Revolution Rock: The 2021 Interviews & Show # 917

This year on Revolution Rock, the program featured eleven different interviews. Eight were audio based interviews that aired on the show and three were done through email specifically for this website. On this episode we featured highlights (or clips) from each of the audio interviews and music from each of the artists that were interviewed, whether it was for the radio program or for this website. Below you will find some info about these interviews plus the playlist and download/streaming links to the episode.

An Interview with Richard Hell (February 2021): 

In February 2021, as part of Revolution Rock’s annual theme month programming we spoke with New York punk icon Richard Hell. Known as one of the originators and pioneers during the early days of New York punk, Hell quit the music world in 1984 to focus on writing, only reappearing a few times on some music projects. Having co-founded Television, being one of the original members of The Heartbreakers (featuring Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan of The New York Dolls), Hell formed Richard Hell & The Voidoids in 1976 and released their debut album, Blank Generation in 1977. Hell’s look and aesthetic would go on as a template for punk music that would influence others, most notably The Sex Pistols, who in turn would influence their own music scene. The Voidoids first album is seen as a classic, with its title track still sounding as vital and thought provoking today. In 1982, he released the often misunderstood Destiny Street. The album has a long history, which Richard goes into detail about in the interview. It was reissued in 2021 as Destiny Street Complete via Omnivore Recordings. The set contains four versions of the album, along with a few outtakes. The original 1982 version remastered, the 2009 Destiny Street Repaired version, a newly remixed version of Destiny Street and a collection of demos that show early and different versions of the songs that would make up this album. Destiny Street Complete re-establishes the great moments of Destiny Street for everyone to hear. Richard Hell is an author, poet, musician and actor. In this interview Richard Hell covers the time period making Destiny Street, parts of his writing career and influences, along with his songwriting process in the Voidoids and more.

Listen to the full interview here:

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An Interview with Patrick Flegel (of Cindy Lee/Women) & Michael Wallace (of Preoccupations/Women) (February 2021):

As part of a special program focusing on the 10th anniversary of Calgary band Women’s second and final album Public Strain we spoke with vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Patrick Flegel and drummer Michael Wallace. Recorded in the span of ten months in the dead of winter in Calgary by Chad VanGaalen, Public Strain explored more post punk sounds, often darker and more jarring, but at the same time there is something strangely beautiful that permeates this record. The album received widespread critical acclaim, eventually being long listed on the nominees for the Polaris Prize in 2011. Women toured heavily from 2008-2009. They also toured in support of Public Strain, but that tour was cut short in October 2010. Following a show that occurred in October 2010 in Victoria BC, Women stopped playing as a band. The band members went their separate ways. Bassist Matthew Flegel and drummer Michael Wallace went on to form the band Viet Cong (before changing their name to Preoccupations), guitarist/vocalist Patrick Flegel would continue creating music eventually creating music as Cindy Lee and Christopher Reimer joined the band The Dodos as their touring guitarist while collaborating and creating music until he passed away in his sleep unexpectedly in 2012. In these exclusive interviews Patrick talks about creating the music with Women for Public Strain, his influences as well as recording and performing as Cindy Lee. Michael Wallace, gives his own account of the sessions, recording with Chad VanGaalen and the moments leading up to the album, joining the band Women, Preoccupatons beginnings as well as plans for their next album. 

Listen to the full interviews here:

Find the original post here.

An Interview with Chad VanGaalen (March 2021):

Chad VanGaalen released World’s Most Stressed Out Gardner in 2021 on Sub Pop and Flemish Eye Records. The music that he creates while it is sometimes folk, sometimes psychedelic, sometimes indie rock, sometimes strange, is really its own thing. The universe in which the songs of Chad VanGaalen belong is a strange, wonderful, kind of messed up, cosmic place at times. As we enter these worlds we find ourselves absorbed by the sounds and stories that he produces. World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener is eclectic and offers more variety musically than ever before on one of his albums, but still has the same feel of the best of Chad VanGaalen’s work. In the interview Chad discusses how the album was created and altered when he came up with the song “Samurai Sword” just before the album was set to be printed, working on songs and recording. He also discusses his time recording Women’s Public Strain and working with members of the band on their first two albums, buying stuff of Kijiji, gardening and more.

Listen to the full interview here:

Find the original post here.

An Interview with Chris Murdoch (April 2021):

Halifax musician, DJ and writer Chris Murdoch released the full-length debut album Collapse with his band Souvenir in April of 2021. This followed 2020, Beating into Dust EP. In 2020, we also spoke with Chris for this website through email to discuss his music history playing in bands and Black Dots: An Afropunk Primer. Black Dots is an eight-page essay is somewhere in between a zine and pamphlet that also includes exclusive illustrations done by graphic designer/musician Raymond Biesinger. Inside over the course of 2800 words, Chris Murdoch covers his own experiences being a musician and attending shows in Halifax along with information about when Black first met punk in the UK and US. It was released through the Pentagon Black label in Montreal and over $3000 was donated to Black Lives Matter Solidarity Fund Nova Scotia from its sales. Souvenir is a band out of Halifax, Nova Scotia featuring bassist/vocalist Lachie MacDonald (Tom Fun Orchestra, Great Plains, Dyscontrol), guitarist/vocalist Dave Banoub (Jon Hynes) and Chris Murdoch on drums/vocals (Word On The Street, Weekend Dads, Outtacontroller). Produced by Charles Austin (Outtacontroller, Future Girls) out of Ocean Floor Studios in Halifax, Collapse is the debut full-length album from Souvenir. With all three members contributing vocals and songs, Collapse features nine songs and album cover artwork by illustrator Raymond Biesinger. In the interview Chris talks about the recording and writing process that the band went through to create Collapse, politics in punk and more. 

 Listen to the full interview here:

Find the original post here.

An Interview with Paul Jacobs (May 2021):

Montreal musician Paul Jacobs latest release Pink Dogs On The Green Grass was released via Blow The Fuse Records in 2021. With just thirteen tracks, this album follows 2020’s outtakes/demo collection Portrait of George (Demo & Songs I Forgot About) and 2018’s EASY. Already having several albums in his discography (and two releases as part of post punk group Pottery), Pink Dogs On The Green Grass shows Paul Jacobs branching out by finding a new way of approaching his music. Musically, references have been made to Cass McCombs, Kurt Vile, early Beck, but you can also hear the influence of 60s psychedelia and bands such as The Byrds and Lou Reed. Lyrically, Jacobs words are at times surreal. They are sometimes about different characters or observations and often take on cryptic meanings. While some have said that the lyrics reveal unwanted moments that stick with you, Pink Dogs On The Green Grass is much more than that. In the interview Paul talks about recording his new album, illustrating the videos for this album, who Bobby is from Pottery’s Bobby’s Motel album, David Lynch and more. 

Listen to the full interview here:

Find the original post here.

An Interview with Mark Arm & Steve Turner of Mudhoney (August 2021):

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is the second full-length album from Seattle’s Mudhoney. An expanded 30th anniversary edition was released by Sub Pop in 2021 featuring demos, outtakes and non-album tracks. Originally released on July 26th, 1991, the album shipped 50,000 copies when it was originally released. Just a few months later, Nirvana’s Nevermind would be released and the whole musical landscape would change. Prior to being recorded, Mudhoney recorded five tracks with producer Jack Endino (who also produced their Superfuzz Bigmuff EP and the Mudhoney album) in a 24-track studio. Unhappy with the results, guitarist Steve Turner pushed for a change of direction. Liking the results of Conrad Uno’s 8-track recording studio called Egg Studios on the Thrillsphere album by Tacoma, Washington’s Girl Trouble, the band decided to record a selection of punk covers with Uno to see what it would sound like recording there. Several of these songs came out on singles or on compilation albums, but not all of them. In spring of 1991, Mudhoney began recording Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. On this album Mudhoney switches their focus embracing 60s garage influences such as The Sonics, Lollipop Shoppe, Neil Young, Spacemen 3, post hardcore, 80s hardcore and the sounds of bands such as Zounds and Hawkwind. In the interview Mark Arm & Steve Turner of Mudhoney talk about making the 1991 album, being in an unaired TV pilot for Fox, the influence of The Wipers, fuzz pedals and more. 

Listen to the full interview here:

Find the original post here.

An Interview with Matt Ellis (May 2021):

Hamilton musician Matt Ellis has played in many different bands such as The Vapids, Flesh Rag and PlasticHeads. Usually on guitar, Matt recorded a series of Ramones inspired EPs in 2020 at his home where he played all of the instrumentation. All of the proceeds from these releases went towards different non-profit organizations in Toronto and Hamilton. Following a remix, the addition of real drums provided by Jimmy Vapid of The Vapids, Curtis Tone from PlasticHeads and two new tracks, Full Moon Fever was released on vinyl at the end of February 2021 on Surfin Ki Records. With an obvious Ramones influence, the songs that make up Full Moon Fever pull from the Dee Dee Ramone penned catalogue of Ramones tracks with a dash of The Spits, DBOY and Seattle band HEAD. At 18 tracks, none of the songs on Full Moon Fever go past the two-minute mark. Running through themes of isolation, frustration, boredom and escapism, Full Moon Fever delves into a manic dynamic of punk rock and suburban paranoia. Ellis released an album with another band called Anxious Pleasers on cassette that featured members of Hamilton band TV Freaks. In January 2021, he released a new digital single titled Everything Sucks. Matt Ellis did an exclusive Q&A for this website covering his music influences/history, the making of Full Moon Fever, guitars and his favourite Ramones albums. 

Read the full interview/post here.

An Interview with Shawn McDonald (June 2021):

London, Ontario musician Shawn McDonald has been involved in numerous rock bands over the years. In 2021, he made several albums from his discography with different bands he’s been in available digitally for the first time. One of his earlier bands, Grassy Knoll & The Magic Bullit released the album Hollandays digitally. It was a lost, previously unreleased album. In addition to this album he made other albums from this band available through Bandcamp and other streaming services. In 2018, 2 was released by the band Baby Giant. Baby Giant is made up of musicians Shawn McDonald and Tim McDonald. The band started out around 2017 to record a collection of reworked/reimagined songs in commemoration of an earlier band that the McDonald’s had been in called Grassy Knoll & The Magic Bullit (that album is called Grassy Magic). Being in numerous bands such as The Fine Print, Dragsville, Hurricane & Able and many others Shawn McDonald really showcases his songwriting abilities on 2, both on his own and in collaboration with Tim McDonald. The album was recorded by Tim McDonald (credited as King Woobs). Shawn McDonald did a Q&A for this website covering the writing of several songs in Grassy Knoll & The Magic Bullit, some of the bands he has played/recorded with and what he is currently working on. 

Read the full interview/post here.

An Interview with Neil Jarvis (July 2021):

Perhaps best known as being in the Manchester band Sprinters, Get The Band Back Together is the third solo album released by Neil Jarvis. Prior to this Sprinters released two excellent albums, 2017’s Sprinters and 2019’s Struck Gold. Neil’s earlier solo albums were recorded the same way as this one was, on a 4-track cassette recorder. Weekends (2012) and Halloween Summer (2014) featured lo-fi, psych/surf influenced sounds that were sometimes experimental. Get The Band Back Together is more acoustic based, but it still features the sometimes haunting nostalgic feeling that is present throughout all of Neil’s songs. Recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder during lockdown in April 2020-June 2021, Get The Back Band Together takes Jarvis’ earlier tried and true method of recording/writing songs, but adds a sense of maturity and poignancy that sets this collection of songs apart from both Sprinters and his earlier work. Neil Did a Q&A for this website where he covers recording and releasing an album during the pandemic, the influence of musician David Berman and some of his earlier solo releases. 

Read the full interview/post here.

An Interview with The Garrys (October 2021): 

Get Thee To A Nunnery is the fourth full-length album by Saskatoon’s The Garrys. This three-piece sister trio features Erica Maier (guitar/vocals), Julie Maier (bass/vocals) and Lenore Maier (drums/vocals). They first started appearing on underground music radar with 2017’s Surf Manitou, which brought their prairie inspired surf dynamics and combined them with folk-like tales of Manitou Beach, SK, a family vacation spot that the Maier’s visited when younger. In 2020, The Garrys released their score to the 1922 silent film Haxan:Witchcraft Through The Ages, which was performed and recorded live as the film played in a theatre. They describe their music as “dreamy blood harmony surf rock doom-wop on morphine.” Get Thee To A Nunnery has been getting critical acclaim appearing on Bandcamp Daily, other sites and charting on the Earshot Top 50 Album Charts across campus radio in Canada. Revolution Rock spoke with Erica, Julie and Lenore Maier of The Garrys. In the interview they discuss their formation, recording/writing songs for Get Thee To A Nunnery, working with Dallas Good as producer, doing the live soundtrack to Haxan:Witchcraft Through The Ages and more.

Listen to the full interview here:

Find the original post here.

Show 917: The 2021 Interviews Playlist:

1. Richard Hell - Kid With The Replaceable Head  (Remastered) (Destiny Street Complete - Omnivore Recordings - 2021)

RICHARD HELL INTERVIEW CLIP

2. Richard Hell - Ignore That Door (Remixed)  (Destiny Street Complete - Omnivore Recordings - 2021)
3. Women - Narrow With The Hall (Public Strain - Flemish Eye - 2010/2020)

PATRICK FLEGEL (OF CINDY LEE/WOMEN) INTERVIEW CLIP

4. Cindy Lee - Love Remains (Cat O’Nine Tails - CCQSK Records - 2020)
5. Women - Everyone Is So In Love With You (Rarities 2007-2010 - Flemish Eye - 2020)

MICHAEL WALLACE (OF PREOCCUPATIONS/WOMEN) INTERVIEW CLIP

6. Preoccupations - Monotony (Preoccupations - Jagjaguwar/Flemish Eye - 2006)
7. Chad VanGaalen - Starlight (World's Most Stressed Out Gardener - Sub Pop/Flemish Eye - 2021)

CHAD VANGAALEN INTERVIEW CLIP

8. Souvenir - Ransom (Collapse - 2021)

CHRIS MURDOCH (OF SOUVENIR) INTERVIEW CLIP

9. Souvenir - Holding Pattern (Collapse - 2021)
10. Paul Jacobs - Half Rich Longer (Pink Dogs On The Green Grass - Blow The Fuse Records - 2021)

PAUL JACOBS INTERVIEW CLIP

11. Paul Jacobs - The Telephone (Revisited) (Story About Anything EP - 2018)
12. Mudhoney - Into The Drink (Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (30th Anniversary Edition) - Sub Pop - 2021)

MARK ARM & STEVE TURNER (OF MUDHONEY) INTERVIEW CLIP

13. Matt Ellis - Flowers In The Moonlight (Full Moon Fever - Surfing Ki Records - 2021)
14. Grassy Knoll & The Magic Bullit - A-Jam (Hollandays - 2021)
15. Baby Giant - Japan (2 - 2018)
16. Neil Jarvis - Get The Band Back Together (Get The Band Back Together - On The Grind Records - 2021)
17. The Garrys - Devil’s Dip (Get Thee To A Nunnery - Grey Records - 2021)

ERICA, JULIE & LENORE MAIER (OF THE GARRYS) INTERVIEW CLIP

18. The Garrys - In The Dawn (Get Thee To A Nunnery - Grey Records - 2021)

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the January 15 file to download/stream the episode.

2021 Album Highlights & Shows # 917, 916

For our annual albums of the year episodes, Revolution Rock once again did not rank any of the albums with any specific number. The following selections for the two episodes posted here feature a mix of albums from 2021 in no specific order, but all of them were albums that we enjoyed. Below you will also find six write-ups from albums that were released in 2021, three written by Dave and three written by Adam. Following these words are playlists and download/listening links to two episodes featuring music released in 2021.

2021 Album Highlights:
Written by Dave Konstantino

Paul Jacobs - Pink Dogs On The Green Grass

Paul Jacobs latest release is Pink Dogs On The Green Grass is out via Blow The Fuse Records. With just thirteen tracks, this album follows 2020’s outtakes/demo collection Portrait of George (Demo & Songs I Forgot About) and 2018’s EASY. Already having several albums in his discography (and two releases as part of post punk group Pottery), Pink Dogs On The Green Grass shows Paul Jacobs branching out by finding a new way of approaching his music. Musically, references have been made to Cass McCombs, Kurt Vile, early Beck, but you can also hear the influence of 60s psychedelia and bands such as The Byrds and Lou Reed. Lyrically, Jacobs words are at times surreal. They are sometimes about different characters or observations and often take on cryptic meanings. While some have said that the lyrics reveal unwanted moments that stick with you, Pink Dogs On The Green Grass is much more than that. With Pink Dogs On The Green Grass, Paul Jacobs reveals that the grass sometimes turns yellow on the other side and that sometimes the green grass can be found in the every day moments we find ourselves in. 

The Garrys – Get Thee To A Nunnery

Get Thee To A Nunnery is the fourth full-length album by Saskatoon’s The Garrys. This three-piece sister trio features Erica Maier (guitar/vocals), Julie Maier (bass/vocals) and Lenore Maier (drums/vocals). They first started appearing on underground music radar with 2017’s Surf Manitou, which brought their prairie inspired surf dynamics and combined them with folk-like tales of Manitou Beach, SK, a family vacation spot that the Maier’s visited when younger. They also sung of sea monsters that lurked those parts. In 2020, The Garrys released their score to the 1922 silent film Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages, which was performed and recorded live as the film played in a theatre. They describe their music as “dreamy blood harmony surf rock doom-wop on morphine.” Surf, psychedelia, doo-wop, garage and cinematic sounds of composers such as Ennino Morricone influence the music, but it is so much more than that description. Produced by Dallas Good of the Sadies, Get Thee To A Nunnery presents The Garrys capturing that nostalgic feeling that they do so well, that exists both in the past and the present, as it questions topics relating to family roots in Saskatchewan, isolation and decay of rural life, worldviews and faith in different generations and oppression. It doesn’t just address the past saying everything is great because that isn’t how it was. While also taking influence from Shakepeare’s Hamlet, Get Thee To A Nunnery goes further in The Garrys’ songwriting abilities. It explores new and old themes placing them in larger contexts that drift out beyond the borders that we once knew.

Chad VanGaalen – World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener

World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener is the follow up to Chad VanGaalen’s 2017 album Light Information. If we are counting the two outtake albums that were released in 2020 (Odds & Sods 2, Lost Harmonies), it is his ninth studio album. Released in March 2021, World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener is an eclectic collection of songs from VanGaalen. The music that he creates while it is sometimes folk, sometimes psychedelic, sometimes indie rock, sometimes strange, is really its own thing. The universe in which the songs of Chad VanGaalen belong is a strange, wonderful, kind of messed up, cosmic place at times. As we enter these worlds we find ourselves absorbed by the sounds and stories that he produces. World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener offers more variety musically than ever before on one of his albums, but still has the same feel of the best of Chad VanGaalen’s work. Like his illustrations and animations, the songs that Chad VanGaalen creates capture a sense of something of the unknown, the otherworldly, visually and sonically. With World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener, Chad VanGaalen digs deep to show us a world that is dark, multifaceted and sonically captivating.

More 2021 Album Highlights:
Written by Adam Peltier

The Weather Station – Ignorance

Tamara Lindeman's past albums have displayed keen observations into human relationships, but her latest offering shifts the songwriter's insights to the relationship between people and the world around them. It would belittle Ignorance to think of it only as a “climate change” album; its exploration of complex themes and the intricacies existing between personal and ecology trauma refuse such a simple interpretation. Take the opener “Robber” - it may be about man-made environmental devastation, but it also evokes ideas of colonialism, capitalism, and meritocracy. However, there is no denying Lindeman's identification with nature on this album, from the pleading “Wear” to the cathartic closer “Subdivisions.” There is an artfulness to how Lindeman handles such themes, which in the wrong hands could be ham-fisted or pedantic. Instead, she offers an emotional vulnerability to her performance and lyrics, while never falling into fragility. In fact, the Weather Station has never sounded more confident or emboldened than on this record. Part of the album's charm is easily the band Lindeman assembled, whose performance incorporates elements of folk, baroque pop, and jazz, a combination which has led to many mid-70's Joni Mitchell comparisons. Certainly, Ignorance shares a lot of the warmth of albums like Court & Spark and Hissing of Summer Lawns, but distinguishes itself through its propulsive grooves and the immediacy of its lyrics. Rather than wallow in the environmental collapse of our world, Ignorance offers a passionate response to the societal apathy (and “ignorance”) that has led us down this path.

Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg

“Do everything feeling nothing.” Is there a greater distillation of how 2021 felt than this line? Florence Shaw's deadpan intonation is the perfect vessel to deliver this and the dozens of other quotable lyrics on New Long Leg, the debut album from the much hyped UK band Dry Cleaning. Unlike majority of other great white hopes touted by the British music press, Dry Cleaning delivered not only a solid album of grunge-tinged post-punk, but introduced the world to one of rock's most understated intense performers in Shaw. Her laconic delivery and dry observations imbue her lyrics with a mixture of dread and humour, reflecting the burned-out ennui felt by so many during the thick of these late-era capitalist pandemic years. Whether riffing on casual misogyny, Brexit, or eating Twix, Shaw should go down as one of the most unique and timely voices of the year.

Black Country, New Road - For the First Time

Long-associated tour mates of black MIDI (another band who released a fantastic album this year), the debut album by Black Country, New Road offered a breath of fresh air to the often hegemonic world of post-rock. While comparisons can be made to recent releases from Swans or Slint (who are name-checked on the track “Science Fair”), For the First Time is also indebted to klezmer music, free jazz, and noise. There probably isn't a greater crescendo this year than on the track “Sunglasses,” while the reserve of “Track X” shows the band also knows how to wring intensity from quieter compositions. Black Country, New Road have given listeners one of the most eclectic guitar rock releases of the year, and with a forthcoming sophomore album promised for 2022, continue to entice fans with wonders of where their sound will go next.

Show 916 (Originally Aired On January 8th, 2022)(Albums of 2022 Part Two):

1. King Khan Unlimited - Narcissist (Opiate Them Asses - Bargain Bin Records - 2021)
2. Visibly Choked - Third Time’s The Charm (Visibly Choked EP - Mothland - 2021)
3. La Luz - Watching Cartoons (La Luz - Hardly Art - 2021)
4. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Matt Sweeney – My Popsicle (Superwolves - Drag City Records- 2021)
5. Snail Mail – Automate (Valentine - Matador Records - 2021)
6. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – OK Idicts (Theory of Ice - You've Changed Records - 2021)
7. The Weather Station – Robber (Ignorance - Fat Possum - 2021)
8. black midi – John L (Cavalcade - Rough Trade - 2021)
9. Black Country, New Road – Sunglasses aka The Guest (For the First Time - Ninja Tune - 2021)
10. Motorists - Surrounded (Surrounded - We Are Time - 2021)
11. TUNS - Double Down (Duly Noted - Murder Records - 2021)
12. Anxious Pleasers - Suck (Anxious Pleasers - Neon Taste Records - 2021)
13. Mononegatives - Living In The Age (Apparatus Division - Big Neck Records - 2021)
14. Jesse Fellows - Mail Bomb (The Four Oranges EP - 2021)
15. Ty Segall - Waxman (Harmonizer - Drag City Records - 2021)
16. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Fire at Static Valley (G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! - Constellation Records - 2021)
17. Low – Days Like These (HEY WHAT - Sub Pop - 2021)
18. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Hand of God (Carnage - Goliath Records - 2021)
19. Chad VanGaalen - Nightwaves (The World's Most Stressed Out Gardener - Sub Pop/Flemish Eye Records - 2021)
20. Parquet Courts - Homo Sapien (Sympathy For Life - Rough Trade - 2021)
21. The Garrys - Sintatula (Get Thee To A Nunnery - Grey Records - 2021)
22. Viagra Boys -Ain’t Nice (Welfare Jazz - Year0001- 2021)
23. Paul Jacobs - Day to Day (Pink Dogs On The Green Grass - Blow The Fuse Records - 2021)
24. Paul Jacobs - Your Last Words (Pink Dogs On The Green Grass - Blow The Fuse Records - 2021) 

DOWNLOAD/LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE.

Show 915 (Originally Aired On January 1st, 2022)(Albums of 2022 Part One):

1. Dry Cleaning – Scratchcard Lanyard (New Long Leg - 4AD - 2021)
2. illuminati hotties – Knead (Let Me Do One More - Hopeless Records - 2021)
3. Julie Doiron – The Letters We Sent (I Thought of You - You've Changed Records - 2021)
4. Andy Shauf - Spanish On The Beach (Wilds - Anti- - 2021)
5. Courtney Barnett - Sunfair Sundown (Things Take Time, Take Time - Mom + Pop - 2021)
6. Bill Jr. Jr. - Renaissance Man (Homebody - 2021)
7. Snake River - High Rides (The Lost Album - 2021)
8. Sunshiny Daze - The Night Knows (What The Day Don’t) (Clouds Melt Away - 2021)
9. Neil Jarvis - Time (Get The Band Back Together - On the Grind Records - 2021)
10. Danny Kroha - Come Out The Wilderness (Detroit Blues - Third Man Records - 2021)
11. Daniel Romano’s Outfit - Nocturne Child (Cobra Poems - You've Changed Records - 2021)
12. Hot Garbage - Sometimes I Go Down (RIDE - Mothland - 2021)
13. PONY - Couch (TV Baby - Take This To Heart Records - 2021)
14. Souvenir - Circles (Collapse - 2021)
15. Squid – G.S.K. (Bright Green Field - Warp - 2021)
16. Idles – When the Lights Come On (Crawler - Partisan Records - 2021)
17. Iceage – Dear Saint Cecilia (Seek Shelter - Mexican Summer - 2021)
18. Ryley Walker – Axis Bent (Course in Fable - Husky Pants Records - 2021)
19. PRIORS - VideoDrome (My Punishment On Earth - Brain Gum Records - 2021)
20. Wine Lips - Get Your Money (Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party - Stomp Records - 2021)
21. Matt Ellis - My Neighbourhood Is A Dump (Full Moon Fever - Surfing Ki Records - 2021)
22. Amyl & The Sniffers - Security (Comfort To Me - Rough Trade/ATO Records - 2021)
23. Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds - (Are You) Ready Freddy (Swing From The Sean DeLear EP - In The Red Records - 2021)
24. Packs - Cling Film (Take the Cake - Fire Talk/Royal Mountain Records - 2021)
25. TEKE::TEKE – Barbara (Shirushi - Kill Rock Stars - 2021)
26. Kiwi Jr. - Maid Marian's Toast (Cooler Returns - Sub Pop - 2021)
27. Ducks Ltd. - 'Twas Ever Thus (Modern Fiction - Carpark Records/Royal Mountain Records - 2021) 

DOWNLOAD/LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE.

Pink Dogs On The Green Grass: Paul Jacobs Interview & Show # 881

Paul Jacobs latest release is Pink Dogs On The Green Grass. Out via Blow The Fuse Records, Pink Dogs On The Green Grass finds Paul Jacobs expanding his DIY garage style with more hazy pop melodies pulling in influences from the likes of Kurt Vile and Cass McCombs. With just thirteen tracks, this album follows 2020’s outtakes/demo collection Portrait of George (Demo & Songs I Forgot About) and 2018’s EASY.

“Christopher Robbins” starts off Pink Dogs On The Green Grass. Featuring bongos, a prominent drumbeat, a mixture of synths and guitar, this song brings forth lethargic melodies that also pop up at differing points throughout this album. Inspired by a few different people, including a manager for the band Pottery (who Paul also plays drums with), Jacobs has stated “This song’s about working for the man and doing what you gotta do to pay the bills until you find out what’s next.” With its off-kilter, yet infectious bongo grooves, “Christopher Robbins” captures something that isn’t clearly defined, but something that seems familiar. “Day To Day” arrives next, one of the many strong moments found on this album, this track adds flute to the mix of its hazy melodies and psychedelic folk vibes. “Day To Day” was inspired “by a trip with friends during which we played at a festival near a river out in the woods. The experience stuck with us as one of the greatest times in our lives” Jacobs has explained. This song with its chorus of “I just hope that you get to whatever you want to do/And I just hope that no one ever makes a fool of you” Jacobs transports the listener into nostalgic, yet hopeful thoughts as the words “I hope one day you’ll get the chance/To say whatever it is that you want to say,” bring on a melancholic feeling that sticks with you. “Half Rich Loner” was the lead off single for Pink Dogs On The Green Grass. Another track featuring mesmerizing, prominent drums, this track also moves with psychedelic garage vibes. With words such as “I was the half rich loner/Hanging underneath the ceiling/Staring at the photo/Or taking notes at the meeting/Yeah that was me,” Jacobs evokes working middle class thoughts, but also reveals stronger ambitions. While potentially autobiographical to a degree, this track with its hammer on guitar parts, rolling basslines and psychedelic drum breakdown, shines bright amongst the other tracks that make up the multi-layered sonic landscape of Pink Dogs On The Green Grass.

“Most Delicious Drink” marches with foggy melodies that recall the songs of The Clean featuring evocative synthesizer sounds and lyrics about well, a delicious drink that you want to last forever. Seemingly about nothing in particular, this song along with the track that follows it “Cherry” create a certain effect on the listener. Psychedelic sounds and effects permeate these songs. “Cherry” especially creates a contemplative mood. Blow The Fuse Records described the lyrics of Paul Jacobs as “those unwanted moments in life that stick with you, like unexpected encounters or bizarre situations that repeat themselves in your dreams,” songs like these definitely fit into that framework. “Everything’s Fine” delivers a fuzzy psychedelic air, as “Underneath The Roses” creates a dream-like trance with the music. Blending elements of Kurt Vile, Cass McCombs and early Beck, “Underneath The Roses” also features flute and casual guitars while lyrically it produces themes of unrealized realities. “Dancing With The Devil” is dominated by a hypnotic bassline and drum part and an omnipresent synthesizer, as Jacobs tells a stream of consciousness tale over top about getting new shoes, making something to eat and going dancing with the devil.

With its weary song structure and lyrics such as “She believes that he is up there watching over everyone/No you can’t take that back,” “Glory Days Yesterday” is somewhat enigmatic, as “Kathy’s Bible” begins with drums and kaleidoscopic riffs. With its tongue-in-cheek attitude, lyrics such as “I found the book to be quite long after that” following several lyrics juxtaposing different thoughts, “Kathy’s Bible” is yet another track that could fit into the unexpected situations that repeat themselves category that is found throughout Pink Dogs On The Green Grass. “The Boys Are Back” is another catchy mid-tempo track that features lyrics such as “I bet you’ve never stood on the inside looking outside/And I wonder if you had an opinion that you had to hide” that conjures up many different thoughts as revolving basslines, handclaps and other effects layer overtop. “Hello Sunshine” ends Pink Dogs On The Green Grass with its fizzy psychedelic, sunbaked melodies that are seamless.

Already having several albums in his discography, Pink Dogs On The Green Grass shows Paul Jacobs branching out by finding a new way of approaching his music. Musically, references have been made to Cass McCombs, Kurt Vile, early Beck, but you can also hear the influence of 60s psychedelia and bands such as The Byrds and Lou Reed. Lyrically, Jacobs words are at times surreal. They are sometimes about different characters or observations and often take on cryptic meanings. While some have said that the lyrics reveal unwanted moments that stick with you, Pink Dogs On The Green Grass is much more than that. With Pink Dogs On The Green Grass, Paul Jacobs reveals that the grass sometimes turns yellow on the other side and that sometimes the green grass can be found in the every day moments we find ourselves in.

Listen to Revolution Rock's interview with Paul Jacobs:   

Show 881 Playlist (Originally Aired On May 8, 2021)(Paul Jacobs Interview):

1.  Osees - Carrion Crawler (Live Levitation Sessions)
2.  Osees - Meat Step Lively (Live Levitation Sessions II)
3.  Eddie & The Showmen - Movin'
4.  The Sadies - Clear A Path
5.  Kid Congo Power & The Pink Monkey Birds - (Are You) Ready Freddy
6.  Kiwi Jr. - Guilty Party
7.  Paul Jacobs - Day To Day
8.  Paul Jacobs - Born In A Zoo

PAUL JACOBS INTERVIEW PART ONE 

9.  Paul Jacobs - Baby (With Bells)
10. Paul Jacobs - Stages For You
11. Paul Jacobs - The Telephone
12. Paul Jacobs - Soul Catcher
13. Paul Jacobs - Suckin' On A Cigarette

PAUL JACOBS INTERVIEW PART TWO 

10. Paul Jacobs - Cherry
11. Paul Jacobs - Dancing With The Devil
12. Bob Dylan - New Pony
13. Bob Dylan - Slow Train
14. Bob Dylan - Neighborhood Bully
15. Bob Dylan - Everything Is Broken
16. Pottery - Texas Drums Pts I & II
17. Pottery - Hot Like Jungle
18. Paul Jacobs - Christopher Robbins

DOWNLOAD/LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE

Paul Jacobs EASY: A Short Interview & Show # 757

EASY is the latest album released by Paul Jacobs. Put out through UK label Stolen Body Records in October 2018, EASY shows Jacobs drifting out within his own lo-fi garage aesthetic, adding atmosphere with synthesizers that at times sound like they are coming from an old VHS tape. It was recorded, written and performed all by Jacobs himself, and features backing vocals from Meagan Callen that pop up throughout various songs on the album. EASY follows a series of releases from Jacobs. Earlier in 2018, an EP was released on cassette called Story About Anything and in 2016, there were two albums released, I’m Into What You’re Into and Pictures, Movies & Apartments. Stolen Body Records released Pictures, Movies & Apartments on vinyl in 2017. The music on EASY still retains the chaotic, lo-fi element that has been present in Jacobs’ music since the beginning, but there is something else found in this collection of songs. The melodies are stronger, almost haunting, as they make their way into the listeners subconscious.

“Holy Holy” starts off the album with a collection of diverse instrumentation that includes haunting synthesizers, distorted guitar, cowbell, drumrolls and infectious vocals that float amongst the chaos in a psychedelic fashion. Lyrically, EASY tackles everyday life with a slacker realization that is at times humorous and poignant. “Expensive” the second track found on EASY features lyrics like “So much for the future I watch the years go by/Here’s to the ones who do favours for the people with nothing” and “Because I can count on you/I’ll always count on you/Because the things that you do/Are not like anyone else/Well I can’t wait for you to notice me”. This song seems to operate with a duality about commercialism and as a love song at the same time. Musically, “Expensive” has 80s influences with added distorted guitar, drum machine sounds and laser beam sounding synthesizers. The slow and warbley instrumental track “Coffee” filters in at track three before we are brought to the song “Easy (Warm Weather)”. This song arrives like a smoky synthesizer display at a dimly lit rock venue amongst deep cutting bass and drums. With lyrics such as “You want to quit your job and do something that you love/You don’t care about the folks at the bank and getting your shit together” and “It’s okay/You’ll find it easy to stay in warm weather”, the song juxtaposes the monotonous reality of working a boring job and doing whatever you want. It finds solace in its hazy realizations amid dizzying synthesizers that suck you into its musical landscape.

“Laundry” features more exotic song textures as lyrically it processes through the cycle of everyday responsibilities, “Life Lessons II” submerges itself in fuzzy bass, drums and distorted guitars, while “Sunday Morning II” bounces with a psychedelic garage dimensionality. One of the many strong songs found on EASY, “Sunday Morning II” grabs ahold of the listener in a nonchalant way with open ended, abstract lyrics. “Setting Sun” features a fuzzier garage sound. Taking on what sounds like a T.Rex influence, this song searches for something while not getting hung up on the past with lyrics such as “Lately I always wonder what you’re doing/I don’t know exactly where I’m going/But the futures bright for those who know they’ll never go back”. “Trouble (Last Song)” breaks out with a more psychedelic approach as sounds reverberate amongst the omnipresent drums, bass and distorted, reverb drenched vocals. “Roads” is a more abstract song that moves forward in a laidback direction with lyrics made up with elusive and cryptic phrases and a combination of synthesizers that layer throughout the song’s atmosphere.

“Cigarettes” ends EASY. With its acoustic guitar, catchy basslines that seem to glow and fiery, overblown sounding synthesizers, Paul Jacobs ends this album with one of his strongest pop hooks. With lyrics such as “You were not supposed to hurt me/How’s someone like you go on/There is nothing wrong with love and laughter/Time keeps us moving on” and “Well time holds all of the answers/Time holds all the pain/Well time don’t know what’s the matter with you these days”, “Cigarettes” lives in the moment while at the same time provides hauntingly poignant words. With eight full-length albums, and numerous EP’s and singles in his discography, EASY offers something new for listener’s that may be familiar with music Paul Jacobs has created in the past, but it also doesn’t stray too far from the spirit that has been present in his earlier recordings. With EASY, Paul Jacobs delivers an album that grows at its own pace.

Continue reading for a short Q & A that I did with Paul Jacobs:

RR: When did you first begin work on your album EASY and how would you say it differs to your last full-length album Pictures, Movies & Apartments?

PJ: I started on EASY around January 2017 I’d say, just demoing and all that. I guess during the time my musical interests had changed a lot from the PM&A time. I was also playing my keyboard a lot more.

RR: What was the typical recording process like when making EASY?

PJ: Well I had my recording setup in my living room, so whenever I had a moment I’d just try to make something. The drums are electric and the guitars/keyboard are mostly DI so it’s pretty quick to get it going. I was living in an apartment while recording both albums (EASY and Pictures, Movies & Apartments) so I had to do what I could without getting any noise complaints.

RR: EASY was released through Stolen Body Records in the UK. How did you get connected with the label and what has it been like working with them?

PJ: Originally I was looking for anyone to re-release PM&A so I could do a tour. I hit up Al (of Stolen Body Records) after I saw he did releases for my friends in Dusty Mush. He liked the album and was down, he's a cool guy and I have a lot of respect for him and the label.

RR: You’ve played in Europe several times now. What is it like playing live shows in Europe as opposed to Canada? What were some of your more memorable experiences playing in Europe recently?

PJ: Europe just has a lot of places to play with short drive times. I also love how the culture changes in smaller distances. Shows are pretty much the same cuz people are people, but shows are only 1 hr of the day. It's the rest of the way you spend your time touring that makes or breaks it. I had a great time in Switzerland this year. It was also the end of the tour and the first 5 weeks became a blur haha.

RR: You did the music video for “Sunday Morning 2” off of EASY. How long did it take to put together the video and do you want to make more of your own videos in the future?

PJ: It took me a bit over a month to get it done. It was a lot of work but completing it was pretty rewarding. I'll do more again for sure.

RR: In 2018 you also released a limited edition cassette called Story About Anything. For this release, there were 100 cassettes made up of different covers that move like a flipbook. Can you tell us a bit about this release and why do you think independent musicians are still using cassettes?

PJ: I love cassettes because you can always find good albums at thrift stores. I released it just because I had the idea for the flipbook covers and wanted to get that done. I would do vinyl myself if I could afford it, but I can’t. Cassettes are great for people that just wanna get stuff out and have some merch for shows.

RR: How would you describe your music to someone that hasn’t heard it before?

PJ: I can't really answer that, they'd have to describe it to me.

RR: What’s next for you musically?

PJ: Same thing really, I'll just try to make music that I enjoy hearing.

Listen to EASY here: 



Grab a record from Stolen Body Records here.

Show 757 Play List (Originally Aired On January 12th, 2019)(Carbonas, Beastie Boys, Paul Jacobs):

1. Gene Carroll & The Shades - Red Devil
2. The Echo Tones - Inland Surfer
3. Outrageous Cherry - Last Nice Guy In Detroit
4. Jon Spencer - Time 2 Be Bad
5. Gary's House - The Past Does Not Confront Me
6. Tomorrows Tulips - Flaccid Guitars
7. Trout - Contrition & Disclosure
8. The C.I.A. - Pleasure Seeker
9. PRIORS - Sunshine
10. Carbonas - Blackout (Waiting To Happen)
11. Carbonas - (Your Love Is) Inside Out
12. The Polymorphines - Dirty Cop
13. Dead Ghosts - Roky Said
14. The Hives - Civilization's Dying
15. The Young and The Useless - Young and Useless
16. Beastie Boys - Egg Raid On Mojo (Demo)
17. Beastie Boys - Cooky Puss (Censored Version)
18. Beastie Boys - Jimmy James (Single Version)
19. Beastie Boys - Electric Worm
20. BS 2000 - The Scrappy
21. Country Mike - Country Mike's Theme
22. Country Mike - Don't Let The Air Out of My Tires
23. Luscious Jackson - Satellite
24. Volunteers - Ten In The Sky
25. Bad Sports - Gains and Losses
26. Hot Snakes - Plenty For All
27. Papa Ghostface - Lean Years
28. Paul Jacobs - Quarter To Eleven
29. Paul Jacobs - Holy Holy
30. Paul Jacobs - Expensive
31. Paul Jacobs - Sunday Morning II
32. White Fence - Lorelei
33. Young Rival - The Ocean

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for January 12.

Show 756 was a repeat of episode of 753 which originally aired in December of 2018. You can download that episode here and find the play list here.

Show 755 was a repeat of a horror/halloween themed episode that aired originally in October 2018. You can download that episode here and find the play list here.

2018 Highlights & Shows # 752, 753

For their favourite releases of 2018, Dave & Adam of Revolution Rock each picked ten albums that they liked that were put out in 2018 and some selections from other albums as well. They did two episodes devoted to music that was released in 2018 and you can download these episodes under the playlists below. Each of their top 10 lists are included in this post, followed by a little write-up of each of their top five albums from 2018.

Dave’s Top 10 Albums of 2018:

1. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
2. Nap Eyes - I’m Bad Now
3. Volunteers - I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver
4. La Luz - Floating Features
5. Paul Jacobs - EASY
6. Preoccupations - New Material
7. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
8. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Hope Downs
9. Ty Segall & White Fence - Joy
10. Mudhoney - Digital Garbage

Adam’s Top 10 Albums of 2018:

1. U.S. Girls – In a Poem Unlimited
2. Mount Eerie – Only Now
3. Low – Double Negative
4. Daughters – You Won't Get What You Want
5. Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy
6. Idles – Joy as an Act of Resistance
7. Father John Misty – God's Favorite Customer
8. Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!
9. Mitski – Be the Cowboy
10. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Hope Downs

A Few Write-ups From A Selection of Our Top 10 Lists:

Dave's Top Five:

1. Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!

Released through Rough Trade Records, Wide Awake! finds guitarist/vocalist Andrew Savage, Austin Brown (guitar/vocals), Sean Yeaton (bass) and drummer Max Savage reconvening for what many have been calling their strongest album to date. “Total Football” opens Wide Awake! Starting with a marching drum beat and ringing guitar and bass, it quickly picks up pace as the basslines run in between the guitar parts, drums and vocals in a graceful, yet energetic way. Lyrically, the song is based on the theory of “total football” that states any player on the field can play any role or position. Parquet Courts take this theory and apply it to a modern context. With lyrics such as “We are troubled by your soft curiosity/But delighted to be anti-everything you were taught” and “Collectivism and autonomy/Are not mutually exclusive” the song deals broadly with the duality of collectivism, individuality and clichéd American masculinity. This first song, as has been said in interviews serves as a sort of manifesto for the album, which tackles the current political climate among other things, with humour, wit and a new sense of anger.

Produced by Danger Mouse, Wide Awake! shows Parquet Courts amplifying their characteristics, with a punk and funky aesthetic. The album is charged with an intensity and anger that is the opposite of 2016’s Human Performance. While it does address cultural and social contexts, it also comments on our current political climate. These points, however, aren’t forced down the listener’s throats. Like all of the band’s albums, lyrically there are many themes and ideas that can be drawn upon and looked at, not just the obvious. By looking inward and outward, Parquet Courts question everything and nothing at the same time. There is no fat left on this record, it flows seamlessly from track to track, however, Wide Awake! leaves the listener plenty to chew.

2. Nap Eyes – I’m Bad Now

Nap Eyes formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2011. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Nigel Chapman, Brad Loughead (lead guitar), Josh Salter (bass) and Seamus Dalton (drums), Nap Eyes musical style has drawn comparisons to bands such as The Velvet Underground, The Clean, The Go-Betweens, and Television, among others. Their style sometimes called “slacker rock” is different. It does have similarities to the above-mentioned bands, but at the same time it doesn’t. The music also lends itself to the indie rock world and also to other genres. Lyrically, the words operate on a different level being introspective, deadpan and sarcastic at times. I’m Bad Now, is the third full-length album release by this band. Released via You’ve Changed Records/Paradise of Bachelors, I’m Bad Now finds Chapman questioning relationships and life in general in philosophical, existential and cosmic contexts. While there are similar themes that pop up and appear between the three albums, I’m Bad Now stands up by itself. The meanings that can be drawn from the songs here can be abstract, or not. The listener is not presented with everything spelled out for them, which causes repeat listens to reveal little subtleties that may not have been noticed before. With all its cosmic layers, drawing on everything from existential to philosophical themes, I’m Bad Now seems to ask more questions than it answers. However, as we are told in “Boats Appear”, ”It takes time to understand things/And the more you know/The more you don’t know”.

3. Volunteers – I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver

In the spring of 2018, Volunteers, a band based in Vancouver released a new album entitled, I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver. This debut album appeared mysteriously, by a band consisting of Dave McMartin (guitar), John McMartin (drums), Fraser With (guitar) and Brad Felotick on bass/vocals. They have had their song “Who Needs A Girl Like You” featured as the theme song to the CraveTV series, Letterkenny. In addition to providing the title theme to the show, they also have other songs in the various episodes of the show, along with other Vancouver bands. The album was recorded by Andrew Wilkinson, who also plays in the band Dead Ghosts. It was recorded in a barn on the outskirts of Vancouver where the two bands share a rehearsal space. This location is also the same place where Dead Ghosts recorded their 2015 release, Love and Death and All The Rest. As a result, I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver has a laid back feel, but also never loses its 60s garage/rock spirit. With a title inspired by an ad-lib from a live recording by Neil Young & Crazy Horse, I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver, blends a country/garage musicianship with lyrics that are strong with rich, folk-like imagery. The album is a bit mysterious, but is also a mature reflection on the past and present, while creating something new. The sound of Volunteers is organic, but pulls its roots from different musical backgrounds. I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver is homegrown, but never sounds dated. It leaves a lasting imprint on the listener that is hard to shake.

4. La Luz – Floating Features

Since 2015’s Weirdo Shrine, La Luz has relocated to Los Angeles. The changing of their backdrop from Seattle to Los Angeles is embedded into their third full-length and latest album’s very core. Floating Features still levitates with the same surf noir dynamics that were first cast on 2013’s It’s Alive. Produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Floating Features adds a new shine to La Luz’s already established sound without being too obvious. The mood on Floating Features simmers as this all female quartet draws on the theme of dreams and its many variations. “Don’t Leave Me On The Earth” is layered in metaphors and surf fuelled drums, guitar, bass and organ that swelter with fervor. With a title that sounds like something from a sci-fi film from decades long ago and words such as “Wild World/I Was high/I was all dead inside” and a chorus of “Juniper/Juniper/Don’t leave me on the earth” and “Take me with you when you go”, this song and the juniper plant reference could be representing the desire for a cleansing of old landscapes as a new dream breaks free from the confines of an old one. With Floating Features, La Luz creates a mood that is a bit hazy at times and sometimes abstract. Lyrically building on the theme of dreams and the different ways that they can be perceived, La Luz confronts whatever comes their way to readjust their sonic features and to create and strengthen their own musical landscape.

5. Paul Jacobs - EASY

EASY is the latest album released by Paul Jacobs. Put out through UK label Stolen Body Records in October 2018, EASY shows Jacobs drifting out within his own lo-fi garage aesthetic, adding atmosphere with synthesizers that at times sound like they are coming from an old VHS tape. EASY follows a series of releases from Jacobs. Earlier in 2018, an EP was released on cassette called Story About Anything and in 2016, there were two albums released, I’m Into What You’re Into and Pictures, Movies & Apartments. Stolen Body Records released Pictures, Movies & Apartments on vinyl in 2017. The music on EASY still retains the chaotic, lo-fi element that has been present in Jacobs’ music since the beginning, but there is something else found in this collection of songs. The melodies are stronger, almost haunting, as they make their way into the listeners subconscious. Lyrically, EASY tackles everyday life with a slacker realization that is at times humorous and poignant. EASY offers something new for listener’s that may be familiar with music Paul Jacobs has created in the past, but it also doesn’t stray too far from the spirit that has been present in his earlier recordings. With EASY, Paul Jacobs delivers an album that grows at its own pace.

Adam's Top Five:

1. U.S. Girls – In a Poem Unlimited

Stuck within the quagmire of insidious misogyny that pervades this culture (look no further than the sexist demagogue elected into office), women in 2018 had to face the bombardment of media re-enforcing ideas of female bodies being nothing more than commodities to exploit. This is the world Meg Remy combated on In a Poem Unlimited, the sixth album from the Toronto multi-instrumentalist's project U.S. Girls. While Remy's previous albums never shied away from the existential complexities of womanhood, this record's set of political pop was her most barbed and incisive collection yet. “Velvet 4 Sale” depicts a dystopian future wherein women and children are conscripted to fight the wars of the rich elite, “Mad As Hell” criticized the American military presence in the Middle East, while “Rage of Plastics” tells the story of a woman becoming infertile due to working in a chemical refinery. As dire as these narratives are, Remy could not even find respite in the afterlife, saving her most scathing critique of institutionalized sexism for the space-disco of “Pearly Gates”: “But like some roadside vet with a bag in hand/I could do anything St. Peter asked/For one chance to be an angel in his eyes/It seemed to be the safe bet, so I closed my eyes/And I opened my gates wide/And St. Peter came inside.” AND YET, as dark as the themes of this record were, In a Poem Unlimited also radiated hope. This was not only due to the hypnagogic pop of her assembled band, whose arrangements brought to mind a range of influences such as Bowie, Talking Heads, Blondie, and ABBA. It was also due to the tireless bravery of Remy tackling these themes, her ambition to call out to prevalent misogyny and corruption of the world around her, and the reassurances that as long as people like her continue this battle, love and righteousness may prevail. This is U.S. Girls' most complex and sprawling record, while also being their most immediate and grooving. It is political pop, protest music, full of revolutionary anger, while also being joyous and life affirming.

2. Mount Eerie - Now Only

Last year, Phil Elverum released one of the most emotionally cataclysmic records I have ever heard. The eulogistic A Crow Looked At Me explored the aftermath of losing a loved one (the songwriter's wife Genevieve Castree), with what amounted to less a collection of songs than an exercise of visceral catharsis. Now Only sees Elverum returning again to his grief, but resulting in a much different album. While the arrangements of Crow were sparse, barely even songs, the six tracks of Now Only are flushed out and complex. Arrangements shift and sprawl. Pleading acoustic laments suddenly break into feedback-laden squalls. Time signatures shift. The album even offers a bit of respite in humour, as Elverum recounts playing his “death songs to a bunch of young people on drugs” at a music festival. This isn't to say this record is any less devastating than its predecessor, but it seems time has given Elverum perspective. Now Only is the sound of a man healing after a major tragedy, and while it might be a stretch to claim this record as being “hopeful,” a bit of light has begun to break through the sombre clouds of Mount Eerie's world.

3. Low – Double Negative

Here's an accolade for you: I've never heard a record that sounded like Double Negative before in my life. While the Minnesota trio could have rode out their band's career producing yet another collection of slowcore indie rock, they decided instead to dabble in auto-tune, synths, and digital distortion. The resulting record is not exactly a rock record, nor a folk record, nor a pop record. I'm at my wit's end trying to find the right category for it to fit in (if such a thing even exists). Double Negative is akin too a polished indie pop record downloaded onto a digital drive, which has been dunked in water, thrown down a flight of stairs, and bludgeoned with a hammer. While soft comparisons have been made to Radiohead's Kid A and Bon Iver's 22, A Million, it really stands out on its own. Each digital clip, each wave of distortion seems specifically planned, meticulously orchestrated. Its the album of a veteran band refusing to be pigeon-holed, crafting a Dadaist masterpiece that is as haunting as it is unconventional.

4. Daughters – You Won't Get What You Want

Visceral. That is the word to describe this Rhode Island band's fourth release. This album is a nosedive into incessant paranoia and madness, as if Suicide's “Frankie Teardrop” were given a noise-rock makeover by Jesus Lizard. Listening to this LP is intense and brutal, with the icy guitar blasts of “Satan in the Wait” and cacophonous sea-shanty of “The Flammable Man” sheer peaks in this musical downward spiral. Add on some truly poetic lyrics by Alexis Marshall (just look to the chilling narrative told in “Ocean Song”) and Daughters have created the best heavy rock record of recent years.






5. Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy (Face To Face)

A re-recording of Will Toledo's 2011 bedroom-rock project, this new version of Twin Fantasy is a vast improvement over its predecessor. Not only have the arrangements been fleshed out with a full band sound, but the previous record's propensity for navel-gazing has been removed in favour of greater confidence and Toledo's finely developed wry sense of humour. Of course, the subjects are just as personal and introspective as found on the previous version of this record, but the new arrangements provide much needed life into a record that otherwise was lost in the sea of laconic mope-rock permeating bandcamp. Twin Fantasy (Face To Face) is an emotional sprawling experience, and perhaps Toledo's most ambitious record to date.



Show 753 (Best of 2018 Part Two):

1. Double Winter - Oxen Eyes (Double Winter - Crystal Palace Records - 2018)
2. Flesh Rag - Just One Kiss (Inside Your Mind - Schizophrenic Records/Loose Lip Records - 2018)
3. Snake River - Let Us Be Something Seen (Tread On To The Unknown You - 2018)
4. Farewell Mourners - Always Eventually (Farewell Mourners EP - Must Be Nice Records - 2018)
5. Charles Bradley - Heart of Gold (Black Velvet - Daptone Records - 2018)
6. Fucked Up - Raise Your Voice Joyce (Dose Your Dreams - Merge Records - 2018)
7. U.S. Girls - Mad As Hell (In A Poem Unlimited - 4AD - 2018)
8. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Bellarine (Hope Downs - Sub Pop - 2018)
9. Mudhoney - Next Mass Extinction (Digital Garbage - Sup Pop - 2018)
10. Mitski - Lonesome Love (Be The Cowboy - Dead Oceans - 2018)
11. Ty Segall & White Fence - Rock Flute/A Nod (Joy - Drag City Records - 2018)
12. Parquet Courts - Violence (Wake Up! - Rough Trade Records - 2018)
13. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Talking Straight (Hope Downs - Sub Pop - 2018)
14. Father John Misty - Date Night (God's Favorite Customer - Sub Pop - 2018)
15. Courtney Barnett - Charity (Tell Me How You Really Feel - Mom + Pop Music - 2018)
16. Idles - Television (Joy As An Act of Resistance - Partisan Records - 2018)
17. Preoccupations - Espionage (New Material - Flemish Eye - 2018)
18. Car Seat Headrest - Sober To Death (Twin Fantasy (Face To Face) - Matador Records - 2018)
19. Paul Jacobs - Easy (Warm Weather) (Easy - Stolen Body Records - 2018)
20. Daughters - Guest House (You Won't Get What You Want - Ipecac Recordings - 2018)
21. La Luz - The Creature (Floating Features - Hardly Art - 2018)
22. Low - Poor Sucker (Double Negative - Sub Pop - 2018)
23. Volunteers - Don't Get Me Down (I Wish I Was As Happy As John Denver - Barn Records - 2018)
24. Mount Eerie - Tintin In Tibet (Now Only - P.W. Elverum & Sun - 2018)
25. Nap Eyes - Every Time The Feeling (I'm Bad Now - Paradise of Bachelors/You've Changed Records - 2018)
26. U.S. Girls - Velvet For Sale (In A Poem Unlimited - 4AD - 2018)
27. Parquet Courts - NYC Observation (Wide Awake! - Rough Trade Records - 2018)

Download This Episode Here!

Show 752 (Best of 2018 Part One):

1. Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (Love Bites - United Artists - 1978)
2. Buzzcocks - I Don't Mind (Another Music In A Different Kitchen - United Artists - 1977)
3. Buzzcocks - Love You More (Love Bites - United Artist - 1978)
4. Shoobies - Surfin' Surgeon (Nevermind The Hardcore, Here's Shoobies - 2018)
5. Baby Giant - High Tide (2 - 2018)
6. Urban Surf Kings - Slipstream (Astro Surf A-Go-Go - Surf Cookie Records - 2018)
7. Papa Ghostface - Every Angry Element (What We Lost In The Flood - Tosteestosta Music - 2018)
8. Papermaps - Iron Stove (Confessions: To Each Their Own Rapture - Sparks Music - 2018)
9. Peach Kelli Pop - Quiet (Gentle Leader - Mint Records/Bachelor Records - 2018)
10. Peach Kelli Pop - Crooked (Which Witch - Mint Records/Bachelor Records - 2018)
11. Outrageous Cherry - The Beginning of the End of the Night (Meet You In The Shadows - Burger Records - 2018)
12. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Unwanted Number (Look Now - Concord Records - 2018)
13. School Damage - Isn't Easy (A To X - Chapter Music - 2018)
14. Archie & The Bunkers - Fire Walk With Me (Songs From The Lodge - Dirty Water Records - 2018)
15. The 427's - Bikini Thief (Stay Gold - Stingray Sounds - 2018)
16. Preoccupations - Solace (New Material - Flemish Eye - 2018)
17. Nap Eyes - Dull Me Line (I'm Bad Now - Paradise of Bachelors/You've Changed Records - 2018)
18. Courtney Barnett - Nameless, Faceless (Tell Me How You Really Feel - Mom + Pop Music - 2018)
19. Iceage - Catch It (Beyondless - Matador Records - 2018)
20. Jeff Rosenstock - Yr Throat (POST - Polyvinyl Record Co. - 2018)
21. Mark Sultan - Believe Me (Let Me Out - Dirty Water Records - 2018)
22. Bonny Doon - A Lotta Things (Longwave - Woodsist - 2018)
23. Mexican Knives - Social Diary (II - Jett Plastic Recordings - 2018)
24. Hot Snakes - Six Wave Hold Down (Jericho Sirens - Sub Pop - 2018)
25. Ty Segall - Main Pretender (Freedom's Goblin - Drag City Records - 2018)
26. Shame - Friction (Songs of Praise - Dead Oceans - 2018)
27. No Age - Cruise Control (Snares Like A Haircut - Drag City Records - 2018)
28. Jeff Tweedy - I Know What It's Like (Warm - dBpm Records - 2018)
29. Buzzcocks - Lipstick (Peel Session - October 23rd, 1978) (Love Bites (Deluxe Edition) - EMI Records - 2010)

Download This Episode Here!

2014 Highlights & Show # 540

The following is a collection of some of my favourite releases from 2014. Songs from these albums plus several others can be heard in the podcast below. It can be downloaded below the play list.

As a bonus, this year Revolution Rock featured a co-host on several occasions. I have included Adam’s (my occasional co-hosts) top ten in this post as well.

1. Thee Oh Sees - Drop

After announcing that the band will be taking a hiatus last year, Thee Oh Sees released their eighth full-length album at the end of April. Entitled Drop, the album brings in an intense focus to the band’s already established San Franciscan psychedelic garage sound. Apparently recorded in a banana ripening factory, there’s gritty garage sounds with scruffy guitars, psychedelic solos, a bit of kraut rock and elements found on 2012’s Putrifiers II and 2013’s Floating Coffin. Drop is victorious in its savage, primitive and unrelenting garage psych riffs, while the pop elements sink in deeper amongst the synthesizers and crude album cover artwork.

2. Teenanger – E P L P

E P L P is Teenanger from Toronto’s fourth studio album. The album has an undeniable garage punk sleaze to it. The sound on this album is one that is difficult to describe specifically, it is the sound of a band in their element. On E P L P the new wave/post punk influence from previous albums is still apparent, but there seems to be more voluminous guitar riffs that are like shards of shrapnel. Basslines sound thick and at times fuzz addled, as analog sounding drums, snotty vocals by Chris Swimmings and backing vocals provided by Melissa Ball add to the overall battlefield of dynamics found here. With E P L P Teenanger does not misfire. Throughout this nine-track launch the band hones their sound and are right on target.

3. White Fence - For The Recently Found Innocent

Aesthetically, For The Recently Found Innocent finds a balance between the last two releases from White Fence, 2013’s Cyclops Reap and Live In San Francisco, the later of which was an album that showcased White Fence in a full band and in a more revved up fashion. The album features not only Segall on some drum tracks, but also Nick Murray from White Fence’s live band further connecting his last set of releases. On the album’s front cover we see a painted self-portrait of Presley, not unlike Bob Dylan’s own self-portrait cover image from the 1970 album Self Portrait, but those two albums only have a connection with the artwork, not the music. We can see the same gritty canvas beneath the smeared messy painting on the cover, it is still the same White Fence. On For The Recently Found Innocent, Tim Presley has merely stepped out of his home and upgraded to a more proper studio environment utilizing an 8 track recorder (instead of a 4 track) with the help of Ty Segall and in the process, displays a new type of innocence.

4. The Black Lips - Underneath The Rainbow

Recorded with Patrick Carney (The Black Keys) and Tommy Brenneck (Budos Band), The Black Lips take their “flower punk” garage sound adding some southern and country influences. There is a brief moment in the music video that was created for the song “Justice After All” that perfectly describes what to expect from Black Lips on this album and more than likely in the future. In the video, we see shots of the band performing live and running down a street. At one point during the solo we see a shot of guitarist Ian Saint Pe playing a solo as another shot of guitarist Cole Alexander slides in and he pukes on the ground. This moment shows the listener and viewer that while they are trying new things, they are still the same band that we have all known. They may have branched out on Underneath The Rainbow, showcasing a slightly different spectrum of sound with Southern twang influences, but they are still the same Black Lips.

5. Ty Segall – Manipulator

Manipulator is a double album that contains a multitude of layers. This 56 minute double album also took fourteen months to record, every other Segall release was recorded and released quickly. Musically the album combines elements of Segall’s most recent projects Fuzz, sounds from the album Slaughterhouse with the Ty Segall Band, acoustic elements, and the garage sounds that he has been known for. Additionally, the influence of 70s glam rock and classic rock sounds dominate this seventeen track release.



6. James O-L & The Villains - On The Banks Of The Detroit River

On The Banks Of The Detroit River was recorded in Kingsville, with Brett Humber at Sound Foundry Studios and overall the album has “More of a bigger sound” and “In general the songs have gotten more aggressive”, as James tells me. Lyrically, this album pulls inspirations from its surroundings. Songs on the album seem to evoke a certain tone, one that comes with living in Essex County. Musically this album draws from the folk/country dynamic that James O-L & The Villains have displayed in the past, but it also mixes with an aggressive, punk/90s rock edge. The songs that make up this album portray the subtleties of a band mixing elements of folk, country and the heavy rains of aggressive feedback.

7. Paul Jacobs - Do It Again

Do It Again was the fourth release by the prolific garage rock machine Paul Jacobs in 2014. His first two releases, a split with Vaguess entitled I’ll Listen To This Later and the full-length I Need A Place To Keep My Stuff, both featured Paul Jacobs in his one-man band setup. Paul released the Mouldy Love EP in June of 2014, doing things a bit differently recording with a traditional full band set up and bass, something that has been absent from his solo recordings. Released in October 2014, Do It Again featured the same full band more traditional setup. This release was a collection of re-recordings from Paul Jacobs back catalog even featuring a song from Raised By Weeds, a three-piece band that he played with back in 2012. With Do It Again, Paul Jacobs reworks some of his best songs, presenting them in a compilation-like fashion. The songs still sound as fresh, exhilarating and sometimes better than the original versions. Paul Jacobs does it again, in more ways than one.

8. Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs - Gates Of Hell

Four of the album’s tracks were recorded with Ben Cook of the band Fucked Up. Sam Coffey covered the rest of the production, recording in the band’s practice space and a variety of other locations adding to the album’s character, as he has done with previous Iron Lungs recordings. Gates Of Hell covers a lot of topics lyrically and musically adds to the Iron Lungs palate. Sam Coffey originally from Waterloo, Ontario, recently relocated to Toronto and expanded his band to a six-piece group. More people in the band means there could be more complication in the overall sound of the group. The band does not fall into this trap here. The band’s sound may have expanded with more members and higher production values, but on Gates Of Hell, Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs deliver an album that deals with many hellish complex subjects, whether metaphorically or bluntly throughout the album’s lyrical content. Musically they still keep the rowdy, pub-crawl spirit that drew us to them in the first place.

9. Guided By Voices - Motivational Jumpsuit

The first of two albums that Guided By Voices released in 2014, before their eventual split. This album finds the band in one of their unique, prolific creative pockets featuring songs drawing comparison to 1994’s Bee Thousand, 1995’s Alien Lanes and 1996’s Under The Bushes Under The Stars. With Motivational Jumpsuit, Guided By Voices zip up all the loose ends, but not too tightly. Featuring twenty tracks under forty minutes, this album proves that they can still make a great album twenty-one albums into their career.



10. Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal

Sunbathing Animal, the band’s third full-length album was recorded in between touring, the sessions also produced an EP beforehand entitled Tally All The Things You Broke. With Sunbathing Animal, Parquet Courts lean more towards the punk, post punk and garage elements of the band with hints of their early noisy beginnings. The band also released another album Content Nausea near the end of 2014 under the band Name Parkay Quarts. The band features a slightly different line-up, but is primarily the work of Andrew Savage and Austin Brown from Parquet Courts.



Adam’s Top Ten for Revolution Rock:

1. Sun Kil Moon – Benji
2. Swans – To Be Kind
3. Perfume Genius – Too Bright
4. Iceage – Plowing Into The Field Of Love
5. St. Vincent – St. Vincent
6. Aerial Pink – Pom Pom
7. Mac DeMarco – Salad Days
8. Ty Segall – Manipulator
9. White Lung – Deep Fantasy
10. Ought – More Than Any Other Day

Best of 2014 Play List:

1. Parquet Courts - Instant Disassembly (Sunbathing Animal - What's Your Rupture? 2014)
2. Parkay Quarts - Content Nausea (Content Nausea - What's Your Rupture? 2014)
3. Guided By Voices - Planet Score (Motivational Jumpsuit - Guided By Voices Inc. 2014)
4. Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs - Hold Me Close (Gates Of Hell - South Paw Records 2014)
5. Paul Jacobs - Waking Up (Do It Again - Self Released 2014)
6. James O-L & The Villains - Late Night Drive (On The Banks Of The Detroit River - Famous Last Records 2014)
7. Ought - Weather Song (More Than Any Other Day - Constellation Records 2014)
8. White Lung - Just For You (Deep Fantasy - Domino 2014)
9. Ty Segall - Connection Man (Manipulator - Drag City 2014)
10. Mac DeMarco - Blue Boy (Salad Days - Captured Tracks 2014)
11. Ariel Pink - Nude Beach A Go-Go (Pom Pom - 4AD 2014)
12. King Tuff - Magic Mirror (Black Moon Spell - Sub Pop 2014)
13. OFF! - I Won't Be A Casualty (Wasted Years - Vice 2014)
14. Chad Vangaalen - Leaning On Bells (Shrink Dust - Sub Pop 2014)
15. The Black Angels - The Flop (Clear Lake Forest EP - Blue Horizon Records 2014)
16. Kestrels - Wide Eyes (The Moon Is Shining Our Way EP - Noyes/Sonic Unyon 2014)
17. Ty Segall - Manipulator (Manipulator - Drag City 2014)
18. St. Vincent - Birth In Reverse (St. Vincent - Loma Vista/Republic Records 2014)
19. Iceage - Forever (Plowing Through The Field Of Love - Matador 2014)
20. Perfume Genius - Longpig (Too Bright - Matador 2014)
21. The Black Lips - Dorner Party (Underneath The Rainbow - Vice 2014)
22. White Fence - Anger! Who Keeps You Under (For The Recently Found Innocent - Drag City Records 2014)
23. Swans - A Little God in My Hands (To Be Kind - Young God/Mute Records 2014)
24. Sun Kil Moon - Pray for Newtown (Benji - Caldo Verde Records 2014)
25. Teenanger - Sky Saxon (E P L P - Telephone Explosion 2014)
26. Thee Oh Sees - Drop (Drop - Castle Face 2014)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 27. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

For those keeping track, episode number 538 was a repeat of show number 531.  It can be downloaded here.