2009 and Such.

I’ll resume regular posts on Monday but wanted to wish all a happy New Year’s Eve.  Tomorrow when all the rock radio stations make an attempt at poignancy by playing that old U2 song, come back and listen to this anthem instead:

Healthy, wealthy, and wise.  See ya next year…

Gratitude.

Well, if you’re like me and just narrowly avoiding having to go on life support just to get ready for Christmas then chances are you’re either not reading this or reading this as a break from all the 800 million other things you should be doing right now instead.  Either way, just wanted to say this will likely be the last blog post for a solid week and possibly the last one for 2008.  If the latter ends up being the case then let me also say thanks for reading.  This dumb little blog has been viewed over 4,000 times since July.  Personally, I can’t help but think you’re completely wasting your time.  I mean, I’m at least getting some finger exercise out of writing this.  But you?  Nothing.  Your eyes move and your brain cells die off in scores when reading this blog.  Do you remember where you left your keys?  Probably not.  And that’s probably my fault.

So, since it’s the time of year for gifts I’m not only giving you a week to recoup some of those lost brain cells but I’m also giving you the gift of heavy metal Christmas music.  I feel better listening to these songs and hopefully you – and all of God’s gentle creatures – will as well.  Happy holidays from Holepuncher.  Be safe, stay warm, and don’t fart under the covers if you’re sharing a bed.

Here’s the best followed by the rest:

That last one’s Dokken.  That’s right Dokken!  I love it.  Oh, as an aside, I received an early Xmas present from my better half: Rockband 2 for PS3.  So, if anybody out there wants to fight with fake plastic instruments then all you need to do is look to the sky, grit your teeth, and whisper the name Hölepüncher and I’ll be waiting to take the challenge.

Best wishes.  More soon…

Sometimes Radio is a Good Thing.

Yo. Busy morning…First off, if you like U2 (and why wouldn’t you?) you’ll be happy to hear they’ve announced a release date for the next album titled No Line on the Horizon.  It’ll drop March 3, 2009.  I’m sure there will be an iPod commercial to remind you, but otherwise mark your calendars.

Going back across the pond today.  I stumbled onto this song “Balloons” by a British band called Foals that I think has some cool things going for it.  This assessment was made based solely on listening to the audio-only and later I looked them up on YouTube.  You ever hear a song you like and then wonder if you should change your mind after you find out what the band looks like?  Shallow, I know, but that’s what happened here and it’s not an uncommon thing for me with a lot of indie rock.  I won’t go on just yet so you can have a chance to look at them.  Again, it’s “Balloons” by Foals from their 2008 album Antidotes:

See what I mean?  I just have such a negative reaction to this whole image currently.  I mean, come on – is it really comfortable to play your guitars with them strapped up to your armpits like that?  Does the singer really need that little wisp of an ironic mustache? Do they really all have the exact same thrift store short sleeve button up wardrobe? One dude can’t just wear a sweater or something? You know what I mean?  It just seems like they’re trying way too hard to fit some image of what’s cool that it ends up becoming the antithesis of that very goal.  And it sucks because that’s not a bad song.  I like the entire intro, all of it, right down to the saxophone sound that’s probably coming from a keyboard.  I like the dance shuffle beat of the drums and I like the British accent and cadence of the singer’s voice.  It sort of reminds me of the same ballpark as what I’ve heard from fellow Brits Bloc Party, though admittedly I’ve heard very little.  They’ve got street cred, too.  They’re on Sub Pop and Antidotes was produced by TV on the Radio string puller Dave Sitek.  This makes more sense after hearing “Red Socks Pugie”:

Once more, I like that drum beat quite a bit.  I like the space and feel of this track.  It seems more relaxed, which is what I’d love to see this band do to their image, too. You know, loosen those guitar straps just a little and maybe lay off the Indie outfit 101 and go shop at Kohl’s or something.  I know I sound like the fashion police, but really it’s probably not even the clothes.  The guys in Radiohead wear jeans and those shirts but it doesn’t look applied to them by some rock band filter in Photoshop like it does with Foals.

Who knows? Maybe these guys just need a massage.  Enjoy the weekend.  More Monday…

Mon the Biffy!

Morning.  Have you ever heard of Biffy Clyro? They’re new to me and with a name like “Biffy Clyro” I’m not that surprised.  Anybody know how I could just get a job naming bands?  Seriously, something has to be done about this.  Biffy Clyro??? Anyway, name aside they’re a Scottish band who play some fairly competent 90’s influenced alternative rock.  According to their Wiki page, the band claims to be fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral, Quicksand, and Far.  To a nerd like me, that’s some major street cred points right there.  Problem is, I don’t exactly hear those influences in their music as much as I’d like to (why is this always the case?).  You be the judge though.  Here’s “Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies” from 2007’s Puzzle:

I like those staccato string jabs.  Based on that song though, I’d say Biffy Clyro has more in common with Bush (the band, not the President – though for the record I’ve never been a fan of either) than Sunny Day or Far.  That’s kind of depressing, no?  Let’s give them another shot.  Here’s “Glitter and Trauma” from 2004’s Infinity Land:

In some ways I like this one better and in some ways I like it even less.  There’s almost a post-hardcore Jawbox kind of vibe for part of the song and then we do get into some Far territory breakdown screaming there at the very end.  And this is all coming after an intro that sounds oddly like the Strokes or something.  So I think this is problem number one with Biffy Clyro – I don’t get the sense that they know what kind of band they want to be.  I’m not saying they have to pick sides (though Stephen Colber would) but just that the ingredients they seem to be using in their recipe doesn’t quite make a satisfying – or original – meal for me.  Honestly, I think I’d rather just hear them rock out with their loch out.  So, if there are any Biffy Clyro fans out there reading this feel free to point me to a song that might push me more into the positive.  I suspect there’s a gem here somewhere I just don’t know where to dig. And if there are any Biffy Clyro members out there reading this then let’s talk about that name, dudes.

More tomorrow…

P.S. – “Mon the Biffy!” is apparently a chant the band’s fans shout at their shows.  Like you, I also have no idea why.

Shh. This is a library.

Not really.  But I found some quiet tunes I like and that’s what I’m running with today.  I have to say, I was initially a little curious how long it would take me to run across music that was new to me – not because I have such an amazing breadth of knowledge (God knows I couldn’t fool anyone with that notion), but because I wasn’t really sure how to even go about the process.  Where do you start?  Well, it’s actually very easy.  Just open iTunes, pick a song in your library, and then open their little recommendations panel or whatever it’s called.  So, I started with a song by Big Star and they held my hand the short walk over to to a singer-songwriter named Julie Doiron.  Here’s a song of hers called “Swan Pond” off the 2007 album Woke Myself Up:

I really like that.  Reminds a bit of the band Smog, whom I wrote about back here.  Fun facts: Julie’s Canadian, was in a band called Eric’s Trip, has a split with the band Okkervil River, is an avid photographer, and has three kids.  You can learn more over at her Wiki page.  In the meantime, here’s another track from Woke Myself Up called “Me and My Friend”:

Nice.  Good to strip things down to a minimum amount of noise every now and then.  More tomorrow…