New Music: The Beach Boys “That’s Why God Made the Radio”

2012 Capitol Records

Most of the interactions I have had with people concerning That’s Why God Made the Radio (the 30th studio album from The Beach Boys and the first in 20 years to contain original material) have been carbon copies of the one I had with the guy working the record store where I purchased the album. He seemed to be surprised that a new Beach Boys record would be worth buying at all. “I just assumed it would be really bad,” he said. “I mean, that’s usually the case in situations like this, right?” Of course, he meant situations in which a band already older than your parents reunites after a 20 year absence to make new music. He’s right – very rarely does this kind of experiment produce quality material. Usually, it only serves to solidify the geezer status of the people involved, and considering people have thought of The Beach Boys as geezers for quite some time, the end result could potentially be even worse for them.

Discog Review: Descendents

The ALL-era Descendents, now on tour.

I have been a rabid fan of Descendents for many, many years, but until I saw them headline Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin a month ago, I had always avoided their live releases. To be fair, when I was younger, I avoided most live releases. I liked the idea of having the record, and the live show – two separate entities. I think it was some sort of OCD thing.

Power Pop on the Rise? We’ll See.

Downtown Records 2010

One Haven Music 2010

It seems Power Pop might actually be undergoing a sort of resurgence. WhatwhatWHAAAT? How can this be? I mean, for something to have a resurgence, it must have been popular in the past at some point, right?

OK, so maybe a different word is necessary. However you describe it, those old Beatle-esque jangle-pop sounds are coming back into music again, and I like it! Well, most of it.

Listening Log: February 24th 2010

Epic 1971

2/24/10

Album of the Day: Sly & the Family Stone There’s A Riot Goin’ On

What a dark, sweaty and amazing way to start the coldest day of the New Year. This record is such a spontaneous and unpredictable statement about the general mood of the world in the early seventies, at times it feels like nothing more than an afternoon jam session that went on into the wee hours of the morning and produced several albums worth of material. In actuality, there is an elusive meticulousness at work here. Stone recorded most of the instrumentation himself, enlisting a few members of The Family Stone, as well as several guest performers. Everything from the songwriting to the performances, and especially the production, is drenched in a deep fog of disillusionment and repressed rage. Actually, I think it might be one of the most darkly hypnotic albums ever created, right up there with “The Madcap Laughs”, “Third/Sister Lovers” and “Tonight’s the Night”. What’s different about “Riot” is its success—despite its pervasively heavy mood, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and produced three hit singles. Man, I really wish I could go back and at least EXPERIENCE this time period, for like a few days. The fact that this album not only was at the top of the charts but DEBUTED there must mean they were doing something right back then. Have you seen who’s been topping our charts lately?

Lilys “The 3 Way”

Sire Records

Kurt Heasley, the main man behind Lilys, has never made the same record twice. Granted, there were three records in the nineties that are probably the closest related in Lilys’ storied catalog–1996′s “Better Can’t Make Your Life Better”, 1997′s “Services For the Soon to be Departed” EP, and this album, “The 3 Way”, from 1999.