Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand

I really need to keep up with this blog - with tons to write about and as much free time this summer as I'm likely to have until next year, one post a month isn't going to cut it. I'll just have to make this one exceptionally long. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I saw another pair of fantastic shows at the 7th St. Entry. The first, and most anticipated, was Sunset Rubdown. Their new album, Dragonslayer, is getting a great deal of well-deserved praise (along with a bit of unsettling obsession with frontman Spencer Krug). It is a tighter and more rockin' (and indeed, fabulous) follow-up to their 2007 all-time-greatest album Random Spirit Lover. Their live show did not disappoint either, with Spencer demonstrating that he is not only a brilliant songwriter but also one of the most gracious. The most pleasantly surprising aspect of the show, however, was the display of talent from the rest of the band members - Camilla Wynne Ingr, Jordan Robson-Cramer, Michael Doerksen, and Mark Nicol, the last three rotating effortlessly between bass, guitar, and drums throughout the set. Can't wait to see them again.

Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart
Sunset Rubdown - You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)
from Dragonslayer

Sunset Rubdown - The Taming of the Hands That Came Back To Life
from Random Spirit Lover


Later in the week I attended the Meat Puppets show - a 25 year anniversary of their first performance at the Entry. The band is touring in support of their new album Sewn Together (which is good, but not great), but played a number of classic songs including "Plateau," "Oh Me," "Up On The Sun," and "Comin' Down." Unfortunately, the band did not go on until 11:30 and I had my French exam in the morning, so I had to leave after about 45 minutes of their set. Nevertheless, the aging Kirkwood brothers and new drummer Ted Marcus displayed an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm.

Meat Puppets - Go To Your Head
from Sewn Together

Meat Puppets - Up On The Sun
from Up On The Sun

Meat Puppets - Plateau
from II


While the Meat Puppets were great, I was truly blown away by Duluth-based openers Retribution Gospel Choir, which consists of two members of the band Low. While Low is known for their slow, quiet, stripped down music and beautiful husband-wife harmonies, the Alan Sparhawk-led Retribution Gospel Choir was loud, explosive, and full of life. I was definitely skeptical as the band took the stage dressed in matching shirts and ties, but was converted into a dedicated fan within three seconds of their opening song "Breaker," originally appearing on Low's fantastic album Drums and Guns. Their self-titled, full length debut is highly recommended, but can only capture a fraction of energy present in their live show. So make sure to go see them if you get the chance.

Retribution Gospel Choir - Breaker
Retribution Gospel Choir - What She Turned Into
from Retribution Gospel Choir

Paralysed and gleaming, with visions of new states

It's been a long time since I've been this impressed with a band I had never heard of before. Perhaps better known for his work in Black Mountain (also great), Vancouver's Stephen McBean is the principal songwriter in the Pink Mountaintops. Outside Love is the band's third album and easily their best. The album displays a mix of pop, folk, and rock influences - think Mark Lanegan, Low, M. Ward, the Vaselines - while still retaining a sound that is both chilling and exhilarating and undoubtedly original.

As the band's label Jagjaguwar writes, "The ten songs on "Outside Love" are about or influenced by weddings in Montreal, winter, Pink Floyd's The Final Cut, Christmas albums, that one Exile song and that one Echo and the Bunnymen song, the Bermuda Triangle, being depressed in the sunshine, people who haven't made out yet but will in the future, The Everly Brothers, clowns in the ceilings, and bedrooms where skinheads used to live."

Is "Vampire" the best song of a 2009 packed with great albums that are filled with great songs? Perhaps - or maybe I just have a soft spot for demon love songs.

Pink Mountaintops - Vampire
Pink Mountaintops - While You Were Dreaming
buy