Cheap Girls are from Lansing, Michigan. I've never been there, but it seems like a place where they make good music since Cheap Girls make good music. How do you like that for logic? Actually that's not good logic at all.
Cheap Girls have come up on my radar a few different times. I had seen them once live at the Redwood in downtown L.A. when they opened for Drag the River and Mike Watt. Trippy lineup, right? I remember being impressed with the way they played live, clean and powerful.
I think I had seen their name a few times again after that and maybe a few tunes appeared on some of the podcasts I listen to. The the blessed Spotify came down from the heavens and I was able to listen to all the albums from the bands I had been meaning to look into. I played through the Cheap Girls discography quite a few times and then I sprung for it and bought all their records. A purchase I was quite pleased with.
Recently Cheap Girls played the Satellite in Silverlake and they did not disappoint. Alison dug them and I had their tunes echoing in my mind. Since then Alison requests Cheap Girls albums when we are sitting on the porch enjoying the view and a brew.
It's hard to put a finger on what Cheap Girls sound like, but I would guess it's somewhere mixed in with Dinosaur Jr. and Gin Blossoms. Don't quote me on that because it's always so subjective when trying to compare bands to each other in order to show some form of relative sound. They have a driving drum and bass section with pretty varied and technical guitar melodies. The whole while the vocals stay back and refrain from overpowering. That's probably the most you'll get out of me on listening notes.
Here's a few videos from the boys in Cheap Girls, take a gander then listen over and over because their tunes will get stuck in your head.
Every once in a while I'll come across a band and become obsessed. The kind of obsessed where I have to purchase all the band's records, learn all I can about their history, watch every live performance on YouTube, that kind of thing.
All that recently happened to me when I started digging into the Replacements. I had always heard of them and had one of their records, but never really paid much attention. Then I got my hands on their discography and threw a bunch of their songs on my iPod that I would use at the gym or when I went running. The more I listened, the more I started enjoying their songwriting, Paul Westerberg's vocals, Bob Stinson's guitar playing ... all the layers started becoming apparent to me. I guess that's the breaking point as to when I became infected with the bug.
I was clearly obsessed. I had to tell my friends about them, read books on their history, have them on the stereo when drinking at the apartment on a Friday or Saturday night. I would imagine it started to drive people nuts, Alison included. I think I had her on board, but it was probably more because every time a certain song would come on I would talk over the whole song and go into detail about what I liked about the lyrics and the delivery and the desperation in the sound of the song and the message and how you can't say goodnight to an answering machine ... who even leaves messages on an answering machine anymore?
I then realized that The Replacements were one of those bands that someone has to experience for themselves and find their own reasons for enjoying them. Almost the way in which people end up loving Minutemen or Hüsker Dü or Dinosaur Jr.. Especially for people who weren't of age when those bands existed. Although when you dig in to them, you are able to hear the timelessness to those bands and their personality. I guess it's one of those things that is an isolated discovery, unlike hearing something that is broadly accepted as good by the masses. Not to say that one has an elite ear or understanding of good taste to like the aforementioned bands, but that when you do fall into it like the rest of the people that are into it, you are head over heels.
Enough posturing and waxing poetic for me. Check out some videos!
I've recently started delving into soul music. Now, as far as it goes as a genre and the gobs of artists that have molded soul music as well as the different regions that are hotbeds of soul that have distinct styles, I am still learning and absorbing information and sounds. I'm totally new to this. Tabla Raza.
That being said, I recently stumbled on Lee Fields and the Expressions. I can't remember if I was just fishing around on Spotify or saw an article on him or what, but he came my way and I immediately had to get my hands on his records. Needless to say, they are all gems.
Then add to that, he just so happened to be playing the Echoplex in Echo Park ... what timing!
Lee Fields is a hell of a performer. The guy came out in a 2-tone white and beige satin suit. He kept hyping the audience, then he would belt out some really powerful and emotion-filled vocals. Dude can do it.
Not only can the guy sing, but The Expressions, his backing band, totally set the table for Mr. Fields to serve up a delicious vocal entree. I don't think I really need to write much about Mr. Fields and his band, you should just watch the below videos and then go get your hands on his music.
Recently we went to see Alabama Shakes at the Fonda / Music Box in Hollywood. We did dine at Cleo beforehand, but we've been doing a terrible job documenting our drinking, dining and music adventures, so we'll just make note and move on.
Ok, back to Alabama Shakes. They are going to be big. No ... huge. I try and stay away from superlatives or excessive praise but these guys definitely deserve it. Their performance was clean and precise as far as their musicianship. The real deal is the vocals from the lead singer, Brittany Howard. She can really belt it out and with gallons of soul to boot.
As I was watching them play, I noticed that the crowd was completely absorbed in the music. None of those annoying people standing around trying to have a conversation over the performance. Who are those people anyways, and why are they wasting the price of admission to try and talk over the headliner? I digress. At the risk of sounding cliché, which is a cliché itself, they were magical.
They are a new act and only have 1 record in the can with hopefully plenty more to come. Here are some videos since they can do more justice than I can in trying to write about them. Show me, not tell me, right?
Bob here... we've recently been solicited some unsolicited material. Our good friend Sean sent us over the below article for Tunesday. He demanded we call him 'The Unwanted Guest'. We aren't sure why he feels unwanted, but we'll leave the psychoanalysis up to the professionals. Enjoy thew below article and thanks, Sean.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 15 or so years, you have likely heard of the band Wilco with their 7 full length records, 2 records of unreleased Woody Guthrie material recorded with Billy Bragg, and sold out shows all over the world. Some of you may have even heard of Son Volt, although it is less than likely. It is more than likely that most of you have never heard of Uncle Tupelo.
Uncle Tupelo was a country band, although not in the ordinary sense of the Nashville bands you may be familiar with. Uncle Tupelo was an alternative band, although not in the same vain of Nirvana, Green Day, and the other alternative bands taking over the air waves in the early 1990s. Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country band, formed by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Jay Farrar (Son volt) (Assisted at times by Brian Henneman of the Bottle Rockets) , before alternative country even existed, and long before alternative country was a punk rock retiree in a flannel shirt with an acoustic guitar. These twenty something’s started off playing punk rock, spurred by their admiration of The Ramones, the Minuteman, and Black Flag; however, there was little positive reception to punk rock in the scenes of Belleville, IL or St. Louis, MO. Driven by their desire to play music, they began to listen to the country music their parents had forced on them as children for inspiration. Out of this rose 4 records, a major label record deal, a nationwide tour, and some would say, Alternative Country.
When you turn on Anodyne, their major label debut, you hear Alternative Country… a concoction of the Ramones meets Hank Williams, with a side the Minutemen fronted by Neil Young, the rhythms of any ‘90s punk or alternative band with the twang, edge, and drawl of the Johnny Cashes, Kris Kristofferson’s, etc. Lyrics, alternated between Farrar and Tweedy, covered the topics of blue collar life in the Midwest and girls and relationships. This hybrid mix should have appealed to rock and country fans alike, however, selling a mere 150,000 copies (Sire records assumed they would be a platinum record making cash cow like all of the other alternative acts) reinforced that it was too rock for the country folk and to country for the rock folk. Fallout occurred between Tweedy and Farrar in 1994, breaking up Uncle Tupelo, and leading to the aforementioned Wilco (which started as Uncle Tupelo – Jay Farrar) and Son Volt.
Tweedy argues that they didn’t create a genre; they were simply playing Americana and furthering the work laid down by previous artists, notably Guthrie and the Flying Burrito Brothers. However, with a listen to many of the emerging Alt-County acts out there today, it is easy to see Uncle Tupelo’s influence. With more and more groups trying this “we are country” business these days, Tupelo classics like Whiskey Bottle, Graveyard Shift, Factory Belt Long Cut, continue to sound more sincere and relevant.
I cannot pinpoint when I first found Uncle Tupelo. I believe it started early in college as I out grew punk rock, heard a band called Lucero, and tried to engulf my self in this new found alternative country. These days, I don’t listen to Uncle Tupelo to pay homage to the alt-country scene I have embraced: I listen to Uncle Tupelo because it’s really good and although the records are aging quickly, they are still relevant to my current listenings.
Recently I was conversing with one the readers of The Tasty Morsel about the music we feature on our Tunesday posts. He seemed to think that we were lacking in diversity as to what music we have been posting. I find that to be untrue since we've posted bands from the likes of URTC to Look Mexico to Drag The River to Coconut Records as well as many others. So we'll delve into something a little more different.
With my recent acquisition of a new record player, the hobby of collecting of vinyl has been sparked in me and there are just some types of music that sound great on vinyl. One such genre is Dub music, and the artist we'll focus on here is one of the grandfathers of Dub, King Tubby.
Dub is a pretty awesome genre since it is one of the early forms of remixing music, a-la today's mashup. Pioneers of Dub in the 1960's and 70's such as King Tubby would take Reggae tunes and strip out the vocals, add delay, reverb, sample in lyrics, etc. Dub music allowed the dude behind the mixing board to be the composer as he altered tunes and gave them a whole new perspective.
I find it a little funny that recently Alison and I have been sitting on our front porch playing King Tubby records on a Friday evening. From a distance if you heard some Dub playing, you'd expect to walk by and see two older Jamaican dudes sharing a spliff and sippin' on some Red Stripe, but instead you see a pale couple smoking cigarettes and drinking Miller Lite (when on sale).
That's the beauty of listening to music though. No matter what social stereotype has been labeled to the music, anyone can listen to and appreciate it. However, I do find that the performance of certain music best be left to the professionals...
Check it out... Tunesday is back. Unless this is your first time reading The Tasty Morsel, then Tunesday never left.
Lately I've been tripping out on Look Mexico. These dudes do some magic with their instruments on their full length titled 'This is Animal Music'. I find the complexity of their playing and orchestration to be one of the most interesting things I've heard in a long time. Check out this pretty awesome video for a track off their full length:
Since I found out that they recently joined the lineup on Suburban Home Records, I am very excited to see what they come out with next and who they will hit the road and tour with. I hope you agree with me that Look Mexico is a pretty tight outfit.
Here's another video where the band eats cherry pie and drinks red wine... all while being served by a unshaven and unkempt metal version of Mario Batali.
The Tasty Morsel is a blog written by Bob and Alison covering all things
food, drink and music. By day Bob is a video editor and Alison does
P.R.(and some accounting), but by night we consider ourselves
professional eaters, drinkers (not alcoholics) and music lovers (not
groupies).
We believe life's moments are only enhanced by good food, drink and
music, and that those three things compliment each other. I mean what is
a Lucero show, without Jameson and Budweiser?
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