Its Poohbah cheapshot month!

McCartney – “Every Night” is one of my favorite Paul tracks (deftly recycling the melody from “You Never Give Me Your Money”), and “Maybe I’m Amazed” still sounds good. Most everything else is insignificant, especially in context of his other work, both before and after this album. There’s 15 minutes of instrumentals on a 35-minute album including the worse drum solo in recorded music history. Has the feel of demos that never got finished, as if he rushed this out there to beat Lennon & Harrison to the punch. 2 stars




Teenage Fanclub – A disc that made me wonder how I missed it when it came out. Damn near perfect power pop, reminiscent of Nick Lowe and Matthew Sweet’s finest work. Great jangly guitar riffs, lush harmonies, well-executed songs, its all here. 4 stars



David Bowie – I respect that Bowie is still out there, challenging his audience with new material. Unfortunately, this disc highlights the huge chasm in the quality of his new versus his older material. “Loving the Alien” and “Man Who Sold the World” sound great, but the “Heathens” & “Reality” tracks just pale in comparison. Regrettably, they make up half the set. Until Freddie Mercury is available to sing it, “Under Pressure” should never, ever, EVER be performed. 2.5 stars



Exene Cervenka – I’ve always liked X, but obviously, there’s nothing X-like about this disc. A very lackluster effort that is unremarkable in every way. Track 4 asks the musical question, “Where Do We Go From Here”. The answer, regrettably, is straight to the trash 1.5 stars



Spoon – Sounds like a deliberate return to their earlier stuff, which is too bad. The hooks here are few and far between and there’s no sense of urgency. The steady repetitive drum and bass sound in tandem with the choppy guitar bursts wear thin because there’s nothing noteworthy on top of it. A lack of distinctive melodies made sticking with this disc a chore, and nothing here grabbed me the way most of their last two discs did. 2 stars



Ghits – Anyone claiming they enjoyed this is a liar, or worse, a hipster doofus. Highlight for me was picturing Soccer Dad Ken driving through suburban CT in his minivan, bobbing his head up and down in a pathetic effort to convince himself that he “gets it.” F’ing hipster doofus…. We can’t relate to this crap anymore than our parents could “get” the Clash, nor should we. Despite my drunken haze and the bad lighting in the Spigot, I’m almost positive none of you are young or black. I do remember that you were drinking $5 craft beer drafts, not swigging 40 oz. bottles of Colt 45 from a paper bag, indicating that economically, you don’t have much to be pissed about. Sorry Mike, but Jay’s daughter is right. We are old and pathetic losers. Come to the dark side and join us, the beer is a lot better.



Discussion Question



In going through the blog, I found all my answers to be correct. Accordingly, in the great rock and roll tradition, I am changing the set list, calling an audible, riffing, jamming, etc. The following is a review of your best of 2009 cd’s, in haiku. (Pausing here while someone explains to Ken what a haiku is……………) Ready? OK:



Alan – Lots of power pop.

Not many tempo changes.

Dude, leave your bubble!



D’Arcy - No Avetts? Shocking!

“Community Property”

Best song of the year.



Sandy - Most enlightening.

Never heard of most of these.

Wrong Neko Case song.



Greg - I didn’t get his.

Perhaps too busy stalking

Scarlett Johansson?



Jay - Claims computer broke.

Will send them out for Flag Day.

Always posts late too….



Mongillo – Didn’t send one out.

Bright side - not having to hear

Robert Pollard’s crap.



Ken - Better than before.

No “High School Musical” songs.

He’s still a flamer.



Monsta – What a cool CD.

Every song was a winner.

Impeccable taste.