Rocking in the Name of Lame
Rock and Roll Dating for Dummies
originally published October 1, 2008
Earlier this year a new dating website went live on the Internet offering a free forum for fans of rock music to gather (figuratively) and select potential mates based on musical compatibility. If you’re anything like me, upon hearing this news you breathed a sarcastic sigh of relief. Finally, a website justifying some peoples’ tendencies to take their own musical tastes far too seriously. The site, proclaiming to rock “in the name of love,” is located at RockNRollDating.com (RNRD), and gives its users a chance to create online profiles that fully describe their musical interests, including - among other things - their favorite bands, lyrics and concert experiences.
The concept of meeting people online is nothing new. Probably very soon after two computers forged the first electronic connection, the users of those computers gave the word “cyber” its alternate, dirtier meaning. Within a couple of years of that special moment, web-savvy entrepreneurs began developing entire sites devoted to online dating. Over the years, these sites have lost much of the stigma that initially attached to those who frequented them. According to Online Dating Magazine (yes, apparently there is even a magazine dedicated to online dating), more than 20 million people visit at least one online dating website per month.
General interest dating sites like Match.com and eHarmony.com have flourished in this multi-million-dollar-a-year market by providing sleek interfaces and the promise of real (sort of) interactions with hundreds of singles, none of whom (I’m sure) are the least bit creepy or desperate. Indeed, the online dating industry is so robust that even smaller sites tailoring to niche interests also have found success. For example, JDate.com successfully caters to Jewish people (and, I suppose, Jewish enthusiasts), and, infamously, H-Date.com successfully caters to people with herpes (and, I suppose, herpes enthusiasts).
RNRD operates under the same premise as do the above two niche dating sites, i.e., that there is a healthy contingent of people who want to date other people with interests similar to theirs. As RNRD asks on its site, “Ever gone out with someone only to find that their tastes in music are so far off the mark that you couldn’t imagine being in a long-term relationship with them?”
Well, actually I have. There was that one time I didn’t call a woman back after I discovered that she only listened to musical theater. In my experience, people who listen to musical theater mimic their idols by flamboyantly bursting into song. Additionally, one of my friends once broke off a relationship with a guy after she found a Nickelback CD in his car. I approved of the breakup. As a general rule, I don’t listen to bands whose lead singers resemble the cowardly lion, and whose music is about as riveting as a grade school research paper.
So, in that respect, RNRD’s premise, in theory, is a plausible one. Musical taste often is a proxy for certain personalities, and undoubtedly our tastes define us. Although Paula Abdul and MC Skat Cat subscribe to the theory that opposites attract, it probably is true that at least some similarity - and, specifically the right kind of similarity - is necessary in a human relationship. Why not use musical tastes as a way to effectively screen potential mates? Sure, no one should solely rely on those criteria, and bad musical taste often can be overcome by the presence of other privileged qualities, but determining someone’s musical tastes can go a long way in helping you decide whether or not you want to let them consistently see you naked.
So, after some prodding by my editor at Flagpole, I joined RNRD to see what it was all about.
Creating an online profile on RNRD was easy and - as the site advertises - free. For my headline, I chose the lyric: “I’m just looking for some tush,” which, besides being a reference to a song by ZZ Top, is definitely an appropriate sentiment to express on a dating site. Next I selected from a litany of musical genres the ones that most nearly described my own musical tastes. After much internal debate, I selected three: Rock & Roll, Classic Rock and (somewhat uncomfortably) Indie Rock. Other required information included not only the usual suspects of body type, religion, education, etc., but also first concert, best concert, and “dealbreakers” (by which I assume the website meant bands like - in my case - Nickelback).
However, as I was busy plumbing the depths of my musical soul, it occurred to me: what musical bait you put on the hook determines what kind of woman you reel in. Although I suppose there is a time and place for hooking up with 40-year-old biker chicks, I’m not sure I’d want one of them contacting me online based on my affinity for the dulcet tones of Michael McDonald, or more appropriately, Motörhead. Further, if I searched for a potential mate on RNRD, would I want to find someone whose musical tastes matched mine exactly? Although similarities are good, some difference definitely keeps things interesting (maybe MC Skat Cat was right after all!). Even though I don’t personally like Belle & Sebastian, maybe my ideal girlfriend does. And maybe she’s on RNRD somewhere, waiting for me to message her… that is, if RNRD has any members at all.
Because the site is relatively new, there are very few members, and certainly none that matched my search criteria. But then again, I’m probably one of those people who take their own musical tastes far too seriously. So, with some finality, I deleted my profile after only a few short hours of glory. Although dating sites like RNRD definitely serve a very specific and even needed purpose, I think in the end I’ll stick to the method most people of my generation employ to meet people: Facebook stalking.
The Avett Brothers
An Old World Way of Thinking
originally published October 1, 2008
The Avett Brothers
As musical acts with sibling cores go, The Avett Brothers are a refreshing blessing on the contemporary rock scene. Without apologies to iniquitous Disney public relations experts and high-end cosmetologists endorsing spurious grooming standards, they are not a boy band. The well-favored North Carolinian youths wear wedding rings rather than purity rings, and they wear their hair without a care. No eyeliner or New Jersey orange tans. No posing for pictures with A-listers on red carpets at fatuous functions. Instead, Scott (banjo) and Seth Avett (guitar), along with accomplished time-keeper, bassist Bob Crawford, offer mostly acoustic songs written with wise-beyond-their-years awareness, authentic moxie, and a relatively rural perspective that doesn’t drip with Southern, small-town clichés and naïveté.
The band very recently released The Second Gleam, a six-song EP that Scott Avett admits, “may not necessarily be for most people just getting introduced to our music,” before adding, “We try to keep the sessions very natural, simple and short. We keep things pretty dark and get into a mood that we hope comes through on tape. It’s definitely a different kind of record for us.” Even so, the offering shouldn’t be dismissed as mere fan club fodder. Just as in 2006’s initial installment of The Gleam series, the human condition is examined through the eyes and experiences of informed young men and distilled into shot glasses containing a high proof and honest elixir. Songs like “Murder in the City” and “St. Joseph’s” showcase The Avett Brothers' penchant for sparse, uncontrived freedom from complexity, and they tug at heartstrings in the process.
Sometimes the two-part harmonies and old timey melodies are an extra button on a flannel shirt collar fastened to warm against the nip in the autumn evening air. But, in all likelihood, for better or worse, the slow numbers are not the reason the Georgia Theatre will be brimming with bodies and putting that big-ass ceiling fan to the test during the band’s two-night stand. Vampires, like The Avett Brothers, can be calm and captivating as they exude sexuality, sophistication and gravitas from the shadows. Thankfully, the Brothers have no appetite for blood and don’t have trouble operating in a spotlight. But like vampires, they can be fearlessly frenetic. When their voices are in cacophonous conflict and they howl in hirsute unison and their fingers pick through steel strings like a straight blade and the sweat sails from their brow and showers the stage, it’s impossible for listeners and observers to feel anything less than affected and satisfied.
As for vampires, Scott was only momentarily thrown by the comparison. “My God, vampires?” he questioningly chuckled before adding, “Well, I guess the first thing that comes to mind is Roky Erickson [psychedelic music pioneer, junk mail enthusiast, and the man that wrote the not-yet-famous song, 'Night of the Vampire'], and anyone who sings about two-headed dogs is OK with me - at least for the time being. I’ll admit when I was a kid, that vampire costume was a Halloween staple.”
Don’t expect horror show gore or psychoactive theatrics when the band delivers its unique brand of Appalachian jams with an undeniably punk rock aesthetic. What has been referred to as "grungegrass," is exactly what the kids crowding the Theatre won’t be able to chat through. Expect set lists to be culled from the more rollicking cuts of their prolific canon of Ramseur Records releases, like the manic freak-out “Talk of Indolence” and the driving dirge “Colorshow” from 2006’s Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions or the (literally) electric “Pretty Girl from Chile” from 2007’s Emotionalism.
It will be interesting to watch the band navigate the next phase of its artistic development. Having recently signed with American Recordings (Slayer, Johnny Cash), the band is obviously poised for success, but will it come in the form of head banging with bluegrass instrumentation or will the songs be stripped, then showcased? Historically speaking, label honcho and über-producer Rick Rubin (who manned the board on the Avett’s forthcoming release) isn’t a fan of unnecessary embellishment, but it’s difficult to imagine anyone trying to produce an Avett Brothers major-label debut without attempting to bottle some of their unpredictable lightning.
So, what attracted Rubin to the band in the first place? “I can’t tell for sure,” says Scott, adding, “We have an old world way of thinking - faith that if we keep working hard at what we do and we do our best, something will happen. [Laughing] It’s worked better than I thought it would. We knew we’d learn a lot about making records [working with Rubin], and we’ve been able to stretch our legs, but the approach has been similar to the approach we had with Ramseur - keeping things simple and iconic. A little bit goes a long way…” As for talking beards with Rubin, Scott quickly confessed, “In that room beards were just a prerequisite. Everybody stopped shaving.”
WHO: The Avett Brothers
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 2 & Friday, Oct. 3
HOW MUCH: $25
Modern Skirts
Celebrating the Release of All of Us in Our Night
originally published October 1, 2008
Modern Skirts
When you're a sweetheart band in your hometown but you're unknown on the road, things can get a little dispiriting. But the four guys in Modern Skirts take their downs with their ups and laugh at the incongruities between bashful Athens fans asking for an autograph and a dude - one of just four or five people in a North Carolina bar - walking past the stage mid-song and yelling, "You guys suck!" The Skirts take it in stride, though. "That's the kind of stuff we live for!" says singer/songwriter Jay Gulley over drinks one afternoon last week. What could be a bummer for a young band is testament to the Skirts' confidence in their songs and their abilities, developed over the past four years since the release of their well received debut full-length album Catalogue of Generous Men.
That sense of confidence is at play on All of Us in Our Night, the band's long-time-coming second disc, which will be released locally this week. The disc sees the four-piece move away from the ubiquitous vocal harmonies of the first album while still maintaining a high melodicism; it's clean without being slick, earnest without being saccharine, and forceful without being overbearing. "I like that it's very different than the first one. Not to dis the first one, but there's a lot more of us in it," says drummer John Swint. "A lot more of how we feel. A lot more of our real emotions in this album, I feel like."
Adds multi-instrumentalist/songwriter JoJo Glidewell, "We had a lot more control over [recording], which I think is what led to that. The last one we had Geoff Melkonian produce it, and we were a lot more new at it, so we kind of let him make the decisions. This one was a lot more us arguing for what we wanted out of it. We did that with every aspect of it where we got sick of it, exhausted with it, but it is more what we wanted, which was the goal."
The band spent a week in Virginia recording tracks with David Lowery (Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven), before heading to New Orleans for two weeks during Mardi Gras earlier this year to work on some other tracks on their own. Gulley calls Lowery a "hands-on kinda guy," while Glidewell adds, "David was a pretty aggressive producer, and we butted heads with him some, and part of the time he was absolutely right, and other times we fought for what we wanted and made the right decision."
The two recording sessions also differed in attitude, says the band. Virginia was a professional environment where the guys would work 10-hour days in a studio, then retire to write more songs inspired by some of the in-studio activity. Many of those songs were brought down to New Orleans, and New Orleans was, well… New Orleans, with all the debauchery, living it up and distractions that the city can provide, as well as its anything-goes attitude.
"One of the cool things about New Orleans is that we had the confidence to go into the studio and the experience under our belts to know what we wanted," says songwriter/guitarist Phillip Brantley.
Says Gulley, "[On] Catalogue of Generous Men we were new to the process and we were worried about our imperfections, whereas on this one we kind of embraced them and let them shine." Adds Glidewell, "Yeah, on the first album, when I listen to it now, it sounds too clean, too perfect to me now. I can hear where we cleaned up all the idiosyncrasies that make a song really come to life, especially when you play it live."
It's the sort of soulful, tender eclecticism that's not too dissimilar from Badly Drawn Boy's early albums, and All of Us in Our Night is winningly diverse. A subtle melancholy absent from the cheery Catalogue of Generous Men is more prominent on this record, and the songs have a tendency to keep their quiet moments going until vocal or instrumental swells burst forth almost inevitably. "For the people who couldn't digest Catalogue, this might be easier or more interesting for them," says Swint.
The track "Motorcade" so pleased R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills that he produced the song and showed up onstage to help the guys perform it when Modern Skirts opened a recent R.E.M. show in Europe. All members of the band contribute to the songwriting, and individual voices are more prominent than on the past album. Glidewell's jaunty piano, a longtime hallmark of the band's sound, isn't quite as heavy on this album, but on tracks like "Radio Breaks" it's still unmistakably the same band. That track, though, also shows the band taking more risks and exploring more sounds; it closes out with some brass provided by New Orleans high school horn players during the Louisiana sessions.
This week sees three separate events intended to celebrate the new album. The first, a listening party at downtown cinema Ciné, takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 1. The tickets are limited to about 100, and cost $10 each, with all proceeds to benefit local musician's resource center Nuçi's Space. The listening party will feature an exhibit of artwork (cover artist Sanithna Phansavanh created a painting inspired by each track on All of Us in Our Night) as well as a straight run-through of the album with complementary video projection.
"We were down in New Orleans. We were listening to some of the stuff that was really sonically rich," says Glidewell, who organized the event, "and I thought 'God, it'd be great if we could listen to this in a real big space with nice sound.'" Adds Gulley, "We're really happy with it, and want to share the album in kind of a check-out-what-we-can-do kind of way. Like artwork on the fridge, y'know?"
Friday, Oct. 3 is this week's tent-pole event for the new album, with the band performing at the 40 Watt Club with Venice Is Sinking opening. The band says that they'll play every track off the new album at the show, alongside old reliables, and mentions a possibility of later this year performing the album live in its entirety, once "people get used to the new songs," says Brantley. Producer David Lowery will be in town and will likely join the band onstage for a song or two. Finally, the band will perform at Watkinsville bed-and-breakfast Ashford Manor on Monday, Oct. 6, for its Concerts on the Lawn series.
A fall tour is in the works as the band shops the album around to national independent labels. For now, it'll be available at shows, with the goal of a larger release - supporting label or no - in early 2009. "I think we're at the point where we're needing people to hear it," says Brantley. "If we were fresh out of the studio, I might be a little nervous about it, but we're ready for people to hear what we've done."
WHAT: All of Us in Our Night Listening Party
WHERE: Ciné
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 1
HOW MUCH: $10
WHO: Modern Skirts, Venice Is Sinking
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 3
HOW MUCH: $8 (advance), $10 (door)
WHO: Modern Skirts
WHERE: Ashford Manor
WHEN: Monday, Oct. 6
HOW MUCH: $12, $5 (children 6–12), FREE! (children under 6)
Old 97's
Mission Accomplished
originally published October 1, 2008
The Old 97's
These days it�s pretty easy being Rhett Miller. So easy that he�s often a little embarrassed by it. �I shouldn�t be telling you this, but I�m sitting here by the pool while I�m doing this interview,� says Miller rather sheepishly at the beginning of his phone interview with Flagpole from a stop in Southern California.
But if anyone has earned the warmth of the sun and a dip in the pool, it�s Miller and his bandmates the Old 97�s. For the last 14 years and seven studio albums, Miller and company have perfected their brand of country-tinged, three-chord rock that has left audiences breathless all over the world. These days the band is a finely tuned performance machine that runs and sounds like a million bucks, and, according to Miller, it�s most evident on their new album Blame It on Gravity (New West Records).
"I love this new record so much, and I think the band is in a really good place," says Miller. That good place Miller speaks of is a place where sad songs sound happy and the happy songs chime with guitars that ring out like a new morning. For Miller and company, Blame It on Gravity was less the work of a veteran band kicking back and going through the motions and more of a labor of love.
"We've had records that were easier to make, and we've had records that were harder to make. This album took a while to make, but we never felt bogged down by it. It was a great feeling all the way through," says Miller.
The passion and optimism that is apparent in Miller�s voice is palatable; so much so, that when the inevitable questions about his solo career (he has released three solo albums) arise, Miller speaks of his other job with a tinge of regret.
"I don't think I could be in the band if I knew I couldn't make solo records," says Miller. The separation between what Miller does in his solo career and what he does with the Old 97�s is, for Miller at least, a byproduct of the democracy of the band.
"I keep writing songs that I know the rest of the band won't do, so it's nice to have a place to put those songs," he says.
Solo career aside, Blame It on Gravity remains a high energy, rootsy blend of rock and roll and country. But don�t call it alt-country. For Miller, the tag is a mixed blessing.
"I've had to deal with [the alt-country tag] for so long, and obviously it's annoying in a lot of ways. It's reductive and it doesn't take into account all of our influences, but at the same time, it helped us coming up and gave people an 'in' so they could discover our band. So, I can't hate it, but at the same time it gets old."
The catch-22 of being lumped in with the No Depression set aside, what the Old 97�s do isn�t alt-country. In fact, the band sounds less in line with a singer/songwriter trying to approximate the Dustbowl Ballads of Woody Guthrie and more like the bright and chiming folk-rock of The Byrds mixed with the drawl and grit of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It�s a comparison that Miller welcomes a bit more eagerly than the alt-country tag.
"All of the great bands that came out in the '60s, '70s and '80s weren't labeled alt-country. If Tom Petty came out today, he'd be labeled as alt-country. The Beatles were a freakin' skiffle band, are they alt-country?" asks Miller.
But instead of worrying about the labels attached to their music, the Old 97�s are more worried about the music itself. Live, the band�s simple rock and roll sound becomes revelatory. This is music played the old fashioned way, with fire in their bellies and their hearts on their sleeves. It's perfect music for an imperfect world, and it�s exactly what Miller envisions it as.
"We never wanted to be a bar band that had no substance, but at the same time we want people to go out and bond with each other, to be stupid, to dance and to make out. That's my job. My job isn't to make some big political statement," Miller says.
If the Old 97�s job is creating life-affirming music without worrying about politics, then mission accomplished.
WHO: Charlie Louvin, Old 97�s>
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 1st
HOW MUCH: $16 (advance), $18 (door)
If you are having problems with the site, or have questions or suggestions, please contact us here. Thanks!
Care to comment on this article? Click here!
2 people have commented so far.