Cheap Girls
Find Me A Drink Home
Quote Unquote; 2008
Toss out existentialism, nihilism, postmodernism, and any other system of thought that requires the believer to frustrate themselves and their conversation partner in order to make a point. Drunk philosophy will always reign supreme, especially from those philosophers who know how to drink well (quality over quantity!) and initiate, engage in, and sustain a conversation under their own power. Now, this is not to advocate drunkenness and/or disorderly conduct under the influence of too much alcohol, but more that we come to the realization that a couple of drinks loosens the tongues of even the most tight-lipped, allowing for thoughts, ideas, opinions, and beliefs to flow copiously. Because, as any student of music history is aware, for better or worse, many of the more iconic songs and albums of the past 100+ years have come as a result of the use of drugs and alcohol.
Borrowing from that same formula (and drinking from that same well), Cheap Girls prove on their debut record, Find Me A Drink Home, that they really do know how to imbibe with authority and still hold discourse with a bit of clarity. This power-pop trio from Lansing, Michigan has put together an eleven-song ode to the causes, effects, factors, results, and everything-in-between of youthful substance use and abuse. There’s little to no glamorizing of the behavior here, as the band wears their hearts and emotions firmly on their sleeve, but displays them and the associated experiences with a brazen honesty and guitar riffs blazing. Influences like The Lemonheads and Jawbreaker abound, but what’s more important is that Cheap Girls believe in what they’re singing and the simple-yet-tight pop melodies they’ve crafted. With highlights that include “Kind of on Purpose,” “27 Days,” and “Kill Your Mood,” Find Me A Drink Home is unapologetically romantic, nostalgic, and lovelorn without being tacky, cliché, or boring. Or better said – coherent drunken ramblings over straight-ahead rock-&-roll kicks musical ass.
Download songs from the album here (but please donate if possible)
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Blind Pilot
3 Rounds and a Sound
Expunged; 2008
Amazingly, there was a time when people weren’t tired of the singer-songwriter format, when the concept of a traveling troubadour with his guitar wasn’t a punch line for some “folk singers are wussies” screed. Of course, it’s easy to detect where the contemporary backlash began: whether you blame Bright Eyes (this reviewer doesn’t), Dashboard Confessional, Jack Johnson, or (**shudder**) Ryan Cabrera, the available fodder is quite extensive. Moreover, it’s easy to mock the effect that whiny wannabes have upon the heartstrings and pocketbooks of overly sensitive teenaged women (and the occasional guy who hopes to market his cheesy three-chord poetry into a string of girlfriends). The sad casualty in all of this is the actual folk/pop-formatted singer/group/band who possesses actual talent, who has real stories to tell – this person has to fight through a host of preconceived notions and misconceptions for his/her music to be taken at face value.
For you see, one of the truer marks of a great folk song is not how easily the crowd can sing along at a show (though that can be an important component), but it’s how quickly the crowd can be mesmerized into a stunned silence over the beauty of the words and the music backing those words. So, when you believe in yourselves and your art as deeply as Blind Pilot does, you’re more than willing to push and press in all possible directions to have your music heard. In fact, this Portland, OR-based duo made an early name for themselves by packing up their instruments and limited other necessities to bike around the Pacific Northwest from gig to gig, from show to show. Cutesy travel stories aside, what makes the music on their debut record, 3 Rounds and a Sound, work is how charming, accessible, and substantive the songs are. On the surface, the songs project an unabashed innocence, but there’s a strain of deep-seated world-weariness running throughout the project, giving it a depth and pathos that others only attempt to convey. Featuring a sound reminiscent of early Bright Eyes, Iron And Wine, and The Shins (gone acoustic) and solid tracks like “Oviedo,” “Poor Boy,” “Go On, Say It,” and the title cut, Blind Pilot has proffered an album that is refreshing in both its simplicity and its high quality of artistry.
Download “Go On, Say It”
Download “Go On, Say It” music video
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Transient Songs
Plantation to Your Youth EP
Indian Casino; 2008
I wanted to erect this elaborate metaphor to describe the frustrating stylistic dichotomy that I hear in the music of Transient Songs. I had also hoped to dissect the adjective “transient,” discussing how the fluid use of genres on the Plantation to Your Youth EP was an apt descriptor for the varied sounds used in the noun “songs.” Because, in a perfect world, I wouldn’t have to resort to making easy allusions and cheap comparisons in an attempt to talk about this Seattle-based two-piece, but we don’t reside in anything resembling a utopia, so you must bear with me here. Across each of the five ditties on this little release, the Southern-rock-tinged vocals alternately complemented and conflicted with the fuzzed-out guitar psychedelics, sounding at times like both a passable reinvention of the Allman Brothers (minus the big ‘70s guitar leads) or Jim James fronting a Jesus and Mary Chain cover band (not the most pleasant thought in the world). “Southern City Saturdays” coalesces all of those influences, and then balances them out nicely to create easily the best track on the project, while the title cut and “Locust Shells” has the overdriven, not-quite-droning guitar work unnecessarily drowning out the vocals far too often. I want to like these songs and this band, but there’s little in the way of sonic coherency and consistency to keep my attention for very long. Transient indeed…
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Catfight
In Stereo
Self-Released; 2008
How lo(-fi) can you really go? After a decade full of groups of various descriptions seeking to reclaim the dirty, gritty, mono sounds of ‘60s garage rock, methinks we might have reached a tipping point of Gladwellian proportions. This is by no means a concession to or request for hyper-slick modern pop production values (the “autotune” function comes straight from Hades), but more of a clarion call directed towards bands like Catfight who admirably wish to help music fans rediscover retro production aesthetics – we’d like some balance please, since not all technology is bad. For you see, as enjoyable as the coarse tones of this duo’s five-song EP In Stereo might appear to be, they have only added to a marketplace for sonic revivalism that’s more than over-saturated. We’ve simply heard this all before, from “Get It On” (The White Stripes), “Alone Today” (The Yeah Yeah Yeahs), and “Candy Cane” (The Hives), to “Ready Steady Go” and ”Sheila” (Franz Ferdinand). Has the band put together some upbeat, catchy, fun songs? Absolutely. Alas, they’re not really all that original.
Download “Ready Steady Go”
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Well folks, another summer out at El Rancho Cima: Cockrell River Camp is almost over & this one has been absolutely excellent. I was commenting the other day to some friends of mine that I wasn’t able to accurately assess the true (crappy) status of 2007 because I’d never worked on a Summer Camp staff before, yet after experiencing an amazing 2008, I realize why so many long-term staffers were more than displeased after the conclusion of 2007’s camp and why they’ve loved 2008. From the (good) weather and (excellent) troops to the (wonderfully cohesive) staff, 2008 has been a year to remember. The true surprise (to me at least; ya know, that lack of prior context) is how the senior staff has already begun to engage in some minor planning for next year; last year at this time, we’d already checked out mentally because we were so frustrated with and simply tired of the entire summer. All of that being said, my hat’s off to all of my fellow staff members for making this summer so memorable. Thanks so very much.
Enjoy this last batch of pictures!
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