KEROSENE BEARS HAVE FUN

Animal Collective - “Leaf House”, “Who Could Win a Rabbit”, “Sweet Road”, and “Good Lovin Outside” off the album Sung Tongs

That’s right. I played not one, not two, not three, but four(!) songs by the band Animal Collective. I guess it would make perfect sense to assume that I’m a big Animal Collective fan (or at least a big fan of this album). Well, I do like these songs alright–some more than others. But all in all, I’ve realized recently that I’m not very much of an Animal Collective fan. They seem like the type of band that I’d like a lot. And they also seem like a band that the other Kerosene Bear would have little use for. But we seem to have flip-flopped on this one. Andy’s a fan, at least of their latest album Strawberry Jam (released just last week). I do like that song Banshee Beat off of Feels though, and maybe the more I hear of their music, I’ll begin to appreciate them a little more.

The Clientele - “My Own Face Inside the Trees” and “K” off the album Strange Geometry

This is probably the third time (at least) that I’ve played songs off this record by the Clientele. But they deserve it. And their live show confirms their musical greatness in my mind. Kerosene Bears, their family, and their friends had the pleasure of seeing the Clinetele play a show with Peter Bjorn & John this past Wednesday in Atlanta. Both bands were enjoyable, but for some reason we couldn’t stop talking about the Clientele set in particular. Alasdair amazed me with his guitar playing abilities which were, until the seeing the Clientele live, hidden to me by his mellow guitar tone. And by the end of the night, everyone in both bands and in the audience had serious crushes on the Clientele’s newest member Mel Draisey.

Starflyer 59 - “I Drive A Lot” and “Fell in Love at 22″ off the album The Fashion Focus

I was happy to stumble upon this album at the station among some of the older CD’s in WEGL’s collection. This band is so often overlooked! Starflyer 59 has been around since 1993, and aside from some occasional misses, they have been consistently releasing great records ever since. Maybe it’s the fact that they are still on Tooth & Nail records that’s kept them from the credit they’ve deserved. But don’t let a mediocre record label keep you from enjoying them. This album, Leave Here a Stranger, Everybody Makes Mistakes, Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice are all great records.

Battles - “Tonto”, “Layendecker”, “Rainbow” off the album Mirrored

Drummer John Stanier on drums (Helmet, Tomahawk), Ian Williams on keyboard/guitar (Don Caballero, Storm and Stress), David Konopka on guitar (Lynx), and avant musician Tyondai Braxton combine their highly technical talents to create something like 21st century math rock. Their 2007 album Mirrored is chock full of testosterone but still manages to not sound pointlessly angsty, not confined by the math rock genre, and is surprisingly catchy. Watch them live or on their video for their song “Atlas”, and check out John Stanier’s crash cymbal.

Deerhoof - “Heart Failure”, “Flower”, “L’Amour Stories” off the album Apple O’

Over the past year, I’ve become a pretty big Deerhoof fan. It mostly started with their recent Friend Opportunity album, but since then I have listened to their older music as well. While Apple O’ (2003) may sound a little harsher and quirkier than Deerhoof’s more recent releases, it is still an excellent album. In fact, in comparison to Friend Opportunity, this album probably better typifies the overall sound of Deerhoof as band since their creation in 1994. Harsh and quirky, yet catchy is exactly what Deerhoof’s sound is all about. Friend Opportunity may be the best introduction to the band, and may be helpful in starting to appreciating a great album like Apple ‘O that otherwise might be disregarded as too obnoxious or weird.

Peter Bjorn & John - “Start to Melt” and “Up Against the Wall” off the album Writer’s Block

As I mentioned earlier, seeing these guys live in Atlanta was a real treat. Although the Clientele definitely rivaled PB&J’s set, PB&J certainly put on a fun show. One thing that struck me was how much the vocal duties were among the members. For instance, a slow-but-sure version of “Start to Melt” was superbly sung by John, the drummer. The encore of the show ended with the song “Up Against the Wall”, a song I had been waiting all night for them to play. It still amazes me how that song is so simple, yet so effective–a nice ending to a concert and a nice ending to another late night episode of Radio Magic with Kerosene Bears.