Indie Rock Is My Social Democracy; Videos - Wilt, Kerbdog & Helmet

(I'm being ironic! I do not agree with this brash, nationalistic, illogical, practically anonymous - and hence illegal - poster. Mind you, this legitimate Yes one is hardly much better)

This is a blog about music, not politics. However, it is about a particular type of music which is either explicitly or implicitly connected with politics. Call it punk or call it hardcore, or even (to some extent) post-hardcore, it becomes - generally - hypocritical to remain apolitical. Not least because the majority of its afficionados have similar sensibilities, but much more importantly because its very ethos encourages not only independent thought, but the expression of that thought.

I came up with a strange metaphor and/or analogy last night, between my musical tastes and my political preferences. This is in part the title of the post; that my broadening of taste out from typical punk/hardcore into more widely considered, yet still independent-minded, rock music mirrors the maturing of my political sensibilities from youthful radicalism to an acceptance of more nuanced, pluralistic and conventional politics. The process, in both cases, is complementary but not without tensions. Can you listen to DIY, uncompromising hardcore and the latest indie rock hype (when justified, of course) - just like believing in the ultimate tenets of (humanistic) socialism or radicalism, while appreciating the movement of day-to-day politics? I don't believe it's hypocritical as much as it is beneficial, progressive and, above all, educated. And let's face it, we all do it.

For the record, my current political preference is for environmental (Green) politics. Not only on account of the dangers of climate change, but - if you were to go down the considerably worrisome route of denying climate change's veracity - its multiple other worthy attributes (a good number of which can be found by reading either Kerouac's Dharma Bums or the infamous Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance). Green politics are neither particularly punk rock nor indie, nor radical or social democratic - they're more postmodern; so, to overextend the metaphor - post-rock perhaps?

What prompted these confessional remarks is what Peter Sutherland, former Irish commissioner to the EU, described recently as the most important decision of international affairs ever to be decided by the Irish people: the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty (June 12th).

For my multiple American (and other non-European) readers, the Lisbon Treaty is the latest document involving the organisation and maintenance of the European Union (EU), agreed between the governments of all 27 current EU member states. Ireland, due to the particular nature of our constitution (and the 1987 Crotty case in the Supreme Court, but I won't get into that here) is the only country to put the treaty to a public referendum. All other 26 countries are very likely to, or already have, ratified the treaty by parliament.

Hence Ireland (4 million out of an over 200 million plus European population, incidentally) stands between full ratification of the treaty and a possible tortuous revision of the current EU political programme. As a student of politics - first in my class last year, I might add, as a personal detail and a small mark of self-aggrandisement - I had foreseen the dilemma of this unique referendum, in which a rejection does little constructive, but so much destructive. Essentially, I was from the start a cautious Yes vote, believing on balance in the merits of this reform treaty - adapted from but realistically differentiated from a proposed and defeated EU constitution - the importance of the European program, and the overwhelming support this receives from parliamentarians of all major parties.

Conversely, the No campaign - split between Sinn Féin, the minority republican party, a right-wing shady think-tank by the name of 'Libertas' and various ultra-Catholic groups, socialist parties and the minority wing of the Greens/radical movement - not only failed to inspire but perpetually aggravated. Narrow, factually inaccurate, uninformed, nationalistic and disingenous claims were presented to repeated and oft unheeded rebuttals from the Yes side - a problem not least because it drowned out much constructive criticism and opposition to the elements of European politics, much of which could be better organised and applied in between times at European and national elections. In brief, over the last month or so of campaigning my initial, informed choice was only further confirmed.

The above comments may well seem partisan, but they are my honest reaction to the political situation. The latest pair of national polls have shown that the result could in fact go either way, in a large part because of people who want to vote No because they feel uninformed or confused. To those people, I say three things: first, look to any or all of your elected representatives, and any political parties you may support - their wide support for the Treaty is less a mass conspiracy than it is a recognition of political realities and ideals; secondly, remember that our referendum is a unique and unusual occurrence, probably not best suited to the ratification of an exceedingly complex legal document; and thirdly, as such you are hardly expected to specifically read it in order to do your democratic duty - only if you have serious concerns about what is being presented to you, in the treaty and in your parliament and media.

For what it's worth, Hardcore for Nerds (that is myself, gabbagabbahey) is advocating a Yes vote. Let it not be said that I don't have the courage of my convictions.

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As a respite from the politics - which is, you know, only the discourse of democratic individuals, the expression of true personal freedom and agency, and the highest level of human communication - here's some (Irish) indie rock, shading towards (American) hardcore:

Wilt, 'Distortion'

Kerbdog, 'Sally'

Helmet, 'Bad Mood'

(^ that's John Stanier, the current drummer for Battles, in the video above - in case anybody doesn't know their punk/hardcore history. History is always nearly as important as politics :)

Vinyl Photography - Husker Du's Zen Arcade

I was working on the ol' blog yesterday afternoon, trying to fix a problem - which I'll come to shortly - when I happened to notice a very photogenic scenario occuring beside me on my record player. The evening sun was coming in through a gap in the curtains, across the turntable and almost exactly in line with the tone arm. Since photography - well, okay, mostly landscape photography - is all about seizing the lighting opportunities, I got up and got my camera - and here are a selection of the results.

The record in question is probably impossible to identify from most of the pictures, but it is Husker Du's Zen Arcade (Side B to be specific). I saw this on a random trip to Tower Records and just couldn't resist picking it up, a double LP - with black, white, silver and gold labels for each of the sides respectively. I've written about Metal Circus before, but this is the pinnacle of Husker Du's output, and a pinnacle of 80s punk/hardcore in general.

Zen Arcade is not just a hardcore double album with experimental tendencies, but a forerunner of 'emo' in the explicitly personal lyrics and leave-home concept running through it. It is that emotional fierceness which is mirrored in the sonic experimentation, blistering hardcore of songs like 'Indecision Time', 'Something I Learned Today' or 'Beyond the Threshold' mixed with odder sounds that Metal Circus only hinted at, such as 'Hare Krsna', 'The Princess and the Tooth Fairy' or the transcendcent 'Dreams Reoccuring'/'Reoccuring Dreams'.

Zen Arcade is an extremely atmospheric hardcore album - not 'atmospheric hardcore' in terms of, I don't know, Jesu - but in the way that it has a sound which winds its way into your head, and sticks with you for weeks. A sprawling behemoth of a hardcore record by most usual standards, it generates its own captivating atmosphere for the hour-plus-long journey it takes you on.

Given the colourful, distinctive album cover, an arresting montage of neon, textured pastel colours and roughshod hardcore text, these photographs seem a little disconnected. Blues and yellows rather than pink and blues, but all it really is the context in which the album is playing out. Vinyl is photogenic because it offers a reflective surface, as it plays - unlike a CD, for example, which is locked away when playing and elsewhere has a brash, gaudy iridescence insensitive to subtler moods. The glow on the record, and the straight shadow of the metallic tone arm is here combined with the reflections on the dust cover and the shaft of sunlight, again on the dust-shield (unsurprisingly, covered in dust - which builds up pretty quickly, and is pretty obvious when the sun shines on it).

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Feedtime's Shovel, by Brushback

I took this wonderful picture from Brushback's One Base On An Overthrow, where he posts tracks from old punk, hardcore and indie records on a particularly regular basis, and always with a shot of the vinyl at the end. This record is Feedtime's Shovel LP from 1986, and apparently it's 'filthy'.

Like me, he obviously likes the photographic appearance of vinyl, although I have a personal distrust of flash. I'm especially proud of my b&w capture of Slint's Spiderland (which appears, in abridged form, as one of the rotating headers for this blog) and also the washed out, wintery blue picture of Dan Deacon's Spiderman of the Rings. Not sure how much further mileage I will get out of this category, but I reckon opportunities probably will crop up, exactly as they have done in this case.

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Husker Du - Zen Arcade SST, 1984

Husker Du - Zen Arcade

('Masochism World' and 'Standing By The Sea' from the end of Side B - i.e., the soundtrack to the above photos; and the entirety of Side D - 'Turn on the News' and 'Reoccuring Dreams' - all ripped from the vinyl for maximum authenticity!)

Ham Sandwich - The Singles Box Set

(no, this isn't a real thing. It's DIY)

(apologies for the slightly blurry pictures. I photographed this as soon as I made it, which was about 11 pm, and the camera flash was too strong)

At the Ham Sandwich show at the Village a week and a half ago, I bought the band's four singles from before their album for €10. (This I did before the band's set, meaning I had to stand in the crowd with four CDs wrapped up in my jumper). The gig was supposed to be a launch for the newest single, 'Never Talk', but that wasn't physically available. Probably, it's on iTunes or some facility like that which I never use (other than eMusic, I get all my music in physical format).

Ham Sandwich built themselves up over the last couple of years as a touring band and by self-releasing singles on their own label, Route 109 Records - named after the bus route between Dublin and their home town of Kells. Carry the Meek was ROU006, with associated radio single 'Keepsake' ROU005, and presumably 'Never Talk' becomes ROU007 whatever way you get it.

The first four singles are as follows - 'Sad Songs', 'St. Christopher', 'Words' and 'Click... Click... Boom!', with the last single appearing as a b-side on 'Sad Songs'. This series helps explain the strength of the album, which features the above four songs and 'Keepsake' as tracks 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7. On top of that, it establishes the band's image and artwork, designed by Laura de Burca and Enda Casey.

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I don't talk about the Ramones often enough on this blog - despite them being the source for my username, and the original punk band. In fact, I've hardly mentioned them at all except for including 'Blitzkrieg Bop' as the opening track on my personal mixtape for Zen and the Art of Mixtapes (#008 - Tickle Yr Ears). I suppose I don't delve far enough back to get into 70s punk on the blog; and although I don't listen to that much of it, you can't possibly go without listening to the Ramones.

I first heard the Ramones by picking up a second-hand CD copy of their 1980 album, End of the Century, in a record shop in of all places, Hay-on-Wye (the site of a major literary festival in England). That Spectorised pop gem of an album got me hooked, and I started to explore the decent half of their back catalogue (everything up to Too Tought To Die). Most of them came in the format of the Sire/Rhino reissues - except for Leave Home, which was a bizarre second-hand Japanese import version, and Rocket from Russia, which I downloaded from the internet and, probably for that reason, have never particularly liked - and these came with those fancy but completely extraneous card sleeves. Ever since, along with similar from Leatherface reissues Minx and Mush, they have been gathering dust on a shelf, awaiting some further use. The covers, and the albums they represented, were all too good for them to be casually discarded.

These particular two - 1981's Pleasant Dreams and 1983's Subterranean Jungle - are bona fide Ramones favourites of mine. Sure, the 1976 self-titled debut and the following Leave Home are the true, unbeatable punk classics - a designation usually extended to all the first four - and End of the Century is certainly something special in its own rights, but these two are their most interesting and endearing albums for me. Essentially, they represent the paradox between pop and punk which the Ramones struggled through over the formative and post-formative period of punk rock. To put them in context, the Clash released London Calling in 1979 (or 1980, depending on where you are coming from) and Sandinista in 1980. Neither of these albums are quite the Ramones' version of Sandinista, but they're close enough.

Pleasant Dreams and Subterranean Jungle provide absolutely solid Ramones punk rock/punk-pop songs - 'We Want the Aiwaves', 'It's Not My Place (In The 9 to 5 World)', 'Outsider' (a Dee Dee Ramone song with a, vocally, quite interesting cover by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong) - a few classics - 'The KKK Took My Baby Away', 'Psycho Therapy' - and a whole slew of slow pop songs, country-and-western oddities and experimental covers - 'You Sound Like You're Sick', 'Sitting In My Room', 'Little Bit O' Soul', 'Highest Trails Above', 'Time Has Come Today' - as well as weird stuff the Ramones were playing from the start - 'Every Time I Eat Vegetables I Think of You' (seriously, what a song title!). Not that the Ramones never had this diversity in the first place (it just achieves its, in my opinion, best outlet here); it is a well known fact that every one of their albums has some kind of an iteration of 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend'. In fact, the reissue liner notes by Legs McNeil for Road To Ruin describe the genesis of 'She's The One' as follows:

"...seems like the it was written as an afterthought. Like 'Hey guys, where's the bouncy pop song?'

'Shit, we forgot it'

'Quick, write one!'

And at two minutes and eleven seconds, there you have it"

The liner notes, along with the card sleeves, were a feature of each of these reissue albums. Most begin by telling the story of the band at the point of the album's recording, and as such the theme of the story became depressingly familiar. For Pleasant Dreams, Ira Robbins begins "For a band that sang 'We're A Happy Family' on their third album, the Ramones three years later were nothing of the sort.". Subterranean Jungle, Gil Kaufman - "Marky Ramone knew the jig was up. He'd been stashing his vodka bottle..." (and of course Legs McNeil for Road to Ruin simply begins "It was a lousy time to be a Ramone."). The endless tragedy of the Ramones family, trapped between the pop desires and ambitions of Joey Ramone, and the conservative punk stance of Johnny, was destined to lead to schizophrenic albums.

What irks me, mildly enough it must be said, is that the write-ups for the two albums here treat their odd nature, their deviation from the idealised Ramones three-minute, three-chord punk, as a distraction to be tolerated but not to be, particularly, celebrated. For me, however, it is precisely this strangeness, cocooned in the catchy, soulful simplicity of the Ramones sound itself, which makes Pleasant Dreams and Subterranean Jungle so enjoyable, so deserving of Ramones classic status.

The artwork of the covers reflect this oddity. While presaged by the - incongruous to the Ramones sound, if not sense of fraternity - colour-coordinated t-shirt cover of End of the Century, these are markedly different from the covers of the early Ramones albums. Pleasant Dreams formed the first time a cover did not feature the members of the band. Subterranean Jungle, a picture of the band inside a subway train - soon-to-depart drummer Marky Ramone peering out of a lonely window - not only failed to return to the aggressive, backs-to-the-wall stance in favour of a more receding portrait, but introduced some pretty incongruous elements of colour. But it's all part of the fun of these albums.

Which are, incidentally, as fun as Ham Sandwich.

(Subterranean Jungle, perhaps for the cover alone, is my favourite of these two. The spraypaint aesthetic, after all, perfectly matches the urban deliquency and artistry of the Ramones. Read the Moonman passage from Don DeLillo's Underworld - approved by at least one resident - for a feel of such underground expression.)

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Ham Sandwich - Click... Click... Boom! (ROU004)

Since I didn't actually get the 'Never Talk' single, but as it appears in a very slightly different form and under a different name as the b-side for 'Click Click Boom' - itself still one of Ham Sandwich's very best songs.

1. Click Click Boom

2. Song in D ('Never Talk')

(As always, if you like what you hear, do buy the album Carry the Meek. The best thing I've heard this year so far)

'Click Click Boom' - live at HMV instore

'Click Click Boom' - acoustic on The Last Broadcast

'Click Click Boom' - live at Tower Records (State magazine launch)

Video: The Bouncing Souls, 'Lean On Sheena'

I have a bad habit of not finding videos on YouTube until long after they are first put up. This one (from 31st March, 2007) I just discovered at the weekend, and it is the music video for the single from the Bouncing Souls' excellent Gold Record, released in 2006. The Bouncing Souls are still one of my favourite bands - ever since first hearing What I Did On My Summer Vacation several to many years ago - with their supremely energetic, life-affirming and slightly Springsteenesque pop-punk, originating from a long lifetime of playing frenetic, silly hardcore and somehow culminating in beautiful, artistic songs which are none the less down-to-earth. Here, in a little over three minutes, it is expressed in one of their best - though not original, as is explained below - songs.

'Lean On Sheena' isn't my favourite Souls song overall because firstly, it's a cover, and secondly, it just isn't. But it's definitely one of their most enjoyable songs to listen to, and it is put to record very well. The original is from the self-titled first album of Avoid One Thing, released in 2002. Avoid One Thing, according to Wikipedia, was a side project for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' bassist Joe Gittleman, who wrote and recorded most of the material. Released on Side One Dummy, it's a not particularly ground-breaking but still surprisingly strong punk-pop record - reminds me a bit of Unitas, coincidentally the side project of Hot Water Music bassist Jason Black. I haven't heard their second album, 2004's Chopstick Bridge, yet but I hear it's quite good also. Avoid One Thing is very good solid punk-pop, just not Bouncing Souls-good.

An extra reason for posting this video was for continuing the spirit of live posts with something a little more punk. 'Lean On Sheena' was one of the best songs - in terms of performance and of crowd reaction - that they played in their show here in Dublin a couple of years ago. I remember having already picked out as a favourite from the album - it's a real singalong, even by usual Souls standards - and live, it didn't disappoint.

As far as the video goes, it's a pretty fair representation of the song, although the opening looks a bit too much like an intro to Cold Case, the song is a lot more directly acted out than I possibly would have liked, and it seems a bit emo'd up. All has to be forgiven, however, when you consider it along with this song (my favourite of theirs, or near enough):

May Live Mixtape (no live tracks) + Friday Videos

So, over the last while I've been at a fair few cool gigs. Nothing too strenuous, really, compared to other people: I got in the two big acts I wanted to see (Battles & Dinosaur Jr.); two smaller but very interesting shows (Xiu Xiu and Ham Sandwich), as well as a local act which I didn't write up (Heathers, with Hooray for Humans); and I didn't go to any of Bruce Springsteen's three nights in the RDS - although, as it happened, I had to sit on a bus and watch the hordes go in and out for two of those times.

This short mixtape or playlist divides up neatly into the first side of international (i.e. American) acts and the second side of Irish bands. It's all merged into two mp3s, no individual downloads sorry. I've included start times of each song to help, however.

(Apologies for the short post beforehand - some kind of server problems and a nice sunny evening outside)

MIXTAPE

Download May/Oh Five Oh Eight

Side A: (15:51)

1. Dinosaur Jr. - 'Freak Scene' (vinyl rip) (00:00-)

2. Battles - 'Tonto' (03:33-)

3. Xiu Xiu - 'Apistat Commander' (11:16-)

Side B: (16:34)

4. Hooray for Humans - 'Already Sleeping' (00:00-)

5. Heathers - 'Remember When' (03:30-)

6. A Lazarus Soul - 'The Day I Disappeared' (05:44-)

7. Ham Sandwich - 'Words'(10:17-)

8. The Vinny Club - 'It's Not You It's Of' (14:06-)

The first side is fairly straightforward; basically, the best song or near enough from each gig, as recorded from the album. I put in the vinyl rip of 'Freak Scene' from Bug well, because I could - same reason I put a vinyl rip of Slint, 'Good Morning, Captain' into a previous mix - but also out of technical interest. I'm not one to make a big deal out of the supposed differences in sound between vinyl and CD, but there is a difference between them here (It's a bit like someone talking normally and someone going 'BLEH!' in your ear). So this isn't as loud, but you can turn it up yourself.

The second side deserves a bit more explanation, on account of these all being Irish bands. Hooray for Humans I wrote about previously - this is the title track from their amazing new 7" out on Hideaway Records. They were playing support last Friday in Eamonn Doran's for Heathers and their album launch.

Heathers are two girls and a guitar - incidentally, from my old secondary school in Dublin -who literally are releasing an album and going on a US tour on the eve of their graduation. Here, Not There is a joint release between Plan-It-X Records of Gainesville, FL and Hideaway Records of, er, Deansgrange, Dublin. 'Remember When' is the first song off the album, which is really very good.

A Lazarus Soul played the Village the following night as support for Ham Sandwich, the show which is reviewed here. They were perhaps a little underwhelming, but this is the way they're meant to sound. 'The Day I Disappeared' is a song about notorious Dublin gangland criminal, Martin 'The General' Cahill, taken from their excellent album Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars.

Then Ham Sandwich, and 'Words', because it's my favourite live song of theirs. I could perhaps have put 'Never Talk' in instead, since that was the reason for the gig, but a) there didn't seem to be an opportunity to buy the single and b) I have something else up my sleeve regarding Ham Sandwich singles.

Finally, a sort of random but really good track from The Vinny Club, a side project from Vinny McCreith of Dublin band (sort of in the same league as Fight Like Apes) Adebisi Shank. The album launch for Rocky IV Reckyrd is tonight (the 31st), and I was planning on getting in one last gig in for May but I don't think I'll be able to go. However, it's a banging tune (taken from the Indie Hour podcast).

VIDEOS

The Redneck Manifesto (support act for Battles) - 'No One Plans Eleven' from a previous date in Vicar Street, recorded by Foetal Media

Xiu Xiu - 'FTW' from their new album, Women As Lovers

Heathers - 'Margie' (Irish and English), Live @ Eamonn Doran's, 23/05/08.

Ham Sandwich - 'Words', Live @ HMV instore