AA EARLY SHOW ADDED
Fri 8 - Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dees #£ 19+ SOLD OUT
Sat 9 - Montreal, QC ( I'll be at this one) @ Main Hall #£ ticket
Sun 10 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place #£ AA
Mon 11 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom #£ AA
Tue 12 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar #£ AA
Wed 13 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat #£ AA
Thu 14 - Boston, MA @ Middle East #£ 18+
Fri 15 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall #£* 18+
Sat 16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Pure [Making Time] 21+
Mon 18 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House 18+
Thu 21 - Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds 18+ ticket
Fri 22 - Miami, FL @ Studio A 18+ ticket
Sat 23 - Tampa, FL @ Crowbar 18+ ticket
Sun 24 - Orlando, FL @ Backbooth AA ticket
Tue 26 - Tallahassee, FL @ Beta Bar AA
Wed 27 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn AA ticket
Thu 28 - Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree Cafe 18+
Fri 29 - Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon 18+ ticket
Sat 30 - Houston, TX @ Proletariat AA

JULY
Sat 14 - Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Festival ticket

AA - All Ages
* - featuring Tosca String Quartet
$ - w/ Sound Team
£ - w/ Favourite Sons
# - w/ Au Revoir Simone

Admit One: Arcade Fire at Maurice Richard Arena - 05/13/07

The Arcade Fire have a serious problem. They never seem to be able to not sell out every show they play within minutes of tickets going on sale. Even playing two nights in a row at an arena, every ticket for both shows was spoken for just as fast as when they played at the 300 person-sized Ukrainian Federation a few months back.

I know what you're thinking snobby reader, "They're playing in a 4,500 person venue?! I remember seeing them play in some guy's kitchen! (insert more pretentious anecdotes here)...they're too big now, I hate them". Well...you would be right in noticing that they've gotten more popular. I think it may have had something to do with putting out a very decent new lp and a deluge of exposure in the mainstream (you guys watch SNL, right?).

The band's growth aside, the question that was running through my mind was if the Arcade Fire would be able to bring some level of intimacy to the huge space. Short answer: they pulled it off.
Sure, it was obviously less intimate then seeing them play in a church, or an old theatre (or any of the other various small venues they've played) but throughout the show the band's energy really showed. While they've calmed down some for Neon Bible, it's still the same group of amazingly talented musicians. They definitely added some gloss to their normal show - using neon bars on the front of the stage, video projectors, and a real organ. But even with all the extras Win was still sweating through his shirt, Richard and Will were still running around hitting each other with drum sticks and throwing drums in the air, and Regine was as manic as ever. In fact, after seeing them a handful of times, I can say that this seemed to be the most confident performance I've ever seen them give.

Overall, even with all the douchebaggery that arena shows entail (old people looking grumpy in the audience, people bringing signs in or holding up lighters) it ended up being a lot closer in intimacy to their past shows then I'm sure most people would like to admit.

Photos by Pamela Willis

New Music (WTF?!): Trace Adkins - Honky Tonk Badonkadonk

While I normally only post good videos, this was just too weird to not share with you guys.

Yep, it's a country song about badonkadonk. The video is complete with gratuitous booty shots and line dancing for some reason.

Enjoy!

New Music: Junior Boys - Too Young (Video)

This was one of my favorite albums of '06 - and perhaps the best song off it. 'Nuff said. Watch the video.